XML 37 R24.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT
v3.23.3

Nature of Operations and Basis of Presentation (Policies) | 9 Months Ended
--- | ---
Sep. 30, 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 and automotive 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. •As of May 2, 2023, we completed the sale of Engineering Solutions, a leading provider of engineering standards and related technical knowledge, and the results are included through that date.
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”). Certain prior-year amounts have been reclassified to conform with current presentation. 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 and nine months ended September 30, 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 September 30, 2023 and December 31, 2022, contract assets were $104 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 decrease in the unearned revenue balance at September 30, 2023 compared to December 31, 2022 is primarily driven by $2.6 billion of revenues recognized that were included in the unearned revenue balance at the beginning of the period, offset by cash payments received in advance of satisfying our performance obligations. Remaining Performance Obligations Remaining performance obligations represent the transaction price of contracts for work that has not yet been performed. As of September 30, 2023, the aggregate amount of the transaction price allocated to remaining performance obligations was $3.7 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 Contracts 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 contracts were $202 million and $175 million as of September 30, 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 2023, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued accounting guidance that requires all entities to amortize leasehold improvements associated with common control leases over the useful life to the common control group. The guidance is effective for reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2023, however, early adoption is permitted. We do not expect this guidance to have a significant impact on our consolidated financial statements. In March of 2020, the 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.

X
- Definition Nature Of Operations + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | spgi_NatureOfOperationsPolicyTextBlock
Namespace Prefix: | spgi_
Data Type: | dtr-types1:textBlockItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Disclosure of accounting policy for basis of accounting, or basis of presentation, used to prepare the financial statements (for example, US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, Other Comprehensive Basis of Accounting, IFRS). + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | us-gaap_BasisOfAccountingPolicyPolicyTextBlock
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | dtr-types:textBlockItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Disclosure of accounting policy pertaining to new accounting pronouncements that may impact the entity's financial reporting. Includes, but is not limited to, quantification of the expected or actual impact. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | us-gaap_NewAccountingPronouncementsPolicyPolicyTextBlock
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | dtr-types:textBlockItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- References No definition available. + Details
Name: | us-gaap_OrganizationConsolidationAndPresentationOfFinancialStatementsAbstract
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Disclosure of accounting policy for revenue from contract with customer. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef -Topic 606 -SubTopic 10 -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Section 50 -Paragraph 17 -Publisher FASB -URI https://asc.fasb.org//1943274/2147479806/606-10-50-17 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef -Topic 606 -SubTopic 10 -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Section 50 -Paragraph 19 -Publisher FASB -URI https://asc.fasb.org//1943274/2147479806/606-10-50-19 Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef -Topic 606 -SubTopic 10 -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Section 50 -Paragraph 18 -Subparagraph (a) -Publisher FASB -URI https://asc.fasb.org//1943274/2147479806/606-10-50-18 Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef -Topic 606 -SubTopic 10 -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Section 50 -Paragraph 18 -Subparagraph (b) -Publisher FASB -URI https://asc.fasb.org//1943274/2147479806/606-10-50-18 Reference 5: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef -Topic 606 -SubTopic 10 -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Section 50 -Paragraph 20 -Subparagraph (a) -Publisher FASB -URI https://asc.fasb.org//1943274/2147479806/606-10-50-20 Reference 6: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef -Topic 606 -SubTopic 10 -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Section 50 -Paragraph 20 -Subparagraph (b) -Publisher FASB -URI https://asc.fasb.org//1943274/2147479806/606-10-50-20 Reference 7: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef -Topic 606 -SubTopic 10 -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Section 50 -Paragraph 20 -Subparagraph (c) -Publisher FASB -URI https://asc.fasb.org//1943274/2147479806/606-10-50-20 Reference 8: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef -Topic 606 -SubTopic 10 -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Section 50 -Paragraph 20 -Subparagraph (d) -Publisher FASB -URI https://asc.fasb.org//1943274/2147479806/606-10-50-20 Reference 9: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/exampleRef -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Section 50 -Paragraph 4 -Subparagraph (e) -SubTopic 10 -Topic 235 -Publisher FASB -URI https://asc.fasb.org//1943274/2147483426/235-10-50-4 Reference 10: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 606 -Publisher FASB -URI https://asc.fasb.org//606/tableOfContent + Details
Name: | us-gaap_RevenueFromContractWithCustomerPolicyTextBlock
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | dtr-types:textBlockItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Disclosure of accounting policy for the use of estimates in the preparation of financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles. + References Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 275 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 9 -Publisher FASB -URI https://asc.fasb.org//1943274/2147482861/275-10-50-9 Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 275 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 4 -Publisher FASB -URI https://asc.fasb.org//1943274/2147482861/275-10-50-4 Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -Subparagraph (b) -SubTopic 10 -Topic 275 -Publisher FASB -URI https://asc.fasb.org//1943274/2147482861/275-10-50-1 Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -Subparagraph (c) -SubTopic 10 -Topic 275 -Publisher FASB -URI https://asc.fasb.org//1943274/2147482861/275-10-50-1 Reference 5: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Section 50 -Paragraph 11 -SubTopic 10 -Topic 275 -Publisher FASB -URI https://asc.fasb.org//1943274/2147482861/275-10-50-11 Reference 6: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Section 50 -Paragraph 12 -SubTopic 10 -Topic 275 -Publisher FASB -URI https://asc.fasb.org//1943274/2147482861/275-10-50-12 Reference 7: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 275 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 8 -Publisher FASB -URI https://asc.fasb.org//1943274/2147482861/275-10-50-8 + Details
Name: | us-gaap_UseOfEstimates
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | dtr-types:textBlockItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration