Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2017

The accompanying CVR consolidated financial statements include the accounts of CVR Energy, Inc. and its majority-owned direct and indirect subsidiaries. All intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. The ownership interests of noncontrolling investors in its subsidiaries are recorded as noncontrolling interests.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2015-02, "Consolidations (Topic 810) - Amendments to the Consolidation Analysis" (“ASU 2015-02”), which amended previous consolidation guidance, including introducing a separate consolidation analysis specific to limited partnerships and other similar entities, became effective for the Company as of January 1, 2016. Under this analysis, limited partnerships and other similar entities are considered a variable interest entity (“VIE”) unless the limited partners hold substantive kick-out rights or participating rights. Management has determined that the Refining Partnership and the Nitrogen Fertilizer Partnership are VIEs because the limited partners of CVR Refining and CVR Partners lack both substantive kick-out rights and participating rights. As such, management evaluated the qualitative criteria under FASB Accounting Standard Codification ("ASC") Topic 810 - Consolidation in conjunction with ASU 2015-02 to make a determination whether the Refining Partnership and the Nitrogen Fertilizer Partnership should be consolidated in the Company's financial statements. ASC Topic 810-10 requires the primary beneficiary of a variable interest entity's activities to consolidate the VIE. The primary beneficiary is identified as the enterprise that has a) the power to direct the activities of the VIE that most significantly impact the entity's economic performance and b) the obligation to absorb losses of the entity that could potentially be significant to the VIE or the right to receive benefits from the entity that could potentially be significant to the VIE. The standard requires an ongoing analysis to determine whether the variable interest gives rise to a controlling financial interest in the VIE. Based upon the general partner’s roles and rights as afforded by the partnership agreements and its exposure to losses and benefits of each of the partnerships through its significant limited partner interests, intercompany credit facilities, and services agreements, CVR determined that it is the primary beneficiary of both the Refining Partnership and the Nitrogen Fertilizer Partnership. Based upon that determination, CVR continues to consolidate both the Refining and Nitrogen Fertilizer Partnerships in its consolidated financial statements.

Use of Estimates

The consolidated financial statements have been prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America ("GAAP"), using management's best estimates and judgments where appropriate. These estimates and judgments affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ materially from these estimates and judgments.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

For purposes of the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows, CVR considers all highly liquid money market accounts and debt instruments with original maturities of three months or less to be cash equivalents. Under the Company's cash management system, checks issued but not presented to banks frequently result in book overdraft balances for accounting purposes and are classified within accounts payable in the Consolidated Balance Sheets. The change in book overdrafts are reported in the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows as a component of operating cash flows for accounts payable as they do not represent bank overdrafts.

Accounts Receivable, net

CVR grants credit to its customers. Credit is extended based on an evaluation of a customer's financial condition; generally, collateral is not required. Accounts receivable are due on negotiated terms and are stated at amounts due from customers, net of an allowance for doubtful accounts. Accounts outstanding longer than their contractual payment terms are considered past due. CVR determines its allowance for doubtful accounts by considering a number of factors, including the length of time trade accounts are past due, the customer's ability to pay its obligations to CVR, and the condition of the general economy and the industry as a whole. CVR writes off accounts receivable when they become uncollectible, and payments subsequently received on such receivables are credited to the allowance for doubtful accounts. Amounts collected on accounts receivable are included in net cash provided by operating activities in the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows.

Inventories

Inventories consist primarily of domestic and foreign crude oil, blending stock and components, work-in-progress, fertilizer products, and refined fuels and by-products. Inventories are valued at the lower of the first-in, first-out ("FIFO") cost, or net realizable value for fertilizer products, refined fuels and by-products for all periods presented. Refinery unfinished and finished products inventory values were determined using the ability-to-bear process, whereby raw materials and production costs are allocated to work-in-process and finished products based on their relative fair values. Other inventories, including other raw materials, spare parts, and supplies, are valued at the lower of moving-average cost, which approximates FIFO, or net realizable value. The cost of inventories includes inbound freight costs.

Prepaid Expenses and Other Current Assets

Prepaid expenses and other current assets consist of prepayments for crude oil deliveries to the Refining Partnership's refineries for which title had not transferred, non-trade accounts receivable, current portions of prepaid insurance, deferred financing costs, derivative agreements and other general current assets.

