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Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2015

We prepared the consolidated financial statements in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Facebook, Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiaries. All intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated.

Use of Estimates

Conformity with GAAP requires the use of estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts in the consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. These estimates form the basis for judgments we make about the carrying values of our assets and liabilities, which are not readily apparent from other sources. We base our estimates and judgments on historical information and on various other assumptions that we believe are reasonable under the circumstances. GAAP requires us to make estimates and judgments in several areas, including, but not limited to, those related to revenue recognition, collectability of accounts receivable, contingent liabilities, fair value of financial instruments, fair value of acquired intangible assets and goodwill, useful lives of intangible assets and property and equipment, and income taxes. These estimates are based on management's knowledge about current events and expectations about actions we may undertake in the future. Actual results could differ materially from those estimates.

Revenue Recognition

We recognize revenue once all of the following criteria have been met:


•	persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists;


•	delivery of our obligations to our customer has occurred;


•	the price is fixed or determinable; and


•	collectability of the related receivable is reasonably assured.

Revenue for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014, and 2013 consists of the following (in millions):



	Year Ended December 31,
	2015		2014		2013
Advertising	$	17,079	$	11,492	$	6,986
Payments and other fees	849		974		886
Total revenue	$	17,928	$	12,466	$	7,872

Advertising

Advertising revenue is generated by displaying ad products on the Facebook properties, including our mobile applications, and third-party affiliated websites or mobile applications. The arrangements are evidenced by either online acceptance of terms and conditions or contracts that stipulate the types of advertising to be delivered, the timing and the pricing. Marketers pay for ad products either directly or through their relationships with advertising agencies, based on the number of clicks made by our users, the number of actions taken by our users, or the number of impressions delivered. The typical term of an advertising arrangement is less than one month with billing generally occurring after the delivery of the advertisement.

We recognize revenue from the delivery of click-based ads in the period in which a user clicks on the content, and action-based ads in the period in which a user takes the action the marketer contracted for. We recognize revenue from the display of impression-based ads in the contracted period in which the impressions are delivered. Impressions are considered delivered when an ad is displayed to users.

Payments and Other Fees

We enable Payments from people to purchase virtual and digital goods from our developers. People can transact and make payments on the Facebook website by using debit cards and credit cards, PayPal, mobile phone payments, gift cards, or other methods.

When a person engages in a payment transaction for the purchase of a virtual or digital good from a developer, we remit to the developer an amount that is based on the total amount of the transaction less the processing fee that we charge the developer. The price of the purchase is an amount that is solely determined by the developer. Our revenue is the net amount of the transaction, representing our processing fee for the service performed. We record revenue on a net basis as we do not consider ourselves to be the principal in the sale of the virtual or digital good to the person. Additionally, we record all Payments revenue at the time of the purchase of the related virtual goods, net of estimated refunds or chargebacks.

Other fees, which includes our ad serving and measurement products and the delivery of virtual reality platform devices, were not material in all periods presented in our financial statements.

Revenue is recognized net of applicable sales and other taxes.

Cost of Revenue

Our cost of revenue consists primarily of expenses associated with the delivery and distribution of our products. These include expenses related to the operation of our data centers, such as facility and server equipment depreciation, energy and bandwidth costs, and salaries, benefits, and share-based compensation for employees on our operations teams. Cost of revenue also includes credit card and other transaction fees related to processing customer transactions, amortization of intangible assets, costs associated with data partner arrangements, and cost of virtual reality platform device inventory sold.

Share-based Compensation

We account for share-based employee compensation plans under the fair value recognition and measurement provisions of GAAP. Those provisions require all share-based payments to employees, including grants of stock options and restricted stock units (RSUs), to be measured based on the grant date fair value of the awards, with the resulting expense generally recognized on a straight-line basis in our consolidated statements of income over the period during which the employee is required to perform service in exchange for the award. The majority of our awards are earned over a service period of four years.

Share-based compensation expense is recorded net of estimated forfeitures in our consolidated statements of income and as such, only those share-based awards that we expect to vest are recorded. We estimate the forfeiture rate based on historical forfeitures of equity awards and adjust the rate to reflect changes in facts and circumstances, if any. We will revise our estimated forfeiture rate if actual forfeitures differ from our initial estimates.

We have historically issued unvested restricted shares to employee stockholders of certain acquired companies. As these awards are generally subject to continued post-acquisition employment, we have accounted for them as post-acquisition share-based compensation expense. We recognize compensation expense equal to the grant date fair value of the common stock on a straight-line basis over the period during which the employee is required to perform service in exchange for the award.

