Deferred Revenue
Paychex Deferred Revenue decreased by 0.3% to $70.30M in Q4 2025 compared to the prior quarter. Year-over-year, this metric grew by 36.0%, from $51.70M to $70.30M. Over 4 years (FY 2021 to FY 2025), Deferred Revenue shows an upward trend with a 16.3% CAGR. This decline may warrant attention — for this metric, higher values are generally preferred.
Analysis
How to read this metric
An increase suggests strong sales of subscription-based services or bundled offerings, providing a predictable pipeline for future revenue recognition.
Detailed definition
Represents cash payments received from customers in advance of the company fulfilling its performance obligations, speci...
Peer comparison
High-growth software and services companies typically maintain larger deferred revenue balances relative to pure hardware manufacturers.
deferred_revenue_currentHistorical Data
| Q1 '21 | Q2 '21 | Q3 '21 | Q4 '21 | Q1 '22 | Q2 '22 | Q3 '22 | Q4 '22 | Q1 '23 | Q2 '23 | Q3 '23 | Q4 '23 | Q1 '24 | Q2 '24 | Q3 '24 | Q4 '24 | Q1 '25 | Q2 '25 | Q3 '25 | Q4 '25 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Value | $37.90M | $38.60M | $39.80M | $37.10M | $38.40M | $40.80M | $44.80M | $43.80M | $47.30M | $51.00M | $55.10M | $51.70M | $50.20M | $50.30M | $50.70M | $51.70M | $69.40M | $68.80M | $70.50M | $70.30M |
| QoQ Change | — | +1.8% | +3.1% | -6.8% | +3.5% | +6.3% | +9.8% | -2.2% | +8.0% | +7.8% | +8.0% | -6.2% | -2.9% | +0.2% | +0.8% | +2.0% | +34.2% | -0.9% | +2.5% | -0.3% |
| YoY Change | — | — | — | — | +1.3% | +5.7% | +12.6% | +18.1% | +23.2% | +25.0% | +23.0% | +18.0% | +6.1% | -1.4% | -8.0% | +0.0% | +38.2% | +36.8% | +39.1% | +36.0% |
Deferred Revenue at Other Companies
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is Paychex's deferred revenue?
- Paychex (PAYX) reported deferred revenue of $70.30M in Q4 2025.
- How has Paychex's deferred revenue changed year-over-year?
- Paychex's deferred revenue increased by 36.0% year-over-year, from $51.70M to $70.30M.
- What is the long-term trend for Paychex's deferred revenue?
- Over 4 years (2021 to 2025), Paychex's deferred revenue has grown at a 16.3% compound annual growth rate (CAGR), from $37.90M to $69.40M.
- What does deferred revenue mean?
- Money collected from customers for products or services that haven't been delivered yet but will be within a year.