2.3 REVENUE FROM CONTRACTS WITH CUSTOMERS
The guidance for recognition of revenue from contracts with customers (ASC 606) provides a single, principles-based model for all contracts with customers regardless of the industry-specific or transaction-specific fact pattern.
The core principle is that an entity recognizes revenue for the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in the exchange.
This guidance applies to all contracts with customers except the following:
Leases
Financial instruments
Contractual rights and obligations within the scope of specific topics, such as receivables, derivatives and hedging, insurance, and guarantees (other than product or service warranties)
Nonmonetary exchanges between entities in the same line of business to facilitate sales to customers or potential customers
Below is the five-step model for recognizing revenue from contracts with customers.
Step 1: Identify the contract(s) with a customer.
Step 2: Identify the performance obligations in the contract.
Step 3: Determine the transaction price.
Step 4: Allocate the transaction price to the performance obligations in the contract.
Step 5: Recognize revenue when (or as) a performance obligation is satisfied.
Step 1: Identify the Contract with a Customer
A contract is an agreement between two or more parties that creates enforceable rights and obligations.
A contract is accounted for under ASC 606 if all of the following criteria are met:
The contract was approved by the parties.
The contract has commercial substance.
Each party’s rights can be identified regarding
Goods or services to be transferred and
The payment terms.
It is probable that the entity will collect substantially all of the consideration to which it is entitled according to the contract.
Probable means the future event is likely to occur.
If the criteria described above are not met (e.g., if collectibility cannot be reliably estimated), the consideration received is recognized as a liability, and no revenue is recognized until the criteria are met.
However, even when the criteria described above are not met, revenue in the amount of nonrefundable consideration received from the customer is recognized if at least one of the following has occurred:
The contract has been terminated.
Control over the goods or services was transferred to the customer and the entity has stopped transferring (and has no obligation to transfer) additional goods or services to the customer.
The entity (1) has no obligation to transfer goods or services and (2) has received substantially all consideration from the customer.
A contract modification exists when the parties approve a change in the scope or price of a contract.
It is accounted for as a separate contract if the following conditions are met:
The scope of the contract increases because of the addition of promised goods or services that are distinct, and
The price of the contract increases by an amount of consideration that reflects the entity’s standalone selling prices of the additional promised goods or services.
Step 2: Identify the Performance Obligations in the Contract
A performance obligation is a promise in a contract with a customer to transfer to the customer
A good or service that is distinct or
A series of distinct goods or services that are substantially the same and have the same pattern of transfer to the customer.
Promised goods or services are distinct if
The customer can benefit from them either on their own or together with other resources that are readily available (capable of being distinct) and
The entity’s promise to transfer them to the customer is separately identifiable from other promises in the contract (distinct within the context of the contract). A separately identifiable good or service
Does not significantly modify or customize another good or service promised in the contract and
Is not highly dependent on, or highly interrelated with, other goods or services promised in the contract.
Customer options to acquire additional goods or services for free or at a discount have many forms, such as sales incentives, coupons, customer award points, or other discounts on future goods or services.
When the option to acquire additional goods or services (e.g., a coupon or discount voucher) provides a material right to the customer, it results in a separate performance obligation in the contract.
A material right is an option that the customer would not receive without entering into that contract. An example is a discount in addition to the range of discounts typically given for those goods or services.
But an option to acquire an additional good or service at a price that reflects its standalone selling price does not provide a material right.
Step 3: Determine the Transaction Price
The transaction price is the amount of consideration to which an entity expects to be entitled in exchange for transferring promised goods or services to a customer.
It excludes amounts collected on behalf of third parties (e.g., sales taxes).
Any consideration payable to the customer, such as coupons, credits, or vouchers, reduces the transaction price.
To determine the transaction price, an entity should consider the effects of the time value of money and variable consideration.
The revenue recognized must reflect the price that a customer would have paid for the promised goods or services if the cash payment had been made when they were transferred to the customer (i.e., the cash selling price).
Thus, the transaction price is adjusted for the effect of the time value of money when the contract includes a significant financing component.
The following factors should be considered in assessing whether a contract includes a significant financing component:
The difference between
The cash selling price of the promised goods or services and
The amount of consideration to be received
The combined effect of
The expected time between the payment and the delivery of the promised goods or services and
Market interest rates
The transaction price should not be adjusted for the effect of the time value of money if
The time between the payment and the delivery of the promised goods or services to the customer is 1 year or less
The customer paid in advance and the transfer of goods or services is at the discretion of the customer
An example is a bill-and-hold contract in which the seller provides storage services for goods it sold to the buyer.
A substantial amount of the consideration promised is variable and its amount or timing varies with future circumstances that are not within the control of the entity or the customer
An example is consideration in the form of a sales-based royalty.
Interest income or expense is recognized using the effective interest method.
It must be presented in the income statement separately from revenue from contracts with customers.
Example 2-10Significant Financing Component
On January 1, Year 1, BIF Co. sold and transferred a machine to a customer for $583,200 that is payable on December 31, Year 2. Other customers pay $500,000 upon delivery of the same machine at contract inception. The cost of the machine to BIF is $400,000. BIF determined that the contract includes a significant financing component because of the difference between the consideration ($583,200) and the cash selling price ($500,000). The contract includes an implicit interest rate of 8%. The following entries are recorded by BIF:
January 1, Year 1
Accounts receivable $500,000 Cost of goods sold $400,000
Revenue $500,000 Machine inventory $400,000
December 31, Year 1
Accounts receivable ($500,000 × 8%) $40,000
Interest income $40,000
December 31, Year 2
Accounts receivable ($540,000 × 8%) $43,200 Cash $583,200
Interest income $43,200 Accounts receivable $583,200
Example 2-11Significant Financing Component -- Advance Payment
On January 1, Year 1, Eva Co. received a payment of $100,000 for delivering a machine to a customer at the end of Year 2. The cost of the machine to Eva is $70,000. Eva determined that (1) the contract includes a significant financing component and (2) a financing rate of 10% is an appropriate discount rate. The following entries are recorded by Eva:
January 1, Year 1 December 31, Year 1
Cash $100,000 Interest expense ($100,000 × 10%) $10,000
Contract liability $100,000 Contract liability $10,000
December 31, Year 2
Interest expense ($110,000 × 10%) $11,000 Contract liability $121,000
Contract liability $11,000 Revenue $121,000
Cost of goods sold 70,000
Machine inventory 70,000
Variable Consideration
If a contract includes a variable amount, an entity must estimate the consideration to which it will be entitled in exchange for transferring the promised goods or services to a customer. For example, the contract price may vary because of the following:
Refunds due to a right of return provided to customers (Study Unit 6, Subunit 1)
Prompt payment discounts (Study Unit 5, Subunit 1)
Volume discounts
Other uncertainties in contract price based on the occurrence or nonoccurrence of some future event
Variable consideration is estimated using one of the following methods:
The expected value is the sum of probability-weighted amounts in the range of possible consideration amounts. This method may provide an appropriate estimate if an entity has many contracts with similar characteristics.
The most likely amount is the single most likely amount in a range of possible consideration amounts. This method may provide an appropriate estimate if the contract has only two possible outcomes. For example, a construction entity either will receive a performance bonus for finishing construction on time or will not.
The estimated transaction price must be updated at the end of each reporting period.
Constraint. Revenue from variable consideration is recognized only to the extent that it is probable that a significant reversal will not occur when the uncertainty associated with the variable consideration is subsequently resolved.