The Telecommunications Industry Accounting Group (TIAG) engages with colleagues in the Telecom industry to understand priorities in accounting and reporting, facilitate dialogue with the standard setters and, where appropriate, offer our own observations.
At first our agenda was dominated by the proliferation of new fibre networks and how one might account for purchases and sales of fibre capacity under IRUs. This was followed by dealing with the implications of the end of the dot com bubble, and particularly addressing the impact of changes in expected future cash flows on asset carrying values.
The link between creating customer and shareholder value is becoming increasingly entwined. This has led to significant auction activity, roll outs of new technology, and diversification into new areas such as broadcast content and cloud computing. As companies are dealing with more revenue streams, challenges are being presented to the finance teams as to how to capture and measure this data accurately. Many of the telecommunication companies are also heavily affected by the new revenue recognition standard. As the new guidance does not only impact us with new accounting -- it may require the need to adjust processes and IT systems of many business models in the industry. Additionally, in 2016 a new leasing accounting standard was issued. Also, this change has a significant effect on the industry as lessor and lessee accounting is impacted.
Over the years the TIAG network established a prominent accounting industry forum for telecommunication companies. Besides establishing industry solutions as mentioned above, we bring the network together once a year at our GAAP Summit, welcoming discussion and networking among peers.
Best regards,
Christoph Gruss
TIAG Chairman
