SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Consolidation

The financial statements include the accounts of our majority-owned or controlled subsidiaries and affiliates. Intercompany transactions have been eliminated. Investments in unconsolidated affiliates, over which we exercise significant influence, but not control, are accounted for by the equity method. Accordingly, our share of net income or loss of unconsolidated affiliates is included in net income.

Foreign Currency Translation

For majority-owned or controlled subsidiaries and affiliates, if located outside of the U.S., with functional currencies other than the U.S. dollar, asset and liability accounts are translated at the rates of exchange at the balance sheet date and the resultant translation adjustments are included in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss), a separate component of shareholders’ equity. Income and expense items are translated at average monthly rates of exchange. Gains and losses from foreign currency transactions of these majority-owned or controlled subsidiaries and affiliates — that is, transactions denominated in other than their functional currency — are included in net earnings.

Our unconsolidated affiliates located outside the U.S. generally use their local currencies as their functional currencies. The asset and liability accounts of those unconsolidated affiliates are translated at the rates of exchange at the balance sheet date, with the resultant translation adjustments included in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) of those affiliates. Income and expense items of those affiliates are translated at average monthly rates of exchange. We record our ownership share of the net assets and accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) of our unconsolidated affiliates in our consolidated balance sheet on the lines entitled “Investments and other assets” and “Accumulated other comprehensive loss,” respectively. We record our ownership share of the net income of our unconsolidated affiliates in our consolidated income statement on the line entitled “Income from unconsolidated operations.”

Use of Estimates

Preparation of financial statements that follow accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S. requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the financial statements and notes. Actual amounts could differ from these estimates.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

All highly liquid investments purchased with an original maturity of three months or less are classified as cash equivalents.

Inventories

Inventories are stated at the lower of cost or market. Cost is determined using standard or average costs which approximate the first-in, first-out costing method.

Property, Plant and Equipment

Property, plant and equipment is stated at historical cost and depreciated over its estimated useful life using the straight-line method for financial reporting and both accelerated and straight-line methods for tax reporting. The estimated useful lives range from 20 to 50 years for buildings and 3 to 12 years for machinery, equipment and computer software. Repairs and maintenance costs are expensed as incurred.

We also capitalize costs of software developed or obtained for internal use. Capitalized software development costs include only (1) direct costs paid to others for materials and services to develop or buy the software, (2) payroll and payroll-related costs for employees who work directly on the software development project and (3) interest costs while developing the software. Capitalization of these costs stops when the project is substantially complete and ready for use. Software is amortized using the straight-line method over a range of 3 to 8 years, but not exceeding the expected life of the product. We capitalized $12.8 million, $21.8 million and $9.4 million of software development costs during 2017, 2016 and 2015, respectively.

Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets

We review the carrying value of goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets and conduct tests of impairment on an annual basis as described below. We also test goodwill for impairment if events or circumstances indicate it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is below its carrying amount and test indefinite-lived intangible assets for impairment if events or changes in circumstances indicate that the asset might be impaired. Separable intangible assets that have finite useful lives are amortized over those lives.

Determining the fair value of a reporting unit or an indefinite-lived purchased intangible asset is judgmental in nature and involves the use of significant estimates and assumptions. These estimates and assumptions include revenue growth rates and operating margins used to calculate projected future cash flows, risk-adjusted discount rates, assumed royalty rates, future economic and market conditions and determination of appropriate market comparables. We base our fair value estimates on assumptions we believe to be reasonable but that are unpredictable and inherently uncertain. Actual future results may differ from these estimates.

Goodwill Impairment

Our reporting units used to assess potential goodwill impairment are the same as our business segments. We calculate fair value of a reporting unit by using a discounted cash flow model and then compare that to the carrying amount of the reporting unit, including intangible assets and goodwill. If the carrying amount of the reporting unit exceeds the calculated fair value, then we would determine the implied fair value of the reporting unit’s goodwill. An impairment charge would be recognized to the extent the carrying amount of goodwill exceeds the implied fair value.

