1. Identifying the contract with a customer
2. Identify the separate performance obligations in the contract
3. Determine the contract price
4. Allocate the transaction price to the separate performance obligations in the contract
5. Recognize revenue when (or as) the company satisfies a performance obligation (Tysiac, 2014)
With the new standards taking effect, companies will have to choose the appropriate transition method based on how the standard affects the company. Under the full retrospective method, public companies would be required to restate two comparative years prior to the implementation date (Tysiac, 2014). With this method, companies may choose to take advantage of numerous practical expedients, including one that permits them not to restate contracts that begin and end with-in the same annual reporting period for contracts completed before the date of initial application (Tysiac, 2014). Under the alternative method, the new standard would be applied only to contracts that are not completed under legacy IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) or U.S. GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) at the date of initial application. Under this method, companies would recognize the cumulative effect of initially applying the new standard as an adjustment to the opening balance of retained earnings in the year of initial application (Tysica, 2014). No comparative year restatements will be necessary. The company will be required to add some detailed disclosures to the financial statements. The full retrospective method is probably the better option to choose. Although the method is more complicated, it will give investors a full understanding of trends (Tysica, 2014). Although having to put more effort into the financial statements, having more transparency will lead to less scrutiny by the SEC when filing the company’s annual report. This will also instill more confidence in investors who currently invest and also the ones that are looking to invest in the company in the near future. With these new standards in place, it could mean that the company will need a substantial over-haul in business process, accounting systems, or both and as well as employee training (Tysica, 2014). Each transition option has pros and cons. The company may want to at least consider both options, and they won’t be able to do that without a