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Collaborative arrangements (Topic 808)—Clarifying the interaction between Topic 808 and Topic 606
Publication date: 05 Nov 2018
us FASB ASU 2018-18
Accounting Standards Update 2018-18
November 2018
November 2018
Collaborative Arrangements (Topic 808)
Clarifying the Interaction between Topic 808 and Topic 606
An Amendment of the FASB Accounting Standards Codification®
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Summary
Why is the FASB issuing this accounting standards update (update)?
The FASB is issuing this Update to clarify the interaction between Topic 808, Collaborative Arrangements, and Topic 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers. A collaborative arrangement, as defined by the guidance in Topic 808, is a contractual arrangement under which two or more parties actively participate in a joint operating activity and are exposed to significant risks and rewards that depend on the activity’s commercial success. Topic 808 does not provide comprehensive recognition or measurement guidance for collaborative arrangements, and the accounting for those arrangements is often based on an analogy to other accounting literature or an accounting policy election. Some entities apply revenue guidance directly or by analogy to all or part of their arrangements, and others apply a different accounting method as an accounting policy. Those accounting differences result in diversity in practice on how entities account for transactions on the basis of their view of the economics of the collaborative arrangement.
Although the lack of guidance for collaborative arrangements has resulted in diversity in practice for more than a decade, the issuance of Accounting Standards Update No. 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606), raised new questions about the interaction between Topic 808 and Topic 606. Certain aspects of the amendments in Update 2014-09 have resulted in uncertainty in practice about the effect of the revenue standard on the accounting for collaborative arrangements. Specifically, stakeholders indicated that it is unclear whether Topic 606 could be applied to certain transactions in collaborative arrangements.
Who is affected by the amendments in this update?
The amendments in this Update affect all entities that have collaborative arrangements.
What are the main provisions?
The amendments in this Update make targeted improvements to generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) for collaborative arrangements as follows:
- Clarify that certain transactions between collaborative arrangement participants should be accounted for as revenue under Topic 606 when the collaborative arrangement participant is a customer in the context of a unit of account. In those situations, all the guidance in Topic 606 should be applied, including recognition, measurement, presentation, and disclosure requirements.
- Add unit-of-account guidance in Topic 808 to align with the guidance in Topic 606 (that is, a distinct good or service) when an entity is assessing whether the collaborative arrangement or a part of the arrangement is within the scope of Topic 606.
- Require that in a transaction with a collaborative arrangement participant that is not directly related to sales to third parties, presenting the transaction together with revenue recognized under Topic 606 is precluded if the collaborative arrangement participant is not a customer.
How do the main provisions differ from current Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and why are they an improvement?
The amendments in this Update provide guidance on whether certain transactions between collaborative arrangement participants should be accounted for with revenue under Topic 606. The Board did not address the accounting for transactions with a collaborative arrangement participant that are directly related to third-party sales of either collaborative arrangement participant. Therefore, current practice for those transactions is unchanged. The Board also did not address the accounting for nonrevenue transactions between collaborative arrangement participants.
In addition, the amendments in this Update provide more comparability in the presentation of revenue for certain transactions between collaborative arrangement participants. Before the issuance of Topic 606, stakeholders indicated that revenue from collaborative arrangements may have included (1) revenue that was recognized in accordance with Topic 605, Revenue Recognition, (2) revenue that was recognized through analogy to the guidance in Topic 605, and (3) revenue that was recognized through the application of a policy election. The amendments improve comparability by allowing the presentation of the units of account in collaborative arrangements that are within the scope of Topic 606 together with revenue accounted for under Topic 606.
When will the amendments be effective?
For public business entities, the amendments in this Update are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019, and interim periods within those fiscal years. For all other entities, the amendments are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2020, and interim periods within fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2021. Early adoption is permitted, including adoption in any interim period, (1) for public business entities for periods for which financial statements have not yet been issued and (2) for all other entities for periods for which financial statements have not yet been made available for issuance. An entity may not adopt the amendments earlier than its adoption date of Topic 606.
The amendments in this Update should be applied retrospectively to the date of initial application of Topic 606. An entity should recognize the cumulative effect of initially applying the amendments as an adjustment to the opening balance of retained earnings of the later of the earliest annual period presented and the annual period that includes the date of the entity’s initial application of Topic 606.
An entity may elect to apply the amendments in this Update retrospectively either to all contracts or only to contracts that are not completed at the date of initial application of Topic 606. An entity should disclose its election.
