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ACCOUNTING POLICIES
9 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2017
ACCOUNTING POLICIES

NOTE 1  ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Accounting Principles

We prepare our unaudited interim consolidated financial statements in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”). In the opinion of management, the unaudited interim consolidated financial statements reflect all adjustments of a normal recurring nature that are necessary for a fair presentation of the results for the interim periods presented. Interim results are not necessarily indicative of results for a full year. The information included in this Form 10-Q should be read in conjunction with information included in the Microsoft Corporation 2016 Form 10-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on July 28, 2016.

We have recast certain prior period amounts to conform to the current period presentation, with no impact on consolidated net income or cash flows.

Principles of Consolidation

The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Microsoft Corporation and its subsidiaries. Intercompany transactions and balances have been eliminated. Equity investments through which we are able to exercise significant influence over but do not control the investee and are not the primary beneficiary of the investee’s activities are accounted for using the equity method. Investments through which we are not able to exercise significant influence over the investee and which do not have readily determinable fair values are accounted for under the cost method.

Estimates and Assumptions

Preparing financial statements requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenue, and expenses. Examples of estimates include: loss contingencies; product warranties; the fair value of and/or potential impairment of goodwill and intangible assets for our reporting units; product life cycles; useful lives of our tangible and intangible assets; allowances for doubtful accounts; allowances for product returns; the market value of, and demand for, our inventory; and stock-based compensation forfeiture rates. Examples of assumptions include: the elements comprising a software arrangement, including the distinction between upgrades or enhancements and new products; when technological feasibility is achieved for our products; the potential outcome of future tax consequences of events that have been recognized on our consolidated financial statements or tax returns; and determining when investment impairments are other-than-temporary. Actual results and outcomes may differ from management’s estimates and assumptions.

Product Revenue and Service and Other Revenue

Product revenue includes sales from operating systems; cross-device productivity applications; server applications; business solution applications; desktop and server management tools; software development tools; video games; hardware such as PCs, tablets, gaming and entertainment consoles, phones, other intelligent devices, and related accessories; and training and certification of computer system integrators and developers.

Service and other revenue includes sales from cloud-based solutions that provide customers with software, services, platforms, and content such as Office 365, Microsoft Azure (“Azure”), Microsoft Dynamics 365 (“Dynamics 365”), and Xbox Live; solution support; and consulting services. Service and other revenue also includes sales from online advertising and LinkedIn.

Recent Accounting Guidance Not Yet Adopted

Accounting for Income Taxes – Intra-Entity Asset Transfers

In October 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued new guidance requiring an entity to recognize the income tax consequences of an intra-entity transfer of an asset other than inventory when the transfer occurs, rather than when the asset has been sold to an outside party. This guidance is effective for us beginning July 1, 2018, with early adoption permitted beginning July 1, 2017. We plan to adopt the guidance effective July 1, 2018. Adoption of the guidance will be applied using a modified retrospective approach through a cumulative-effect adjustment to retained earnings as of the effective date. A cumulative-effect adjustment will capture the write-off of income tax consequences deferred from past intra-entity transfers involving assets other than inventory and new deferred tax assets for amounts not recognized under current U.S. GAAP. We are currently evaluating the impact of the guidance on our consolidated financial statements, including accounting policies, processes, and systems.

Financial Instruments – Credit Losses

In June 2016, the FASB issued a new standard to replace the incurred loss impairment methodology under current U.S. GAAP with a methodology that reflects expected credit losses and requires consideration of a broader range of reasonable and supportable information to inform credit loss estimates. We will be required to use a forward-looking expected credit loss model for accounts receivables, loans, and other financial instruments. Credit losses relating to available-for-sale debt securities will also be recorded through an allowance for credit losses rather than as a reduction in the amortized cost basis of the securities. The standard will be effective for us beginning July 1, 2020, with early adoption permitted beginning July 1, 2019. Adoption of the standard will be applied using a modified retrospective approach through a cumulative-effect adjustment to retained earnings as of the effective date. We are currently evaluating the impact of this standard on our consolidated financial statements, including accounting policies, processes, and systems.

