Anytime a presentation starts with "Implementing EITF 08-1 and EITF 09-3," we know we may be in for a long meeting.  Gregory P. Randall, Partner with KPMG, made a very technical topic interesting yesterday.  The topic - the changes in revenue recognition guidelines for software companies and others with multiple deliverables packaged in the same revenue arrangements.  If you are wondering why a CEO should care about revenue recognition, then please read my blog post from a few months ago: 2 Reasons CEOs Have to Care about Revenue Recognition.

Here were my main takeaways:

- Revenue recognition is still complicated and clear policies need to be established and strictly followed.

- Some additional clarity is provided and it appears that more revenue is likely to be recognized earlier by many companies affected.  This will be welcome news to some, but could cause some tax and other issues for many.

We also briefly discussed the legislation just passed that allows net operating losses (NOLs) to be carried back 5 years through the end of 2009.  There are some complexities to this allowance, so you should consult with your tax CPA to see if you can benefit.

These complex issues represent a very small percentage of all of the issues that entrepreneurs face in today's business environment.  CFO WISE helps entrepreneurs solve these and many other problems.