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Nature of Operations and Basis of Presentation (Policies)
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2018
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]  
Basis of Presentation
The accompanying unaudited financial statements of the Company have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”) for interim financial information and with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and notes required by U.S. GAAP for complete financial statements. Therefore, the financial statements included herein should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and notes included in our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017 (our “Form 10-K”). Certain prior-year amounts have been reclassified to conform with current presentation.

In the opinion of management, all normal recurring adjustments considered necessary for a fair statement of the results of the interim periods have been included. The operating results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the full year.
Use of Estimates
On an ongoing basis, we evaluate our estimates and assumptions, including those related to revenue recognition, allowance for doubtful accounts, valuation of long-lived assets, goodwill and other intangible assets, pension plans, incentive compensation and stock-based compensation, income taxes, contingencies and redeemable noncontrolling interests.
Adoption of ASC 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers
Adoption of ASC 606, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers”

On January 1, 2018, we adopted ASC 606 "Revenue from Contracts with Customers" using the modified retrospective transition method applied to our revenue contracts with customers as of January 1, 2018. Results for reporting periods beginning after January 1, 2018 are presented under ASC 606, while prior year amounts are not adjusted and continue to be reported in accordance with our historic accounting under ASC 605. We recorded a net increase to opening retained earnings of $35 million as of January 1, 2018 due to the cumulative effect of adopting ASC 606, with the impact primarily related to our treatment of costs to obtain a contract and to a lesser extent, changes to the timing of the recognition of our subscription and non-transaction revenues. We recognized incremental revenue of $5 million for nine months ended September 30, 2018 as a result of the adoption of this standard.

Under ASC 606, revenue is recognized when a customer obtains control of promised goods or services in an amount that reflects the consideration the entity expects to receive in exchange for those goods or services.

The following table presents our revenue disaggregated by revenue type:
(in millions)
Ratings
 
Market Intelligence
 
Platts
 
Indices
 
Corporate
 
Intersegment Elimination 1
 
Total
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Three Months Ended September 30, 2018
Subscription
$
—

 
$
451

 
$
188

 
$
41

 
$
5

 
$
—

 
$
685

Non-transaction
372

 
—

 
—

 
—

 
—

 
(32
)
 
340

Non-subscription / Transaction
328

 
8

 
2

 
—

 
—

 
—

 
338

Asset-linked fees
—

 
5

 
—

 
131

 
—

 
—

 
136

Sales usage-based royalties
—

 
—

 
14

 
33

 
—

 
—

 
47

Total revenue
$
700

 
$
464

 
$
204

 
$
205

 
$
5

 
$
(32
)
 
$
1,546

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Timing of revenue recognition


 


 


 


 
 
 


 


Services transferred at a point in time
$
328

 
$
8

 
$
2

 
$
—

 
$
—

 
$
—

 
$
338

Services transferred over time
372

 
456

 
202

 
205

 
5

 
(32
)
 
1,208

Total revenue
$
700

 
$
464

 
$
204

 
$
205

 
$
5

 
$
(32
)
 
$
1,546

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Nine Months Ended September 30, 2018
Subscription
$
—

 
$
1,306

 
$
556

 
$
109

 
$
10

 
$
—

 
$
1,981

Non-transaction
1,129

 
—

 
—

 
—

 
—

 
(92
)
 
1,037

Non-subscription / Transaction
1,094

 
28

 
8

 
—

 
—

 
—

 
1,130

Asset-linked fees
—

 
15

 
—

 
396

 
—

 
—

 
411

Sales usage-based royalties
—

 
—

 
40

 
122

 
—

 
—

 
162

Total revenue
$
2,223

 
$
1,349

 
$
604

 
$
627

 
$
10

 
$
(92
)
 
$
4,721

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Timing of revenue recognition
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Services transferred at a point in time
$
1,094

 
$
28

 
$
8

 
$
—

 
$
—

 
$
—

 
$
1,130

Services transferred over time
1,129

 
1,321

 
596

 
627

 
10

 
(92
)
 
3,591

Total revenue
$
2,223

 
$
1,349

 
$
604

 
$
627

 
$
10

 
$
(92
)
 
$
4,721

(in millions)
Ratings
 
Market Intelligence
 
Platts
 
Indices
 
Corporate
 
Intersegment Elimination 1
 
Total
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Three Months Ended September 30, 2017 2
Subscription
$
—

 
$
406

 
$
177

 
$
36

 
$
—

 
$
—

 
$
619

Non-transaction
367

 
—

 
—

 
—

 
—

 
(28
)
 
339

Non-subscription / Transaction
372

 
10

 
2

 
—

 
—

 
—

 
384

Asset-linked fees
—

 
6

 
—

 
118

 
—

 
—

 
124

Sales usage-based royalties
—

 
—

 
14

 
33

 
—

 
—

 
47

Total revenue
$
739

 
$
422

 
$
193

 
$
187

 
$
—

 
$
(28
)
 
$
1,513

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Timing of revenue recognition
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Services transferred at a point in time
$
372

 
$
10

 
$
2

 
$
—

 
$
—

 
$
—

 
$
384

Services transferred over time
367

 
412

 
191

 
187

 
—

 
(28
)
 
1,129

Total revenue
$
739

 
$
422

 
$
193

 
$
187

 
$
—

 
$
(28
)
 
$
1,513

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Nine Months Ended September 30, 2017 2
Subscription
$
—

 
$
1,189

 
$
523

 
$
104

 
$
—

 
$
—

 
$
1,816

Non-transaction
1,061

 
—

 
—

 
—

 
—

 
(81
)
 
980

Non-subscription / Transaction
1,138

 
32

 
9

 
—

 
—

 
—

 
1,179

Asset-linked fees
—

 
17

 
—

 
340

 
—

 
—

 
357

Sales usage-based royalties
—

 
—

 
45

 
98

 
—

 
—

 
143

Total revenue
$
2,199

 
$
1,238

 
$
577

 
$
542

 
$
—

 
$
(81
)
 
$
4,475

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Timing of revenue recognition
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Services transferred at a point in time
$
1,138

 
$
32

 
$
9

 
$
—

 
$
—

 
$
—

 
$
1,179

Services transferred over time
1,061

 
1,206

 
568

 
542

 
—

 
(81
)
 
3,296

Total revenue
$
2,199

 
$
1,238

 
$
577

 
$
542

 
$
—

 
$
(81
)
 
$
4,475

1 
Intersegment eliminations mainly consists of a royalty charged to Market Intelligence for the rights to use and distribute content and data developed by Ratings.
2 
As noted above, amounts for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017 were not adjusted under the modified retrospective transition method applied to our revenue contracts with customers as of January 1, 2018.

Subscription revenue

Subscription revenue at Market Intelligence is primarily derived from distribution of data, analytics, third party research, and credit ratings-related information primarily through web-based channels including Market Intelligence Desktop, RatingsDirect®, RatingsXpress®, and Credit Analytics. Subscription revenue at Platts is generated by providing customers access to commodity and energy-related price assessments, market data, and real-time news, along with other information services. Subscription revenue at Indices is derived from the contracts for underlying data of our indexes to support our customers' management of index funds, portfolio analytics, and research.

For subscription products and services, we generally provide continuous access to dynamic data sets and analytics for a defined period, with revenue recognized ratably as our performance obligation to provide access to our data and analytics is progressively fulfilled over the stated term of the contract.

Non-transaction revenue

Non-transaction revenue at Ratings is primarily related to surveillance of a credit rating, annual fees for customer relationship-based pricing programs, fees for entity credit ratings and global research and analytics. Non-transaction revenue also includes an intersegment revenue elimination of $32 million and $92 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018, respectively, and $28 million and $81 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017, respectively, mainly consisting of the royalty charged to Market Intelligence for the rights to use and distribute content and data developed by Ratings.

For non-transaction revenue related to Rating’s surveillance services, we continuously monitor factors that impact the creditworthiness of an issuer over the contractual term with revenue recognized to the extent that our performance obligation is progressively fulfilled over the term contract. Because surveillance services are continuously provided throughout the term of the contract, our measure of progress towards fulfillment of our obligation to monitor a rating is a time-based output measure with revenue recognized ratably over the term of the contract.

Non-subscription / Transaction revenue

Transaction revenue at our Ratings segment primarily includes fees associated with:

•
ratings related to new issuance of corporate and government debt instruments; and structured finance instruments;
•
bank loan ratings; and
•
corporate credit estimates, which are intended, based on an abbreviated analysis, to provide an indication of our opinion regarding creditworthiness of a company which does not currently have a Ratings credit rating.

Transaction revenue is recognized at the point in time when our performance obligation is satisfied by issuing a rating on our customer's instruments, our customer's creditworthiness, or a counter-party's creditworthiness and when we have a right to payment and the customer can benefit from the significant risks and rewards of ownership.

Non-subscription revenue at Market Intelligence is primarily related to certain advisory, pricing and analytical services. Non-subscription revenue at Platts is primarily related to conference sponsorship, consulting engagements and events.

Asset-linked fees

Asset-linked fees at Indices and Market Intelligence are primarily related to royalties payments based on the value of assets under management in our customers exchange-traded funds and mutual funds.

For asset-linked products and services, we provide licenses conveying continuous access to our index and benchmark-related intellectual property during a specified contract term. Revenue is recognized when the extent that our customers have used our licensed intellectual property can be quantified. Recognition of revenue for our asset-linked fee arrangements is subject to the "recognition constraint" for usage-based royalty payments because we cannot reasonably predict the value of the assets that will be invested in index funds structured using our intellectual property until it is either publicly available or when we are notified by our customers. Revenue derived from an asset-linked fee arrangement is measured and recognized when the certainty of the extent of its utilization of our index products by our customers is known.

