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No, it shouldn't count as revenue. The money owed to merchants is considered a liability and is probably treated as Accounts Payable.
by allantyoung 16y ago
No, it shouldn't count as revenue. The money owed to merchants is considered a liability and is probably treated as Accounts Payable.
- piguy314 16y agoRevenue is income before expenses, you are probably thinking of net income.
- ahalam 16y agoAgreed. It shouldn't be counted as revenue. It is such misleading reporting that leads to over valuation and bubbles.
- michael_dorfman 16y agoOf course it is revenue. Think about retail for a moment. The amount of money a retailer takes in is revenue. The fact that he needs to pay a wholesaler for the items sold doesn't change that fact. If the money is being paid to Groupon, it's revenue.
- _delirium 16y agoIn transactional / middle-men businesses, it's more standard to only report your percent take as "revenue", rather than including pass-through dollars (e.g. PayPal only reports their fees as revenue, not all dollars that flow through PayPal). But I suppose it's unclear if Groupon is that kind of business; arguably they could be more like a retailer, where it is standard to include all dollars flowing through as revenue.