Indefinite-lived Intangible Asset Impairment

Our indefinite-lived intangible assets consist of brand names and trademarks. We calculate fair value by using a relief-from-royalty method or discounted cash flow model and then compare that to the carrying amount of the indefinite-lived intangible asset. If the carrying amount of the indefinite-lived intangible asset exceeds its fair value, an impairment charge would be recorded to the extent the recorded indefinite-lived intangible asset exceeds the fair value.

Long-lived Asset Impairment

Fixed assets and amortizable intangible assets are reviewed for impairment as events or changes in circumstances occur indicating that the carrying value of the asset may not be recoverable. Undiscounted cash flow analyses are used to determine if an impairment exists. If an impairment is determined to exist, the loss is calculated based on estimated fair value.

Revenue Recognition

We recognize revenue when we have an agreement with the customer — upon either shipment or delivery, depending upon contractual terms — and when the sales price is fixed or determinable and collectability is reasonably assured. We reduce revenue for estimated product returns, allowances and price discounts based on historical experience and contractual terms.

Trade allowances, consisting primarily of customer pricing allowances and rebates, merchandising funds and consumer coupons, are offered through various programs to customers and consumers. Revenue is recorded net of trade allowances.

Trade accounts receivable are amounts billed and currently due from customers. We have an allowance for doubtful accounts to reduce our receivables to their net realizable value. We estimate the allowance for doubtful accounts based on the aging of our receivables and our history of collections.

Shipping and Handling

Shipping and handling costs on our products sold to customers are included in selling, general and administrative expense in the income statement. Shipping and handling expense was $115.4 million, $97.2 million and $95.8 million for 2017, 2016 and 2015, respectively.

Research and Development

Research and development costs are expensed as incurred and are included in selling, general and administrative expense in the income statement. Research and development expense was $66.1 million, $61.0 million and $60.8 million for 2017, 2016 and 2015, respectively.

Brand Marketing Support

Total brand marketing support costs, which are included in selling, general and administrative expense in the income statement, were $276.3 million, $252.2 million and $240.6 million for 2017, 2016 and 2015, respectively. Brand marketing support costs include advertising, promotions and customer trade funds used for cooperative advertising. Promotion costs include public relations, shopper marketing, social marketing activities, general consumer promotion activities and depreciation on assets used in these promotional activities. Advertising costs include the development, production and communication of advertisements through television, digital, print and radio. Development and production costs are expensed in the period in which the advertisement is first run. All other costs of advertisement are expensed as incurred. Advertising expense was $117.8 million, $102.9 million and $106.8 million for 2017, 2016 and 2015, respectively.

Employee Benefit and Retirement Plans

We sponsor defined benefit pension plans in the U.S. and certain foreign locations. In addition, we sponsor defined contribution plans in the U.S. We contribute to defined contribution plans in locations outside the U.S., including government-sponsored retirement plans. We also currently provide postretirement medical and life insurance benefits to certain U.S. employees and retirees.

We recognize the overfunded or underfunded status of our defined benefit pension plans as an asset or a liability in the balance sheet, with changes in the funded status recorded through other comprehensive income in the year in which those changes occur.

The expected return on plan assets is determined using the expected rate of return and a calculated value of plan assets referred to as the market-related value of plan assets. Differences between assumed and actual returns are amortized to the market-related value of assets on a straight-line basis over five years.

We use the corridor approach in the valuation of defined benefit pension and postretirement benefit plans. The corridor approach defers all actuarial gains and losses resulting from variances between actual results and actuarial assumptions. Those unrecognized gains and losses are amortized when the net gains and losses exceed 10% of the greater of the market-related value of plan assets or the projected benefit obligation at the beginning of the year. The amount in excess of the corridor is amortized over the average remaining service period to retirement date of active plan participants.

