ASC

ASC 978-10

Overall

978 Real Estate—Time-Sharing Activities

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In brief

IntermediateIndustry-specificInventory and PP&ERevenueRecognition

ASC 978-10 is the Overall subtopic for real estate time-sharing activities, describing the scope of the industry guidance and the transaction structures it covers. It applies to all entities that sell real estate time-share interests — fee simple sales, sales where title remains with or reverts to the seller, and reseller transactions — but not to time-sharing in other long-lived assets like cruise ships or corporate jets. It also supplies the tests for determining what constitutes real estate (including integral equipment) and requires that each phase of a time-share project be delineated at the outset and accounted for separately.

Key points (7)
  • This Topic provides only incremental industry-specific guidance; entities in its scope must also comply with all other applicable GAAP (978-10-15-1).
  • The guidance applies to all entities that sell real estate time-share interests, including fee simple transactions, transactions where title remains with or reverts to the seller, and transactions by a time-share reseller (978-10-15-2 through 15-3).
  • Time-sharing in other long-lived assets such as cruise ships, corporate jets, and transportation equipment is outside the scope (978-10-15-5).
  • A time-share seller must establish and delineate a project and its phases at the outset, and each phase must be accounted for separately (978-10-15-6; 978-10-25-1).
  • Whether a transaction is in substance a sale of real estate is judged by the nature of the entire real estate component (land plus property improvements and integral equipment), without bifurcating into real estate and non-real-estate components (978-10-15-7).
  • Equipment is integral equipment when the cost to remove plus the decrease in fair value from removal exceeds 10 percent of the installed fair value of the equipment (978-10-15-8 through 15-11).
  • Time-sharing transactions are characterized by volume-based homogeneous sales, seller financing, high selling and marketing costs, and recovery of the interval with buyer principal forfeiture upon default (978-10-05-5).

For students. This Overall subtopic is mostly a scope and definitions gateway — the substantive rules live in the other 978 subtopics (receivables, inventory, deferred costs), and much of the old revenue guidance was superseded by ASU 2014-09 (ASC 606). A common misunderstanding is assuming "time-sharing" covers any shared-use asset; ASC 978 applies only to real estate time-shares, not to jets or cruise ships.

time-share intervaldeveloper/sellerintegral equipmentin-substance sale of real estateproject phase accountingexchange programfee simple transactiontime-share reseller

Machine-generated study aid for ASC 978-10. Check the source paragraphs below.

978-10-00Status

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978-10-05Overview and Background

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978-10-05-1
The Codification contains several Topics for real estate due to the differing accounting treatment for various real estate subindustries. The Topics include:
  1. a
    Real Estate—General
  2. b
    Real Estate—Common Interest Realty Associations
  3. c
    Real Estate—Real Estate Investment Trusts
  4. d
    Real Estate—Time-Sharing Activities
  5. e
    Real Estate—Retail Land.
See also Subtopic 842-40 for accounting guidance for the sale of real estate that is part of a sale and leaseback transaction.
978-10-05-2
The Real Estate—Time-Sharing Activities Topic addresses the unique accounting and reporting issues for real estate time-sharing activities. This Topic includes the following Subtopics:
  1. a
    Overall
  2. b
    Statement of Cash Flows
  3. c
    Accounting Changes and Error Corrections
  4. d
    Receivables
  5. e
    Inventory
  6. f
    Other Assets and Deferred Costs
  7. g
    Subparagraph superseded by Accounting Standards Update No. 2014-09.
  8. h
    Other Expenses
  9. i
    Consolidation
  10. j
    Subparagraph superseded by Accounting Standards Update No. 2016-02.

Other Considerations

978-10-05-3
The real estate time-sharing industry has a variety of time-sharing structures used by sellers. The term developer is used interchangeably and synonymously with seller in this Topic.
978-10-05-5
Time-sharing transactions are characterized by the following:
  1. a
    Volume-based, homogeneous sales
  2. b
    Seller financing
  3. c
    Relatively high selling and marketing costs
  4. d
    Upon default, recovery of the time-sharing interval by the seller and some forfeiture of principal by the buyer.
978-10-05-6
The time-sharing industry has introduced a variety of transaction structures to differentiate its products and enhance sales volumes. For example, buyers often have the right to exchange periodic use of their time-sharing intervals for use of other time-sharing intervals or for various consumer products, frequently through a third-party exchange entity. In this context, an exchange is the trading, by a purchaser of a time-sharing interval, of that time-sharing interval for a given year for another time interval, another location, or another kind of privilege of ownership. Such trading is often effected through the buyer's membership in an exchange entity. Many developers also offer an internal exchange program. Buyers typically pay a fee for exchange privileges. Time-sharing transactions include the sale of fixed time and floating time, points (which may be redeemed so that a buyer may occupy a specific property), vacation clubs, and fractional interests; the use of time-sharing special-purpose entities to hold title to real estate; and the provision of the right to use real estate for a specified period.

