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Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2019
Accounting Policies [Abstract]  
Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Business and Principles of Consolidation. The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Crown Holdings, Inc. (the “Company”) and its consolidated subsidiary companies (where the context requires, the “Company” shall include reference to the Company and its consolidated subsidiary companies).

The Company is a worldwide leader in the design, manufacture and sale of packaging products and equipment for consumer goods and industrial products. The Company’s packaging for consumer goods include steel and aluminum cans for beverage, food, household and other consumer products, glass bottles for beverage products and metal vacuum closures and steel crowns sold through the Company's sales organization to the soft drink, food, citrus, brewing, household products, personal care and various other industries. The Company's packaging for industrial products includes steel and plastic strap consumables and equipment, paper-based protective packaging, and plastic film consumables and equipment, which are sold into the metals, food and beverage, construction, agricultural, corrugated and general industries.

The financial statements were prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America and reflect management’s estimates and assumptions. Actual results could differ from those estimates, impacting reported results of operations and financial position. All intercompany accounts and transactions are eliminated in consolidation. In deciding which entities should be reported on a consolidated basis, the Company first determines whether the entity is a variable interest entity (“VIE”). If an entity is a VIE, the Company determines whether it is the primary beneficiary and therefore, should consolidate the VIE. If an entity is not a VIE, the Company consolidates those entities in which it has control, including certain subsidiaries that are not majority-owned. Certain of the Company’s agreements with noncontrolling interests contain provisions in which the Company would surrender certain decision-making rights upon a change in control of the Company. Accordingly, consolidation of these operations may no longer be appropriate subsequent to a change in control of the Company, as defined in the agreements. Investments in companies in which the Company does not have control, but has the ability to exercise significant influence over operating and financial policies, are accounted for by the equity method. Other investments are carried at cost.

Foreign Currency Translation. For non-U.S. subsidiaries which operate in a local currency environment, assets and liabilities are translated into U.S. dollars at year-end exchange rates. Income, expense and cash flow items are translated at average exchange rates prevailing during the year. Translation adjustments for these subsidiaries are accumulated as a separate component of accumulated other comprehensive income in equity. For non-U.S. subsidiaries that use a U.S. dollar functional currency, local currency inventories and property, plant and equipment are translated into U.S. dollars at rates prevailing when acquired; all other assets and liabilities are translated at year-end exchange rates. Inventories charged to cost of sales and depreciation are remeasured at historical rates; all other income and expense items are translated at average exchange rates prevailing during the year. Gains and losses which result from remeasurement are included in earnings.

Revenue Recognition. On January 1, 2018, the Company adopted new accounting guidance which outlined a single comprehensive model to use in accounting for revenue arising from contracts with customers and superseded previous revenue recognition guidance. Under previous guidance, the Company generally recognized revenue from product sales when the goods were shipped and title and risk of loss passed to the customer. Under the new guidance, revenues are recognized when control of the promised product is transferred to customers.

The majority of the Company’s revenues from metal packaging products are derived from multi-year requirement contracts with leading manufacturers and marketers of packaged consumer products for can sets, comprising a can and an end. As requirement contracts do not typically include fixed volumes, customers often purchase products pursuant to purchase orders or other communications which are short-term in nature. The can and the end are considered separate performance obligations because they are distinct and separately identifiable. Revenues from the Company's transit packaging segment are generally derived from individual purchase orders which may include multiple goods and services which are separate performance obligations because they are distinct and separately identifiable.

The Company manufactures certain products that have no alternative use to the Company once they are printed or manufactured to customer specifications. If the Company has an enforceable right to payment for custom products at all times in the manufacturing process, revenue is recognized over time. In each of the Company’s geographic markets, revenue from beverage cans is primarily recognized over time using the units produced output method as beverage cans are generally printed for a specific customer in a continuous production process. The timing of revenue recognition for the Company’s other products, including beverage ends and three-piece products, which includes food cans and ends and aerosol cans and ends, may vary as these products may be printed or customized depending upon customer preferences which can vary by geographic market. Revenue that is recognized over time
for the Company’s three-piece products and equipment business is generally recognized using the cost-to-cost input method as these products involve an intermediary step that results in customized work-in-process inventory. For products that follow a point in time model, revenue is generally recognized when title and risk of loss transfer.

