Most companies measure their financial performance by the revenues and other compensation they earn through their business operations, which in many cases means the sale of goods or provision of services. Knowing when to recognize the proceeds from a sale of good or provision of services as revenue is therefore critical to financial reporting. For many years, two different rules by two different standards organizations governed revenue recognition:

1. The Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB“)’s Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC“) provide US generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP“), including those governing revenue recognition. Under the current GAAP revenue recognition rule in ASC 605, revenue recognition varies by industry and in some cases by transaction, which makes revenue recognition a complex and difficult exercise in many situations.
2. The International Accounting Standards Board (“IASB“)’s International Accounting Standards (“IAS“) provide an international standard for financial statements and accounting. Under the current international revenue recognition rule known as IAS 18, revenue recognition also varies by industry and transaction type, but IAS 18 provides less guidance than ASC 605 making it harder for companies to recognize revenue in a consistent fashion. The IASB is the successor to the International Accounting Standards Council (“IASC“) which originally promulgated the IAS.

Beginning in 2001, the IASB began replacing the IAS with new International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS“). In 2002, the FASB and IASB began collaborating on developing an improved. stronger, more robust, more useful, more consistent revenue recognition standard to make revenue recognition simpler and easier to consistently apply. This collaboration bore fruit 12 years later in May 2014, when the FASB and IASB released a converged revenue recognition standard titled Revenue from Contracts with Customers, codified as ASC 606 by FASB and IFRS 15 by IASB. Since 2014, there have been a few amendments (and implementation delays) by the FASB and IASB, and there have been a few small areas where the standards have diverged (e.g., the definition of what “probable” means). Despite this, for the most part the goal of a unified revenue recognition standard remains intact. These new standards will go into effect in December 2017 (for ASC 606) and January 2018 (for IFRS 15). All this background can be summarized in the following table:

Here’s what you need to know about the new twin revenue recognition standards (for simplicity, this analysis is based on ASC 606):

How Revenue Recognition Works Under ASC 606/IFRS 15

To recognize revenue under the new standard, companies must do 5 things: (1) identify a customer contract, (2) identify the distinct performance obligations under that contract, (3) determine the transaction price (expected revenue), (4) allocate the expected revenue to the performance obligations, and (5) recognize allocated revenue when (or as) each performance obligation is satisfied. As stated in ASC 606, “an entity should recognize revenue to depict the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services.” As we go through each step, keep this visual representation in mind:

Step 1 – Identify the contract(s) with a customer. The first step of the revenue recognition process is to identify a contract, i.e., an agreement creating enforceable rights and obligations among two (or more) parties. A contract must be signed or otherwise approved by the parties, must have identifiable rights and payment terms, have commercial substance, and it must be probable that one party will receive the revenue or other consideration expected from the performance of its obligations (e.g., provision of goods or services). Remember that a contract does not have to be in writing to be considered a contract for revenue recognition purposes – oral or implied contracts may satisfy these requirements.

Step 2 – Identify the contract’s distinct performance obligations. For goods and services contracts, a “performance obligation” is promise to transfer a good or provide a service to another party. A “distinct” performance obligation is one that benefits the recipient alone or with other readily available resources (e.g., delivery of a computer that is usable with power and Internet access obtained separately) and can be identified separately from other obligations under the contract (e.g., a company is delivering 5 computers, delivery of all 5 computers should be combined into a single performance obligation). A series of distinct performance obligations that are substantially similar can still be treated as individual performance obligations (e.g., delivery of a new computer at the start of each quarter during a calendar year, 4 new computers total). In a services agreement such as a SaaS contract, implementation obligations and the provision of services may be separate obligations. A SaaS company may look at its distinct performance obligation as providing a service each day during the term of the Agreement, so each day would be a distinct performance obligation.

Step 3 – Determine the transaction price. The “transaction price” is the expected payment and other consideration to be paid/provided in return for satisfaction of the performance obligations. Financial consideration can usually be grouped into fixed (stated in the contract) vs. variable (contingent on the occurrence or non-occurrence of a future event). For variable consideration, companies should look at the expected value taking into account the potential for changes in the variable payment component. If compensation for a performance obligation will be deferred, and not paid contemporaneously with the satisfaction of the performance obligation, the present value of the deferred compensation should be considered. Non-cash compensation (e.g., bartered goods or services) should be measured at fair value, or if not available the standalone selling price. Other consideration such as coupons or vouchers may need to be deducted from the transaction price. For SaaS companies that use a tiered pricing structure and monthly or annual minimums, calculating the expected revenue can be tricky (e.g., by using a probability-weighted methodology).