During the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014, and 2013, we realized tax benefits from share-based award activity of $1.72 billion, $1.85 billion, and $602 million, respectively. These amounts reflect the extent that the total reduction to our income tax liability from share-based award activity was greater than the amount of the deferred tax assets that we had previously recorded in anticipation of these benefits. These amounts are the aggregate of the individual transactions in which the reduction to our income tax liability was greater than the deferred tax assets that we recorded, reduced by any individual transactions in which the reduction to our income tax liability was less than the deferred tax assets that were recorded. These net amounts were recorded as an adjustment to stockholders' equity in each period, as an increase to cash flows from operating activities, and were not recognized in our consolidated statements of income.

In addition, we reported excess tax benefits that decreased our cash flows from operating activities and increased our cash flows from financing activities for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014, and 2013, by $1.72 billion, $1.87 billion, and $609 million, respectively. The amounts of these excess tax benefits reflect the total of the individual transactions in which the reduction to our income tax liability was greater than the deferred tax assets that were recorded, but were not reduced by any of the individual transactions in which the reduction to our income tax liability was less than the deferred tax assets that were recorded.

Income Taxes

We recognize income taxes under the asset and liability method. We recognize deferred income tax assets and liabilities for the expected future consequences of temporary differences between the financial reporting and tax bases of assets and liabilities. These differences are measured using the enacted statutory tax rates that are expected to apply to taxable income for the years in which differences are expected to reverse. We recognize the effect on deferred income taxes of a change in tax rates in income in the period that includes the enactment date.

We record a valuation allowance to reduce our deferred tax assets to the net amount that we believe is more likely than not to be realized. We consider all available evidence, both positive and negative, including historical levels of income, expectations and risks associated with estimates of future taxable income and ongoing tax planning strategies in assessing the need for a valuation allowance.

We recognize tax benefits from uncertain tax positions only if we believe that it is more likely than not that the tax position will be sustained on examination by the taxing authorities based on the technical merits of the position. We make adjustments to these reserves when facts and circumstances change, such as the closing of a tax audit or the refinement of an estimate. The provision for income taxes includes the effects of any reserves that are considered appropriate, as well as the related net interest and penalties.

Advertising Expense

Advertising costs are expensed when incurred and are included in marketing and sales expenses in the accompanying consolidated statements of income. We incurred advertising expenses of $281 million, $135 million, and $117 million for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014, and 2013, respectively.

Cash and Cash Equivalents, and Marketable Securities

Cash and cash equivalents primarily consist of cash on deposit with banks and investments in money market funds with maturities of 90 days or less from the date of purchase.

We hold investments in marketable securities, consisting of U.S. government securities, U.S. government agency securities, and corporate debt securities. We classify our marketable securities as available-for-sale investments in our current assets because they represent investments of cash available for current operations. Our available-for-sale investments are carried at estimated fair value with any unrealized gains and losses, net of taxes, included in accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income in stockholders' equity. Unrealized losses are charged against interest and other income/(expense), net when a decline in fair value is determined to be other-than-temporary. We have not recorded any such impairment charge in the periods presented. We determine realized gains or losses on sale of marketable securities on a specific identification method, and record such gains or losses as interest and other income/(expense), net.

We classify certain restricted cash balances within prepaid expenses and other current assets and other assets on the accompanying consolidated balance sheets based upon the term of the remaining restrictions.

Fair Value of Financial Instruments

We apply fair value accounting for all financial assets and liabilities and non-financial assets and liabilities that are recognized or disclosed at fair value in the financial statements on a recurring basis. We define fair value as the price that would be received from selling an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. When determining the fair value measurements for assets and liabilities, which are required to be recorded at fair value, we consider the principal or most advantageous market in which we would transact and the market-based risk measurements or assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability, such as risks inherent in valuation techniques, transfer restrictions and credit risk. Fair value is estimated by applying the following hierarchy, which prioritizes the inputs used to measure fair value into three levels and bases the categorization within the hierarchy upon the lowest level of input that is available and significant to the fair value measurement:

Level 1-Quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities.

Level 2-Observable inputs other than quoted prices in active markets for identical assets and liabilities, quoted prices for identical or similar assets or liabilities in inactive markets, or other inputs that are observable or can be corroborated by observable market data for substantially the full term of the assets or liabilities.

Level 3-Inputs that are generally unobservable and typically reflect management's estimate of assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability.

