Accounting Pronouncements

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2014

Accounting Pronouncements

Accounting Pronouncements

2. Accounting Pronouncements

Recently Adopted Accounting Standards

In July 2013, accounting guidance was issued to eliminate diversity in practice for the financial statement presentation of an unrecognized tax benefit when a net operating loss carryforward, a similar tax loss or a tax credit carryforward exists. In general, an unrecognized tax benefit, or a portion of an unrecognized tax benefit, should be presented in the financial statements as a reduction to a deferred tax asset for a net operating loss carryforward, a similar tax loss, or a tax credit carryforward, unless certain exceptions exist. The guidance was effective for Ball on January 1, 2014, and did not have a material effect on the company’s unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements.

In March 2013, accounting guidance was issued to clarify that a company should release the cumulative translation adjustment into net earnings if the parent ceases to have a controlling financial interest in a subsidiary or group of assets within a foreign entity. The guidance also affects entities that lose a controlling financial interest in an investment in a foreign entity and those that acquire a business in stages by increasing an investment in a foreign entity from one accounted for under the equity method to one accounted for as a consolidated investment. The guidance was effective for Ball prospectively on January 1, 2014, and did not have a material effect on the company’s unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements.

New Accounting Guidance

In April 2014, accounting guidance was issued to change the criteria for reporting discontinued operations. Under the new guidance, only disposals of components of an entity that represent strategic shifts that have, or will have, a major effect on an entity’s operations should be reported as discontinued operations in the financial statements. The new guidance also requires expanded disclosures for discontinued operations, as well as disclosures about the financial effects of significant disposals that do not qualify for discontinued operations. The guidance will be effective for Ball on January 1, 2015, and is not expected to have a material effect on the company’s consolidated financial statements.