![]() |
|---|
| Home Site Map Standards Interpretations Agenda Structure Newsletter Resources Jurisdictions Links Search |
|
|---|
| IAS 18 Revenue Recognition Customer Contributions |
|---|
Go To List of IFRIC Issues
Issue Description: How should a utility or other company account for the receipt of customer contributions? Such contributions arise because the customer is required to contribute an asset (or cash towards the construction or acquisition of an asset) that is then used to provide access to an ongoing supply of goods or services to the customer. Discussion at IFRIC Meeting July 2007 The IFRIC noted that this issue could potentially apply to a diverse set of arrangements and raised the concern that considering all such arrangements could make the scope too broad for interpretation purposes. Therefore, the IFRIC decided to approach to the issue in a number of stages. At this meeting the IFRIC discussed situations in which a customer contributes an item of property, plant and equipment to a service provider. The Chairman noted that after having reached a conclusion on the treatment of property, plant and equipment the IFRIC would debate whether the scope can be widened to other assets. The staff analysis considered the following:
Has an asset transfer occurred? The IFRIC tentatively decided that only contributed items of property, plant and equipment that meet the criteria for recognition as assets of the service provider should be in the scope of any Interpretation. Therefore, the entity receiving the assets should first consider whether it is required to recognise the asset in its financial statements. In particular, it should consider whether it can obtain the future economic benefits flowing from the asset and can restrict the access of others to those benefits, and whether it has control over those assets. In a second step the entity should assess whether the provision of the ongoing service to the customer contains a lease in accordance with IFRIC 4. If so, the entity should account for the lease of the asset to the customer in accordance with IAS 17 Leases. The staff was directed to prepare a revised paper for discussion at the next meeting. Is IAS 20 an appropriate accounting standard to use to account for a contributed asset? The IFRIC unanimously concluded that it is not appropriate to consider customer contribution as being similar to government grants. Should the asset received be measured at cost or fair value on initial recognition? The IFRIC tentatively agreed that the contributed asset should be recognised initially at fair value since the contribution is part of an exchange of assets, that is, that it is not a unilateral transaction. In the IFRIC's view, in return for the contributed asset the customer may receive an access right to receive an ongoing service and/or an executory contract to receive a supply of goods and/or an ongoing service. There seemed to be a consensus that recognition at fair value should be applied irrespective of how the entity accounts for the credit record. In addition it was noted that the fair value should be determined from the view of the utility company/service provider. How should any resulting credit should be accounted for? The IFRIC discussed two views: View 1: The credit does not represent a liability or an equity contribution but instead gives rise to income. View 2: The credit represents a liability which should be recorded as a liability and recognised over the life of the ongoing service. The IFRIC had a thorough debate and mixed views were expressed. There seemed to be a consensus that the credit does not represent an equity contribution but that this issue exclusively relates to the allocation of income. The IFRIC acknowledged that the accounting for the credit depends on the contractual arrangements; in particular:
One IFRIC member pointed out that in both cases the accounting principle should be to 'spread the income' over the service period but that this period might be 'zero' in some circumstances. No decisions were made but the staff was asked to bring back a paper considering the views expressed at this meeting. In particular, the paper should include indicators for upfront recognition and deferral of income. Discussion at the September 2007 IFRIC Meeting The IFRIC continued their discussion of the accounting for non-cash distributions (See July 2007 IASPlus report). The discussion at this meeting concentrated on the following issues:
How to account for the receipt of customer contributions The staff presented a flowchart illustrating the approach agreed at the July meeting:
