By Christopher Wright, Steve Hobbs, Charles Soranno and Miharu White, Protiviti
The FASB and the IASB have been working together since 2002 to make IFRS and U.S. GAAP compatible. They now are nearing completion on several major projects, including the convergence of revenue recognition standards. On June 24, 2010, the FASB issued an “exposure draft” of a proposed revenue recognition standard and planned to approve the final standard by mid-2011. If adopted, the board’s proposed contract-based approach to revenue recognition would replace current guidance under U.S. GAAP – including industry-specific revenue standards and interpretation – and align with a concurrently changed IFRS standard.