Telecom revenue recognition issues explored in FinREC drafts

Two new working drafts issued by the AICPA Financial Reporting Executive Committee (FinREC) discuss considerations and illustrative examples of industry-specific transactions for telecommunications entities implementing the new revenue recognition standard.

The AICPA is developing a new revenue recognition guide that will provide nonauthoritative guidance as organizations implement FASB Accounting Standards Update No. 2014-09, Revenue From Contracts With Customers.

FinREC has issued several working drafts of issues that will be included in the new guide and is requesting informal feedback on the drafts. The AICPA announced Monday that it is seeking feedback on the working drafts of two revenue recognition implementation issues related to telecommunications entities:

• Issue #15-1: Portfolio Accounting.
• Issue #15-4: Accounting for Contract Costs.

Comments can be emailed to Desiré Carroll at dcarroll@aicpa.org by Oct. 1.

FinREC has issued numerous working drafts related to the revenue recognition standard, including nine in November and an additional group in July.

More information on the status of implementation issues is available on the AICPA website.

The new revenue recognition standard was issued in May 2014, with FASB and the International Accounting Standards Board subsequently working on a number of clarifying changes to the standard. Public entities are required to adopt the standard for annual and interim reporting periods beginning after Dec. 15, 2017, and nonpublic entities are required to adopt it for annual reporting periods beginning after Dec. 15, 2018.

More resources are available at the AICPA’s revenue recognition webpage.

—Ken Tysiac (ktysiac@aicpa.org) is a JofA editorial director.