Summary Of Significant Accounting Polices

9 Months Ended

Sep. 25, 2011

Summary Of Significant Accounting Polices

Summary Of Significant Accounting Polices

Note 1. SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICES

The Consolidated Financial Statements include the accounts of Checkpoint Systems, Inc. and its majority-owned subsidiaries (collectively, the Company). All inter-company transactions are eliminated in consolidation. The Consolidated Financial Statements and related notes are unaudited and do not contain all disclosures required by generally accepted accounting principles in annual financial statements. Refer to our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 26, 2010 for the most recent disclosure of the Company's accounting policies, except for the revisions to the Revenue Recognition Policy in Item 2 Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates.

The Consolidated Financial Statements include all adjustments, consisting only of normal recurring adjustments, necessary to state fairly our financial position at September 25, 2011 and December 26, 2010 and our results of operations for the thirteen and thirty-nine weeks ended September 25, 2011 and September 26, 2010 and changes in cash flows for the thirty-nine weeks ended September 25, 2011 and September 26, 2010. The results of operations for the interim period should not be considered indicative of results to be expected for the full year

Restricted Cash

We classify restricted cash as cash that cannot be made readily available for use. Restrictions may include legally restricted deposits held as compensating balances against short-term borrowing arrangements, contracts entered into with others, or company statements of intention with regard to particular deposits. As of September 25, 2011, the unused portion of a grant from the Chinese government of $0.4 million (RMB 2.5 million) was recorded within restricted cash in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets.

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Accounts Receivable

At September 25, 2011, proceeds from the sale of accounts receivable related to a sales-type lease extension with a customer to a third party financial institution totaled $39.4 million. Proceeds from the initial sale of the accounts receivable are used to fund operations. We have presented the earnings recognized on the sale of the receivables separately under the line item captioned other operating income on our Consolidated Statements of Operations for the three and nine months ended September 25, 2011 and September 26, 2010. This transaction meets the criteria for sale treatment in accordance with ASC 860 "Accounting for Transfers and Servicing of Financial Assets".

Internal-Use Software

Included in fixed assets is the capitalized cost of internal-use software. We capitalize costs incurred during the application development stage of internal-use software and amortize these costs over their estimated useful lives, which generally range from three to five years. Costs incurred related to design or maintenance of internal-use software is expensed as incurred.

During 2009, we announced that we were in the initial stages of implementing a company-wide ERP system to handle the business and finance processes within our operations and corporate functions. The total amount of internal-use software costs capitalized since the beginning of the ERP implementation as of September 25, 2011 and December 26, 2010 were $18.6 million and $13.1 million, respectively. As of September 25, 2011, $15.4 million was recorded in machinery and equipment related to supporting software packages that were placed in service. The remaining costs of $3.2 million and $12.7 million as of September 25, 2011 and December 26, 2010, respectively, are capitalized as construction-in-progress until such time as the ERP system has been placed in service.

Non-controlling Interests

On May 16, 2011, Checkpoint Holland Holding B.V., a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, acquired 51% of the outstanding voting shares of Shore to Shore PVT Ltd. (Sri Lanka) in exchange for cash. See Note 3 of the Consolidated Financial Statements.

On July 1, 1997, Checkpoint Systems Japan Co. Ltd. (Checkpoint Japan), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, issued newly authorized shares to Mitsubishi Materials Corporation (Mitsubishi) in exchange for cash. In February 2006, Checkpoint Japan repurchased 26% of these shares from Mitsubishi in exchange for $0.2 million in cash. In August 2010, Checkpoint Manufacturing Japan Co., LTD. repurchased the remaining 74% of these shares from Mitsubishi in exchange for $0.8 million in cash.

We have classified non-controlling interests as equity on our Consolidated Balance Sheets as of September 25, 2011 and December 26, 2010 and presented net income attributable to non-controlling interests separately on our Consolidated Statements of Operations for the three and nine months ended September 25, 2011 and September 26, 2010.

Warranty Reserves

We provide product warranties for our various products. These warranties vary in length depending on product and geographical region. We establish our warranty reserves based on historical data of warranty transactions.

