Surprise! Everyone is Talking About New Revenue Rules

August 9, 2016

To be filed under the heading of “Better Late Than Never,” it appears a lot of folks are talking about the new revenue recognition rules. Now.

Some of us have been talking about it for a while.

….but we digress

A recent article in Investor’s Business Daily takes an in-depth look at the ripple effects of the guidance overhaul announced in 2014 and effective in 2018 or fiscal 2019, which, surprisingly, has been slow to come about as the overwhelming talking point everyone expected, until recently.

Titled “Why Everyone From AT&T To Disney And Microsoft Is Bracing For Revenue Rule,” with quotes from PwC, KPMG and the SEC in addition to Leeyo, the piece delves into specifics of the impact of these changes across various industry verticals, from department to department and how seismically things are altered from accounting habits today.

“The new revenue recognition standard is one of the biggest accounting events we’ve ever seen,” said Dusty Stallings, a partner at accounting giant PricewaterhouseCoopers, in the article. “It’s going to be a tough exercise for most companies.”

For what is being tabbed as the biggest shake up in accounting standards since the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, this new guidance means companies must reconsider everything from earnings and taxes to bonuses, commissions, buyout decisions and more.

Really shouldn’t have been shoved into the “Better Late Than Never” corner, but, hey, better late than never, right?