BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

The Company

Carriage Services, Inc. (“Carriage,” the “Company,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) is a leading provider of deathcare services and merchandise in the United States. As of March 31, 2018, we operated 178 funeral homes in 29 states and 32 cemeteries in 11 states. Our operations are reported in two business segments: Funeral Home Operations, which currently account for approximately 80% of our revenues and Cemetery Operations, which currently account for approximately 20% of our revenues.

Our funeral homes offer a complete range of high value personal services to meet a family’s funeral needs, including consultation, the removal and preparation of remains, the sale of caskets and related funeral merchandise, the use of funeral home facilities for visitation and remembrance services and transportation services. Our cemeteries provide interment rights (grave sites and mausoleum spaces) and related merchandise, such as markers and outer burial containers. We market funeral and cemetery services and products on both an “atneed” (time of death) and “preneed” (planned prior to death) basis.

Principles of Consolidation and Interim Condensed Disclosures

Our unaudited consolidated financial statements include the Company and its subsidiaries. All intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated. Our interim consolidated financial statements are unaudited but include all adjustments, which consist of normal, recurring accruals, that are necessary for a fair presentation of our financial position and results of operations as of and for the interim periods presented. Our unaudited consolidated financial statements have been prepared in a manner consistent with the accounting principles described in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017 unless otherwise disclosed herein, and should be read in conjunction therewith.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

We consider all highly liquid investments purchased with an original maturity of three months or less to be cash equivalents.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of our Consolidated Financial Statements requires us to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses. On an ongoing basis, we evaluate our estimates and judgments, including those related to revenue recognition, realization of accounts receivable, goodwill, intangible assets, property and equipment and deferred tax assets and liabilities. We base our estimates on historical experience, third-party data and assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances. The results of these considerations form the basis for making judgments about the amount and timing of revenues and expenses, the carrying value of assets and the recorded amounts of liabilities. Actual results may differ from these estimates and such estimates may change if the underlying conditions or assumptions change. Historical performance should not be viewed as indicative of future performance, as there can be no assurance that our results of operations will be consistent from year to year.

Revenue Recognition - Funeral Home Operations

Our funeral home operations are principally service businesses that generate revenues from sales of burial and cremation services and related merchandise, such as caskets and urns. Funeral services include consultation, the removal and preparation of remains, the use of funeral home facilities for visitation and remembrance services and transportation services. We provide funeral services and products on both an atneed and preneed basis.

Funeral arrangements sold at the time of death are referred to as atneed funeral contracts. We record the revenue from atneed funeral contracts when the merchandise is delivered or the service is performed. Merchandise delivery and service performance generally takes place shortly after the time of need. Payment is due at or before time of transfer. Outstanding balances due from customers, if any, on atneed funeral contracts are included in Accounts receivable on our Consolidated Balance Sheets.

Funeral arrangements sold prior to death occurring are referred to as preneed funeral contracts. In many instances, the customer pays for the preneed contract over a period of time. The performance of a preneed funeral contract is secured by placing the funds collected, less amounts that we may retain under state regulations, in trust for the benefit of the customer or by the customer's purchase of a life insurance policy, the proceeds of which will pay for such services at the time of need. These methods are intended to fund preneed funeral contracts, cover the original contract price and generally include an element of growth (earnings) designed to offset future inflationary cost increases.

Revenue from preneed funeral contracts, along with accumulated earnings, is deferred until the time the merchandise is delivered or the service is performed. The principal and accumulated earnings of the trusts are withdrawn at maturity (death) or cancellation. The cumulative trust income earned and the increases in insurance benefits on the insurance products are recognized when the service is performed. The amounts deposited in trusts that we control are included in the non-current asset section of our Consolidated Balance Sheets. Beginning January 1, 2018, balances due on undelivered preneed funeral trust contracts have been reclassified to reduce Deferred preneed funeral revenue on our Consolidated Balance Sheet, as noted in our table of Deferred Revenue in Note 3 to the Consolidated Financial Statements. See Note 2 to the Consolidated Financial Statements included herein for additional information related to our adoption of the new revenue recognition standard on January 1, 2018.

The earnings from our preneed funeral trust investments, as well as trust management fees charged by our wholly-owned registered investment advisory firm, (“CSV RIA”), are recorded as Preneed trust earnings - funeral, as noted in our table of disaggregated revenues in Note 3. As of March 31, 2018, CSV RIA provided these services to two institutions, which have custody of 79% of our trust assets, for a fee based on the market value of trust assets. Under state trust laws, we are allowed to charge the trust a fee for advising on the investment of the trust assets and these fees are recognized as income in the period in which services are provided.