The following table sets forth the movement in the warranty reserve which is located in the Other Accrued Expenses section of our Consolidated Balance Sheets:

(amounts in thousands)

Nine months ended	September 25, 2011
Balance at beginning of year	$   6,170
Accruals for warranties issued	4,566
Settlements made	(4,751)
Foreign currency translation adjustment	76
Balance at end of period	$   6,061

Recently Adopted Accounting Standards

In October 2009, the FASB issued ASU 2009-13, "Multiple-Deliverable Revenue Arrangements, (amendments to ASC Topic 605, Revenue Recognition)" (ASU 2009-13) and ASU 2009-14, "Certain Arrangements That Include Software Elements, (amendments to ASC Topic 985, Software)" (ASU 2009-14). ASU 2009-13 requires entities to allocate revenue in an arrangement using estimated selling prices of the delivered goods and services based on a selling price hierarchy. The amendments eliminate the residual method of revenue allocation and require revenue to be allocated using the relative selling price method. ASU 2009-14 removes tangible products from the scope of software revenue guidance and provides guidance on determining whether software deliverables in an arrangement that includes a tangible product are covered by the scope of the software revenue guidance. ASU 2009-13 and ASU 2009-14 are effective on a prospective basis for revenue arrangements entered into or materially modified in fiscal years beginning on or after June 15, 2010, which for us was December 27, 2010, the first day of our 2011 fiscal year. The adoption of these standards did not have a material impact on our Consolidated Results of Operations and Financial Condition.

In April 2010, FASB issued ASU 2010-13 "Compensation-Stock Compensation (Topic 718) Effect of Denominating the Exercise Price of a Share-Based Payment Award in the Currency of the Market in Which the Underlying Equity Security Trades" (ASU 2010-13). Topic 718 is amended to clarify that a share-based payment award with an exercise price denominated in the currency of a market in which a substantial portion of the entity's equity securities trades shall not be considered to contain a market, performance, or service condition. Therefore, such an award is not to be classified as a liability if it otherwise qualifies as equity classification. The amendments in this standard are effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning on or after December 15, 2010, which for us was December 27, 2010, the first day of our 2011 fiscal year. The guidance should be applied by recording a cumulative-effect adjustment to the opening balance of retained earnings for all outstanding awards as of the beginning of the fiscal year in which the amendments are initially applied. The adoption of the standard did not have a material impact on our Consolidated Results of Operations and Financial Condition.

In December 2010, FASB issued ASU 2010-28 "Intangibles - Goodwill and Other (Topic 350)" (ASU 2010-28). Topic 350 is amended to clarify the requirement to test for impairment of goodwill. Topic 350 has required that goodwill be tested for impairment if the carrying amount of a reporting unit exceeds its fair value. Under ASU 2010-28, when the carrying amount of a reporting unit is zero or negative an entity must assume that it is more likely than not that a goodwill impairment exists, perform an additional test to determine whether goodwill has been impaired and calculate the amount of that impairment. The modifications to ASC Topic 350 resulting from the issuance of ASU 2010-28 are effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2010, which for us was December 27, 2010, the first day of our 2011 fiscal year. The adoption of the standard did not have a material impact on our Consolidated Results of Operations and Financial Condition.

In December 2010, the FASB issued ASU 2010-29 "Business Combinations (Topic 805) - Disclosure of Supplementary Pro Forma Information for Business Combinations" (ASU 2010-29). This standard update clarifies that, when presenting comparative financial statements, SEC registrants should disclose revenue and earnings of the combined entity as though the current period business combinations had occurred as of the beginning of the comparable prior annual reporting period only. The update also expands the supplemental pro forma disclosures to include a description of the nature and amount of material, nonrecurring pro forma adjustments directly attributable to the business combination included in the reported pro forma revenue and earnings. ASU 2010-29 is effective prospectively for material (either on an individual or aggregate basis) business combinations entered into in fiscal years beginning on or after December 15, 2010, which for us was December 27, 2010, the first day of our 2011 fiscal year. The adoption of the standard did not have a material impact on our Consolidated Financial Statements.

New Accounting Pronouncements and Other Standards

In January 2011, the FASB issued ASU 2011-01 "Deferral of the Effective Date of Disclosures about Troubled Debt Restructurings in Update No. 2010-20" (ASU 2011-01). This standard update defers the effective date of new disclosure requirements for troubled debt restructurings prescribed by ASU 2010-20, "Disclosures about the Credit Quality of Financing Receivables and the Allowance for Credit Losses." ASU 2011-01 is effective upon issuance. We do not expect the adoption of the standard to have a material impact on our Consolidated Results of Operations and Financial Condition.

