Revenue from product sales is recognized upon transfer of control of products to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration we expect to receive in exchange for those products. Certain products are sold with support or an extended warranty for the incorporated system, hardware, and/or software. Support and extended warranty revenue are recognized ratably over the service period, or as services are performed. Revenue is recognized net of allowances for returns, customer programs and any taxes collected from customers.

For products sold with a right of return, we record a reduction to revenue by establishing a sales return allowance for estimated product returns at the time revenue is recognized, based primarily on historical return rates. However, if product returns for a fiscal period are anticipated to exceed historical return rates, we may determine that additional sales return allowances are required to properly reflect our estimated exposure for product returns.

Our customer programs involve rebates, which are designed to serve as sales incentives to resellers of our products in various target markets, and marketing development funds, or MDFs, which represent monies paid to our partners that are earmarked for market segment development and are designed to support our partners’ activities while also promoting NVIDIA products. We account for customer programs as a reduction to revenue and accrue for potential rebates and MDFs based on the amount we expect to be claimed by customers.

3. How would Nvidia record a $100 sale transaction that has a 3% return rate (for a full refund) but does not include any sales incentives (provide the accounts affected and label them as asset, liability, revenue, or expense accounts)?

4. How would Nvidia record the $100 sale if it also included a 2% rebate on future sales (provide the accounts affected and label them as asset, liability, revenue, or expense-related accounts)?