The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued a revised draft standard for public comment to improve and converge the financial reporting requirements of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) and U.S. General Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) for revenue (and some related costs) from contracts with customers.
The boards decided to re-expose the proposals because of the importance of the financial reporting of revenue to all entities and the boards’ desire to avoid unintended consequences arising from the final standard.
According to the boards, the proposed standard would improve IFRSs and U.S. GAAP by:
The core principle of this revised proposed standard is the same as that of the 2010 exposure draft: that an entity would recognize revenue from contracts with customers when it transfers promised goods or services to the customer. The amount of revenue recognized would be the amount of consideration promised by the customer in exchange for the transferred goods or services. However, in response to feedback received from nearly 1000 comment letters on the 2010 exposure draft and extensive outreach activities, the boards further refined their original proposals.
In particular they:
If adopted, the proposed standard would replace IAS 18 Revenue, IAS 11 Construction Contracts and related Interpretations. In U.S. GAAP, it would replace the guidance on revenue recognition in Topic 605 of the FASB Accounting Standards Codification.
Commenting on the exposure draft, Hans Hoogervorst, chairman of the IASB, said: “Revenue is the top line and it is important to every business. Our proposals will give analysts and investors the confidence that revenue is being presented on a consistent basis, across industries and continents.”
Leslie F. Seidman, chairman of the FASB, said: “This revised exposure draft on revenue recognition is based on the same underlying principles as the original draft, but we have simplified and clarified several aspects of the guidance in response to feedback we received. Because this proposed standard would affect companies across a wide range of industries, we are taking this additional quality control step to ensure that the final standard is well understood by companies, auditors and investors before it is issued as a final standard. We plan to conduct additional outreach with interested parties during the comment period to help people understand the proposed guidance and to listen to any remaining concerns.”
The exposure draft is open for comment until March 13, 2012.
To download the full text of Exposure Documents open for comment click here.
To read the full text of the news release click here.
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Terry Mulreany
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