BASIS OF PRESENTATION

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2020

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

The unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements of Baxter International Inc. and its subsidiaries (we or our) have been prepared pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Accordingly, certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (U.S. GAAP) in the United States have been condensed or omitted. These unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019 (2019 Annual Report).

In the opinion of management, the unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements reflect all adjustments necessary for a fair presentation of the financial position, results of operations and cash flows for the periods presented. All such adjustments, unless otherwise noted herein, are of a normal, recurring nature. The results of operations for the current interim period are not necessarily indicative of the results of operations to be expected for the full year.

Risks and Uncertainties Related to COVID-19

Our global operations expose us to risks associated with public health crises and epidemics/pandemics, such as the novel strain of coronavirus (COVID-19). COVID-19 has had, and we expect will continue to have, an adverse impact on our operations, supply chains and distribution systems and has increased and will continue to increase our expenses, including as a result of impacts associated with preventive and precautionary measures that we, other businesses and governments are taking. These measures have led to unprecedented restrictions on, disruptions in, and other related impacts on businesses and personal activities. In addition to travel restrictions put in place in early 2020, governments have closed borders, imposed prolonged quarantines and may continue those measures or implement other restrictions and requirements in light of the continuing spread of the pandemic. We expect that these evolving restrictions and requirements, as well as the corresponding need to adapt to new methods of conducting business remotely, will continue to have an adverse effect on our business.

New Accounting Standards

Recently adopted accounting pronouncements

As of January 1, 2020, we adopted Accounting Standards Update (ASU) No. 2016-13, Financial Instruments - Credit Losses, which requires the measurement of expected lifetime credit losses, rather than incurred losses, for financial instruments held at the reporting date based on historical experience, current conditions and reasonable forecasts. The main objective of this ASU is to provide financial statement users with more decision-useful information about the expected credit losses on financial instruments and other commitments to extend credit held by a reporting entity at each reporting date. We adopted this ASU using the modified retrospective approach. The impact of the adoption of this ASU was an increase to our allowance for doubtful accounts and a decrease to retained earnings of $4 million.

The following table is a summary of the changes in our allowance for doubtful accounts for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020:


(in millions)	Three months ended September 30, 2020		Nine months ended September 30, 2020
Balance at beginning of period	$	120	$	112
Adoption of new accounting standard	—		4
Charged to costs and expenses	3		15
Write-offs	(3)		(4)
Currency translation adjustments	2		(5)

Balance at end of period	$	122	$	122

ASU 2016-13 also requires disclosure by vintage year of origination for net investments in leases. Our net investment in sales-type leases was $142 million as of September 30, 2020, of which $13 million originated in 2016 and prior, $19 million in 2017, $47 million in 2018, $36 million in 2019 and $27 million in 2020.

As of January 1, 2020, we adopted ASU 2018-15, Intangibles-Goodwill and Other-Internal-Use Software, which aligns the requirements for capitalizing implementation costs incurred in a hosting arrangement that is a service contract with the requirements for capitalizing implementation costs incurred to develop or obtain internal-use software. Our policies for capitalizing implementation costs incurred in a hosting arrangement were not impacted by this ASU. However, we have historically classified those capitalized costs within property, plant and equipment, net on our condensed consolidated balance sheets and as capital expenditures on our condensed consolidated statements of cash flows. Under the new ASU, those capitalized costs are presented as other non-current assets on our condensed consolidated balance sheets and within operating cash flows on our condensed consolidated statements of cash flows. We adopted this ASU on a prospective basis and capitalized $10 million and $30 million, respectively, of implementation costs related to hosting arrangements that are service contracts during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020.