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SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2019
Accounting Policies [Abstract]  
Organization, Consolidation, Basis of Presentation, Business Description and Accounting Policies [Text Block]

2.

SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES


Use of Estimates


The preparation of financial statements in conformity with the GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and 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 from those estimates.


Reclassification


Certain prior year amounts have been reclassified for consistency with the current period presentation. These reclassifications had no effect on the reported results of operations or cash flows.


Cash, Cash Equivalents and Restricted Cash


The Company’s cash, cash equivalent and Restricted cash represents the following:


 

Cash and cash equivalents consist of cash on hand, cash on deposit with banks, and highly liquid debt investments with a maturity of three months or less when purchased. The Company has cash equivalents of $0 and $45,854, excluding cash held for settlement liabilities, as of December 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018, respectively.


 

Restricted Cash – The Company’s technology enables transactional blockchain ledger to instantly reflect all transactions details. The final cash settlement of each transaction is subject to the gateway policies. This final disposition takes days to weeks to complete in accordance with these policies. Each policy is an integral part of the transactional contracts between the Company, its Independent Sales Organizations (ISOs), its agents, and the merchant clients. While the ledger reflects a held balance for the merchant, in reserve or payment in arears, the Company holds funds in a trust account as cash deemed restricted. The Company’s books reflect such restricted cash as a restricted cash and trust accounts, and the sum balance due to merchants and ISOs as settlement liabilities.


The following table provides a reconciliation of cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash reported within the statement of financial position that sum to the total of the same such amounts shown in the statement of cash flows.


   

December 31, 2019

   

December 31, 2018

 
                 

Cash and cash equivalents

  $ -     $ 45,854  

Restricted cash

    763,110       239,124  
                 

Total cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash shown in the statements of cash flows

  $ 763,110     $ 284,978  

Cash Due from Gateways and Payment Processing Liabilities


The Company’s primary source of revenues continues to be payment processing services for its merchant clients. When such merchant makes a sale, the process of receiving the payment card information, engaging the banks for transferring the proceeds to the merchant’s account via digital gateways, and recording the transaction on a blockchain ledger are the activities for which the Company gets to collect fees.


In 2019 the Company utilized several gateways. The gateways have strict guidelines pertaining to scheduling of the release of funds to merchants based on several criteria, such as return and chargeback history, associated risk for the specific business vertical, average transaction amount and so on. In order to mitigate processing risks, these policies determine reserve requirements and payment in arear strategy. While reserve and payment in arear restrictions are in effect for a merchant payout, the Company records gateway debt against these amounts until released.


Therefore, the total gateway balances reflected in the Company’s books represent the amount owed to the Company for processing – these are funds from transactions processed and not yet distributed.


Advertising and Marketing Costs


Advertising and marketing costs are recorded as general and administrative expenses when they are incurred. Advertising and marketing expenses were $45,928 and $166,149 for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively.


Research and Development Costs


Research and development costs, which are expensed as incurred, are primarily comprised of costs and expenses for salaries and benefits for research and development personnel, outsourced contract services, and supplies and materials costs. Research and development expenses were $1,255,296 and $376,871 for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively.


Revenue Recognition


Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers outlines the basic criteria that must be met to recognize revenue and provide guidance for presentation of revenue and for disclosure related to revenue recognition policies in financial statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Management believes the Company’s revenue recognition policies conform to ASC 606.


The Company recognizes revenue when 1) it is realized or realizable and earned, 2) there is persuasive evidence of an arrangement, 3) delivery and performance has occurred, 4) there is a fixed or determinable sales price, and 5) collection is reasonably assured.


The Company generates revenue from payment processing services, licensing fees and equipment sales.


 

Payment processing revenue is based on a percentage of each transaction’s value and/or upon fixed amounts specified per each transaction or service and is recognized as such transactions or services are performed.


 

Licensing revenue is paid in advance and is recorded as unearned income, which is amortized monthly over the period of the licensing agreement.


 

Equipment revenue is generated from the sale of POS products, which is recognized when goods are shipped.


Accounts Receivables from Fines and Fees from Merchants


The fines and penalties charged to the Company’s merchants is a normal course of business and historically, the Company has had more than 90% collections success rate.   These fees and penalties represent certain chargebacks which are at fault by the Company’s merchants and are imposed as the merchant agreement between the Company and the merchant.  The Company has legal rights under the merchant agreement to claim the chargeback.  These chargebacks, fees, and fines are earned and delivered because the Company has been “chargebacked” by the Gateways and the Company has legal rights under the agreement to claim this against the merchants.


