Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

Accounting Policies

v3.20.4
Accounting Policies
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2020
Accounting Policies [Abstract]  
Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
NOTE 2—SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
Cash and cash equivalents
Cash and cash equivalents are stated at fair value or at cost, which approximates fair value, and include investments with original maturities of 90 days or less at the date of acquisition. At December 31, 2020, Cash and cash equivalents consisted of cash, money
market funds, and United States government treasury bills. At December 31, 2019, Cash and cash equivalents consisted of cash, money market funds, United States government treasury bills, and commercial paper.
Investments
At December 31, 2020, Short-term investments consisted of money market funds and mutual fund shares held as part of the Company's deferred compensation plan expected to be distributed in the next twelve months. At December 31, 2019, Short-term investments consisted of mutual fund shares held as part of the Company's deferred compensation plan expected to be distributed in the next twelve months. Investments held as part of the Company's deferred compensation plan are classified as trading securities and are recorded at fair value with any unrealized gains and losses included in SG&A expense. Realized gains or losses from these trading securities are determined based on the specific identification method and are included in SG&A expense.
At December 31, 2020 and 2019, long-term investments included in Other non-current assets consisted of money market funds and mutual fund shares held to offset liabilities to participants in the Company's deferred compensation plan. The investments are classified as long-term because the related deferred compensation liabilities are not expected to be paid within the next year. These investments are classified as trading securities and are recorded at fair value with unrealized gains and losses reported as a component of operating income.
Accounts receivable
Accounts receivable have been reduced by an allowance for doubtful accounts. The Company maintains the allowance for estimated losses resulting from the inability of the Company's customers to make required payments. The allowance represents the current estimate of lifetime expected credit losses over the remaining duration of existing accounts receivable considering current market conditions and supportable forecasts when appropriate. The estimate is a result of the Company’s ongoing evaluation of collectability, customer creditworthiness, historical levels of credit losses, and future expectations. Write-offs of accounts receivable were $8.0 million and $1.2 million for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively.
Inventories
Inventories consist primarily of finished goods and are carried at the lower of cost or net realizable value. Cost is determined using the first-in, first-out method. The Company periodically reviews its inventories for excess, close-out or slow moving items and makes provisions as necessary to properly reflect inventory value.
Property, plant and equipment
Property, plant and equipment are stated at cost, net of accumulated depreciation. Depreciation is provided using the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the assets. The principal estimated useful lives are: land improvements, 15 years; buildings and building improvements, 15-30 years; furniture and fixtures, 3-10 years; and machinery, software and equipment, 3-10 years. Leasehold improvements are depreciated over the lesser of the estimated useful life of the improvement, which is most commonly 7 years, or the remaining term of the underlying lease.
Improvements to property, plant and equipment that substantially extend the useful life of the asset are capitalized. Repair and maintenance costs are expensed as incurred. Internal and external costs directly related to the development of internal-use software during the application development stage, including costs incurred for third party contractors and employee compensation, are capitalized and depreciated over a 3-10 year estimated useful life.
Intangible assets and goodwill
Intangible assets with indefinite useful lives and goodwill are not amortized but are periodically evaluated for impairment. Intangible assets that are determined to have finite lives are amortized using the straight-line method over their estimated useful lives and are measured for impairment only when events or circumstances indicate the carrying value may be impaired. Intangible assets with finite lives include patents, purchased technology and customer relationships and have estimated useful lives which range from approximately 3 to 10 years.
Cloud computing arrangements
The Company’s CCAs primarily relate to various enterprise resource planning systems, as well as other supporting systems. These assets are generally included in Other non-current assets in the Consolidated Balance Sheets and amortize on a straight-line basis over their assessed useful lives or the term of the underlying cloud computing hosting contract, whichever is shorter. As of December 31, 2020, CCAs in-service have useful lives which range from approximately ten months to five years. As of December 31, 2020, CCA assets consisted of capitalized implementation costs of $24.3 million and associated accumulated amortization of $1.9
million. Changes in these assets are recorded in Other assets within operating activities in the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows.
