Revenue – ifrs 15 handbook

No specific guidance on allocating a discount when an entity is a 
principal for part of the arrangement and an agent for the other 
part
The standard does not include specific guidance on how an entity allocates a 
discount in an arrangement in which it is a principal for some goods or services 
and an agent for others. To achieve the allocation principle in these situations, 
judgement will be needed in determining the discount to allocate to the 
performance obligation related to acting as an agent in arranging for goods or 
services on a customer’s behalf.
For further discussion on allocating the transaction price, including discounts, 
see 
Section 4.2
.
Estimating gross revenue as a principal
In some arrangements, the entity may be the principal even though it does not 
know the price paid by the end customer to the intermediary that is an agent 
because it receives a fixed amount per unit regardless of the price paid. The 
standard does not address these fact patterns, but the International Accounting 
Standards Board (the Board) provided its views in the basis for conclusions. The 
Board noted that an entity that is a principal would generally be expected to be 
able to apply judgement and determine the consideration to which it is entitled 
using all relevant facts and circumstances that are available to it.
IFRS 15.BC385X–BC385Z
Although a principal may be unaware of the specific amount charged by an 
intermediary that is an agent, it may have information that could be used to 
estimate the transaction price. An entity that is a principal should carefully 
consider the facts and circumstances and available information when 
estimating the transaction price.
Example 14 – Estimating gross revenue as a principal: Discount 
attributed to the company
Company C is a principal that is entitled to receive 3 from 
Intermediary D for each good sold to end customers. D may sell 
the good to the end customer for a range of prices from 2 to 5, but 
the amount remitted by D to C will be 3 for each good sold to end 
customers on C’s behalf. 
C does not know and will not know the specific price charged by D to 
the end customer. However, it should consider what information is 
available in assessing whether it could estimate the transaction price 
(e.g. estimated transaction price of 4 resulting in revenue of 4 and 
commission expense of 1).

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10 Other application issues | 261
10.3 Principal vs agent considerations
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