When the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) updated its rules for recognizing revenue from contracts in 2014, it only added to the confusion that nonprofits already had about accounting for grants and similar contracts.
Fortunately, last year, the FASB provided some much-needed clarification with Accounting Standards Update (ASU) No. 2018-08, Not-for-Profit Entities (Topic 958): Clarifying the Scope and the Accounting Guidance for Contributions Received and Contributions Made. Calendar-year nonprofits must follow this guidance when preparing their 2019 year-end financial statements.
Complicated rules
Nonprofits traditionally have taken varying approaches when they:
- Characterize grants and similar contracts as exchange transactions (also known as reciprocal transactions) or contributions (nonreciprocal transactions), and
- Distinguish between conditional and unconditional contributions.
The FASB’s updated revenue recognition guidance — ASU 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers — eliminated some of the previous guidance for nonprofits and imposed extensive disclosure requirements that didn’t seem relevant to contributions. ASU 2018-08 clarifies matters by laying out rules that will help nonprofits determine whether a grant or similar contract is indeed a contribution — and, if so, when they should recognize the revenue associated with it.
Exchange vs. contribution
To determine how to treat a grant or similar contract, you must assess whether the “provider” receives commensurate value for the assets it’s transferring. If it does, you should treat the grant or contract as an exchange transaction. ASU 2018-08 stresses that the provider (the grantor or other party) in a transaction isn’t synonymous with the general public. So, indirect benefit to the public doesn’t represent commensurate value received. Execution of the provider’s mission or positive sentiment received from donating also doesn’t constitute commensurate value received.
What if the provider doesn’t receive commensurate value? You then must determine if the asset transfer is a payment from a third-party payer for an existing transaction between you and an identified customer (for example, payments made under Medicare or a Pell Grant). If it is such a payment, the transaction won’t be considered a contribution under the ASU, and other accounting guidance would apply. If it isn’t such a payment, the transaction is accounted for as a contribution.
Conditional terms
According to ASU 2018-08, a conditional contribution includes:
- A barrier the nonprofit must overcome to receive the contribution, and
- Either a right of return of assets transferred or a right of release of the promisor’s obligation to transfer assets.
Unconditional contributions are recognized when received. However, conditional contributions aren’t recognized until you overcome the barriers to entitlement.
Is there a barrier to overcome before your organization can receive a contribution? Consider the inclusion of a measurable performance-related barrier, limits on your nonprofit’s discretion over how to conduct an activity or a stipulation that relates to the purpose of the agreement (not including administrative tasks and trivial stipulations such as production of an annual report). Some indicators might prove more important than others, depending on circumstances. And no single indicator is determinative.
Net effect
As a result of the updated guidance, nonprofits will likely account for more grants and similar contracts as contributions than they did under the previous rules. Check with Warady & Davis’ not-for-profit specialists at 847-267-9600 to determine what that means for your financial statements, loan covenants and other matters.
On January 15th, Susan Greggo, CPA, Partiner-in-Charge of Not-for-Profit Services and Kosta Tchobanov, CPA, Manager of Warady & Davis LLP’s not-for-profit practice, presented a live presentation on this exact topic which we plan to make into a webinar soon. Please be on the look-out for an announcement of the upcoming webinar.
Legal Notice: The materials communicated in this transmission are for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing accounting, legal or investment advice. You should contact your accountant or advisor to obtain advice with respect to any particular issue or problem. Use of and access to this Web site or any of the e-mail links contained within the site do not create an accountant-client relationship between Warady & Davis and the user or browser. You should not act upon any such information without first seeking qualified professional counsel on your specific matter. Any accounting, business or tax advice contained in this communication is not a substitute for a formal opinion, nor is it sufficient to avoid tax-related penalties. If desired, Warady & Davis would be pleased to perform the requisite research and provide you with a detailed written analysis. Such an engagement may be the subject of a separate engagement letter that would define the scope and limits of the desired consultation services. © 2020 All Rights Reserved.