New Accounting Pronouncements	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2017
New Accounting Pronouncements and Changes in Accounting Principles [Abstract]
New Accounting Pronouncements	New Accounting Pronouncements Accounting Changes In May 2017, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued ASU 2017-09, Compensation - Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Scope of Modification Accounting, which clarifies that modification accounting is required only if the fair value, the vesting conditions, or the classification of a share-based payment award changes as a result of changes in terms or conditions of the award. We have elected to early adopt ASU 2017-09 in the second quarter of 2017 and the adoption of this ASU had no impact on our Consolidated Financial Statements. In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-09, Compensation - Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting. ASU 2016-09 requires all income tax effects related to share-based payments at settlement (or expiration) be recorded through the income statement, including unrealized excess tax benefits. ASU 2016-09 also requires that all tax related cash flows resulting from share-based payments be presented as operating activities in the statement of cash flows. In addition, the guidance allows entities to increase the net-share settlement of an employee’s shares for tax withholding purposes without triggering liability accounting and to make a policy election to estimate forfeitures or recognize them as they occur. Finally, the new guidance requires all cash payments made to a taxing authority on an employee’s behalf for shares withheld be presented as financing activities in the statement of cash flows. We adopted ASU 2016-09 in the first quarter of 2017. We prospectively adopted the changes requiring all tax effects related to share-based payments to be recorded through the income statement and all tax related cash flows from share based payments to be presented as operating activities in the statement of cash flows. There is no cumulative effect as there is no impact from unrecognized excess tax benefits or minimum withholding requirements and prior periods have not been adjusted. We have also made an entity-wide accounting policy election to continue to estimate forfeitures and adjust the estimate when it is likely to change. We have retrospectively adopted the guidance to classify as a financing activity on the statement of cash flows all cash payments made to a taxing authority on an employee’s behalf for shares withheld for tax-withholding purposes. We have reclassified $5 million from other operating activities to other financing activities in the Statements of Cash Flows for the nine months ended September 30, 2016. Accounting Standards Issued Not Yet Adopted In July 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-11, which amends the accounting for certain equity-linked financial instruments and states a down round feature no longer precludes equity classification when assessing whether the instrument is indexed to an entity’s own stock. For an equity-linked financial instrument no longer accounted for as a liability at fair value, the amendments require a down round to be treated as a dividend and as a reduction of income available to common shareholders in basic earnings per share. The ASU is effective beginning with the first quarter of 2019, and early adoption is permitted. The ASU is required to be applied retrospectively to outstanding instruments. Weatherford is evaluating the impact that the ASU will have on our Consolidated Financial Statements and whether we will early adopt the ASU. In March 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-07, Compensation - Retirement Benefits (Topic 715): Improving the Presentation of Net Periodic Pension Cost and Net Periodic Postretirement Benefit Cost, which amends the presentation of net periodic pension and postretirement benefit cost (“net benefit cost”). The service cost component of net benefit cost will be bifurcated and presented with other employee compensation costs, while other components of net benefit costs will be presented separately. The standard is required to be applied on a retrospective basis and will be effective beginning with the first quarter of 2018, although early adoption is permitted. We are evaluating the impact that this new standard will have on our Consolidated Financial Statements. In October 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-16, Income Taxes (Topic 740): Intra-Entity Transfers of Assets Other Than Inventory, which eliminates a current exception in U.S. GAAP to the recognition of the income tax effects of temporary differences that result from intra-entity transfers of non-inventory assets. The intra-entity exception is being eliminated under the ASU. The standard is required to be applied on a modified retrospective basis and will be effective beginning with the first quarter of 2018. Early adoption is permitted. We estimate that the impact that this new standard will have on our Consolidated Financial Statements will be a reversal of $110 million of prepaid taxes through retained earnings. In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842), which requires a lessee to recognize a lease asset and lease liability for most leases, including those classified as operating leases under existing U.S. GAAP. The ASU also changes the definition of a lease and requires expanded quantitative and qualitative disclosures for both lessees and lessors. Under ASU 2016-02, we will revise our leasing policies to require most of the leases, where we are the lessee, to be recognized on the balance sheet as a lease asset and lease liability whereas currently we do not recognize operating leases on our balance sheet. Further, we will separate leases from other contracts where we are either the lessor or lessee when the rights conveyed under the contract indicate there is a lease, where we may not be required to do so under existing policies. While we cannot calculate the impact ASU 2016-02 will have on Weatherford’s financial statements, we anticipate that Weatherford’s assets and liabilities will increase by a significant amount. This standard will be effective for us beginning with the first quarter of 2019. We do not anticipate adopting ASU 2016-02 early, which is permitted under the standard. ASU 2016-02 requires lessees and lessors to recognize and measure leases at the beginning of the earliest period presented using a modified retrospective transition method but permits certain practical expedients to be applied, which may exclude certain leases that commenced before the effective date. In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606), which will replace most existing revenue recognition guidance in U.S. GAAP. ASU 2014-09 will require an entity to recognize revenue to depict the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. ASU 2014-09 requires a five-step approach to recognizing revenue: 1) identify the contract, 2) identify performance obligations, 3) determine the transaction price, 4) allocate the transaction price, and 5) recognize revenue. Subsequent to ASU 2014-09’s issuance, Topic 606 has been affected by other FASB updates that address certain aspects of Topic 606 or revised the effective date of the accounting changes. Under ASU 2014-09, we will revise our revenue recognition policy to require revenue recognition when control passes. This is a change from current policies, which generally require revenue recognition when delivery has occurred and risk and rewards of ownership have passed. We intend to adopt ASU 2014-09 as of its effective date in the first quarter of 2018. ASU 2014-09 permits two transition methods: the retrospective method or the modified retrospective method. Weatherford will be applying modified retrospective method which requires the recognition of a cumulative effect as an adjustment to opening retained earnings on the initial date of adoption. We have planned and commenced our implementation of ASU 2014-09. We have substantially completed an assessment of the differences between ASU 2014-09 and current accounting practices (gap analysis). Our approach involved comparing existing accounting requirements to the requirements under Topic 606 for each of our product lines and reviewing a sample of contracts within each product line and region. We are currently in the process of establishing new policies, procedures, and controls, establishing appropriate presentation and disclosure changes and quantifying any adoption date adjustments. Although not finalized, based on the implementation efforts performed, management’s assessment is that ASU 2014-09 is not expected to materially affect us. Any changes are not expected to have any direct impact to our cash flows.

