Essay On Revenue Recognition

They may pose a problem when recognizing revenue, due to the fact that original GAAP criteria of determining a relative fair value determination is now out the window. Companies like Apple typically base their measurements against the relative selling price of the unit.

Revenue recognition is one of the top causes for financial statement restatements. In addition, revenue recognition is an area commonly questioned by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) staff in their review of public filings and resultant comment letter process. Furthermore, revenue recognition is often prey to financial fraud.

The total revenue of any firm is calculated by adding the total sales of good and services in a given period mostly one year as explained by Austin, (2002). According to St Jude children’s Research Hospital’s financial statement for the year ending June 2014, the total revenue totalled to $ 410,148,655. It was achieved by the addition of net patient service revenue ($ 104,014,142), research grants and contracts ($ 93,786,845), net investment income ($ 201,569,845), net assets released from restrictions (0) and other revenues ($ 10,778,398).

In order to find out the factors that caused the less actual quarterly income, we did analysis on variances. Sales variance, production cost variances and overhead variances are calculated as follows:

Reports revenues and expenses for a specific period of time. A firm's revenues, gains, expenses and losses are listed on the income statement. Revenue is money earned from a company’s

3. In this particular case, due to lack of proper revenue recognition in previous periods in this audit, many challenges in using financial information surfaced.

Some of the significant changes I found on the income sheet were revenue which decreased by 8 million dollars in 2015 compared to 2014. SG&A expenses increased by .9% for the year. How-ever gross profit decreased by .3% in 2015. Also net income for the year decreased by -2.5% per-cent.

Ignoring the revenue recognition principle could end up distorting an entity's balance sheet/statement of financial position. It is important to note that without adherence to this principle, it could be possible for entities experiencing a decline in sales to hide such an occurrence by modifying some items. In such a case, a refundable cash inflow i.e. a deposit used as security for the possible completion of an agreed upon task at a specified future time could be recognized as revenue. Under this principle, such an inflow should ideally be recognized as a liability and later as revenue only after the said task has been completed.

The accounts receivable from artists is significantly higher than last year. With 165 artists charged $40 per month, you only have about $6,600 in revenue monthly. However, your accounts receivable from artists is $15,000. This represents more than two months of website revenue. Your revenues doubled by raising the price which has resulted in quadruple the amount of receivables. This leads us to believe that some of these receivables may be uncollectable. According to GAAP, a loss must be recognized when the

Under GAAP, it is possible to use cash-basis or accrual basis accounting for revenue recognition. Under cash basis, revenue is recognized with payment is received. Under accrual basis, revenue is recognized when it becomes economically significant. GAAP has specific requirements for various industries on when an event qualifies to be recognized as revenue.

Apple Inc. designs, manufactures, and markets personal computers, mobile communication devices, and portable digital music and video players and sells a variety of related software, services, peripherals, and networking solutions. The Company sells its products worldwide through its online stores, its retail stores, its direct sales force, and third-party wholesalers, resellers, and value-added resellers. (Source: Company Form 10-K)

Therefore, the author made a Hypothesis: Ceteris paribus, reported revenue under early revenue recognition is more timely in providing economic information than that under SOP 91-1. An efficient stock market impounds value-relevant information of economic transactions in a quick and unbiased fashion. The author tried to find the relationship between reported revenue and stock return to prove the hypothesis by employing reverse regression methodology. After analysis of data, the author’s conclusion is that early revenue recognition increases the timeliness.

The revenue recognition principle is a foundation of accrual accounting and one of the main principles of GAAP. The revenue recognition principle is a set of guidelines that helps accountants to identify when a revenue event has taken place and how to appropriately record cash exchanges before, during, and after the revenue event. According to the revenue recognition principal, revenue must (1) be realized or realizable and (2) earned, in order to be recognized. According to the SEC revenue is realized when (1) Persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists, (2) Delivery has occurred or services have been rendered, (3) The seller’s price to the buyer is fixed or determinable, and (4) Collectability is reasonably assured. It is essential

Accrual accounting is an accounting method that is utilized to size the performance and of a company by recognizing circumstances regardless of when cash transactions occur. They are documented by matching revenues to expenses at the time in which the transaction occurs rather than when a payment is processed. This method allows the current cash credits and debits to be combined with future expected cash flows to give a more accurate picture of a company 's current financial state. It is ideal to use this method of accounting if an organization has a revenue of more than five million per year. While the accrual method shows the flow of business income and debts more accurately, the downside to this method of accounting is that financial advisers may be blindsided as to what cash reserves are available, which could ultimately result in some serious cash flow obstacles. A common example that I have seen used which helps me understand is when your income ledger may show thousands of dollars in sales, while in reality your bank account is empty because your customers haven 't paid you yet. Cash Basis accounting is when revenues are documented when cash is received and expenses are recognized when paid. The cash basis of accounting is usually utilized by small companies with a revenue of less than one million annually. The cash method provides a more accurate picture of how much actual cash your business has. Cash basis accounting is allowed for tax purposes only for smaller

The external users that will want financial information about the company will receive false information because the books are incorrect and this one egregious error will be the tip of the iceberg. Once the external users lose confidence in the company then the company will be doomed to fail because of that lack of trust coming from the accounting department, the very ones that control the money.