Sales usage-based royalties

Sales usage-based royalty revenue at our Indices segment is primarily related to trading based fees from exchange-traded derivatives. Sales and usage-based royalty revenue at our Platts segment is primarily related to licensing of its proprietary market price data and price assessments to commodity exchanges.

For sales usage-based royalty products and services, we provide licenses conveying the right to continuous access to our intellectual property over the contract term, with revenue recognized when the extent of our license’s utilization can be quantified, or more specifically, when trading volumes are known and publicly available to us or when we are notified by our customers. Recognition of revenue of fees tied to trading volumes is subject to the recognition constraint for a usage-based royalty promised by our customers in exchange for the license of our intellectual property, with revenue recognized when trading volumes are known.

Arrangements with Multiple Performance Obligations

Our contracts with customers may include multiple performance obligations. Revenue relating to agreements that provide for more than one performance obligation is recognized based upon the relative fair value to the customer of each service component as each component is earned. The fair value of the service components are determined using an analysis that considers cash consideration that would be received for instances when the service components are sold separately. If the fair value to the customer for each service is not objectively determinable, we make our best estimate of the services’ stand-alone selling price and record revenue as it is earned over the service period.

Receivables

We record a receivable when a customer is billed or when revenue is recognized prior to billing a customer. For multi-year agreements, we generally invoice customers annually at the beginning of each annual period. The opening balance of accounts receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts, was $1,319 million as of January 1, 2018.

Contract Assets

Contract assets include unbilled amounts from when the Company transfers service to a customer before a customer pays consideration or before payment is due. As of September 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017, contract assets were $43 million and $17 million, respectively, and are included in accounts receivable in our consolidated balance sheets.

Unearned Revenue

We record unearned revenue when cash payments are received or due in advance of our performance. The decrease in the deferred revenue balance for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018 is primarily driven by $1.4 billion of revenues recognized that were included in the unearned revenue balance at the beginning of the period, offset by cash payments received or due in advance of satisfying our performance obligations.

Remaining Performance Obligations

Remaining performance obligations represent the transaction price of contracts for work that has not yet been performed. As of September 30, 2018, the aggregate amount of the transaction price allocated to remaining performance obligations was $1.2 billion. We expect to recognize revenue on approximately half and three-quarters of the remaining performance obligations over the next 12 and 24 months, respectively, with the remainder recognized thereafter.

We do not disclose the value of unfulfilled performance obligations for (i) contracts with an original expected length of one year or less and (ii) contracts where revenue is a usage-based royalty promised in exchange for a license of intellectual property.

Costs to Obtain a Contract

We recognize an asset for the incremental costs of obtaining a contract with a customer if we expect the benefit of those costs to be longer than one year. We have determined that certain sales commission programs meet the requirements to be capitalized. Total capitalized costs to obtain a contract were $82 million as of September 30, 2018, and is included in prepaid and other current assets and other non-current assets on our consolidated balance sheets. The asset will be amortized over a period consistent with the transfer to the customer of the goods or services to which the asset relates, calculated based on the customer term and the average life of the products and services underlying the contracts. The expense is recorded within selling and general expenses.

We expense sales commissions when incurred if the amortization period would have been one year or less. These costs are recorded within selling and general expenses.
Recently Issued or Adopted Accounting Standards
In August of 2018, FASB issued guidance to align the requirements for capitalizing implementation costs incurred in a hosting arrangement that is a service contract with the requirements for capitalizing implementation costs incurred to develop or obtain internal-use software. The guidance is effective for reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2019; however early adoption is permitted. We are currently evaluating the impact of this guidance on our consolidated financial statements.

In February of 2018, FASB issued guidance which allows companies to reclassify certain stranded income tax effects resulting from the enactment of the TCJA from accumulated other comprehensive income to retained earnings. The guidance is effective for reporting periods after December 15, 2018; however, early adoption is permitted. We are currently evaluating the impact of the adoption of this guidance on our consolidated financial statements.

In August of 2017, FASB issued guidance to enhance the hedge accounting model for both nonfinancial and financial risk components, which includes amendments to address certain aspects of recognition and presentation disclosure. The guidance is effective for reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2018. We do not expect this guidance to have a significant impact on our consolidated financial instruments.

In May of 2017, FASB issued guidance that provides clarification on when modification accounting should be used for changes to the terms or conditions of a share-based payment award. This guidance does not change the accounting for modifications but
clarifies when modification accounting guidance should be applied. Under the new guidance, an entity should apply modification accounting in response to a change in the terms and conditions of an entity's share-based payment awards unless three newly specified criteria are met. The guidance was effective on January 1, 2018, and the adoption of this guidance did not have a significant impact on our consolidated financial statements.