Property, Plant, and Equipment

Property, Plant and Equipment

Additions to property, plant and equipment, including capitalized interest and certain costs allocable to construction and property purchases, are recorded at cost. Capitalized interest is added to any capital project over $1.0 million in cost which is expected to take more than six months to complete. When assets are placed in service, reasonable useful lives for those assets are estimated. Depreciation is computed using principally the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the various classes of depreciable assets. The lives used in computing depreciation for such assets are as follows:



Asset	Range of Useful Lives, in Years
Improvements to land	15 to 30
Buildings	20 to 30
Machinery and equipment	5 to 30
Automotive equipment	5 to 15
Furniture and fixtures	3 to 10
Aircraft	20
Railcars	25 to 30

Leasehold improvements and assets held under capital leases are depreciated or amortized on the straight-line method over the shorter of the contractual lease term or the estimated useful life of the asset. Expenditures for routine maintenance and repair costs are expensed when incurred. Such expenses are reported in direct operating expenses (exclusive of depreciation and amortization) in the Company's Consolidated Statements of Operations.

Goodwill and Intangible Assets

Goodwill represents the excess of the cost of an acquired entity over the fair value of the assets acquired less liabilities assumed. Intangible assets are assets that lack physical substance (excluding financial assets). Goodwill acquired in a business combination and intangible assets with indefinite useful lives are not amortized, and intangible assets with finite useful lives are amortized. Goodwill and intangible assets not subject to amortization are tested for impairment annually or more frequently if events or changes in circumstances indicate the asset might be impaired. CVR uses November 1 of each year as its annual valuation date for its goodwill impairment test. The Company performed its annual impairment review of goodwill for 2017, 2016 and 2015, which is attributable entirely to the nitrogen fertilizer segment and concluded there were no impairments. See Note 8 ("Goodwill") for further discussion.

Deferred Financing Costs

Deferred financing costs associated with debt issuances are amortized to interest expense and other financing costs using the effective-interest method over the life of the debt. Additionally, any underwriting and original issue discount and premium related to debt issuances are amortized to interest expense and other financing costs using the effective-interest method over the life of the debt. Deferred financing costs related to line-of-credit arrangements are amortized to interest expense and other financing costs using the straight-line method through the termination date of the facility.

Planned Major Maintenance Costs

The direct-expense method of accounting is used for planned major maintenance activities. Maintenance costs are recognized as expense when maintenance services are performed. Planned major maintenance activities for the nitrogen plant generally occur every two to three years. The required frequency of planned major maintenance activities varies by unit for the refineries, but generally is every four to five years. Costs associated with these turnaround activities were included in direct operating expenses (exclusive of depreciation and amortization) in the Consolidated Statements of Operations.

Cost Classifications

Cost of materials and other includes cost of crude oil, other feedstocks, blendstocks, purchased refined products, pet coke expenses, renewable identification numbers ("RINs") expenses and freight and distribution costs.

Direct operating expenses (exclusive of depreciation and amortization) consist primarily of energy and other utility costs, direct costs of labor, property taxes, plant-related maintenance services, including turnaround and environmental and safety compliance costs as well as catalyst and chemical costs.

Selling, general and administrative expenses (exclusive of depreciation and amortization) consist primarily of legal expenses, treasury, accounting, marketing, human resources, information technology and maintaining the corporate and administrative offices in Texas and Kansas.

Income Taxes

CVR accounts for income taxes utilizing the asset and liability approach. Under this method, deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the anticipated future tax consequences attributable to differences between the financial statement carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax basis. Deferred amounts are measured using enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the year those temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. The effect on deferred tax assets and liabilities of a change in tax rates is recognized in income in the period that includes the enactment date.

Impairment of Long-Lived Assets

CVR accounts for long-lived assets in accordance with accounting standards issued by the FASB regarding the treatment of the impairment or disposal of long-lived assets. As required by these standards, CVR reviews long-lived assets (excluding goodwill, intangible assets with indefinite lives, and deferred tax assets) for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset may not be recoverable. Recoverability of assets to be held and used is measured by a comparison of the carrying amount of an asset to estimated undiscounted future net cash flows expected to be generated by the asset. If the carrying amount of an asset exceeds its estimated undiscounted future net cash flows, an impairment charge is recognized for the amount by which the carrying amount of the assets exceeds their fair value. Assets to be disposed of are reported at the lower of their carrying value or fair value less cost to sell.

