ACCOUNTING POLICIES (Policies)	9 Months Ended
ACCOUNTING POLICIES (Policies)	Sep. 30, 2020
ACCOUNTING POLICIES
Basis of Presentation	Basis of Presentation HBT Financial, Inc. (the Company) is headquartered in Bloomington, Illinois and is the holding company for Heartland Bank and Trust Company (Heartland Bank) and State Bank of Lincoln. Heartland Bank and State Bank of Lincoln are collectively referred to as “the Banks”. The Banks provide a comprehensive suite of business, commercial, wealth management and retail banking products and services to individuals, businesses, and municipal entities throughout Central and Northeastern Illinois. The unaudited consolidated financial statements, including the notes thereto, have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) interim reporting requirements. Certain information in footnote disclosures normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP has been condensed or omitted pursuant to rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission. These interim unaudited consolidated financial statements and notes thereto should be read in conjunction with the Company’s audited consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on March 27, 2020. The unaudited consolidated financial statements include all adjustments, consisting of normal recurring adjustments, necessary for a fair presentation of the results for the interim periods. The results for interim periods are not necessarily indicative of results for a full year. The Company qualifies as an "emerging growth company" as defined by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (JOBS Act). The JOBS Act permits emerging growth companies an extended transition period for complying with new or revised accounting standards affecting public companies. The Company has elected to use the extended transition period until the Company is no longer an emerging growth company or until the Company chooses to affirmatively and irrevocably opt out of the extended transition period. As a result, the Company’s financial statements may not be comparable to companies that comply with new or revised accounting pronouncements applicable to public companies.
Use of Estimates	Use of Estimates The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. In preparing the financial statements, management is required to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities as of the date of the balance sheet and the reported results of operations for the periods then ended. Actual results could differ significantly from those estimates. Material estimates that are particularly susceptible to significant changes in the near term relate to the determination of the allowance for loan losses and income taxes.
Income Taxes	Income Taxes Through October 10, 2019, the Company, with the consent of its then current stockholders, elected to be taxed under sections of federal and state income tax law as an "S Corporation" which provides that, in lieu of Company income taxes, except for state replacement taxes, the stockholders separately account for their pro rata shares of the Company’s items of income, deductions, losses and credits. As a result of this election, no income taxes, other than state replacement taxes, have been recognized in the accompanying consolidated financial statements. No provision has been made for any amounts which were advanced or paid as dividends to the stockholders to assist them in paying their personal taxes on the income from the Company. Effective October 11, 2019, the Company voluntarily revoked its S Corporation status and became a taxable entity (C Corporation). As such, any periods prior to October 11, 2019 only reflect an effective state replacement tax rate. The Company files consolidated federal and state income tax returns. The Company is no longer subject to federal and state income tax examinations for years prior to 2017.
Unaudited Pro Forma Income Statement Information	Unaudited Pro Forma Income Statement Information The unaudited pro forma C Corp equivalent income tax expense information gives effect to the income tax expense had the Company been a C Corporation during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019. The unaudited pro forma C Corp equivalent net income information, therefore, includes an adjustment for income tax expense as if the Company had been a C Corporation during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019. The unaudited pro forma basic and diluted earnings per share information is computed using the unaudited pro forma C Corp equivalent net income and weighted average shares of common stock outstanding. There were no dilutive instruments outstanding during 2019, therefore, the unaudited pro forma C Corp equivalent basic and diluted earnings per share amounts are the same.
Segment Reporting	Segment Reporting The Company’s operations consist of one reportable segment called community banking. While the Company’s management monitors both bank subsidiaries’ operations and profitability separately, these subsidiaries have been aggregated into one reportable segment due to the similarities in products and services, customer base, operations, profitability measures, and economic characteristics.
