After the presentation of your report on the examination of the financial statements to the board of directors of Piper Publishing Company, one of the new directors expresses surprise that the income statement assumes that an equal proportion of the revenue is earned with the publication of every issue of the company’s magazine. She feels that the “crucial event” in the process of earning revenue in the magazine business is the cash sale of the subscription. She says that she does not understand why most of the revenue cannot be “recognized” in the period of the sale.
Instructions
(a) List the various accepted times for recognizing revenue in the accounts and explain when the methods are appropriate.
(b) Discuss the propriety of timing the recognition of revenue in Piper Publishing Company’s accounts with:
(1) The cash sale of the magazine subscription.
(2) The publication of the magazine every month.
(3) Both events, by recognizing a portion of the revenue with the cash sale of the magazine subscription and a portion of the revenue with the publication of the magazine every month.