With regard to step 1 the IFRIC decided not to provide detailed guidance on the notion of control of an item of PPE. Any Interpretation should reference to the existing guidance in IFRSs and just point out the key factors. Regarding step 2 the IFRIC decided that such assessment should be made with reference to IFRIC 4 Determining whether an Arrangement contains a Lease. The IFRIC then discussed the accounting implications of the three accounting models arising from this approach. (For a detailed analysis and illustrative examples we refer to Agenda Papers 4A and the Appendix to Agenda Paper 4 available on the IASB website). Contributions with no lease back In this case the PPE is initially recognised on the balance sheet at fair value with a corresponding liability. The PPE is depreciated over its useful economic life. The obligation is recognised in income on a basis that reflects the provision of access to the ongoing services provided, that is, over the service period. Contributions with an operating lease back The only difference to contributions with no lease back is that part of the revenue arises from rental income rather than from the provision of a service. Contributions with a finance lease back The IFRIC believed that in this case no item of PPE has been transferred (step 1) and the transaction would therefore be outside the scope. The IFRIC reaffirmed its tentative decision at the July 2007 meeting that PPE transferred by the contributor should be recorded at fair value in the financial statements of the service provider unless the application of IFRIC 4 results in a finance lease back. Estimating the duration of the ongoing service (service period) In July 2007 the IFRIC noted that the service provider would need to assess whether the contribution resulted in any ongoing obligation. If so, this obligation should be recognised in the balance sheet and the contribution should be recognised in income over the periods in which the obligation is satisfied. The IFRIC had a lengthy discussion and mixed views were expressed. The following questions were raised:
With regard to the first two issues, some IFRIC members noted that in some jurisdictions industries are regulated (for example, energy suppliers) and therefore the obligation to grant access could be considered to be perpetual. Others mentioned that the legal contract period may be unreasonably short compared to the expected life of the service contract. Regarding the third issue some believed that there would be no further obligation in cases where the service provider is only required to grant initial access to the asset. Other IFRIC members were concerned about full revenue recognition on day 1 as, in their view, it does not appear reasonable that an item of PPE is contributed and the other party 'is obliged to do nothing'. No decisions were made; however, there was a consensus that the service period should not exceed the useful life of the PPE. The staff was directed to include in the draft Interpretation indicators how the revenue arising from the credit entry should be allocated to future periods taking into account the views and concerns expressed at this meeting. The draft Interpretation should also identify the different types of performance obligations that may arise. Potential extensions of the scope The IFRIC tentatively decided to extend the scope to contributions of PPE or cash which is contributed for the construction or acquisition of specific items of PPE. The IFRIC intends to discuss a draft Interpretation reflecting these decisions at the next meeting. Discussion at the November 2007 IFRIC Meeting Cash contributions In September 2007 the IFRIC agreed to extend the scope of its customer contributions project to include cash contributions. Such contributions arise when a customer contributes cash to a supplier. As a result of receiving the cash, the supplier is required to construct or acquire an item of property, plant and equipment that is then used to supply goods or services to the customer. The property, plant and equipment is an asset of the supplier. However, the ongoing service arrangement may contain a lease of the asset to the customer. In deciding to include cash contributions in its project on customer contributions, the IFRIC agreed that the contribution of cash has a similar economic effect to the contribution of an item of property, plant and equipment. The two should therefore result in similar accounting consequences. The IFRIC considered how cash contributions should be accounted for by the entity receiving them. In determining how an entity should account for the receipt of a cash contribution, the IFRIC considered 5 possible approaches:
A number of IFRIC members expressed concern with the double recognition of revenue in Approach 5 and queried how customer contributions could be conceptually distinguished from the requirements of IFRIC 12. One IFRIC member noted that the distinction was that when a customer contribution occurs it is the operator that ends up with the asset. The IFRIC noted that the treatment of customer contributions ultimately will be dependent on specific facts and circumstances. The IFRIC tentatively agreed (none objected) to support Approach 1. Draft Interpretation In September 2007 the IFRIC asked the staff to develop a draft Interpretation on customer contributions. The staff presented the draft Interpretation to the IFRIC. The IFRIC considered the following issues as outlined in Agenda Paper 4A:
The IFRIC directed staff to redraft the Draft Interpretation to reflect the decisions made and other editorial comments and re-circulate to IFRIC prior to release. The Draft Interpretation will not be discussed at another meeting prior to its release. January 2008: Draft Interpretation D24 On 17 January 2008, IFRIC issued for public comment Draft Interpretation D24 - Customer Contributions. Comment deadline is 25 April 2008. Comment at the March 2008 IFRIC Meeting The IFRIC Co-ordinator indicated that the comment letter analysis for draft Interpretation D24 Customer Contributions will be discussed at the July 2008 IFRIC meeting.
|
![]() |
![]() |