Revenue Recognition

Revenues for products sold are recorded upon delivery of the products to customers, which is the point at which title is transferred, the customer has assumed the risk of loss and payment has been received or collection is reasonably assured. Deferred revenue represents customer prepayments under contracts to guarantee a price and supply of nitrogen fertilizer in quantities expected to be delivered in the next 12 months in the normal course of business. Excise and other taxes collected from customers and remitted to governmental authorities are not included in reported revenues.

Non-monetary product exchanges and certain buy/sell crude oil transactions which are entered into in the normal course of business are included on a net cost basis in operating expenses on the Consolidated Statements of Operations.

Shipping Costs

Pass-through finished goods delivery costs reimbursed by customers are reported in net sales, while an offsetting expense is included in cost of materials and other.

Derivative Instruments and Fair Value of Financial Instruments

The petroleum business uses futures contracts, options, and forward contracts primarily to reduce exposure to changes in crude oil prices and finished goods product prices to provide economic hedges of inventory positions. Although management considers these derivatives economic hedges, these derivative instruments do not qualify as hedges for hedge accounting purposes under ASC Topic 815, Derivatives and Hedging, and accordingly are recorded at fair value in the balance sheet. Changes in the fair value of these derivative instruments are recorded into earnings as a component of other income (expense) in the period of change. The estimated fair values of forward and swap contracts are based on quoted market prices and assumptions for the estimated forward yield curves of related commodities in periods when quoted market prices are unavailable. See Note 17 ("Derivative Financial Instruments") for further discussion.

The nitrogen fertilizer business enters into forward contracts with fixed delivery prices to purchase portions of its natural gas requirements. The nitrogen fertilizer partnership elected to apply the normal purchase and normal sale exclusion to natural gas contracts that are entered into to be used in production within a reasonable time during the normal course of business. Accordingly, the fair value of these contracts is not recorded on the Consolidated Balance Sheets.

Other financial instruments consisting of cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable, and accounts payable are carried at cost, which approximates fair value, as a result of the short-term nature of the instruments. See Note 11 ("Long-Term Debt") for further discussion of the fair value of the debt instruments.

Share-Based Compensation

The Company accounts for share-based compensation in accordance with ASC Topic 718, Compensation — Stock Compensation ("ASC 718"). ASC 718 requires that compensation costs relating to share-based payment transactions be recognized in a company's financial statements. ASC 718 applies to transactions in which an entity exchanges its equity instruments for goods or services and also may apply to liabilities an entity incurs for goods or services that are based on the fair value of those equity instruments. Currently, all of the Company's share-based compensation awards are liability-classified and are measured at fair value at the end of each reporting period based on the applicable closing unit price. Compensation expense will fluctuate based on changes in the applicable unit price value and expense reversals resulting from employee terminations prior to award vesting. See Note 4 ("Share-Based Compensation") for further discussion.

The Company's Chief Executive Officer has been awarded share-based compensation awards that contain performance conditions. The fair value of the awards is recognized as compensation expense only if the attainment of the performance conditions is considered probable. Uncertainties involved in this estimate include the continued employment of the Chief Executive Officer and whether or not the performance conditions will be attained. The performance objectives are set in accordance with approved levels of the business plan for the fiscal year during the performance cycle and therefore are considered reasonably possible of being achieved. If this assumption proves not to be true and the awards do not vest, compensation expense recognized during the performance cycle will be reversed.

Treasury Stock

The Company accounts for its treasury stock under the cost method. To date, all treasury stock purchased was for the purpose of satisfying minimum statutory tax withholdings due at the vesting of non-vested stock awards.

Environmental Matters

Liabilities related to future remediation costs of past environmental contamination of properties are recognized when the related costs are considered probable and can be reasonably estimated. Estimates of these costs are based upon currently available facts, internal and third party assessments of contamination, available remediation technology, site-specific costs, and currently enacted laws and regulations. In reporting environmental liabilities, no offset is made for potential recoveries. Loss contingency accruals, including those for environmental remediation, are subject to revision as further information develops or circumstances change and such accruals can take into account the legal liability of other parties. Environmental expenditures are capitalized at the time of the expenditure when such costs provide future economic benefits.

