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New Accounting Pronouncement (Notes)
 3 Months Ended
Apr. 29, 2017
New Accounting Pronouncements and Changes in Accounting Principles [Abstract]  
New Accounting Pronouncements and Changes in Accounting Principles [Text Block]
New Accounting Pronouncements
Share-Based Compensation
In the first quarter of 2017, the Company adopted Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2016-09, Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting.  On a prospective basis, this standard requires recognition of the income tax effects of share-based awards in the income statement when the awards vest or are exercised.  These effects were historically recorded in equity on the balance sheet.  As a result, the Company recognized $11 million of excess tax benefits related to share-based awards in Provision for Income Taxes in the first quarter 2017 Consolidated Statement of Income.  The standard also requires all tax-related cash flows from share-based awards to be reported as operating activities on the statements of cash flows and any cash payments made to taxing authorities on an employee's behalf from withheld shares as financing activities.  For the first quarter of 2016, the retrospective application of these changes resulted in a $71 million increase in operating cash flows and a corresponding decrease to financing cash flows.  Further, as allowed by the standard, the Company will continue to estimate award forfeitures at the time awards are granted and adjust, if necessary, in subsequent periods based on historical experience and expected future termination rates. 

Revenue from Contracts with Customers
In May 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, which was further clarified and amended in 2015 and 2016. This guidance requires companies to recognize revenue in a manner that depicts the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in amounts that reflect the consideration to which a company expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. The new standard also will result in enhanced disclosures about the nature, amount, timing and uncertainty of revenue and cash flows arising from contracts with customers. This guidance will be effective beginning in fiscal 2018, with early adoption as of fiscal 2017 permitted. The standard allows for either a full retrospective or a modified retrospective transition method.

The Company continues to evaluate the impacts of this standard. The most significant changes to current accounting relate to the points earned under the Victoria's Secret customer loyalty program and the accounting for sales returns. The new standard will require a deferral of revenue associated with loyalty points using a relative stand-alone selling price method and will also require sales returns to be presented on a gross basis with the sales refund liability presented separately from the return asset. The Company is continuing to evaluate the further impacts the standard will have on the Consolidated Statements of Income and Comprehensive Income, Balance Sheets and Statements of Cash Flows. The Company will adopt the standard in the first quarter of fiscal 2018 and is currently evaluating the transition method.

Leases
In February 2016, the FASB issued ASC 842, Leases. This guidance requires companies classified as lessees to put most leases on their balance sheets but recognize expenses on their income statements in a manner similar to today’s accounting. The new standard also will result in enhanced quantitative and qualitative disclosures, including significant judgments made by management, to provide greater insight into the extent of revenue and expense recognized and expected to be recognized from existing leases. The standard requires modified retrospective adoption and will be effective beginning in fiscal 2019, with early adoption permitted.

The Company is currently evaluating the impacts that this standard will have on its Consolidated Statements of Income and Comprehensive Income, Balance Sheets and Statements of Cash Flows, including period of adoption. The Company currently expects that most of its operating lease commitments will be subject to the new standard and recognized as operating lease liabilities and right-of-use assets upon adoption. Thus, the Company expects adoption will result in a material increase to the assets and liabilities on the Consolidated Balance Sheet.