Revenue is measured as the amount of consideration the Company expects to receive in exchange for transferring goods or providing services. Standalone selling prices for each performance obligation are generally stated in the contract. When the Company offers variable consideration in the form of volume rebates to customers, it estimates the most likely amount of revenue to which it is expected to be entitled and includes the estimate in the transaction price, limited to the amount which is probable will not result in reversal of cumulative revenue recognized when the variable consideration is resolved. When the Company offers customers options to purchase additional product at discounted prices, judgment is required to determine if the discounted prices represent material rights. If so, the transaction price allocated to the discount is based on its relative standalone price and is recognized upon purchase of the additional product. Customer payment terms are typically less than one year and as such, the Company has applied the practical expedient to exclude consideration of significant financing components from the determination of transaction price.
Taxes collected from customers and remitted to governmental authorities are excluded from net sales. Shipping and handling fees and costs from product sales are reported as cost of products sold and are accrued when the Company recognizes revenue over time before the shipping and handling activities occur. Costs to obtain a contract are generally immaterial but the Company has elected the practical expedient to expense these costs as incurred if the duration of the contract is one year or less.
Unbilled receivables are recorded for revenue recognized over time when the Company has determined that control has passed to the customer but the customer has not yet been invoiced because the Company does not have present right to payment. The Company generally has a present right to payment when title of product transfers. Unbilled receivables are included in receivables in the Consolidated Balance Sheet with a corresponding decrease to inventory.
Contract assets are recorded for revenue recognized over time when the Company has determined that control for a performance obligation has passed to the customer, but the right to invoice the customer is contingent upon the completion of the performance obligations included in the contract. Contract assets are classified as current as they are expected to be invoiced within one year and may not exceed their net realizable value.
Contract liabilities are established if the Company must defer the recognition of a portion of consideration received because it has to satisfy a future obligation. Contract liabilities are classified as current or noncurrent based on when the Company expects to recognize revenue.
Stock-Based Compensation. For awards with a service or market condition, compensation expense is recognized over the vesting period on a straight-line basis using the grant date fair value of the award and the estimated number of awards that are expected to vest. For awards with a performance condition, the Company assesses the probability of vesting at each reporting period and adjust compensation cost based on its probability assessment. The Company’s plans provide for stock awards which may include accelerated vesting upon retirement, disability, or death of eligible employees. The Company considers a stock-based award to be vested when the service period is no longer contingent on the employee providing future service. Accordingly, the related compensation cost is recognized immediately for awards granted to retirement-eligible individuals, or over the period from the grant date to the date that retirement eligibility is achieved if less than the stated vesting period.
 
Cash, Cash Equivalents and Restricted Cash. Cash equivalents represent investments with maturities of three months or less from the time of purchase and are carried at cost, which approximates fair value because of the short maturity of those instruments. Outstanding checks in excess of funds on deposit are included in accounts payable. The Company generally classifies any cash that is legally restricted as to withdrawal or usage as restricted cash.

Accounts Receivable and Allowance for Doubtful Accounts. Trade accounts receivable are recorded at the invoiced amount and do not bear interest. The allowance for doubtful accounts is the best estimate of the amount of probable credit losses in existing accounts receivable. The allowance is determined based on a review of individual accounts for collectability, generally focusing on those accounts that are past due or experiencing financial difficulties. The current year expense to adjust the allowance for doubtful accounts is recorded within selling and administrative expense in the Consolidated Statements of Operations.

Inventory Valuation. Inventories are stated at the lower of cost or market, with cost principally determined under the first-in, first-out (“FIFO”) or average cost method.

Property, Plant and Equipment. Property, plant and equipment (“PP&E”) is carried at cost less accumulated depreciation and includes expenditures for new facilities and equipment and those costs which substantially increase the useful lives or capacity of existing PP&E. Cost of constructed assets includes capitalized interest incurred during the construction and development period.
Maintenance and repairs, including labor and material costs for planned major maintenance such as annual production line overhauls, are expensed as incurred. When PP&E is retired or otherwise disposed, the net carrying amount is eliminated with any gain or loss on disposition recognized in earnings at that time.

