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Basis of Presentation | 9 Months Ended
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Sep. 30, 2020
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract] |
Basis of Presentation | Basis of Presentation The accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) for interim financial information and with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, these statements do not include all of the information and footnotes required by generally accepted accounting principles for audited financial statements. In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring accruals) considered necessary for a fair presentation have been included. Operating results for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ending December 31, 2020. For further information, refer to the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019. Principles of Consolidation The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and its subsidiaries. All significant intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated. The Company consolidates all entities, including variable interest entities (VIEs), in which it has a controlling financial interest. For VIEs, the Company assesses whether it is the primary beneficiary as defined under the applicable accounting standard. Investments in affiliates, including VIEs through which the Company exercises significant influence but does not control the investee and is not the primary beneficiary of the investee’s activities, are carried at cost plus equity in undistributed earnings since acquisition and are adjusted, where appropriate, for basis differences between the investment balance and the underlying net assets of the investee. The Company’s portion of the results of certain affiliates and results of certain VIEs are included using the most recent available financial statements. In each case, the financial statements are within 93 days of the Company’s year end and are consistent from period to period. Reclassifications Effective January 1, 2020, the Company started reporting its newly created dry mill ethanol subsidiary, Vantage Corn Processors (VCP), as a sub-segment within the Carbohydrate Solutions segment. VCP replaces the Bioproducts sub-segment which included the combined results of the Company’s corn dry and wet mill ethanol operations. The wet mill ethanol operations that were previously reported in Bioproducts are now included in the Starches and Sweeteners sub-segment. In addition to dry mill ethanol production, VCP sells/brokers ADM’s wet mill ethanol production as the sole marketer of ethanol produced at the Company’s facilities. The change does not have an impact on the total results of the Carbohydrate Solutions segment. Prior period information in Notes 4 and 14 has been reclassified to conform to the current period segment presentation. Segregated Cash and Investments The Company segregates certain cash, cash equivalents, and investment balances in accordance with regulatory requirements, commodity exchange requirements, and insurance arrangements. These balances represent deposits received from customers of the Company’s registered futures commission merchant and commodity brokerage services, cash margins and securities pledged to commodity exchange clearinghouses, and cash pledged as security under certain insurance arrangements. Segregated cash and investments also include restricted cash collateral for the various insurance programs of the Company’s captive insurance business. To the degree these segregated balances are comprised of cash and cash equivalents, they are considered restricted cash and cash equivalents on the consolidated statements of cash flows. Receivables The Company records receivables at net realizable value in trade receivables, other current assets, and other assets. These amounts include allowances for estimated uncollectible accounts totaling $105 million and $110 million at September 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019, respectively, to reflect any loss anticipated on the accounts receivable balances including any accrued interest receivables thereon. Long-term receivables recorded in other assets were not material to the Company’s overall receivables portfolio. Effective January 1, 2020, the Company adopted Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) Topic 326, Financial Instruments - Credit Losses (Topic 326), and developed a new methodology for estimating uncollectible accounts. Under this methodology, receivables are pooled according to type, region, credit risk rating, and age. Each pool is assigned an expected loss co-efficient to arrive at a general reserve based on historical write-offs adjusted, as needed, for regional, economic, and other forward-looking factors. The Company minimizes credit risk due to the large and diversified nature of its worldwide customer base. ADM manages its exposure to counter-party credit risk through credit analysis and approvals, credit limits, and monitoring procedures. The Company recorded bad debt expense in selling, general, and administrative expenses of $7 million and $32 million in the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020, respectively, and $3 million and $10 million in the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019. Inventory Valuation Effective January 1, 2020, the Company changed the method of accounting for certain of its agricultural commodity inventories from the last-in, first-out (LIFO) method to market value in the Ag Services and Oilseeds segment. As of December 31, 2019, inventories accounted for using LIFO at the lower of cost or net realizable value represented approximately 10% of consolidated inventories. The Company believes market value is preferable because it: (i) conforms to the inventory valuation methodology used for the majority of ADM’s agricultural commodity inventories; (ii) enhances the matching of inventory costs with revenues and better reflects the current cost of inventory on the Company’s balance sheet; and (iii) provides better comparability with the Company’s peers. The Company concluded that the accounting change does not have a material effect on prior periods’ financial statements and elected not to apply the change on a retrospective basis. As a result, the Company recorded a reduction in cost of products sold of $91 million ($69 million after tax, equal to $0.12 per diluted share) for the cumulative effect of the change in the three months ended March 31, 2020 with no impact to the statement of cash flows. The Company does not expect the change to have a material impact on its results for the year ending December 31, 2020. If the Company had not made the accounting change, the effect of LIFO valuation on ADM’s operating results would have been an increase in cost of products sold of $50 million ($38 million after tax, equal to $0.07 per diluted share) in the three months ended September 30, 2020 and an increase in cost of goods sold of $7 million ($5 million after tax, equal to $0.01 per diluted share) in the nine months ended September 30, 2020, with no impact to the consolidated statement of cash flows.

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