Few things matter more to companies than revenue. It keeps salespeople and CFOs up late at night and keeps accountants busy. So you can imagine the concern some felt when a financial rule-making body said it wanted to change the way revenue is calculated in financial statements. RALPH LIBERATOSCIOLI spoke to LI Business News about revenue recognition changes.
The Financial Accounting Standards Board had plans to require companies that use Generally Accepted Accounting Principles or GAAP for financial statements to adopt a new system as of Dec. 15, 2017. But after stream of public comments expressing dissatisfaction, FASB now says it wants to delay the new rules until 2018.
“The public started looking at it along with the companies affected and the accountants, “said Ralph Liberatoscioli, a partner at Nussbaum Yates Berg Klein & Wolpow in Melville. “They determined this is going to be a huge undertaking.”
“It’s not ready,” Liberatoscioli said of software needed to calculate revenue. “That’s one reason they’re postponing it. Each company has to develop their own internal systems to capture the information that’s needed.