,

How the new revenue recognition rules should help global businesses

One of the issues global companies have always faced is how to manage a global sales force in an environment where local accounting rules for revenue recognition vary. Countless times, sales teams have vented to me because U.S. GAAP doesn’t allow us to recognize revenue when IFRS does. My response has always been that accounting rules should inform us, but they don’t define good business. Ultimately, the sales team needs to negotiate the best deal for the company (only one consideration of which might be whether or not we can recognize revenue), and we accountants will advise them on the best way to structure the deal and, ultimately, figure out how to account for it.

The new revenue recognition rules, expected to be issued simultaneously by the FASB and IASB in Q1 2014, will create a new global environment with enhanced comparability across industries and geographies. Global companies will be operating on the same playing field, which should give them some relief. OK, sales guys—time to stop venting and focus on making good business deals.

Judgment is a double-edged sword
The beauty of the proposed new rules is that they allow for judgment. However, that’s a double-edged sword, since filers have abused “judgment” in revenue recognition in the past and caused regulators (the SEC, EITF, AICPA, et al.) to respond by drawing “bright lines” in their issuance of “clarifying literature” (staff accounting bulletins, technical practice aids, EITF interpretations) to provide consistency in accounting and reporting where the FASB hadn’t drawn those lines. It will certainly be interesting to see how well regulators embrace this principles-based approach to accounting for revenue with this complete converged rewrite of international accounting standards.

Under the new revenue recognition rules, the five basic steps for accounting are:

  1. Identifying the contract with the customer. (Yes, sales team, you still need to include all of the deal in the contract. We still don’t like verbal side arrangements.)
  2. Identification of the separate performance obligations in the arrangement. (Similar to current multiple-element arrangement rules, these don’t need to have a price spelled out in the contract.)
  3. Determining the transaction price.
  4. Allocating the transaction price to the separate performance obligations in the contract. (This will require significant judgment, thus the need to thoroughly document the basis for your assumptions.)
  5. Recognition of revenue when each separate performance obligation is delivered.

The latest clarifications from redeliberations have added back a requirement for collectibility to be probable—and note that this is the one minor nonconverged compromise point in the standard; there are minor differences in the FASB and the IASB definitions of “probable.”

For those who aren’t yet familiar with how the new rules will roll out, we are expecting the new standards to be effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2016. For most calendar-year companies that means 2017, and one year later for private companies. With a retrospective presentation of prior periods, companies will be considering and evaluating the new revenue recognition rules for 2015, 2016 and 2017 transactions—which gives them 2014 (one year—next year!) to figure out how they’re going to track this. Alternatively, companies may elect to apply a modified retrospective approach by recording the cumulative effect of the change and providing supplemental disclosures for comparability of prior periods.

Whichever approach companies take, it will be a significant endeavor with complex arrangements. This change will require support from more than just the accounting team. For example:

  • Evaluating and refining IT systems to support the new revenue recognition process and considerations
  • Updating sales team tools and legal business forms
  • Enhancing accounting processes to document the basis for judgments made
  • Designing internal control procedures to address new risks under the new rules

At the end of the day, the global convergence of revenue recognition rules should provide more flexibility in how companies do business. But they don’t remove their responsibility to ensure consistency of accounting and reporting across industries.

Editor’s note: ComplianceWeek interviewed Diana for its article on the new rev rec rules in today’s edition. (Subscription required.)

/by

Friday cocktail: Capital Raise

If the end of Daylight Savings Time has got you down, you might try one of our favorite remedies: the Capital Raise, a citrusy refresher from our 20th Anniversary Cocktail Collection. It packs a subtle punch that will leave you feeling as high and light as the Peruvian Andes—or as if you’d just raised a bunch of money. It also makes a great party punch. For a lower-altitude cooler, try the elegant, pear-infused alcohol-free alternative.

Single cocktail:

  • ¾ oz pineapple gomme syrup
  • ¾ oz fresh-squeezed lemon juice
  • 2 oz Pisco

Shake all ingredients with ice in a cocktail shaker. Strain into a chilled coupe glass. Float a lemon wheel on top.

Punch recipe:

  • 2½ cups pineapple gomme syrup
  • 2½ cups fresh squeezed lemon juice
  • 1 bottle (750ml) Pisco

Mix all ingredients in a punch bowl with an ice block.

Nonalcoholic recipe:

  • Ripe Bartlett pear, peeled and cored
  • ½ oz simple syrup
  • Soda water
  • 2 hard dashes orange bitters
  • 3 small sprigs lemon thyme or mint

Muddle the pear with the simple syrup, orange bitters, and leaves from 2 small sprigs lemon thyme. Add ice and shake vigorously. Use a fine mesh tea strainer to strain over ice into a Collins glass. Top with soda and garnish with a fresh thyme sprig.

