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Revenue Recognition (Notes)
 12 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2020
Revenue from Contract with Customer [Abstract]  
Revenue from Contract with Customer [Text Block] REVENUE RECOGNITION
Disaggregated Revenue

The following table presents the Company's revenues disaggregated by segment and by products and systems versus services revenue for the years ended September 30, 2020 and 2019 (in millions):
Year Ended September 30, 2020Year Ended September 30, 2019
Products & SystemsServicesTotalProducts & SystemsServicesTotal
Building Solutions North America$5,371 $3,234 $8,605 $5,745 $3,286 $9,031 
Building Solutions EMEA/LA1,644 1,796 3,440 1,767 1,888 3,655 
Building Solutions Asia Pacific1,369 1,034 2,403 1,575 1,083 2,658 
Global Products7,869 — 7,869 8,624 — 8,624 
Total$16,253 $6,064 $22,317 $17,711 $6,257 $23,968 

The following table presents further disaggregation of Global Products segment revenues by product type for the years ended September 30, 2020 and 2019 (in millions):
Year Ended
September 30, 2020		Year Ended September 30, 2019
Building management systems$1,205 $1,292 
HVAC & refrigeration equipment5,613 6,181 
Specialty products1,051 1,151 
Total$7,869 $8,624 

Contract Balances

Contract assets relate to the Company’s right to consideration for performance obligations satisfied but not billed and consist of unbilled receivables and costs in excess of billings. Contract liabilities relate to customer payments received in advance of satisfaction of performance obligations under the contract. Contract liabilities consist of deferred revenue. Contract balances are classified as assets or liabilities on a contract-by-contract basis at the end of each reporting period. 
The following table presents the location and amount of contract balances in the Company's consolidated statements of financial position (in millions):
Location of contract balancesSeptember 30, 2020September 30, 2019
Contract assets - currentAccounts receivable - net$1,395 $1,389 
Contract assets - noncurrentOther noncurrent assets104 90 
Contract liabilities - currentDeferred revenue(1,435)(1,407)
Contract liabilities - noncurrentOther noncurrent liabilities(245)(228)
Total$(181)$(156)

For the year ended September 30, 2020, the Company recognized revenue of approximately $1.3 billion that was included in the beginning of period contract liability balance. For the year ended September 30, 2019, the Company recognized revenue of approximately $1.2 billion that was included in the beginning of period contract liability balance.

Performance Obligations

A performance obligation is a distinct good, service, or bundle of goods and services promised in a contract. A contract’s transaction price is allocated to each distinct performance obligation and recognized as revenue when, or as, the performance obligation is satisfied. When contracts with customers require significant and complex integration, contain goods or services which are highly interdependent or interrelated, or are goods or services which significantly modify or customize other promises in the contracts and, therefore, are not distinct, then the entire contract is accounted for as a single performance obligation. For any contracts with multiple performance obligations, the contract’s transaction price is allocated to each performance obligation based on the estimated relative standalone selling price of each distinct good or service in the contract. For product sales, each product sold to a customer typically represents a distinct performance obligation.

Performance obligations are satisfied as of a point in time or over time. The timing of satisfying the performance obligation is typically indicated by the terms of the contract. As of September 30, 2020, the aggregate amount of the transaction price allocated to remaining performance obligations was approximately $14.4 billion, of which approximately 60% is expected to be recognized as revenue over the next two years. The remaining performance obligations expected to be recognized in revenue beyond two years primarily relate to large, multi-purpose contracts to construct hospitals, schools and other governmental buildings, which include services to be performed over the building's lifetime, with initial contract terms of 25 to 35 years. Future contract modifications could affect both the timing and the amount of the remaining performance obligations. The Company excludes the value of remaining performance obligations for contracts with an original expected duration of one year or less.

Costs to Obtain or Fulfill a Contract

The Company recognizes the incremental costs incurred to obtain or fulfill a contract with a customer as an asset when these costs are recoverable. These costs consist primarily of sales commissions and bid/proposal costs. Costs to obtain or fulfill a contract are capitalized and amortized to revenue over the period of contract performance.

As of September 30, 2020, the Company recorded costs to obtain or fulfill a contract of $223 million, of which $119 million is recorded within other current assets and $104 million is recorded within other noncurrent assets in the consolidated statements of financial position. As of September 30, 2019, the Company recorded costs to obtain or fulfill a contract of $212 million, of which $110 million is recorded within other current assets and $102 million is recorded within other noncurrent assets in the consolidated statements of financial position.
During the year ended September 30, 2020, the Company recognized amortization expense of $162 million related to costs to obtain or fulfill a contract. There were no impairment losses recognized in the year ended September 30, 2020. During the year ended September 30, 2019, the Company recognized amortization expense of $157 million related to costs to obtain or fulfill a contract. There were no impairment losses recognized in the year ended September 30, 2019.