Leeyo Around the 'Bay' and Beyond

Leeyo Software was out and about last week with no plans to slow down.

With a couple significant revenue recognition conferences right in our own SF Bay Area backyard, we wouldn’t think of passing up the opportunity to not only attend, but participate. At both the “Revenue Recognition Accounting Update 2016,” presented by ACS, and “Revenue Recognition Conference 2016: Current Industry Trends & Strategies in Financial Reporting,” offered by CPE, Leeyo was there.

Here are some event takeaways:

The two-day ACS event in Burlingame, CA., provided an audience of accounting professionals and financial representatives from firms in technology, healthcare, retail and other sectors a host of informative sessions tackling the new standard from the perspective of current GAAP perspective, systems and processes, peer preparedness, tax implications, contracts and more.

Our VP of Sales, Jeff Jackson, joined a Revenue Recognition Automation panel to answer questions and share a bit about our latest, ASC 606- compliant version of RevPro.

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Leeyo Sales VP Jeff Jackson speaks at ACS Live event

“If you look at this room, there are all kinds of different models of revenue processing,” said Jackson. “Every one of us would say revenue is complex. With automation, it requires a different perspective to take a look at it. It does take a significant number of key stakeholders to manage a revenue management project. It involves more than just revenue.”

He added: “We’re in a transitional phase between large, monolithic ERP systems to more SaaS systems. There are significant advantages to putting (your revenue automation) on the cloud.”

By way of reinforcing the disturbing trend we are seeing and reporting on, the vast majority of audience members answered the question, “How closely have you been following the developments in the new standard,” with the response, “I know about the TRG, but am not following the discussions.”

You could count on one hand the number of audience members who said their company was considering early adoption of the new standard.

“You’re being asked to work to a standard that’s not even clear yet,” said speaker Michael Dye, PwC Director. “That’s a pretty big challenge.”

Dye also noted their feedback indicates most companies are leaning toward the modified retrospective adoption method for the new standard, but there are benefits to both methods, depending on the situation.

A recent Compliance Week article indicates the decision on how to adopt remains a hot topic among those making the decisions and those tasked with helping them.

Other speakers, including members of revenue teams from various companies, encouraged their peers to seek out the abundance of resources for education and collaboration, including the 16 different industry task forces established by the AICPA.

Peer advice dispensed on how best to implement the new standard included the recommendation to become more involved in the operational side of your business and connect with other departments to have a better understanding of the across-the-board effects, start understanding your revenue contracts now to be able to track progress through your transition project and lock up knowledgeable resources now before they become scarce.

As one speaker so eloquently said about the massive transition, “This isn’t a part-time job for anybody. You should organize a project team around this that has the best resources and partner around people who have done it.”

To learn more about upcoming ACS events, click here.

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Kathy Pearson, Leeyos Director of Technical Accounting, demonstrates RevPro

Down the road at the CPE event in San Mateo, Kathy Pearson, our Director of Technical Accounting, was among the speakers before an audience of revenue team members, finance directors and representatives of accounting firms and consultancies.

The two-day conference was also presented on a live webcast. If you’re interested in viewing a recording of the event on demand, visit here.

Moderating a session offering tips on how to implement the new standard, Jordan Scheiderer, Senior Manager with MorganFranklin Consulting, said it is vitally important to understand the full impact to your organization, recommending a review of revenue streams, upstream data and some example contracts. Once that review has been done, she said, it is important to get buy-in from your management, auditors and others before considering any type of conclusion based on those samples.

“Keep auditing in your mind even as you hand over your conclusions to your auditors,” Scheiderer said.

Ryan Reid, Director of Technical Accounting, Revenue Recognition and Special Projects at GoDaddy, said to “use this as an opportunity to meet other functions within your company.”

A non-scientific poll of audience members indicated the majority were leaning towards the modified retrospective adoption method.

“We’re basically starting over (with this new standard),” Scheiderer said. “Don’t underestimate the opportunity this new guidance gives us. Think smarter about what you’re doing. I would encourage you to look for these opportunities and take advantage of them. There are positive things to come out of this standard. There are efficiencies to gain.”

Leeyo will also be in attendance and among the panelists at the following CPE events coming this year. If you’d like to learn more about the events, we could probably offer some assistance.

June 14-15, 2016 Revenue Recognition Conference in Boston, MA

September 22-23, 2016 Revenue Recognition Conference in Foster City, CA

December 14-15, 2016 Revenue Recognition Conference in McLean, VA

Leeyo is excited to be a Platinum Sponsor at Zuora Subscribed 2016 next month in San Francisco. We hope you’ll come visit us if you’re planning to attend. If you haven’t registered, we can help you with that too.

 

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