An entity may elect to apply the practical expedient for contract modifications that is permitted for entities using the modified retrospective transition method in Topic 606.
Background information and basis for conclusions
Introduction
BC1. The following summarizes the Board’s considerations in reaching the conclusions in this Update. It includes reasons for accepting certain approaches and rejecting others. Individual Board members gave greater weight to some factors than to others.
Background information
BC2. The guidance in Topic 808 originated from EITF Issue No. 07-1, “Accounting for Collaborative Arrangements.” Issue 07-1 defined the characteristics of a collaborative arrangement and primarily provided scope, presentation, and disclosure guidance. The EITF did not provide specific recognition and measurement guidance because of the difficulty in developing a single accounting model that could be applied to the wide range of different collaborative arrangements. There is diversity in practice in how entities account for collaborative arrangements because of the limited recognition and measurement guidance in Topic 808.
BC3. The issuance of Update 2014-09 on revenue from contracts with customers heightened the need for clarity on whether the guidance in Update 2014-09 applies to collaborative arrangements. In March 2015, the FASB received an agenda request asking the Board to clarify the interaction between Topic 606 and Topic 808 and to provide recognition and measurement guidance for collaborative arrangements to address certain areas of diversity. Some stakeholders raised concerns that the guidance in Update 2014-09 appears to be inconsistent with language included in the basis for conclusions of that Update.
BC4. The guidance in Topic 606 specifically excludes parts of collaborative arrangements from the scope of the revenue guidance. The revenue guidance only applies if the counterparty to the contract is a customer. The guidance also states:
A counterparty to the contract would not be a customer if, for example, the counterparty has contracted with the entity to participate in an activity or process in which the parties to the contract share in the risks and benefits that result from the activity or process (such as developing an asset in a collaboration arrangement) rather than to obtain the output of the entity’s ordinary activities. [paragraph 606-10-15-3]
BC5. However, the basis for conclusions of Update 2014-09 explains that transactions with partners or participants in a collaborative arrangement can be within the scope of Topic 606 if the counterparty meets the definition of a customer for some or all parts of the arrangement. The basis for conclusions also explains that the principles in Topic 606 might be appropriate to apply to a collaborative arrangement by analogy even if the counterparty is not considered a customer, provided no other Topic applies.
BC6. The agenda request asked the Board to clarify if, and when, transactions in a collaborative arrangement were within the scope of the revenue guidance in Topic 606. In addition, the agenda request asked the Board to consider amending the guidance in Topic 808 to address certain areas of diversity within collaborative arrangements, including how an entity should determine its units of account and how to account for transactions between collaborative arrangement participants that do not qualify as revenue transactions.
BC7. The Board considered whether a project scope limited only to arrangements conducted outside a legal entity could compound existing differences in accounting models for arrangements that may have similar characteristics but are conducted within a legal entity. After considering feedback obtained through additional research and outreach, the Board added a project to its agenda and limited the project’s scope to targeted improvements that would clarify when transactions between collaborative arrangement participants should apply the revenue guidance in Topic 606. The Board chose not to expand the scope of the project to include arrangements structured within a legal entity (such as joint ventures). See paragraph BC12–BC16 for the Board’s basis for the project’s scope.
BC8. On April 26, 2018, the FASB issued a proposed Accounting Standards Update, Collaborative Arrangements (Topic 808): Targeted Improvements, with comments due on June 11, 2018. The amendments in the proposed Update made the following targeted improvements:
- Clarified that certain transactions between collaborative arrangement participants should be accounted for as revenue under Topic 606 when the collaborative arrangement participant is a customer in the context of the unit of account. In those situations, all the guidance in Topic 606 should be applied, including recognition, measurement, presentation, and disclosure requirements.
- Added unit-of-account guidance to Topic 808 to align with the guidance in Topic 606 (that is, a distinct good or service) limited to when an entity is assessing the scope of Topic 606.
- Clarified that, in a transaction that is not directly related to sales to third parties, presenting the transaction as revenue would be precluded if the collaborative arrangement participant is not a customer.
BC9. The Board received 27 comment letters in response to the proposed Update. Overall, respondents supported the Board’s efforts to clarify when certain transactions between collaborative arrangement participants should be accounted for as revenue under Topic 606. However, some respondents noted that diversity in practice related to collaborative arrangements will continue to exist given the diverse nature of those arrangements. Some respondents requested that the Board clarify certain aspects of the proposed amendments. The Board considered that feedback during its redeliberations of the issues addressed by the proposed Update, as described in the discussion below.