Leases

In February 2016, the FASB issued a new standard related to leases to increase transparency and comparability among organizations by requiring the recognition of right-of-use (“ROU”) assets and lease liabilities on the balance sheet. Most prominent among the changes in the standard is the recognition of ROU assets and lease liabilities by lessees for those leases classified as operating leases under current U.S. GAAP. Under the standard, disclosures are required to meet the objective of enabling users of financial statements to assess the amount, timing, and uncertainty of cash flows arising from leases. We will be required to recognize and measure leases existing at, or entered into after, the beginning of the earliest comparative period presented using a modified retrospective approach, with certain practical expedients available.

The standard will be effective for us beginning July 1, 2019, with early adoption permitted. We plan to adopt the standard effective July 1, 2017 concurrent with our adoption of the new standard related to revenue recognition. We intend to elect the available practical expedients on adoption. While our ability to early adopt depends on system readiness, including software procured from third-party providers, and completing our analysis of information necessary to restate prior period consolidated financial statements, we remain on schedule and have implemented key system functionality to enable the preparation of restated financial information.

We anticipate this standard will have a material impact on our consolidated balance sheets. However, we do not expect adoption will have a material impact on our consolidated income statements. While we are continuing to assess potential impacts of the standard, we currently expect the most significant impact will be the recognition of ROU assets and lease liabilities for operating leases. We expect our accounting for capital leases to remain substantially unchanged.

We are nearing completion of retrospectively adjusting financial information for fiscal year 2016 and are progressing as planned for fiscal year 2017. We expect adoption of the standard will result in the recognition of additional ROU assets and lease liabilities for operating leases of approximately $5 billion as of June 30, 2016. ROU assets and lease liabilities for operating leases are expected to increase in fiscal year 2017 primarily due to the acquisition of LinkedIn Corporation (“LinkedIn”) and additional datacenter leases.

Financial Instruments – Recognition, Measurement, Presentation, and Disclosure

In January 2016, the FASB issued a new standard related to certain aspects of recognition, measurement, presentation, and disclosure of financial instruments. Most prominent among the changes in the standard is the requirement for changes in the fair value of our equity investments, with certain exceptions, to be recognized through net income rather than other comprehensive income (“OCI”). The standard will be effective for us beginning July 1, 2018. Adoption of the standard will be applied using a modified retrospective approach through a cumulative-effect adjustment to retained earnings as of the effective date. We are currently evaluating the impact of this standard on our consolidated financial statements, including accounting policies, processes, and systems.

Revenue from Contracts with Customers

In May 2014, the FASB issued a new standard related to revenue recognition. Under the standard, 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. In addition, the standard requires disclosure of the nature, amount, timing, and uncertainty of revenue and cash flows arising from contracts with customers.

The guidance permits two methods of adoption: retrospectively to each prior reporting period presented (full retrospective method), or retrospectively with the cumulative effect of initially applying the guidance recognized at the date of initial application (modified retrospective method). We plan to adopt the standard using the full retrospective method to restate each prior reporting period presented.

The standard will be effective for us beginning July 1, 2018, with early adoption permitted as of the original effective date of July 1, 2017. We plan to adopt the standard effective July 1, 2017. While our ability to early adopt using the full retrospective method depends on system readiness, including software procured from third-party providers, and completing our analysis of information necessary to restate prior period consolidated financial statements, we remain on schedule and have implemented key system functionality to enable the preparation of restated financial information.

We have reached conclusions on key accounting assessments related to the standard. However, we are finalizing our assessment and quantifying the impacts related to accounting for costs incurred to obtain a contract based on guidance issued by the FASB Transition Resource Group as part of their November 2016 meeting. We will continue to monitor and assess the impact of any changes to the standard and interpretations as they become available.

The most significant impact of the standard relates to our accounting for software license revenue. Specifically, under the standard we expect to recognize Windows 10 revenue predominantly at the time of billing rather than ratably over the life of the related device. We expect to recognize license revenue at the time of contract execution rather than over the subscription period from certain multi-year commercial software subscriptions that include both software licenses and Software Assurance. Due to the complexity of certain of our commercial license subscription contracts, the actual revenue recognition treatment required under the standard will depend on contract-specific terms and in some instances may vary from recognition at the time of billing. We expect revenue recognition related to our hardware, cloud offerings including Office 365, LinkedIn, and professional services to remain substantially unchanged.

We are nearing completion of retrospectively adjusting financial information for fiscal year 2016 and are progressing as planned for fiscal year 2017. We estimate our revenue would have been approximately $6 billion higher in fiscal year 2016 under the standard primarily due to the net change in Windows 10 revenue recognition.