Note 1. Summary of Significant

Accounting Policies

Champion Industries, Inc. is a major commercial printer, business forms manufacturer, office products and office furniture supplier, and mailing solutions provider offering warehousing and fulfillment of print and supply goods in regional markets east of the Mississippi River; primarily in West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, and Louisiana.

The accounting and reporting policies of Champion conform to accounting principles generally accepted in the United States. The preparation of the financial statements in conformity with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) require management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the financial statements and accompanying notes. Actual results could differ from these estimates.

Principles of Consolidation

The accompanying consolidated financial statements of Champion Industries, Inc. and Subsidiaries (the “Company”) include the accounts of The Chapman Printing Company, Inc., Bourque Printing, Inc., Dallas Printing Company, Inc., Stationers, Inc., Carolina Cut Sheets, Inc., Donihe Graphics, Inc., Smith and Butterfield Co., Inc., The Merten Company, Interform Corporation, Blue Ridge Printing Co., Inc., CHMP Leasing, Inc., Capitol Business Equipment, Inc., Thompson’s of Morgantown, Inc., Independent Printing Service, Inc., Diez Business Machines, Transdata Systems, Inc., Syscan Corporation and Champion Publishing, Inc.

Significant intercompany transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

Accounts Receivable

Accounts receivable are stated at the amount billed to customers and generally do not bear interest. Accounts receivable are ordinarily due 30 days from the invoice date.

The Company encounters risks associated with sales and the collection of the associated accounts receivable. As such, the Company records a provision for accounts receivable that are considered to be uncollectible. In order to calculate the appropriate provision, the Company primarily utilizes a historical rate of accounts receivable written off as a percentage of total revenue. The historical rate is updated periodically based on events that may change the rate such as a significant increase or decrease in collection performance and timing of payments as well as the calculated total exposure in relation to the allowance. Periodically, the Company compares the identified credit risks with the allowance that has been established using historical experience and adjusts the allowance accordingly.

Actual write-offs occur when it is determined an account will not be collected. General economic conditions and specific geographic and customer concerns are major factors that may affect the adequacy of the allowance and may result in a change in the annual bad debt expense.

For the twelve month period ended October 31, 2015, the Company had one customer that made up approximately 10.7% of its consolidated revenues and 11.6% of its accounts receivable. This customer is a publicly traded Fortune 500 company that we believe to be in good financial condition and that will remain so for the foreseeable future. Otherwise, no single customer contributed more than 4.7% of the Company’s consolidated revenues for fiscal 2015. Due to the project-oriented nature of customers' printing and furniture requirements, sales to particular customers may vary significantly from year to year depending upon the number and size of their projects. The Company's ten largest accounts receivable balances represented 34.7% and 32.1% of gross outstanding accounts receivable at October 31, 2015 and 2014, respectively.

Inventories

Inventories are principally stated at the lower of first-in, first-out, cost or market. Manufactured finished goods and work-in-process inventories include material, direct labor and overhead based on standard costs, which approximate actual costs.

Inventory Reserves

Reserves for slow moving and obsolete inventories are provided based on historical experience, inventory aging, historical review and management judgment. The Company continuously evaluates the adequacy of these reserves and makes adjustments to these reserves as required.

Property and Equipment

Depreciation of property and equipment and amortization of leasehold improvements and equipment under capital leases are recognized primarily on the straight-line and declining-balance methods in amounts adequate to amortize costs over the estimated useful lives of the assets as follows:

Buildings and improvements	5 - 40 years
Machinery and equipment	3 - 10 years
Furniture and fixtures	5 - 10 years
Vehicles	3 - 5 years

Major renewals, betterments and replacements are capitalized while maintenance and repair costs are charged to operations as incurred. Upon the sale or disposition of assets, the cost and related accumulated depreciation are removed from the accounts with the resulting gains or losses reflected in income. Depreciation expense and amortization of leasehold improvements and equipment under capital leases from continuing operations approximated $1,654,841, $1,930,507 and $2,169,014 for the years ended October 31, 2015, 2014, and 2013, respectively, and is reflected as a component of cost of sales and selling, general and administrative expenses.

Long-lived property and equipment are reviewed for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of the asset may not be recoverable. This evaluation includes the review of operating performance and estimated future undiscounted cash flows of the underlying assets or businesses.

Goodwill

Goodwill is tested for impairment using a fair-value approach on an annual basis typically for the Company during the fourth quarter of each year. Goodwill is also tested between annual tests if indicators of potential impairment exist.

Goodwill is tested for impairment at a level of reporting referred to as a reporting unit. The Company considers qualitative and quantitative information in its assessment of goodwill. The first step of the quantitative assessment is a screen for potential impairment and the second step, if required, measures the amount of the impairment. The Company performs an annual impairment in the fourth quarter and in 2013 performed an interim test for goodwill at the printing segment. The Company recorded charges associated with Goodwill in 2013 as further disclosed in Note 9 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.

Intangible Assets

The intangible assets are amortized using the straight-line method over their estimated benefit period, in our case 5-20 years. The fair values of these intangible assets are estimated based on management's assessment as well as independent third party appraisals in some cases.