Our valuation techniques used to measure the fair value of money market funds and marketable debt securities were derived from quoted market prices or alternative pricing sources and models utilizing market observable inputs. Our valuation technique used to measure the fair value of our contingent consideration liability was based on the present value of probability-weighted future cash flows related to the contingent earn-out criteria and the fair value of our common stock on each reporting date.

Accounts Receivable and Allowance for Doubtful Accounts

Accounts receivable are recorded and carried at the original invoiced amount less an allowance for any potential uncollectible amounts. We make estimates for the allowance for doubtful accounts based upon our assessment of various factors, including historical experience, the age of the accounts receivable balances, credit quality of our customers, current economic conditions, and other factors that may affect customers' ability to pay.

Property and Equipment

Property and equipment, which includes amounts recorded under capital leases, are stated at cost less accumulated depreciation. Depreciation is computed using the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the assets or the remaining lease term, in the case of a capital lease, whichever is shorter.

The estimated useful lives of property and equipment are described below:



Property and Equipment		Useful Life
Network equipment		Three to five years
Buildings		Three to 30 years
Computer software, office equipment and other		Three to five years
Leased equipment and leasehold improvements		Lesser of estimated useful life or remaining lease term

Land and assets held within construction in progress are not depreciated. Construction in progress is related to the construction or development of property and equipment that have not yet been placed in service for their intended use.

The cost of maintenance and repairs is expensed as incurred. When assets are retired or otherwise disposed of, the cost and related accumulated depreciation are removed from their respective accounts, and any gain or loss on such sale or disposal is reflected in income from operations.

Lease Obligations

We lease office space, data centers, and equipment under non-cancelable capital and operating leases with various expiration dates through 2032. Certain of the operating lease agreements contain rent holidays, rent escalation provisions, and purchase options. Rent holidays and rent escalation provisions are considered in determining the straight-line rent expense to be recorded over the lease term. The lease term begins on the date of initial possession of the leased property for purposes of recognizing lease expense on a straight-line basis over the term of the lease. We do not assume renewals in our determination of the lease term unless the renewals are deemed to be reasonably assured at lease inception.

We record assets and liabilities for the estimated construction costs incurred by third parties under build-to-suit lease arrangements to the extent that we are involved in the construction of structural improvements or bear construction risk prior to commencement of a lease.

Loss Contingencies

We are involved in various lawsuits, claims, investigations, and proceedings that arise in the ordinary course of business. We record a liability when we believe that it is both probable that a loss has been incurred and the amount can be reasonably estimated. Significant judgment is required to determine both probability and the estimated amount. We review these provisions at least quarterly and adjust these provisions accordingly to reflect the impact of negotiations, settlements, rulings, advice of legal counsel, and updated information.

Business Combinations

We allocate the fair value of purchase consideration to the tangible assets acquired, liabilities assumed and intangible assets acquired based on their estimated fair values. The excess of the fair value of purchase consideration over the fair values of these identifiable assets and liabilities is recorded as goodwill. Such valuations require management to make significant estimates and assumptions, especially with respect to intangible assets. Significant estimates in valuing certain intangible assets include, but are not limited to, future expected cash flows from acquired users, acquired technology, and trade names from a market participant perspective, useful lives and discount rates. Management’s estimates of fair value are based upon assumptions believed to be reasonable, but which are inherently uncertain and unpredictable and, as a result, actual results may differ from estimates. During the measurement period, which is one year from the acquisition date, we may record adjustments to the assets acquired and liabilities assumed, with the corresponding offset to goodwill. Upon the conclusion of the measurement period, any subsequent adjustments are recorded to earnings.

Long-Lived Assets, Including Goodwill and Other Acquired Intangible Assets

We evaluate the recoverability of property and equipment and finite-lived intangible assets for possible impairment whenever events or circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of such assets may not be recoverable. The evaluation is performed at the lowest level for which identifiable cash flows are largely independent of the cash flows of other assets and liabilities. Recoverability of these assets is measured by a comparison of the carrying amounts to the future undiscounted cash flows the assets are expected to generate. If such review indicates that the carrying amount of property and equipment and intangible assets is not recoverable, the carrying amount of such assets is reduced to fair value. We have not recorded any significant impairment charges during the years presented.

We review goodwill for impairment at least annually or more frequently if events or changes in circumstances would more likely than not reduce the fair value of our single reporting unit below its carrying value. We evaluate indefinite-lived intangible assets for impairment annually or more frequently if events or changes in circumstances indicate that it is more likely than not that the asset is impaired. As of December 31, 2015, no impairment of goodwill or indefinite-lived intangible assets has been identified.

