Technical consensus is starting to gel on certain aspects of the new revenue recognition accounting requirements taking effect in 2018, but the answers are still not nearly as cut and dried as traditional, rule-following accountants might like.
At the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Office of the Chief Accountant is taking questions on literally every step of the new five-step process that all companies must follow beginning in January for determining when and in what amounts to recognize revenue in financial statements. A good number of the questions are focused on identifying performance obligations contained in contracts with customers, which is the second step of the five-step method.