Benefits and costs
BC10. The objective of financial reporting is to provide information that is useful to present and potential investors, creditors, donors, and other capital market participants in making rational investment, credit, and similar resource allocation decisions. However, the benefits of providing information for that purpose should justify the related costs. Present and potential investors, creditors, donors, and other users of financial information benefit from improvements in financial reporting, while the costs to implement new guidance are borne primarily by present investors. The Board’s assessment of the costs and benefits of issuing new guidance is unavoidably more qualitative than quantitative because there is no method to objectively measure the costs to implement new guidance or to quantify the benefit of improved information in financial statements.
BC11. The Board does not anticipate that entities will incur significant costs as a result of the amendments in this Update. The Board agreed that the amendments will benefit users by reducing diversity in practice by clarifying that certain transactions between collaborative arrangement participants should be accounted for in accordance with the guidance in Topic 606 and by clarifying certain presentation requirements. The Board noted that the amendments may, in certain situations, reduce cost by clarifying guidance that various entities and accounting firms indicated is unclear. The Board concluded that the expected benefits of making the targeted improvements justify the expected costs.
Basis for conclusions
Scope
BC12. At various stages in developing the amendments in this Update, the Board considered the project’s scope. In the pre-agenda research phase, the Board considered including both collaborative arrangements within the scope of Topic 808 and arrangements with similar economics that are structured in a separate legal entity. The Board rejected including within the scope of this project collaborative-type arrangements structured in a separate legal entity. In making that decision, the Board acknowledged the different accounting models and outcomes between transactions involving a collaborative arrangement as defined in Topic 808 and those involving a separate legal entity with similar characteristics. However, the Board decided that aligning those models would require a broader, longer term effort that would extend beyond the issues raised in the agenda request. Furthermore, Board members questioned whether the arrangements involving separate legal entities are sufficiently similar to warrant considering expanding the scope of the collaborative arrangement guidance in Topic 808. The Board also acknowledged the need to clarify the items in the agenda request on a timely basis given the effective date of Topic 606.
BC13. The Board decided to focus on targeted improvements to clarify when certain transactions between collaborative arrangement participants are within the scope of the revenue guidance in Topic 606. The Board also decided to limit the project’s scope to (a) the accounting for the entity receiving consideration from the other collaborative arrangement participant (that is, the party potentially recording revenue) and (b) transactions not directly related to sales to third parties. The Board did not expand the scope to include the accounting for transactions with collaborative arrangement participants directly related to sales to third parties because feedback from entities and accounting firms indicated that the accounting for those transactions was not challenging and was relatively consistent among entities.
BC14. To clarify that transactions with collaborative arrangement participants directly related to third-party sales were not within the scope of the project, certain proposed amendments included language that reference transactions directly related to sales to third parties. Several respondents requested that the Board clarify the types of transactions directly related to sales to third parties. Other respondents requested that the Board clarify whether transactions directly related to sales to third parties are within the scope of Topic 606. The Board noted that current guidance allows an entity to evaluate the terms of a collaborative arrangement to determine how best to account for and present those transactions. The Board decided against providing recognition and measurement guidance for transactions with collaborative arrangement participants directly related to sales to third parties as part of this project. Accordingly, the amendments in this Update do not result in any changes to the accounting for those transactions.
BC15. The Board also considered whether to provide guidance for two additional areas that were raised in the agenda request: (a) unit of account and (b) recognition and measurement guidance for transactions not within the scope of the revenue guidance (that is, nonrevenue transactions). Those areas also were identified in the staff’s research as areas for which the lack of guidance was resulting in diversity in practice. The Board decided to address unit-of-account guidance in the context of the scope of the revenue guidance within the amendments in this Update. See paragraphs BC22–BC26 for the Board’s basis for that decision. The Board decided not to include recognition and measurement guidance for nonrevenue transactions in the amendments. See paragraphs BC31–BC33 for the Board’s basis for that decision.
BC16. The amendments in the proposed Update included conforming edits to the four illustrative examples in Topic 808. The edits focused on changes resulting from the proposed amendments and were not intended to provide additional guidance on the application of Topic 606 or Topic 808. Many respondents requested amendments that would have illustrated how the conclusions were reached. Additionally, some respondents asked for examples that would have included provisions more representative of collaborative arrangements seen in practice, such as upfront payments and licenses. The Board decided not to add additional examples or additional aspects to the existing examples because doing so would have been beyond the project’s objective and scope.
