Basis of Presentation (Policies)

3 Months Ended

Feb. 02, 2013

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Consolidation, Policy

The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Spartech Corporation and its consolidated subsidiaries (“Spartech” or the “Company”). These financial statements have been prepared on a condensed basis, and accordingly, certain information and note disclosures normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles have been condensed or omitted pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission. All intercompany transactions and balances have been eliminated in consolidation. In the opinion of management, these consolidated condensed financial statements contain all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring adjustments) and disclosures necessary to make the information presented herein not misleading. These financial statements should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and accompanying footnotes thereto included in the Company's November 3, 2012 Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Basis of Accounting

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect reported amounts and related disclosures. Actual results could differ from those estimates. Operating results for any quarter are historically seasonal in nature and are not necessarily indicative of the results expected for the full year. Dollars presented are in thousands except per share data, unless otherwise indicated.

Fiscal Period, Policy

The Company's fiscal year ends on the Saturday closest to October 31st and fiscal years generally contain 52 weeks. However, because of this accounting convention, every fifth or sixth fiscal year has an additional week, and 2012 was reported as a 53 week fiscal year. The Company's first quarter, which ended February 2, 2013, included 13 weeks compared to 14 weeks in the first quarter of the prior year. Years presented are fiscal unless noted otherwise.

Inventory, Policy

Inventories are valued at the lower of cost or market.

Fair Value Measurement, Policy

The Company performs an analysis of all existing financial assets and financial liabilities measured at fair value on a recurring basis to determine the significance and character of all inputs used to determine their fair value. The Company's financial instruments, including cash, accounts receivable, notes receivable, accounts payable and accrued liabilities, have net carrying values that approximate their fair values due to the short-term nature of these instruments.

We prioritize the inputs to valuation techniques used to measure fair value into the following three broad categories:

Level 1 inputs - Quoted prices for identical assets and liabilities in active markets.

Level 2 inputs - Quoted prices for similar assets and liabilities in active markets, quoted prices for identical or similar assets and liabilities in markets that are not active, observable inputs other than quoted prices and inputs that are derived principally from or corroborated by other observable market data.

Level 3 inputs - Unobservable inputs reflecting the entity's own assumptions about the assumptions market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability.

The estimated fair value of our long-term debt, which falls in Level 2 of the fair value hierarchy, is based on estimated borrowing rates to discount the cash flows to their present value as provided by a broker, or otherwise, quoted, current market prices for the same or similar issues.