When preneed funeral contracts are funded through third-party insurance policies, we earn a commission on the sale of the policies. Insurance commissions are recorded as Preneed funeral commission income, as noted in our table of disaggregated revenues in Note 3, at the point at which the commission is no longer subject to refund, which is typically one year after the policy is issued. Preneed funeral contracts to be funded at maturity by insurance policies totaled $371.5 million at March 31, 2018 and are not included on our Consolidated Balance Sheets.

See Note 3 to the Consolidated Financial Statements included herein for additional information on our revenues.

Revenue Recognition - Cemetery Operations

Our cemetery operations generate revenues primarily through sales of cemetery interment rights (primarily grave sites, lawn crypts, mausoleum spaces and niches), related cemetery merchandise (such as outer burial containers, memorial markers and floral placements) and services (interments, inurnments and installation of cemetery merchandise). We provide cemetery services and products on both an atneed and preneed basis.

Cemetery arrangements sold at the time of death are referred to as atneed cemetery contracts. We record the revenue from atneed cemetery contracts when the product is delivered or the service is performed. Payment is due at or before time of transfer. Outstanding balances due from customers, if any, on completed atneed contracts are included in Accounts receivable on our Consolidated Balance Sheet.

Cemetery arrangements sold prior to death occurring are referred to as preneed cemetery contracts. Preneed cemetery contracts are usually financed through interest-bearing installment sales contracts, generally with terms of up to five years. In substantially all cases, we receive an initial down payment at the time the contract is signed.

We record revenue on the sales of cemetery property interment rights at the time the contract is signed. Customers select a specific location and space for their interment right, thus, restricting us from other use or transfer of the contracted cemetery property. The interment right is deeded to the customer when the contract is paid in full. Revenue from preneed sales of cemetery merchandise and services contracts, along with accumulated earnings, is not recognized until the time the merchandise is transferred or the service is performed. Earnings on these installment contracts are recorded as Preneed cemetery finance charges, as noted in our table of disaggregated revenues in Note 3 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.

The performance of the preneed cemetery contracts is secured by placing the funds collected, less amounts that we may retain under state regulations, in trust for the benefit of the customer, the proceeds of which will pay for such services at the time of need. This method is intended to fund preneed contracts, cover the original contract price and generally include an element of growth (earnings) designed to offset future inflationary cost increases. The amounts deposited in trusts that we control are included in the non-current asset section of our Consolidated Balance Sheets. The earnings from preneed cemetery contracts placed in trust are recorded as Preneed trust earnings - cemetery, as noted in our table of disaggregated revenues in Note 3 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.

Balances due from customers on delivered preneed cemetery contracts are included in Accounts receivable and Preneed receivables on our Consolidated Balance Sheet. Beginning January 1, 2018, balances due on undelivered preneed cemetery contracts have been reclassified to reduce Deferred preneed cemetery revenue on our Consolidated Balance Sheet, as noted in our table of Deferred Revenue in Note 3 to the Consolidated Financial Statements. See Note 2 to the Consolidated Financial Statements included herein for additional information related to our adoption of the new revenue recognition standard on January 1, 2018.

Interment right costs, which include real property and other costs related to cemetery development, are expensed using the specific identification method in the period in which the sale of the interment right is recognized as revenue. We recorded amortization expense for cemetery interment rights of approximately $0.8 million and $0.9 million for the three months ended March 31, 2017 and 2018, respectively.

See Note 3 to the Consolidated Financial Statements included herein for additional information on our revenues.

Arrangements with Multiple Performance Obligations

Some of our contracts with customers include multiple performance obligations. For these contracts, we allocate transaction price to each performance obligation based on its relative standalone selling price, which is based on prices charged to customers per our general price list. Packages for service and ancillary items are offered to help the customer make decisions during emotional/stressful times. Package discounts are reflected net in Services Revenue. We recognize revenue when the merchandise is transferred or the service is performed, in satisfaction of the corresponding performance obligation. Sales taxes collected are recognized on a net basis in our Consolidated Financial Statements.

Allowances for bad debts and customer cancellations

Our funeral receivables primarily consist of amounts due for funeral services already performed which were $8.5 million and $7.8 million at December 31, 2017 and March 31, 2018, respectively. We estimate an allowance for doubtful accounts on these receivables based on our historical experience, which amounted to 2.5% and 2.4% of funeral receivables at December 31, 2017 and March 31, 2018, respectively. In addition, our other funeral receivables not related to funeral services performed were $0.8 million and $0.5 million at December 31, 2017 and March 31, 2018, respectively.

