Implementing AASB 15 revenue from contracts with customers: the preparer perspective

Purpose - This study aims to examine the implementation of AASB 15 Revenue from Contracts with Customers to provide insight into preparers’ perspectives on the challenges, costs and benefits experienced in implementing a new and complex standard. Design/methodology/approach - The study uses a survey of 143 financial statement preparers engaged in implementing AASB 15. Findings - The results reveal significant variation in the approach to, and progress in, implementing AASB 15. Research limitations/implications - The study provides evidence of the role of proprietary costs in implementing a new standard and suggests that preparers adopt a more pragmatic view of the nature of compliance compared to standard-setters. Practical implications - The evidence in this study strongly suggests that there is little to be gained in deferring effective dates for new standards. It suggests that standard-setters can motivate entities by framing a standard in terms of how it improves the business itself, rather than from a compliance framing. Originality/value - This study provides a rare perspective on the actual implementation experience of preparers confronted with the introduction of a new standard. Such a perspective is of value to standard-setters and preparers and offers insight to researchers that cannot be gained from traditional capital market archival approaches.