Goodwill	Goodwill Goodwill represents the excess of the original cost over the fair value of assets acquired and liabilities assumed. Goodwill is not amortized but instead is subject to an annual impairment evaluation. The Company has selected December 31 as the date to perform the annual impairment test, and at December 31, 2019, the Company’s evaluation of goodwill indicated that goodwill was not impaired. Due to the economic weakness resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Company completed a quantitative assessment of goodwill as of March 31, 2020 which indicated that goodwill was not impaired. Subsequently, the Company determined there were no adverse changes in criteria and key considerations to the previous assessment. Accordingly, the Company concluded that there is no impairment of goodwill as of September 30, 2020. Further goodwill impairment evaluations, which may result in goodwill impairment, may be necessary if events or circumstance changes would more likely than not reduce the fair value of a reporting unit below its carrying amount.
Reclassifications	Reclassifications Certain prior period amounts have been reclassified to conform to the current period presentation without any impact on the reported amounts of net income or stockholders’ equity.
Subsequent Events	Subsequent Events In preparing these consolidated financial statements, the Company has evaluated events and transactions for potential of recognition or disclosure through the date the financial statements were issued. On October 20, 2020, Heartland Bank and State Bank of Lincoln, our two bank subsidiaries, entered into a Bank Merger Agreement providing for the merger of State Bank of Lincoln into Heartland Bank. If the merger is consummated, the resulting institution will be Heartland Bank, which will then be our sole bank subsidiary, and the branch locations of State Bank of Lincoln will operate as “State Bank of Lincoln, a division of Heartland Bank and Trust Company.” The proposed merger is subject to conditions, including, among others, approval by the FDIC and the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. On November 2, 2020, the Company’s board of directors approved a stock repurchase program that authorizes the Company to repurchase up to $15 million of its common stock. The stock repurchase program will be in effect until December 31, 2021 with the timing of purchases and number of shares repurchased dependent upon a variety of factors including price, trading volume, corporate and regulatory requirements, and market conditions. The Company is not obligated to purchase any shares under the stock repurchase program, and the stock repurchase program may be suspended or discontinued at any time without notice.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements	Recent Accounting Pronouncements In June 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued ASU 2016‑13, Financial Instruments - Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments. ASU 2016‑13 requires the measurement of all expected credit losses for financial assets held at the reporting date based on historical experience, current conditions, and reasonable and supportable forecasts and requires enhanced disclosures related to the significant estimates and judgments used in estimating credit losses, as well as the credit quality and underwriting standards of an organization’s portfolio. In addition, ASU 2016‑13 amends the accounting for credit losses on debt securities available-for-sale and purchased financial assets with credit deterioration. ASU 2016‑13 is effective for years beginning after December 15, 2022, including interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted for years beginning after December 31, 2018, including interim periods within those years. The Company is currently evaluating the effect that this standard will have on the consolidated results of operations and financial position. In January 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017‑04, Intangibles – Goodwill and Other (Topic 350): Simplifying the Test for Goodwill Impairment. This ASU simplifies measurement of goodwill and eliminates Step 2 from the goodwill impairment test. Under the ASU, a company should perform its goodwill impairment test by comparing the fair value of a reporting unit with its carrying amount. An impairment charge should be recognized for the amount by which the carrying amount exceeds the reporting unit’s fair value. The impairment charge is limited to the amount of goodwill allocated to that reporting unit. The amendments in this update are effective for annual or any interim goodwill impairment tests in years beginning after December 15, 2022, including interim periods within those years. Early adoption is permitted for goodwill impairment tests performed on testing dates after January 1, 2017. This standard is not expected to have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated results of operations or financial position. In March 2020, the FASB issued ASU 2020-04, Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848): Facilitation of the Effects of Reference Rate Reform on Financial Reporting. This ASU provides optional expedients and exceptions for applying GAAP to contracts, hedging relationships, and other transactions affected by reference rate reform, if certain criteria are met. Entities may apply the provisions as of the beginning of the reporting period when the election is made and are available until December 31, 2022. The Company is currently evaluating the effect that this standard will have on the consolidated results of operations and financial position