In May 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2014-09, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606)”, which provides a single comprehensive model for entities to use in accounting for revenue arising from contracts with customers. This ASU requires revenue recognition to depict the transfer of goods and services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. The new revenue recognition model requires identifying the contract and performance obligations, determining the transaction price, allocating the transaction price to performance obligations and recognizing the revenue upon satisfaction of performance obligations. The Company adopted ASU 2014-09 and all the related amendments on October 1, 2018, using the modified retrospective transition method. The Company recognized the cumulative effect of applying the new revenue standard as a reduction of $0.7 million, net of tax, to the opening balance of Accumulated Earnings at the beginning of the fiscal year 2019. The comparative information has not been restated and continues to be reported under the accounting standards in effect for those periods.

The following are changes to the Company’s revenue recognition accounting policies from those previously disclosed in Note 2 – Significant Accounting Policies and Practices to the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for year ended September 30, 2018 and Form 8-K issued on April 5, 2019.

Our customers mostly consist of retailers, wholesalers and distributors, and construction companies with the intention to sell and distribute to an end consumer. Spectrum recognizes revenue from the sale of products upon transfer of control to the customer. For the majority of our product sales, the transfer of control is recognized when we ship the product from our facilities to the customer. Timing of revenue recognition for a majority of the Company’s sales continues to be consistent. Previously, the Company deferred recognition of revenue if title and risk of loss were retained upon shipment, but the customer arranged and paid for freight such that they had physical possession and control. Under Topic 606, the Company recognizes revenue at the time of shipment for these transactions. This change did not have a material impact on the Company’s adoption of the new standard on October 1, 2018 or comparability to revenue in prior periods.

The Company also sells licenses of its brands to third-party sellers and manufacturers for the development, production, sales & distribution of products that are not directly managed or offered by the Company. The Company maintains all right of ownership of the intellectual property and contracts with its customer for the use of the intellectual property in their operations. Under ASC 606, revenue derived from the right-to-access licenses is recognized using the over time revenue recognition method. We elected to recognize revenue under the ‘as-invoiced’ practical expedient method at the amount we are able to bill using a time-elapsed measure of progress. The Company has assessed that recognizing revenue based on a time-elapsed measure of progress, taking into consideration any minimum guarantee provisions under the contract, appropriately depicts its performance of providing access to the Company’s brands, trade names, logos, etc. This change did not have a material impact on the Company’s adoption of the new standard on October 1, 2018 or comparability to revenue recognition in prior periods.

Other revenue consists primarily of installation or maintenance services that are provided to certain customers in the PET segment. The services are often associated with the sale of product but are also provided separately and are considered a distinct performance obligation separate from product sales.
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NOTE 2 – BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (continued)

Variable Consideration and Cash Paid to Customers

The Company measures revenue as the amount of consideration for which it expects to be entitled in exchange for transferring goods or providing services. Certain retailers and/or end customers may receive cash or non-cash incentives such as rebates, volume or trade discounts, cooperative advertising, price protection, service level penalties, and other customer-related programs, which are accounted for as variable consideration. Estimated amounts are included in the transaction price to the extent it is probable that a significant reversal of revenue recognized will not occur when the uncertainty is resolved. Estimates of variable consideration and determination of whether to include estimated amounts in the transaction price are based largely on an assessment of the anticipated performance and all information (historical, current and forecasted) that is reasonably available. The estimated liability for sales discounts and other programs and allowances is calculated using the expected value method or most likely amount and recorded at the time of sale as a reduction of net sales.

The Company also enters into various arrangements, primarily with retail customers, which require the Company to make upfront cash payments to secure the right to distribute through such customers. The Company capitalizes these payments, provided they are supported by a volume-based arrangement with the retailer with a period of 12 months or longer, and amortizes the associated payment over the appropriate time or volume-based term of the arrangement. Capitalized payments are recognized as a contract asset and are reported in the Consolidated Statements of Financial Position as Deferred Charges and Other Assets and related amortization is treated as a reduction in Net Sales.

Product returns

In the normal course of business, Spectrum may allow customers to return product per the provisions in a sale agreement. Estimated product returns are recorded as a reduction in reported revenues at the time of sale based upon historical product return experience, adjusted for known trends, to arrive at the amount of consideration expected to receive. For the anticipated value of the returns, the adoption of Topic 606 resulted in the recognition of a return asset included in the Prepaid Expenses and Other Current Assets and the returns liability recognized in Other Current Liabilities. The Company recognized an expected returns liability of $40.5 million as of June 30, 2019, most of which the Company does not expect or anticipate a returned asset. Prior to the adoption of Topic 606, the reserve for product returns was recognized net of anticipated value of returned product as a reduction to Trade Receivable, Net on the Company’s Condensed Consolidated Statement of Financial Position and was $34.6 million as of September 30, 2018.

Practical Expedients and Exemptions

The Company accounts for shipping and handling activities which occur after control of the related goods transfers as fulfillment activities instead of assessing such activities as performance obligations. The use of the practical expedient did not impact the accounting for the adoption of Topic 606.

The Company does not adjust the promised amount of consideration for the effects of a significant financing component, as the period between the transfer of a promised good or service to a customer and the customer’s payment for the good or service is one year or less.

The Company does not assess whether promised goods or services are performance obligations if they are immaterial in the context of the contract with the customer.