Our cemetery financed receivables totaled $40.5 million and $41.3 million at December 31, 2017 and March 31, 2018, respectively. The unearned finance charges associated with these receivables were $5.7 million at both December 31, 2017 and March 31, 2018. If a preneed contract is canceled prior to delivery, state law determines the amount of the refund owed to the customer. Allowances for bad debts and customer cancellations on cemetery financed receivables are provided at the date that the sale is recognized as revenue and are based on our historical experience. We also monitor changes in delinquency rates and provide additional bad debt and cancellation reserves when warranted. We have a collections policy where past due notifications are sent to the customer beginning at 15 days past due and periodically thereafter until the contract is cancelled or payment is received. We reserve 100% of the receivables on contracts in which the revenue has been recognized and payments are 90 days past due or more, which was approximately 4.9% and 4.7% of the total receivables at December 31, 2017 and March 31, 2018. See Note 5 to the Consolidated Financial Statements included herein for additional information on cemetery financed receivables.

Accounts receivable was comprised of the following at December 31, 2017 and March 31, 2018 (in thousands):



	December 31, 2017		March 31, 2018
Funeral receivables, net of allowance for bad debt of $213 and $184, respectively	$	9,061	$	8,099
Cemetery receivables, net of allowance for bad debt of $622 and $630, respectively	10,331		9,395
Other receivables	263		323
Accounts receivable, net	$	19,655	$	17,817

Non-current preneed receivables represent payments expected to be received beyond one year from the balance sheet date. Preneed receivables were comprised of the following at December 31, 2017 and March 31, 2018 (in thousands):



	December 31, 2017		March 31, 2018
Funeral receivables, net of allowance for bad debt of $882	$	7,934	$	—
Cemetery receivables, net of allowance for bad debt of $1,396 and $1,391, respectively	23,710		20,982
Preneed receivable, net	$	31,644	$	20,982

Bad debt expense totaled approximately $0.4 million and $0.5 million for the three months ended March 31, 2017 and 2018, respectively.

Capitalized Commissions on Preneed Contracts

Effective January 1, 2018, we adopted the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”), Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606), which impacted our accounting for incremental selling costs, primarily commission costs, related to preneed cemetery merchandise and services and preneed funeral trust contracts.

Upon adoption of Topic 606, we capitalize sales commissions and other direct selling costs related to preneed cemetery merchandise and services and preneed funeral trust contracts as these costs are incremental and recoverable costs of obtaining a contract with a customer. We recorded a cumulative adjustment of approximately $2.8 million to our opening Retained earnings and Intangible and other non-current assets on our Consolidated Balance Sheets on January 1, 2018. Our capitalized commissions on preneed contracts are amortized on a straight-line basis over the average maturity period for our preneed cemetery merchandise and services contracts and preneed funeral trust contracts, of eight and ten years, respectively. Amortization expense totaled approximately $149,000 for the three months ended March 31, 2018. There were no impairment losses recognized during this period.

The selling costs related to the sales of cemetery interment rights, which include real property and other costs related to cemetery development activities, continue to be expensed using the specific identification method in the period in which the sale of the cemetery interment right is recognized as revenue. The selling costs related to preneed funeral insurance contracts continue to be expensed in the period incurred as these contracts are not included on our Consolidated Balance Sheet.

See Note 2 to the Consolidated Financial Statements included herein for additional information related to our adoption of the new revenue recognition standard on January 1, 2018.

See Note 9 to the Consolidated Financial Statements included herein for additional information regarding our capitalized commissions on preneed contracts.

Property, Plant and Equipment

Property, plant and equipment (including equipment under capital leases) are stated at cost. The costs of ordinary maintenance and repairs are charged to operations as incurred, while renewals and major replacements that extend the useful economic life of the asset are capitalized. Depreciation of property, plant and equipment (including equipment under capital leases) is computed based on the straight-line method.

Property, plant and equipment was comprised of the following at December 31, 2017 and March 31, 2018 (in thousands):



	December 31, 2017			March 31, 2018
Land	$	74,981		$	74,981
Buildings and improvements	211,934			212,186
Furniture, equipment and automobiles	76,155			77,319
Property, plant and equipment, at cost	363,070			364,486
Less: accumulated depreciation	(115,776		)	(118,864		)
Property, plant and equipment, net	$	247,294		$	245,622

We recorded depreciation expense of approximately $3.1 million and $3.3 million for the three months ended March 31, 2017 and 2018, respectively.

Goodwill

The excess of the purchase price over the fair value of identifiable net assets of funeral home businesses acquired is recorded as goodwill. Goodwill has primarily been recorded in connection with the acquisition of funeral home businesses. Goodwill has an indefinite life and is not subject to amortization. As such, we test goodwill for impairment on an annual basis, using information as of August 31st each year. Our intent is to perform a quantitative impairment test at least once every three years unless certain indicators or events suggest otherwise and perform a qualitative assessment during the remaining two years.

We conducted qualitative assessments in 2017. For our 2016 annual impairment test, however, we performed a quantitative goodwill impairment test. See Part II, Item 7, Overview of Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates and Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data, Note 1, to the Consolidated Financial Statements in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017, for a discussion of the methodology used for the goodwill impairment test.

