Significant Accounting Policies

12 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2025

Significant Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Significant Accounting Policies

Note 2. Significant Accounting Policies

Basis of Presentation

The Company is an investment company following the accounting and reporting guidance in Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification 946 (“ASC 946”), Financial Services – Investment Companies. The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared on the accrual basis of accounting in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) and include the consolidated accounts of the Company and its wholly owned subsidiaries PhenixFIN Small Business Fund, LP, PhenixFIN SLF Funding I LLC, PhenixFIN Investment Holdings, LLC, PhenixFIN Investment Holdings Omnivere, LLC, PhenixFIN Investment Holdings AAR, LLC, and PhenixFIN Investment Holdings Amvestar, LLC. All references made to the “Company,” “we,” and “us” herein include PhenixFIN Corporation and its consolidated subsidiaries, except as stated otherwise. Additionally, the accompanying consolidated financial statements of the Company and related financial information have been prepared pursuant to the requirements for reporting on Form 10-K and Article 10 of Regulation S-X of the Securities Act of 1933.

Use of Estimates in the Preparation of Financial Statements

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the consolidated financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates. 

Cash, Restricted Cash and Cash Equivalents

The Company considers cash equivalents to be highly liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less. Cash and cash equivalents include deposits in a money market account. The Company deposits its cash in financial institutions and, at times, such balances may be in excess of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation insurance limits. As of September 30, 2025 and 2024, we had $7.3 million and $67.6 million in cash and cash equivalents, respectively, none of which is restricted.

Debt Issuance Costs and Deferred Financing Costs

Debt issuance costs, incurred in connection with unsecured notes (see Note 5), are deferred and amortized over the life of the respective instrument. Deferred financing costs related to the issuance of revolving debt obligations (see Note 5) are deferred and amortized over the life of the respective obligation. Debt issuance costs related to any unsecured notes are presented net against the outstanding debt balance on the Consolidated Statements of Assets and Liabilities. Deferred financing costs related to any credit facilities are presented on the Consolidated Statements of Assets and Liabilities.

Indemnification

In the normal course of business, the Company enters into contractual agreements that provide general indemnifications against losses, costs, claims and liabilities arising from the performance of individual obligations under such agreements. The Company has had no material claims or payments pursuant to such agreements. The Company’s individual maximum exposure under these arrangements is unknown, as this would involve future claims that may be made against the Company that have not yet occurred. However, based on management’s experience, the Company expects the risk of loss to be remote.

Revenue Recognition

Interest income, adjusted for amortization of premium and accretion of discount, is recorded on an accrual basis. Discounts and premiums to par value on investments purchased are accreted and amortized into interest income over the life of the respective investment. Loan origination fees, original issue discount (“OID”) and market discounts or premiums are capitalized and amortized into interest income using the effective interest method or straight-line method, as applicable.

The Company holds debt investments in its portfolio that contain a payment-in-kind (“PIK”) interest provision. PIK interest, which represents contractually deferred interest added to the investment balance that is generally due at maturity, is recorded on the accrual basis to the extent such amounts are expected to be collected. PIK interest is not accrued if the Company does not expect the issuer to be able to pay all principal and interest when due. For the years ended September 30, 2025, 2024 and 2023, the Company earned approximately $1.4 million, $1.2 million, $1.5 million in PIK interest, respectively.

Amendment and transaction break-up fees associated with investments in portfolio companies are recognized as income when we become entitled to such fees. Prepayment penalties received by the Company for debt instruments paid back to the Company prior to the maturity date are recorded as income upon repayment of debt. Administrative agent fees received by the Company are capitalized as deferred revenue and recorded as fee income when the services are rendered. Other income includes fees for providing managerial assistance to our portfolio companies and is recognized as revenue when earned.  For the years ended September 30, 2025, 2024 and 2023, fee income was approximately $1.0 million, $0.5 million and $0.3 million, respectively (see Note 9).

