Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2020

Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Basis of Presentation

The unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements included herein (the "Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements") have been prepared by Criteo S.A. pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). Certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America ("U.S. GAAP") have been condensed or omitted pursuant to such rules and regulations. However, the Company believes that the disclosures are adequate to make the information presented not misleading. These unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto included in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019, filed with the SEC on March 2, 2020. The unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements included herein reflect all adjustments (consisting of normal, recurring adjustments) which are, in the opinion of management, necessary to state fairly the results for the interim periods presented. The results of operations for the interim periods presented are not necessarily indicative of the operating results to be expected for any subsequent interim period or for the fiscal year.

Conformity with U.S. GAAP requires the use of estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenue and expenses in the condensed consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. We base our estimates and judgments on historical information and on various other assumptions that we believe are reasonable under the circumstances. Our actual results may differ from these estimates. U.S. GAAP requires us to make estimates and judgments in several areas, including, but not limited to: (1) revenue recognition criteria, (2) allowances for credit losses, (3) research tax credits, (4) income taxes, including i) recognition of deferred tax assets arising from the subsidiaries projected taxable profit for future years, ii) evaluation of uncertain tax positions associated with our transfer pricing policy and iii) recognition of income tax position in respect with tax reforms recently enacted in countries we operate, (5) assumptions used in valuing acquired assets and assumed liabilities in business combinations, (6) assumptions used in the valuation of goodwill, intangible assets and right of use assets - operating lease, and (7) assumptions used in the valuation model to determine the fair value of share-based compensation plan.

The severity, magnitude, duration and after effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the general economic conditions increase uncertainty associated with these estimates, in particular those related to allowance for credit losses, assumptions used in the valuation of goodwill and estimates relating to income taxes.

There have been no changes to our significant accounting policies described in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019, except for the accounting pronouncements adopted below.

Accounting Pronouncements Adopted in 2020

Effective January 1, 2020, we have adopted the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") Accounting Standards Update ("ASU") No. 2016-13, Financial Instruments-Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments, which requires the measurement and recognition of expected credit losses for financial assets held at amortized cost. ASU 2016-13 replaces the existing incurred loss impairment model with an expected loss model which requires the use of forward-looking information to calculate credit loss estimates. This results in earlier recognition of credit losses.

We measure loss allowances for all trade receivables using the lifetime expected credit loss approach, as described above. The expected credit losses on these financial assets are estimated using a provision matrix based on the Company’s historical credit loss experience, adjusted for factors that are specific to the debtors, general economic conditions and an assessment of both the current as well as the forecast direction of conditions at the reporting date.

Effective January 1, 2020, we have adopted ASU 2017-04, Goodwill and Other (Topic 350). ASU 2017-04 simplifies the subsequent measurement of goodwill and reduces the cost and complexity of evaluating goodwill for impairment. It eliminates the need for entities to calculate the implied fair value of goodwill by assigning the fair value of a reporting unit to all of its assets and liabilities as if that reporting unit had been acquired in a business combination. Under this amendment, an entity will perform its goodwill impairment test by comparing the fair value of a reporting unit with its carrying amount. An impairment charge is recognized for the amount by which the carrying value exceeds the reporting unit's fair value. The adoption of the ASU did not have an impact on our financial position or results of operations as we did not recognize an impairment loss during the period.

Effective January 1, 2020, we have adopted ASU 2018-15, Intangibles - Goodwill and Other - Internal Use Software - Customer’s Accounting for Implementation Costs incurred in a Cloud Computing Arrangement That is a Service Contract. This ASU was issued to clarify the accounting for implementation costs incurred for SaaS agreements. Previously the guidance only referred to development of internal use software and the accounting for SaaS agreements was not clarified. This ASU states that any capitalized implementation costs would be included in prepaid expenses, amortized over the term of the hosting arrangement on a straight-line basis and presented in the same line items in the Consolidated Statement of Income as the expense for fees of the associated hosting arrangements. The adoption of the standard did not have an impact on our financial position or results of operations, however, it did have a minor impact on expense classification in current and future periods.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

In August 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018 - 14, Compensation - Retirement Benefits - Defined Benefit Plans - General. The purpose of this update is to modify disclosure requirements for Defined Benefit Plans. It removes requirements to disclose the amounts in accumulated other comprehensive income expected to be recognized as components of net periodic benefit cost over the next fiscal year among others. It adds disclosure requirements for the items such as an explanation of the reasons for significant gains and losses related to changes in the benefit obligation for the period. We intend to adopt the standard on the effective date of January 1, 2021. The adoption of ASU 2018-14 is not expected to have a material impact on our financial position or results of operations but may have an impact on our disclosures.

In December 2019, the FASB issued Accounting Standard Update No. 2019-12, Income Taxes (Topic 740): Simplifying the Accounting for Income Taxes (ASU 2019-12), which simplifies the accounting for income taxes. We intend to adopt the standard on the effective date of January 1, 2021. The adoption of ASU 2019-12 is not expected to have a material impact on our financial position or results of operations but may have an impact on our disclosures.

Other accounting standards that have been issued or proposed by the FASB or other standards-setting bodies that do not require adoption until a future date are not expected to have a material impact on the Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements upon adoption.