2.9 Financial Statement Presentation, Including Other Comprehensive Income
The SEC staff frequently comments on registrants’ classification of items in the financial statements — namely, on whether their balance sheets, income statements, statements of cash flows, and statements of comprehensive income comply with the requirements of Regulation S-X and U.S. GAAP.
2.9.1 Balance Sheet Classification
2.9.1.1 Separate Presentation
Examples of SEC Comments
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Please disclose your accounting policy for digital assets, notes receivable, other long-term assets, accrued expenses, [X] membership, cost of revenues, selling and marketing expenses, general and administrative expenses, and research and development expenses. Also include the nature of the items included in each of these line items. To the extent any accrued liability item exceeds five percent of total current liabilities, state the item separately in the statement of operations in accordance with Rule 5-02.20 of Regulation S-X.
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Please state separately, in your balance sheet or in a note thereto, any elements of prepaid expenses and other current assets in excess of five percent of your total current assets. Refer to Rule 5-02(8) of Regulation S-X. In addition, please separately state any elements of other current liabilities in excess of five percent of your total current liabilities. Refer to Rule 5-02(2) of Regulation S-X.
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Please present accounts payable separately from accrued expenses. Also, tell us and disclose with quantification as of each balance sheet date any component of accrued expenses exceeding the disclosure threshold. Refer to Rules 5-02.19 and .20 of Regulation S-X.
Regulation S-X, Rule 5-02, provides that in annual filings, commercial and
industrial registrants should include certain line items on the face of the
balance sheet to the extent material. It also requires registrants to state
separately on the face of the balance sheet or in a note to the financial
statements (1) other current assets and other current liabilities in excess
of 5 percent of total current assets and total current liabilities,
respectively, and (2) other noncurrent assets and other noncurrent
liabilities in excess of 5 percent of total assets and total liabilities,
respectively. Consequently, the SEC staff may ask a registrant to confirm
whether the reported balances of other current assets and other current
liabilities (or other noncurrent assets and other noncurrent liabilities)
include any items in excess of 5 percent of total current assets and total
current liabilities (or total assets and total liabilities). If the
registrant confirms that any such items are included, the SEC staff will ask
the registrant to state those items individually on the face of the balance
sheet or in the notes.
2.9.1.2 Restricted Cash
Examples of SEC Comments
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Please tell us and disclose in greater detail the nature and types of amounts included in customer accounts and other restricted cash, net. Quantify the different types of amounts. Also, tell us how you determined you have control over the amounts included in customer accounts and other restricted cash, net, including whether you (a) have the ability to direct how and when the funds would be used, (b) have physical possession of the funds and/or (c) hold the funds in a bank account in your name and you can transact in this account at any time. Refer to ASCs 230-10-50-7 and 230-10-45-4, Rule 5-02(1) of Regulation S-X and BC9 in ASU 2016-18.
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We note you determined that the settlement and merchant reserve assets consist of restricted cash. Please disclose the nature of the restrictions applicable to the settlement and merchant reserve assets. Refer to ASC 230-10-50-7 and Rule 5-02(1) of Regulation S-X.
Regulation S-X, Rule 5-02, includes a provision requiring commercial and
industrial registrants to (1) separately disclose cash and cash items that
are subject to restrictions on withdrawal or usage and (2) describe the
provisions of those restrictions in a note to the financial statements.
Consequently, the SEC staff has issued comments asking registrants to
explain how they considered presenting or disclosing restricted cash in
accordance with Rule 5-02.
2.9.2 Income Statement Classification
The SEC staff has frequently commented on registrants’ compliance with the technical requirements of
Regulation S-X, Rule 5-03, which lists the captions and details that commercial and industrial registrants
must present in their income statements.
At the 2021 AICPA Conference, Division Deputy Chief Accountant Sarah Lowe
indicated that the Division staff continues to focus on income statement
presentation and placement and that it considers consistency and relationships
between the income statement presentation and other related disclosures in a
registrant’s SEC filings (e.g., financial statement footnotes, business section,
MD&A). As companies evolve, some business models may not clearly fit into
the SEC’s financial statement presentation requirements in Regulation S-X,
Article 5, Article 7, or Article 9. Therefore, the staff has accepted income
statement presentations that represent a hybrid of Article 5 and either Article
7 or Article 9 if such presentation more appropriately fits the registrant’s
facts and circumstances. For example, the staff has not objected when a
registrant in the financial technology industry with material lending activity
presented its financial statements by using a hybrid of Articles 5 and 9.
