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Recently Adopted And Recently Issued Accounting Guidance | 9 Months Ended
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Sep. 30, 2012
Recently Adopted And Recently Issued Accounting Guidance | B. Recently Adopted and Recently Issued Accounting Guidance Adopted On January 1, 2012, Alcoa adopted changes issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) to conform existing guidance regarding fair value measurement and disclosure between GAAP and International Financial Reporting Standards. These changes both clarify the FASB’s intent about the application of existing fair value measurement and disclosure requirements and amend certain principles or requirements for measuring fair value or for disclosing information about fair value measurements. The clarifying changes relate to the application of the highest and best use and valuation premise concepts, measuring the fair value of an instrument classified in a reporting entity’s shareholders’ equity, and disclosure of quantitative information about unobservable inputs used for Level 3 fair value measurements. The amendments relate to measuring the fair value of financial instruments that are managed within a portfolio; application of premiums and discounts in a fair value measurement; and additional disclosures concerning the valuation processes used and sensitivity of the fair value measurement to changes in unobservable inputs for those items categorized as Level 3, a reporting entity’s use of a nonfinancial asset in a way that differs from the asset’s highest and best use, and the categorization by level in the fair value hierarchy for items required to be measured at fair value for disclosure purposes only. Other than the additional disclosure requirements (see Note N), the adoption of these changes had no impact on the Consolidated Financial Statements. On January 1, 2012, Alcoa adopted changes issued by the FASB to the presentation of comprehensive income. These changes give an entity the option to present the total of comprehensive income, the components of net income, and the components of other comprehensive income either in a single continuous statement of comprehensive income or in two separate but consecutive statements; the option to present components of other comprehensive income as part of the statement of changes in stockholders’ equity was eliminated. The items that must be reported in other comprehensive income or when an item of other comprehensive income must be reclassified to net income were not changed. Additionally, no changes were made to the calculation and presentation of earnings per share. Management elected to present the two-statement option. Other than the change in presentation, the adoption of these changes had no impact on the Consolidated Financial Statements. Issued In July 2012, the FASB issued changes to the testing of indefinite-lived intangible assets for impairment, similar to the goodwill changes issued in September 2011. These changes provide an entity the option to first assess qualitative factors to determine whether the existence of events or circumstances leads to a determination that it is more likely than not (more than 50%) that the fair value of an indefinite-lived intangible asset is less than its carrying amount. Such qualitative factors may include the following: macroeconomic conditions; industry and market considerations; cost factors; overall financial performance; and other relevant entity-specific events. If an entity elects to perform a qualitative assessment and determines that an impairment is more likely than not, the entity is then required to perform the existing two-step quantitative impairment test, otherwise no further analysis is required. An entity also may elect not to perform the qualitative assessment and, instead, proceed directly to the two-step quantitative impairment test. These changes become effective for Alcoa for any indefinite-lived intangible asset impairment test performed on January 1, 2013 or later, although early adoption is permitted. Upon adoption of these changes, management plans to proceed directly to the two-step quantitative test for Alcoa’s indefinite-lived intangible assets. As these changes should not affect the outcome of the impairment analysis of an indefinite-lived intangible asset, management has determined these changes will not have an impact on the Consolidated Financial Statements.

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- Definition The entire disclosure of changes in accounting principles, including adoption of new accounting pronouncements, that describes the new methods, amount and effects on financial statement line items. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 270 -SubTopic 10 -Section S99 -Paragraph 1 -Subparagraph (SX 210.10-01.(b)(6)) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6958853&loc=d3e46468-122699 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 270 -SubTopic 10 -Section 45 -Paragraph 13 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6372559&loc=d3e765-108305 Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 250 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 2 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6801783&loc=d3e22580-107794 Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher SEC -Name Regulation S-X (SX) -Number 210 -Section 01 -Paragraph b -Subparagraph 6 -Article 10 Reference 5: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Glossary Accounting Change -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6503790 Reference 6: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Glossary Retrospective Application -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6523989 Reference 7: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 250 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6801783&loc=d3e22499-107794 Reference 8: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 250 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 3 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6801783&loc=d3e22583-107794 Reference 9: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 270 -SubTopic 10 -Section 45 -Paragraph 12 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6372559&loc=d3e725-108305 Reference 10: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Glossary Indirect Effects of a Change in Accounting Principle -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6515603 Reference 11: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Glossary Direct Effects of a Change in Accounting Principle -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6510796 Reference 12: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Glossary Change in Accounting Principle -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6507316 + Details
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