When a collaborative arrangement includes revenue from a customer
BC17. The Board decided to include guidance in Topic 808 to address the issue raised in the agenda request about the apparent inconsistency between Topic 606’s scope and the discussion included in the basis for conclusions of Update 2014-09. The Board concluded that certain transactions between collaborative arrangement participants that are unrelated to sales to third parties (that is, related to developing an asset rather than selling a completed product) could result in revenue under Topic 606 consistent with paragraph BC55 of Update 2014-09.
BC18. Entities involved in collaborative arrangements observed that, in some situations, a collaborative arrangement participant contracts to obtain goods or services that are the output of an entity’s ordinary activities. On the basis of that information, the Board decided that the nature of the joint operating activity and the shared risks and rewards should not preclude revenue recognition according to Topic 606 in those instances. There are many different types of collaborative arrangements, and the accounting for any collaborative arrangement depends on the specific negotiated terms. Consequently, overriding an entity’s ability to consider the specific terms of its arrangements and the nature of its ordinary activities and precluding revenue recognition broadly for collaborative arrangements could have resulted in less relevant financial reporting because the accounting may not have reflected the nature and economics of the arrangement.
BC19. In determining when transactions between collaborative arrangement participants under Topic 808 are within the scope of the revenue guidance in Topic 606, the Board did not intend to develop new or different requirements from the requirements of Topic 606. Therefore, the different alternatives the Board considered were taken from existing concepts in Topic 606, such as transfer of control and customer. The Board ultimately decided that the scope of the revenue guidance in Topic 606 should be aligned for units of account inside and outside collaborative arrangements; that is, the revenue guidance in Topic 606 should be applied if the collaborative arrangement participant is a customer in the context of a given unit of account.
BC20. In addition, the Board clarified that for a unit of account that is within the scope of Topic 606, an entity is required to apply all the accounting requirements in Topic 606 to that unit of account, including the recognition, measurement, presentation, and disclosure requirements. The Board reached that conclusion because it would be confusing to users of financial statements if transactions in a collaborative arrangement were presented as revenue (see further discussion of presentation in paragraphs BC27–BC30) but follow only certain aspects of Topic 606’s requirements. The Board did not intend to establish an exception to the revenue requirements in Topic 606 for transactions in collaborative arrangements.
BC21. Some respondents requested that the Board provide additional guidance on how to determine whether a collaborative arrangement participant is a customer. Other respondents requested clarity on how to interpret ordinary activities in the context of collaborative arrangements. The Board observed that stakeholders currently must make judgments on how to apply the revenue model in Topic 606 and noted that those judgments should be consistently applied to collaborative arrangements. The Board indicated that addressing those questions goes beyond the bounds of this limited-scope project.
Unit of account
BC22. Both in the agenda request and in other outreach, many preparers indicated that identifying the unit of account in a collaborative arrangement, especially during the development phase, can be challenging because of the ongoing nature of the arrangement. Some entities view all transactions between the collaborative arrangement participants as a single unit of account because of their continuing obligation to participate. Others view each transaction between collaborative arrangement participants, such as an upfront payment or a cost-reimbursement payment, as a separate unit of account.
BC23. Because determining the unit of account is critical to the accounting in a collaborative arrangement, the Board decided to provide unit-of-account guidance in Topic 808 and align that guidance with the guidance in Topic 606 for distinct goods or services. However, because the Board decided not to include recognition and measurement guidance for nonrevenue transactions in a collaborative arrangement (see further discussion in paragraphs BC31–BC33), the decision to align the unit-of-account guidance to the guidance in Topic 606 for distinct goods or services is limited to the context of assessing the scope of the revenue guidance. Within that context of determining whether a part of a collaborative arrangement is within the scope of Topic 606, the Board decided to include unit-of-account guidance that is consistent with the unit-of-account guidance in Topic 606 for distinct goods or services. This decision ultimately aligns with the accounting model in Topic 808, which is a residual model similar to Topic 606, indicating that an entity should first look to other guidance for separation.
