Financial Products – Primarily includes the company’s Financial Products Segment. This category includes Caterpillar Financial Services Corporation (Cat Financial), Caterpillar Insurance Holdings Inc. (Insurance Services) and their respective subsidiaries.

Our products are sold primarily under the brands “Caterpillar,” “CAT,” design versions of “CAT” and “Caterpillar,” “EMD,” “FG Wilson,” “MaK,” “MWM,” “Perkins,” “Progress Rail,” “SEM” and “Solar Turbines”.

We conduct operations in our ME&T lines of business under highly competitive conditions, including intense price competition. We place great emphasis on the high quality and performance of our products and our dealers’ service support. Although no one competitor is believed to produce all of the same types of equipment that we do, there are numerous companies, large and small, which compete with us in the sale of each of our products.

Our machines are distributed principally through a worldwide organization of dealers (dealer network), 46 located in the United States and 119 located outside the United States, serving 191 countries. Reciprocating engines are sold principally through the dealer network and to other manufacturers for use in products. Some of the reciprocating engines manufactured by our subsidiary Perkins Engines Company Limited, are also sold through its worldwide network of 67 distributors covering 178 countries. The FG Wilson branded electric power generation systems primarily manufactured by our subsidiary Caterpillar Northern Ireland Limited are sold through its worldwide network of 150 distributors covering 109 countries. Some of the large, medium speed reciprocating engines are also sold under the MaK brand through a worldwide network of 20 distributors covering 130 countries. Our dealers do not deal exclusively with our products; however, in most cases sales and servicing of our products are the dealers’ principal business. Some products, primarily turbines and locomotives, are sold directly to end customers through sales forces employed by the company. At times, these employees are assisted by independent sales representatives.

The Financial Products line of business also conducts operations under highly competitive conditions. Financing for users of Caterpillar products is available through a variety of competitive sources, principally commercial banks and finance and leasing companies. We offer various financing plans designed to increase the opportunity for sales of our products and generate financing income for our company. A significant portion of Financial Products activity is conducted in North America, with additional offices in Latin America, Asia/Pacific, Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

We consolidate all variable interest entities (VIEs) where Caterpillar Inc. is the primary beneficiary. For VIEs, we assess whether we are the primary beneficiary as prescribed by the accounting guidance on the consolidation of VIEs. The primary beneficiary of a VIE is the party that has both the power to direct the activities that most significantly impact the entity’s economic performance and the obligation to absorb losses or the right to receive benefits that could potentially be significant to the VIE. See Note 21 for further discussion on a consolidated VIE.

We have affiliates, suppliers and dealers that are VIEs of which we are not the primary beneficiary. Although we have provided financial support, we do not have the power to direct the activities that most significantly impact the economic performance of each entity. Our maximum exposure to loss from these VIEs for which we are not the primary beneficiary was $133 million and $131 million as of December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively.

Cat Financial has end-user customers that are VIEs of which we are not the primary beneficiary. Although we have provided financial support to these entities and therefore have a variable interest, we do not have the power to direct the activities that most significantly impact their economic performance. Our maximum exposure to loss from our involvement with these VIEs is limited to the credit risk inherently present in the financial support that we have provided. These risks are evaluated and reflected in our financial statements as part of our overall portfolio of finance receivables and related allowance for credit losses.

Shipping and handling costs are included in Cost of goods sold in Statement 1. Other operating (income) expenses primarily include Cat Financial’s depreciation of equipment leased to others, Insurance Services’ underwriting expenses, (gains) losses on disposal of long-lived assets, long-lived asset impairment charges, legal settlements and accruals, contract termination costs and employee separation charges.

Prepaid expenses and other current assets in Statement 3 primarily include prepaid insurance, contract assets, right of return assets, prepaid and refundable income taxes, assets held for sale, core to be returned for remanufacturing, restricted cash and other short-term investments.

Inventories are stated at the lower of cost or net realizable value. Cost is principally determined using the last-in, first-out (LIFO) method. The value of inventories on the LIFO basis represented about 60 percent and 65 percent of total inventories at December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively.

Depreciation of plant and equipment is computed principally using accelerated methods. Depreciation on equipment leased to others, primarily for Financial Products, is computed using the straight-line method over the term of the lease. The depreciable basis is the original cost of the equipment less the estimated residual value of the equipment at the end of the lease term. In 2019, 2018 and 2017, Cat Financial depreciation on equipment leased to others was $813 million, $819 million and $810 million, respectively, and was included in Other operating (income) expenses in Statement 1. In 2019, 2018 and 2017, consolidated depreciation expense was $2,253 million, $2,435 million and $2,555 million, respectively. Amortization of purchased finite-lived intangibles is computed principally using the straight-line method, generally not to exceed a period of 20 years.

The functional currency for most of our ME&T consolidated companies is the U.S. dollar. The functional currency for most of our Financial Products and affiliates accounted for under the equity method is the respective local currency. Gains and losses resulting from the remeasurement of foreign currency amounts to the functional currency are included in Other income (expense) in Statement 1. Gains and losses resulting from translating assets and liabilities from the functional currency to U.S. dollars are included in Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) in Statement 3.

Our earnings and cash flow are subject to fluctuations due to changes in foreign currency exchange rates, interest rates and commodity prices. Our Risk Management Policy (policy) allows for the use of derivative financial instruments to prudently manage foreign currency exchange rate, interest rate and commodity price exposures. Our policy specifies that derivatives are not to be used for speculative purposes. Derivatives that we use are primarily foreign currency forward, option and cross currency contracts, interest rate contracts and commodity forward and option contracts. All derivatives are recorded at fair value. See Note 4 for more information.

