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Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2020
Accounting Policies [Abstract]  
Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
Note 2 – Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
Recently Adopted Accounting Policies
Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments. As of January 1, 2020, we adopted the Accounting Standards Updates (“ASU”) guidance on the measurement of credit losses for financial assets measured at amortized cost, which includes accounts receivable, and available-for-sale debt securities, using the modified retrospective method. The new guidance replaced the existing incurred loss impairment model with an expected loss methodology, which will result in more timely recognition of credit losses. Upon adoption, this new guidance did not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements and no cumulative-effect adjustment to retained earnings was made.
Cloud Computing Arrangements. As of January 1, 2020, we adopted the new ASU guidance on the accounting for implementation costs incurred for a cloud computing arrangement that is a service contract using the prospective method. The update conformed the requirements for capitalizing implementation costs incurred in a cloud computing arrangement that is a service contract with the accounting guidance that provides for capitalization of costs incurred to develop or obtain internal-use-software. The adoption of this new guidance did not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.
Fair Value Measurements. As of January 1, 2020, we adopted the new ASU guidance related to the disclosure requirements on fair value measurements, which removed, modified or added certain disclosures using the prospective method. The adoption of this new guidance did not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.
Guarantor Financial Information. In March 2020, the SEC amended Rule 3-10 of Regulation S-X regarding financial disclosure requirements for registered debt offerings involving subsidiaries as either issuers or guarantors and affiliates whose securities are pledged as collateral. This new guidance narrows the circumstances that require separate financial statements of subsidiary issuers and guarantors and streamlines the alternative disclosures required in lieu of those statements. We adopted these amendments for the quarter ended March 31, 2020. Accordingly, combined summarized financial information has been presented only for the issuer and guarantors of our senior notes for the most recent fiscal year and the year-to-date interim period, and the location of the required disclosures has been removed from the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements and moved to Part I. Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.
Recent Accounting Policies Not Yet Adopted
Simplifying the Accounting for Income Taxes. In December 2019, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued new guidance to simplify the accounting for income taxes. This new standard eliminates certain exceptions in current guidance related to the approach for intraperiod tax allocation, the methodology for calculating income taxes in an interim period, and the recognition of deferred tax liabilities for outside basis differences. It also clarifies and simplifies other aspects of the accounting for income taxes. For public business entities, this guidance is effective for interim or annual periods beginning after December 15, 2020, with early adoption permitted in any interim period within that year. We are currently evaluating the impact of this guidance on our consolidated financial statements and the timing of adoption
Investments - equity securities; Investments - Equity Method and Joint Ventures; Derivatives and Hedging. In January 2020, the FASB issued an accounting standards update which clarifies the interaction between the accounting for investments in equity securities, equity method investments and certain derivative instruments. The new standard is expected to reduce diversity in practice and increase comparability of the accounting for these interactions. The standards update is effective for interim or annual periods beginning after December 15, 2020, with early adoption permitted. We are currently evaluating the impact of this guidance on our consolidated financial statements and the timing of adoption.
Significant Accounting Policies
Below are the significant accounting policies updated during 2020 as a result of the recently adopted accounting policies noted above as well as certain other accounting policies with interim disclosure requirements. For a comprehensive description of our accounting policies, refer to our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019.
Revenue
Prepaid Merchant Bookings. We classify payments made to suppliers in advance of our performance obligations as prepaid merchant bookings included within prepaid and other current assets. Prepaid merchant bookings was $533 million as of March 31, 2020, which is net of a $23 million reserve for future collectibility risk in consideration of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy, and $226 million as of December 31, 2019.
Deferred Merchant Bookings. We classify cash payments received in advance of our performance obligations as deferred merchant bookings. At December 31, 2019, $4.898 billion of cash advance cash payments was reported within deferred merchant bookings, $2.880 billion of which was recognized resulting in $442 million of revenue during the three months ended March 31, 2020. At March 31, 2020, the related balance was $5.116 billion.
At December 31, 2019, $781 million of deferred loyalty rewards was reported within deferred merchant bookings, $158 million of which was recognized within revenue during the three months ended March 31, 2020. At March 31, 2020, the related balance was $789 million.
Deferred Revenue. At December 31, 2019, $321 million was recorded as deferred revenue, $109 million of which was recognized as revenue during the three months ended March 31, 2020. At March 31, 2020, the related balance was $221 million.
Practical Expedients and Exemptions. We have used the portfolio approach to account for our loyalty points as the rewards programs share similar characteristics within each program in relation to the value provided to the traveler and their breakage patterns. Using this portfolio approach is not expected to differ materially from applying the guidance to individual contracts. However, we will continue to assess and refine, if necessary, how a portfolio within each rewards program is defined.
We do not disclose the value of unsatisfied performance obligations for (i) contracts with an original expected length of one year or less and (ii) contracts for which we recognize revenue at the amount to which we have the right to invoice for services performed.
Cash, Restricted Cash and Cash Equivalents
Our cash and cash equivalents include cash and liquid financial instruments, including money market funds and term deposit investments, with maturities of three months or less when purchased. Restricted cash includes cash and cash equivalents that is restricted through legal contracts, regulations or our intention to use the cash for a specific purpose. Our restricted cash primarily relates to certain traveler deposits and to a lesser extent collateral for office leases. The following table reconciles cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash reported in our consolidated balance sheets to the total amount presented in our consolidated statements of cash flows:
 
March 31,
2020
 
December 31,
2019
 
(in millions)
Cash and cash equivalents
$
3,905

 
$
3,315

Restricted cash and cash equivalents
813

 
779

Restricted cash included within long-term investments and other assets
3

 
3

Total cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash and cash equivalents in the consolidated statement of cash flow
$
4,721

 
$
4,097


Accounts Receivable and Allowances
Accounts receivable are generally due within thirty days and are recorded net of an allowance for expected uncollectible amounts. We consider accounts outstanding longer than the contractual payment terms as past due. The risk characteristics we generally review when analyzing our accounts receivable pools primarily include the type of receivable (for example, credit card vs hotel collect), collection terms and historical or expected credit loss patterns. For each pool, we make estimates of expected credit losses for our allowance by considering a number of factors, including the length of time trade accounts receivable are past due, previous loss history continually updated for new collections data, the credit quality of our customers, current economic conditions, reasonable and supportable forecasts of future economic conditions and other factors that may affect our ability to collect from customers. The provision for estimated credit losses is recorded as cost of revenue in our consolidated statements of operations. During the three months ended March 31, 2020, we recorded approximately $59 million of incremental allowance for expected uncollectible amounts, including estimated future losses in consideration of the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the economy and the Company, partially offset by $5 million of other adjustments. Actual future bad debt could differ materially from this estimate resulting from changes in our assumptions of the duration and severity of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.