BC24. The Board rejected developing unit-of-account guidance that is specific to collaborative arrangements because that guidance would have applied to all of Topic 808, which would have been inconsistent with the Board’s decision not to address a nonrevenue model in this project. By explicitly providing unit-of-account guidance in the context of assessing the scope of the revenue guidance and aligning the unit-of-account guidance with Topic 606, the Board also sought to eliminate potential future diversity in determining units of account when assessing whether a collaborative arrangement is partially within the scope of Topic 606 or other Topics.
BC25. Some respondents requested that the Board clarify in what sequence the unit-of-account guidance should be applied. The Board clarified that an entity should first determine whether the entire collaborative arrangement is a contract with a customer or whether it is entirely within the scope of other GAAP. If a part or parts of the collaborative arrangement are potentially with a customer, an entity would then apply the distinct good or service unit-of-account guidance in Topic 606 to determine whether there is a unit of account that should be accounted for under Topic 606.
BC26. Some respondents requested additional guidance on what to do when an entity concludes that the unit of account consists of promised goods or services that are partially within the scope of Topic 606 and are not distinct as determined by applying the guidance in paragraphs 606-10-25-19 through 25-22. The guidance in Topic 606 requires an entity to combine goods or services with other promised goods or services until it identifies a bundle of goods or services that is distinct. The Board concluded that if the collaborative arrangement participant is a customer in the context of the entire bundle of goods or services, an entity should account for that unit of account under Topic 606. However, if the collaborative arrangement participant is not a customer for a portion of a distinct bundle of goods or services, the unit of account is not within the scope of Topic 606 and the entity should account for that unit of account using the residual guidance in Topic 808 that allows for accounting by analogy or, if there is no appropriate analogy, an accounting policy election, including for purposes of determining the unit of account.
Presentation guidance
BC27. The Board proposed to preclude an entity from presenting transactions that are not related to sales to third parties as revenue when the collaborative arrangement participant does not meet the scope of the guidance in Topic 606 (that is, the other party is not a customer in the context of the unit of account). The Board decided this to further emphasize the implications of the Board’s decision to require an entity to apply all the accounting requirements in Topic 606 and to prevent diversity in how and when transactions in collaborative arrangements are presented as revenue. Before the issuance of the amendments in this Update, an entity was not precluded from presenting payments received in a collaborative arrangement that are not within the scope of other Topics as revenue. An entity was permitted to present the payments based on an analogy to other Topics or, if there is no appropriate analogy, a reasonable, rational, and consistently applied accounting policy election.
BC28. Outreach indicated that, under current GAAP, many entities analogize to the accounting for revenue under Topic 605 or Topic 606 when accounting for transactions between collaborative arrangement participants. Those entities are analogizing to those Topics either because the scope of the revenue guidance is not directly applicable or because the interaction between Topic 808 and those Topics is unclear. Because the amendments in this Update clarify the interaction between the scope of Topics 808 and 606, the Board also decided to require consistent presentation and prevent transactions that are outside the scope of Topic 606 from being presented as revenue. However, the Board continues to believe that the principles in Topic 606 might be appropriate to apply to a collaborative arrangement by analogy even if the counterparty is not considered a customer, provided there is no other more relevant authoritative guidance. Therefore, an entity may still analogize to those principles provided that the entity does not present the transaction together with revenue.
BC29. Several respondents questioned the Board’s intent for precluding revenue presentation for transactions outside the scope of Topic 606. Those respondents requested that the Board clarify whether it intended to preclude the aggregation of other sources of revenue from collaborative arrangements with revenue that is within the scope of Topic 606 or to more generally preclude revenue presentation. If the latter, some respondents disagreed because it would negatively affect performance measures that provide users with useful information. The Board acknowledged that entities currently use judgment to determine whether a transaction should be presented in the broader revenue category and that its intent was not to change that practice. The Board clarified that its intent was to preclude presentation together with revenue accounted for under Topic 606 for those transactions outside the scope of Topic 606.
BC30. The amendments in this Update are not intended to address transactions with a collaborative arrangement participant that are directly related to sales to third parties of either participant and, therefore, do not result in changes to the presentation of those transactions. An entity would still be expected to follow the disclosure requirements under Topic 606 for only those transactions that are within the scope of Topic 606. Examples of transactions with a collaborative arrangement participant that are directly related to sales to third parties of either participant may include (a) sales of “production inputs” or other items to a collaborative arrangement participant that are eventually sold to a third party or (b) profit share receivables from collaborative arrangement participants for sales to third parties.
