Recent Accounting Changes and Pronouncements

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2011

Recent Accounting Changes and Pronouncements

Recent Accounting Changes and Pronouncements

19. Recent Accounting Changes and Pronouncements

In September 2011, the FASB issued ASU 2011-09 which requires enhanced disclosures around an employer’s participation in multiemployer pension plans.  The standard is intended to provide more information about an employer’s financial obligations to a multiemployer pension plan to help financial statement users better understand the financial health of the significant plans in which the employer participates.  This guidance is effective for the Company for its fiscal 2011 year-end reporting.   Its adoption is not expected to significantly impact the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

In September 2011, the FASB issued ASU 2011-08 which provides an entity the option to first assess qualitative factors to determine whether it is necessary to perform the current two-step test for goodwill impairment.  If an entity believes, as a result of its qualitative assessment, that it is more-likely-than-not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying amount, the quantitative impairment test is required.  Otherwise, no further testing is required. The revised standard is effective for annual and interim goodwill impairment tests performed for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2011.  However, an entity can choose to early adopt even if its annual test date is before the issuance of the final standard, provided that the entity has not yet performed its 2011 annual impairment test or issued its financial statements.  The adoption of this ASU is not expected to significantly impact the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

In June 2011, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued an update to Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) No. 220, “Presentation of Comprehensive Income,” which eliminates the option to present other comprehensive income and its components in the statement of shareholders’ equity. The Company can elect to present the items of net income and other comprehensive income in a single continuous statement of comprehensive income or in two separate, but consecutive, statements. Under either method the statement would need to be presented with equal prominence as the other primary financial statements. The amended guidance, which must be applied retroactively, is effective for fiscal years, and interm periods within those years, beginning after December 15, 2011, with earlier adoption permitted.

In December 2010, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2010-28, “When to Perform Step 2 of the Goodwill Impairment Test for Reporting Units with Zero or Negative Carrying Amounts.” This ASU updates ASC Topic 350, “Intangibles—Goodwill and Other,” to amend the criteria for performing Step 2 of the goodwill impairment test for reporting units with zero or negative carrying amounts and requires performing Step 2 if qualitative factors indicate that it is more likely than not that a goodwill impairment exists. The ASU is effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those years, beginning after December 15, 2010. We do not currently have any reporting units with zero or negative carrying values.

In January 2010, the FASB issued ASU No. 2010-06, “Improving Disclosures about Fair Value Measurements.” This update amends ASC Topic 820, “Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures,” to require new disclosures for significant transfers in and out of Level 1 and Level 2 fair value measurements, disaggregation regarding classes of assets and liabilities, valuation techniques and inputs used to measure fair value for both recurring and nonrecurring fair value measurements for Level 2 or Level 3. These disclosures are effective for the interim and annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2009. Additional new disclosures regarding the purchases, sales, issuances and settlements in the roll forward of activity in Level 3 fair value measurements are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2010 beginning with the first interim period. We adopted certain of the relevant disclosure provisions of ASU 2010-06 on January 1, 2010 and adopted certain other provisions on January 1, 2011.  The adoption of this guidance did not have a significant impact on the disclosures of fair values.

In October 2009, the FASB issued ASU 2009-13, “Multiple-Deliverable Revenue Arrangements,” codified in ASC Topic 605.  This update provides application guidance on whether multiple deliverables exist, how the deliverables should be separated and how the consideration should be allocated to one or more units of accounting. This guidance establishes a selling price hierarchy for determining the selling price of a deliverable. The selling price used for each deliverable will be based on vendor-specific objective evidence, if available, third-party evidence if vendor-specific objective evidence is not available, or estimated selling price if neither vendor-specific nor third-party evidence is available. The company was required to apply this guidance prospectively for revenue arrangements entered into or materially modified beginning January 1, 2011.  The adoption of this guidance did not have a significant impact on the company’s financial results.