Financial Accounting Issues

In 2014, after years of deliberations, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (the FASB) and the International Accounting Standards Board (the IASB) jointly issued the Accounting Standard Update (ASU) No. 2014-09 (codified primarily in ASC 606) and IFRS 15, respectively. ASC 606, the new revenue standard, replaces virtually all (including industry-specific) U.S. GAAP revenue guidance with a single model. The standard does not just change the amounts and timing of revenue but potentially affects organizations’ financial statements, business processes, and internal control over financial reporting. The standard also affects other related accounting topics such as contract modification, rights of return, licensing, principal-versus-agent considerations, and income tax. Moreover, the standard creates new and expanded disclosure requirements.

In light of the revenue standard, organizations need to reassess their current revenue accounting processes and systems and implement changes required to maintain compliance with the new guidance. This course series reorganizes the guidance contained in ASC 606, to follow the five-step revenue recognition model along with other guidance impacted by this standard. It also provides examples to illustrate the application. The course is designed to help you navigate the complexities of this standard, identify the implications of it, and prepare for implementation. It also shares insights to help you evaluate the effect of required changes to the internal control environment. It provides a working knowledge of the fundamentals of revenue standard that can be applied, regardless of the company size, in the real world.

Part 2 of this course series covers the revenue recognition model that applies to nearly all types of revenue-generating transactions. It includes a detailed discussion of each step of the model and provides examples to illustrate the application.

Learning Objectives: