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SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (Policies)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2015

SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES [Abstract]

The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and its subsidiaries over which the Company exercises control. All significant intercompany transactions are eliminated from the consolidated financial statements.

EQUITY METHOD OF ACCOUNTING FOR INVESTMENTS

The Company evaluates the method of accounting for investments in which it holds an equity interest based on the amount of control it exercises over the operations of the investee, exposure to losses in excess of its investment, the ability to significantly influence the investee and whether the Company is the primary beneficiary of the investee. Under the voting interest model, the Company applies the equity method when the Company owns or controls from 20% to 50% of the voting shares, or below 20% of the voting shares when significant influence can be exercised over the operating and financial policies of the investee company. Under the Variable Interest (VIE) Model, the investments are accounted for under the equity method if the Company has determined it does not have a controlling financial interest and therefore is not the VIE's primary beneficiary.

USE OF ESTIMATES

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, revenues and expenses, and the disclosure of contingent liabilities. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

FOREIGN CURRENCY TRANSLATION

The U.S. dollar is the reporting currency for all periods presented. The financial statements of the Company’s foreign operating subsidiaries are measured using the local currency as the functional currency. Assets and liabilities of the Company’s foreign operating subsidiaries are translated into U.S. dollars at the exchange rate in effect at the balance sheet date. Revenues and expenses are translated at average rates in effect during the period. Net exchange gains or losses resulting from the translation of financial statements of foreign operations and related long-term debt and derivative instruments are recorded as a separate component of other comprehensive earnings. See Note 14 to the Consolidated Financial Statements. Foreign currency transaction gains and losses are shown in the consolidated statement of earnings.

RECLASSIFICATIONS

Certain amounts in the 2014 and 2013 financial statements, as previously reported, have been revised to conform to the 2015 presentation. These changes did not have a material impact on the presentation of the consolidated financial statements.

REVENUE RECOGNITION

Revenues recognized include product sales, billings for freight and handling charges and fees earned for services provided. The Company recognizes product sales and billings for freight and handling charges primarily on the date products are shipped to, or picked up by, the customer. In cases where the product is shipped directly to the customer, the Company recognizes revenue at the time of shipment on a gross basis. The Company's standard shipping terms are FOB shipping point. On occasion, the Company will negotiate FOB destination terms. These sales are recognized upon delivery to the customer. eCommerce revenues, which accounted for 43% of total 2015 revenues, are recognized on the same terms as revenues through other channels. Fee revenues, which accounted for less than 1% of total 2015 revenues, are recognized after services are completed. Taxes collected from customers and remitted to governmental authorities are presented on a net basis and are not included in revenue.

COST OF MERCHANDISE SOLD

Cost of merchandise sold includes product and product-related costs, vendor consideration, freight-out and handling costs. The Company defines handling costs as those costs incurred to fulfill a shipped sales order.

VENDOR CONSIDERATION

The Company receives rebates and allowances from its vendors to promote their products. The Company utilizes numerous advertising programs to promote its vendors' products, including catalogs and other printed media, Internet, radio and other marketing programs. Most of these programs relate to multiple vendors, which makes supporting the specific, identifiable and incremental criteria difficult, and would require numerous assumptions and judgments. Based on the inexact nature of trying to track reimbursements to the advertising expenditure for each vendor, the Company treats most vendor advertising allowances as a reduction to product purchase price and is reflected in Cost of merchandise sold rather than a reduction of operating (advertising) expenses.

Vendor funds that are determined to be reimbursement of specific, incremental and identifiable costs incurred to promote vendor's products are recorded as an offset to the related expenses in Warehouse, marketing and administrative expenses.

Rebates earned from vendors that are based on product purchases are capitalized into inventory as part of product purchase price. These rebates are credited to Cost of merchandise sold based on sales. Vendor rebates that are earned based on products sold are credited directly to Cost of merchandise sold.

ADVERTISING

Advertising costs are expensed in the year the related advertisement is first presented. Advertising expense was $180 million, $169 million and $178 million for 2015, 2014 and 2013, respectively. Most vendor-provided allowances are classified as a reduction to product purchase price and is reflected in Cost of merchandise sold. For additional information see VENDOR CONSIDERATION above.

Catalog expense is amortized equally over the life of the catalog, beginning in the month of its distribution. Advertising costs for catalogs that have not been distributed by year-end are capitalized as Prepaid expenses. Amounts included in Prepaid expenses at December 31, 2015 and 2014, were $19 million and $27 million, respectively.

WAREHOUSING, MARKETING AND ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES

Included in this category are purchasing, branch operations, information services, and marketing and selling expenses, as well as other types of general and administrative costs.

STOCK INCENTIVE PLANS

The Company measures all share-based payments using fair-value-based methods and records compensation expense related to these payments over the vesting period. See Note 12 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.

