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Lighthouse is a provider of a ship tracking service that allows shipping companies to identify the location of their ships while at sea. Lighthouse and its customers enter into two contracts. The first contract is for the delivery and installation of the physical device and the second contract is for the tracking service. The price for the device and installation is a single nonrefundable amount of $10,000. The service contract which is generally for one year calls for fixed monthly payments of $300 per month. Customers may cancel the service contract at anytime.
Prior to the issuance of EITF 00-21 revenue recognition in accordance with GAAP was generally limited to a single deliverable. In most cases, firms were limited to recognizing revenue on arrangements with multiple deliveries on a straight line basis over the term of the contract (Sondhi pg 5). Contracts that were entered into near or at the same time were presumed to be have been negotiated as a package. They should be evaluated as a single arrangement when considering whether there are one or more accounting units (EITF 00-21 para. 2). However, when analyzing a Lighthouse arrangement with one of its customers, it appears that the portion of the agreement for delivery and installation of the physical device meets all the criteria for revenue recognition set for the in SAB 104. The contract is evidence of an agreement. Delivery and installation of the device has occurred. The $10,000 price is fixed. Although customers can cancel their contracts at anytime, it is unlikely that they will do so. The device is built to work exclusively with the ...