 
Investment transactions are accounted for on a trade date basis. Realized gains or losses on investments are measured by the difference between the net proceeds from the disposition and the amortized cost basis of investment using the specific identification method, without regard to unrealized gains or losses previously recognized. Realized gains relating to restructuring transactions that occurred during the year ended September 30, 2025 and 2024 were $0.3 million and $6.9 million. No realized gains or losses relating to restructuring transactions occurred during the year ended September 30, 2023. The Company reports changes in fair value of investments as net unrealized appreciation/(depreciation) on investments in the Consolidated Statements of Operations.

Management reviews all loans that become 90 days or more past due on principal or interest or when there is reasonable doubt that principal or interest will be collected for possible placement on management’s designation of non-accrual status. Interest receivable is analyzed regularly and may be reserved against when deemed not collectible. Interest payments received on non-accrual loans may be recognized as income or applied to principal depending upon management’s judgment regarding collectability. Non-accrual loans are restored to accrual status when past due principal and interest is paid and, in management’s judgment, are likely to remain current, although we may make exceptions to this general rule if the loan has sufficient collateral value and is in the process of collection. At September 30, 2025, a certain investment in one portfolio company held by the Company was on non-accrual status with a combined fair value of approximately $0.0 million, or 0.0% of the fair value of our portfolio, and a cost of $7.6 million. At September 30, 2024, certain investments in three portfolio companies held by the Company were on non-accrual status with a combined fair value of approximately $2.4 million, or 1.1% of the fair value of our portfolio, and a cost of $20.2 million.

Investment Classification

The Company classifies its investments in accordance with the requirements of the 1940 Act. Under the 1940 Act, we would be deemed to “control” a portfolio company if we owned more than 25% of its outstanding voting securities and/or had the power to exercise control over the management or policies of such portfolio company. We refer to such investments in portfolio companies that we “control” as “Control Investments.” Under the 1940 Act, we would be deemed to be an “Affiliated Person” of a portfolio company if we own between 5% and 25% of the portfolio company’s outstanding voting securities or we are under common control with such portfolio company. We refer to such investments in Affiliated Persons as “Affiliated Investments.”

Valuation of Investments

The Company applies fair value accounting to all of its financial instruments in accordance with the 1940 Act and ASC Topic 820 - Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures (“ASC 820”). ASC 820 defines fair value, establishes a framework used to measure fair value and requires disclosures for fair value measurements. In accordance with ASC 820, the Company has categorized its financial instruments carried at fair value, based on the priority of the valuation technique, into a three-level fair value hierarchy as discussed in Note 4. Fair value is a market-based measure considered from the perspective of a market participant rather than an entity specific measure. Therefore, when market assumptions are not readily available, the Company’s own assumptions are set to reflect those that management believes market participants would use in pricing the financial instrument at the measurement date.

Investments for which market quotations are readily available are valued at such market quotations, which are generally obtained from an independent pricing service or multiple broker-dealers or market makers. We weight the use of third-party broker quotations, if any, in determining fair value based on our understanding of the level of actual transactions used by the broker to develop the quote and whether the quote was an indicative price or binding offer. However, debt investments with remaining maturities within 60 days that are not credit impaired are valued at cost plus accreted discount, or minus amortized premium, which approximates fair value. Investments for which market quotations are not readily available are valued at fair value as determined by our Chief Financial Officer, the Company’s Valuation Designee, based upon input from management and third-party valuation firms. Because these investments are illiquid and because there may not be any directly comparable companies whose financial instruments have observable market values, these loans are valued using a fundamental valuation methodology, consistent with traditional asset pricing standards, that is objective and consistently applied across all loans and through time.

Investments in investment funds are valued at fair value. Fair values are generally determined utilizing the NAV supplied by, or on behalf of, management of each investment fund, which is net of management and incentive fees or allocations charged by the investment fund and is in accordance with the “practical expedient”, as defined by FASB Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2009-12, Investments in Certain Entities that Calculate Net Asset Value per Share. NAVs received by, or on behalf of, management of each investment fund are based on the fair value of the investment funds’ underlying investments in accordance with policies established by management of each investment fund, as described in each of their financial statements and offering memorandum. If the Company is in the process of the sale of an investment fund, fair value will be determined by actual or estimated sale proceeds.

