By now you’ve heard the news: The Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board have joined forces to release a new set of revenue recognition standards that are meant to standardize — at lease somewhat — the rules that different countries and industries use when accounting for revenue.
“The standard for the recognition of revenue from contracts with customers is intended to improve the financial reporting of revenue and improve comparability of the top line in financial statements globally,” Accounting Today reports. “The two boards plan to set up a transition resource group to help companies adjust to the new standard and provide guidance before it takes effect in 2017 for public companies and 2018 for private companies.”
How big of a deal is this? Consider this excerpt from The New York Times:
“‘It will result in changes for most every company,’ said Dusty Stallings, a partner in PricewaterhouseCoopers. Even companies in industries that do not have major changes will discover they may need to make more estimates and disclose more to investors, she said.”
In short, everyone needs to pay attention.
It appears the word is getting around. The trade press is buzzing with summaries, advice and resources related to the new standards. Here’s just a taste:
- Accountants start preparing for newly released revenue recognition standards (Accounting Today)
- New standards for companies’ revenue accounting will begin in 2017 (New York Times)
- How preparers can make revenue recognition implementation smooth (Journal of Accountancy)
- New revenue guidance: Six things to consider (Journal of Accountancy)
- FASB, IASB to hold revenue recognition webcast on June 5 (AccountingWEB)
- New revenue recognition rules may alter margins (Reuters)
- Revenue recognition poses new challenges for telecommunications industry (Journal of Accountancy)
- How the new five-step revenue recognition model impacts your organization (Peter Margaritis)
- Revenue recognition transition group to convene next month (AccountingWEB)
Want to learn more?
The MACPA has scheduled a webinar titled “Accounting For Revenue From Contracts With Customers,” to be held on two separate dates. The one-hour webinar will be held on June 11 and July 17.