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Description of Business and Significant Accounting Policies (Policies) | 6 Months Ended
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Oct. 28, 2016
Accounting Policies [Abstract] |
Basis of Presentation and Preparation | Basis of Presentation and Preparation Our fiscal year is reported on a 52- or 53-week year ending on the last Friday in April. An additional week is included in the first fiscal quarter approximately every six years to realign fiscal months with calendar months. Fiscal year 2017, ending on April 28, 2017, is a 52-week year, with 13 weeks in each of its quarters. Fiscal year 2016, which ended on April 29, 2016, was a 53-week year, with 14 weeks in its first quarter and 13 weeks in each subsequent quarter. The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared by the Company, and reflect all adjustments, consisting only of normal recurring adjustments, that are, in the opinion of management, necessary for the fair presentation of our financial position, results of operations, comprehensive income and cash flows for the interim periods presented. The statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (GAAP) for interim financial information. Accordingly, these statements do not include all information and footnotes required by GAAP for annual consolidated financial statements, and should be read in conjunction with our audited consolidated financial statements as of and for the fiscal year ended April 29, 2016 contained in our Annual Report on Form 10-K. The results of operations for the three and six months ended October 28, 2016 are not necessarily indicative of the operating results to be expected for the full fiscal year or future operating periods. The preparation of the condensed consolidated financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting periods. Such estimates include, but are not limited to, revenue recognition, reserves and allowances; inventory valuation and purchase order accruals; valuation of goodwill and intangibles; restructuring reserves; product warranties; employee benefit accruals; stock-based compensation; loss contingencies; investment impairments; income taxes and fair value measurements. Actual results could differ materially from those estimates.
Accounting Change | Accounting Change – In the first quarter of fiscal 2017, we early adopted a new accounting standards update that the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued in March 2016 that simplifies the accounting for certain aspects of stock-based payments to employees. The new standard requires that certain amendments relevant to us be applied using a modified-retrospective transition method by means of a cumulative-effect adjustment to retained earnings as of the beginning of the period in which the guidance is adopted. In connection with the adoption, we elected to account for forfeitures as they occur and the cumulative-effect impact of that change in accounting policy was a $7 million increase in retained earnings and a corresponding decrease in additional paid-in capital as of April 30, 2016. We also recorded a $3 million cumulative-effect adjustment decrease to retained earnings and a related decrease in deferred tax assets related to the forfeiture rate policy change on outstanding stock-based awards as of April 30, 2016. The standard also eliminates the requirement that excess tax benefits be realized before companies can recognize them. Accordingly, we recorded a $17 million cumulative-effect adjustment increase in retained earnings and an offsetting increase in deferred tax assets for previously unrecognized excess tax benefits as of April 30, 2016. The new standard eliminated the requirement to report excess tax benefits and certain tax deficiencies related to share-based payment transactions as additional paid-in capital. As a result, we recognized $17 million of tax deficiencies in our provision for income taxes, rather than additional paid–in capital, for the six months ended October 28, 2016. We elected to report cash flows related to excess tax benefits on a prospective basis. The presentation requirements for cash flows related to employee taxes paid for withheld shares had no impact to our statements of cash flows since such cash flows have historically been presented as a financing activity. There have been no other significant changes in our significant accounting policies as of and for the six months ended October 28, 2016, as compared to the significant accounting policies described in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended April 29, 2016.
Accounting Standards on Transfers of Financial Assets | We account for the sales of these receivables as “true sales” as defined in the accounting standards on transfers of financial assets, as we are considered to have surrendered control of these financing receivables. Provided all other revenue recognition criteria have been met, we recognize product revenues for these arrangements, net of any payment discounts from financing transactions, upon product acceptance. We sold $108 million and $72 million of receivables during the six months ended October 28, 2016 and October 30, 2015, respectively.
Revenue Recognition | Where we provide a guarantee for recourse leases, we defer revenues subject to the industry-specific software revenue recognition guidance and recognize revenues for non-software deliverables in accordance with our multiple deliverable revenue arrangement policy. In connection with certain recourse financing arrangements, we receive advance payments associated with undelivered elements that are subject to customer refund rights.
Debt | The portion of the financial arrangement that represents unearned services revenue is included in deferred revenue and financed unearned services revenue in our condensed consolidated balance sheets.

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- Definition Disclosure of accounting policy for basis of accounting, or basis of presentation, used to prepare the financial statements (for example, US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, Other Comprehensive Basis of Accounting, IFRS). + References No definition available. + Details
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- Definition Disclosure of accounting policy related to debt. Includes, but is not limited to, debt issuance costs, the effects of refinancings, method of amortizing debt issuance costs and original issue discount, and classifications of debt. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 470 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6802200&loc=d3e1835-112601 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 235 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 3 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=68058157&loc=d3e18780-107790 + Details
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- Definition Disclosure of accounting policy for revenue recognition. If the entity has different policies for different types of revenue transactions, the policy for each material type of transaction is generally disclosed. If a sales transaction has multiple element arrangements (for example, delivery of multiple products, services or the rights to use assets) the disclosure may indicate the accounting policy for each unit of accounting as well as how units of accounting are determined and valued. The disclosure may encompass important judgment as to appropriateness of principles related to recognition of revenue. The disclosure also may indicate the entity's treatment of any unearned or deferred revenue that arises from the transaction. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 235 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 4 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=68058157&loc=d3e18823-107790 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 605 -SubTopic 10 -Section S99 -Paragraph 1 -Subparagraph (SAB Topic 13.B.Q1) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=65893310&loc=d3e214044-122780 Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 235 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 3 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=68058157&loc=d3e18780-107790 Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 235 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=68058157&loc=d3e18726-107790 + Details
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- Definition Disclosure of accounting policy for recognizing whether a transfer of a financial asset qualifies for sale treatment, and its initial and subsequent accounting for a sale transaction. If an entity has securitized financial assets during any period presented and accounts for that transfer as a sale, for each major asset type (for example, mortgage loans, credit card receivables, and automobile loans), the entity generally discloses its accounting policies for initially and subsequently measuring any interests that it obtains and sells, or those it continues to hold in the transaction, including the methodology (for example, quoted market prices) and significant assumptions used to value such interests, and the gains and losses resulting from the sale. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 860 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 4 -Subparagraph (a) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=64830801&loc=d3e107314-111719 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 860 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 4 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=65883692&loc=SL6226446-111709 Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 235 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 3 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=68058157&loc=d3e18780-107790 + Details
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