Note 11 - New Accounting Pronouncements

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2016

Notes to Financial Statements

New Accounting Pronouncements and Changes in Accounting Principles [Text Block]

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1 – New Accounting Pronouncements

In March 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2016-09,

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Compensation – Stock Compensation (Topic 718),

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which changes the accounting for certain aspects of share-based payments to employees. The new guidance requires excess tax benefits and tax deficiencies to be recorded in the income statement when the awards vest or are settled. In addition, cash flows related to excess tax benefits will no longer be separately classified as a financing activity apart from other income tax cash flows. The standard also allows the Company to repurchase more of an employee’s shares for tax withholding purposes without triggering liability accounting, clarifies that all cash payments made on an employee’s behalf for withheld shares should be presented as a financing activity on its cash flows statement, and provides an accounting policy election to account for forfeitures as they occur. The new standard is effective for the Company beginning January 1, 2017, with early adoption permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the effect that adopting this standard will have on its financial statements and related disclosures.

In February 2016, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2016-02,

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Leases (Topic 842),

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which is intended to increase the transparency and comparability among organizations by recognizing lease assets and lease liabilities on the balance sheet and disclosing key information about leasing arrangements. In order to meet that objective, the new standard requires recognition of the assets and liabilities that arise from leases. A lessee will be required to recognize on the balance sheet the assets and liabilities for leases with lease terms of more than 12 months.  Accounting by lessors will remain largely unchanged from current U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. The new standard is effective for public companies for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, and interim periods within those years, with early adoption permitted. The Company plans to adopt the standard on January 1, 2019. The Company is still evaluating the effect that adopting this standard will have on its financial statements and related disclosures.

In May 2014, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2014-09,

“Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606)

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which replaces existing revenue recognition rules with a comprehensive revenue measurement and recognition standard and expanded disclosure requirements. The new standard becomes effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2017, following the July 2015 approval of a one-year deferral of the effective date by the FASB. The Company continues to evaluate the impact of the new standard, available adoption methods and the impact of each adoption method on its consolidated financial statements. The Company plans to adopt the standard on January 1, 2018.