INCOME TAXES

Income taxes are recognized during the year in which transactions enter into the determination of financial statement income, with deferred taxes being provided for temporary differences between financial and tax reporting. The Company recognizes in the financial statements a provision for tax uncertainties, resulting from application of complex tax regulations in multiple tax jurisdictions. See Note 15 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.

OTHER COMPREHENSIVE EARNINGS (LOSSES)

The Company's Other comprehensive earnings (losses) include foreign currency translation adjustments, changes in fair value of derivatives designated as hedges and unrecognized gains (losses) on postretirement and other employment-related benefit plans. See Note 14 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.

CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS

The Company considers investments in highly liquid debt instruments, purchased with an original maturity of 90 days or less, to be cash equivalents.

CONCENTRATION OF CREDIT RISK

The Company places temporary cash investments with institutions of high credit quality and, by policy, limits the amount of credit exposure to any one institution.

The Company has a broad customer base representing many diverse industries doing business in all regions of the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia and Latin America. Consequently, no significant concentration of credit risk is considered to exist.

ALLOWANCE FOR DOUBTFUL ACCOUNTS

The Company establishes reserves for customer accounts that are potentially uncollectible. The method used to estimate the allowances is based on several factors, including the age of the receivables and the historical ratio of actual write-offs to the age of the receivables. These analyses also take into consideration economic conditions that may have an impact on a specific industry, group of customers or a specific customer.

INVENTORIES

Inventories are valued at the lower of cost or market. Cost is determined primarily by the last-in, first-out (LIFO) method, which accounts for approximately 61% of total inventory. For the remaining inventory, cost is determined by the first-in, first-out (FIFO) method.

PROPERTY, BUILDINGS AND EQUIPMENT

Property, buildings and equipment are valued at cost. For financial statement purposes, depreciation and amortization are provided in amounts sufficient to relate the cost of depreciable assets to operations over their estimated service lives, principally on the declining-balance and sum-of-the-years-digits depreciation methods. The Company's international businesses record depreciation expense primarily on a straight-line basis. The principal estimated useful lives for determining depreciation are as follows:



Buildings, structures and improvements	10 to 30 years
Furniture, fixtures, machinery and equipment	3 to 10 years

Depreciation expense was $162 million, $154 million and $142 million for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013, respectively.

Improvements to leased property are amortized over the initial terms of the respective leases or the estimated service lives of the improvements, whichever is shorter.

The Company capitalized interest costs of $4 million, $2 million and $1 million for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013, respectively.

LONG-LIVED ASSETS

The carrying value of long-lived assets is evaluated whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value of the asset may be impaired. An impairment loss is recognized when estimated undiscounted future cash flows resulting from use of the asset, including disposition, are less than the carrying value of the asset. Impairment is measured as the amount by which the carrying amount exceeds the fair value.

The Company recognized impairment charges of $5 million, $5 million and $0.4 million in 2015, 2014 and 2013, respectively, included in Warehousing, marketing and administrative expenses, to reduce the carrying value of certain long-lived assets to their estimated fair value pursuant to impairment indicators for property currently held for sale, lease terminations, idle assets and branch closures.

CAPITALIZED SOFTWARE

The Company capitalizes certain costs related to the purchase and development of internal-use software. Amortization of capitalized software is on a straight-line basis over three or five years. Amortization begins when the software is available for its intended use. Amortization expense was $45 million, $36 million and $23 million for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013, respectively. Capitalized software was $185 million and $148 million at December 31, 2015 and 2014, respectively, and is included in Other assets on the Consolidated Balance Sheets. During 2014, the Company wrote off $7 million in capitalized software costs due to a change in the implementation plan for an ERP system across North America.

GOODWILL AND OTHER INTANGIBLES

Goodwill is recognized as the excess cost of an acquired entity over the net amount assigned to assets acquired and liabilities assumed. Goodwill is not amortized, but rather tested for impairment on an annual basis and more often if circumstances require. Impairment losses are recognized whenever the implied fair value of goodwill is less than its carrying value.

The Company recognizes an acquired intangible apart from goodwill whenever the intangible arises from contractual or other legal rights, or whenever it can be separated or divided from the acquired entity and sold, transferred, licensed, rented or exchanged, either individually or in combination with a related contract, asset or liability. Such intangibles are amortized over their estimated useful lives unless the estimated useful life is determined to be indefinite. Amortizable intangible assets are being amortized primarily over useful lives of three to 22 years. The straight-line method of amortization is used as it has been determined to approximate the use pattern of the assets. Impairment losses are recognized if the carrying amount of an intangible, subject to amortization, is not recoverable from expected future cash flows and its carrying amount exceeds its fair value.

The Company also maintains intangible assets with indefinite lives, which are not amortized. These intangibles are tested for impairment on an annual basis and more often if circumstances require. Impairment losses are recognized whenever the implied fair value of these assets is less than their carrying value. See Note 2 and Note 3 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.