The methodologies utilized by the Company in estimating the fair value of its investments categorized as Level 3 generally fall into the following two categories:

● The “Market Approach” uses prices and other relevant information generated by market transactions involving identical or comparable (that is, similar) assets, liabilities, or a group of assets and liabilities, such as a business.

● The “Income Approach” converts future amounts (for example, cash flows or income and expenses) to a single current (that is, discounted) amount. When the Income Approach is used, the fair value measurement reflects current market expectations about those future amounts.

The Company has engaged third-party valuation firms (the “Valuation Firms”) to assist it and its Valuation Designee (the Chief Financial Officer) in the valuation of its portfolio investments. The valuation reports generated by the Valuation Firms consider the evaluation of financing and sale transactions with third parties, expected cash flows and market-based information, including comparable transactions, performance multiples, and movement in yields of debt instruments, among other factors. The Company uses a market yield analysis under the Income Approach or an enterprise model of valuation under the Market Approach, or a combination thereof. In applying the market yield analysis, the value of the Company’s loans are determined based upon inputs such as the coupon rate, current market yield, interest rate spreads of similar securities, the stated value of the loan, and the length to maturity. In applying the enterprise model, the Company uses a waterfall analysis, which takes into account the specific capital structure of the borrower and the related seniority of the instruments within the borrower’s capital structure. To estimate the enterprise value of the portfolio company, we weigh some or all of the traditional market valuation methods and factors based on the individual circumstances of the portfolio company in order to estimate the enterprise value.

The methodologies and information that the Company utilizes when applying the Market Approach for performing investments include, among other things: 

● valuations of comparable public companies (“Guideline Comparable Approach”);

● recent sales of private and public comparable companies (“Guideline Comparable Approach”);

● recent acquisition prices of the company, debt securities or equity securities (“Recent Arms-Length Transaction”);

● external valuations of the portfolio company, offers from third parties to buy the company (“Estimated Sales Proceeds Approach”);

● subsequent sales made by the Company of its investments (“Expected Sales Proceeds Approach”); and

● estimating the value to potential buyers.

The methodologies and information that the Company utilizes when applying the Income Approach for performing investments include:

● discounting the forecasted cash flows of the portfolio company or securities (Discounted Cash Flow (“DCF”) Approach); and

● Black-Scholes model or simulation models or a combination thereof (Income Approach - Option Model) with respect to the valuation of warrants.

For non-performing investments, we may estimate the liquidation or collateral value of the portfolio company’s assets and liabilities using an expected recovery model (Market Approach - Expected Recovery Analysis or Estimated Liquidation Proceeds).

We undertake a multi-step valuation process each quarter when valuing investments for which market quotations are not readily available, as described below:

● Our quarterly valuation process generally begins with each portfolio investment being initially valued by a Valuation Firm;

● Available third-party market data will be reviewed by Company personnel designated by the Valuation Designee (“Fair Value Personnel”) and the Valuation Firm.

● Available portfolio company data and general industry data are then reviewed by the Fair Value Personnel.

● Preliminary valuation conclusions are then documented and discussed with the Fair Value Personnel.

● The Valuation Designee then determines the fair value of each investment in the Company’s portfolio in good faith based on such discussions, the Company’s Valuation Policy and the Valuation Firms’ final estimated valuations.

● The Valuation Designee’s report is then presented to the Board of Directors and the Audit Committee.

Due to the inherent uncertainty of determining the fair value of investments that do not have a readily available market value, the fair value of our investments may differ from the values that would have been used had a readily available market value existed for such investments, and the differences could be material. In addition, changes in the market environment (including the impact of pandemics, wars, tariffs, or other events on financial markets), portfolio company performance, and other events may occur over the lives of the investments that may cause the gains or losses ultimately realized on these investments to be materially different than the valuations currently assigned. 

