Severance

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2020

Restructuring and Related Activities [Abstract]

Periodically, we reduce our workforce and accrue liabilities for the related severance costs. These workforce reductions result primarily from the progression or completion of our post-acquisition integration plans, increased competitive pressures, cost reduction initiatives, process improvements through automation and reduced workload demands due to reduced demand for certain services.

We report severance liabilities within accrued expenses and other liabilities - salaries and benefits in our consolidated balance sheets and report severance expenses in selling, general and administrative expenses in our consolidated statements of operations. As described in Note 16—Segment Information, we do not allocate these severance expenses to our segments.

Under prior GAAP, we had previously recognized liabilities to reflect our estimates of the fair values of the existing lease obligations for real estate which we have ceased using, net of estimated sublease rentals. In accordance with transitional guidance under the new lease standard (ASC 842), the existing lease obligation of $110 million as of January 1, 2019 was netted against the operating lease right of use assets at adoption. For additional information, see Note 4—Leases to our consolidated financial statements in Item 8 of Part II of this report.

Changes in our accrued liabilities for severance expenses were as follows:


	Severance
	(Dollars in millions)
Balance at December 31, 2018	$	87
Accrued to expense	89
Payments, net	(87)
Balance at December 31, 2019	89
Accrued to expense	151
Payments, net	(137)
Balance at December 31, 2020	$	103