FAIR VALUE OF FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS

The carrying amounts of cash and cash equivalents, receivables and accounts payable approximate fair value due to the short-term nature of these financial instruments. The carrying value of long-term debt also approximates fair value. The fair value of the Company's qualifying derivative instruments is recorded in the Consolidated Balance Sheets and is discussed in more detail in Note 9 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.

DERIVATIVE INSTRUMENTS AND HEDGING

The Company uses derivative financial instruments to manage exposures to fluctuations in interest rates and foreign currency exchange rates. The Company does not enter into derivative financial instruments for trading or speculative purposes. All derivative instruments are recognized as either assets or liabilities in the balance sheet at their fair value. Changes in the fair value of derivatives are recognized in net earnings or other comprehensive earnings (losses) depending on whether the derivative is designated as part of a qualifying hedging relationship. The ineffective portion of a qualifying hedging derivative and derivatives not designated as a hedge are recognized immediately in earnings. Instruments that do not qualify for hedge accounting are marked to market with the change recognized in current period earnings. See Note 9 and Note 14 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information on the Company's derivative activities.

INSURANCE RESERVES

The Company purchases insurance for catastrophic exposures and those risks required to be insured by law. It also retains a significant portion of the risk of certain losses related to workers' compensation, general liability and property losses through the utilization of high deductibles and self-insured retentions. Reserves for these potential losses are based on an external analysis of the Company's historical claims results and other actuarial assumptions.

WARRANTY RESERVES

The Company generally warrants the products it sells against defects for one year. For a significant portion of warranty claims, the manufacturer of the product is responsible for expenses. For warranty expenses not covered by the manufacturer, the Company provides a reserve for future costs based primarily on historical experience. Warranty reserves were $3 million and $4 million at December 31, 2015 and 2014

NEW ACCOUNTING STANDARDS

In May 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, which will supersede nearly all existing revenue recognition guidance under U.S. GAAP. The core principle of the ASU is that an entity should recognize revenue when it transfers promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. The ASU also requires additional disclosures about the nature, amount, timing and uncertainty of revenue and cash flows arising from contracts with customers. In July 2015, the FASB announced a one-year delay in the effective date. The standard will now be effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2017. The standard also permits adoption as early as the original effective date, which was for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2016. This ASU is not expected to have a material impact on the Company's consolidated financial statements.

In February 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-02, Consolidation (Topic 810): Amendments to the Consolidation Analysis. This ASU, which is effective for annual periods and interim periods within those annual periods beginning after December 15, 2015, changes the consolidation analysis required under U.S. GAAP for limited partnerships and other variable interest entities. Early adoption is permitted and the ASU allows for either retrospective or modified retrospective application. This ASU is not expected to have a material impact on the Company's consolidated financial statements.

In April 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-03, Simplifying the Presentation of Debt Issuance Costs. This ASU, which is effective for fiscal years and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2015, changes the presentation of debt issuance costs in financial statements as a direct deduction from the related debt liability rather than as an asset. Early adoption is permitted and retrospective application is required. Effective June 30, 2015, the Company has adopted ASU 2015-03 and the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet was retroactively restated under the new presentation. The adoption of ASU 2015-03 did not have a material impact to the Company's consolidated financial statements, as existing debt issuance costs were immaterial.

In April 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-05, Customer's Accounting for Fees Paid in a Cloud Computing Arrangement. This ASU, which is effective for annual periods and interim periods within those annual periods beginning after December 15, 2015, provides guidance to customers about whether a cloud computing arrangement includes a software license. Early adoption is permitted and the ASU allows for either retrospective or prospective application. This ASU is not expected to have a material impact on the Company's consolidated financial statements.

In July 2015, FASB issued ASU 2015-11, Simplifying the Measurement of Inventory, which simplifies the subsequent measurement of inventory by replacing the lower of cost or market test with a lower of cost or net realizable value (NRV) test. NRV is calculated as the estimated selling price less reasonably predictable costs of completion, disposal and transportation. This pronouncement is effective for fiscal years and for interim periods within those fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2016, and prospective adoption is required. The Company is evaluating the impact of this ASU.

In September 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-16, Simplifying the Accounting for Measurement-Period Adjustments. ASU 2015-16 requires that an acquirer recognize adjustments to provisional amounts that are identified during the measurement period in the reporting period in which the adjustment amounts are determined. ASU 2015-16 is effective for fiscal years and interim reporting periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2015. Prospective adoption is required. This ASU is not expected to have a material impact on the Company's consolidated financial statements.

In November 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-17, Balance Sheet Classification of Deferred Taxes, which simplifies the presentation of deferred tax assets. The updated guidance requires that deferred tax assets and liabilities be classified as noncurrent in a classified balance sheet. The effective date for the standard is for fiscal year and interim periods within those years beginning after December 15, 2016. Early adoption is permitted and the ASU allows for either retrospective or prospective application. The Company early adopted the ASU in the fourth quarter of 2015 with a prospective application and prior period amounts were not reclassified. The ASU did not have a material impact on the Company's consolidated financial statements.