New Accounting Pronouncements

Accounting Changes

In May 2017, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued ASU 2017-09, Compensation - Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Scope of Modification Accounting, which clarifies that modification accounting is required only if the fair value, the vesting conditions, or the classification of a share-based payment award changes as a result of changes in terms or conditions of the award. We have elected to early adopt ASU 2017-09 in the second quarter of 2017 and the adoption of this ASU had no impact on our Consolidated Financial Statements.

In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-09, Compensation - Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting. ASU 2016-09 requires all income tax effects related to share-based payments at settlement (or expiration) be recorded through the income statement, including unrealized excess tax benefits. ASU 2016-09 also requires that all tax related cash flows resulting from share-based payments be presented as operating activities in the statement of cash flows. In addition, the guidance allows entities to increase the net-share settlement of an employee’s shares for tax withholding purposes without triggering liability accounting and to make a policy election to estimate forfeitures or recognize them as they occur. Finally, the new guidance requires all cash payments made to a taxing authority on an employee’s behalf for shares withheld be presented as financing activities in the statement of cash flows.

We adopted ASU 2016-09 in the first quarter of 2017. We prospectively adopted the changes requiring all tax effects related to share-based payments to be recorded through the income statement and all tax related cash flows from share based payments to be presented as operating activities in the statement of cash flows. There is no cumulative effect as there is no impact from unrecognized excess tax benefits or minimum withholding requirements and prior periods have not been adjusted. We have also made an entity-wide accounting policy election to continue to estimate forfeitures and adjust the estimate when it is likely to change. We have retrospectively adopted the guidance to classify as a financing activity on the statement of cash flows all cash payments made to a taxing authority on an employee’s behalf for shares withheld for tax-withholding purposes. We have reclassified $5 million from other operating activities to other financing activities in the Statements of Cash Flows for the nine months ended September 30, 2016.

