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Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
9 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2024
Accounting Policies [Abstract]  
Summary of Significant Accounting Policies Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
Basis of Presentation and Principles of Consolidation
The consolidated financial statements of Ben are prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”) on a going concern basis, and include the accounts of Ben, its wholly-owned and majority-owned subsidiaries and, certain variable interest entities (“VIEs”), in which the Company is the primary beneficiary. An enterprise is determined to be the primary beneficiary of a VIE if it holds a controlling financial interest consistent with Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 810, Consolidation (“ASC 810”), as amended.
The Customer ExAlt Trusts are considered VIEs for which Ben has a variable interest and is considered the primary beneficiary. Thus, Ben is required to consolidate all of the Customer ExAlt Trusts. The entities in which the Customer ExAlt Trusts hold an ownership interest are investment companies (i.e., funds) under ASC 946, Financial Services — Investment Companies (“ASC 946”). Thus, the investments in non-investment companies made by these funds are accounted for in accordance with ASC 946 and are not subject to consolidation or the disclosure requirements of ASC 810. Moreover, further consolidation provisions of ASC 946 are not applicable to Ben since these investment companies do not have an investment in an operating entity that provides services to the investment company or to Ben.
All intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation, and the portion of income allocated to owners other than the Company is included in “net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests” in the consolidated statements of comprehensive income (loss). With the consolidation of the Customer ExAlt Trusts, interest and fee income and any related receivable charged by Ben Liquidity and Ben Custody to the Customer ExAlt Trusts are eliminated in the presentation of our consolidated financial statements. While these amounts are eliminated solely for financial reporting purposes, such amounts are earned by Ben Liquidity and/or Ben Custody from the Customer ExAlt Trusts and directly impact the income (loss) allocable to Ben’s and BCH’s equity holders as further discussed in Note 3.
The accompanying unaudited interim consolidated financial statements of the Company do not contain the detail or footnote disclosure concerning accounting policies and other matters that would be included in full fiscal year consolidated financial statements; therefore, they should be read in conjunction with the Company’s audited consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in the Company’s Annual Report. In the opinion of management, all material adjustments, consisting of normal and recurring adjustments, have been made that were considered necessary to present fairly the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows at the interim date and for the interim periods presented. Operating results for the interim periods disclosed herein are not necessarily indicative of results that may be expected for a full year.
Reverse Stock Split
Following stockholder approval on April 18, 2024, the Company effected a reverse stock split of our Common Stock at a ratio of 1-for-80 and a simultaneous proportionate reduction in the authorized shares of each class of Common Stock as required by Nevada Revised Statutes Section 78.207. The Reverse Stock Split was effective as of April 18, 2024. Proportional adjustments were made to the number of shares of common stock issuable upon exercise or conversion of the Company’s equity award, warrants, and other equity instruments convertible into common stock, as well as the applicable exercise price. All share and per share amounts of our Class A and Class B common stock presented have been retroactively adjusted to reflect the Reverse Stock Split, including reclassifying an amount equal to the reduction in par value of common stock to additional paid in capital.
Initial Recapitalization and Common Unit Conversion
On June 6, 2023, immediately prior to the Conversion, BCG was recapitalized, as further described in Note 4. For the periods prior to the closing, the number of outstanding units, weighted average number of outstanding units, loss per common unit, equity-based compensation and other financial amounts previously expressed on the basis of common units have been retroactively adjusted on the basis of Common Stock reflecting the common unit conversion ratio, as described above.
Use of Estimates
The preparation of the Company’s consolidated financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make certain estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. These estimates and assumptions are based on information available as of the date of the consolidated financial statements and could differ from actual results. Material estimates that are particularly susceptible to change in the near term relate to the fair value determination of investments in alternative assets held by the Customer ExAlt Trusts, determination of the allowance for credit losses as an input to the allocation of income (loss) to Ben’s or BCH’s equity holders, the allocation of income (loss) to Ben’s and BCH’s equity holders, evaluation of potential loss contingencies principally related to ongoing legal matters, and evaluation of potential impairment of goodwill and other intangibles.
Significant accounting policies are detailed in Note 2 to the consolidated financial statements included in the Company’s Annual Report. Other than described below, there are no new or revised significant accounting policies as of December 31, 2024.
Warrant Liability
The Company determines the accounting classification of warrants it issues as either liability or equity classified by first assessing whether the warrants meet liability classification in accordance with ASC 480, Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity ("ASC 480"), then in accordance with ASC 815 ("ASC 815"), Derivatives and Hedging. Under ASC 480, warrants are considered liability classified if the warrants are mandatorily redeemable, obligate the Company to settle the warrants or the underlying shares by paying cash or other assets, or warrants that must or may require settlement by issuing variable number of shares. If warrants do not meet liability classification under ASC 480, the Company assesses the requirements under ASC 815, which states that contracts that require or may require the issuer to settle the contract for cash are liabilities recorded at fair value, irrespective of the likelihood of the transaction occurring that triggers the net cash settlement feature. If the warrants do not require liability classification under ASC 815, and in order to conclude equity classification, the Company also assesses whether the warrants are indexed to its Common Stock and whether the warrants are classified as equity under ASC 815 or other applicable GAAP. After all relevant assessments, the Company concludes whether the warrants are classified as liability or equity. Liability classified warrants require fair value accounting at issuance and subsequent to initial
issuance with all changes in fair value after the issuance date recorded in the statements of operations. Equity classified warrants only require fair value accounting at issuance with no changes recognized subsequent to the issuance date.