Ms. Lowe also noted that some registrants may present on the
income statement disaggregated revenue beyond the five subcaptions included in
Article 5 and that the Division staff has not objected to such disaggregation as
long as the revenues presented are consistent with U.S. GAAP. Similarly,
registrants may present a level of disaggregation applied to the expense line
items; however, it may not always be clear whether such expenses are a part of
costs associated with revenue or represent other operating costs and expenses
(e.g., selling, general, and administrative expenses). If it is not clear, the
staff may inquire further about the nature and classification of the costs. For
example, a technology platform company may include an expense line item for
“technology costs,” which include expenses related to maintaining and enhancing
the company’s platform technology. If the company discusses its technology
platform elsewhere (e.g., MD&A, business section) as important to the growth
of the business, the staff may ask why technology costs are not classified as
costs of revenue. To the extent that a registrant’s technology cost line item
includes a mix of expenses, the registrant should provide quantitative
disclosure of (1) the technology cost amount related to the cost of revenue and
(2) the technology cost amount related to other line items.
2.9.2.1 Separate Presentation of Revenues From Products and Services
Examples of SEC Comments
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We note you derive revenue from services and product sales. Please separately present product sales and services and related cost of revenue on the face of your statements of operations pursuant to Rule 5-03(b)(1) and (2) of Regulation S-X and revise your discussions in MD&A accordingly or demonstrate to us why they are not required.
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We note from your disclosure . . . that in addition to manufacturing custom-engineered products and systems, you recognize revenue from contracts to provide field service inspection, installation, commissioning, modification, and repair services, as well as retrofit and retrofill components for existing systems. We also note from some of the discussion during the [fiscal-year-end] earnings call, that this service revenue was a significant contributor to your business during [the fiscal year]. Please tell us the amount of revenue related to services as compared to products for the [fiscal year]. If the amount is greater than 10% of the consolidated revenue amount, please revise future filings to separately present revenue and cost of goods sold for products and services. See requirement in Rule 5-03(b)(1) and (b)(2) of Regulation S-X.
The SEC staff continues to comment when registrants omit certain captions
required by Regulation S-X, Rule 5-03, from the face of their income
statements. The staff has asked registrants to explain their consideration
of Rule 5-03 and to revise their income statement presentation accordingly.
For example, the staff has commented on the distinction between product and
service revenue. If product or service revenue is greater than 10 percent of
total revenue, the registrant must disclose such component as a separate
line item on the face of the income statement. Costs and expenses related to
these revenues should be presented in the same manner.
2.9.2.2 Cost of Sales
Examples of SEC Comments
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We note that you appear to report an incomplete cost of revenues measure that excludes depreciation and amortization, although in the disclosures . . . you allocate substantially all depreciation and amortization to [Segment A and Segment B]. Given the nature of your business, we expect that you would need to allocate depreciation and amortization of equipment used in your revenue generating activities to cost of revenues under GAAP.If you wish to report cost of revenues components separately you should adhere to the parenthetical labeling accommodation in SAB Topic 11:B, although under this convention it should be clear which particular line items and amounts have been excluded. Any disclosures pertaining to an incomplete cost of revenues measure should include comparable discussion of the excluded amounts.
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You present cost of sales exclusive of amortization expense and a subtotal for gross profit. Please tell us how your presentation complies with SAB Topic 11.B. In this regard, you should either include the amortization of acquisition-related intangibles in cost of sales or remove the gross profit subtotal from your statements of operations. Your discussion of gross profit and gross margin in MD&A should be similarly revised. In your response, provide us with the amount of amortization expense excluded from costs of sales for each period presented.