The Company does not disclose the value of unsatisfied performance obligations for (i) contracts with an original expected length of one year or less and (ii) contracts for which we recognize revenue at the amount to which we have the right to invoice for services performed. The estimated revenue expected to be recognized in the future related to performance obligations that are unsatisfied or partially unsatisfied at the end of the reporting period is immaterial.

The Company generally expenses sales commissions and other contract and fulfillment costs when the amortization period is less than one year. The Company records these costs within selling, general and administrative expenses. For costs amortized over a period longer than one year, such as fixtures which are much more permanent in nature, the Company defers and amortizes over the supportable period based upon historical assumptions and analysis. The costs for permanent displays are incorporated into the pricing of product sold to customer.

The Company excludes all sales taxes that are assessed by a governmental authority from the transaction price.

In August 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-15, Classification of Certain Cash Receipts and Cash Payments, which addresses diversity in practice with the classification and presentation of certain cash receipts and cash payments in the statement of cash flows. The amendments in this update address the classification within the statement of cash flow for debt prepayment or debt extinguishment costs, settlement of zero-coupon debt instruments, contingent payments made after a business combination, proceeds from the settlement of insurance claims and corporate-owned life insurance policies, distributions received from equity method investees, and beneficial interests in securitization transactions, among other separately identifiable cash flows when applying the predominance principle. The Company retrospectively adopted ASU 2016 -15 on October 1, 2018. The adoption of this standard did not have a material impact on the consolidated financial statements.

In November 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-18, Restricted Cash, which addresses diversity in practice with the classification and presentation of restricted cash in the statement of cash flow, classifying transfers between cash and restricted cash as operating, investing, or financing activities, or as a combination of those activities, in the statement of cash flows. The amendment requires the statement of cash flows to explain the change during the period in total cash, cash equivalents, and amounts generally described as restricted cash or restricted cash equivalents; and include with cash and cash equivalents when reconciling the beginning-of-period and end-of-period amounts shown on the statement of cash flows. The Company retrospectively adopted ASU 2016-18 on October 1, 2018. The Company does not have any restricted cash on the Condensed Consolidated Statement of Financial Position as of June 30, 2019; however, the Company had $8.9 million of restricted cash included in Prepaid Expenses and Other Current Assets on the Condensed Consolidated Statement of Financial Position as of September 30, 2018 that primarily consisted of funds held in escrow for a contingent payment related to our PetMatrix acquisition that was subsequently paid during the current quarter. Restricted cash and changes in restricted cash have been reflected in the Company’s Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the nine month periods ended June 30, 2019 and 2018.

In March 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-07, Compensation – Retirement Benefits (Topic 715): Improving the Presentation of Net Periodic Pension Cost and Net Periodic Postretirement Benefit Cost, which requires an employer to disaggregate the service cost component from the other components of net periodic pension costs within the statement of income. The amendment provides guidance requiring the service cost component to be recognized consistent with other compensation costs arising from service rendered by employees during the period, and all other components to be recognized separately outside of the subtotal of income from operations. Due to the adoption of ASU No. 2017-07, the components of net periodic benefit cost other than the service cost component are recognized as Other Non-Operating (Income) Expense, Net on the Statement of Income. The adoption of ASU No. 2017-07 requires a retrospective restatement of prior periods, which was inconsequential to the Company’s Condensed Consolidated Statement of Income. See Note 14 Employee Benefits Plan for further detail on the components of net periodic costs.

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NOTE 2 – BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (continued)

In January 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-01 Financial Instruments-Overall. This new standard enhances the reporting model for financial instruments regarding certain aspects of recognition, measurement, presentation, and disclosure. The provisions of this ASU are effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2017, and interim reporting periods within those annual periods. This ASU is to be applied using a cumulative-effect adjustment to the balance sheet as of the beginning of the fiscal year of adoption. The Company adopted this ASU in the first quarter of fiscal 2019. The adoption of this ASU did not have a material impact on the Company's consolidated financial statements.

In October 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-16“Intra-Entity Transfers of Assets Other Than Inventory”, which eliminates the exception of recognizing, at the time of transfer, current and deferred income taxes for intra-entity asset transfers other than inventory. Upon adoption of ASU 2016-16, the Company recognized the tax expense from the sale of that asset in the seller’s tax jurisdiction when the transfer occurred, even though the pre-tax effects of that transaction are eliminated in consolidation. Any deferred tax asset that arose in the buyer’s jurisdiction was also recognized at the time of the transfer. Modified retrospective adoption was required with any cumulative-effect adjustment recorded to retained earnings as of the beginning of the period of adoption. The cumulative-effect adjustment consisted of the net impact from (1) the write-off of any unamortized tax expense previously deferred and (2) recognition of any previously unrecognized deferred tax assets, net of any necessary valuation allowances. The Company implemented this ASU on October 1, 2018. During the fiscal second quarter ended March 31, 2019, the Company identified an error in the impact from adoption on the Company’s deferred tax assets of $30.7 million, impacting the cumulative impact from adoption recognized. The Company concluded that the misstatement was not material to the consolidated financial statements and corrected the cumulative adoption at the beginning of the fiscal year ending September 30, 2019 in the Company’s Condensed Consolidated Statement of Shareholders’ Equity. Effectively, the cumulative impact arising from the adoption was a decrease to Accumulated Earnings as of October 1, 2018 of $2.4 million. The impact of the adoption of this standard on future periods is dependent on future asset transfers, which generally occur in connection with acquisitions and other business restructuring activities.