SAP Revenue Accounting and Reporting has been generally available since March 31st, 2015. SAP Revenue Accounting and Reporting is designed to handle complex revenue accounting requirements mandated by the upcoming IFRS 15 / ASC 606 revenue standards, but can also handle current accounting requirements. The solution is part of the SAP Simple Finance solution portfolio and can be deployed with SAP S/4HANA.
Virtually every company tracks and reports revenue, and it is rarely an easy process. Complicating it further, the process is subject to guidelines set by the
International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). In January 2017, the boards will implement a new
standard specifying the accounting guidance for revenue recognition in countries adhering to US GAAP and to IFRS. To help companies manage this
transition, SAP has introduced SAP Revenue Accounting and Reporting, a solution which specifically addresses requirements derived from this new accounting standard but also can handle generic and existing requirements related to revenue recognition across various accounting principles.
SAP Revenue Accounting and Reporting was developed closely with partners and customers, including SAP’s own accounting department, by analyzing the Standard and assessing how best to design a new solution to cover the new requirements. The end result is a unique solution that automates the revenue recognition and accounting process and simplifies the tasks of revenue accountants in following the new accounting guidelines, structured into five specific steps for simplicity while meeting the new revenue accounting standards.
SAP Revenue Accounting and Reporting manages revenue recognition from a Finance point of view. It decouples operational transactions from accounting so that various operational transactions can be accounted together no matter where the operational data is processed. The main requirement tackled by the new solution is the management and processing of contracts consisting of multiple performance obligations. With SAP Revenue Accounting and Reporting, it is possible to automatically determine these multiple performance obligations from an accounting perspective based on a flexible rules framework. Additionally, accountants have the ability to change the way of how revenues are allocated and recognized manually based on given arrangements. SAP Revenue Accounting and Reporting is able to deal with multiple accounting principles and their specifics in revenue recognition and presentation for one region, or for each operational document. It also provides analytics for revenue accounting to address legal disclosures and management reporting.