Depreciation is provided on a straight-line basis over the estimated useful lives of the assets described below (in years). The Company periodically reviews the estimated useful lives of its PP&E and, where appropriate, changes are made prospectively.
Land improvements
25
Buildings and building improvements
25 – 40
Machinery and equipment
3 – 18


Goodwill and Intangible Assets. Assets and liabilities of acquired businesses are recorded under the acquisition method of accounting at their estimated fair values at the dates of acquisition. Goodwill represents costs in excess of fair values assigned to the underlying identifiable net assets of acquired businesses. Goodwill is carried at cost and reviewed for impairment annually in the fourth quarter of each year or when facts and circumstances indicate goodwill may be impaired. Goodwill was allocated to the reporting units at the time of each acquisition based on the relative fair values of the reporting units. In assessing goodwill for impairment, the Company may first assess qualitative factors to determine whether the existence of events or circumstances leads to a determination that it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying amount. Further quantitative assessment may then be required. The quantitative assessment involves a number of assumptions and judgments, including the calculation of fair value for the Company’s identified reporting units. The Company determines the estimated fair value of each reporting unit based on an average of the estimated fair values using an income and a market approach. The income approach utilizes significant assumptions, including revenue and Adjusted EBITDA margin growth rates and discount rate. If the carrying value of a reporting unit exceeds its fair value, any impairment loss is measured by comparing the carrying value of the reporting unit to its fair value, not to exceed the carrying amount of goodwill.

Definite-lived intangible assets are carried at cost less accumulated amortization. Definite-lived intangibles are amortized on a straight-line basis over their estimated useful lives described below (in years). Definite-lived intangible assets are tested for impairment when facts and circumstances indicate the carrying value may not be recoverable from their undiscounted cash flows. If impaired, the assets are written down to fair value based on either discounted cash flows or appraised values.

Customer relationships
11 - 18
Trade names
8 - 27
Technology
6 - 8
Long-term supply contracts
15
Patents
8


Impairment or Disposal of Long-Lived Assets. In the event that facts and circumstances indicate that the carrying value of long-lived assets, primarily PP&E and certain identifiable intangible assets with finite lives, may be impaired, the Company performs a recoverability evaluation. If the evaluation indicates that the carrying value of an asset is not recoverable from its undiscounted cash flows, an impairment loss is measured by comparing the carrying value of the asset to its fair value, based on discounted cash flows. Long-lived assets classified as held for sale are presented in the balance sheet at the lower of their carrying value or fair value less cost to sell.

Leases. The Company has operating and finance leases for land and buildings related to certain manufacturing facilities, warehouses and corporate offices, vehicle fleets and certain office and manufacturing equipment. Leases with an initial term of 12 months or less are not recorded on the balance sheet. The Company's lease terms include options to extend the lease when it is reasonably certain that the Company will exercise the option. Variable lease payment amounts that cannot be determined at commencement of the lease, such as increases in index rates, are not included in the measurement of the lease liabilities and corresponding right-of-use assets and are recognized in the period those payments are incurred. The Company separates lease and non-lease components of lease arrangements and allocates contract consideration based on standalone selling prices. Variable consideration is allocated to the lease and non-lease components to which the variable payments specifically relates. The discount rate implicit within the Company's leases is often not determinable and therefore the Company generally uses its incremental borrowing rate based on the information available at the commencement date of the lease in determining the present value of the lease payments. The incremental borrowing rate is determined based on lease term and the currency in which lease payments are made. The Company's leases do not contain any material residual value guarantees or material restrictive covenants.

Taxes on Income. The provision for income taxes is determined using the asset and liability approach. Deferred taxes represent the future expected tax consequences of differences between the financial reporting and tax bases of assets and liabilities based upon enacted tax rates and laws. The Tax Act created a requirement that certain intangible income of foreign subsidiaries must be included currently in the gross income of the U.S. shareholder. The Company has made an accounting policy election to treat taxes due on future U.S. inclusions in taxable income related to this intangible income as a current period expense when incurred.

Valuation allowances are recorded to reduce deferred tax assets when it is more likely than not that a tax benefit will not be realized. Investment tax credits are accounted for using the deferral method. Income tax-related interest and penalties are reported as income tax expense.

