Change the way you think about analyzing revenue in financial statements, now that the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board have released a converged standard on revenue recognition. Ten years in the making, the standard provides substantial enhancements to the quality and consistency of revenue reporting while also improving comparability in the financial statements of companies using IFRS and U.S. GAAP.

Between the lines: While the title of the standard is Revenue From Contracts With Customers, it also affects sales of nonfinancial assets to noncustomers, such as sales of real estate, according to FASB member Marc Siegel, who spoke with Accounting Today. In addition to real estate, he says other industries affected by the new standards will be telecommunications, media, automotive, and software sectors.

The standard will take effect for U.S. public companies for annual reporting periods beginning after Dec. 15, 2016, including interim reporting periods. Companies using IFRS will be required to apply the standard for reporting periods beginning on or after Jan. 1, 2017.

The IASB and FASB will conduct a webinar on Thursday, June 5, to give a high-level overview of the new standard.

Extra: A great deal of valuable information will come from new disclosures required under the converged standard, says FASB Chairman Russell Golden, according to the Journal of Accountancy.