Percentage-of-Completion Method

Regardless of the accounting method your construction business is using, it’s important to take steps to secure your payments on every project. Revenue can be recognized at the point of sale, before, and after delivery, or as part of a special sales transaction. ASC 606 provides different guidance in thinking about revenue recognition because it thinks differently about contract completion. Instead of approaching revenue recognition based on being able to estimate the contract value and duration, it considers it in terms of “performance obligations” and how they transfer control.

If the contract is for $120,000, the contractor would record revenue of $60,000 for the period, which would be reflected in their income statement. On the other hand, the completed contract method will only recognize revenue and expenses when the project has been completed fully. B. Costs incurred in first year, divided by estimated total costs of the completed project.

Introduction to Business

On March 1, 2017, Parnevik Company sold goods to Goosen Inc. for $660,000 in exchange for a 5-year, zerointerest-bearing note in the face amount of $1,062,937 (an inputed rate of 10%). Prepare the journal entries for Parnevik on (a) March 1, 2017, and (b) December 31, 2017. For extensions, the percentage completed value must be
specified manually because EAC is not defined for extensions.

There are many types of revenue recognition that are allowed under the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), and they all have different benefits and limitations depending on how you do business. The percentage-of-completion method (PoC) is a common revenue recognition method for companies that deal in long-term contracts. While many aspects of a percentage-of-completion method remain the same under ASC 606, the new guidance does need to be studied seriously. Some of the larger conceptual changes regarding performance obligations impact how it will be used. Contractors need to consider finer points of guidance as well, just as with previous GAAP guidance and IRS reporting requirements.

Who must use percentage of completion method for tax purposes?

Accounting for income and expenses can present a real challenge for contractors, especially on long-term projects. The percentage of completion method is one of the most common methods of accounting used in construction. In this article, we’ll explain the percentage of completion method, how it works, and give you some real-life examples.

A primary advantage of the percentage-of-completion method over the completed-contract method is that it reports income evenly over the course of the contract. As a result, it presents a more accurate picture of a construction company’s financial bookkeeping for startups position. In contrast to the completed-contract method, percentage of completion allows contractors to recognize revenue as they earn it over time. As a project progresses toward completion, the contractor can bill for the work they’ve performed.

Subject 3. Revenue Recognition in Special Cases

Under the newer guidance, contracts that transfer control over time would use a percentage of completion to determine how much of the performance obligation’s price is earned. Under the five-step model, this requires contractors first to identify the performance obligations in the contract and allocate a transaction price to each one. Again, that would mean the percentage of completion is applied to a performance obligation rather than to a contract price. This method helps the analysts to have a more detailed view of a company’s financial performance in the long term.

Options for figuring percent complete are similar between the old ASC 605 and the newer ASC 606. The contractor can select an output method (units produced, estimated completion) or an input method (incurred costs, labor hours used). It is one of the revenue recognition methods in accounting to measure and record the revenue from long-term contracts. This method applies in scenarios where the cost records are proportional and in assured revenue collection. Also, the record of the revenue and costs of a certain period in the same period to maintain consistency and relevancy. The percentage of completion method is an internal accounting process that can differ from the reality on the jobsite.

These adjustments ensure that the income shown on the income statement is reflective of the percentage of completion method. Doing so improves the consistency of the percentage of completion results over time. XYZ Ltd. took a contract to build an airport at a contract price of $125 million.

• If the contract can’t define progress or percentage completion based on output, then GAAP permits the “input” methods that rely on costs or efforts.
• Just about every construction contract will require that work be done in a “workmanlike manner.” But what exactly does that…
• However, PoC can be especially vulnerable to so-called “creative accounting” because it is inherently based on estimations spread across multiple time periods.
• But we record only 3,600 in Cost of goods because we already recognized the total loss in the last period.
• The percentage of completion method falls in line with IFRS 15, which indicates that revenue from performance obligations recognized over a period of time should be based on the percentage of completion.

Moreover, the cost of fixed assets used in the construction for only the contract period should be included in the cost of the contract, i.e., the depreciation and amortization of assets used. The billings on construction contract account is the amount that has been billed to the purchaser and represents a measure of the contractor’s obligation to perform on the contract. Underbilling is the opposite scenario, when the amount billed to date is less than the recognized revenue. A corporation must have some foundation or standard for gauging progress toward completion at specific intermediate dates to use the percentage-of-complete technique.

Potential for Abuse of the Percentage of Completion Method

Carrying out simple mathematics based on the above components can provide the revenue to be recognized for the current period. Though it may not provide exact, realistic figures, this is a possible way to accurately measure the revenue from long-term contracts in the most probable manner. Regardless of the accounting method your construction business is using, it’s important to take steps to secure your payments on every project. The IRS defines small contracts as those that will be completed within two years, and defines small contractors as those with gross receipts not over $25 million in the previous three years. Percentage of completion method is vulnerable to abuse by unethical companies. Those who wish to engage in creative accounting can easily move around income and expenses from one period to another period, understating or overstating amounts.