Advertising Costs

Advertising costs are expensed as incurred. Advertising expense for the years ended October 31, 2015, 2014, and 2013 approximated $320,000, $349,000, and $336,000.

Income Taxes

Provisions for income taxes currently payable and deferred income taxes are based on the liability method. Under this method, deferred tax assets and liabilities are determined based on differences between financial reporting and tax basis of assets and liabilities and are measured using the enacted tax rates and laws that will be in effect when the differences are expected to reverse. A valuation allowance is established to reduce deferred tax assets if it is more likely than not that a deferred tax asset will not be realized. See Note 5 for more information on income taxes.

Earnings Per Share

Basic earnings per share is computed by dividing net income by the weighted average shares of common stock outstanding for the period and excludes any dilutive effects of stock options and warrants. Diluted earnings per share is computed by dividing net income by the weighted average shares of common stock outstanding for the period plus the shares that would be outstanding assuming the exercise of dilutive stock options and warrants using the treasury stock method. There was no dilutive effect in fiscal 2015 and 2014.The dilutive effect in 2013, related to outstanding warrants, was 4,814,000 shares.

Segment Information

The Company designates the internal organization that is used by management for making operating decisions and assessing performance as the source of the Company’s reportable segments. The Company’s operating segments are more fully described in Note 8.

Revenue Recognition

Revenues are recognized when products are shipped or ownership is transferred and when services are rendered to customers. The Company acts as a principal party in sales transactions, assumes title to products and assumes the risks and rewards of ownership including risk of loss for collection, delivery or returns. The Company typically recognizes revenue for the majority of its products upon shipment to the customer and transfer of title. Under agreements with certain customers, custom forms may be stored by the Company for future delivery. In these situations, the Company may receive a logistics and warehouse management fee for the services provided. In these cases, delivery and bill schedules are outlined with the customer and product revenue is recognized when manufacturing is complete and the product is received into the warehouse, title transfers to the customer, the order is invoiced and there is reasonable assurance of collectability. Since the majority of products are customized, product returns are not significant. Therefore, the Company records sales on a gross basis. Revenue generally is recognized net of any taxes collected from customers and subsequently remitted to government authorities. The costs of delivering finished goods to customers are recorded as shipping and handling costs and included in cost of sales. The office products and office furniture shipping and handling costs were approximately $0.5 million for 2015, 2014, and 2013 and are recorded as a component of selling, general, and administrative costs.

Fair Value Measurements

There is a fair value hierarchy for those instruments measured at fair value that distinguishes between assumptions based on market data (observable inputs) and our own assumptions (unobservable inputs). The hierarchy consists of three levels:

Level 1 - Quoted market prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities

Level 2 - Inputs other than Level 1 inputs that are either directly or indirectly observable; and

Level 3 - Unobservable inputs developed using estimates and assumptions developed by the Company, which reflect those that a market participant would use.

Our interest bearing debt is primarily composed of a term loan with a private investor. The carrying amount of this facility and its fair value are discussed further in Note 3.

Cash and cash equivalents consist principally of cash on deposit with banks, all highly liquid investments with an original maturity of three months or less. The Company's cash deposits in excess of federally insured amounts are primarily maintained at a large well-known financial institution.

The carrying amounts of the Company's accounts receivable, accounts payable, accrued payrolls and commissions, taxes accrued and withheld and accrued expenses approximates fair value due to their short-term nature.

Goodwill and other intangible assets are measured on a non-recurring basis using Level 3 inputs, as further discussed in Note 9.

NEWLY ISSUED ACCOUNTING STANDARDS

Effective July 1, 2009, changes to the ASC are communicated through an ASU. As of October 31, 2015, the FASB has issued ASU’s 2009-01 through 2015-16. The Company reviewed each ASU and determined that they will not have a material impact on the Company’s financial position, results of operations or cash flows, other than related disclosures to the extent applicable.

In January 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-01, “Income Statement – Extraordinary and Unusual Items (Subtopic 225-20): Simplifying Income Statement Presentation by Eliminating the Concept of Extraordinary Items” (“ASU 2015-01”). ASU 2015-01 eliminates from U.S. GAAP the concept of extraordinary items. The Company will adopt ASU 2015-01 in December, 2015. This amendment will not have a material impact on the Company's financial position, results of operation, or cash flows, but will have an impact on related presentation and disclosure to the extent applicable.

In July 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-11, “Inventory (Topic 330): Simplifying the Measurement of Inventory” (“ASU 2015-11”). ASU 2015-11 provides guidance on simplifying the measurement of inventory. The current standard is to measure inventory at lower of cost or market; where market could be replacement cost, net realizable value, or net realizable value less an approximately normal profit margin. ASU 2015-11 updates this guidance to measure inventory at the lower of cost or net realizable value; where net realizable value is considered to be the estimated selling price in the ordinary course of business, less reasonably predictable cost of completion, disposal, and transportation. The Company will adopt ASU 2015-11 in December, 2015. This amendment is not expected to have a material impact on the Company's financial position, results of operation, or cash flows.