NEW ACCOUNTING STANDARDS

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2014

Accounting Policies [Abstract]

NEW ACCOUNTING STANDARDS

NEW ACCOUNTING STANDARDS

In January 2015, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued authoritative guidance regarding the accounting treatment of extraordinary and unusual items in the statements of operations. This guidance eliminates the concept of extraordinary items. Although the amendments will eliminate the requirements in current guidance for reporting entities to consider whether an underlying event or transaction is extraordinary, the presentation and disclosure guidance for items that are unusual in nature or occur infrequently will be retained and will be expanded to include items that are both unusual in nature and infrequently occurring. This guidance is effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2015. A reporting entity may apply the amendments prospectively. The Company does not believe the effects of this guidance will have an impact on its consolidated financial statements and disclosures.

In November 2014, the FASB issued authoritative guidance related to pushdown accounting. The new guidance provides an acquired entity with an option to apply pushdown accounting in its separate financial statements upon occurrence of an event in which an acquirer obtains control of the acquired entity. The amendments are effective on November 18, 2014, which is the date that the Company adopted this guidance. The adoption of this guidance did not have a material impact on the consolidated financial statements.

In August 2014, the FASB issued authoritative guidance on management's evaluation and disclosure of uncertainties about the entity's ability to continue as a going concern. In connection with the preparation of the interim and annual financial statements, management will be required to perform an assessment of whether there are conditions or events, considered in the aggregate, that raise substantial doubt about the entity's ability to continue as a going concern within one year after the date that the financial statements are issued. If conditions or events are identified that raise substantial doubt that the entity will be unable to meet its obligations as they become due within one year after the date that the financial statements are issued, additional disclosures are required. This guidance is effective for the annual period ending after December 15, 2016, and for interim and annual periods thereafter. Early application is permitted. Management does not believe that the adoption of this accounting guidance will have a material impact on the financial statements or related disclosures.     

In June 2014, FASB issued authoritative guidance on accounting for share-based payments when the terms of the award provide that a performance target could be achieved after the requisite service period. This guidance requires that a performance target that affects vesting and that could be achieved after the requisite service period be treated as a performance condition, and as such, should not be reflected in estimating the grant-date fair value of the award. This guidance is effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2015, with early adoption permitted. Management does not believe that the adoption of this accounting guidance will have a material impact on the financial statements or related disclosures.     

In May 2014, FASB issued authoritative guidance on accounting for revenue recognition. The objective of this guidance is to establish a single comprehensive model for entities to use in accounting for revenue arising from contracts with customers and will supersede most of the existing revenue recognition guidance, including industry-specific guidance. The core principle is that an entity recognizes revenue to depict the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. In applying the new guidance, an entity will (1) identify the contract(s) with a customer; (2) identify the performance obligations in the contract; (3) determine the transaction price; (4) allocate the transaction price to the contract’s performance obligations; and (5) recognize revenue when (or as) the entity satisfies a performance obligation. This guidance applies to all contracts with customers except those that are within the scope of other topics in the FASB Accounting Standards Codification. The new guidance is effective for annual reporting periods (including interim periods within those periods) beginning after December 15, 2016 for public companies. Early adoption is not permitted. Entities have the option of using either a full retrospective or modified approach to adopt this guidance. The Company is currently evaluating the new guidance and has not determined the impact this standard may have on the financial statements, nor decided upon the method of adoption.

In April 2014, FASB issued authoritative guidance on the presentation and disclosure of discontinued operations. This guidance is effective for all disposals (or classifications as held for sale) of components of an entity that occur within annual periods beginning on or after December 15, 2014. Early adoption is permitted, but only for disposals (or classifications as held for sale) that have not been previously reported in financial statements. Management does not believe that the adoption of this accounting guidance will have a material impact on the financial statements.