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Nature of Operations and Basis of Presentation (Policies) | 3 Months Ended
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Mar. 31, 2023
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract] |
Nature Of Operations | S&P Global Inc. (together with its consolidated subsidiaries, “S&P Global,” the “Company,” “we,” “us” or “our”) is a provider of credit ratings, benchmarks, analytics and workflow solutions in the global capital, commodity, automotive and engineering markets. Our operations consist of six reportable segments: S&P Global Market Intelligence (“Market Intelligence”), S&P Global Ratings (“Ratings”), S&P Global Commodity Insights (“Commodity Insights”), S&P Global Mobility (“Mobility”), S&P Dow Jones Indices (“Indices” ) and S&P Global Engineering Solutions (“Engineering Solutions”). •Market Intelligence is a global provider of multi-asset-class data and analytics integrated with purpose-built workflow solutions. •Ratings is an independent provider of credit ratings, research, and analytics, offering investors and other market participants information, ratings and benchmarks. •Commodity Insights is a leading independent provider of information and benchmark prices for the commodity and energy markets. •Mobility is a leading provider of solutions serving the full automotive value chain including vehicle manufacturers (OEMs), automotive suppliers, mobility service providers, retailers, consumers, and finance and insurance companies. •Indices is a global index provider maintaining a wide variety of valuation and index benchmarks for investment advisors, wealth managers and institutional investors. •Engineering Solutions is a leading provider of engineering standards and related technical knowledge.
Basis of Presentation | The accompanying unaudited financial statements of the Company have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”) for interim financial information and with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and notes required by U.S. GAAP for complete financial statements. Therefore, the financial statements included herein should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and notes included in our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022 (our “Form 10-K”). In the opinion of management, all normal recurring adjustments considered necessary for a fair statement of the results of the interim periods have been included. The operating results for the three months ended March 31, 2023 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the full year.
Use of Estimates | On an ongoing basis, we evaluate our estimates and assumptions, including those related to revenue recognition, business combinations, allowance for doubtful accounts, valuation of long-lived assets, goodwill and other intangible assets, pension plans, incentive compensation and stock-based compensation, income taxes, contingencies and redeemable noncontrolling interests.
Revenue from Contract with Customer | Contract Assets Contract assets include unbilled amounts from when the Company transfers service to a customer before a customer pays consideration or before payment is due. As of March 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022, contract assets were $77 million and $60 million, respectively, and are included in accounts receivable in our consolidated balance sheets. Unearned Revenue We record unearned revenue when cash payments are received in advance of our performance. The increase in the unearned revenue balance at March 31, 2023 compared to December 31, 2022 is primarily driven by cash payments received in advance of satisfying our performance obligations, partially offset by $1.1 billion of revenues recognized that were included in the unearned revenue balance at the beginning of the period. Remaining Performance Obligations Remaining performance obligations represent the transaction price of contracts for work that has not yet been performed. As of March 31, 2023, the aggregate amount of the transaction price allocated to remaining performance obligations was $4.5 billion. We expect to recognize revenue on approximately half and three-quarters of the remaining performance obligations over the next 12 and 24 months, respectively, with the remainder recognized thereafter. We do not disclose the value of unfulfilled performance obligations for (i) contracts with an original expected length of one year or less and (ii) contracts where revenue is a usage-based royalty promised in exchange for a license of intellectual property. Costs to Obtain a Contract We recognize an asset for the incremental costs of obtaining a contract with a customer if we expect the benefit of those costs to be longer than one year. We have determined that the costs associated with certain sales commission programs are incremental to the costs to obtain contracts with customers and therefore meet the criteria to be capitalized. Total capitalized costs to obtain a contract were $184 million and $175 million as of March 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022, respectively, and are included in prepaid and other current assets and other non-current assets on our consolidated balance sheets. The capitalized asset will be amortized over a period consistent with the transfer to the customer of the goods or services to which the asset relates, calculated based on the customer term and the average life of the products and services underlying the contracts which has been determined to be approximately 5 years. The expense is recorded within selling and general expenses. We expense sales commissions when incurred if the amortization period is one year or less. These costs are recorded within selling and general expenses.
Recently Issued or Adopted Accounting Standards | In March of 2020, FASB issued accounting guidance to provide temporary optional expedients and exceptions to the current contract modifications and hedge accounting guidance in light of the expected market transition from London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) to alternative rates. The new guidance provides optional expedients and exceptions to transactions affected by reference rate reform if certain criteria are met. The transactions primarily include (1) contract modifications, (2) hedging relationships, and (3) sale or transfer of debt securities classified as held-to-maturity. In December of 2022, the FASB amended its guidance to defer the sunset date from December 31, 2022 to December 31, 2024. The Company may elect to adopt the amendments prospectively to transactions existing as of or entered into from the date of adoption through December 31, 2024. We do not expect this guidance to have a significant impact on our consolidated financial statements.

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