Leases
The Company leases, among other things, retail space, office space, warehouse facilities, storage space, vehicles, and equipment. Generally, the base lease terms are between five and 10 years. Certain lease agreements contain scheduled rent escalation clauses and others include rental payments adjusted periodically depending on an index or rate. Certain retail space lease agreements provide for additional rents based on a percentage of annual sales in excess of stipulated minimums ("percentage rent"). Certain lease agreements require the Company to pay real estate taxes, insurance, common area maintenance, and other costs, collectively referred to as operating costs, in addition to base rent.
Certain lease agreements also contain lease incentives, such as tenant improvement allowances and rent holidays. Most leases include one or more options to renew, with renewal terms that can extend the lease term from one to 10 years or more. The exercise of lease renewal options is generally at the Company's sole discretion. The Company's lease agreements do not contain any material residual value guarantees or material restrictive covenants.
The Company determines if an arrangement is or contains a lease at contract inception. The Company recognizes a ROU asset and a lease liability at the lease commencement date. The lease liability is initially measured at the present value of the unpaid lease payments at the lease commencement date. Key estimates and judgments include how the Company determines (1) the discount rate it uses to discount the unpaid lease payments to present value, (2) the lease term and (3) lease payments.
ASC 842 requires a lessee to discount its unpaid lease payments using the interest rate implicit in the lease or, if that rate cannot be readily determined, its incremental borrowing rate. Generally, the Company cannot determine the interest rate implicit in the lease because it does not have access to the lessor's estimated residual value or the amount of the lessor's deferred initial direct costs. Therefore, the Company generally uses its incremental borrowing rate as the discount rate for the lease. The Company's incremental borrowing rate for a lease is the rate of interest it would have to pay on a collateralized basis to borrow an amount equal to the lease payments under similar terms. Because the Company does not generally borrow on a collateralized basis, it uses market-based rates as an input to derive an appropriate incremental borrowing rate, adjusted for the lease term and the effect on that rate of designating specific collateral with a value equal to the unpaid lease payments for that lease. The Company also contemplates adjusting the discount rate for the amount of the lease payments.
The Company's lease contracts may include options to extend the lease following the initial term or terminate the lease prior to the end of the initial term. In most instances, at the commencement of the leases, the Company has determined that it is not reasonably certain to exercise either of these options; accordingly, these options are generally not considered in determining the initial lease term. At the renewal of an expiring lease, the Company reassesses options in the contract that it is reasonably certain to exercise in its measurement of lease term.
For lease agreements entered into or reassessed after the adoption of ASC 842, the Company has elected the practical expedient to account for the lease and non-lease components as a single lease component. Therefore, for those leases, the lease payments used to measure the lease liability include all of the fixed consideration in the contract.
Variable lease payments associated with the Company's leases are recognized upon occurrence of the event, activity, or circumstance in the lease agreement on which those payments are assessed. Variable lease payments are presented in the Company's Consolidated Statements of Operations in the same line item as expense arising from fixed lease payments.
Leases with an initial term of 12 months or less are not recorded on the balance sheet; the Company recognizes lease expense for these leases on a straight-line basis over the lease term.
Concessions
In April 2020, the FASB issued a Staff Q&A, Topic 842 and 840: Accounting for Lease Concessions Related to the Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic. The FASB staff indicated that it would be acceptable for entities to make an election to account for lease concessions related to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic consistent with how they would be accounted for as though enforceable rights and obligations for those concessions existed in the original contract. The Company elected to account for lease concessions related to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in accordance with the Staff Q&A. For concessions that provide a deferral of payments with no substantive changes to the consideration in the original contract, the Company continues to recognize expense during the deferral period. For concessions in the form of lease abatements, the reduced lease payments are accounted for as reductions to variable lease expense.
Impairment of long-lived assets, intangible assets and goodwill
Long-lived assets, which include property, plant and equipment, lease right-of-use assets, capitalized implementation costs for cloud computing arrangements, and intangible assets with finite lives, are measured for impairment only when events or circumstances indicate the carrying value may be impaired. In these cases, the Company estimates the future undiscounted cash flows to be derived from the asset or asset group to determine whether a potential impairment exists. If the sum of the estimated undiscounted cash flows is less than the carrying value of the asset, the Company recognizes an impairment loss, measured as the amount by which the carrying value exceeds the estimated fair value of the asset.
The Company reviews and tests its intangible assets with indefinite useful lives and goodwill for impairment in the fourth quarter of each year and when events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of such assets may be impaired. The Company's intangible assets with indefinite lives consist of trademarks and trade names. In the impairment test for goodwill, the estimated fair value of the reporting unit is compared with the carrying amount of that reporting unit. In the impairment tests for trademarks and trade names, the Company compares the estimated fair value of each asset to its carrying amount. For goodwill and trademarks and trade names, if the carrying amount exceeds its estimated fair value, the Company calculates an impairment as the excess of carrying amount over the estimate of fair value.
Impairment charges, if any, are classified as a component of SG&A expense.
Income taxes
Income taxes are based on amounts of taxes payable or refundable in the current year and on expected future tax consequences of events that are recognized in the financial statements in different periods than they are recognized in tax returns. As a result of timing of recognition and measurement differences between financial accounting standards and income tax laws, temporary differences arise between amounts of pre-tax financial statement income and taxable income and between reported amounts of assets and liabilities in the Consolidated Balance Sheets and their respective tax bases. Deferred income tax assets and liabilities reported in the Consolidated Balance Sheets reflect estimated future tax effects attributable to these temporary differences and to net operating loss and net capital loss carryforwards, based on tax rates expected to be in effect for years in which the differences are expected to be settled or realized. Realization of deferred tax assets is dependent on future taxable income in specific jurisdictions. Valuation allowances are used to reduce deferred tax assets to amounts considered likely to be realized.
Accrued income taxes in the Consolidated Balance Sheets include unrecognized income tax benefits relating to uncertain tax positions, including related interest and penalties, appropriately classified as current or noncurrent. The Company recognizes the tax benefit from an uncertain tax position if it is more likely than not that the tax position will be sustained on examination by the relevant taxing authority based on the technical merits of the position. The tax benefits recognized in the financial statements from such positions are then measured based on the largest benefit that has a greater than 50% likelihood of being realized upon ultimate settlement with the relevant tax authority. In making this determination, the Company assumes that the taxing authority will examine the position and that it will have full knowledge of all relevant information. The provision for income taxes also includes estimates of interest and penalties related to uncertain tax positions.
Derivatives
The effective portion of changes in fair values of outstanding cash flow hedges is recorded in Other comprehensive income (loss) until earnings are affected by the hedged transaction, and any ineffective portion is included in current income. In most cases, amounts recorded in Other comprehensive income (loss) will be released to earnings after maturity of the related derivative. The Consolidated Statements of Operations classification of effective hedge results is the same as that of the underlying exposure. Results of hedges of product costs are recorded in Cost of sales when the underlying hedged transactions affect earnings. Results of hedges of revenue are recorded in Net sales when the underlying hedged transactions affect earnings. Unrealized derivative gains and losses, which are recorded in assets and liabilities, respectively, are non-cash items and therefore are taken into account in the preparation of the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows based on their respective balance sheet classifications.
Foreign currency translation
The assets and liabilities of the Company's foreign subsidiaries have been translated into United States dollars using the exchange rates in effect at period end, and the sales and expenses have been translated into United States dollars using average exchange rates in effect during the period. The foreign currency translation adjustments are included as a separate component of Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) in the Consolidated Balance Sheets.
Revenue recognition
Revenues are recognized when the Company's performance obligations are satisfied as evidenced by transfer of control of promised goods to customers or consumers, in an amount that reflects the consideration the Company expects to be entitled to receive in exchange for those goods or services. Within the Company's wholesale channel, control generally transfers to the customer upon shipment to, or upon receipt by, the customer depending on the terms of sale with the customer. Within the Company's direct-to-consumer ("DTC") channel, control generally transfers to the consumer at the time of sale within retail stores and concession-based arrangements and upon shipment to the consumer with respect to e-commerce transactions.
The amount of consideration the Company expects to be entitled to receive and recognize as Net sales across both wholesale and DTC channels varies with changes in sales returns and other accommodations and incentives offered. The Company estimates expected sales returns and other accommodations, such as chargebacks and markdowns and records a sales reserve to reduce Net sales. These estimates are based on historical rates of product returns and claims, as well as events and circumstances that indicate changes to such historical rates. However, actual returns and claims in any future period are inherently uncertain and thus may differ from the estimates. As a result, the Company adjusts estimates of revenue at the earlier of when the most likely amount of consideration the Company expects to receive changes or when the amount of consideration becomes fixed. If actual or expected future returns and claims are significantly greater or lower than the sales reserves established, the Company records an adjustment to Net sales in the period in which it made such determination.
Licensing income, which is presented separately as Net licensing income on the Consolidated Statements of Operations and represents less than 1% of total revenue, is recognized over time based on the greater of contractual minimum royalty guarantees and actual, or estimated, sales of licensed products by the Company's licensees.
The Company expenses sales commissions when incurred, which is generally at the time of sale, because the amortization period would have been one year or less. These costs are recorded within SG&A expenses.
Revenue recognized from contracts with customers is recorded net of sales taxes, value added taxes, or similar taxes that are collected on behalf of local taxing authorities.
Shipping and handling costs
The Company treats shipping and handling activities as fulfillment costs, and as such recognize the costs for these activities at the time related revenue is recognized. The majority of these costs are recorded as SG&A expenses, and the direct costs associated with shipping goods to customers and consumers are recorded as Costs of sales. Shipping and handling fees billed to customers are recorded as Net sales. Shipping and handling costs recorded as a component of SG&A expenses and were $98.0 million, $89.2 million and $82.7 million for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, respectively.
Cost of sales
Cost of sales consists of all direct product costs, including shipping, duties and importation costs, as well as specific provisions for excess, close-out or slow moving inventory. In addition, certain products carry life-time or limited warranty provisions for defects in quality and workmanship. Cost of sales includes a warranty reserve established for these provisions at the time of sale to cover estimated costs based on the Company's history of warranty repairs and replacements.
Selling, general and administrative expenses
SG&A expenses consists of personnel-related costs, advertising, depreciation and amortization, occupancy, and other selling and general operating expenses related to the Company's business functions.
Stock-based compensation
Stock-based compensation cost is estimated at the grant date based on the award's fair value and is recorded as expense when recognized. For stock options and service-based restricted units, stock-based compensation cost is recognized over the expected requisite service period using the straight-line attribution method. For performance-based restricted stock units, stock-based compensation cost is recognized based on the Company's assessment of the probability of achieving performance targets in the reporting period. The Company estimates forfeitures for stock-based awards granted, but which are not expected to vest.
Advertising costs
Advertising costs, including marketing and demand creation spending, are expensed in the period incurred and are included in SG&A expenses. Total advertising expense, including cooperative advertising costs, were $141.3 million, $166.4 million and $150.4 million for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, respectively. Cooperative advertising costs are expensed when the related revenues are recognized and included in SG&A expenses when the Company receives an identifiable benefit in exchange for the
cost, the advertising may be obtained from a party other than the customer, and the fair value of the advertising benefit can be reasonably estimated.
Recently issued accounting pronouncements
Effective January 1, 2021, the Company adopted ASU No. 2019-12, Income Taxes (Topic 740): Simplifying the Accounting for Income Taxes, which, among other things, removes specific exceptions for recognizing deferred taxes for investments, performing intraperiod allocation and calculating income taxes in interim periods, as well as targeted impacts to the accounting for taxes under hybrid tax regimes. At adoption, there was not a material impact to the Company's financial position, results of operations or cash flows.