how companies report their turnover figures and how reliable they are to investors and analysts is regularly debated most of the concerns relate to when and how revenue is recognized and reported 
the financial accounting standards board fasb and its european counterpart the international accounting standards board iasb issued new revenue recognition standards for addressing how companies account for revenue turnover from contracts the changes are designed to make it easier to compare revenue figures reported on financial statements across companies the standard took effect in 2018 1