New Accounting Pronouncements

Accounting Changes

In May 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued ASU 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606), which replaced most existing revenue recognition guidance in U.S. GAAP. We adopted the new guidance and all of the related amendments, collectively Topic 606, using the modified retrospective method applied to those contracts which were not completed as of January 1, 2018. We recognized the cumulative effect of initially applying the new guidance as an adjustment to the opening balance of retained earnings as of January 1, 2018. The comparative information has not been restated and continues to be reported under the accounting standards in effect for those periods. Net income for 2017 and shareholders’ equity as of December 31, 2017 were not affected by the adoption of the new guidance. The impact of the adoption of the new guidance is immaterial to our consolidated net loss.

The primary impact on adopting Topic 606 on our Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements is in our Well Construction product line, where we receive customer payments related to the demobilization of drilling equipment and crew. Under the adoption of Topic 606, we now recognize revenue on demobilization equally over the term of the contract, subject to any constraint as discussed in “Note 3 – Revenues” to our Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements. Prior to the adoption of Topic 606, we recognized demobilization revenue once the service was completed. These changes did not have any impact on our Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows.

The cumulative effect of the changes made to our January 1, 2018 Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet for the adoption of Topic 606, were as follows:



(Dollars in millions)	Balance at December 31, 2017			Adjustments Due to Topic 606		Balance at January 1, 2018
Assets and Liabilities:
Other Current Assets	$	332		$	10	$	342
Other Current Liabilities	690			2		692

Shareholders’ Equity:
Retained Deficit	(5,763		)	8		(5,755		)

In August 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-15, Intangibles — Goodwill and Other — Internal-Use Software (Subtopic 350-40), Customer’s Accounting for Implementation Costs Incurred in a Cloud Computing Arrangement That Is a Service Contract, which requires a customer in a cloud computing arrangement that is a service contract to follow the internal-use software guidance in Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) 350-40 to determine which implementation costs to capitalize as assets. This standard will reduce diversity in practice in accounting for the costs of implementing cloud computing arrangements that are service contracts. We elected to early adopt ASU 2018-15 as we currently apply such guidance to our cloud computing arrangements. The adoption of this ASU has no material impact on our Consolidated Financial Statements.

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 costs (“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 are presented separately outside of income from operations. We adopted ASU 2017-07 in the first quarter of 2018 on a retrospective basis which resulted in the reclassification of $6 million and $42 million of income for the third quarter and the first nine months of 2017, respectively, from “Total Costs and Expenses” primarily under the caption of “Long-Lived Asset Impairments, Asset Write-Downs and Other” to “Other Income (Expense), Net” on our Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations.

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. We adopted ASU 2016-16 in the first quarter of 2018 on a modified retrospective basis. The impact that this new standard has on our Consolidated Financial Statements is a reversal of $105 million of prepaid taxes through retained earnings. Prospectively, any taxes accrued that result from the intra-entity transfers of non-inventory assets will be recognized in current tax expense.

In August 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-15, Statement of Cash Flows (Topic 230): Classification of Certain Cash Receipts and Cash Payments, which reduces diversity in practice as to how certain transactions are classified in the statement of cash flows. We adopted ASU 2016-15 in the first quarter of 2018 on a retrospective basis and the adoption of this ASU has no material impact on our Condensed Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows.

Accounting Standards Issued Not Yet Adopted

In August 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-14, Compensation — Retirement Benefits — Defined Benefit Plans — General (Subtopic 715-20): Disclosure Framework — Changes to the Disclosure Requirements for Defined Benefit Plans, which makes minor changes to the disclosure requirements for employers that sponsor defined benefit pension and other postretirement benefit plans. The ASU is effective beginning with the first quarter of 2021, and early adoption is permitted. The ASU is required to be applied retrospectively. This new standard will not have a significant impact on our Consolidated Financial Statements.

In August 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-13, Fair Value Measurement (Topic 820): Disclosure Framework — Changes to the Disclosure Requirements for Fair Value Measurement, which eliminates, adds and modifies certain disclosure requirements for fair value measurements as part of its disclosure framework project. The ASU is effective beginning with the first quarter of 2020, and early adoption is permitted. The ASU is required to be applied retrospectively, except the new Level 3 disclosure requirements which are applied prospectively. We have evaluated the impact that this new standard will have on our Consolidated Financial Statements and concluded adoption of the ASU will not have a significant impact.

In February 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-02, Income Statement-Reporting Comprehensive Income (Topic 220): Reclassification of Certain Tax Effects from Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income, which permits a reclassification from accumulated other comprehensive income to retained earnings for stranded tax effects resulting from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The standard is required to be applied in the period of adoption or on a retrospective basis to each period affected, and will be effective beginning in the first quarter of 2019, although early adoption is permitted. We are evaluating the impact that this new standard will have on our Consolidated Financial Statements.

In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842), which requires a lessee to recognize a right-of-use 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, and all the related amendments, 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 right-of-use 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. However, the ultimate impact of the standard will depend on the Company’s lease portfolio as of the date of adoption.

We are currently in the process of evaluating our existing lease portfolios, including accumulating all of the necessary information required to properly account for the leases under the new standard. Additionally, we are implementing a lease management system to assist in the accounting for leases and are evaluating additional changes to our processes and internal controls to ensure we meet the standard’s reporting and disclosure requirements.

This standard will be effective for us beginning in 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.