Fasb's New Revenue Recognition Guidelines

Revenues are recognized at the POS, when a fixed sales price is established, and collection is probable. For most product sales, these criteria are met when a product is shipped. Online sales are deferred until the customer receives their product, and the transfer of liability is completed.

The boards proposed a standard by which revenue would be recognized entirely based on the firm’s contract with the customer. Any remaining rights or obligations in the contract would give rise to net contract assets or net contract liabilities. Under the proposal, revenue would be recognized based on the changes in rights and obligations under a contract entered into with a customer. Rights (assets) arise from a customer’s promise of cash or other compensation while obligations (liabilities) arise from the firm’s promise to transfer assets to the customer. Revenue is recognized whenever there is an increase in contractual assets or a decrease in contractual liabilities or a combination of both. Remaining rights under the contract are measured, the balance of which will create a net contract asset or a net contract liability.

Being earned. Paragraph 83(b) of FASB Concepts Statement No. 5, Recognition and Measurement in Financial Statements of Business Enterprises, states that revenue is

The following report is in response to your request for an authoritative answer regarding revenue recognition when a right of return exists. The authoritative literature that addresses the revenue recognition when right of return exists is the FASB codification. More specifically, the section regarding revenue recognition of products. This section discusses the necessary conditions for recognizing revenue when a right of return exists and the factors that may impair the ability to make a reasonable estimate of the amount of future returns. (FASB ASC 605-15-25)

If a company defers recognizing sales revenue and cost of goods sold because one or more of these conditions are not met, it records the sales revenue and cost of goods sold either when the return privilege expires or when the conditions are met, whichever occurs first.

Question 4.4. (TCO 2) How are revenues and expenses defined under accrual accounting? (Points : 5)

accounting? Be sure to identify any other issues that must be resolved to determine how revenue

Purpose of research. The purpose of research is to analyze and compare the revenue recognition under FASB and IFRS provisions. The research is built on other studies that focus on the revenue recognition model and converged standards. The value of this study cannot be overemphasized since the revenue is an essential metric of financial statements that provides a comprehensive knowledge to users of financial information. The revenue recognition framework is under the development and scrutiny since 2002.

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.

When stakeholders and other interested parties evaluate possible future investments opportunities or financial lending to a corporation, they take a close look at a firm’s performance which is highly measured by revenue; a necessary tool in decision-making. The GAAP standards in the U.S. however are very different from standards by the IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards), and both boards are in need of revision.

Bloom, R. & Kamm, J. (2014). Revenue Recognition, How we got here and where it will take us. Financial Executive (3). 48. Retrieved from: http://www.financialexecutives.org

Certain business situations necessitate that customers take title to the goods purchased, agree to pay for them and yet not be in a position to accept delivery of the goods. In such cases, the sellers fulfill the manufacturing requirements and segregate the goods in their warehouses so as to make the goods available to the customers for shipment. Such transactions are labeled ‘bill and hold’ agreements (Grant Thornton, 2010).

However, a number of software firms recognized revenue prior to product delivery or service performance in the past, which potentially violated one or both of the conditions of the revenue recognition principle. In response, AICPA released Statement of Position (SOP) 91-1 in Dec. 1991, which stipulated that if collectability is probable, license revenue should be recognized upon delivery and service

When the outcome of a transaction involving the rendering of services can be reliably estimated, revenue from the sale of services is based on the level of completion of the transaction at the balance sheet date. The outcome of a transaction can be measured reliably when:

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