APPENDIX C
(FASB ASC TOPIC 606)
Selected illustrative examples from the AICPA Audit and Accounting Guide:
Construction Contractors - July 1, 2018
>> Example 11-2-1 (Performance Obligations)
E&C Corporation (the contractor) has entered into a contract with State Transit Authority (the customer) to design and construct
a commuter rail line and maintain this line along with other lines that are already operational. The maintenance services consist of
regularly scheduled maintenance of the rail lines. The design and construction work is expected to take five years to complete…
the maintenance portion of the contract will continue for 20 years. E&C Corporation determines that there are two performance
obligations in this contract: (1) the design and construction activity and (2) the maintenance activity, which is a series of distinct
services in accordance with FASB ASC 606-10-25-14(b).
>> Example 11-3-1 (Variable Consideration)
A contract is negotiated with a fixed price plus an award fee that is tied directly to delivery by a specific date. The entity
has subcontracted a portion of the work. The entity estimates that it will achieve the award fee because the contract is not
considered complex, the subcontractor has delivered on similar timelines in the past, and both the entity and the subcontractor
currently estimate completion up to six-months prior to the specified date. In this instance, the entity determines that the
expected value method may not provide a predictive estimate of the variable consideration because the contract has only two
possible outcomes. The entity’s estimate of the total transaction price is therefore the sum total of the fixed price plus the award
fee as the most likely consideration amount.
>> Example 11-3-2 (Variable Consideration)
An entity contracts to build a solar energy plant for a customer and receives an incentive fee from the customer that varies
depending on the objectively determinable key performance indicators associated with energy savings over a one-year period.
The entity has extensive experience determining energy savings under various conditions that impact solar energy. To estimate
the incentive fee, management calculates the expected value by using the data conditions. The entity believes that the estimate
determined using this expected value method is predictive of the amount to which it will be entitled because of the wide range of
possible outcomes.
>> Example 11-5-2 (Recognition)
A heavy construction equipment company enters into a contract to provide routine maintenance for a fleet of heavy construction
equipment for equal monthly payments over 24 months of service. The company’s performance on this contract (as evidenced
by costs incurred) occurs evenly over the period. The company may consider a time-based method, such as straight-line revenue
recognition, to be a reasonable depiction of the amount of the entity’s performance and transfer of control of the services to the
customer because the efforts are expended evenly throughout the performance period (and not because the same amount is
paid to the company each month).
CONTRACTOR’S REMINDER CHECKLIST | 5