Accounting Standards Issued Not Yet Adopted

In July 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-11, which amends the accounting for certain equity-linked financial instruments and states a down round feature no longer precludes equity classification when assessing whether the instrument is indexed to an entity’s own stock. For an equity-linked financial instrument no longer accounted for as a liability at fair value, the amendments require a down round to be treated as a dividend and as a reduction of income available to common shareholders in basic earnings per share. The ASU is effective beginning with the first quarter of 2019, and early adoption is permitted. The ASU is required to be applied retrospectively to outstanding instruments. Weatherford is evaluating the impact that the ASU will have on our Consolidated Financial Statements and whether we will early adopt the ASU.

In March 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-07, Compensation - Retirement Benefits (Topic 715): Improving the Presentation of Net Periodic Pension Cost and Net Periodic Postretirement Benefit Cost, which amends the presentation of net periodic pension and postretirement benefit cost (“net benefit cost”). The service cost component of net benefit cost will be bifurcated and presented with other employee compensation costs, while other components of net benefit costs will be presented separately. The standard is required to be applied on a retrospective basis and will be effective beginning with the first quarter of 2018, although early adoption is permitted. We are evaluating the impact that this new standard will have on our Consolidated Financial Statements.

In October 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-16, Income Taxes (Topic 740): Intra-Entity Transfers of Assets Other Than Inventory, which eliminates a current exception in U.S. GAAP to the recognition of the income tax effects of temporary differences that result from intra-entity transfers of non-inventory assets. The intra-entity exception is being eliminated under the ASU. The standard is required to be applied on a modified retrospective basis and will be effective beginning with the first quarter of 2018. Early adoption is permitted. We estimate that the impact that this new standard will have on our Consolidated Financial Statements will be a reversal of $110 million of prepaid taxes through retained earnings.

In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842), which requires a lessee to recognize a lease asset and lease liability for most leases, including those classified as operating leases under existing U.S. GAAP. The ASU also changes the definition of a lease and requires expanded quantitative and qualitative disclosures for both lessees and lessors.

Under ASU 2016-02, we will revise our leasing policies to require most of the leases, where we are the lessee, to be recognized on the balance sheet as a lease asset and lease liability whereas currently we do not recognize operating leases on our balance sheet. Further, we will separate leases from other contracts where we are either the lessor or lessee when the rights conveyed under the contract indicate there is a lease, where we may not be required to do so under existing policies. While we cannot calculate the impact ASU 2016-02 will have on Weatherford’s financial statements, we anticipate that Weatherford’s assets and liabilities will increase by a significant amount.

This standard will be effective for us beginning with the first quarter of 2019. We do not anticipate adopting ASU 2016-02 early, which is permitted under the standard. ASU 2016-02 requires lessees and lessors to recognize and measure leases at the beginning of the earliest period presented using a modified retrospective transition method but permits certain practical expedients to be applied, which may exclude certain leases that commenced before the effective date.

In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606), which will replace most existing revenue recognition guidance in U.S. GAAP. ASU 2014-09 will require an entity to recognize revenue to depict the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. ASU 2014-09 requires a five-step approach to recognizing revenue: 1) identify the contract, 2) identify performance obligations, 3) determine the transaction price, 4) allocate the transaction price, and 5) recognize revenue. Subsequent to ASU 2014-09’s issuance, Topic 606 has been affected by other FASB updates that address certain aspects of Topic 606 or revised the effective date of the accounting changes.

Under ASU 2014-09, we will revise our revenue recognition policy to require revenue recognition when control passes. This is a change from current policies, which generally require revenue recognition when delivery has occurred and risk and rewards of ownership have passed.

We intend to adopt ASU 2014-09 as of its effective date in the first quarter of 2018. ASU 2014-09 permits two transition methods: the retrospective method or the modified retrospective method. Weatherford will be applying modified retrospective method which requires the recognition of a cumulative effect as an adjustment to opening retained earnings on the initial date of adoption.

We have planned and commenced our implementation of ASU 2014-09. We have substantially completed an assessment of the differences between ASU 2014-09 and current accounting practices (gap analysis). Our approach involved comparing existing accounting requirements to the requirements under Topic 606 for each of our product lines and reviewing a sample of contracts within each product line and region. We are currently in the process of establishing new policies, procedures, and controls, establishing appropriate presentation and disclosure changes and quantifying any adoption date adjustments. Although not finalized, based on the implementation efforts performed, management’s assessment is that ASU 2014-09 is not expected to materially affect us. Any changes are not expected to have any direct impact to our cash flows.