Reasons for issuing the IFRS
IN4 Revenue is an important number to users of financial statements in assessing an
entity’s financial performance and position. However, previous revenue
recognition requirements in International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)
differed from those in US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (US GAAP)
and both sets of requirements were in need of improvement. Previous revenue
recognition requirements in IFRS provided limited guidance and, consequently,
the two main revenue recognition Standards, IAS 18 and IAS 11, could be
difficult to apply to complex transactions. In addition, IAS 18 provided limited
guidance on many important revenue topics such as accounting for
multiple-element arrangements. In contrast, US GAAP comprised broad revenue
recognition concepts together with numerous revenue requirements for
particular industries or transactions, which sometimes resulted in different
accounting for economically similar transactions.
IN5 Accordingly, the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and the US
national standard-setter, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB),
initiated a joint project to clarify the principles for recognising revenue and to
develop a common revenue standard for IFRS and US GAAP that would:
(a) remove inconsistencies and weaknesses in previous revenue
requirements;
(b) provide a more robust framework for addressing revenue issues;
(c) improve comparability of revenue recognition practices across entities,
industries, jurisdictions and capital markets;
(d) provide more useful information to users of financial statements
through improved disclosure requirements; and
(e) simplify the preparation of financial statements by reducing the number
of requirements to which an entity must refer.
IN6 IFRS 15, together with Topic 606 that was introduced into the FASB Accounting
Standards Codification® by Accounting Standards Update 2014-09 Revenue from
Contracts with Customers (Topic 606), completes the joint effort by the IASB and the
FASB to meet those objectives and improve financial reporting by creating a
common revenue recognition standard for IFRS and US GAAP.