Revenue Recognition Guide (2012)

Revenue is the top line in the income statement and one of the most important figures to both preparers and users of financial statements. It is also one of the most difficult numbers in the financial statements to get right. Revenue Recognition Guide is a comprehensive reference manual covering the key concepts and issues that arise in determining when and how to recognize revenue. It covers the litany of existing authoritative literature related to revenue recognition and clarifies those revenue recognition concepts that are vague.

For issues not addressed in the accounting literature, this Guide provides suggested accounting treatments that are consistent with general revenue recognition concepts and principles.

This edition has been updated to reflect the FASB Accounting Standards Codification (TM) pronouncements/topics to help you quick locate the information you need in the way that you prefer accessing it.

The Guide also provides examples of key points, includes excerpts from the financial statements of public companies, illustrating key concepts and judgments, and discusses revenue recognition projects on the agendas of the various accounting standard-setters.

Revenue Recognition Guide is organized into 13 chapters. Within these chapters, a number of Observations and Practice Pointers highlight key consequences of the accounting guidance and identifies issues to watch for when dealing with certain revenue transactions. SEC Registrant Alerts highlights issues that the SEC is particularly focused on, as well as additional guidance provided by the SEC beyond the guidance typically followed by non-public companies.

To facilitate research, the text includes references to pertinent paragraphs of the authoritative literature addressing key points.

Material can be located several ways: the Cross-Reference lists show the chapter in which a particular pronouncement is discussed; the Index provides a quick page reference based on topic.