In end of Q3 2019, GreenBox received constructive notice of potential violations of its Terms of Service by a merchant, The Good People Farms (“TGPF”).   An ongoing audit and investigation of this account resulted in the discovery of a number of violations GreenBox believes TGPF is responsible for, including but not limited to violations of VISA, Mastercard, and American Express’s rules.


This investigation is ongoing, but initial results indicate that excessively high chargeback percentages are connected with fraudulent activity and / or transaction laundering. These issues lead to the implementation of aggressive bank reserves, stunting GreenBox’s ability to conduct business and contributed to undetermined consequential damages. GreenBox promptly terminated the merchant account and placed all processed funds on reserve.


Although the investigation is ongoing, GreenBox estimates that the total amount of fees, fines, and chargebacks are currently $9,441,718.  The Company has provided for an allowance for bad debt of $6,665,031 on the gross balance of $9,441,718 bringing to net balance of $2,776,687.   To date, GreenBox has successfully recouped $840,739.33 (collected in 2019).  The Company expects to recoup at minimum approximately $2.8M in fiscal year 2020.   The Company may assess $100,000 per fraudulent transactions but the Company used $5,000 per transaction to calculate the fees and fines.


The Company recorded net balance of $2,776,687 as other income in the statements of operations for the year ended December 31, 2019.


Accounts Receivable and Allowance for Bad Debt


The Company maintains an allowance for doubtful accounts for estimated losses from the inability of customers to make required payments. The allowance for doubtful accounts is evaluated periodically based on the aging of accounts receivable, the financial condition of customers and their payment history, historical write-off experience and other assumptions, such as current assessment of economic conditions.


Property and Equipment


Property and equipment are stated at cost. Depreciation is computed primarily using the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the assets, which range from three to eight years. Leasehold improvements are amortized over the shorter of the useful life of the related assets or the lease term. Expenditures for repairs and maintenance are charged to expense as incurred. For assets sold or otherwise disposed of, the cost and related accumulated depreciation are removed from the accounts, and any related gain or loss is reflected in income for the period.


Fair Value of Financial Instruments


The Company utilizes ASC 820-10, Fair Value Measurement and Disclosure, for valuing financial assets and liabilities measured on a recurring basis. Fair value is defined as the exit price, or the amount that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants as of the measurement date. The guidance also establishes a hierarchy for inputs used in measuring fair value that maximizes the use of observable inputs and minimizes the use of unobservable inputs by requiring that the most observable inputs be used when available. Observable inputs are inputs market participants would use in valuing the asset or liability and are developed based on market data obtained from sources independent of the Company. Unobservable inputs are inputs that reflect the Company’s assumptions about the factors market participants would use in valuing the asset or liability. The guidance establishes three levels of inputs that may be used to measure fair value:


Level 1. Observable inputs such as quoted prices in active markets;


Level 2. Inputs, other than the quoted prices in active markets, that are observable either directly or indirectly; and


Level 3. Unobservable inputs in which there is little or no market data, which require the reporting entity to develop its own assumptions.


The Company’s financial instruments consisted of cash, accounts payable and accrued liabilities, advances to due to or from affiliated companies, notes payable to officers.  The estimated fair value of cash, accounts payable and accrued liabilities, due to or from affiliated companies, and notes payable approximates its carrying amount due to the short maturity of these instruments.


The table below describes the Company’s valuation of financial instruments using guidance from ASC 820-10:


December 31, 2019

 

Level 1

   

Level 2

   

Level 3

 
                         

Derivative liability

  $ -     $ -     $ 1,050,063  

Income Taxes


Income taxes are accounted for under the asset and liability method. Deferred income taxes are recognized for temporary differences between the tax basis of assets and liabilities and their reported amounts in the financial statements, net of operating loss carry forwards and credits, by applying enacted statutory tax rates applicable to future years.  Deferred tax assets are reduced by a valuation allowance when, in the opinion of management, it is not more likely than not that some portion or all of the deferred tax assets will be realized.  Current income taxes are provided for in accordance with the laws of the relevant taxing authorities.


Long-Lived Asset Impairments


The Company reviews long-lived assets, including property and equipment and intangible assets, for impairment when events or changes in business conditions indicate that their carrying value may not be recovered, and at least annually. The Company considers assets to be impaired and writes them down to estimated fair value if expected associated undiscounted cash flows are less than the carrying amounts. Fair value is the present value of the associated cash flows.


Earnings Per Share


A basic earnings per share is computed by dividing net income to common stockholders by the weighted average number of shares outstanding for the year. Dilutive earnings per share include the effect of any potentially dilutive debt or equity under the treasury stock method, if including such instruments is dilutive. The Company’s diluted earnings/loss per share is the same as the basic earnings/loss per share for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, as there are no potential shares outstanding that would have a dilutive effect.


