Basis Of Presentation (Policy)

6 Months Ended

Oct. 03, 2014

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Basis of presentation

The accompanying unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements of Symantec Corporation (“Symantec,” “we,” “us,” “our,” and “the Company” refer to Symantec Corporation and all of its subsidiaries) as of October 3, 2014 and March 28, 2014, and for the three and six months ended October 3, 2014 and September 27, 2013 have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America (“U.S.”) for interim financial information and with the instructions on Form 10-Q pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). In accordance with those rules and regulations, we have omitted certain information and notes normally provided in our annual Consolidated Financial Statements. In the opinion of management, the unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements contain all adjustments, consisting only of normal recurring items, except as otherwise noted, necessary for the fair presentation of our financial position, results of operations, and cash flows for the interim periods. These unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements should be read in conjunction with the audited Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes thereto included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended March 28, 2014. The results of operations for the three and six months ended October 3, 2014 are not necessarily indicative of the results expected for the entire fiscal year.

We have a 52/53-week fiscal accounting year. Unless otherwise stated, references to three and six month ended periods in this report relate to fiscal periods ended October 3, 2014 and September 27, 2013. The six months ended October 3, 2014 consisted of 27 weeks, whereas the six months ended September 27, 2013 consisted of 26 weeks. Our 2015 fiscal year consists of 53 weeks and ends on April 3, 2015.

There have been no material changes in our significant accounting policies for the three and six months ended October 3, 2014, as compared to the significant accounting policies described in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended March 28, 2014. Certain immaterial amounts in our 2014 Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements within operating expenses have been reclassified to be comparable with classifications used in our 2015 Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.

Segment reporting change

In fiscal 2015, we are focused on managing our businesses as a portfolio and optimizing certain businesses for margin or growth. As a result, beginning from the second quarter of fiscal year 2015, we modified our segment reporting structure to match our new operating structure and how our Chief Operating Decision Maker ("CODM") reviews the business and allocates resources. The CODM function is comprised of our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer. Reclassifications of prior period segment information have been made to conform to the current period presentation. This change does not impact our previously reported Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements. See Note 8 for additional information on our segment reporting change.

Recently issued authoritative guidance

On April 10, 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2014-08, Presentation of Financial Statements and Property, Plant and Equipment, that provides new guidance related to reporting discontinued operations. This new standard raises the threshold for a disposal to qualify as a discontinued operation and requires new disclosures of both discontinued operations and certain other disposals that do not meet the definition of a discontinued operation. The new standard is effective for the Company April 4, 2015, and will impact the treatment of the tax-free separation of our information management business that is expected to occur by the end of December 2015. See Note 12 for information regarding the separation. Early adoption is permitted but only for disposals that have not been reported in financial statements previously issued. We are evaluating the impact of adopting this new accounting guidance on our Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements and related disclosures.

On May 28, 2014, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, that requires an entity to recognize the amount of revenue to which it expects to be entitled for the transfer of promised goods or services to customers, and will replace most existing revenue recognition guidance in U.S. GAAP. The new standard is effective for the Company April 1, 2017, and early adoption is not permitted. The standard permits the use of either the retrospective or cumulative effect transition method. We are evaluating the effect that the standard will have on our Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements and related disclosures. We have not yet selected a transition method nor have we determined the effect of the standard on our ongoing financial reporting.

There was no other recently issued authoritative guidance that has a material impact to our Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements through the reporting date.