Presentation of Financial Statements

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2019

Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

The terms “Omnicom,” “the Company,” “we,” “our” and “us” each refer to Omnicom Group Inc. and its subsidiaries, unless the context indicates otherwise. The accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements were prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States, or U.S. GAAP or GAAP, for interim financial information and Article 10 of Regulation S-X of the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC. Accordingly, certain information and footnote disclosure have been condensed or omitted.

In our opinion, the accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements reflect all adjustments, consisting of normal recurring accruals, considered necessary for a fair presentation, in all material respects, of the information contained herein. These unaudited consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018, or 2018 10-K. Results for the interim periods are not necessarily indicative of results that may be expected for the year.

Accounting Changes

Except for the changes discussed below, Omnicom has consistently applied the accounting policies to all periods presented in these unaudited consolidated financial statements.

Adoption of ASC 842

On January 1, 2019, we adopted FASB Accounting Standards Codification, or ASC, Topic 842, Leases, or ASC 842, which requires the recognition of the right-of-use, or ROU, assets and related operating and finance lease liabilities on the balance sheet. As permitted by ASC 842, we elected the adoption date of January 1, 2019, which is the date of initial application. As a result, the consolidated balance sheet prior to January 1, 2019 was not restated, continues to be reported under ASC Topic 840, Leases, or ASC 840, which did not require the recognition of operating lease liabilities on the balance sheet, and is not comparative. Effective January 1, 2019, all leases are required to be recorded on the balance sheet and are classified as either operating leases or finance leases.

A lease is classified as a finance lease if any one of the following criteria are met: the lease transfers ownership of the asset by the end of the lease term, the lease contains an option to purchase the asset that is reasonably certain to be exercised, the lease term is for a major part of the remaining useful life of the asset or the present value of the lease payments equals or exceeds substantially all of the fair value of the asset. A lease is classified as an operating lease if it does not meet any one of the criteria. Substantially all our operating leases represent leases for office space, and substantially all our finance leases represent leases for office furniture and technology (IT) equipment.

The lease classification affects the expense recognition in the income statement. Operating lease charges are recorded entirely in operating expenses. Finance lease charges are split, where amortization of the ROU asset is recorded in operating expenses and an implied interest component is recorded in interest expense. The expense recognition for operating leases and finance leases under ASC 842 is substantially consistent with ASC 840. As a result, there is no significant difference in our results of operations presented in our consolidated income statement and consolidated statement of comprehensive income for each period presented.

We adopted ASC 842 using a modified retrospective approach for all leases existing at January 1, 2019. The adoption had a substantial impact on our balance sheet. The most significant impact was the recognition of the operating lease ROU assets and the operating lease liability. The accounting for finance leases (capital leases) was substantially unchanged. Accordingly, upon adoption, leases that were classified as operating leases under ASC 840 were classified as operating leases under ASC 842, and we recorded an adjustment of $1,490.1 million to operating lease ROU assets and the related lease liability. The lease liability is based on the present value of the remaining lease payments, determined under ASC 840, discounted using our secured incremental borrowing rate at the effective date of January 1, 2019, using the original lease term as the tenor. As permitted under ASC 842, we elected several practical expedients that permit us to not reassess (1) whether a contract is or contains a lease, (2) the classification of existing leases, and (3) whether previously capitalized costs continue to qualify as initial indirect costs. The application of the practical expedients did not have a significant impact on the measurement of the operating lease liability.

The impact of the adoption of ASC 842 on the balance sheet at December 31, 2018 was (in millions):



	As Reported December 31, 2018		Adoption of ASC 842 Increase (Decrease)			Balance January 1, 2019
Other current assets	$	1,241.4	$	(29.2	)	$	1,212.2
Operating lease ROU assets	—		1,306.5			1,306.5
Total assets	24,617.0		1,277.3			25,894.3
Other current liabilities	1,958.6		172.5			2,131.1
Long-term liability - Operating leases	—		1,258.5			1,258.5
Long-term liabilities	1,197.8		(153.7		)	1,044.1
Total liabilities and equity	24,617.0		1,277.3			25,894.3

Under ASC 842, at the inception of a contract we assess whether the contract is, or contains, a lease. The assessment is based on: whether the contract involves the use of a distinct identified asset, whether we obtain the right to substantially all the economic benefit from the use of the asset throughout the period, and whether we have the right to direct the use of the asset. At inception of a lease, we allocate the consideration to each lease component based on its relative stand-alone price to determine the lease payments. Leases entered into prior to January 1, 2019, were accounted for under ASC 840 and were not reassessed.

For all leases a ROU asset and lease liability are recognized at the lease commencement date. The ROU asset represents the right to use the leased asset for the lease term. The lease liability represents the present value of the lease payments under the lease. The ROU asset is initially measured at cost, which includes the initial lease liability, plus any initial direct costs incurred, consisting mainly of brokerage commissions, less any lease incentives received. All ROU assets are reviewed for impairment. The lease liability is initially measured at the present value of the lease payments, discounted using the interest rate implicit in the lease or, if that rate cannot be readily determined, our secured incremental borrowing rate for the same term as the underlying lease. For real estate and certain equipment operating leases, we use our secured incremental borrowing rate. For finance leases, we use the rate implicit in the lease or our secured incremental borrowing rate if the implicit lease rate cannot be determined.

Lease payments included in the measurement of the lease liability comprise: the fixed noncancelable lease payments, payments for optional renewal periods where it is reasonably certain the renewal period will be exercised, and payments for early termination options unless it is reasonably certain the lease will not be terminated early. Lease components, including fixed payments for real estate taxes and insurance for office space leases, are included in the measurement of the initial lease liability.

Office space leases may contain variable lease payments, which include payments based on an index or rate. Variable lease payments based on an index or rate are initially measured using the index or rate in effect at lease commencement. Additional payments based on the change in an index or rate, or payments based on a change in our portion of the operating expenses, including real estate taxes and insurance, are recorded as a period expense when incurred. Lease modifications result in remeasurement of the lease liability.

Operating lease expense is recognized on a straight-line basis over the lease term. Lease expense may include variable lease payments incurred in the period that were not included in the initial lease liability. Finance lease expense consists of the amortization of the ROU asset on a straight-line basis over the lease term and interest expense determined on an amortized cost basis. Finance lease payments are allocated between a reduction of the lease liability and interest expense.

We have elected not to recognize ROU assets and lease liabilities for short-term leases that have a term of 12 months or less. The effect of short-term leases on our ROU asset and lease liability is not material.

Adoption of ASU 2018-02

On January 1, 2019, we adopted ASU 2018-02, Income Statement - Reporting Comprehensive Income: Reclassification of Certain Tax effects from Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income, or ASU 2018-02, which requires the reclassification from accumulated other comprehensive income to retained earnings for the stranded tax effects arising from the change in the reduction of the U.S. federal statutory income tax rate to 21% from 35%. The tax effects of items included in accumulated comprehensive income at December 31, 2017 did not reflect the appropriate tax rate. The adoption of ASU 2018-02 resulted in reclassification between accumulated other comprehensive income and retained earnings of $22.3 million, and had no impact on our results of operations or financial position.