Basis of Presentation (Policies)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2022

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Fiscal Period

The Company’s fiscal quarters end on the Sunday closest to the last day of each calendar quarter. For convenience, the fiscal quarters of each year are referred to as ending on March 31, June 30, September 30 and December 31. The first fiscal quarter of 2022 began on January 3, 2022 and ended on April 3, 2022; the second and third fiscal quarters of 2022 ended on July 3, 2022 and October 2, 2022, respectively. The first fiscal quarter of 2021 began on January 4, 2021 and ended on April 4, 2021; the second and third fiscal quarters of 2021 ended on July 4, 2021 and October 3, 2021, respectively.

Risks and Uncertainties

Risks and Uncertainties

The Company was subject to risks and uncertainties as a result of the continuing outbreak of a novel strain of coronavirus, designated “COVID-19,” and evolving variants thereof. The extent of the continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Company's business remains uncertain and difficult to predict, as measures taken in response to and the effect of the pandemic have varied and continue to vary by country, state and municipalities within states. The Company first began to experience impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, as federal, state, local and international governments reacted to the public health crisis by encouraging social distancing and requiring, in varying degrees, restaurant dine-in limitations and other restrictions that largely limited the restaurants of the Company's franchisees and its company-operated restaurants to take-out and delivery sales during the initial stages of the pandemic. Subsequently, government-imposed dine-in restrictions have been relaxed or removed in many of the locations in which the Company operates as incidents of infection decline and vaccination rates increase within the respective governmental jurisdictions. As of September 30, 2022, substantially all domestic Applebee's Neighborhood Grill & Bar® (“Applebee's”) and International House of Pancakes® (“IHOP”) were open and operating without government-mandated restrictions.

Accounting Standards Adopted and Newly Issued Accounting Standards Not Yet Adopted

Accounting Standards Adopted in the Current Fiscal Year

In July 2021, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued guidance which affect lessors with lease contracts that (i) have variable lease payments that do not depend on a reference index or a rate and (ii) would have resulted in the recognition of a selling loss at lease commencement if classified as sales-type or direct financing. The amendments are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2021. Adoption did not have any material effect on the consolidated financial statements.

Additional new accounting guidance became effective for the Company as of the beginning of fiscal 2022 that the Company reviewed and concluded was either not applicable to its operations or had no material effect on its consolidated financial statements in the current or future fiscal years.

Newly Issued Accounting Standards Not Yet Adopted

In March 2020, with an update in January 2021, the FASB issued guidance which provides optional expedients and exceptions for applying current U.S. GAAP to contracts, hedging relationships, and other transactions affected by the discontinuation of the London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) or by another reference rate expected to be discontinued. The guidance can be adopted immediately and is applicable to contracts entered into on or before December 31, 2022. The Company is currently evaluating its contracts that reference LIBOR and the potential effects of adopting this new guidance.

The Company reviewed all other newly issued accounting pronouncements and concluded that they either are not applicable to the Company's operations or that no material effect is expected on the Company's financial statements when adoption is required in the future.