Derivatives and Hedging. All outstanding derivative financial instruments are recognized in the balance sheet at their fair values. The impact on earnings from recognizing the fair values of these instruments depends on their intended use, their hedge designation and their effectiveness in offsetting changes in the fair values of the exposures they are hedging. Changes in the fair values of instruments designated to reduce or eliminate adverse fluctuations in the fair values of recognized assets and liabilities are reported currently in earnings along with changes in the fair values of the hedged items. Changes in the effective portions of the fair values of instruments used to reduce or eliminate adverse fluctuations in cash flows of anticipated or forecasted transactions are reported in equity as a component of accumulated other comprehensive income. Amounts in accumulated other comprehensive income are reclassified to earnings when the related hedged items impact earnings or the anticipated transactions are no longer probable. Changes in the fair values of derivative instruments that are not designated as hedges or do not qualify for hedge accounting treatment are reported currently in earnings. Amounts reported in earnings are classified consistent with the item being hedged.

The effectiveness of derivative instruments in reducing risks associated with the hedged exposures is assessed at inception and on an ongoing basis. Time value, a component of an instrument’s fair value, is excluded in assessing effectiveness for fair value hedges, except hedges of firm commitments, and included for cash flow hedges.

Hedge accounting is discontinued prospectively when (i) the instrument is no longer effective in offsetting changes in fair value or cash flows of the underlying hedged item, (ii) the instrument expires, is sold, terminated or exercised, or (iii) designating the instrument as a hedge is no longer appropriate.

The Company formally documents all relationships between its hedging instruments and hedged items at inception, including its risk management objective and strategy for establishing various hedge relationships. Cash flows from hedging instruments are classified in the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows consistent with the items being hedged.

Treasury Stock. Treasury stock is reported at par value. The excess of fair value over par value is first charged to paid-in capital, if any, and then to retained earnings.

Research and Development. Research, development and engineering costs of $55 in 2019, $51 in 2018, and $39 in 2017 were expensed as incurred and reported in selling and administrative expense in the Consolidated Statements of Operations. Substantially all engineering and development costs are related to developing new products or designing significant improvements to existing products or processes. Costs primarily include employee salaries and benefits and facility costs.

Reclassifications. Certain reclassifications of prior years’ data have been made to conform to the current year presentation.

Recent Accounting and Reporting Pronouncements.

Recently Adopted Accounting Standards

In February 2016, the FASB issued new guidance on lease accounting. Under the new guidance, lease classification criteria and income statement recognition are similar to previous guidance; however, all leases with a term longer than one year are recorded on the balance sheet through a right-of-use asset and a corresponding lease liability. The Company adopted the standard on a modified retrospective basis on January 1, 2019. In addition, the Company elected the package of practical expedients, which allowed the Company to carry forward its historical assessments of whether contracts are or contain leases, lease classification and initial direct costs. Adoption of this standard resulted in the recording of operating right-of-use assets and corresponding operating lease liabilities of approximately $220. Finance leases were already recorded on the balance sheet under the previous guidance in current and long-term maturities of long-term debt. Upon adoption of this standard $5 was reclassified to accrued liabilities and $24 was reclassified to other non-current liabilities. The Company reclassified prior period amounts to conform to the current year presentation. See Note B for further information on the Company's lease arrangements.

In February 2018, the FASB issued new accounting guidance to permit the reclassification from accumulated other comprehensive earnings to retained earnings of stranded tax effects resulting from the Tax Act. The Company adopted the guidance on January 1, 2019 and elected not to reclassify stranded tax effects resulting from the Tax Act.

Recently Issued Accounting Standards

In June 2016, the FASB issued new guidance on the accounting for credit losses on financial instruments. The new standard introduces an approach, based on expected losses, to estimate credit losses on certain types of financial instruments. The new approach to estimating credit losses (referred to as the current expected credit losses model) applies to most financial assets measured at amortized cost and certain other instruments, including trade and other receivables, loans, held-to-maturity debt securities, net investments in operating leases and off-balance-sheet credit exposures. This guidance is effective for the Company on January 1, 2020. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of adopting this standard and does not expect the guidance to have a material impact on the Company's consolidated financial statements.

In August 2018, the FASB issued new guidance which aligns the accounting for implementation costs incurred in a cloud computing arrangement that is a service arrangement (i.e. hosting arrangement) with the guidance on capitalizing costs for internal use software. The Company will adopt this standard on a prospective basis on January 1, 2020 and does not expect the guidance to have a material impact on the Company's consolidated financial statements.
In December 2019, the FASB issued new guidance to simplify the accounting for income taxes by, among other things, reducing complexity in the interim-period accounting for year-to-date loss limitations and changes in tax laws. The guidance is effective for the Company on January 1, 2021. The Company does not expect the guidance to have a material impact on the consolidated financial statements.