From 1 July 2008 IFRIC 13 becomes mandatory in Australia, requiring a
standardised deferred revenue treatment to account for a plethora of
Customer Loyalty Programmes (CLP). This paper highlights the diverse
views of appropriate classification, and the ambiguities faced by those
accounting for CLP. A text based analysis of documents pertaining to
IFRIC 13 shows the International Financial Reporting Interpretations
Committee (IFRIC) to be committed to a principles based approach in
making its interpretation. While IFRIC members were responsive to the
concerns of interested parties, they were not subservient to the ensuing
lobbying process.