The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) has announced its call for feedback on its proposal to defer the effective date of the revenue Standard, IFRS 15 Revenue from Contracts with Customers, by one year to 1 January 2018.

The revenue Standard was issued jointly with the US Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), in May 2014, and was intended to become effective on 1 January 2017.

IFRS 15 is an international financial reporting standard that specifies how revenues that arise from contracts with customers should be treated for accounting purposes. It specifies how and when an IFRS reporter should recognise revenue and also requires the reporter to provide financial statements with more informative, relevant disclosures.

According to the IASB, the main reason for the proposed deferral of the effective date is that the IASB is planning to issue an Exposure Draft of targeted amendments to the Standard, which will include clarifying some of its requirements and adding illustrative examples to aid implementation. These targeted amendments arise from discussions of the joint Transition Resource Group (TRG), established in conjunction with the FASB to support the implementation of the Standard. The FASB is also currently consulting on a proposal to defer the effective date of its revenue Standard by one year.

Feedback on the Exposure Draft Effective Date of IFRS 15 (Proposed amendments to IFRS 15) is required by 3 July 2015. The IASB will consider the feedback at its July meeting when it expects to take a final decision on whether to change the effective date of the revenue Standard.

Early application of the revenue Standard will continue to be permitted.

The IASB's press release can be viewed here.