Fair Value of Financial Instruments

The carrying amounts of certain of our financial instruments, including cash and cash equivalents, accounts payable and accrued expenses, approximate fair value due to their short-term nature. The carrying amounts and fair values of our long-term obligations are discussed in Note 5.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

The Company considers the applicability and impact of all accounting standard updates (“ASU”) FASB. ASUs not listed were assessed by the Company and either determined to be not applicable or expected to have minimal impact on its Consolidated Financial Statements.

In November 2023, the FASB issued ASU 2023-07, “Segment Reporting (Topic 280): Improvements to Reportable Segment Disclosures (“ASU 2023-07”),” which enhances disclosure requirements about significant segment expenses that are regularly provided to the chief operating decision maker (the “CODM”). ASU 2023-07, among other things, (i) requires a single segment public entity to provide all of the disclosures as required by Topic 280, (ii) requires a public entity to disclose the title and position of the CODM and an explanation of how the CODM uses the reported measure(s) of segment profit or loss in assessing segment performance and deciding how to allocate resources and (iii) provides the ability for a public entity to elect more than one performance measure. ASU 2023-07 is effective for the fiscal years beginning after September 30, 2024, and interim periods beginning after September 30, 2025 for the Company. Early adoption is permitted and retrospective adoption is required for all prior periods presented. The Company adopted the guidance during the year ended September 30, 2025 and its adoption did not have a material impact on the Company’s financial statements. See “Note 15 – Segment Reporting” for more information.

In December 2023, the FASB issued ASU No. 2023-09, “Income Taxes (Topic 740): Improvements to Income Tax Disclosures (“ASU 2023-09”),” which intends to improve the transparency of income tax disclosures. ASU 2023-09 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2024 and is to be adopted on a prospective basis with the option to apply retrospectively. The Company is currently assessing the impact of this guidance, however, the Company does not expect a material impact to its Consolidated Financial Statements.

In November 2024, the FASB issued ASU 2024-03, “Income Statement—Reporting Comprehensive Income—Expense Disaggregation Disclosures (“ASU 2024-03”)”, which requires disaggregated disclosure of certain costs and expenses, including purchases of inventory, employee compensation, depreciation, amortization and depletion for oil and gas companies, within relevant income statement captions. ASU 2024-03 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2026, and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2027, as clarified by ASU 2025-01, which was released by the FASB in January 2025. Early adoption and retrospective application is permitted. The Company is currently assessing the impact of this guidance, however, the Company does not expect a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.

Other than the aforementioned guidance, the Company’s management does not believe that any recently issued, but not yet effective, accounting standards, if currently adopted, would have a material effect on the accompanying Consolidated Financial Statements.

Federal Income Taxes

The Company has elected, and intends to continue to qualify annually, to be treated as a RIC under Subchapter M of the Code. In order to continue to qualify as a RIC and be eligible for tax treatment under Subchapter M of the Code, among other things, the Company is required to meet certain source of income and asset diversification requirements and timely distribute to its stockholders at least 90% of the sum of investment company taxable income (“ICTI”), as defined by the Code, including PIK interest, and net tax exempt interest income (which is the excess of gross tax exempt interest income over certain disallowed deductions) for each taxable year. Depending on the level of ICTI earned in a tax year, the Company may choose to carry forward ICTI in excess of current year dividend distributions into the next tax year. Any such carryover ICTI must be distributed before the end of that next tax year through a dividend declared prior to filing the final tax return related to the year which generated such ICTI.