Step 4 – Allocate the transaction price to the performance obligations. If your contract has one performance obligation, you’re already done with this step. If not, the next step is to allocate the transaction price among each distinct performance obligation, i.e., to separate the transaction price into each discrete “piece” of consideration a party expects to receive from satisfying the associated performance obligation. This can be done by allocating the standalone selling price (i.e., the price at which the good would be sold separately) to the performance obligation, or where that standalone price is not available, the selling entity should estimate it by utilizing as many observable data points as possible to come up with the best estimate possible. ASC 606 includes examples of estimation methods. If a company provides a discount, the discount should be allocated proportionally among the expected revenue for the performance obligations to which the discount applies.

Step 5 – Recognize allocated revenue when (or as) the performance obligations are satisfied. The final step is to recognize each allocation of the transaction price as each distinct performance obligation is satisfied (i.e., the promised good or service is transferred to the recipient). For physical assets, transfer occurs when the recipient obtains control of the asset. For services, a performance obligation is satisfied when the benefits from the provider’s performance are received and utilized, the provider’s performance creates and/or enhances an asset in the recipient’s control, or the provider’s performance creates a payment right without creating an asset with an alternative use to the recipient (e.g., a company is contractually restricted from using a provided service for other purposes). Performance obligations may be satisfied on a specific date (e.g., for delivery of goods) or over a specific time period (e.g., for delivery of services). If satisfied over a time period, revenue may be recognized based on the progress towards satisfying the performance obligation.

Get Prepared Now

While it may seem like there is plenty of time to prepare for the implementation of the new revenue recognition standard, there’s a lot of work that needs to be done to be ready, including the following:

• Learn the details. It’s important to note that this article represents a very high-level summary of the new revenue recognition standard. Having a more in-depth understanding of the new standard and how it applies to your company and its costing models/contracts is critical. There is an abundance of articles, seminars, and other publicly-available materials available on ASC 606 and IFRS 15. Also, talk with your accounting firm on what they have done as a firm to prepare, and their recommended action plan for your business – they may have some great materials they can provide to get you and your company up to speed.
• A lot of work be done proactively. Conduct a proactive review of existing contracts, contractual obligations, and other revenue sources that may be classified as a “contract” subject to the new revenue recognition standard. Analyze each to determine the distinct performance obligations, and determine the transaction price. Work with your accountants to allocate the transaction price among the performance obligations.
• Review (and update if necessary) contract templates. Accounting should partner with Legal and Sales to review sales proposal templates and contract templates describing or creating performance obligations. Review all standard variations of pricing offered to clients to identify any issues under the new revenue recognition standards. Consider whether warranties, returns language, or other contractual terms create distinct performance obligations and how they can be satisfied. Make any updates as necessary to ensure your templates align with the new standards going forward.
• Create a plan. Assign a resource to manage the process of preparing for the new standard. Consider creating a cross-departmental group to meet regularly to discuss progress and assign tasks. Consider what internal education will need to be done to prepare employees and groups for the new standard, what changes to internal or third party systems may be required, what additional disclosure requirements may be required, whether internal policies will need to be updated or created, and what changes may be needed to internal processes. Secure the support of executive sponsors, such as the CFO and CEO. If you have personnel who were involved in rolling out SOX compliance in the early 2000s, talk to them about lessons learned to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past.

Eric Lambert is Assistant General Counsel and Privacy Officer at CommerceHub, a leading cloud services provider helping retailers and brands increase sales and delight shoppers through supply solutions to expand product assortment, demand solutions to promote and sell products on the channels that perform, and delivery solutions to enable rapid, on-time customer delivery. Any opinions in this post are his own. This post does not constitute, nor should it be construed as, legal advice. Eric works primarily from his home office outside of Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is a technophile and Internet evangelist/enthusiast. In his spare time, Eric dabbles in voice-over work and implementing and integrating connected home technologies.