The Rea Report Fall 2019 | Page 9

RECOGNIZE YOUR REVENUE IN 5 STEPS B U S I N E S S E S T H AT F I L E G A A P F I N A N C I A L S TAT E M E N T S M U S T TA K E T H E F O L L O W I N G S T E P S T O R E C O G N I Z E R E V E N U E : STEP 1: Identify your contracts with customers. These contracts may be writ- ten, oral or implied and should outline the answers regarding who, what and how much. STEP 2: Identify your performance obli- gations. A single contract can have more than one performance obligation and each performance obligation must be considered. For example, if a customer purchases an item from your online store and you offer free shipping, your perfor- mance obligation would be 1) the item and 2) shipping costs. STEP 4: Allocate the transaction price to performance obligations. If you have multiple performance obligations, be sure that your transaction price accom- modates each performance obligation on a standalone basis. STEP 5: Recognize revenue. Your com- pany’s revenue will be recognized at a point in time determined by the contract. This might be when a good or service is transferred to the customer. Or in the case of a construction project, for ex- ample, as performance obligations are completed. STEP 3: Determine the transaction price. You’ll need to figure out the price of a product after the application of any dis- counts, the time value associated, the cost of non-cash items and other amounts that may be payable to the customer. Visit www.reacpa.com/episode-196 and listen to episode 196, “Revenue Recognition: Are You Doing It Wrong?” on unsuitable on Rea Radio to learn even more about the new standard from Chris and Katie.