Summary of Significant Accounting Policies |
9 Months Ended |
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Sep. 30, 2016 | |
| Summary of significant accounting policies | |
| Summary of Significant Accounting Policies |
SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
Basis of Presentation
The accompanying unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States ("U.S. GAAP") for interim financial information and with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Rule 10-01 of Regulation S-X. They do not include all information and notes required by generally accepted accounting principles for complete financial statements. However, except as disclosed herein, there has been no material change in the information disclosed in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in the Annual Report on Form 10-K of The Coca-Cola Company for the year ended December 31, 2015.
When used in these notes, the terms "The Coca-Cola Company," "Company," "we," "us" or "our" mean The Coca-Cola Company and all entities included in our condensed consolidated financial statements. In the opinion of management, all adjustments (including normal recurring accruals) considered necessary for a fair presentation have been included. Operating results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ending December 31, 2016. Sales of our nonalcoholic ready-to-drink beverages are somewhat seasonal, with the second and third calendar quarters accounting for the highest sales volumes. The volume of sales in the beverage business may be affected by weather conditions.
Each of our interim reporting periods, other than the fourth interim reporting period, ends on the Friday closest to the last day of the corresponding quarterly calendar period. The third quarter of 2016 and 2015 ended on September 30, 2016 and October 2, 2015, respectively. Our fourth interim reporting period and our fiscal year end on December 31 regardless of the day of the week on which December 31 falls.
Effective January 1, 2016, we transferred Coca-Cola Refreshments' ("CCR") bottling and associated supply chain operations in the United States and Canada from our North America segment to our Bottling Investments segment. Additionally, effective August 1, 2016, the Company formed a new Europe, Middle East and Africa operating group consisting of the business units that were previously included in the Europe and the Eurasia and Africa operating groups. As a result, our organizational structure consists of the following operating segments: Europe, Middle East and Africa; Latin America; North America; Asia Pacific; Bottling Investments; and Corporate. Accordingly, all prior period segment information presented herein has been revised to reflect these changes in our organizational structure.
Advertising Costs
The Company's accounting policy related to advertising costs for annual reporting purposes, as disclosed in Note 1 of our 2015 Annual Report on Form 10-K, is to expense production costs of print, radio, television and other advertisements as of the first date the advertisements take place. All other marketing expenditures are expensed in the annual period in which the expenditure is incurred.
For interim reporting purposes, we allocate our estimated full year marketing expenditures that benefit multiple interim periods to each of our interim reporting periods. We use the proportion of each interim period's actual unit case volume to the estimated full year unit case volume as the basis for the allocation. This methodology results in our marketing expenditures being recognized at a standard rate per unit case. At the end of each interim reporting period, we review our estimated full year unit case volume and our estimated full year marketing expenditures that benefit multiple interim periods in order to evaluate if a change in estimate is necessary. The impact of any changes in these full year estimates is recognized in the interim period in which the change in estimate occurs. Our full year marketing expenditures are not impacted by this interim accounting policy.
Hyperinflationary Economies
A hyperinflationary economy is one that has cumulative inflation of 100 percent or more over a three-year period. In accordance with U.S. GAAP, local subsidiaries in hyperinflationary economies are required to use the U.S. dollar as their functional currency and remeasure the monetary assets and liabilities not denominated in U.S. dollars using the rate applicable to conversion of a currency for purposes of dividend remittances. All exchange gains and losses resulting from remeasurement are recognized currently in income.
Venezuela has been designated as a hyperinflationary economy. In February 2015, the Venezuelan government announced that the two previously used currency conversion mechanisms had been merged into a single mechanism called SICAD and introduced a new open market exchange rate system, SIMADI. Management determined that the SIMADI rate was the most appropriate legally available rate and remeasured the net monetary assets of our Venezuelan subsidiary, resulting in a charge of $27 million recorded in the line item other income (loss) — net in our condensed consolidated statement of income during the nine months ended October 2, 2015.
During the nine months ended September 30, 2016, the Venezuelan government devalued its currency and changed its official and most preferential exchange rate, which should be used for purchases of certain essential goods, to 10 bolivars per U.S. dollar from 6.3. The official and most preferential rate is now known as DIPRO and the SICAD rate has been eliminated. The Venezuelan government also announced that the SIMADI rate would be replaced by the DICOM rate, which will be allowed to float freely and is expected to fluctuate based on supply and demand. As a result, management determined that the DICOM rate was the most appropriate legally available rate to remeasure the net monetary assets of our Venezuelan subsidiary.
In addition to the foreign currency exchange exposure related to our Venezuelan subsidiary's net monetary assets, we also sell concentrate to our bottling partner in Venezuela from outside the country. These sales are denominated in U.S. dollars. As a result of the continued lack of liquidity and our revised assessment of the U.S. dollar value we expected to realize upon the conversion of Venezuelan bolivars into U.S. dollars by our bottling partner to pay our concentrate sales receivables, we recorded a write-down of $76 million during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016. We recorded a write-down of $56 million during the nine months ended October 2, 2015. These write-downs were recorded in the line item other operating charges in our condensed consolidated statements of income.
We also have certain U.S. dollar denominated intangible assets associated with products sold in Venezuela. As a result of the Company's revised expectations regarding the convertibility of the local currency, we recognized impairment charges of $3 million and $55 million during the three and nine months ended October 2, 2015, respectively, recorded in the line item other operating charges in our condensed consolidated statements of income.
As of September 30, 2016, the combined carrying value of the net monetary assets of our Venezuelan subsidiary, the receivables from our bottling partner in Venezuela and the intangible assets associated with products sold in Venezuela was $88 million. Despite the additional currency conversion mechanisms, the Company's ability to pay dividends from Venezuela is still restricted due to the low volume of U.S. dollars available for conversion. As a result of the newly announced floating DICOM rate, the Company expects to continue to record losses on foreign currency exchange, may incur additional write-downs of receivables or impairment charges and will continue to record our proportionate share of any charges recorded by our equity method investee that has operations in Venezuela.
Recently Issued Accounting Guidance
In May 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") issued Accounting Standards Update ("ASU") 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, which will replace most existing revenue recognition guidance in U.S. GAAP and is intended to improve and converge with international standards the financial reporting requirements for revenue from contracts with customers. The core principle of ASU 2014-09 is that an entity should recognize revenue for the transfer of goods or services equal to the amount that it expects to be entitled to receive for those goods or services. ASU 2014-09 also requires additional disclosures about the nature, timing and uncertainty of revenue and cash flows arising from customer contracts, including significant judgments and changes in judgments. ASU 2014-09 allows for both retrospective and prospective methods of adoption and will be effective for the Company beginning January 1, 2018. In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-08, Revenue from Contracts with Customers: Principal versus Agent Considerations (Reporting Revenue Gross versus Net), which clarifies the guidance in ASU 2014-09 and has the same effective date as the original standard. During the three months ended July 1, 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-10, Revenue from Contracts with Customers: Identifying Performance Obligations and Licensing; ASU 2016-11, Rescission of SEC Guidance Because of Accounting Standards Updates 2014-09 and 2014-16 Pursuant to Staff Announcements at the March 3, 2016 EITF Meeting; and ASU 2016-12, Revenue from Contracts with Customers: Narrow-Scope Improvements and Practical Expedients. These amendments are intended to improve and clarify the implementation guidance of ASU 2014-09 and have the same effective date as the original standard. The Company is currently evaluating the impact that the adoption of these standards will have on our consolidated financial statements.
In April 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-03, Simplifying the Presentation of Debt Issuance Costs, which requires that debt issuance costs related to a recognized debt liability be presented in the balance sheet as a direct deduction from the carrying amount of that debt liability. The standard was retrospectively adopted by the Company on January 1, 2016. As a result, $96 million and $1 million of debt issuance costs at December 31, 2015, were reclassified to long-term debt and current maturities of long-term debt, respectively, from other assets.
In November 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-17, Income Taxes: Balance Sheet Classification of Deferred Taxes. The amendments in this update simplify the presentation of deferred income taxes and require that deferred tax liabilities and assets be classified as noncurrent in a consolidated statement of financial position. These amendments may be applied either prospectively to all deferred tax liabilities and assets or retrospectively to all periods presented. The amendments will be effective for the Company beginning January 1, 2017. Earlier application is permitted for all entities as of the beginning of an interim or annual reporting period.
In January 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-01, Financial Instruments — Overall: Recognition and Measurement of Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities, which addresses certain aspects of the recognition, measurement, presentation and disclosure of financial instruments. The amendment will be effective for the Company beginning January 1, 2018 and will require us to recognize any changes in the fair value of certain equity investments in net income. These changes are currently recognized in other comprehensive income ("OCI").
In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02, Leases, which requires lessees to recognize on the balance sheet a right-of-use asset, representing their right to use the underlying asset for the lease term, and a lease liability for all leases with terms greater than 12 months. The guidance also requires qualitative and quantitative disclosures designed to assess the amount, timing and uncertainty of cash flows arising from leases. The standard requires the use of a modified retrospective transition approach, which includes a number of optional practical expedients that entities may elect to apply. ASU 2016-02 is effective for the Company beginning January 1, 2019 and we are currently evaluating the impact that ASU 2016-02 will have on our consolidated financial statements.
In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-09, Compensation — Stock Compensation: Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting. The standard is intended to simplify several areas of accounting for share-based compensation arrangements, including the income tax impact, classification on the statement of cash flows and forfeitures. ASU 2016-09 is effective for the Company beginning January 1, 2017 and will require us to recognize excess tax benefits and tax deficiencies in the consolidated income statement when the awards vest or are settled. These changes are currently recognized in capital surplus in our consolidated balance sheet. Additionally, the guidance requires excess tax benefits to be presented as an operating activity in the statement of cash flows rather than as a financing activity.
In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-13, Financial Instruments — Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments, which requires measurement and recognition of expected credit losses for financial assets held. ASU 2016-13 is effective for the Company beginning January 1, 2020 and we are currently evaluating the impact that ASU 2016-13 will have on our consolidated financial statements.
In August 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-15, Classification of Certain Cash Receipts and Cash Payments, which addresses eight specific cash flow issues with the objective of reducing the existing diversity in practice. ASU 2016-15 is effective for the Company beginning January 1, 2018 and we are currently evaluating the impact that ASU 2016-15 will have on our consolidated financial statements.
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