Check out the rest of our recipes in our cocktail book. They are also sure to make the pain of cash flow leaks, equity glitches, delayed closes and all manner of finance headaches fade away (briefly). Every one of these drinks has its charms, thanks to the fine mixologists at the Bull Valley Roadhouse in Port Costa, California, who invented them. We hope you find one you love.

/by

New report: how companies can keep their footing amid chaos

Any business faces challenges great and small, day in and day out, but some situations carry a considerable measure of risk, volatility and disruption potential. The top five situations most likely to disrupt a business and cause significant risk are market instability, business transitions, funding uncertainty, changes in corporate strategy, and finance talent shortfalls, according to our new intelligence report, The Chaos Chronicles.

After 20 years in business, RoseRyan gurus have lived through pretty much every kind of chaotic business situation, steering companies around the fault lines or cleaning up the mess. Our report draws on those experiences with real-world stories and on-the-ground advice to help you cope when chaos strikes.

By chaos, we mean hair-on-fire scrambling to prevent looming business disaster, or slow-motion disintegration into operational dysfunction, or the disarray that results when finance departments held together with duct tape and staples finally come undone, or similarly ulcer-inducing scenes.

Prevention is usually the best cure, but it isn’t always possible. And it can happen to anyone—even the best and the brightest have found themselves caught up in chaos simply because they didn’t train their attention on the right risk factors.

Download The Chaos Chronicles to learn more. Authors Stephen Ambler, Chris Kondo, Kathy Ryan, Ray Solari and Pat Voll tell true tales of chaos—how it happens, what results from it, how to fix it and how to prevent it.

/by

Friday cocktail: Fiscal Cliff

Now that the federal shutdown is over, you may feel like having a drink. The Fiscal Cliff is the perfect choice—it’s a complex cocktail that will make you laugh in the face of economic doom. Just don’t drink alone—this is a beverage to be shared. Don’t want the booze? The nonalcoholic option is similarly robust.

  • 2 oz dark rum
  • 1 oz fresh-squeezed lime juice
  • 1 oz pineapple juice
  • 1 oz orange juice
  • ¼ oz Velvet Falernum*

Shake all ingredients in a cocktail shaker. Strain into a Collins glass over fresh ice. Garnish with an orange slice. 

The nonalcoholic recipe

  • Fresh pineapple
  • 8 mint leaves
  • 3 dashes of rhubarb bitters* or orange bitters
  • ¼ oz cane syrup or simple syrup
  • Mint sprig

Combine 8 or so half-inch chunks of pineapple, mint leaves, 3 hard dashes of rhubarb bitters and the cane syrup or simple syrup in a cocktail shaker. Muddle well. Add ice and shake for 10 seconds. Strain over fresh ice, top with soda and garnish with a mint sprig. 

Check out the rest of our recipes in the RoseRyan 20th Anniversary Cocktail Collection. Every one of these drinks has its charms, thanks to the fine mixologists at the Bull Valley Roadhouse in Port Costa, California, who invented them.

* Available at BevMo or specialty liquor stores.

/by

Finance, accounting and…B2B marketing?

RoseRyan strives to help our clients thrive any way we can—not just in accounting and finance. In that spirit, let’s talk about modern marketing. The world of B2B marketing has radically changed over the last few years. The evolution from push to pull marketing has revolutionized the way companies communicate with customers, forcing us to rejuggle our budgets, retune our programs and prepare for a “brand” new world.

In the age of social media, new clients want to find us, rather than us finding them. So we’ve got to be relevant to their business and easily findable—here, there and everywhere. We can be that by providing our target clients with the kind of information they want in the formats they like.

Research is up

Today’s corporate buyers are researching more and learning more as they approach new companies for products or services. They make purchasing decisions based mostly on information they gather—and they are savvier than ever before about getting this data from various sources. Here’s where they go and how you can reach them.

  • The web. Eighty-one percent of buyers start by searching the Internet. Ensure your company is findable by optimizing your website with keywords that clients care about. You’ve also got to be out there making thousands of positive impressions—not only through your website and partner sites, but by being an active and vibrant part of the conversation in specific communities. This includes industry interest groups, official trade associations and social media sites that matter to your clients.
  • Peer referrals. Research has revealed that 59 percent of buyers engage with peers to get referrals and recommendations from those who have already purchased the products or services they seek. Which makes sense: no reason to reinvent the wheel, right? Case studies and testimonial quotes are related to peer recommendations, so use those and promote them.
  • The community. Nearly half (48 percent) of today’s buyers gain valuable information about services, quality, cost and resources by following industry conversations online. Forums and blogs are firmly here to stay, so post on those relevant to your industry—and ensure that the information communicated about your company is accurate and up-to-date.
  • Thought leaders. A big chunk (41 percent) of today’s buyers in search of the perfect product or service gain insights by reading thought leadership material. For example, some industry influencers can look into the mist and offer revealing insights about trends and incisive predictions of the future. Others deal in today’s world at a more practical level by rating and ranking key products or services. Both are well-followed and well-rewarded. Whitepapers are particularly popular with buyers as content that counts. Boost your company’s status by creating and publicizing material that highlights your unique knowledge and perspective.
  • Videos. Today’s busy executives frequently view videos—particularly client testimonials, case studies, product and service overviews, and the like. Recorded webinars are a favorite format, encapsulating a wealth of knowledge in one short hour. Research reveals that 75 percent of senior executives watch videos at credible business sites each week, and a high percentage of these (65 percent) then visit the vendor’s website. With video technology well within reach, it makes sense to use this medium to reach clients when you can.

