The aim of this diploma thesis is revenue recognition in the financial statements of companies prepared in accordance with the rules of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in the light of current changes. The work is specifically focused on long-term construction contracts and its goal is assess the difference outgoing (IAS 11) and the incoming (IFRS 15) revenue regulation and the subsequent impact to the financial statements of companies. After a theoretical analysis of the relevant standards, work deals with the analysis of specific construction contract and continuously arising circumstances. The analysis also outlines the application of the new revenue recognition model. Ultimately, thesis deduces the difficulties of the implementation process of the new standard in companies. The results show that the upcoming adjustment of revenue recognition may not bring significant changes to the specific numerical values, rather as a completely new view of revenue recognition.

Background: The prevalence of loyalty programs used to attract and keep customers loyal to the company by making return purchases has increased in the marketing strategy used by more and more companies. It is in the nature of a wide variety of loyalty programs to offer consumers benefits in the future causing a liability for the offering business. According to IFRS 15 loyalty programs should be evaluated and presented in the company's financial statements to their fair value of financial commitment to its customers. Purpose: This study's purpose is to describe how and to what extent Swedish companies, that is required to use IFRS 15 in their accounting, reports on their loyalty programs in the annual report. In addition, the purpose is also to analyze and understand why Swedish companies report as they do and to analyze how the new accounting standard IFRS 15 has affected companies ́ yearly reports. Method: With detailed analysis of 14 company’s annual reports; 2 owned by the Swedishgovernment, 10 public trade companies and 2 former traded companies, and further detailed interviews with 4 out of these companies this study has obtained a wide understanding of how loyalty programs are disclosed in financial reports in a Swedish context. This study uses a qualitative method. Theoretical framework: This study bases its theoretical reference from the stakeholder theory, financial disclosure theory and Swedish regulations, this study explores IFRS 15 and loyalty programmes and the disclosure requirement in this accounting standard. Findings: The international accounting standard IFRS 15 clashes to some extent with Swedish accounting principles, which means that Swedish limited companies, for various reasons, choose not to provide more information about the loyalty program than they do. Among other things, companies have listened to auditors' guidelines on what needs to be reported, with reference to Swedish accounting principles, and also to some extent created their own practice when they choose to report equally to their competitors. From the majority of surveyed companies' financial reports, it is not possible for stakeholders to deduce how valuation took place, nor what risks the loyalty program may entail. The study has shown that the more extensive and complex loyalty program the company uses, the more assessments and assumptions in valuation that can be difficult to get accurate. By presenting a valuation model, companies could reduce the information gap between company management and the company's stakeholders, thus also reducing risks.The debt linked to the loyalty program can amount to large sums in relation to the company's results. At the same time, more and more companies are choosing to use loyalty programs and those companies that are already using loyalty programs expect them to grow. This means that the reporting of loyalty programs and the information companies choose to provide about these is becoming increasingly important. / Bakgrund: Utbredningen av lojalitetsprogram i företags affärsplan blir ett vanligare och av vanligare inslag i marknadsstrategier. Lojalitetsprogram används för att bygga relationer till kunder, skapa lojalitet och merförsäljning. Det ligger i många lojalitetsprogram natur att företaget utlovar framtida förpliktelser till sina kunder. I redovisningen uppstår således en skuld. Med anledning av att IFRS 15 blev efterträdaren till tidigare redovisningsstandard IFRIC 13 ska värdering av denna lojalitetsskuld värderas efter IFRS 15 femstegsmodell och särskilda upplysningar ska lämnas, företagen har en så kallad upplysningsplikt. Syfte: Syftet är dels att beskriva hur och i vilken omfattning svenska aktiebolag, som ska redovisa i enlighet med IFRS 15, redovisar sina lojalitetsprogram i årsredovisningen. Utöver det är syftet även att analysera och förstå varför svenska aktiebolag redovisar som de gör samt analysera om i kraft trädandet av den nya redovisningsstandarden IFRS 15 påverkat företagens redovisning. Metod: Med detaljerad analys av 14 företags årsredovisningar; 2 som ägs av den svenska staten, 10 börsnoterade och 2 tidigare börsnoterade och ytterligare detaljerade intervjuer med fyra av dessa företag har denna studie fått en bred förståelse för hur lojalitetsprogram redovisas i finansiella rapporter ur ett svenskt perspektiv. Därmed utgår studien från en kvalitativ metod. Teoretisk referensram: Denna studie baserar sin teoretiska referens från intressentteorin, teori