IFRS 15 Retail – the finest perfect examples

IFRS 15 Retail revenue – finest perfect examples

Retail is the process of selling consumer goods or services to customers through multiple channels of distribution to earn a profit. Retailers satisfy demand identified through a supply chain. The term “retailer” is typically applied where a service provider fills the small orders of many individuals, who are end-users, rather than large orders of a small number of wholesale, corporate or government clientele. (Source: Wikipedia)

So what is the IFRS 15 guidance for retail?

Here are the cases covering the most significant accounting topics for retail in IFRS 15.


Case – Customer incentives Buy three, get coupon for one free

Death By Chocolate Ltd, a high street chain, is offering a promotion whereby a customer who purchases three boxes of chocolates at €20 per box in a single transaction in a store receives an offer for one free box of chocolates if the customer fills out a request form and mails it to them before a set expiration date.

Death By Chocolate estimates, based on recent experience with similar promotions, that 80% of the customers will complete the mail in rebate required to receive the free box of chocolates.

How is a ‘buy three, get one free’ transaction accounted for and presented by Death By Chocolate?

The rules

IFRS 15.22 states: “At contract inception, an entity shall assess the goods or services promised in a contract with a customer and shall identify as a performance obligation each promise to transfer to the customer either:IFRS 15 Retail

  1. a good or service (or a bundle of goods or services) that is distinct; or
  2. a series of distinct goods or services that are substantially the same and that have the same pattern of transfer to the customer (see paragraph 23).”

IFRS 15.26 provides examples of distinct goods and services, including “granting options to purchase additional goods or services (when those options provide a customer with a material right, as described in paragraphs B39-B43)”.

IFRS 15.B40: “If , in a contract, an entity grants a customer the option to acquire additional goods or services, that option gives rise to a performance obligation in the contract only if the option provides a material right to the customer that it would not receive without entering into that contract (for example, a discount that is incremental to the range of discounts typically given for those goods or services to that class of customer in that geographical area or market).

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IFRS 15 Real estate Revenue complete and accurate recognition

IFRS 15 Real estate

Under IFRS 15 real estate entities recognize revenue over the construction period if certain conditions are met.

Key points

  • An entity must judge whether the different elements of a contract can be separated from each other based on the distinct criteria. A more complex judgment exists for real estate developers that provide services or deliver common properties or amenities in addition to the property being sold.
  • Contract modifications are common in the real estate development industry. Contract modifications might needIFRS 15 Real estate to be accounted for as a new contract, or combined and accounted for together with an existing contract.
  • Real estate managers may structure their arrangements such that services and fees are in different contracts. These contracts may meet the requirements to be accounted for as a combined contract when applying IFRS 15.
  • Real estate management entities are often entitled to several different fees. IFRS 15 will require a manager to consider whether the services should be viewed as a single performance obligation, or whether some of these services are ‘distinct’ and should therefore be treated as separate performance obligations.
  • Variable consideration for entities in the real estate industry may come in the form of claims, awards and incentive payments, discounts, rebates, refunds, credits, price concessions, performance bonuses, penalties or other similar items.
  • Real estate developers will need to consider whether they meet any of the three criteria necessary for recognition of revenue over time.

IFRS 15 core principle

The core principle of IFRS 15 is that revenue reflects the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services.

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IFRS 15 Pre-Contract Establishment Date activities – Important to know

Pre-Contract Establishment Date activities

or

Partially Satisfied Performance Obligations Before the Identification of a Contract

Entities sometimes begin activities on a specific anticipated contract with their customer before (1) the parties have agreed to all of the contract terms or (2) the contract meets the criteria in step 1 (see Step 1 Identify the contract) of IFRS 15. The IASB staff refer to the date on which the contract meets the step 1 criteria as the “contract establishment date” (CED) and refer to activities performed before the CED as “pre-CED activities.”

TRG Update — Pre-CED Activities

The FASB and IASB staffs noted that stakeholders have identified two issues with respect to pre-CED activities:

  • How to recognize revenue from pre-CED activities.
  • How to account for certain fulfillment costs incurred before the CED.

The TRG discussed these issues in March 2015.

TRG members generally agreed with the staffs’ conclusion that once the criteria in step 1 have been met, entities should recognize revenue for pre-CED activities on a cumulative catch-up basis (i.e., record revenue as of the CED for all satisfied or partially satisfied performance obligations) rather than prospectively because cumulative catch-up is more consistent with the new revenue standard’s core principle.

The two Q&A below demonstrates the application of the TRG’s general agreement.

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Electricity revenue recognition example

Electricity revenue recognition example

Application of the five-step model

Facts: Bundle Seller Co (‘Seller’) and Bundle Buyer Co (‘Buyer’) executed an agreement for the purchase and sale of 1oMW of electricity per hour and the associated renewable energy credits (‘RECs’) (one REC for each MWh) at a fixed bundled price (‘the agreement’ or ‘the PPA’). The contract term begins on 1 January 20X1 and ends on 31 December 20X4, and the fixed bundled price during each of those respective years is $200, $205, $210 and $215.

The increase in the bundled price represents the increase in the forward price of electricity and RECs over the term of Electricity revenue recognition examplethe agreement as of the acquisition date. Control, including title to and risk of loss related to the electricity, will pass and transfer on delivery at a single point on the electricity grid. Control, including title to and risk of loss related to RECs, will pass and transfer when the associated electricity is delivered.

Seller and other market participants frequently execute contracts for the purchase and sale of electricity and RECs on a stand-alone basis.

Seller concluded that this arrangement does not contain a lease (that is, no property, plant or equipment is explicitly or implicitly identified). The electricity element of this arrangement qualifies for the ‘own use’ exception and thus is not accounted for as a derivative. The REC element has no net settlement characteristics. As such, each element of this agreement is within the scope of IFRS 15.

Electricity revenue recognition – IFRS 15 step-by-step

Step 1 – Identify the contract with a customer

This agreement, including each of its elements (that is, electricity and RECs), is within the scope of the standard, and collection of the contract consideration is considered probable.

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