RoseRyan continually rejiggers our own marketing programs to take advantage of these trends so we can best share our cool content with you in the formats that you, hopefully, like the most. Because in the end, it really is all about our clients.

Interested in learning more? Check out this fun and informative video from the Earnest Agency, Vital Statistics for B2B Marketers 2.

/by

Building business relationships: what it takes to delight clients

Here at RoseRyan, we have 20 years of experience building business relationships in Silicon Valley. Throughout that time, attracting and retaining long-term clients has been one of our most consistent themes. How do we do it? Here are the basic building blocks of our approach.

Think long-term. We expect to have long-term relationships with our clients. If you think long-term and share your insights, clients will keep coming back because of the value that we deliver over time. Clients are often pleasantly surprised that we have their best interests in mind and don’t jump at short-term opportunities that we believe won’t benefit them in the long run. For example, many times we advise clients that hiring a full-time worker will be more effective than working with us, or that we should be brought in later.

Do the right thing. We once had a client who insisted that a particular consultant work with them or we wouldn’t get the project—one of the most high-profile IPOs of the last five years. That would have enhanced RoseRyan’s profile greatly and started a long-term relationship, but we politely declined because our consultant was already working with another client. It was a tough decision, but we did the right thing—and now, two years later, we are working with the client as a public company.

Strive for a win-win relationship. RoseRyan values all of our business relationships and strives to ensure that both we and our clients benefit from working together. Of course, we ensure that our consultants understand what is expected of them from start to finish of every assignment—and that we meet all of our clients’ expectations. We go beyond that, too. We want both companies to benefit through referrals for additional business, sharing best practices and intellectual property, and honest and open communications.

Keep adding value. Although clients are usually wowed by our ability to meet key deliverables, we consider adding value throughout a relationship to be equally important. One of the ways we keep adding value is by providing technical accounting updates on a regular basis. Our clients are busy with their day-to-day activities and have little time to keep up with all the latest accounting changes. Our technical updates (usually delivered around a pizza lunch) provide just the helping hand our busy clients need.

Deliver great quality. A large part of our business comes from current or previous clients. We consider their decision to keep working with us some of the best feedback we can get about whether we are meeting and exceeding their expectations. Many clients also tell us they appreciate that we are experienced, we listen, and we are flexible in our approach. This positive service delivery experience is the cornerstone of what we do, and provides the consistency and efficiency that clients love about RoseRyan.

/by

The Friday cocktail: Per Diem

We’d find all kinds of ways to travel on business if the Per Diem were one of the daily perks. It’s a gin-lover’s dream that will transport you to the South Seas—even if you mix it up at a Holiday Inn in Houston. Sans alcohol, the Per Diem retains its cool bite.

  • 1½ oz Beefeater gin
  • 1 oz elderflower syrup*
  • ¼ oz simple syrup
  • 1½ oz fresh-squeezed pink grapefruit juice
  • ½ oz fresh-squeezed lemon juice
  • Grapefruit twist

*Available at BevMo or specialty shops like Sur la Table.

Shake all ingredients in a cocktail shaker. Strain into a chilled coupe glass.

Garnish with a grapefruit twist.

The nonalcoholic version:

  • ½ oz elderflower syrup
  • Tonic water
  • Grapefruit peel

Fill a Collins glass with ice and add a shy ½ oz of elderflower syrup. Top with tonic water.

Garnish with a grapefruit strap.

To sample all 20 of our anniversary drinks, view the RoseRyan 20th Anniversary Cocktail collection recipe book. Each libation was lovingly crafted for us by the fine mixologists at the Bull Valley Roadhouse in Port Costa, California. 

 

/by
, ,

RoseRyan in action: smoothing steep growth with equity accounting

Here’s a situation that might sound familiar: your midsize tech startup is growing so fast that you’re scrambling to bring new people on board just to keep up with demand. Talent doesn’t come cheap, and you’ve lured the best with a wide variety of stock-based compensation deals. The trouble is, your lean finance team lacks the in-house resources needed to handle a high volume of complex equity transactions and doesn’t have time to set up automation.