om finansiell information och svenska redovisningslagar och den här studien undersöker lojalitetsprogram och upplysningsplikten efter IFRS 15 som redovisningsstandard. Slutsats: Den internationella redovisningsstandarden IFRS 15 krockar till viss del med svenska redovisningsprinciper vilket gör att svenska aktiebolag, av olika anledningar, väljer att inte lämna mer information kring lojalitetsprogrammet än vad de gör. Företag har bland annat visat sig lyssna på revisorers riktlinjer kring vad som behöver redovisas, med hänvisning till svenska redovisningsprinciper, och även till viss del skapat en egen praxis då de väljer att redovisa jämlikt sina konkurrenter. Ur majoriteten av undersökta företags finansiella rapporter är det inte möjligt för intressenter att utläsa hur värdering gått till och inte heller vilka risker lojalitetsprogrammet kan innebära. Det har i studien visat sig att ju mer omfattande och komplext lojalitetsprogram företaget använder sig av, desto fler bedömningar och antaganden vid värdering som kan vara svåra att få precisa. Genom att redovisa en värderingsmodell skulle företagen kunna minskainformationsgapet mellan företagsledningen och företagets intressenter, på så sätt även minska riskerna. Skulden kopplat till lojalitetsprogrammet kan utgöra stora summor i förhållande till företagets resultat. Samtidigt är det allt fler företag som väljer att använda sig av lojalitetsprogram och de företag som redan använder sig av lojalitetsprogram, förväntar sig att de ska växa. Detta medför att redovisningen av lojalitetsprogram och de upplysningar företagen väljer att lämna kring dessa blir av allt större betydelse.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s several revenue recognition scandals arose, which led to a discussion about the need for a new principle-based standard with a balance sheet-based approach for revenue recognition. On 1st of January 2018 IFRS 15 Revenue from Contracts with Customers became effective and replaced all previous revenue recognition standards and interpretations. All companies are expected to be affected regarding when and how much the company reports its revenue, though the scope may vary from one company to another. This study aims to investigate how the application of IFRS 15 has impacted companies based on the business models they apply in their customer agreements. To operationalize the purpose of the study a quantitative method was adopted to gather the empirical data, which have been obtained from the companies’ annual reports. An enumeration was implemented, why all listed companies on Nasdaq Stockholm which are required to implement IFRS 15 have been studied. The results indicate that a minority of the companies have showed an impact and most of the companies have not been impacted after an implementation of the new revenue recognition standard. The study has identified that the reason why companies are affected by IFRS 15 depends on the business models’ companies apply in their customer agreements. The minority of companies that have been affected by IFRS 15 are the ones which have developed business models that includes complex customer contracts, i.e. customer contracts consisting of complex commitments and promises of goods and services to customers. Accordingly, the majority of the studied companies uses business models with non-complex customer contracts in their customer agreements, e.g. simple sale of only one good, hence their revenue recognition under IFRS 15 does not differ from previous accounting standards.

Background: Revenue recognition has been a debated issue for a long time. During the 1990s and 2000s, several critical revenue related events took place. These events led to the development of a new standard for revenues called IFRS 15"Revenue from contracts with customers". One year has passed since the adoption in Swedish law and the aftermaths are available for analysis. The implementation of IFRS 15 is expected to affect the revenue reporting and the disclosure requirements referred to them. However, this change is not expected to affect all industries the same way but will likely depend on business model used. Purpose: The purpose of the study is to illustrate how revenue recognition has been affected by the implementation of IFRS 15 from an industry perspective as well as increase understanding of why some industries are affected and others not. Method:IFRS 15 has one single model for all revenuearising from contracts with customers and the standard also includes expanded disclosure requirements. The first approach examines how net sales change in companies when implementing IFRS 15. The reason for this is to determine if the standard has had anyeffect on the company's sales revenue. The second approach in the study is to examine the companies segment reporting to determine whether the implementation have had an effect on the company's financial report, based on the expanded disclosure requirements. Some industries are expected to be affected more than others which is why both approaches are examined from an industry-oriented perspective. Results: Customer serviceand telecom are the two industries that have the most affected net sales in connection with the implementation of IFRS 15. The two industries that showed the biggest impact on changed segment reporting are industrial and health care. Oil and gas and utilities reported no impact on net sales or changed segment reporting.