In November 2014, FASB issued ASU 2014-17, “Pushdown Accounting”. The amendments in this Update provide an acquired entity with an option to apply pushdown accounting in its separate financial statements upon occurrence of an event in which an acquirer obtains control of the acquired entity.

 

An acquired entity may elect the option to apply pushdown accounting in the reporting period in which the change-in-control event occurs. An acquired entity should determine whether to elect to apply pushdown accounting for each individual change-in-control event in which an acquirer obtains control of the acquired entity. If pushdown accounting is not applied in the reporting period in which the change-in-control event occurs, an acquired entity will have the option to elect to apply pushdown accounting in a subsequent reporting period to the acquired entity’s most recent change-in-control event. An election to apply pushdown accounting in a reporting period after the reporting period in which the change-in-control event occurred should be considered a change in accounting principle in accordance with Topic 250, Accounting Changes and Error Corrections. If pushdown accounting is applied to an individual change-in-control event, that election is irrevocable.

 

If an acquired entity elects the option to apply pushdown accounting in its separate financial statements, it should disclose information in the current reporting period that enables users of financial statements to evaluate the effect of pushdown accounting.

 

The amendments in this Update are effective on November 18, 2014. After the effective date, an acquired entity can make an election to apply the guidance to future change-in-control events or to its most recent change-in-control event. However, if the financial statements for the period in which the most recent change-in-control event occurred already have been issued or made available to be issued, the application of this guidance would be a change in accounting principle. Adoption of the ASU is not expected to have a significant effect on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

 

In January 2015, FASB issued ASU, 2015-1, “Simplifying Income Statement Presentation by Eliminating the Concept of Extraordinary Items”. The Board issued this Update as part of its initiative to reduce complexity in accounting standards (the Simplification Initiative). The objective of the Simplification Initiative is to identify, evaluate, and improve areas of generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) for which cost and complexity can be reduced while maintaining or improving the usefulness of the information provided to the users of financial statements.

 

This Update eliminates from GAAP the concept of extraordinary items. Subtopic 225-20, Income Statement—Extraordinary and Unusual Items, required that an entity separately classify, present, and disclose extraordinary events and transactions. Presently, an event or transaction is presumed to be an ordinary and usual activity of the reporting entity unless evidence clearly supports its classification as an extraordinary item. Paragraph 225-20-45-2 contains the following criteria that must both be met for extraordinary classification:

 

1.

Unusual nature. The underlying event or transaction should possess a high degree of abnormality and be of a type clearly unrelated to, or only incidentally related to, the ordinary and typical activities of the entity, taking into account the environment in which the entity operates.

 

2.

Infrequency of occurrence. The underlying event or transaction should be of a type that would not reasonably be expected to recur in the foreseeable future, taking into account the environment in which the entity operates.

 

If an event or transaction meets the criteria for extraordinary classification, an entity is required to segregate the extraordinary item from the results of ordinary operations and show the item separately in the income statement, net of tax, after income from continuing operations. The entity also is required to disclose applicable income taxes and either present or disclose earnings-per-share data applicable to the extraordinary item.

 

The amendments in this Update are effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2015. A reporting entity may apply the amendments prospectively. A reporting entity also may apply the amendments retrospectively to all prior periods presented in the financial statements. Early adoption is permitted provided that the guidance is applied from the beginning of the fiscal year of adoption. The effective date is the same for both public business entities and all other entities.

 

For an entity that prospectively applies the guidance, the only required transition disclosure will be to disclose, if applicable, both the nature and the amount of an item included in income from continuing operations after adoption that adjusts an extraordinary item previously classified and presented before the date of adoption. An entity retrospectively applying the guidance should provide the disclosures in paragraphs 250-10-50-1 through 50-2. Adoption of the ASU is not expected to have a significant effect on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.