In April 2011, the FASB issued ASU 2011-02 "A Creditor's Determination of Whether a Restructuring Is a Troubled Debt Restructuring" (ASU 2011-02). The amendments to Topic 310 (Receivables) clarify the guidance on a creditor's evaluation of whether a debtor is experiencing financial difficulties and when a loan modification or restructuring is considered a troubled debt restructuring. In determining whether a loan modification represents a troubled debt restructuring, an entity should consider whether the debtor is experiencing financial difficulty and the lender has granted a concession to the borrower. ASU 2011-02 is effective for the first interim or annual period beginning on or after June 15, 2011, and should be applied retrospectively to the beginning of the annual period of adoption. We do not expect the adoption of the standard to have a material impact on our Consolidated Results of Operations and Financial Condition.

In April 2011, the FASB issued ASU 2011-03 "Reconsideration of Effective Control for Repurchase Agreements" (ASU 2011-03). The amendments to Topic 860 (Transfers and Servicing) affect all entities that enter into agreements to transfer financial assets that both entitle and obligate the transferor to repurchase or redeem the financial assets before their maturity. The amendments do not affect other transfers of financial assets. The amendments remove from the assessment of effective control (1) the criterion requiring the transferor to have the ability to repurchase or redeem the financial assets on substantially the agreed terms, even in the event of default by the transferee, and (2) the collateral maintenance implementation guidance related to that criterion. ASU 2011-03 is effective for the first interim or annual periods beginning on or after December 15, 2011, and should be applied prospectively to transactions or modifications of existing transactions that occur on or after the effective date. We do not expect the adoption of the standard to have a material impact on our Consolidated Results of Operations and Financial Condition.

In May 2011, the FASB issued ASU 2011-04 "Amendments to Achieve Common Fair Value Measurement and Disclosure Requirements in U.S. GAAP and IFRS" (ASU 2011-04). The amendments to Topic 820 (Fair Value Measurement) establish common requirements for measuring fair value and related disclosures in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States and international financial reporting standards. This amendment did not require additional fair value measurements. ASU 2011-04 is effective for the first interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2011, and should be applied prospectively. We do not expect the adoption of the standard to have a material effect on our Consolidated Results of Operations and Financial Condition.

In June 2011, the FASB issued ASU 2011-05 "Presentation of Comprehensive Income" (ASU 2011-05). The amendments to Topic 220 (Comprehensive Income) eliminate the option of presenting the components of other comprehensive income as part of the statement of changes in stockholders' equity, require consecutive presentation of the statement of net income and other comprehensive income and require reclassification adjustments from other comprehensive income to net income to be shown on the financial statements. In October 2011, the FASB decided that the specific requirement to present items that are reclassified from other comprehensive income to net income alongside their respective components of net income and other comprehensive income will be deferred.  However, the remaining requirements of ASU 2011-05 are effective for the first interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2011. We do not expect the adoption of the standard to have a material effect on our Consolidated Results of Operations and Financial Condition.

In September 2011, the FASB issued ASU 2011-08, "Intangibles - Goodwill and Other," (ASU 2011-08), which amends current guidance to allow a company to first assess qualitative factors to determine whether it is necessary to perform the two-step quantitative goodwill impairment test. The amendment also improves previous guidance by expanding upon the examples of events and circumstances that an entity should consider between annual impairment tests in determining whether it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying amount. ASU 2011-08 is effective for annual and interim goodwill impairment tests performed for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2011. We do not expect the adoption of the standard to have a material effect on our Consolidated Results of Operations and Financial Condition.

In September 2011, the FASB issued ASU 2011-09, "Compensation -- Retirement Benefits -- Multiemployer Plans (Subtopic 715-80)," (ASU 2011-09). ASU 2011-09 requires that employers provide additional separate disclosures for multiemployer pension plans and multiemployer other postretirement benefit plans. The additional quantitative and qualitative disclosures will provide users with more detailed information about an employer's involvement in multiemployer pension plans. ASU 2011-09 is effective for fiscal years ending after December 15, 2011. The adoption of this standard will not have a material effect on our Consolidated Results of Operations and Financial Condition.