New Accounting Standards

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2019

New Accounting Pronouncements and Changes in Accounting Principles [Abstract]

New Accounting Pronouncements and Changes in Accounting Principles [Text Block]

New Accounting Standards

Effective January 1, 2019, the Company adopted the new guidance of ASC Topic 842, Leases (Topic 842), which superseded ASC Topic 840, Leases. Topic 842 requires lessees to recognize assets and liabilities for all leases. The Company adopted Topic 842 using the optional transition method that allows entities to forgo the comparative reporting requirements under the modified retrospective transition method. In addition, the Company elected to apply the package of practical expedients that allows entities to forego reassessing at the transition date: (1) whether any expired or existing contracts are or contain leases; (2) lease classification for any expired or existing leases; and (3) whether unamortized initial direct costs for existing leases meet the definition of initial direct costs under the new guidance. The Company also elected to use the practical expedient that allows the combination of lease and non-lease contract components in all of its underlying asset categories, as well as the optional transition practical expedient that permits entities to continue applying current accounting policy for land easements that existed as of or expired before January 1, 2019. The adoption of Topic 842 resulted in the recording of right-of-use assets and lease liabilities of $793 million and $795 million, respectively, at January 1, 2019. The new guidance did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated statement of earnings and had no impact on the consolidated statement of cash flows. For more information about the adoption of Topic 842, see Note 12.

Effective January 1, 2019, the Company adopted the amended guidance of ASC Topic 220, Income Statement - Reporting Comprehensive Income (Topic 220), which allows the reclassification from accumulated other comprehensive income (AOCI) to retained earnings for stranded tax effects resulting from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “Act”), eliminating the stranded tax effects resulting from the Act and improving the usefulness of information reported to financial statement users. In addition, the Company is required to disclose: (1) a description of its accounting policy for releasing income tax effects from accumulated other comprehensive income; (2) whether it elects to reclassify the stranded income tax effects from the Act; and (3) information about other income tax effects related to the application of the Act that are reclassified from AOCI to retained earnings, if any. The Company has made a policy election to not release income tax effects from accumulated comprehensive income, including the stranded income tax effects resulting from the Act.