Basis of Financial Statement Presentation (Policies)

9 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2013

Accounting Changes And Error Corrections [Abstract]

The Company’s operating revenues consist of contractual investment advisory and shareholder service fees paid to it by the Hennessy Funds. The Company earns investment advisory fees through portfolio management of the Hennessy Funds. The Company earns shareholder service fees by assisting customers in purchases, sales, distribution and customer service. These fee revenues are earned and calculated daily by the Hennessy Funds’ accountants at U.S. Bancorp Fund Services, LLC. The fees are computed and billed monthly, at which time they are recognized as revenue in accordance with Accounting Standard Codification 605 “Revenue Recognition” (ASC 605).

Fair Value Measurements

The Company applies the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) standard “Fair Value Measurements” for all financial assets and liabilities, which establishes a framework for measuring fair value in generally accepted accounting principles, and expands disclosures about fair value measurements. The standard 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.” It also establishes a fair value hierarchy consisting of the following three “levels” that prioritize the inputs to the valuation techniques used to measure fair value:

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Level 1 - quoted market prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities that are accessible at the measurement date.

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Level 2 - from other than quoted market prices that are observable for the asset or liability, either directly or indirectly (namely, similar assets or from markets that are not active).

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Level 3 - unobservable and shall be used to measure fair value to the extent that observable inputs are not available (namely, reflecting an entity’s own assumptions).

Intangibles-Goodwill and Other-General Intangibles Other than Goodwill

In July 2012, the FASB issued amendments to Accounting Standards Update (ASU) No. 2012-02 “Testing Indefinite-Lived Intangible Assets for Impairment.” The objective of the amendments is to reduce the cost and complexity of performing an impairment test for indefinite-lived intangible assets by simplifying how an entity tests those assets for impairment and to improve consistency in impairment testing guidance among long-lived asset categories. The amendments permit an entity first to assess qualitative factors to determine whether it is more likely than not that an indefinite-lived intangible asset is impaired as a basis for determining whether it is necessary to perform the quantitative impairment test in accordance with Subtopic 350-30, “Intangibles - Goodwill and Other - General Intangibles Other than Goodwill.” The more-likely-than-not threshold is defined as having a likelihood of more than 50 percent. Previously, an entity was required to test at least annually. The guidance provided by this update is effective for fiscal years beginning after September 15, 2012 (the Company’s fiscal year 2013). The standard was adopted October 1, 2012, and will allow the Company to forego its next annual impairment analysis if the more-likely-than-not threshold is met as of September 30, 2013, which would cause a reduction in the Company’s expenses.

Reporting of Amounts Reclassified Out of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income

In February 2013, the FASB issued an update to ASU No. 2013-02 “Reporting of Amounts Reclassified Out of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income.” The amendment improves the reporting of reclassifications out of accumulated other comprehensive income by requiring an entity to report the effect of the reclassification on a respective line item in the financials. The guidance provided by this update was effective for reporting periods beginning on or after December 15, 2012 (the second quarter of the Company’s fiscal year 2013). The adoption of this standard did not impact the Company’s financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.

- Definition

Disclosure of accounting policy for revenue recognition. If the entity has different policies for different types of revenue transactions, the policy for each material type of transaction is generally disclosed. If a sales transaction has multiple element arrangements (for example, delivery of multiple products, services or the rights to use assets) the disclosure may indicate the accounting policy for each unit of accounting as well as how units of accounting are determined and valued. The disclosure may encompass important judgment as to appropriateness of principles related to recognition of revenue. The disclosure also may indicate the entity's treatment of any unearned or deferred revenue that arises from the transaction.

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