In the last couple of years, I have witnessed several of my private company clients reorganize their operations, through either a merger, an acquisition or a significant management member buyout. While such situations provide a great stage for all to display their accounting chops, they also present us an opportunity to consult with our clients and help them avoid an accounting faux pas or burdensome and unnecessary disclosures caused by an inadvertent accounting election. So, in no specific order, I thought I would summarize some of the unique accounting issues I’ve encountered in such situations and how to navigate them: (more…)
CPAs Talk Tech Biz
Revenue Recognition Update – Step 5: Recognizing Revenue When (Or As) the Entity Satisfies a Performance Obligation
After all the research and analysis put in working through the prior four steps, you are now able to begin the process for recognizing revenue for the transaction price (Step 3) which has been allocated to each performance obligation (Step 4).
Each performance obligation identified in Step 2 can be satisfied by either the transfer of a promised good or by performing a service to the customer. This distinction will be the main driver for the next decision that needs to be made, and that is, whether the revenue needs to be recorded over time or at a point in time. For a good majority of the identified performance obligations, a good or service will be transferred/consumed over a period of time and therefore revenue would be recognized over that same time period. ASC 606 has helped in this analysis by providing guidance, so to recognize revenue over time, one of the following criteria needs to be met: (more…)
Revenue Recognition Update – Step 4: Allocating Transaction Price to Performance Obligations
If you have been following Steps 1 (Identify the Contract with the Customer) through 3 (Determining a Transaction Price), of the revenue recognition update as eagerly as I have, then I am sure that you keenly await the discussion on Step 4 about the allocation of the transaction price to the performance obligations in a contract. The wait is over as we explore Step 4 in this blog post. A couple key concepts that we need to understand in this process: the allocation objective and standalone selling price. (more…)
Revenue Recognition Update – Step 3: Determine a Transaction Price
Now that all of the performance obligations (Step 2) of the contract have been separately identified, it’s time to determine a transaction price. Seems easy, right?
ASC 606 defines the transaction price as “the amount of consideration to which an entity expects to be entitled in exchange for transferring promised goods or services to a customer, excluding amounts collected on behalf of third parties (for example, some sales taxes).” On the surface this sounds like an easy step for your entity to identify the price you are selling a product for, but in practice we know that not all transaction prices are fixed at the onset of the contract. When calculating the transaction price, an entity needs to consider all of the following: (more…)
Revenue Recognition Update - Step 2: Identify Performance Obligations
To continue the discussion of the ASC 606, Step 2 of the revenue recognition process requires examining what the seller has promised to do for the customer, and if there are multiple promises, whether these promises should be accounted for separately or combined. This examination determines the performance obligations which are the basis for the revenue recognition. (more…)
Revenue Recognition Update - Step 1: Identify the Contract with the Customer)
Revenue recognition is getting a lot of attention since ASC Topic 606 “Revenue from Contracts with Customers” was first issued in 2014. Since that date, we have had several posts on our blog that focus on some of the details and changes related to the new standard. As we get closer to implementation, it is time to take a closer look. (more…)
Debt Issuance Costs – Accounting Presentation Rules Demystified
“Debt issuance costs” are costs incurred that would not have been incurred had not an entity procured a new debt instrument – in other words, incremental costs directly related to the new financing. The FASB Accounting Standards Codification (ASC), interestingly, does not define “debt issuance costs”, although the FASB issued two Accounting Standards Updates (ASUs) in 2015 related to presentation of debt issuance costs, with effective dates for nonpublic companies for financial statements covering fiscal years ended in December 2016 or later. (more…)
CA Competes Credit
CA Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development reminds businesses about upcoming August 21st deadline for applications for California Competes Tax Credit.
The California Competes Tax Credit is an income tax credit available to businesses who want to come, stay, or grow in California.
Tax credit agreements are negotiated by Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) and approved by a statutorily created “California Competes Tax Credit Committee,” consisting of the State Treasurer, the Director of the Department of Finance, the Director of GO-Biz, and one appointee each by the Speaker of the Assembly and Senate Committee on Rules.
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FAQs on Related Party Transactions
As we enter into another audit busy season, I have started my standard exercise of compiling a list of frequently encountered audit and accounting issues that require research, additional analysis and often times detailed disclosures and even material adjustments to my client’s financials. An oft-recurring theme is the existence of related party transactions and how such transactions are recorded and disclosed.
Below are a few frequently asked questions on this subject that merit our attention: (more…)