Fair Value

9 Months Ended

Sep. 25, 2020

Assets and liabilities measured at fair value on a recurring basis and fair value measurement level were as follows (in thousands):


	Level	September 25, 2020		December 27, 2019
Assets
Cash surrender value of life insurance	2	$	17,273	$	17,702
Forward exchange contracts	2	388		—
Total assets at fair value		$	17,661	$	17,702
Liabilities
Contingent consideration	3	$	9,128	$	9,072
Deferred compensation	2	4,855		4,719
Forward exchange contracts	2	—		87
Total liabilities at fair value		$	13,983	$	13,878

Contracts insuring the lives of certain employees who are eligible to participate in certain non-qualified pension and deferred compensation plans are held in trust. Cash surrender value of the contracts is based on performance measurement funds that shadow the deferral investment allocations made by participants in certain deferred compensation plans. Changes in cash surrender value are recorded in other non-operating expense. The deferred compensation liability balances are valued based on amounts allocated by participants to the underlying performance measurement funds.

Contingent consideration liability represents the estimated value (using a probability-weighted expected return approach) of future payments to be made to previous owners of certain acquired businesses based on future revenues.

Long-term notes payable with fixed interest rates had a carrying amount of $150 million and estimated fair value of $165 million as of both September 25, 2020 and December 27, 2019. The fair value of variable rate borrowings approximates carrying value. The Company uses significant other observable inputs to estimate fair value (level 2 of the fair value hierarchy) based on the present value of future cash flows and rates that would be available for issuance of debt with similar terms and remaining maturities.

- Definition

The entire disclosure for the fair value of financial instruments (as defined), including financial assets and financial liabilities (collectively, as defined), and the measurements of those instruments as well as disclosures related to the fair value of non-financial assets and liabilities. Such disclosures about the financial instruments, assets, and liabilities would include: (1) the fair value of the required items together with their carrying amounts (as appropriate); (2) for items for which it is not practicable to estimate fair value, disclosure would include: (a) information pertinent to estimating fair value (including, carrying amount, effective interest rate, and maturity, and (b) the reasons why it is not practicable to estimate fair value; (3) significant concentrations of credit risk including: (a) information about the activity, region, or economic characteristics identifying a concentration, (b) the maximum amount of loss the entity is exposed to based on the gross fair value of the related item, (c) policy for requiring collateral or other security and information as to accessing such collateral or security, and (d) the nature and brief description of such collateral or security; (4) quantitative information about market risks and how such risks are managed; (5) for items measured on both a recurring and nonrecurring basis information regarding the inputs used to develop the fair value measurement; and (6) for items presented in the financial statement for which fair value measurement is elected: (a) information necessary to understand the reasons for the election, (b) discussion of the effect of fair value changes on earnings, (c) a description of [similar groups] items for which the election is made and the relation thereof to the balance sheet, the aggregate carrying value of items included in the balance sheet that are not eligible for the election; (7) all other required (as defined) and desired information.

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