The Company is subject to a nondeductible U.S. federal excise tax of 4% on undistributed income if it does not distribute at least 98% of its ordinary income in any calendar year and 98.2% of its capital gain net income for each one-year period ending on October 31 of such calendar year and any income realized, but not distributed, in preceding years and on which it did not pay federal income tax. To the extent that the Company determines that its estimated current year annual taxable income will be in excess of estimated current year dividend distributions for excise tax purposes, the Company accrues excise tax, if any, on estimated excess taxable income as taxable income is earned. There was no provision for federal excise tax for the calendar year ended 2024 accrued at September 30, 2025, for the calendar year ended 2023 accrued at September 30, 2024 and the calendar year ended 2022 accrued at September 30, 2023. On December 13, 2024, the Company identified that it did not distribute at least 90% of its investment company taxable income for the tax year ended September 30, 2023. The Company filed Form 8927 on December 16, 2024 notifying the IRS.

The Company’s Taxable Subsidiaries accrue income taxes payable based on the applicable corporate rates on the unrealized gains generated by the investments held by the Taxable Subsidiaries. As of September 30, 2025 and September 30, 2024, the Company recorded a net deferred tax asset of $1,234,847 and $887,099, respectively, on the Consolidated Statements of Assets and Liabilities. The change in provision for deferred taxes is included as a component of net realized and unrealized gain/(loss) on investments in the Consolidated Statements of Operations. For the years ended September 30, 2025 and 2024, the Company recorded a change in provision for deferred taxes of $210,210 and $887,099, respectively, on the unrealized (appreciation)/depreciation on investments. For the year ended September 30, 2023, the Company did not record a change in provision for deferred taxes on the unrealized (appreciation)/depreciation on investments.

As of September 30, 2025 and 2024, the Company had a deferred tax asset of $14.4 million and $20.9 million, respectively, consisting primarily of net operating losses and net unrealized losses on the investments held within its Taxable Subsidiaries. As of September 30, 2025 and 2024, the Company has booked a valuation allowance of $13.2 million and $20.0 million, respectively, against its deferred tax asset.

ICTI generally differs from net investment income for financial reporting purposes due to temporary and permanent differences in the recognition of income and expenses. The Company may be required to recognize ICTI in certain circumstances in which it does not receive cash. For example, if the Company holds debt obligations that are treated under applicable tax rules as having original issue discount, the Company must include in ICTI each year a portion of the original issue discount that accrues over the life of the obligation, regardless of whether cash representing such income is received by the Company in the same taxable year. The Company may also have to include in ICTI other amounts that it has not yet received in cash, such as 1) PIK interest income and 2) interest income from investments that have been classified as non-accrual for financial reporting purposes. Interest income on non-accrual investments is not recognized for financial reporting purposes, but generally is recognized in ICTI. Because any original issue discount or other amounts accrued will be included in the Company’s ICTI for the year of accrual, the Company may be required to make a distribution to its stockholders in order to satisfy the minimum distribution requirements, even though the Company will not have received and may not ever receive any corresponding cash amount. ICTI also excludes net unrealized appreciation or depreciation, as investment gains or losses are not included in taxable income until they are realized.

Permanent differences between ICTI and net investment income for financial reporting purposes are reclassified among capital accounts in the financial statements to reflect their tax character. Differences in classification may also result from the treatment of short-term gains as ordinary income for tax purposes. During the years ended September 30, 2025, 2024 and 2023, the Company reclassified for book purposes amounts arising from permanent book/tax differences related to the different tax treatment of net operating losses and investments in wholly-owned subsidiaries as follows:

	For the Years Ended September 30
	2025			2024			2023
Capital in excess of par value	$	531,749		$	12,468,254		$	20,468,622
Accumulated undistributed net investment income/(loss)		(531,749	)		(12,468,254	)		(20,468,622	)
Accumulated net realized gain/(loss) from investments		-			-

For income tax purposes, distributions paid to stockholders are reported as ordinary income, return of capital, long term capital gains or a combination thereof. The tax character of distributions paid for the years ended September 30, 2025, 2024 and 2023 were as follows:

	For the Years Ended September 30
	2025		2024		2023
Ordinary income	$	2,888,283	$	2,645,925	$	-
Distributions of long term capital gains		-		-		-
Return of capital		-		-		-
Distributions on a tax basis	$	2,888,283	$	2,645,925	$	-

For federal income tax purposes, the cost of investments owned at September 30, 2025, 2024 and 2023 were approximately $323.9 million, $259.6 million and $264.1 million, respectively.