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We note you have elected to exclude depreciation and amortization from cost of sales. You may elect to exclude amortization and depreciation from cost of sales by reference to SAB Topic 11.B; however, you must also remove the measures of gross profit and gross margin or label the measures as non-GAAP and conform to Item 10(e)(1)(i) of Regulation S-K. Please clearly identify gross profit and gross margin as presented . . . as non-GAAP and present GAAP gross profit and gross margin with equal or greater prominence, revise your reconciliations . . . to begin with GAAP gross profit and if you continue to adjust gross profit for more than depreciation and amortization, please distinguish its title, such as adjusted gross profit. Please revise accordingly or explain.
The SEC staff often asks registrants to disclose the types of expenses that are included in or excluded
from the cost-of-sales line item and to support their determination of the types of costs included in
costs of goods sold in accordance with Regulation S-X, Rule 5-03(b)(2).
As a related matter, the SEC staff has also asked registrants to support their consideration of SAB Topic 11.B when they elect not to allocate depreciation and amortization to cost of sales. SAB Topic
11.B states, in part:
If cost of sales or operating expenses exclude charges for depreciation, depletion and amortization of property, plant and equipment, the description of the line item should read somewhat as follows: “Cost of goods sold (exclusive of items shown separately below)” or “Cost of goods sold (exclusive of depreciation shown separately below).” [D]epreciation, depletion and amortization should not be positioned in the income statement in a manner which results in reporting a figure for income before depreciation.
Under Rule 5-03, a subtotal line item for gross margin (or a similar measure,
such as gross profit) is not required on the face of the income statement.
However, if a registrant presents a subtotal for the measure, it should not
exclude depreciation and amortization since such exclusion would result in
the presentation of a “figure for income before depreciation.” Often, a
registrant will not present a gross margin subtotal on the face of the
income statement but will discuss such a measure in MD&A. In those
circumstances, if the gross profit measure does not represent a “fully
burdened” gross profit, inclusive of relevant depreciation and amortization,
the SEC staff will ask registrants to disclose that the measures are
non-GAAP financial measures and to consider the disclosure requirements in
Regulation S-K, Item 10(e). Further, reporting cost of sales that excludes
expenses, such as depreciation and amortization or stock compensation
expense that is related to the revenue-producing activity, is not permitted
in the financial statements since this would be reporting a non-GAAP
financial measure.
For additional discussion of non-GAAP measures, see Section 3.4.
2.9.2.3 Presentation of Operating Expenses
Examples of SEC Comments
- It appears that depreciation of property and equipment represents a significant portion of your general and administrative expense line item. Please revise to disaggregate depreciation expense from general and administrative expenses, or tell us how you determined such disaggregation is not necessary. Reference is made to Rule 5-03 of Regulation S-X.
- Reclassify employee costs, consulting expenses, business development expenses to the appropriate expense line-items, i.e. cost of revenues, sales and marketing expenses, and general and administrative expenses. We refer to guidance in Rule 5-03 of Regulation S-X.
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We note you reported legal settlement costs, an operating expense, within the income statement line-item “Other, net.” Separately report operating and non-operating expenses on your income statement and clearly identify them as such, pursuant to Rule 5-03 of Regulation S-X.
Among the requirements of Regulation S-X, Rule 5-03, is separate presentation of
certain material (1) other operating costs and expenses; (2) selling,
general, and administrative expense; and (3) other general expenses. In
comments to registrants, the SEC staff may challenge registrants’ disclosure
of the classification of costs in the income statement. In certain
instances, the staff has asked registrants to consider disaggregating the
components of such line items on the face of the income statement or in the
notes to the financial statements as well as disclosing the type of costs
and expenses classified in either cost of sales or selling, general, and
administrative expense.
2.9.2.4 Operating Versus Nonoperating Income
Examples of SEC Comments
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We note your line item for transaction and integration costs appears to be classified as a non-operating expense and that $[X] million of such costs in [the prior fiscal year], $[Y] million of such costs in [the prior fiscal year], and $[Z] million of such costs for the [first nine months of the current fiscal year] relate to [your business acquisition] and integration related costs. In light of the [business acquisition] taking place in [a previous fiscal year], please clarify for us the nature of such expenses and tell us what consideration you gave to classifying these expenses as operating expenses. Please refer to Rule 5-03 of Regulation S-X.
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Please revise to present “Loss on impairment of assets” as an operating expense in your calculation of “Operating loss.”
