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I associate unrecorded revenue with revenues that were earned, but not yet recorded in a company's accounting records. For example, an electric utility will provide electricity to customers for up to one month before it reads the customers' meters, calculates the bills and records the billings as revenues and accounts receivable. As a result, the electric utility will have up to one month of unrecorded revenue. At each balance sheet date, the utility should accrue for the revenues it earned but had not yet recorded. This is done through an adjusting entry that debits a balance sheet receivable account and credits an income statement revenue account.
Unearned Revenue (also termed as deferred revenue or UER)
It signifies money received for the goods or services, which are yet to be delivered. As per the principles of Revenue Recognition, UER is recorded as on the balance sheet unless it is converted to Revenue upon delivery of goods or services.
Unbilled Receivables (also termed as deferred revenue or UBR)
It signifies income /revenue that cannot be invoiced to the client pursuant to the terms of the contract or in other words UBR is recorded as an on the balance sheet and generally monitored closely by business in terms of aging and exchange rate related losses/gains
Unearned revenue is a forecast income or accrued income based on some profit measure which may or may not materialize while unbilled receivable is a revenue that hasn't been billed to customers / client
The difference lies in the actions of the company. Unearned revenue is simply revenue that has not been earned yet. Whereas unbilled receivables are revenues that have been earned by the company but it has not filed it on their accounting records.
