Accounting Developments

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2015

Accounting Changes and Error Corrections [Abstract]

Accounting Developments

NOTE F — ACCOUNTING DEVELOPMENTS

• Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”)

The FASB has issued ASU No. 2015-05, “Intangibles - Goodwill and Other - Internal-Use Software (Subtopic 350-40): Customer’s Accounting for Fees Paid in a Cloud Computing Arrangement.” Existing GAAP does not include explicit guidance about a customer’s accounting for fees paid in a cloud computing arrangement. Examples of cloud computing arrangements include: (a) software as a service; (b) platform as a service; (c) infrastructure as a service; and (d) other similar hosting arrangements. The amendments add guidance to Subtopic 350-40, Intangibles - Goodwill and Other - Internal-Use Software, which will help entities evaluate the accounting for fees paid by a customer in a cloud computing arrangement. The guidance already exists in the FASB Accounting Standards Codification™ in paragraphs 985-605-55-121 through 55-123, but it is included in a Subtopic applied by cloud service providers to determine whether an arrangement includes the sale or license of software. The amendments provide guidance to customers about whether a cloud computing arrangement includes a software license. If a cloud computing arrangement includes a software license, then the customer should account for the software license element of the arrangement consistent with the acquisition of other software licenses. If a cloud computing arrangement does not include a software license, the customer should account for the arrangement as a service contract. The amendments do not change the accounting for a customer’s accounting for service contracts. As a result of the amendments, all software licenses within the scope of Subtopic 350-40 will be accounted for consistent with other licenses of intangible assets. For public business entities, the amendments will be effective for annual periods, including interim periods within those annual periods, beginning after December 15, 2015. Early adoption is permitted for all entities. An entity can elect to adopt the amendments either: (1) prospectively to all arrangements entered into or materially modified after the effective date; or (2) retrospectively. For prospective transition, the only disclosure requirements at transition are the nature of and reason for the change in accounting principle, the transition method, and a qualitative description of the financial statement line items affected by the change. For retrospective transition, the disclosure requirements at transition include the requirements for prospective transition and quantitative information about the effects of the accounting change. The Company will adopt the methodologies prescribed by this ASU by the date required, and is still evaluating the impact the ASU will have on its financial position or results of operation.

The FASB has issued an ASU No. 2015-02, “Consolidation (Topic 810): Amendments to the Consolidation Analysis,” which is intended to improve targeted areas of consolidation guidance for legal entities such as limited partnerships, limited liability corporations, and securitization structures (collateralized debt obligations, collateralized loan obligations, and mortgage-backed security transactions). The ASU focuses on the consolidation evaluation for reporting organizations (public and private companies and not-for-profit organizations) that are required to evaluate whether they should consolidate certain legal entities. In addition to reducing the number of consolidation models from four to two, the new standard simplifies the FASB Accounting Standards Codification™ (Codification) and improves current GAAP by:

• Placing more emphasis on risk of loss when determining a controlling financial interest. A reporting organization may no longer have to consolidate a legal entity in certain circumstances based solely on its fee arrangement, when certain criteria are met.

• Reducing the frequency of the application of related-party guidance when determining a controlling financial interest in a variable interest entity (VIE).

• Changing consolidation conclusions for public and private companies in several industries that typically make use of limited partnerships or VIEs.

The ASU will be effective for periods beginning after December 15, 2015, for public companies. Early adoption is permitted, including adoption in an interim period. The Company will adopt the methodologies prescribed by this ASU by the date required, and is still evaluating the impact the ASU will have on its financial position or results of operation.

In May 2014, the FASB, in joint cooperation with IASB, issued ASU 2014-09, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers.” The topic of Revenue Recognition had become broad, with several other regulatory agencies issuing standards which lacked cohesion. The new guidance establishes a “common framework” and “reduces the number of requirements to which an entity must consider in recognizing revenue” and yet provides improved disclosures to assist stakeholders reviewing financial statements. The amendments in this Update are effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2016. Early adoption is not permitted. The Company will adopt the methodologies prescribed by this ASU by the date required, and is still evaluating the impact the ASU will have on its financial position or results of operations.