International Accounting Standards Board And The Us Financial Accounting Standard On Revenue Recognition

Revenue recognition accounting standard ensures the correct revenue is recorded for each period of the income statement, it was previously based on the realization principle - requires revenue to be recognized when the earning process is virtually complete and is certain to collectability. FASB & IASB developed a new revenue recognition standard, Revenue from Contracts with Customers,” on May 28, 2014, ASU No 2014-09. (RRPA Revenue Recognition and Profitability Analysis-1-LO1-5).

In 2018 it will be mandatory that AASB111 and AASB108 are replaced by AASB15. This new standards main principle necessitates entities to recognise revenue to portray the transfer of goods or services to customers in amounts that mirror the payment, of which the company expects to be entitled. AASB15 also provides regulation for transactions that were not previously addressed thoroughly, such as service revenue and contract modifications. Essentially it presents a 5 step system of Identifying the contracts with the customer, identifying the separate performance obligations in the contract, determining the transaction price, allocating the transaction price to certain performance obligations and recognizing revenue when or as the entity fulfils performance obligations – This is demonstrated towards the end of the report with a

Bohusova, H., & Nerudova, D. (2009). US GAAP AND IFRS CONVERGENCE IN THE AREA OF REVENUE RECOGNITION. Economics & Management, 12-19.

If a transaction is within the scope of specific authoritative literature that provides revenue recognition guidance, that literature should be applied. However, in the absence of authoritative literature addressing a specific arrangement or a specific industry, the staff will consider the existing authoritative accounting standards as well as the broad revenue recognition criteria specified in the FASB's conceptual framework that contain basic guidelines for revenue recognition.

The issue of revenue recognition practices is an area that has received a lot of attention from regulators. Whenever there is a report of financial restatements or negative earnings, regulators pay extra attention to review the financial statements in order to verify that that there are not any indications of financial fraud or that the organization overstepped their boundaries in the area of managed earnings. The reason that regulators have taken a special interest in financial accounting and potential fraud is due to the collapses of companies such as Enron, WorldCom and Tyco. Regulators and those in the accounting profession are focusing their efforts on the causes of fraud as well as the steps that can be taken to effectively detect

The revenue recognition framework had significant differences under The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) provisions. The transformation of revenue recognition was necessary to provide the integrity to financial statements. Moreover, new revenue recognition standards should be applicable to all businesses (p50 A New World of Revenue Recognition).

The Company is planning to adopt International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in the near future and should be made aware of the International Accounting Standards Board’s (IASB) relevant accounting guidelines. While FASB has extensive revenue recognition guidelines, IASB only has one, IAS 18. IASB’s revenue recognition guideline for the sales of goods [IAS 18.14] states that revenue

IFRS has fewer requirements on revenue recognition, but follows the same basic principle of economic significance. Revenue can be recorded when t is probable that any future economic benefit associated with the item of revenue

For readers who are unfamiliar with the topics discussed above, The Financial Accounting Standards Board recently issued a new set of standards governing revenue recognition. The new standards will take effect on

A customer walks into her local Wal-Mart Supercenter to purchase a few necessities and Christmas gifts. Once the customer has found everything on her list, she goes to the nearest register to pay for her items. Her groceries totaled $102.50, her pet food cost $21.60, the videogame she picked out for her nephew is $80.00, and finally she purchased two Wal-Mart gift cards totaling $50.00. Even though the customer’s total sale is $279.10, Wal-Mart cannot recognize any of the revenue unless the transaction meets all of the criteria listed in IAS-18. IAS-18 is an accounting regulation that mandates how companies are to determine whether or not a transaction constitutes the recognition of revenue. Revenue regularly comes from the sale of goods or prepayment for services to be rendered, however, it can only be recognized if there is an economic benefit on behalf of the seller and the reliability of the revenue is provable. Wal-Mart is in the business to sell goods to customers, so they can only recognize revenues from completed transactions that are reliable in nature (IAS-18 Revenue 2009).

Yeaton (2015) research titled “A New World of Revenue Recognition” about the discussion of the new revenue recognition standard, jointly issued by FASB and IASB, which is effective after December 15, 2016 for public companies and after December 15, 2017 for private companies and non-profit organizations (p.50). Yeaton identified that the new revenue recognition standard will supersede most, if not all existing revenue standards (p.50). Yeaton summarized the purpose of the GAAP and IFRS converged standards on revenue recognition to provide consistent guidance to replace or remove the transaction and industry or geographic specific guidelines, to simplify or streamline current revenue criterion, and to enhance disclosure statement to demonstrate the nature, timing, amount and uncertainty of cash flow and revenue (p.50). Yeaton implied that the new standard of recognizing revenue will have significant impact on real estate and telecommunications companies, however it will provide variable impact on all companies, and in order to capture, to align and to justify business decision on revenue measurement, it could potentially require substantial changes on its existing process, policies and frameworks (p.50). Yeaton recognized the need of additional or frequent use of judgement and estimation to comply with the new requirements under the new principles of revenue recognition (p.50).

Revenue recognition has been viewed routinely as one of the most difficult finance and accounting processes to get right. It represents one of the highest risks of material error on financial statements, and it is one of the leading causes of restatements. Before May 2014, revenue recognition guidance in U.S.GAAP comprised broad revenue recognition concepts together with numerous revenue requirements for particular industries or transactions, which sometimes result in different accounting for economically similar transactions. In May 2014, FASB issued Accounting Standards Update (ASU) No. 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, to replace the existing rules and modifies the method that the majority of U.S. companies used when to

In the instant case of Elegant Housing, Inc. neither has the affirmative customer acceptance been received by Caltron Computers, Inc. nor has the 6 month trial period ending on May 15, 20X2 lapsed. In light of the above circumstances and the revenue recognition provisions, it is recommended that the revenue of $400,000 should not be recognized.

This assignment features the recognition and measurement of revenue depending on the source of revenue in accordance with the provisions of International Accounting Standards (IAS) 18 Revenue.

With complete notion and awareness of how each country has their set of rules, “the goal of IFRS is to provide a global framework for how public companies prepare and disclose their financial statements” (Rouse, 2011). This view is meant to provide general guidelines, as well as international comparisons through conventional and edifying means. To bring broader and vivid objectives, IFRS replaced IAS, the older standards, in order to bring a more comprehensive and simplified accounting procedures.