The solution: a RoseRyan equity expert. We excel at helping innovative companies meet the challenges of explosive growth and position themselves for their next leap. See our latest project profile to learn more about how we implemented an efficient spreadsheet system that enabled our client to manually manage equity grants as their company grew from just four employees to nearly 700.

Also check out what else we can do on our startup and emerging growth services page.

/by

There’s a new sheriff in town: will you be meeting the SEC at high noon?

When the SEC swore in Mary Jo White as chair in April, it was clear there was a new sheriff in town. White is a former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York with decades of experience as a federal prosecutor and securities lawyer, so it really was no surprise when she said in her confirmation speech that her top priorities included strengthening the SEC’s enforcement program.

Now she’s laying down the law. In July, the SEC announced three new initiatives building on the Division of Enforcement’s ongoing efforts to concentrate resources on high-risk areas and employ cutting-edge technology. And in a September 26 speech called “Deploying the Full Enforcement Arsenal,” White focused on the consequences for companies when fraud is discovered.

Here’s the SEC’s plan of attack:

  • Engage data-mining bounty hunters: Focusing on accounting and disclosure fraud, the Financial Reporting and Audit Task Force will target areas it considers susceptible to fraud, including restatements and revisions, and analyze performance trends by industry. Further, they plan to detect fraud using technology-based tools such as the Accounting Quality Model, which is being designed to provide quantitative analytics that will help the SEC identify high-risk companies.
  • Corral virtual outlaws: The Microcap Fraud Task Force will develop and implement long-term strategies for detecting and combating abusive trading and fraudulent conduct in securities microcap companies. In its July announcement, the SEC stated that abuses in this area “frequently involve serial violators and organized syndicates that employ new media, especially websites and social media, to conduct fraudulent promotional campaigns and engage in manipulative trading strategies.” No doubt the SEC’s efforts will increase significantly once crowdfunding is permitted.
  • Collect ammunition and deploy: Coordinating with the Division of Enforcement and other SEC offices, the Center for Risk and Quantitative Analytics will support risk identification, risk assessment and data analysis activities. It will serve as an analytical hub that provides the SEC with information about characteristics and patterns indicative of possible fraud or illegal activities, along with guidance on strategically allocating resources in light of identified fraud risk.

With these initiatives, we expect that more companies will soon receive calls from the Division of Enforcement. And while a showdown with the SEC sounds bad, the aftermath could be worse. In her September 26 speech to the Council of Institutional Investors, White emphasized the need for strong penalties. While supporting legislation to increase limits on monetary penalties, she also plans to make the most of the Commission’s existing penalty authority, saying “we need to make sure our settlements have teeth.” Further, she stressed the relationship between financial penalties and personal accountability, stating that “Redress for wrongdoing must never be seen as a ‘cost of doing business’ made good by cutting a corporate check.”

Think that your company might be living in the Wild West but you’re not sure? Be prepared for the SEC to come at you with guns a-blazin’—or better yet, take action to keep the peace. Here are some tips to help prevent a potential showdown:

  1. Beef up your Disclosure Committee process: Your leadership team knows a lot about the business, what’s on the horizon and where the risks are. However, discussions with the Disclosure Committee are too often about what’s in the draft 10K or 10Q filing, when sometimes the most important discussions are about what’s not in the SEC filing.
  2. Be strategic with internal audit: Internal audit might help with SOX compliance or assist with the external audit process, but if that’s all they’re doing, it’s an opportunity lost. Internal audit can help assess areas of risk in your organization, develop and implement process reviews and, even if no fraud or other issues are detected, make recommendations for improving efficiency.
  3. Get a grip on your D&O insurance: Director and officer insurance provides executives with some protection, but it’s not a bulletproof vest. All bets are off when you’re dealing with the Division of Enforcement. Talk with your corporate counsel and make sure you understand what’s at stake.

And if Sheriff White calls you out, just remember the words of John Wayne: “When you come slam bang up against trouble, it never looks half as bad if you face up to it.”

/by

New webinar provides strategies for increasing valuation

Does company valuation feel more like a black art than a science? How do investors look at financial integrity and accountability, and their impact on valuation? RoseRyan CEO Kathy Ryan and Adrian Bray, founding partner of international advisory firm Assay, are joining forces to demystify valuation’s key drivers in a Proformative webinar at 11 am PT/2 pm ET on October 29.

“Best Practices in Understanding and Increasing your Company Valuation” will reveal how you can build value throughout your organization, identify key valuation factors, and describe actions you can take to determine a valuation strategy that goes beyond the benchmark. This webinar’s practical advice will include the importance of an equity strategy and how to deliver best-in-class analyst presentations. The presenters will also cover how basic financial practices can impact valuation and how to avoid common pitfalls.

For more information and to register, go to the Proformative website.

/by