In December 2019, the AcSB issued amendments to Section 3400, Revenue. The amendments provided additional application guidance on the requirements in Section 3400 related to various complex revenue topics, including determining when to recognize revenue from upfront non-refundable fees or payments. The effective date for the amendments was initially set for fiscal years beginning on or after January 1, 2021, but was subsequently deferred to January 1, 2022, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The amendments are applicable retroactively.
As entities started to apply these amendments, the AcSB heard of application challenges from entities – particularly member benefit organizations. These entities were concerned about the decision usefulness of deferring upfront non-refundable fees over long member durations. They also expressed concerns about the associated cost of applying the amendments.
In November 2022 the AcSB deferred the effective date of the amendments to January 1, 2025, to provide more time to research the concerns raised by entities and the underlying contracts. After conducting further research, the Board proposed to indefinitely defer the effective date of the amendments, with early application permitted, until its project on Evaluating the Preface is complete. The Board also proposed a new disclosure requirement for entities recognizing upfront non-refundable fees or payments in revenue entirely up front. In November 2023, the AcSB issued the Exposure Draft, “Revenue – Upfront Non-refundable Fees or Payments” which closed for comment on January 31, 2024.