Financial Statement Presentation and Accounting Standards Updates

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2011

Financial Statement Presentation And Accounting Standards Updates [Abstract]

Financial Statement Presentation and Accounting Standards Updates

1.Financial Statement Presentation and Accounting Standards Updates. The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America for interim financial information, the instructions to Form 10-Q and Regulation S-X. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America for complete financial statements. The information reflects all normal and recurring adjustments which, in the opinion of management, are necessary for a fair presentation of the financial position of On Assignment, Inc. and its subsidiaries (the Company) and its results of operations for the interim dates and periods set forth herein. The results for the nine months ended September 30, 2011 are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the full year or any other period. The Company has evaluated subsequent events after the balance sheet date through the issuance date for appropriate accounting and disclosure. This Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q should be read in conjunction with the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010.

   The current-term portion of accrued earn-outs of $0.8 million, as of December 31, 2010 has been presented separately from other accrued expenses, to conform to the current presentation. This change in presentation had no effect on the Consolidated Statement of Operations and Comprehensive Income and Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows, as previously reported.

Accounting Standards Updates.  

In September 2011, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued Accounting Standards Update (ASU) No. 2011-08, Testing Goodwill for Impairment (Topic 350) - Intangibles-Goodwill and Other (ASU 2011-08), to allow entities to use a qualitative approach to test goodwill for impairment. ASU 2011-08 permits an entity to first perform a qualitative assessment to determine whether it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying value. If so, it is necessary to perform the currently prescribed two-step goodwill impairment test. Otherwise, the two-step goodwill impairment test is not required. ASU 2011-08 is effective for the Company in the first quarter of fiscal 2013 and earlier adoption is permitted. The adoption of ASU 2011-08 will not have a material impact on the consolidated financial statements.

In June 2011, the FASB issued ASU No. 2011-05, Presentation of Comprehensive Income (Topic 220) - Comprehensive Income (ASU 2011-05), to require an entity to present the total of comprehensive income, the components of net income, and the components of other comprehensive income either in a single continuous statement of comprehensive income or in two separate but consecutive statements. ASU 2011-05 eliminates the option to present the components of other comprehensive income as part of the statement of equity. ASU 2011-05 is effective for the Company in the first quarter of fiscal 2013 and should be applied retrospectively. As the Company is already in compliance with this guidance, the adoption of ASU 2011-05 will not have an impact on the consolidated financial statements.

In May 2011, the FASB issued ASU No. 2011-04, Amendments to Achieve Common Fair Value Measurement and Disclosure Requirements in U.S. GAAP and International Financial Reporting Standards (Topic 820) - Fair Value Measurement (ASU 2011-04), to provide a consistent definition of fair value and ensure that the fair value measurement and disclosure requirements are similar between U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and International Financial Reporting Standards. ASU 2011-04 changes certain fair value measurement principles and enhances the disclosure requirements particularly for Level 3 fair value measurements. ASU 2011-04 is effective for the Company in the first quarter of fiscal 2012 and should be applied prospectively. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of adopting ASU 2011-04 on the consolidated financial statements.

In December 2010, the FASB issued ASU No. 2010-29, Disclosure of Supplementary Pro Forma Information for Business Combinations (Topic 805)-Business Combinations (ASU 2010-29), to improve consistency in how the pro forma disclosures are calculated. Additionally, ASU 2010-29 enhances the disclosure requirements and requires description of the nature and amount of any material, nonrecurring pro forma adjustments directly attributable to a business combination. ASU 2010-29 is to be applied prospectively to business combinations for which the acquisition date is after the beginning of the first annual reporting period beginning on or after December 15, 2010. Early adoption is permitted. The Company adopted the disclosure requirements in the first quarter of 2011. See Note 2 for required disclosures.

In January 2010, the FASB issued ASU No. 2010-06, Improving Disclosures about Fair Value Measurements (Topic 820) - Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures (ASU 2010-06), which requires new disclosures for fair value measurements and provides clarification for existing disclosure requirements. More specifically, this update will require (a) an entity to disclose separately the amounts of significant transfers in and out of Levels 1 and 2 fair value measurements and to describe the reasons for the transfers; and (b) information about purchases, sales, issuances and settlements to be presented separately (i.e. present the activity on a gross basis rather than net) in the reconciliation for fair value measurements using significant unobservable inputs (Level 3 inputs). This guidance clarifies existing disclosure requirements for the level of disaggregation used for classes of assets and liabilities measured at fair value and requires disclosures about the valuation techniques and inputs used to measure fair value for both recurring and nonrecurring fair value measurements using Level 2 and Level 3 inputs. The new disclosures and clarifications of existing disclosure were effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2009, except for the disclosure requirements related to the purchases, sales, issuances and settlements in the rollforward activity of Level 3 fair value measurements, which were effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2010. The Company adopted the measurement requirements of this guidance with no impact to the consolidated financial statements. See Note 5 for the disclosures required by this standard.