If you’re reading this, you’re already well aware the FASB took the necessary baby steps last week toward a one-year delay to start the new revenue recognition guidelines.

An eagerly awaited solution, to be sure. However, as procedural next steps play out toward an official decision, you’re likely left wondering whether this extra year to prepare is good or bad for your company.

So, in the interest of being all things to everyone in the revenue recognition space, we here at Zuora RevPro can answer with authority that yes, it is.

Consider the following:

The Glass Half Full (or, How an Extra Year to Prepare is Beneficial)

1. You’ve been given more time to go seek out additional buy-in and commitment from a previously unengaged leadership group
2. You have additional time to get the right cross-functional team fully engaged
3. You have more time to put the right systems and processes in place
4. The extra year may mean you won’t need to eliminate items from the scope of your company’s implementation plan
5. There’s more time to meet with industry peers for collaborative discussion and education on the new guidelines
6. The extra time might open the door for an opportunity to implement new revenue management tools

The Glass Half Empty (Or, How an Extra Year to Prepare is Detrimental)

1. This longer transitional period equates to additional costs and effort
2. The extension could cause folks to slow down or, even worse, hit the pause button on a project which had been gathering momentum, executive support and budgetary attention for the necessary system and process changes
3. The extra time could cause external forces to create unrealistic expectations and quite possibly heap additional duties upon a revenue team struggling to meet the original goals of the implementation plan
4. You now have the challenge of maintaining the status quo for an extra year while your business grows and changes yet leadership is unwilling to fund associated changes viewed as short-term or throwaway

Plenty to think about on both sides of the ledger when it comes to the extra time likely to be handed to you and your revenue team. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.