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Summary of Significant Accounting Policies All (Notes)
 12 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2020
Accounting Policies [Abstract]  
Significant Accounting Policies [Text Block] Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
Cash and Cash Equivalents-All highly liquid investments with remaining maturities of 90 days or less when purchased are classified as cash equivalents. Where there is no right of offset against cash balances, outstanding checks are included in accounts payable.
Receivables-Receivables are amounts due from customers. To reduce credit risk, credit investigations are generally performed prior to accepting orders from new customers and, when necessary, letters of credit, bonds or other instruments are required to ensure payment.
We present trade receivables net of an allowance for credit losses. Our consolidated statements of operations reflect the measurement of credit losses for newly recognized trade receivables, as well as the expected increases or decreases of expected credit losses that have taken place during the period. When we determine a specific trade receivable will not be collected, we charge off the uncollectible amount against the allowance. Our periodic evaluations of expected credit losses are based upon our judgments regarding prior collection experience, specific customer creditworthiness, other current conditions, and forecasts of current economic trends within the industries served that may affect the collectability of the reported amounts. Significantly weaker than anticipated industry or economic conditions could impact customers’ ability to pay such that actual credit losses may be greater than the amounts provided for in this allowance.
During 2016, FASB issued standard ASC 326 - Current Expected Credit Losses to replace the existing GAAP “incurred loss” impairment approach with an approach intended to reflect “expected credit losses,” which will require consideration of a broader range of reasonable and supportable information to inform credit loss estimates. We will be required to use a forward-looking expected credit loss model for receivables. While we are in process of completing our analysis, we do not expect the effect of this adoption on October 1, 2020 on our financial statements to be material.
The following table summarizes information concerning our allowance for credit losses.
202020192018
 (in millions)
Balance at beginning of year$3.5 $4.0 $4.1 
Provision charged to expense1.0 0.3 0.5 
Balances written off, net of recoveries— (0.2)(0.7)
Reclassification due to adoption of revenue accounting standard
— (0.6)— 
Other0.3 — 0.1 
Balance at end of year$4.8 $3.5 $4.0 
Inventories-Inventories are recorded at the lower of first-in, first-out method cost or estimated net realizable value. We evaluate our inventory in terms of excess and obsolete exposures. This evaluation includes such factors as anticipated usage, inventory turnover, inventory levels and ultimate product sales value. Inventory cost includes an overhead component that is affected by levels of production and actual costs incurred. We periodically evaluate the effects of production levels and costs capitalized as part of inventory.
The following table summarizes information concerning our inventory valuation reserves.
202020192018
 (in millions)
Balance at beginning of year$7.5 $5.1 $4.4 
Provision charged to expense4.7 3.4 2.2 
Inventory disposed(0.7)(1.2)(1.2)
Other0.2 0.2 (0.3)
Balance at end of year$11.7 $7.5 $5.1 
Other Current Assets-Other current assets include maintenance supplies and tooling costs. Costs for perishable tools and maintenance items are expensed when put into service. Costs for more durable items are amortized over their estimated useful lives, ranging from 3 to 10 years.
Property, Plant and Equipment-Property, plant and equipment is recorded at cost, less accumulated depreciation. Depreciation is recorded using the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the assets. Estimated useful lives are 10 to 20 years for land improvements, 10 to 40 years for buildings and 3 to 15 years for machinery and equipment. Leasehold improvements and capitalized leases are depreciated using the straight-line method over the lesser of the useful life of the asset or the remaining lease term. Gains and losses upon disposition are reflected in operating results in the period of disposition.
Direct internal and external costs to implement computer systems and internal-use software are capitalized. Capitalized costs are depreciated over the estimated useful life of the system or software, generally 6 years, beginning when software is complete and ready for its intended use.
Liabilities are recognized at fair value for asset retirement obligations related to plant and landfill closures in the period in which they are reasonably estimable and the carrying amounts of the related long-lived assets are correspondingly increased. Over time, the liabilities are accreted to their estimated future values. At September 30, 2020 and 2019, asset retirement obligations were $3.8 million and $4.5 million, respectively.
Leases- Refer to Note 4. for information regarding our leases.
Accounting for the Impairment of Long-Lived Assets-We test indefinite-lived intangible assets and goodwill for impairment annually (or more frequently if events or circumstances indicate possible impairment.) We perform our annual impairment testing at September 1. We amortize finite-lived intangible assets over their respective estimated useful lives and review for impairment if events or circumstances indicate possible impairment. Refer to Note 6. for information regarding our impairment testing.
Workers Compensation-Our exposure to workers compensation claims is generally limited to $1 million per incident. Liabilities, including those related to claims incurred but not reported, are recorded principally using annual valuations based on discounted future expected payments and using historical data combined with insurance industry data when historical data is limited. We are indemnified under an agreement with a predecessor to Tyco for all Mueller Co. and Anvil workers compensation liabilities related to incidents that occurred prior to August 16, 1999. We retained U.S. Pipe workers compensation liabilities related to incidents that occurred prior to the segment’s April 1, 2012 sale date, but the purchaser agreed to reimburse us for up to $11.8 million in payments we make related to these liabilities. At September 30, 2020, the remaining discounted reimbursement receivable may be up to $2.3 million, which we have recorded as $0.4 million in other current assets and $1.9 million in other noncurrent assets. On an undiscounted basis, workers compensation liabilities were $7.2 million and $8.7 million at September 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively. For purposes of discounting these liabilities, we apply a risk-free discount rate, generally a U.S. Treasury bill rate, for each policy period. We apply the rate with a duration that corresponds to the weighted average expected payout period for each policy period. Once a discount rate is applied to a policy period, it remains the discount rate for that policy period until all claims are paid. On a discounted basis, workers compensation liabilities were $6.2 million and $7.6 million at September 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively.
