Prestige Estates Chairman Irfan Razack revealed on June 28, 2026, that the company holds ₹65,000 crore of unrecognised revenue from pre-sales — driven by record sales bookings of ₹30,024 crore in FY26, up 76% year-on-year — because it follows the completion method of revenue recognition.
Prestige just told the world it has sold ₹65,000 crore worth of homes that it cannot yet count as revenue. That number is bigger than many listed companies' entire market cap. So where is it hiding?
In real estate, India follows what's called the completion method (under Ind AS 115 — India's version of the global revenue standard). The rule is simple: you only recognise revenue when you hand over the flat to the buyer. Until the keys change hands, that cash you collected is a liability on your balance sheet called "contract liabilities" or "advance from customers" — not revenue, not profit.
So here's what a CFO actually reads in this headline: Prestige's P&L looks modest today, but the company has already done the hard sales work. ₹65,000 crore is locked and loaded — it will flow into the income statement project by project, as towers get completed. That's a visibility wall most businesses would kill for.
The flip side? Working capital is under stress the whole time — you've spent on land, construction, and interest, but revenue recognition is lagging. That's why real estate CFOs obsess over pre-sales velocity AND completion timelines together. One without the other is just a number on a slide.
Next time a real estate company brags about "bookings," ask: how much of that has actually hit the P&L? The answer will tell you everything about where earnings are headed.
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