Note 2 - Basis of Presentation, Significant Accounting Policies, and Recently Issued Accounting Standards

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of SM Energy and its wholly-owned subsidiaries and have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”) for interim financial information and the instructions to Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and Regulation S-X. These financial statements do not include all information and notes required by GAAP for annual financial statements. However, except as disclosed herein, there has been no material change in the information disclosed in the notes to consolidated financial statements included in SM Energy’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016 (the “2016 Form 10-K”). In the opinion of management, all adjustments, consisting of normal recurring adjustments considered necessary for a fair presentation of interim financial information, have been included. Operating results for the periods presented are not necessarily indicative of expected results for the full year. In connection with the preparation of the Company’s unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements, the Company evaluated events subsequent to the balance sheet date of March 31, 2017, and through the filing of this report. Certain prior period amounts have been reclassified to conform to the current presentation on the accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements.

Significant Accounting Policies

The significant accounting policies followed by the Company are set forth in Note 1 to the Company’s consolidated financial statements in its 2016 Form 10-K, and are supplemented by the notes to the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements in this report. These unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes included in the 2016 Form 10-K.

Recently Issued Accounting Standards

Effective January 1, 2017, the Company adopted, using various transition methods, Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2016-09, Compensation-Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting (“ASU 2016-09”). ASU 2016-09 is meant to simplify certain aspects of accounting for share-based payment arrangements, including income tax effects, accounting for forfeitures, and net share settlements. The Company adopted the various applicable amendments as summarized below:

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ASU 2016-09 requires all future excess tax benefits and deficiencies related to share-based payment arrangements to be recognized as income tax benefit or expense as discrete events in the period in which they occur. The Company adopted this amendment under a modified retrospective transition method, which resulted in a $44.3 million cumulative-effect adjustment to retained earnings as of January 1, 2017, with a corresponding deferred tax asset recorded for previously unrecognized excess tax benefits. Consequentially, the Company’s diluted share count calculation changed prospectively beginning in the period ended March 31, 2017. Any future excess tax benefits and deficiencies are now being excluded from the assumed proceeds calculated under the treasury stock method for share-based payment arrangements. Lastly, this amendment requires companies to present excess tax benefits as an operating activity on the statement of cash flows rather than as a financing activity, which the Company applied prospectively beginning in the period ended March 31, 2017. There are no periods presented that would require reclassification of cash flows had the Company elected to apply this amendment retrospectively.

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ASU 2016-09 allows entities to elect whether to account for forfeitures of share-based payment awards by recognizing forfeitures of awards as they occur or by estimating the number of awards expected to be forfeited. This amendment is to be applied using a modified retrospective transition method. Upon adopting ASU 2016-09, the Company elected to change its policy to account for forfeitures of share-based payment awards as they occur effective January 1, 2017. This change in accounting policy resulted in a net $0.7 million cumulative-effect adjustment to retained earnings as of January 1, 2017, to adjust for actual forfeitures versus the previously estimated forfeiture rate. The corresponding impacts were an increase in additional paid-in capital and a decrease in deferred tax assets.

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ASU 2016-09 allows entities to withhold an amount up to the employees’ maximum individual tax rate in the relevant jurisdiction, without triggering liability classification of the award; however, the Company does not plan on changing its current withholding process as outlined in its share-based award agreements. Related to this amendment, ASU 2016-09 requires entities to present cash payments made to tax authorities on the employees’ behalf for withheld tax shares as a financing activity on the statement of cash flows retrospectively. However, this presentation is already consistent with the Company’s historical and current cash flow presentation of net share settlement from issuance of stock awards, and therefore, there was no impact from this amendment.

In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU No. 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606) for the recognition of revenue from contracts with customers. Several additional related ASUs have been issued. The Company has established a cross-functional implementation team that is currently evaluating the provisions of each of these standards, analyzing their impact on the Company’s contract portfolio, reviewing current accounting policies and practices to identify potential differences that would result from applying the requirements of these standards to the Company’s revenue contracts, and assessing their potential impact on the Company’s financial statements and disclosures. The Company currently plans to apply the modified retrospective method upon adoption and plans to adopt the guidance on the effective date of January 1, 2018.

In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842), which changes the accounting for leases. The Company is currently establishing a cross-functional implementation team to analyze the impact of the standard on the Company’s contract portfolio by reviewing current accounting policies and practices to identify potential differences that would result from applying the requirements of the new standard. In addition, the Company is working to identify appropriate changes to the Company’s business processes, systems, and controls to support recognition and disclosure under the new standard. The Company currently plans to adopt the guidance on the effective date of January 1, 2019.

In March 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-07, Compensation - Retirement Benefits (Topic 715): Improving the Presentation of Net Periodic Pension Cost and Net Periodic Postretirement Benefit Cost (“ASU 2017-07”). This ASU is intended to improve the presentation of net periodic pension cost and net periodic postretirement benefit cost by providing additional guidance on the presentation of net benefit cost on the income statement and on the components eligible for capitalization in assets. As outlined in ASU 2017-07, certain amendments are to be applied using a retrospective method while others are required to be applied using a prospective method. The guidance is effective for annual periods, and interim periods within those annual periods, beginning after December 15, 2017. Early adoption is permitted as outlined in ASU 2017-07. The Company is currently evaluating the provisions of this guidance and assessing the potential impact on the Company’s financial statements and disclosures and does not intend to early adopt this guidance.

Other than as disclosed above or in the 2016 Form 10-K, there are no other accounting standards applicable to the Company that would have a material effect on the Company’s financial statements and related disclosures that have been issued but not yet adopted by the Company as of March 31, 2017, and through the filing of this report.