Financial Instruments

6 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2013

Financial Instruments [Abstract]

Fair Value Disclosures [Text Block]

10. FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS

Authoritative guidance defines fair value as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. The guidance establishes a fair value hierarchy, which prioritizes the inputs used in measuring fair value into three broad levels as follows:

Level 1 - Inputs are unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities that can be accessed at the measurement date.

Level 2 - Inputs include quoted prices for similar assets and liabilities in active markets, quoted prices for identical or similar assets or liabilities in markets that are not active, inputs other than quoted prices that are observable for the asset or liability (i.e., interest rates, yield curves, etc.), and inputs that are derived principally from or corroborated by observable market data by correlation or other means (market corroborated inputs).

Level 3 - Unobservable inputs that reflect assumptions about what market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability. These inputs would be based on the best information available, including the Company's own data.

The carrying amount of the Company's financial instruments, which are not marked to fair value at each reportable date and principally include trade receivables and accounts payable, approximate fair value due to the relatively short maturity of such instruments. Additionally, as of March 31, 2013, the carrying value of debt was not materially different from fair value, as the interest rates on the variable rate debt approximated rates currently available to the Company.

Long-lived assets, such as property, plant, and equipment, and purchased intangibles that are subject to amortization, are reviewed for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset may not be recoverable. The recoverability of assets that are to be held and used is measured by a comparison of the carrying amount of an asset to the estimated undiscounted future cash flows expected to be generated by such asset. If the carrying amount of an asset exceeds its estimated future cash flows, an impairment charge is recognized in the amount by which the carrying amount of such asset exceeds its fair value. The fair value calculation requires management to apply judgment in estimating future cash flows and the discount rates that reflect the risk inherent in the future cash flows. The estimated cash flows used for this nonrecurring fair value measurement is considered a Level 3 input as defined above. The Company recorded no impairment charges related to long-lived assets during the first six months of fiscal years 2013 and 2012.

Goodwill is evaluated annually for impairment or more frequently if events and circumstances indicate that the asset might be impaired. An impairment loss is recognized to the extent that the carrying amount exceeds the asset's fair value. This determination is made at the reporting unit level and consists of two steps. First, the Company determines its fair value and compares it to its carrying amount. The Company determines the fair value using a discounted cash flow analysis, which requires unobservable inputs (Level 3 as defined above). These inputs include selection of an appropriate discount rate and the amount and timing of expected future cash flows. Second, if the carrying amount of a reporting unit exceeds its fair value, an impairment loss is recognized for any excess of the carrying amount of the reporting units' goodwill and other intangibles over the implied fair value.If the Company does not first perform the optional qualitative assessment in accordance with current guidance, or otherwise concludes that it is more likely than not that its fair value is less than its carrying amount based on that qualitative assessment, then it must perform the two-step impairment test discussed above. The Company recorded no impairment charges related to goodwill during the first six months of fiscal years 2013 and 2012. The Company has no indefinite-lived intangible assets other than goodwill.