IASB seeks feedback on possible revenue recognition delay

The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) on Tuesday published its proposal to delay by one year the effective date of the new revenue recognition standard.

Upon issuing the standard jointly with the US Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) in May 2014, the IASB set an effective date of January 1st 2017. But discussions of implementation difficulties with the boards’ joint transition resource group have led the boards to decide to propose targeted amendments to assist financial statement preparers in implementation.

The discussion led the boards to propose the delay; the IASB’s new effective date for IFRS 15, Revenue From Contracts With Customers, would be January 1st 2018 if the delay is approved. Early application would be permitted.

The IASB is seeking comments on the proposed delay. Comments, which are due July 3rd, can be submitted at the IFRS website. Feedback is scheduled to be considered at the IASB’s meeting in July, when the board plans to decide whether to change the effective date.

In addition, the IASB plans to issue an exposure draft of targeted amendments to the revenue recognition standard, which will include clarifying some of its requirements and adding illustrative examples to assist implementation.

Last week, FASB issued an exposure draft with proposed amendments that are different in some respects from those that the IASB is set to propose.

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