It’s difficult to know how well both Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) and Palm (NSDQ: PALM) perform every quarter since the revenue they receive from the phones they sell is not accounted for on the day of the sale, but rather is stretched over a period of years.

The reason for this is something called subscription based accounting, which requires handset and software developers, like Apple and Palm, to account for revenues over time if they plan to provide software updates to the products. Perhaps it is one reason why Apple requires iPod Touch owners to pay for their software updates, so that they can recognize revenue from the device immediately.

But that’s changing as of today. The Financial Accounting Standards Board approved a rule change today that will allow companies to recognize more revenue when products are sold, Reuters reports. The change will allow both Palm and Apple to recognize the majority of revenues upfront. This is also how Apple recognized revenues for Apple TV, however, they were never significant enough for it to matter.