2)	Basis of Presentation

The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of MKS Instruments, Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiaries. All intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

Use of Estimates

The consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”). The preparation of these financial statements requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. On an on-going basis, management evaluates its estimates and judgments, including those related to revenue recognition and allowance for doubtful accounts, inventory valuation, warranty costs, stock-based compensation, intangible assets, goodwill, other long-lived assets, in process research and development and other acquisition expenses and income taxes. Management bases its estimates and judgments on historical experience and on various other factors that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions.

Reclassifications

Certain prior year amounts have been reclassified to be consistent with current year classifications.

Management has the ability, if necessary, to liquidate any of its investments in order to meet the Company’s liquidity needs in the next 12 months. Accordingly, those investments with contractual maturities greater than one year from the date of purchase are classified as short-term on the accompanying balance sheets. This election has resulted in investments with contractual maturities greater than one year from the date of purchase previously presented as long-term investments to be re-classified to short-term investments for the period ended December 31, 2014.

The table below reflects the adjustment in the balance sheet line items for the period ended December 31, 2014.


	December 31, 2014
	As previously reported		Adjustment			As adjusted
Short-term investments	$	129,594	$	157,201		$	286,795
Long-term investments	$	157,201	$	(157,201	)	$	—

The footnotes that were affected by the adjustment for the period ended December 31, 2014 are discussed as follows:

Note 5—The fair value of short-term investments consists of the following:


	December 31, 2014
Available-for-sale investments:	As previously reported		Adjustment		As adjusted
Time deposits and certificates of deposit	$	20,900	$	48	$	20,948
Bankers acceptance drafts		82		—		82
Asset-backed securities		—		75,674		75,674
Corporate obligations		24,020		64,669		88,689
Municipal bonds		2,099		1,254		3,353
U.S. agency obligations		82,493		15,556		98,049

	$	129,594	$	157,201	$	286,795

Short-term investments within the tables that reflect the gross unrealized gains and (losses) aggregated by investment category for available-for-sale investments as of December 31, 2014 (Note 5) and assets and liabilities of the Company measured at fair value on a recurring basis as of December 31, 2014 (Note 6) include all investments, including those investments that were presented as long-term investments as of December 31, 2014, to be consistent with the 2015 presentation.