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Nature of Operations and Basis of Presentation | 9 Months Ended
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Sep. 30, 2023
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract] |
Nature of Operations and Basis of Presentation | Nature of Operations and Basis of Presentation 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. On May 2, 2023, we completed the sale of Engineering Solutions to Allium Buyer LLC, a Delaware limited liability company controlled by funds affiliated with Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P. (“KKR”). We received the full proceeds from the sale of $975 million in cash, subject to purchase price adjustments, which we expect to result in approximately $750 million in after-tax proceeds. The assets and liabilities of Engineering Solutions were classified as held for sale in our consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2022. During the nine months ended September 30, 2023, we recorded a pre-tax loss of $120 million in Loss (gain) on dispositions and disposition-related costs of $16 million in selling and general expenses in the consolidated statement of income ($182 million after-tax, net of a release of a deferred tax liability of $157 million) related to the sale of Engineering Solutions. Following the sale, the assets and liabilities of Engineering Solutions are no longer reported in our consolidated balance sheet as of September 30, 2023. The transaction followed our announced intent in November of 2022 to divest the business. Engineering Solutions became part of the Company following our merger with IHS Markit. On February 28, 2022, we completed the merger with IHS Markit Ltd (“IHS Markit”), and as a result, IHS Markit and its subsidiaries became wholly owned consolidated subsidiaries of S&P Global, and the financial results include IHS Markit from the date of acquisition. 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. 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. Since the date of our Form 10-K, there have been no material changes to our critical accounting policies and estimates. Restricted Cash Restricted cash included in our consolidated balance sheets was $1 million as of September 30, 2023 and December 31, 2022. 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. Equity in Income on Unconsolidated Subsidiaries The Company holds an investment in a 50/50 joint venture arrangement with shared control with CME Group that combined each company’s post-trade services into a joint venture, OSTTRA. The joint venture provides trade processing and risk mitigation operations and incorporates CME’s optimization businesses (Traiana, TriOptima, and Reset) and the Company’s MarkitSERV business. The combination is intended to increase operating efficiencies of both businesses to more effectively service clients with enhanced platforms and services for OTC markets across interest rate, FX, equity, and credit asset classes. Other Income, net The components of other income, net for the periods ended September 30 are as follows:
(in millions) | Three Months |  | Nine Months
| 2023 |  | 2022 |  | 2023 |  | 2022
Other components of net periodic benefit cost | $ | (6) |  |  | $ | (7) |  |  | $ | (18) |  |  | $ | (18) |
Net loss (gain) from investments | 1 |  |  | (30) |  |  | 13 |  |  | (68) |
Other income, net | $ | (5) |  |  | $ | (37) |  |  | $ | (5) |  |  | $ | (86) |

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