Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)

9 Months Ended

Dec. 28, 2013

The unaudited interim consolidated financial statements present the financial position, income, comprehensive income, and cash flows of the Company, including all entities in which the Company has a controlling financial interest and is determined to be the primary beneficiary. All significant intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

Fiscal Year

The Company utilizes a 52-53 week fiscal year ending on the Saturday closest to March 31. As such, fiscal year 2014 will end on March 29, 2014 and will be a 52-week period (“Fiscal 2014”). Fiscal year 2013 ended on March 30, 2013 and was also a 52-week period (“Fiscal 2013”). The third quarter of Fiscal 2014 ended on December 28, 2013 and was a 13-week period. The third quarter of Fiscal 2013 ended on December 29, 2012 and was also a 13-week period.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the financial statements and footnotes thereto. Actual results could differ materially from those estimates.

Significant estimates inherent in the preparation of the consolidated financial statements include reserves for bad debt, customer returns, discounts, end-of-season markdowns, and operational chargebacks; the realizability of inventory; reserves for litigation and other contingencies; useful lives and impairments of long-lived tangible and intangible assets; accounting for income taxes and related uncertain tax positions; the valuation of stock-based compensation and related expected forfeiture rates; reserves for restructuring; and accounting for business combinations, among others.

Reclassifications

Certain reclassifications have been made to the prior periods’ financial information in order to conform to the current period’s presentation.

Revenue Recognition

Revenue is recognized across all segments of the business when there is persuasive evidence of an arrangement, delivery has occurred, price has been fixed or is determinable, and collectability is reasonably assured.

Revenue within the Company’s Wholesale segment is recognized at the time title passes and risk of loss is transferred to customers. Wholesale revenue is recorded net of estimates of returns, discounts, end-of-season markdown allowances, operational chargebacks, and certain cooperative advertising allowances. Returns and allowances require pre-approval from management and discounts are based on trade terms. Estimates for end-of-season markdown reserves are based on historical trends, actual and forecasted seasonal results, an evaluation of current economic and market conditions, retailer performance, and, in certain cases, contractual terms. Estimates for operational chargebacks are based on actual notifications of order fulfillment discrepancies and historical trends. The Company reviews and refines these estimates on at least a quarterly basis. The Company’s historical estimates of these costs have not differed materially from actual results.

Retail store and concession-based shop-within-shop revenue is recognized net of estimated returns at the time of sale to customers. E-commerce revenue from sales of products ordered through the Company’s retail Internet sites is recognized upon delivery and receipt of the shipment by its customers. Such revenue is also reduced by an estimate of returns.

Gift cards issued by the Company are recorded as a liability until they are redeemed, at which point revenue is recognized. The Company recognizes income for unredeemed gift cards when the likelihood of a gift card being redeemed by a customer is remote and the Company determines that it does not have a legal obligation to remit the value of the unredeemed gift card to the relevant jurisdiction as unclaimed or abandoned property.

Revenue from licensing arrangements is recognized when earned in accordance with the terms of the underlying agreements, generally based upon the higher of (i) contractually guaranteed minimum royalty levels or (ii) actual sales and royalty data, or estimates thereof, received from the Company’s licensees.

The Company accounts for sales taxes and other related taxes on a net basis, and excludes such taxes from revenue.

Shipping and Handling Costs

The costs associated with shipping goods to customers are reflected as a component of selling, general, and administrative (“SG&A”) expenses in the unaudited interim consolidated statements of income. Shipping costs were $11 million and $28 million during the three-month and nine-month periods ended December 28, 2013, respectively, and $10 million and $27 million during the three-month and nine-month periods ended December 29, 2012, respectively. The costs of preparing merchandise for sale, such as picking, packing, warehousing, and order charges (“handling costs”) are also included in SG&A expenses. Handling costs were $48 million and $139 million during the three-month and nine-month periods ended December 28, 2013, respectively, and $37 million and $111 million during the three-month and nine-month periods ended December 29, 2012, respectively. Shipping and handling costs billed to customers are included in revenue.

Net Income Per Common Share

All earnings per share amounts have been calculated based on unrounded numbers. Options to purchase shares of the Company's common stock at an exercise price greater than the average market price of the common stock during the reporting period are anti-dilutive and therefore not included in the computation of diluted net income per common share. In addition, the Company has outstanding RSUs that are issuable only upon the achievement of certain service and/or performance goals. Performance-based restricted stock units are included in the computation of diluted shares only to the extent that the underlying performance conditions (and any applicable market condition modifiers) (i) are satisfied as of the end of the reporting period or (ii) would be satisfied if the end of the reporting period were the end of the related contingency period and the result would be dilutive under the treasury stock method.

Net Income per Common Share

Basic net income per common share is computed by dividing net income applicable to common shares by the weighted-average number of common shares outstanding during the period. Weighted-average common shares include shares of the Company’s Class A and Class B common stock. Diluted net income per common share adjusts basic net income per common share for the effects of outstanding stock options, restricted stock, restricted stock units ("RSUs"), and any other potentially dilutive financial instruments, only in the periods in which such effects are dilutive under the treasury stock method.

Accounts Receivable

In the normal course of business, the Company extends credit to wholesale customers that satisfy defined credit criteria. Accounts receivable, net is recorded at carrying value, which approximates fair value, and is presented in the Company's consolidated balance sheets net of certain reserves and allowances. These reserves and allowances consist of (i) reserves for returns, discounts, end-of-season markdowns, operational chargebacks, and certain cooperative advertising allowances (see Revenue Recognition for further discussion of related accounting policies) and (ii) allowances for doubtful accounts.

An allowance for doubtful accounts is determined through analysis of periodic aging of accounts receivable, assessments of collectability based on an evaluation of historical and anticipated trends, the financial condition of the Company’s customers, and an evaluation of the impact of economic conditions, among other factors.

Derivative Financial Instruments

The Company records all derivative financial instruments on its consolidated balance sheets at fair value. For derivative instruments that qualify for hedge accounting, the effective portion of changes in the fair value of these instruments is either (i) offset against the changes in fair value of the hedged assets, liabilities, or firm commitments through earnings or (ii) recognized in equity as a component of accumulated other comprehensive income ("AOCI") until the hedged item is recognized in earnings, depending on whether the derivative is being used to hedge changes in fair value or cash flows, respectively.

Each derivative instrument entered into by the Company that qualifies for hedge accounting is expected to be highly effective at reducing the risk associated with the exposure being hedged. For each derivative instrument that is designated as a hedge, the Company formally documents the related risk management objective and strategy, including identification of the hedging instrument, the hedged item, and the risk exposure, as well as how hedge effectiveness will be assessed prospectively and retrospectively over the term of the instrument. To assess the effectiveness of derivative instruments that are designated as hedges, the Company uses regression analysis, a statistical method, to compare the change in the fair value of the derivative instrument to the change in the fair value or cash flows of the related hedged item. The extent to which a hedging instrument has been and is expected to remain highly effective in achieving offsetting changes in fair value or cash flows is assessed and documented by the Company on at least a quarterly basis.

To the extent that a derivative instrument designated as a cash flow hedge is not considered to be effective, any change in its fair value relating to such ineffectiveness is immediately recognized in earnings within foreign currency gains (losses). If it is determined that a derivative instrument has not been highly effective, and will continue not to be highly effective in hedging the designated exposure, hedge accounting is discontinued and further gains (losses) are recognized in earnings within foreign currency gains (losses). Upon discontinuance of hedge accounting, the cumulative change in fair value of the derivative instrument previously recorded in AOCI is recognized in earnings when the related hedged item affects earnings, consistent with the original hedging strategy, unless the forecasted transaction is no longer probable of occurring, in which case the accumulated amount is immediately recognized in earnings within foreign currency gains (losses).

As a result of the use of derivative instruments, the Company is exposed to the risk that the counterparties to such contracts will fail to meet their contractual obligations. To mitigate this counterparty credit risk, the Company has a policy of only entering into contracts with carefully selected financial institutions based upon an evaluation of their credit ratings and certain other factors, adhering to established limits for credit exposure. The Company’s established policies and procedures for mitigating credit risk from derivative transactions include ongoing review and assessment of the creditworthiness of counterparties. The Company also enters into master netting arrangements with counterparties, when possible, to mitigate credit risk associated with its derivative instruments. In the event of default or termination (as such terms are defined within the respective master netting arrangement), these arrangements allow the Company to net-settle amounts payable and receivable related to multiple derivative transactions with the same counterparty. The master netting arrangements specify a number of events of default and termination, including, among others, the failure to make timely payments.

The fair values of the Company’s derivative instruments are recorded on its consolidated balance sheets on a gross basis. For cash flow reporting purposes, the Company classifies proceeds received or amounts paid upon the settlement of a derivative instrument in the same manner as the related item being hedged.

Forward Foreign Currency Exchange Contracts

The Company primarily enters into forward foreign currency exchange contracts as hedges to reduce its risks related to exchange rate fluctuations on inventory purchases, intercompany royalty payments made by certain of its international operations, intercompany contributions made to fund certain marketing efforts of its international operations, and other foreign currency-denominated operational cash flows. To the extent forward foreign currency exchange contracts designated as cash flow hedges are highly effective in offsetting changes in the value of the hedged items, the related gains (losses) are initially deferred in equity as a component of AOCI and subsequently recognized in the consolidated statements of income as follows:


•	Forecasted Inventory Purchases — Recognized as part of the cost of the inventory purchases being hedged within cost of goods sold when the related inventory is sold.


•	Intercompany Royalty Payments and Marketing Contributions — Recognized within foreign currency gains (losses) generally in the period in which the related payments or contributions being hedged are received or paid.

Undesignated Hedges

All of the Company’s undesignated hedges are entered into to hedge specific economic risks, such as foreign currency exchange rate risk. Changes in the fair value of undesignated derivative instruments are immediately recognized in earnings within foreign currency gains (losses).

See Note 14 for further discussion of the Company’s derivative financial instruments.