Accounting Pronouncements Adopted in 2017

In March 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued ASU No. 2016-09 Compensation—Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting, which changes the accounting for certain aspects of share-based payments to employees. The new guidance requires, among its other provisions, that excess tax benefits (which represent the excess of actual tax benefits received at the date of vesting or settlement over the benefits recognized over the vesting period or upon issuance of share-based payments) and tax deficiencies (which represent the amount by which actual tax benefits received at the date of vesting or settlement is lower than the benefits recognized over the vesting period or upon issuance of share-based payments) be recorded in the income statement as an increase or decrease in income taxes when the awards vest or are settled. This is in comparison to the prior requirement that these excess tax benefits be recognized in additional paid-in capital and these tax deficiencies be recognized either as an offset to accumulated excess tax benefits, if any, or in the income statement. The new guidance also requires excess tax benefits to be classified, together with other income tax cash flows, as an operating activity in the cash flow statement rather than, as previously required, a financing activity. The new guidance is effective for the first quarter of our fiscal year ending November 30, 2018, with early adoption permitted.

We have elected to early adopt ASU No. 2016-09 effective December 1, 2016 on a prospective basis, where permitted by the new standard. As a result of this adoption:


•	We recognized discrete tax benefits of $10.7 million in the income taxes line item of our consolidated income statement for the year ended November 30, 2017 related to excess tax benefits upon vesting or settlement in that period.


•	We elected to adopt the cash flow presentation of the excess tax benefits prospectively, commencing with our cash flow statements for periods beginning after November 30, 2016, where these benefits are classified, together with other income tax cash flows, as an operating activity.


•	We have elected to continue to estimate the number of stock-based awards expected to vest, rather than electing to account for forfeitures as they occur to determine the amount of compensation cost to be recognized in each period.

•

At this time, we have not changed our policy on statutory withholding requirements and will continue to allow an employee to withhold at the minimum statutory withholding rate. Amounts paid by us to taxing authorities when directly withholding shares associated with employees’ income tax withholding obligations are classified as a financing activity in our cash flow statement for 2017. ASU No. 2016-09 requires that this cash flow presentation be made retrospectively and our cash flow statements for 2016 and 2015 have been restated accordingly.


•	We excluded the excess tax benefits from the assumed proceeds available to repurchase shares in the computation of our diluted earnings per share for 2017.

Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements — Pending Adoption

In August 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-12 Derivatives and Hedging (Topic 815)—Targeted Improvements to Accounting for Hedging Activities. This guidance eliminates the requirement to separately measure and report hedge ineffectiveness and generally requires, for qualifying hedges, the entire change in the fair value of a hedging instrument to be presented in the same income statement line as the hedged item. The guidance also modifies the accounting for components excluded from the assessment of hedge effectiveness, eases documentation and assessment requirements and modifies certain disclosure requirements. The new standard will be effective for the first quarter of our fiscal year ending November 30, 2020. Early adoption is permitted in any interim period or fiscal year before the effective date for all entities. If the guidance is early adopted in an interim period, any adjustments would be reflected as of the beginning of the fiscal year that includes that interim period. We have not yet determined the impact from adoption of this new accounting pronouncement on our financial statements.

In March 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-07 Compensation-Retirement Benefits (Topic 715)—Improving the Presentation of Net Periodic Pension Cost and Net Periodic Postretirement Benefit Cost. This guidance revises how employers that sponsor defined benefit pension and other postretirement plans present the net periodic benefit cost in their income statement. Under the new standard, the service cost component of net periodic benefit cost will continue to be presented in the same income statement line items as other employee compensation costs from services rendered during the period. The other components of the net periodic benefit cost must be presented separately from the line items that include the service cost and outside of any subtotal of operating income in the income statement. Of the components of net periodic benefit cost, only the service cost component will be eligible for asset capitalization. The new standard will be effective for the first quarter of our fiscal year ending November 30, 2019. The changes in presentation will be applied retrospectively when adopted, while the change related to amounts capitalized in assets will be applied prospectively. We have not yet determined the impact from adoption of this new accounting pronouncement on our financial statements.

In January 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-04 Intangibles—Goodwill and Other Topics (Topic 350)—Simplifying the Test for Goodwill Impairment. This guidance eliminates the requirement to calculate the implied fair value of goodwill of a reporting unit to measure a goodwill impairment charge. Instead, a company will record an impairment charge based on the excess of a reporting unit's carrying amount over its fair value. The new standard will be effective for the first quarter of our fiscal year ending November 30, 2021. Early adoption is permitted for all entities for annual and interim goodwill impairment testing dates after January 1, 2017. We have not yet determined the impact from adoption of this new accounting pronouncement on our financial statements.