978-10-15Scope and Scope Exceptions

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Overall Guidance

978-10-15-1
The Subtopics within the Real Estate—Time-Sharing Activities Topic only provide incremental industry-specific guidance for the entities defined in this Scope Section, or as further defined in the Scope Sections of the individual Subtopics. Entities within the scope of this Topic shall also comply with the applicable guidance not included in this Topic.

Entities

978-10-15-2
This Topic provides guidance for all entities that sell real estate time-share interests.

Transactions

978-10-15-3
The guidance in this Topic applies to the following transactions:
  1. a
    Fee simple transactions in which nonreversionary title and ownership of the real estate pass to the buyer or a special-purpose entity
  2. b
    Transactions in which title and ownership of all or a portion of the real estate remain with the seller
  3. c
    Transactions in which title and ownership of all or a portion of the real estate pass to the buyer and subsequently revert to the seller or transfer to a third party
  4. d
    Transactions by a time-share reseller.
978-10-15-4
Paragraphs
978-10-15-7 through 15-12
provide guidance that is useful in determining what constitutes real estate for purposes of this Subtopic.
978-10-15-5
The guidance in this Topic does not apply to the following transactions:
  1. a
    Time-sharing transactions in other long-lived assets such as cruise ships, corporate jets, and other kinds of transportation equipment.

Other Considerations

978-10-15-6
Throughout this Topic, reference is made to a project or to a phase of a project. A project may consist of a single phase. A time-share seller shall establish and delineate a project and its phases at the outset of the project. Each phase shall be accounted for separately.

Determining What Constitutes Real Estate

978-10-15-7
Determining whether a transaction is in substance the sale of real estate requires judgment. However, in making that determination, one shall consider the nature of the entire real estate component being sold (that is, the land plus the property improvements and integral equipment), and not the land only, in relation to the entire transaction. Further, that determination shall not consider whether the operations in which the assets are involved are traditional or nontraditional real estate activities. For example, if a ski resort is sold and the lodge and ski lifts are considered to be affixed to the land (that is, they cannot be removed and used separately without incurring significant cost), then it would appear that the sale is in substance the sale of real estate. Transactions involving the sale of underlying land (or the sale of the property improvements or integral equipment subject to a lease of the underlying land) shall not be bifurcated into a real estate component (the sale of the underlying land) and a non-real-estate component (the sale of the lodge and lifts).
978-10-15-8
The determination of whether equipment is integral equipment shall be based on the significance of the cost to remove the equipment from its existing location (which would include the cost of repairing damage done to the existing location as a result of the removal), combined with the decrease in the fair value of the equipment as a result of that removal.
978-10-15-9
At a minimum, the decrease in the fair value of the equipment as a result of its removal is the estimated cost to ship and reinstall the equipment at a new site. If there are multiple potential users of the leased equipment, the estimate of the fair value of the equipment as well as the costs to ship and install the equipment shall assume that the equipment will be sold to the potential user that would result in the greatest net cash proceeds to the seller.
978-10-15-10
The nature of the equipment, and the likely use of the equipment by other potential users, shall be considered in determining whether any additional diminution in fair value exists beyond that associated with costs to ship and install the equipment.
978-10-15-11
When the combined total of both the cost to remove plus the decrease in fair value exceeds 10 percent of the fair value of the equipment (installed), the equipment is integral equipment.
978-10-15-12
The phrase cannot be removed and used separately without incurring significant cost contains both of the following distinct concepts:
  1. a
    The ability to remove the equipment without incurring significant cost
  2. b
    The ability of a different entity to use the equipment at another location without significant diminution in utility or fair value.

978-10-25Recognition

Source downloaded: .Record version 39841880a716. Effective date must be checked in the source.

978-10-25-1
As indicated in paragraph 978-10-15-6, a time-share seller shall establish and delineate a project and its phases at the outset of the project and each phase shall be accounted for separately.

Related subtopics