Nonrevenue model
BC31. The agenda request asked that the Board consider providing recognition and measurement guidance for nonrevenue transactions between collaborative arrangement participants. The Board also considered providing a nonrevenue accounting model because its decisions could result in more transactions that would need recognition and measurement guidance that does not exist in Topic 808. Ultimately, the Board decided not to propose a nonrevenue accounting model for collaborative arrangements for the reasons discussed below. However, to address the concerns that the amendments in this Update potentially could lead to more transactions without recognition and measurement guidance in Topic 808, the Board decided to continue to permit an entity to apply the revenue guidance in Topic 606 by analogy or, if there is no appropriate analogy, as a policy election, without requiring the entity to apply all the guidance in Topic 606, as long as it presents the transaction separate from revenue recognized from contracts with customers.
BC32. The FASB staff explored a potential nonrevenue model that was flexible and would have allowed an entity to reflect the underlying economics of the collaborative arrangement. That model intentionally left substantial room for judgment to allow for different accounting outcomes for a wide range of arrangements that had significant differences in economics. Under that model, once a collaborative arrangement participant determined that an identified unit of account was outside the scope of Topic 606, it would recognize a transaction as either a reduction of cost or other income depending on whether the nature of the underlying transaction was related to a specific and identifiable cost incurred in accordance with the collaboration agreement (using concepts from Topic 606).
BC33. In December 2017, the FASB hosted two workshops for preparers and auditors to provide feedback on the operability of the staff’s potential nonrevenue model. Because of the proposed model’s flexibility, certain participants raised concerns that the model would be difficult to apply and that it may not solve many of the challenges raised about recognition. Specifically, certain participants indicated that the potential model would not remove the difficulties in determining an activity’s underlying nature, allocating consideration to interrelated activities, and determining the recognition period for a unit of account. Overall, the feedback received during the workshops made it clear that if a nonrevenue model was developed, practice would desire more prescriptive guidance; however, there were strong opposing views on what that guidance should be. Because of the diverse views and various issues raised, the Board concluded that it would have been difficult to develop a “one-size-fits-all” accounting model for the various types of collaborative arrangements, particularly within the context of this project on targeted improvements for collaborative arrangements. Therefore, the Board decided not to provide recognition and measurement guidance for nonrevenue transactions in a collaborative arrangement.
Disclosures
BC34. The Board concluded that no additional recurring disclosures are necessary because of the project’s limited scope and because the current disclosures in Topics 606 and 808 are robust. The targeted improvements in this Update clarify that when a transaction is within the scope of the guidance in Topic 606, an entity is required to apply all the provisions of Topic 606, including the disclosure requirements. Respondents agreed that no additional disclosures are necessary.
Effective date and transition
BC35. The Board decided that the amendments in this Update should be effective for public business entities for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019, including interim periods within those fiscal years. This was consistent with comments from respondents who stated that providing a year for implementation would provide entities that have extensive collaborative arrangements with adequate time to review their contracts. For all other entities, consistent with the Private Company Decision-Making Framework, the Board decided that the amendments in this Update should be effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2020, and for interim periods within fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2021.
BC36. The Board decided to permit an entity to early adopt the amendments in this Update, including adoption in any interim period, if the entity has already adopted or is concurrently adopting Topic 606. Most respondents requested that the Board permit early adoption of the amendments, and the Board agreed. Because the amendments in this Update correlate with Topic 606, an entity must have adopted Topic 606 to apply the amendments in this Update.
BC37. The Board decided to require a retrospective transition approach whereby an entity would be required to apply the amendments in this Update retrospectively as of an entity’s adoption date of Topic 606 because the amendments relate directly to Topic 606. Therefore, aligning the financial reporting requirements with Topic 606 is the most meaningful to users of financial statements. In addition, the Board decided to allow the same practical expedients in paragraph 606-10-65-1(h) that are permitted for the modified retrospective transition method in paragraph 606-10-65-1(d)(2). The Board clarified that a contract that is not completed in the context of those expedients, as written in paragraph 808-10-65-2(e), refers to an arrangement for which all (or substantially all) of the revenue and expenses were recognized in accordance with guidance that was in effect before the date of initial application.
Amendments to the XBRL Taxonomy
The amendments to the FASB Accounting Standards Codification® in this Accounting Standards Update require improvements to the U.S. GAAP Financial Reporting Taxonomy (Taxonomy). Those improvements, which will be incorporated into the proposed 2019 Taxonomy, are available through Taxonomy Improvements provided at www.fasb.org, and finalized as part of the annual release process.
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