Contract Costs (AASB15_12-14_COMPdec21_01-22)

An entity shall recognise as an asset the incremental costs of obtaining a contract with a customer if the entity expects to recover those costs.

The incremental costs of obtaining a contract are those costs that an entity incurs to obtain a contract with a customer that it would not have incurred if the contract had not been obtained (for example, a sales commission).

Costs to obtain a contract that would have been incurred regardless of whether the contract was obtained shall be recognised as an expense when incurred, unless those costs are explicitly chargeable to the customer regardless of whether the contract is obtained.

As a practical expedient, an entity may recognise the incremental costs of obtaining a contract as an expense when incurred if the amortisation period of the asset that the entity otherwise would have recognised is one year or less.

If the costs incurred in fulfilling a contract with a customer are not within the scope of another Standard (for example, AASB 102 Inventories, AASB 116 Property, Plant and Equipment or AASB 138 Intangible Assets), an entity shall recognise an asset from the costs incurred to fulfil a contract only if those costs meet all of the following criteria:

(a)            the costs relate directly to a contract or to an anticipated contract that the entity can specifically identify (for example, costs relating to services to be provided under renewal of an existing contract or costs of designing an asset to be transferred under a specific contract that has not yet been approved);

(b)            the costs generate or enhance resources of the entity that will be used in satisfying (or in continuing to satisfy) performance obligations in the future; and

(c)            the costs are expected to be recovered.

For costs incurred in fulfilling a contract with a customer that are within the scope of another Standard, an entity shall account for those costs in accordance with those other Standards.

Costs that relate directly to a contract (or a specific anticipated contract) include any of the following:

(a)            direct labour (for example, salaries and wages of employees who provide the promised services directly to the customer);

(b)            direct materials (for example, supplies used in providing the promised services to a customer);

(c)            allocations of costs that relate directly to the contract or to contract activities (for example, costs of contract management and supervision, insurance and depreciation of tools, equipment and right-of-use assets used in fulfilling the contract);

(d)            costs that are explicitly chargeable to the customer under the contract; and

(e)            other costs that are incurred only because an entity entered into the contract (for example, payments to subcontractors).

An entity shall recognise the following costs as expenses when incurred:

(a)            general and administrative costs (unless those costs are explicitly chargeable to the customer under the contract, in which case an entity shall evaluate those costs in accordance with paragraph 97);

(b)            costs of wasted materials, labour or other resources to fulfil the contract that were not reflected in the price of the contract;

(c)            costs that relate to satisfied performance obligations (or partially satisfied performance obligations) in the contract (ie costs that relate to past performance); and

(d)            costs for which an entity cannot distinguish whether the costs relate to unsatisfied performance obligations or to satisfied performance obligations (or partially satisfied performance obligations).

An asset recognised in accordance with paragraph 91 or 95 shall be amortised on a systematic basis that is consistent with the transfer to the customer of the goods or services to which the asset relates. The asset may relate to goods or services to be transferred under a specific anticipated contract (as described in paragraph 95(a)).

An entity shall update the amortisation to reflect a significant change in the entity’s expected timing of transfer to the customer of the goods or services to which the asset relates. Such a change shall be accounted for as a change in accounting estimate in accordance with AASB 108.

An entity shall recognise an impairment loss in profit or loss to the extent that the carrying amount of an asset recognised in accordance with paragraph 91 or 95 exceeds:

(a)            the remaining amount of consideration that the entity expects to receive in exchange for the goods or services to which the asset relates; less

(b)            the costs that relate directly to providing those goods or services and that have not been recognised as expenses (see paragraph 97).

For the purposes of applying paragraph 101 to determine the amount of consideration that an entity expects to receive, an entity shall use the principles for determining the transaction price (except for the requirements in paragraphs 56–58 on constraining estimates of variable consideration) and adjust that amount to reflect the effects of the customer’s credit risk.

Before an entity recognises an impairment loss for an asset recognised in accordance with paragraph 91 or 95, the entity shall recognise any impairment loss for assets related to the contract that are recognised in accordance with another Standard (for example, AASB 102, AASB 116 and AASB 138). After applying the impairment test in paragraph 101, an entity shall include the resulting carrying amount of the asset recognised in accordance with paragraph 91 or 95 in the carrying amount of the cash-generating unit to which it belongs for the purpose of applying AASB 136 Impairment of Assets to that cash-generating unit.

An entity shall recognise in profit or loss a reversal of some or all of an impairment loss previously recognised in accordance with paragraph 101 when the impairment conditions no longer exist or have improved. The increased carrying amount of the asset shall not exceed the amount that would have been determined (net of amortisation) if no impairment loss had been recognised previously.