Warranty Costs-We accrue for warranty expenses, which can include costs of repair and/or replacement, including labor, materials, equipment, freight and reasonable overhead costs. We accrue for the estimated cost of product warranties at the time of sale if such costs are determined to be probable and reasonably estimable at that time. We monitor and analyze our warranty experience and costs periodically and may revise our warranty accruals as necessary. Critical factors in our accrual analyses include warranty terms, specific claim situations, general incurred and projected failure rates, the nature of product failures, product and labor costs, and general business conditions.
We recognized $14.1 million of Technologies’ warranty expense during the year ended September 30, 2018 related to certain radios and other products sold in prior periods.
Activity in accrued warranty, reported as part of both other current liabilities and other noncurrent liabilities, is presented below.
202020192018
 (in millions)
Balance at beginning of year$17.1 $20.0 $8.5 
Warranty accruals2.6 3.9 18.7 
Warranty costs(5.3)(6.8)(7.2)
Balance at end of year$14.4 $17.1 $20.0 
Deferred Financing Costs-Costs of debt financing are charged to expense over the lives of the related financing agreements. Remaining costs and the future period over which they would be charged to expense are reassessed when amendments to the related financing agreements or prepayments occur.
ABL Agreement deferred financing costs are included in other noncurrent assets and other deferred financing costs are offset against long-term debt in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets. Deferred financing costs of $6.2 million at September 30, 2020 are scheduled to amortize as follows: $1.3 million related to the ABL Agreement amortizes on a straight-line basis; $4.9 million related to the Senior Unsecured Notes amortizes using the effective-interest rate method. All such amortization will be over the remaining term of the respective debt. Refer to Note 8. for disclosures related to our ABL agreement.
Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities-Prior to June 30, 2018, we managed interest rate risk to some extent using derivative instruments. We had designated our interest rate swap contracts as cash flow hedges of interest payments. As a result, the changes in the fair value of these contracts prior to settlement were reported as a component of accumulated other comprehensive loss and were reclassified into earnings in the periods during which the hedged transactions affected earnings. We recorded a cash gain of $2.4 million in the quarter ended June 30, 2018 upon termination of the interest rate swaps.
We manage U.S. dollar - Canadian dollar exchange rate risk related to an intercompany loan with swap contracts, which we have not designated as hedges. As a result, the changes in the fair value of these contracts are reported currently in earnings.
Income Taxes-Deferred tax liabilities and deferred tax assets are recognized for the expected future tax consequences of events that have been included in the financial statements or tax returns. Such liabilities and assets are determined based on the differences between the financial statement basis and the tax basis of assets and liabilities, using tax rates in effect for the years in which the differences are expected to reverse. A valuation allowance is provided when, based upon the available evidence, it is more likely than not that some or all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized.
We only record tax benefits for positions that management believes are more likely than not of being sustained under audit based solely on the technical merits of the associated tax position. The amount of tax benefit recognized for any position that meets the more likely than not threshold is the largest amount of the tax benefit that we believe is greater than 50% likely of being realized.
On December 22, 2017, HR-1, commonly referred to as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“Act”), was enacted, which made significant revisions to federal income tax laws, including lowering the corporate income tax rate to 21% from 35% effective January 1, 2018, overhauling the taxation of income earned outside the United States and eliminating or limiting certain deductions. The Act subjects us to current tax on global intangible low-taxed income (“GILTI”) earned by certain of our foreign subsidiaries. The Act states that we can make an accounting policy election to either recognize deferred taxes for temporary differences expected to reverse as GILTI in future years or provide for the tax expense related to GILTI in the year the tax is incurred. We have elected to recognize the tax on GILTI as a period expense in the period the tax is incurred.
In September 2018, we adopted Accounting Standards Update 2018-02 Income Statement—Reporting Comprehensive Income (Topic 220): Reclassification of Certain Tax Effects from Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income, which permits, but does not require, companies to reclassify from accumulated other comprehensive loss to retained earnings any “stranded tax effects” caused by the Act. We have elected to not make such a reclassification.
Environmental Expenditures-We capitalize environmental expenditures that increase the life or efficiency of noncurrent assets or that reduce or prevent environmental contamination. We accrue for environmental expenses resulting from existing conditions that relate to past operations when the costs are probable and reasonably estimable. We are indemnified under an agreement with a predecessor to Tyco for certain environmental liabilities that existed at August 16, 1999. Refer to Note 18. for additional disclosures regarding our environmental liabilities.
Revenue Recognition-Refer to Note 3. for disclosures regarding our revenues.
Stock-based Compensation-Compensation expense for stock-based awards granted to employees and directors is based on the fair value at the grant dates for our stock-settled share awards and is based on the fair value at each reporting date for our cash-settled share awards. Refer to Note 12. for more information regarding our stock-based compensation. Stock-based compensation expense is a component of selling, general and administrative expenses.
Research and Development-Research and development costs are expensed as incurred.
Advertising-Advertising costs are expensed as incurred.
Translation of Foreign Currency-Assets and liabilities of our businesses whose functional currencies are other than the U.S. dollar are translated into U.S. dollars using currency exchange rates at the balance sheet date. Revenues and expenses are translated at average currency exchange rates during the period. Foreign currency translation gains and losses are reported as a component of accumulated other comprehensive loss. Gains and losses resulting from foreign currency transactions are included in earnings as incurred.