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FASB formally proposes deferring revenue recognition effective date
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FASB agrees to propose revenue recognition standard delay
FASB issued a proposed Accounting Standards Update on Wednesday that would delay the effective date of the new, converged revenue recognition standard by one year.
The board voted April 1 to issue the proposal, Revenue From Contracts With Customers (Topic 606): Deferral of the Effective Date, which seeks public comments by May 29. The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) voted Tuesday to propose a similar delay, and its exposure draft is expected to be issued in May.
Under FASB’s proposal, public organizations would be required to apply the new revenue recognition standard to annual reporting periods beginning after Dec. 15, 2017. Nonpublic organizations would be required to apply the new standard to annual reporting periods beginning after Dec. 15, 2018.
Public organizations would apply the new standard to interim reporting periods within annual reporting periods beginning after Dec. 15, 2017. This means that a public organization would be required to apply the new standard beginning in the first interim period within the year of adoption.
Meanwhile, nonpublic organizations would apply the new standard to interim reporting periods within annual reporting periods beginning after Dec. 15, 2019. This means that a nonpublic organization would not be required to apply the new revenue standard in interim periods within the year of adoption.
Early application would be permitted for both public and nonpublic organizations as of the standard’s original public organization effective date. Comments can be submitted at FASB’s website.
FASB members agreed to propose the deferral after financial statement preparers requested more time for implementation. A May 2014 issuance date that was several months behind schedule played a role in the delay, as did amendments that FASB and the IASB are making to the standard through their joint transition resource group’s review and feedback process.
—Ken Tysiac (ktysiac@aicpa.org) is a JofA editorial director.