Acquired indefinite-lived intangible assets related to our in-process research and development (IPR&D) are capitalized and subject to impairment testing until completion or abandonment of the projects. Upon successful completion of each project, we will make a separate determination of useful life of the acquired indefinite-lived intangible assets and the related amortization will be recorded as an expense over the estimated useful life of the specific projects.

Acquired finite-lived intangible assets are amortized on a straight-line basis over the estimated useful lives of the assets. We routinely review the remaining estimated useful lives of property and equipment and finite-lived intangible assets. If we reduce the estimated useful life assumption for any asset, the remaining unamortized balance would be amortized or depreciated over the revised estimated useful life.

Deferred Revenue and Deposits

Deferred revenue consists of billings in advance of revenue recognition. Deposits relate to unused balances held on behalf of our users. Once this balance is utilized by a user, approximately 70% of this amount would then be payable to the developer and the balance would be recognized as revenue.

Deferred revenue and deposits consists of the following (in millions):



	December 31,
	2015		2014
Deferred revenue	$	28	$	38
Deposits	28		28
Total deferred revenue and deposits	$	56	$	66

Foreign Currency

Generally the functional currency of our international subsidiaries is the local currency. We translate the financial statements of these subsidiaries to U.S. dollars using month-end rates of exchange for assets and liabilities, and average rates of exchange for revenue, costs, and expenses. Translation gains and losses are recorded in accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income as a component of stockholders' equity. As of December 31, 2015 and 2014, we had a cumulative translation loss, net of tax of $430 million and $227 million, respectively. Net losses resulting from foreign exchange transactions were $66 million, $87 million, and $14 million for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014, and 2013, respectively. These losses were recorded as interest and other income/(expense), net in our consolidated statements of income.

Credit Risk and Concentration

Our financial instruments that are potentially subject to concentrations of credit risk consist primarily of cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash, marketable securities, and accounts receivable. Cash equivalents consist of short-term money market funds, which are managed by reputable financial institutions. Marketable securities consist of investments in U.S. government securities, U.S. government agency securities, and corporate debt securities. Our investment policy limits investment instruments to U.S. government securities, U.S. government agency securities, and corporate debt securities with the main objective of preserving capital and maintaining liquidity.

Accounts receivable are typically unsecured and are derived from revenue earned from customers across different industries and countries. We generated 47%, 45%, and 46% of our revenue for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014, and 2013, respectively, from marketers and developers based in the United States, with the majority of revenue outside of the United States coming from customers located in western Europe, China, Brazil, Canada, and Australia.

We perform ongoing credit evaluations of our customers, and generally do not require collateral. We maintain an allowance for estimated credit losses. During the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014, and 2013, our bad debt expenses were $44 million, $19 million, and $21 million, respectively. In the event that accounts receivable collection cycles deteriorate, our operating results and financial position could be adversely affected.

No customer represented 10% or more of total revenue during the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014, and 2013.

Segments

Our chief operating decision-maker is our Chief Executive Officer who makes resource allocation decisions and assesses performance based on financial information presented on a consolidated basis. There are no segment managers who are held accountable by the chief operating decision-maker, or anyone else, for operations, operating results, and planning for levels or components below the consolidated unit level. Accordingly, we have determined that we have a single reportable segment and operating unit structure.

Recently Issued and Adopted Accounting Pronouncement

In May 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606) (ASU 2014-09), which amends the existing accounting standards for revenue recognition. In August 2015, the FASB issued ASU No. 2015-14, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606): Deferral of the Effective Date, which delays the effective date of ASU 2014-09 by one year. The FASB also agreed to allow entities to choose to adopt the standard as of the original effective date. As such, the updated standard will be effective for us in the first quarter of 2018, with the option to adopt it in the first quarter of 2017. We are still evaluating the effect that the updated standard will have on our consolidated financial statements and related disclosures.

In November 2015, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2015-17, Income Taxes (Topic 740): Balance Sheet Classification of Deferred Taxes (ASU 2015-17), which simplifies the presentation of deferred income taxes by requiring deferred tax assets and liabilities be classified as noncurrent on the balance sheet. The updated standard is effective for us beginning on January 1, 2017 with early application permitted as of the beginning of any interim or annual reporting period. We early adopted this standard retrospectively, and reclassified $280 million of our current deferred tax assets to noncurrent deferred tax assets as of December 31, 2014. This resulted in net adjustments of $62 million increase and $218 million decrease to our noncurrent deferred tax assets and noncurrent deferred tax liability, respectively, on our December 31, 2014 consolidated balance sheet.