The Company accounts for its outstanding warrants, which are principally comprised of those assumed in the Transaction (as described in Note 4) and the warrants issued to Yorkville (as described in Note 7), in accordance with the guidance contained in ASC 815, Derivatives and Hedging, whereby under those accounting requirements, our outstanding warrants do not meet the criteria for equity treatment and must be recorded as a liability. Accordingly, the Company classifies our warrant instruments as a liability recorded at fair value and adjusts the instruments to fair value at each reporting period using quoted market prices, where available, or other appropriate valuation techniques, such as an option pricing model. The warrant liability is re-measured at each balance sheet date until the warrants are exercised or expire, and any change in fair value will be recognized in the Company’s consolidated statements of comprehensive income (loss). Such warrant classification is also subject to re-evaluation at each reporting period.
Convertible Debt
The Company has elected the fair value option to account for the convertible debentures with Yorkville (as described in Note 7). The Company recorded the convertible debentures at fair value upon issuance. The Company records changes in fair value in the consolidated statements of comprehensive income (loss), with the exception of changes in fair value due to instrument-specific credit risk which, if present, will be recorded as a component of other comprehensive income (loss). Interest expense related to the convertible debentures is included in the changes in fair value. As a result of applying the fair value option, direct costs and fees related to the convertible debentures were expensed as incurred.
Income Taxes
On June 6, 2023, The Beneficient Company Group, L.P. changed both its regulatory and tax status from a Delaware Limited Partnership to a Nevada Corporation and changed its name from The Beneficient Company Group, L.P. to Beneficient. Beneficient made a tax election to be treated as a corporation for US tax purposes effective as of this date.
As a result of this tax election, Beneficient records current tax liabilities or assets through charges or credits to the current tax provision for the estimated taxes payable or refundable for the current year. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are recorded for future tax consequences attributable to differences between the financial statement carrying amounts of assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the years in which those temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. A deferred tax valuation allowance is established if it is more likely than not that all or a portion of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. A tax position that fails to meet a more-likely-than-not recognition threshold will result in either reduction of current or deferred tax assets, and/or recording of current or deferred tax liabilities. Interest and penalties related to income taxes are recorded in the other expense line item of the consolidated statements of comprehensive income (loss).
Prior to the restructuring that resulted in Beneficient becoming a corporation, Beneficient was taxed as a Delaware Limited Partnership. In the event the subsequent entity, Beneficient a corporation, is audited by the taxing authority and assessed additional amounts due to the underpayment of tax in previous tax years, management intends to make the push-out election allowed by the U.S. Treasury Department. That election allows Beneficient to notify its partners of their share of imputed underpayment amounts for inclusion in their current tax returns.
Accounting Standards Not Yet Adopted
ASU 2024-03, Income Statement—Reporting Comprehensive Income—Expense Disaggregation Disclosures (Subtopic 220-40): Disaggregation of Income Statement Expenses. ASU 2024-03 requires public companies to disclose, in the notes to the financial statements, specific information about certain costs and expenses at each interim and annual reporting period. This includes disclosing amounts related to employee compensation, depreciation, and intangible asset amortization. In addition, public companies will need to provide qualitative description of the amounts remaining in relevant expense captions that are not separately disaggregated quantitatively. ASU 2024-03 is effective for public business entities for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2026, and interim reporting periods within annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2027, as clarified in ASU 2025-01, Income Statement—Reporting Comprehensive Income—Expense Disaggregation Disclosures (Subtopic 220-40): Clarifying the Effective Date. Implementation of ASU 2024-03 may be applied prospectively or retrospectively. The Company does not expect the adoption of ASU 2024-03 to have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.
ASU 2023-07, Segment Reporting, (Topic 280) was issued in November 2023 and expands public entities’ segment disclosures by requiring disclosure of significant segment expenses that are regularly provided to the chief operating decision maker (“CODM”) and included within each reported measure of segment profit or loss, an amount and description of its composition for other segment items, and interim disclosures of a reportable segment’s profit or loss and assets. All disclosure requirements under ASU 2023-07 are also required for public entities with a single reportable segment.
Additionally, the amendments require disclosure of the title and position of the CODM and an explanation of how the CODM uses the reported measure(s) of segment profit or loss in assessing segment performance and deciding how to allocate resources. ASU 2023-07 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2023 and interim periods within fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2024, which will be our fiscal year beginning April 1, 2024 and interim periods beginning April 1, 2025. Early adoption is permitted. ASU 2023-07 will have no impact on the Company’s financial condition or results of operations. The Company is evaluating the impact to the related segment reporting disclosures.
ASU 2023-09, Income Taxes, (Topic 740) was issued in December 2023, which expands income tax disclosure requirements to include additional information related to the rate reconciliation of our effective tax rates to statutory rates as well as additional disaggregation of taxes paid. The amendments in ASU 2023-09 also remove disclosures related to certain unrecognized tax benefits and deferred taxes. ASU 2023-09 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2024, or our fiscal year beginning April 1, 2025. The amendments may be applied prospectively or retrospectively, and early adoption is permitted. We are currently assessing the impact of the requirements on our consolidated financial statements and disclosures.
ASU 2020-04, Reference Rate Reform, (Topic 848) was issued in March 2020. The amendments in Topic 848 provide optional expedients and exceptions for applying U.S. GAAP to contracts, hedging relationships, and other transactions affected by reference rate reform if certain criteria are met. Topic 848 can be applied by all entities as of the beginning of the interim period that includes March 12, 2020, or any date thereafter, and entities may elect to apply the amendments prospectively through December 31, 2022. On December 31, 2022, ASU 2022-06, Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848): Deferral of the Sunset Date of Topic 848 was issued, which extends the period of time entities can utilize the reference rate reform relief guidance under ASU 2020-04 from December 31, 2022 to December 31, 2024. We have not utilized the optional expedients and exceptions provided by this standard, and are currently evaluating the impact of this standard on our consolidated financial statements and disclosures.