The provision for income taxes is determined using the asset and liability approach taking into account guidance related to uncertain tax positions. Tax laws require items to be included in tax filings at different times than the items are reflected in the financial statements. A current liability is recognized for the estimated taxes payable for the current year. Deferred taxes represent the future tax consequences expected to occur when the reported amounts of assets and liabilities are recovered or paid. Deferred taxes are adjusted for enacted changes in tax rates and tax laws. Valuation allowances are recorded to reduce deferred tax assets when it is more likely than not that a tax benefit will not be realized. See Note 6 for further discussion.

For acquisitions accounted for as a business combination, goodwill represents the excess of the cost over the fair value of the net assets acquired. We are required to test goodwill for impairment, at the reporting unit level, annually and when events or circumstances make it more likely than not that an impairment may have occurred. A reporting unit is an operating segment or one level below an operating segment (referred to as a component) to which goodwill is assigned when initially recorded. We assign goodwill to reporting units based on our integration plans and the expected synergies resulting from the acquisition. Because Caterpillar is a highly integrated company, the businesses we acquire are sometimes combined with or integrated into existing reporting units. When changes occur in the composition of our operating segments or reporting units, goodwill is reassigned to the affected reporting units based on their relative fair values.

We perform our annual goodwill impairment test as of October 1 and monitor for interim triggering events on an ongoing basis. Goodwill is reviewed for impairment utilizing either a qualitative assessment or a quantitative goodwill impairment test. If we choose to perform a qualitative assessment and determine the fair value more likely than not exceeds the carrying value, no further evaluation is necessary. For reporting units where we perform the quantitative goodwill impairment test, we compare the fair value of each reporting unit, which we primarily determine using an income approach based on the present value of discounted cash flows, to the respective carrying value, which includes goodwill. If the fair value of the reporting unit exceeds its carrying value, the goodwill is not considered impaired. If the carrying value is higher than the fair value, the difference would be recognized as an impairment loss. See Note 10 for further details.

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect reported amounts. The more significant estimates include: residual values for leased assets; fair values for goodwill impairment tests; warranty liability and reserves for product liability and insurance losses, postretirement benefits, post-sale discounts, credit losses and income taxes.

Lease accounting - (Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2016-02) - In February 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued accounting guidance that revises the accounting for leases. Under the new guidance, lessees are required to recognize a right-of-use asset and a lease liability for substantially all leases. The new guidance continues to classify leases as either financing or operating, with classification affecting the pattern of expense recognition. The accounting applied by a lessor under the new guidance is substantially equivalent to prior lease accounting guidance. The new guidance was effective January 1, 2019 and was applied using a modified retrospective approach through a cumulative effect adjustment to retained earnings as of January 1, 2019. The prior period comparative information has not been recast and continues to be reported under the accounting guidance in effect for those periods.

The new guidance provides a number of optional practical expedients in transition. We elected the “package of practical expedients,” which allows us not to reassess under the new guidance our prior conclusions about lease identification, lease classification and initial direct costs. We did not elect the use-of-hindsight practical expedient. In addition, the new guidance provides practical expedients for an entity’s ongoing lessee accounting. For certain property and information technology equipment leases, we have elected to separate payments for lease components from non-lease components. For all other leases, we have elected not to separate lease and non-lease components. We have elected the short-term lease recognition exemption for all leases that qualify, which means we have not recognized right-of-use assets or lease liabilities for these leases with a term of twelve months or less.

The most significant effects of adoption relate to the recognition of right-of-use assets and lease liabilities on our balance sheet for operating leases and providing new disclosures about our leasing activities. In addition, we derecognized existing assets and debt obligations for a sale-leaseback transaction that qualified for sale accounting under the new guidance. The gain associated with this change in accounting was recognized through opening retained earnings as of January 1, 2019. The adoption did not have a material impact on our financial statements.

In March 2019, the FASB issued Leases - Codification improvements (ASU 2019-01) which amended the new leasing guidance. Under these amendments, lessors that are not manufacturers or dealers will use their cost, less any discounts that may apply, as the fair value of the underlying asset, and lessors within the scope of Financial Services-Depository and Lending guidance will present all principal payments received under leases within investment activities on the statement of cash flows. We adopted the new guidance effective January 1, 2019, and the adoption did not have a material impact to our financial statements.



Consolidated Statement of Financial Position
(Millions of dollars)	Balance as of December 31, 2018		Cumulative Impact from Adopting New Lease Guidance			Balance as of January 1, 2019
Assets
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	$	1,765	$	(17	)	$	1,748
Property, plant and equipment - net	$	13,574	$	(26	)	$	13,548
Noncurrent deferred and refundable income taxes	$	1,439	$	(77	)	$	1,362
Other assets	$	2,332	$	713		$	3,045

Liabilities
Accrued expenses	$	3,573	$	(27	)	$	3,546
Other current liabilities	$	1,919	$	209		$	2,128
Long-term debt due after one year
Machinery, Energy & Transportation	$	8,005	$	(362	)	$	7,643
Other liabilities	$	3,756	$	538		$	4,294

Shareholders’ equity
Profit employed in the business	$	30,427	$	235		$	30,662

Credit losses (ASU 2016-13) – In June 2016, the FASB issued accounting guidance to introduce a new model for recognizing credit losses on financial instruments based on an estimate of current expected credit losses. The new guidance will apply to loans, accounts receivable, trade receivables, other financial assets measured at amortized cost, loan commitments and other off-balance sheet credit exposures. The new guidance will also apply to debt securities and other financial assets measured at fair value through other comprehensive income. The new guidance was effective January 1, 2020. We do not expect the adoption to have a material impact on our financial statements.