Summary of Significant Accounting Policies and Changes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

Property, Plant and Equipment Disclosure

Net property, plant and equipment consisted of the following as of December 31:



(Millions)	Depreciable Lives	2019			2018
Land		$	24.2		$	53.0
Building and improvements	3-40 years	358.5			660.7
Central office equipment	3-40 years	6,765.4			7,074.3
Outside communications plant	7-47 years	2,902.3			8,287.6
Furniture, vehicles and other equipment	1-23 years	1,863.4			1,940.8
Construction in progress		347.3			403.6
		12,261.1			18,420.0
Less accumulated depreciation		(8,640.3		)	(13,499.1		)
Net property, plant and equipment		$	3,620.8		$	4,920.9

Reconciliation of Earnings Per Share

A reconciliation of net loss and number of shares used in computing basic and diluted loss per share was as follows for the years ended December 31:



(Millions, except per share amounts)	2019			2018			2017
Basic and diluted loss per share:
Numerator:
Net loss	$	(3,157.8	)	$	(723.0	)	$	(2,116.6	)
Income allocable to participating securities	—			—			(1.3		)
Net loss attributable to common shares	$	(3,157.8	)	$	(723.0	)	$	(2,117.9	)
Denominator:
Basic and diluted shares outstanding
Weighted average shares outstanding	42.6			40.8			34.5
Weighted average participating securities	—			—			(0.7		)
Weighted average basic and diluted shares outstanding	42.6			40.8			33.8
Basic and diluted loss per share:
Net loss		($74.06	)		($17.72	)		($62.66	)

Cumulative effect of changes made to the financial statements as a result of new ASU

The following table presents the cumulative effect of the changes made to our consolidated balance sheet at December 31, 2018:



(Millions)	December 31, 2018			ASU 2016-02 Adjustments			January 1, 2019
Assets
Prepaid expenses and other	$	159.7		$	(0.7	)	$	159.0
Net property, plant and equipment	$	4,920.9		$	(1,306.7	)	$	3,614.2
Operating lease right-of-use assets	$	—		$	4,239.1		$	4,239.1
Other assets	$	94.0		$	(5.9	)	$	88.1
Liabilities
Current portion of long-term lease obligations	$	4,570.3		$	(4,570.3	)	$	—
Current portion of operating lease obligations	$	—		$	3,947.8		$	3,947.8
Other current liabilities	$	387.7		$	(15.4	)	$	372.3
Deferred income taxes	$	104.3		$	292.3		$	396.6
Operating lease obligations	$	—		$	317.2		$	317.2
Other liabilities	$	615.2		$	(58.8	)	$	556.4
Accumulated deficit	$	(3,205.3	)	$	3,013.0		$	(192.3	)

Due in part to recording the $3.0 billion cumulative effect adjustment to equity presented above and the resulting increase in the carrying value of our reporting units, we recorded a pre-tax goodwill impairment charge of $2.3 billion in the first quarter of 2019. See Note 5 for additional information pertaining to the goodwill impairment charge.

2. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies and Changes, Continued:

The impact of adoption of ASU 2016-02 on our 2019 consolidated statements of operations was as follows:



	Year Ended December 31, 2019
(Millions)	Under ASC 840			Effect of Adoption of ASU 2016-02			As reported
Costs and expenses
Cost of services	$	2,666.1		$	675.2		$	3,341.3
Depreciation and amortization	$	1,366.4		$	(298.2	)	$	1,068.2
Interest expense	$	778.8		$	(446.9	)	$	331.9
Income tax benefit (expense)	$	337.6		$	(17.6	)	$	320.0
Net (loss) income	$	(3,210.1	)	$	52.3		$	(3,157.8	)

As presented in the table above, the increase in cost of services was due to the recognition of annual straight-line expense attributable to the contractual arrangement with Uniti. The decrease in depreciation expense resulted from de-recognizing the remaining net book value of network assets transferred to Uniti and the decrease in interest expense was due to no longer accounting for the contractual arrangement with Uniti as a failed spin-leaseback financing arrangement.