企业收入会计准则即将大变脸投资者何去何从

2014-07-09 15:44:57来源：可可英语

　　Like an operating system runs a computer, revenue makes a company go; nothing happens until somebody sells something. But big changes over global accounting standards are expected to go into effect in 2017, and it’s unclear how it could affect the top line and profitability of corporations.

　　就像操作系统维持电脑运转一样，收入让公司保持运转;没有销售，就什么都没有。但全球会计标准的重大改变预计将于2017年生效，目前还不知道它将对企业的收入和盈利能力产生什么样的影响。

　　The new standards, created jointly by the U.S. Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), is 12 years in the making. It’s a big deal because almost all U.S. accounting standards for recognizing revenue – even specialized industry standards – are effectively being tossed out the window and replaced with a generalized standard based on contractual relationships between sellers and customers.

　　新标准由美国财务会计准则委员会(FASB)和国际会计准则理事会(IASB)耗时12年联合编制。新标准意义重大，几乎美国所有的确认收入标准(甚至是特殊行业标准)均被摒弃，取而代之的是基于买卖双方合同关系的通用标准。

　　By the time the standards kicks in (non-public companies have a longer grace period than public firms), nearly every company in the world will have to change the processes by which they figure revenues. That’s a big, hairy undertaking – but it’s too soon to tell if it will change their revenues and profits.

　　等到这些标准开始实施(非上市公司获得的宽限期长于上市公司)，世界上几乎每家公司都必须改变现行的计算收入流程。这是一项巨大且艰难的任务——但目前还很难说它是否会改变企业的收入和利润。

　　Maybe accounting for revenue seems like a simple thing, but it’s actually one of the thornier accounting problems. Consider some of the vivid corporate flameouts involving revenue: Sunbeam Corporation’sphony sales of barbecue grills; Microstrategy’sbunching of services and licenses to recognize revenues quickly; Nortel’s premature revenue reporting. This list goes on.

　　收入会计或许看起来简单，但事实上是最伤脑筋的会计难题。想想那些与收入相关的企业失败案例吧：Sunbeam Corporation的虚假烤肉销售;微策略(Microstrategy)将服务与使用许可捆绑以快速确认收入，北电(Nortel)提前记入收入。这样的案例还可以列出很多。

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