In March of 2017, FASB issued guidance to enhance the presentation of net periodic pension cost and net periodic postretirement benefit cost. The guidance requires employers to report the service cost component in the same line item or items as other compensation costs arising from services rendered by the pertinent employees during the period, and requires the other components of net periodic pension cost and net periodic postretirement benefit cost to be presented in the income statement separately from the service cost component outside a subtotal of income from operations. Additionally, only the service cost component is eligible for capitalization. We adopted the guidance on January 1, 2018. The change in capitalization requirement did not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements. As a result of the adoption of the guidance, net periodic benefit cost for our retirement and postretirement plans other than the service cost component are included in other income, net in our consolidated statements of income. See Note 6 — Employee Benefits for additional information related to our retirement and postretirement plans.

In January of 2017, the FASB issued guidance that simplifies the subsequent measurement of goodwill and eliminates Step 2 from the goodwill impairment test. Under the new guidance, an entity should perform its annual, or interim, goodwill impairment test by comparing the fair value of a reporting unit with its carrying amount. An entity should recognize an impairment charge for the amount by which the carrying amount exceeds the reporting unit's fair value; however, the loss recognized should not exceed the total amount of goodwill allocated to that reporting unit. Additionally, an entity should consider income tax effects from any tax deductible goodwill on the carrying amount of the reporting unit when measuring the goodwill impairment loss, if applicable. The guidance is effective for reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2019; however, early adoption is permitted. We do not expect this guidance to have a significant impact on our consolidated financial statements.

In January of 2017, the FASB issued guidance that clarifies the definition of a business with the objective of adding guidance to assist entities with evaluating whether transactions should be accounted for as acquisitions (or disposals) of assets or businesses. The guidance was effective on January 1, 2018, and the adoption of this guidance did not have a significant impact on our consolidated financial statements.

In November of 2016, the FASB issued guidance requiring that a statement of cash flows explain the change during the period in the total of cash, cash equivalents, and amounts generally described as restricted cash or restricted cash equivalents. We adopted this guidance on January 1, 2018. The adoption of this guidance did not have a significant impact on our consolidated financial statements.

In August of 2016, the FASB issued guidance providing amendments to eight specific statement of cash flows classification issues. The guidance was effective on January 1, 2018, and the adoption of this guidance did not have a significant impact on our consolidated financial statements.

In February of 2016, the FASB issued guidance that amends the accounting for leases. Under the new guidance, a lessee will now recognize a "right of use" asset with an offsetting lease liability, with expenses recognized similar to current lease accounting. The guidance is effective for reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2018 with early adoption permitted. In July of 2018, the FASB issued a subsequent update providing entities an additional transition method to adopt the new lease standard, allowing entities to adopt the standard prospectively without restating prior period’s financial statements. We expect to elect this transition method upon adoption on January 1, 2019. We have also elected to apply the “package” of practical expedients permitting entities to forgo reassessment of (1) the lease classification of expired or existing leases, (2) whether any expired or existing contracts contain leases, and (3) the accounting for initial direct costs of existing leases.

As part of our implementation plan, we are in the process of executing a number of workflows including a qualitative and quantitative accounting analysis of our significant lease agreements in the construct of the new standard, and have refined our processes, procedures, and controls to capture the complete population of our leases. In addition we selected and are in the process of implementing a third party software solution that will systematically capture, process, and record both the initial and ongoing financial statement impact of the new standard.  Our preliminary quantitative analysis of the financial statement impact indicates the adoption of the new standard will have a material impact on our consolidated balance sheet; however, we do not expect that the standard will have a material impact on our consolidated statements of income or cash flows.

In January of 2016, the FASB issued guidance to enhance the reporting model for financial instruments, which includes amendments to address certain aspects of recognition, measurement, presentation and disclosure. We adopted this guidance on January 1, 2018. We recorded a reduction to opening retained earnings and an increase to accumulated other comprehensive income of $10 million as of January 1, 2018 due to the adoption of this guidance. The adoption of this guidance did not have a significant impact on our consolidated financial statements.

In May of 2014, the FASB and the International Accounting Standards Board (“IASB”) issued jointly a converged standard on the recognition of revenue from contracts with customers, which is intended to improve the financial reporting of revenue and comparability of the top line in financial statements globally. The core principle of the new standard is for the recognition of revenue to depict the transfer of goods or services to customers in amounts that reflect the payment to which the company expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. The new standard also results in enhanced revenue disclosures, provides guidance for transactions that were not previously addressed comprehensively and improves guidance for multiple-element arrangements. We adopted the new revenue standard effective January 1, 2018 using the modified retrospective transition method. See Note 1— Nature of Operations and Basis of Presentation for further details.