Companies now have new guidance on how to account for the costs of implementing certain cloud computing service arrangements.
The Financial Accounting Standards Board issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2018-15 to revise guidance in a narrow area of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles that addresses the accounting for intangible items in financial statements. The board learned that existing rules were not explicit on how to account for fees paid by a customer in a cloud computing or hosting arrangement that includes a software license, which led to companies developing different approaches. FASB’s Emerging Issues Task Force researched the issue and recommended the solution that the board ultimately adopted.
