What you’ll find in this blog:
- Revenue management challenges continue to impact accuracy, compliance and forecasting, particularly across Salesforce and Certinia environments.
- Common issues include data misalignment, manual adjustments, incorrect schedule configuration, missing pre-run checks and poor documentation.
- Strengthening data governance, reducing manual processes and improving schedule and process control can significantly reduce operational risk.
- Organisations that invest in automation, ownership clarity and proactive quality checks will see more predictable, efficient and compliant revenue performance in 2026.
Revenue management has become one of the most complex operational functions within modern businesses. As subscription models evolve, hybrid billing structures grow in popularity and audit requirements tighten, the systems and processes used to recognise revenue are under more pressure than ever.
Across the Salesforce and Certinia ecosystems, we see the same recurring challenges each year — issues that undermine accuracy, delay close cycles, create reconciliation headaches and increase risk. With year-end approaching, now is the ideal time to review where these challenges arise and what steps your organisation can take to avoid them in 2026.
This article explores the five most common challenges in revenue management, why they happen, and how businesses can proactively strengthen their processes for the year ahead.
Challenge 1: Data Misalignment Across the Revenue Lifecycle
One of the most significant causes of revenue issues is inconsistent data across related objects — particularly where contracts, billing schedules, products, and revenue schedules intersect. Even minor misalignment, such as a date difference or incorrect amount, can have serious downstream consequences once revenue is generated.
This typically occurs when contract amendments are processed quickly, when product catalogue changes are made without governance, or when teams rely on manual adjustments that bypass formal processes. Over time, these inconsistencies compound, resulting in revenue events that don’t reflect the commercial reality of the contract.
In 2026, businesses looking to strengthen revenue accuracy should focus on improving data governance, enforcing validation rules and adopting regular reconciliation workflows. When data enters the system correctly — and stays aligned — revenue processes become dramatically more predictable.
Challenge 2: Excessive Reliance on Manual Adjustments
Manual adjustments are often introduced as temporary fixes but quickly turn into embedded habits within revenue teams. Adjustments made in spreadsheets, offline tools or through ad-hoc system updates create fragmentation that’s difficult to track and even harder to audit.
The risks of manual processes are well known: inconsistent treatment of revenue, loss of traceability, and dependency on individual team members who “know how things work.” Even small adjustments can create discrepancies when they aren’t documented or when future users unknowingly overwrite them.
To address this challenge, organisations should develop clear guidelines on when manual adjustments are permissible and ensure that every exception is logged and reviewed. More importantly, recurring adjustments should trigger a deeper investigation into systemic fixes — whether through automation, improved product configuration, or revised upstream processes.
Challenge 3: Incorrect or Inconsistent Revenue Schedule Configuration
Revenue schedules are one of the most sensitive parts of revenue operations, and small configuration errors can lead to major recognition issues. Problems often stem from incorrect revenue templates, misapplied schedule rules or failure to update schedules when product offerings change.
Organisations with fast-growing or evolving product catalogues are especially vulnerable. If new products are added without governance or if existing templates are modified without testing, schedule errors become inevitable.
A proactive approach in 2026 should include regular reviews of revenue templates, better alignment between product management and revenue operations, and stronger approval processes for any changes affecting schedule behaviour. When schedule logic is consistent and predictable, revenue accuracy increases and month-end workloads decrease.
Challenge 4: Running Revenue Processes Without Pre-Run Checks
A surprisingly common challenge occurs when teams run revenue recognition processes without verifying data beforehand. These “blind runs” often result in unexpected variances, missing schedules, incorrect dates or duplicated recognition events — all of which require additional time and effort to rectify.
Pre-run checks are one of the simplest yet most impactful ways to improve year-end outcomes. These checks can include verifying schedule completeness, confirming billing alignment, reviewing contract amendments and ensuring no unresolved adjustments remain in the pipeline.
For organisations operating across multiple revenue streams or complex arrangements, pre-run checklists offer structure and consistency. They help prevent errors before they appear and can shorten the month-end close significantly. Moving into 2026, businesses that embed pre-run quality assurance into their processes will experience greater stability and far fewer last-minute surprises.
Challenge 5: Limited Documentation and Undefined Ownership
Many revenue-management challenges stem not from system limitations but from gaps in documentation, unclear ownership and reliance on informal knowledge. As teams grow or change, undocumented processes create risk and inconsistency — particularly during critical periods like year-end.
When documentation is incomplete, teams may follow outdated procedures, misinterpret system behaviour or apply inconsistent logic. Similarly, when ownership is unclear, tasks can be duplicated, missed or executed differently by different users.
Developing structured process documentation and assigning clear ownership at each stage of the revenue cycle is essential. This ensures continuity, supports onboarding, reduces operational risk and provides clarity during audits.
A strong documentation foundation also helps reveal where processes can be improved, automated or removed entirely. In many cases, simply mapping the existing workflow brings inefficiencies into focus, enabling better decisions in 2026 and beyond.
Preparing for 2026: Turning Challenges Into Opportunities
Each of these challenges represents an opportunity for organisations to build stronger, more reliable revenue operations. The most successful teams in 2026 will be those who adopt a proactive mindset — not waiting for issues to emerge but addressing root causes now.
Here are three strategic areas to focus on for the coming year:
1. Strengthen Data Governance
Ensure upstream processes create clean, consistent data. Introduce validation rules, implement checks and align teams on common standards.
2. Increase Automation Thoughtfully
Identify recurring manual steps and replace them with system-driven logic. Automation reduces risk and creates more scalable processes.
3. Clarify Ownership & Improve Documentation
Build clear accountability into every stage of the revenue lifecycle, and keep documentation up to date as systems evolve.
By investing in these foundations, businesses reduce operational friction, accelerate month-end cycles and build greater confidence in revenue reporting.
Conclusion
As organisations prepare for 2026, now is the perfect time to reflect on processes, identify improvement areas and eliminate common friction points. The challenges outlined in this article are not new — but they continue to appear across companies of every size and industry.
With the right governance, improved automation and a stronger culture of documentation, businesses can overcome these obstacles and build a more predictable, accurate and compliant revenue operation.
And if you’d like support reviewing or enhancing your own revenue processes, our team is here to help.