The guidance provides specific definitions of service-inception date, grant date, and requisite service, which, when applied, will determine the beginning and end of the period over which compensation cost will be recognized. Additionally, the grant date definition includes a requirement that the employee begins to be affected by the risks and rewards of equity ownership at that date.

IFRS does not include the same detailed definitions. The difference in the grant date definition is that IFRS does not require the employee to begin to be affected by the risks and rewards of equity ownership to have a grant date. Furthermore, the IFRS definition of the start of the service period does not have the same explicit requirements as the US GAAP definition of service inception date, which could result in earlier recognition of compensation cost under IFRS when the grant date is delayed.