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Income (loss) from operations before income taxes includes various non-operating income and expenses discussed in paragraphs 7 through 9 of Rule 5-03 of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, please retitle this line item here and in your other filings to better reflect what it actually represents.
The SEC staff has commented on items that registrants have included in, or
excluded from, operating income. Under Regulation S-X, Rule 5-03, a subtotal
line item for operating income is not required on the face of the income
statement. However, if a registrant presents a subtotal for operating
income, it should generally present the following items (which are sometimes
incorrectly excluded) in operating income:
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Gains or losses on the sale of long-lived assets (e.g., property, plant, and equipment that do not qualify as discontinued operations).
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Litigation settlements.
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Insurance proceeds.
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Restructuring charges.
The following items should generally be excluded from operating income (but are sometimes incorrectly
included):
- Dividends.
- Interest on securities.
- Profits on securities (net of losses).
- Interest and amortization of debt discount and expense.
- Earnings from equity method investments (or unconsolidated affiliates).4
- Noncontrolling interest in income of consolidated subsidiaries.
Changing Lanes
On July 31, 2023, the FASB issued a proposed
ASU that would enhance interim and annual
disclosures related to disaggregation of income statement expenses
for public business entities (PBEs) by requiring those entities to
further disaggregate certain expenses in the footnotes to their
financial statements. However, the face of the income statement
would not be expected to change.
On the basis of feedback received through the comment letter process
and directed outreach, the FASB staff proposed certain
clarifications of, and modifications to, the proposed ASU. On June
26, 2024, the Board directed the staff to incorporate those changes
and proceed with drafting a final ASU. The Board tentatively decided
that the new guidance would be effective for all PBEs for fiscal
years beginning after December 15, 2026, and interim periods within
fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2027. Early adoption would
be permitted. While entities would be required to adopt the new
guidance prospectively, they would be permitted to apply the
amendments retrospectively. For more information, see Deloitte’s
June 28, 2024, Heads
Up.
2.9.3 Cash Flow Statement Classification
2.9.3.1 Gross Versus Net Classification
Examples of SEC Comments
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Please present changes in accounts receivable separately in the changes in assets and liabilities section of your cash flows from operating activities. Refer to ASC 230-10-45-29.
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Please present proceeds from and payments of borrowings on a gross basis. Refer to ASC 230-10-45-7 and 45-9.
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To the extent any of your short-term borrowings were repaid . . . , please present the gross sum of the repayments in the financing section of the statement of cash flows pursuant to ASC 230-10-45-7. It appears proceeds and repayments may have been netted in the current presentation of the statement of cash flows.
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Please breakout the line items under the changes in operating assets and liabilities, net section of your cash flows from operating activities into smaller components. For example, changes in inventories should be presented separately from other assets. Refer to ASC 230-10-45-29.
The SEC staff may challenge whether it is appropriate to report the net amount of certain cash receipts and cash payments on the face of the statement of cash flows. Generally, cash payments should not be presented net of cash receipts in the statement of cash flows. However, ASC 230-10-45-7 through 45-9 state that although reporting gross cash receipts and gross cash payments provides more relevant information, financial statement users sometimes may not need gross reporting to understand certain activities. Further, the netting criteria in ASC 230-10-45-8 (turnover is quick, the amounts are large, and the maturities are short) must be met for an entity to present investing and financing activity on a net basis. Accordingly, the SEC staff may ask a registrant to revise the presentation or to explain (in accordance with ASC 230) why it is appropriate to report certain cash flows on a net basis rather than on a gross basis.
2.9.3.2 Category Classification
Examples of SEC Comments
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Please tell us how you determined the cash proceeds from common stock subscription represent operating activities, as opposed to financing activities. Refer to ASC 230-10-45-14.
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Based on your response to [a] prior comment . . . , it is unclear why the “Long-term payments — related parties” transactions are classified as operating activities instead of as investing activities. In this regard, it appears that these cash transactions were to acquire equity interests. Please revise . . . , if necessary.
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We note that cash flows from long-term loans and other assets are classified as operating activities and cash flows used in the issuance of long-term loan are classified as investing activities. Please explain the nature of these items and tell us why the classification is appropriate based on the guidance in ASC 230-10-45. In addition, please explain why the issuance of the long-term loan in [year 1] is represented as a cash outflow. In this regard, tell us whether this line item should be described as the repayment of a long-term loan.