Leases


Prior to January 1, 2019, the Company accounted for leases under Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) 840, Accounting for Leases. Effective from January 1, 2019, the Company adopted the guidance of ASC 842, Leases, which requires an entity to recognize a right-of-use asset and a lease liability for virtually all leases.


On February 25, 2016, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842), to increase transparency and comparability among organizations by recognizing lease assets and lease liabilities on the balance sheet and disclosing key information about leasing transactions. ASC 842 requires that lessees recognize right of use assets and lease liabilities calculated based on the present value of lease payments for all lease agreements with terms that are greater than twelve months.


ASC 842 distinguishes leases as either a finance lease or an operating lease that affects how the leases are measured and presented in the statement of operations and statement of cash flows. ASC 842 supersedes nearly all existing lease accounting guidance under GAAP issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) including ASC Topic 840, Leases.


For operating leases, we calculated right of use assets and lease liabilities based on the present value of the remaining lease payments as of the date of adoption using the IBR as of that date.


The adoption of ASC 842 resulted in recording an adjustment to operating lease right of use assets and operating lease liabilities of liabilities of $229,639 and $234,045, respectively as of December 31, 2019. The difference between the operating lease ROU assets and operating lease liabilities at transition represented tenant improvements, and indirect costs that was derecognized. The adoption of ASC 842 did not materially impact our results of operations, cash flows, or presentation thereof.


Recently Adopted Accounting Updates


In February 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842), which requires lessees to recognize on the balance sheet assets and liabilities for leases with lease terms of more than 12 months. Consistent with prior GAAP, the recognition, measurement, and presentation of expenses and cash flows arising from a lease by a lessee will depend primarily on its classification as a finance or operating lease. However, unlike prior GAAP—which required only finance (formerly capital) leases to be recognized on the balance sheet—the new ASU requires both types of leases to be recognized on the balance sheet. The ASU took effect for public companies for fiscal years, and interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2018. This standard can be applied at the beginning of the earliest period presented using the modified retrospective approach, which includes certain practical expedients that an entity may elect to apply, including an election to use certain transition relief. In July 2018, the FASB issued ASU No. 2018-10, Codification Improvements to Topic 842, Leases and ASU No. 2018-11, Leases (Topic 842): Targeted Improvements, which make improvements to Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 842 and allow entities to not restate comparative periods in transition to ASC 842 and instead report the comparative periods under ASC 840.


The adoption of ASC 842 resulted in recording an adjustment to operating lease right of use assets and operating lease liabilities of liabilities of $229,639 and $234,045, respectively as of December 31, 2019. The difference between the operating lease ROU assets and operating lease liabilities at transition represented tenant improvements, and indirect costs that was derecognized. The adoption of ASC 842 did not materially impact our results of operations, cash flows, or presentation thereof.


In August 2018, the FASB issued ASU No. 2018-13, Fair Value Measurements (Topic 820): Disclosure Framework—Changes to the Disclosure Requirements for Fair Value Measurement. The standard removes, modifies, and adds certain disclosure requirements for fair value measurements. This pronouncement is effective for fiscal years, and for interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2019, with early adoption permitted. While the Company is currently in the process of evaluating the effects of this standard on the consolidated financial statements, the Company plans to adopt ASU No. 2018-13 in the first quarter of fiscal 2020, coinciding with the standard’s effective date, and expects the impact from this standard to be immaterial.


In August 2018, the FASB issued ASU No. 2018-15, Intangibles—Goodwill and Other—Internal-Use Software (Subtopic 350-40): Customer’s Accounting for Implementation Costs Incurred in a Cloud Computing Arrangement That Is a Service Contract. This standard aligns the requirements for capitalizing implementation costs incurred in a hosting arrangement that is a service contract with the requirements for capitalizing implementation costs incurred to develop or obtain internal-use software (and hosting arrangements that include an internal-use software license). The Company’s accounting for the service element of a hosting arrangement that is a service contract is not affected by the proposed amendments and will continue to be expensed as incurred in accordance with existing guidance. This standard does not expand on existing disclosure requirements except to require a description of the nature of hosting arrangements that are service contracts. This standard is effective for fiscal years, and for interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2019. Early adoption is permitted, including adoption in any interim period for which financial statements have not been issued. Entities can choose to adopt the new guidance prospectively or retrospectively. The Company plans to adopt the updated disclosure requirements of ASU No. 2018-15 prospectively in the first quarter of fiscal 2020, coinciding with the standard’s effective date, and expects the impact from this standard to be immaterial.


Other recently issued accounting updates are not expected to have a material impact on the Company’s financial statements.