In addition to our annual review, we assess the impairment of goodwill whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value of a reporting unit may be greater than fair value. Factors that could trigger an interim impairment review include, but are not limited to, significant adverse changes in the business climate, which may be indicated by a decline in our market capitalization or decline in operating results. No such events or changes occurred between our testing date and reporting period to trigger a subsequent impairment review. No impairments were recorded to our goodwill during the three months ended March 31, 2017 and 2018.

Intangible Assets

Our intangible assets include tradenames resulting from acquisitions and are included in Intangible and other non-current assets on our Consolidated Balance Sheets. Our tradenames are considered to have an indefinite life and are not subject to amortization. As such, we test our intangible assets for impairment on an annual basis, using information as of August 31st each year. Our intent is to perform a quantitative impairment test at least once every three years unless certain indicators or events suggest otherwise and perform a qualitative assessment during the remaining two years.

We conducted qualitative assessments in 2017. For our 2016 annual impairment test, however, we performed a quantitative impairment test using the relief from royalty method. See Part II, Item 7, Overview of Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates and Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data, Note 1, to the Consolidated Financial Statements in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017, for a discussion of the methodology used for the intangibles impairment test.

In addition to our annual review, we assess the impairment of intangible assets whenever certain events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value of the intangible asset may be greater than the fair value. Factors that could trigger an interim impairment review include, but are not limited to, significant under-performance relative to historical or projected future operating results and significant negative industry or economic trends. No impairments were recorded to our intangible assets during the three months ended March 31, 2017 and 2018.

Stock Plans and Stock-Based Compensation

We have stock-based employee and director compensation plans under which we grant restricted stock, stock options and performance awards. We also have an employee stock purchase plan (the “ESPP”). We recognize compensation expense in an amount equal to the fair value of the stock-based awards expected to vest or to be purchased over the requisite service period.

Fair value is determined on the date of the grant. The fair value of restricted stock is determined using the stock price on the grant date. The fair value of options or awards containing options is determined using the Black-Scholes valuation model. The fair value of the performance awards related to market performance is determined using a Monte-Carlo simulation pricing model. The fair value of the performance awards related to internal performance metrics is determined using the stock price on the grant date. The fair value of the ESPP is determined based on the discount element offered to employees and the embedded option element, which is determined using an option calculation model.

See Note 12 to the Consolidated Financial Statements included herein for additional information on our stock-based compensation plans.

Income Taxes

We and our subsidiaries file a consolidated U.S. federal income tax return, separate income tax returns in 16 states in which we operate and combined or unitary income tax returns in 13 states in which we operate. We record deferred taxes for temporary differences between the tax basis and financial reporting basis of assets and liabilities.

We record a valuation allowance to reflect the estimated amount of deferred tax assets for which realization is uncertain. Management reviews the valuation allowance at the end of each quarter and makes adjustments if it is determined that it is more likely than not that the tax benefits will be realized.

We analyze the tax benefits for uncertain tax positions and how they are to be recognized, measured and derecognized in financial statements; provide certain disclosures of uncertain tax matters; and specify how reserves for uncertain tax positions should be classified on our Consolidated Balance Sheets.

Income tax expense during interim periods is based on our estimated annual effective income tax rate plus any discrete items, which are recorded in the period in which they occur. Discrete items include, but are not limited to, such events as changes in estimates due to finalization of income tax returns, tax audit settlements, tax effects of exercised or vested stock-based awards and increases or decreases in valuation allowances on deferred tax assets.

Income tax expense was $4.7 million for the three months ended March 31, 2017 compared to $2.9 million for the three months ended March 31, 2018. We recorded income taxes at the estimated effective rate, before discrete items, of 40.0% for the three months ended March 31, 2017 and approximately 27.5% for the three months ended March 31, 2018. The discrete items include an income tax benefit related to stock compensation and refunds received from the completion of state income tax audits, and income tax expense related to state tax rate changes and other non-material discrete state items. The decrease in the estimated effective tax rate, before discrete items, is primarily attributable to the reduction of the U.S. federal statutory income tax rate from 35% to 21% resulting from enactment of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (the “TCJA”).

Regulatory changes from the TCJA negatively impacted the effective tax rate for the first quarter of 2018 by 0.2% due to the repeal of the domestic production activities deduction and by 0.3% due to the exclusion of performance based compensation from the overall executive compensation deduction limitation. Additionally, regulatory changes to the deductibility of meals and entertainment along with the state conformity to the federal bonus depreciation rules both had a non-material negative rate impact on the effective tax rate.

Subsequent Events

Management evaluated events and transactions during the period subsequent to March 31, 2018 through the date the financial statements were issued for potential recognition or disclosure in the accompanying financial statements covered by this report.

See Note 16 to the Consolidated Financial Statements included herein for additional information on our subsequent events.