ORGANIZATION AND BASIS OF PRESENTATION (Policies)

3 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“US GAAP”) for interim financial information and with instructions to Form 10-Q and Rule 10-01 of Regulation S-X. In accordance with Rule 10-01, the accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements do not include all of the information and footnotes required by US GAAP for complete consolidated financial statements. The accompanying year-end condensed consolidated balance sheet was derived from audited financial statements, but does not include all disclosures required by US GAAP. All adjustments, including normal recurring accruals and adjustments, necessary for a fair statement of the Company's operating results for the interim period, have been included.

The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2019. The preparation of financial statements in conformity with US GAAP requires the Company to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, revenues and expenses and related disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities.

Fair Value of Financial Instruments

The Company applies the following fair value hierarchy, which prioritizes the inputs utilized to measure fair value into three levels:


•	Level 1 - Quoted prices for identical assets or liabilities in active markets;


•	Level 2 - Quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities in active markets, quoted prices for identical or similar assets or liabilities in inactive markets or valuations based on models where the significant inputs are observable or can be corroborated by observable market data; and


•	Level 3 - Valuations based on models where the significant inputs are unobservable. The unobservable inputs reflect the Company's estimates or assumptions that market participants would utilize in pricing such assets or liabilities.

The Company's assessment of the significance of a particular input requires judgment and may affect the valuation of financial assets and liabilities and their placement within the fair value hierarchy.

New Accounting Standards

NEW ACCOUNTING STANDARDS:

The following accounting standard was adopted during the three months ended December 31, 2019:

ASU 2016-02

In February 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (the “FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2016-02, “Leases (Topic 842)” (“ASU 2016-02”), which requires, among other things, lessees to recognize a right-of-use (“ROU”) asset and a lease liability for leases with terms in excess of 12 months and the disclosure of information about leasing arrangements. In July 2018, the FASB issued ASU No. 2018-11, “Leases (Topic 842): Targeted Improvements” and ASU No. 2018-10, “Codification Improvements to Topic 842, Leases”, which clarify various aspects of ASU 2016-02.

Effective October 1, 2019, the Company adopted ASU 2016-02 under a modified retrospective transition approach. Accordingly, comparative information as of September 30, 2019 and for the three months ended December 31, 2018 has not been restated and continues to be reported under accounting standards in effect for those periods. The Company elected the package of practical expedients included in ASU 2016-02, which allowed it to: (i) not reassess whether any expired or existing contracts contain leases, (ii) not reassess the lease classification for any expired or existing leases and (iii) not reassess the initial direct costs for existing leases. The Company also made an accounting policy election to not recognize leases with an initial term of 12 months or less on its balance sheet. In addition, the Company elected to not separate lease and non-lease components for all significant classes of underlying assets for which the Company is the lessee. For instances in which the Company is the lessor, and the class of underlying asset represents retail space, the Company accounts for both the lease and non-lease components as a single lease component. In all other instances, non-lease components are accounted for separately in accordance with applicable guidance, most commonly ASU 2014-09, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606)”.

As of October 1, 2019, the adoption of ASU 2016-02 resulted in the recognition of ROU operating lease assets of $359.2 million and related ROU operating lease liabilities of $366.8 million, as well as the derecognition of a previously recognized build-to-suit asset and related liability of $90.3 million. The difference between the ROU operating lease assets and liabilities reflects the reclassification of historical prepaid and deferred rent balances. The adoption of ASU 2016-02 did not impact the Company's retained earnings or the Company’s compliance with its financial covenants under its current debt agreements.

The following accounting standards will be adopted in a future reporting period:

ASU 2018-13

In August 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-13, “Fair Value Measurement (Topic 820): Disclosure Framework-Changes to the Disclosure Requirements for Fair Value Measurement” (“ASU 2018-13”), which adds, amends and removes certain disclosure requirements related to fair value measurements. ASU 2018-13 requires enhanced disclosures on valuation techniques and inputs that a reporting entity uses to determine its measures of fair value, including judgments and assumptions that the entity makes and the uncertainties in the fair value measurements as of the reporting date. ASU 2018-13 is effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2019. Certain amended or eliminated disclosure requirements may be adopted earlier, while certain additional disclosure requirements can be adopted on its effective date. In addition, certain changes required by this new standard require retrospective adoption, while other changes must be adopted prospectively. The Company is currently evaluating the impact ASU 2018-13 will have on its financial statement disclosures.

ASU 2019-12

In December 2019, the FASB issued ASU 2019-12, “Income Taxes (Topic 740): Simplifying the Accounting for Income Taxes” (“ASU 2019-12”), which simplifies various aspects related to the accounting for income taxes. This new standard removes certain exceptions to the general principles in ASU 2019-12 and clarifies and amends existing guidance to improve consistent application. ASU 2019-12 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2020. The Company is currently evaluating the impact ASU 2019-12 will have on its financial statements, but does not expect its adoption to have a material impact.