In January 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-01 Business Combinations (Topic 805)—Clarifying the Definition of a Business. This guidance changes the definition of a business to assist entities in evaluating when a set of transferred assets and activities constitutes a business. The guidance requires an entity to evaluate if substantially all of the fair value of the gross assets acquired is concentrated in a single identifiable asset or a group of similar identifiable assets; if so, the set of transferred assets and activities is not a business. The guidance also requires a business to include at least one substantive process and narrows the definition of outputs by more closely aligning it with how outputs are described in Accounting Standards Codification (ASC 606) Revenue from Contracts with Customers. The new standard will be effective for the first quarter of our fiscal year ending November 30, 2019. Early adoption is permitted for all entities. We have not yet determined the impact from adoption of this new accounting pronouncement on our financial statements.

In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-02 Leases (Topic 842). This guidance revises existing practice related to accounting for leases under Accounting Standards Codification Topic 840 Leases (ASC 840) for both lessees and lessors. Our leases principally relate to: (i) certain real estate, including that related to a number of administrative, distribution and manufacturing locations; (ii) certain machinery and equipment, including a corporate airplane and automobiles; and (iii) certain software. In addition, in 2016, we entered into a 15-year lease for a headquarters building, which is expected to commence upon completion of building construction and fit-out, currently scheduled for the second half of 2018. The new guidance in ASU No. 2016-02 requires lessees to recognize a right-of-use asset and a lease liability for virtually all of their leases (other than leases that meet the definition of a short-term lease). The lease liability will be equal to the present value of lease payments and the right-of-use asset will be based on the lease liability, subject to adjustment such as for initial direct costs. For income statement purposes, the new standard retains a dual model similar to ASC 840, requiring leases to be classified as either operating or finance. For lessees, operating leases will result in straight-line expense (similar to current accounting by lessees for operating leases under ASC 840) while finance leases will result in a front-loaded expense pattern (similar to current accounting by lessees for capital leases under ASC 840). The new standard will be effective for the first quarter of our fiscal year ending November 30, 2020. Early adoption is permitted for all entities. We have not yet determined the impact from adoption of this new accounting pronouncement on our financial statements.

In July 2015, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2015-11 Simplifying the Measurement of Inventory (Topic 330). This guidance is intended to simplify the subsequent measurement of inventories by replacing the current lower of cost or market test with a lower of cost and net realizable value test. It will be effective for the first quarter of our fiscal year ending November 30, 2018. We do not expect the adoption of this new accounting pronouncement to have a material impact on our financial statements.

In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU No. 2014-09 Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606). This guidance is intended to improve—and converge with international standards—the financial reporting requirements for revenue from contracts with customers. The new standard will be effective for the first quarter of our fiscal year ending November 30, 2019. Early adoption is permitted for all entities, but not before the original effective date for public business entities (that is, annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2016 or our fiscal year ending November 30, 2018). We do not expect to early adopt this new accounting pronouncement. In preparation for our adoption of the new standard in our fiscal year ending November 30, 2019, we have obtained representative samples of contracts and other forms of agreements with our customers in the U.S. and international locations and are evaluating the provisions contained therein in light of the five-step model specified by the new guidance. That five-step model includes: (1) determination of whether a contract—an agreement between two or more parties that creates legally enforceable rights and obligations—exists; (2) identification of the performance obligations in the contract; (3) determination of the transaction price; (4) allocation of the transaction price to the performance obligations in the contract; and (5) recognition of revenue when (or as) the performance obligation is satisfied. We are also evaluating the impact of the new standard on certain common practices currently employed by us and by other manufacturers of consumer products, such as slotting fees, co-operative advertising, rebates and other pricing allowances, merchandising funds and consumer coupons. We have not yet determined the impact of the new standard on our financial statements or whether we will adopt on a prospective or retrospective basis in the first quarter of our fiscal year ending November 30, 2019.