Subsequent Events

The Company evaluated subsequent events, if any, that would require an adjustment to the Company's consolidated financial statements or require disclosure in the notes to the consolidated financial statements through the date of issuance of the consolidated financial statements. See Note 22 ("Subsequent Events") for further discussion.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU No. 2014-09, creating a new topic, FASB ASC Topic 606, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers", which supersedes revenue recognition requirements in FASB ASC Topic 605, “Revenue Recognition.” This ASU requires an entity to recognize the amount of revenue to which it expects to be entitled for the transfer of promised goods or services to customers. In addition, an entity is required to disclose sufficient information to enable users of financial statements to understand the nature, amount, timing and uncertainty of revenue and cash flows arising from contracts with customers. The standard is effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2017. The Company adopted this standard, effective January 1, 2018, using the modified retrospective application method, whereby the cumulative effect of initially applying the standard is recognized, if applicable, as an adjustment to the opening balance of retained deficit. The standard is applied prospectively and revenues reported in the periods prior to January 1, 2018 will not be changed. During the evaluation of the standard, the Company reviewed its existing revenue streams, including an evaluation of accounting policies, contract reviews and identification of the types of arrangements where differences may arise in the conversion to the new standard, identified practical expedients to be elected, and evaluated additional disclosure requirements. The Company did not identify any material differences in its existing revenue recognition methods that require modification under the new standard and does not expect to record a material cumulative effect adjustment of applying the standard using the modified retrospective method. The standard's most significant impacts to the Company relate to enhanced disclosure requirements and a balance sheet presentation difference associated with contracts requiring customer prepayment prior to delivery. Prior to adoption of the new standard, deferred revenue was recorded upon customer prepayment. Under the new standard, a receivable and associated deferred revenue will be recorded at the point in time in which a prepaid contract is legally enforceable and the associated right to consideration is unconditional.

In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-02, “Leases” (“ASU 2016-02”) creating a new topic, FASB ASC Topic 842, "Leases," which supersedes lease requirements in FASB ASC Topic 840, "Leases." The new standard revises accounting for operating leases by a lessee, among other changes, and requires a lessee to recognize a liability related to future lease payments and an asset representing its right to use the underlying asset for the lease term in the balance sheet. Quantitative and qualitative disclosures, including disclosures regarding significant judgments made by management, will be required. The standard is effective for the first interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2018, with early adoption permitted. At adoption, ASU 2016-02 will be applied using the modified retrospective application method and allows for certain practical expedients. The Company expects its assessment and implementation plan to be ongoing during 2018 and is currently unable to reasonably estimate the impact of adopting the new lease standard on its consolidated financial statements and related disclosures. The Company currently believes the most significant change will relate to the recognition of right-of-use assets and leases liability on the balance sheet for existing long-term operating leases, the majority of which are railcar leases, and the potential recognition for agreements that do not currently meet the definition of a lease under ASC Topic 840, which will require an evaluation of the Company's unconditional purchase obligations primarily related to petroleum transportation and storage service agreements. The right of use asset, lease liability and related disclosures could be material.

In January 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-01, “Business Combinations (Topic 805) Clarifying the Definition of a Business” ("ASU 2017-01"). The new guidance revises the definition of a business and provides more stringent criteria for use in determining when an acquisition or disposal transaction meets the definition of a business. When substantially all of the fair value of gross assets acquired is concentrated in a single asset (or a group of similar assets), the assets acquired would not represent a business. This introduces an initial required screen that, if met, eliminates the need for further assessment. The new guidance is effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2017, with early adoption permitted. The Company adopted this standard as of January 1, 2017.

In January 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-04, “Intangibles-Goodwill and Other (Topic 350) - Simplifying the Test for Goodwill Impairment" (“ASU 2017-04”). The new standard simplifies the accounting for goodwill impairments by eliminating step 2 from the goodwill quantitative impairment test. Instead, if the carrying amount of a reporting unit exceeds its fair value, an impairment loss shall be recognized in an amount equal to that excess, limited to the total amount of goodwill allocated to that reporting unit. The standard is effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2019, with early adoption permitted. The Company adopted this standard as of January 1, 2017.