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We note you present the purchase of digital assets . . . as an investing activity. Please tell us how you considered the guidance in ASC 230 in determining to present this activity as an investing activity.
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Tell us how you account for the gain on the sale of [business] customer assets in your consolidated statement of cash flows. Refer us to your basis in the accounting literature.
ASC 230 requires entities to classify cash receipts and cash
payments as operating, investing, or financing activities on the basis of
the nature of the cash flow. Many of the SEC staff’s comments are related to
understanding the classification or potential misclassification among these
three cash flow categories. In some cases, the SEC staff has raised
questions when the cash inflows resulting from a transaction have been
presented in the statement of cash flows in a manner inconsistent with the
underlying balance sheet classification.
2.9.3.3 Supplier Finance Programs
Examples of SEC Comments
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We note your description of the structured payables program that [your company] offers to suppliers, which can extend the original invoice due date and include a service fee. We also note that the suppliers, at their discretion, may assign the negotiable draft they receive from a [subsidiary of your company] under the program to a financial institution. Based on your disclosure that substantially all the outstanding obligations under this program is included in accounts payable, please tell us how you evaluated whether this program meets the three criteria in FASB ASC 405-50-15-2 to be considered a supplier finance program. As part of your response, clarify i) where the portion of the structured payables balance not included in accounts payable is reported and why, and ii) the nature, terms and amount of the service fee and where it is reported in your Consolidated Statements of Income for each reporting period.
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In future filings, please provide all disclosures contemplated in ASC 405-50-50-3(a) including a description of the payment terms and whether any assets are pledged as security or other forms of guarantees.
The SEC staff has recently issued comments to registrants that use supplier
finance programs involving the participation of a paying agent or other
financial institution. Under such programs, the paying agent or financial
institution may settle the payment obligation directly with the registrant’s
supplier, for a fee, earlier than the extended payment term. Because there
is no explicit authoritative guidance on the classification of payments in
these programs, the SEC staff has challenged registrants’ determinations of
whether the payments (1) constitute trade payables, which would represent
operating activities, or (2) are more akin to debt, which would represent
financing activities.
ASC 405-50 (added by ASU
2022-04) requires the buyer in a supplier finance
program to disclose information about the key terms of the program,
outstanding amounts as of the end of the period that the buyer has confirmed
as valid in accordance with the supplier finance program, a rollforward of
such amounts during each annual period, and a description of where in the
financial statements outstanding amounts are presented. For more information
about the disclosure requirements of ASC 405-50, see Section 14.3.1.3.2 of Deloitte’s Roadmap
Issuer’s Accounting for
Debt. SEC comments on these new disclosures have focused
on whether (1) the program meets the definition of a supplier finance
program in ASC 405-50-15-2 and (2) all disclosures outlined in ASC 405-50-50
have been provided.
2.9.4 Comprehensive Income — Disclosure
Example of an SEC Comment
Please present the amount of income tax
expense or benefit allocated to each component of other
comprehensive income, including reclassification
adjustments. Refer to ASC 220-10-45-12.
The SEC staff has commented when registrants have not provided information
required by ASC 220 about the amounts reclassified out of accumulated OCI. For
example, the staff reminds registrants to comply with the requirement in ASC
220-10-45-12 to “present the amount of income tax expense or benefit allocated
to each component of other comprehensive income, including reclassification
adjustments,” for each reporting period either on the face of the statement
where those items are presented or in the footnotes. Similarly, the staff
reminds registrants to reclassify unrealized gains or losses from accumulated
OCI to realized gains or losses in comprehensive income when an event that would
trigger a reclassification adjustment occurs.
Other Deloitte Resources
Footnotes
4
While it is rare for an entity to
classify equity in earnings of an equity method investee
as a component of operating income, the SEC staff may
not object to such classification if the equity method
investee’s operations are “integral” to the investor’s
business. In this context, the staff’s definition of
“integral” indicates more than that the investor and
investee operate in the same line of business (see the
highlights of the March 2003 AICPA SEC
Regulations Committee joint meeting with the SEC
staff).