At September 30, 2025, 2024 and 2023, the components of distributable earnings/(accumulated deficits) on a tax basis detailed below differ from the amounts reflected in the Company’s Consolidated Statements of Assets and Liabilities by temporary and other book/tax differences, primarily relating to the tax treatment of certain fee income and organizational expenses, as follows:

	For the Years Ended September 30
	2025			2024			2023
Undistributed ordinary income	$	246,251		$	1,918,290		$	2,389,267
Accumulated capital and other losses(1)		(523,575,571	)		(515,131,566	)		(512,809,528	)
Other temporary differences		(23,477	)		(41,229	)		(57,438	)
Unrealized appreciation/(depreciation)		(20,515,555	)		(31,349,330	)		(37,631,079	)
Components of distributable earnings/(accumulated deficits) at year end	$	(543,868,352	)		(544,603,835	)	$	(548,108,778	)

⁽¹⁾ Under the Regulated Investment Company Modernization Act of 2010, net capital losses recognized for tax years beginning after December 22, 2010, may be carried forward indefinitely, and their character is retained as short-term or long-term losses. As of September 30, 2025, the Company had a long-term capital loss carryforward available to offset future realized capital gains of $521,474,790 and a short-term capital loss carryforward of $2,100,781. Net capital losses incurred after October 31 (post-October losses) and net investment losses incurred after December 31 (late-year losses), and within the taxable year, may be elected to be deferred to the first business day of the Fund’s next taxable year. As of the most recent fiscal period ended September 30, 2025, the Fund did not elect to defer any late year losses.

The Company accounts for income taxes in conformity with ASC Topic 740 - Income Taxes (“ASC 740”). ASC 740 provides guidelines for how uncertain tax positions should be recognized, measured, presented and disclosed in financial statements. ASC 740 requires the evaluation of tax positions taken or expected to be taken in the course of preparing the Company’s tax returns to determine whether the tax positions are “more-likely-than-not” of being sustained by the applicable tax authority. Tax positions deemed to meet a “more-likely-than-not” threshold would be recorded as a tax benefit or expense in the current period. The Company recognizes interest and penalties, if any, related to unrecognized tax benefits as income tax expense in the Consolidated Statements of Operations. There were no material uncertain income tax positions at September 30, 2025. Although we file federal and state tax returns, our major tax jurisdiction is federal. The Company’s federal and state tax returns for the prior three fiscal years remain open, subject to examination by the Internal Revenue Service and applicable state tax authorities. 

Company Investment Risk, Concentration of Credit Risk, and Liquidity Risk

The Company has broad discretion in making investments. Investments generally consist of debt instruments that may be affected by business, financial market or legal uncertainties. Prices of investments may be volatile, and a variety of factors that are inherently difficult to predict, such as domestic or international economic and political developments, may significantly affect the results of the Company’s activities and the value of its investments. In addition, the value of the Company’s portfolio may fluctuate as the general level of interest rates fluctuate.

The value of the Company’s investments in loans may be detrimentally affected to the extent, among other things, that a borrower defaults on its obligations, there is insufficient collateral and/or there are extensive legal and other costs incurred in collecting on a defaulted loan, observable secondary or primary market yields for similar instruments issued by comparable companies increase materially or risk premiums required in the market between smaller companies, such as our borrowers, and those for which market yields are observable increase materially.

The Company’s assets may, at any time, include securities and other financial instruments or obligations that are illiquid or thinly traded, making purchase or sale of such securities and financial instruments at desired prices or in desired quantities difficult. Furthermore, the sale of any such investments may be possible only at substantial discounts, and it may be extremely difficult to value any such investments accurately.