Organization and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2013

Organization and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies [Abstract]

The Company and Basis of Presentation

(a)The Company and Basis of Presentation

AeroCentury Corp. (the “Company”), a Delaware corporation incorporated in 1997, acquires used regional aircraft and engines for lease to foreign and domestic regional carriers.

The condensed financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) for interim financial information, the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X.  Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by generally accepted accounting principles for complete financial statements.  In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring accruals) considered necessary for a fair presentation have been included.  Operating results for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2013 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ending December 31, 2013.

For further information, refer to the financial statements and footnotes thereto included in the Company’s annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012.

Use of Estimates

(b)Use of Estimates

The Company’s financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”).  The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosures 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.  The Company bases its estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that are believed to be reasonable for making judgments that are not readily apparent from other sources.

The most significant estimates with regard to these financial statements are the residual values and useful lives of the assets, the amount and timing of cash flows associated with each asset that are used to evaluate whether assets are impaired, accrued maintenance costs, accounting for income taxes, and the amounts recorded as allowances for doubtful accounts.

Fair Value Measurements

(c)Fair Value Measurements

Fair value is defined as the exchange price that would be received for an asset or paid to transfer a liability (an exit price) in the principal or most advantageous market for the asset or liability in an orderly transaction between market participants on the measurement date. Valuation techniques used to measure fair value must maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs, to the extent possible. The fair value hierarchy under GAAP is based on three levels of inputs.

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

Level 2 - Inputs other than Level 1 that are observable, either directly or indirectly, such as quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities; quoted prices in markets that are not active; or other inputs that are observable or can be corroborated by observable market data for substantially the full term of the assets or liabilities.

Level 3 - Unobservable inputs that are supported by little or no market activity and that are significant to the fair value of the assets or liabilities.

Assets and Liabilities Measured and Recorded at Fair Value on a Recurring Basis

The following table shows by level, within the fair value hierarchy, the fair value of the Company’s assets that are measured and recorded at fair value on a recurring basis:

	September 30, 2013								December 31, 2012
	Total		Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Total		Level 1		Level 2		Level 3
Money market funds included in cash and cash equivalents	$	4,541,200	$	4,541,200	$	-	$	-	$	1,239,500	$	1,239,500	$	-	$	-
Total	$	4,541,200	$	4,541,200	$	-	$	-	$	1,239,500	$	1,239,500	$	-	$	-

As of September 30, 2013 and December 31, 2012, there were no liabilities that were required to be measured and recorded at fair value on a recurring basis.

Assets Measured and Recorded at Fair Value on a Nonrecurring Basis

The Company determines fair value of long-lived assets held and used, such as aircraft and aircraft engines held for lease and held for sale, by reference to independent appraisals, quoted market prices (e.g., offers to purchase) and other factors. An impairment charge is recorded when the Company believes that the carrying value of an asset will not be recovered through future net cash flows and that the carrying value exceeds its fair value. During the three months and nine months ended September30, 2013 and 2012, there were no recorded impairments of long-lived assets.

Fair Value of Other Financial Instruments

The Company’s financial instruments, other than cash and cash equivalents, consist principally of finance leases receivable and amounts borrowed under its credit facility (the “Credit Facility,” as defined in Note 4).  The fair value of accounts receivable, finance leases receivable, accounts payable and the refundable reserves portion of the Company’s maintenance reserves and accrued maintenance costs approximates the carrying value of these financial instruments.

Borrowings under the Company’s Credit Facility bear floating rates of interest that reset periodically to a market benchmark rate plus a credit margin.  The Company believes the effective interest rate of this debt agreement approximates current market rates for such indebtedness at the balance sheet date, and therefore that the carrying amount of its floating rate debt at the balance sheet dates approximates its fair value.  The fair value of the Company’s outstanding balance of its Credit Facility would be categorized as Level 3 under the GAAP fair value hierarchy.

Finance Leases

(d)Finance Leases

The leases for one of the Company’s aircraft and two engines contain lessee purchase options at prices substantially below the assets’ estimated residual values at the exercise date for the option.  Consequently, the Company considers the purchase options to be “bargain purchase options” and has classified such leases as finance leases for financial accounting purposes.  The Company does not include the value, purchase price or accumulated depreciation of finance lease assets on its balance sheet.  Instead, the discounted present value of (i) future minimum lease payments (including the bargain purchase option) and (ii) any residual value not subject to a bargain purchase option are reported as a finance lease receivable.  Rental revenue and depreciation expense are not recognized on finance leases.  Rather, the Company accrues interest on the balance of the finance leases receivable based on the interest rate inherent in the applicable lease.  The Company recognized interest earned on finance leases as “other income” in the amount of $37,100 and $21,800 in the quarters ended September 30, 2013 and 2012, respectively, and $102,100 and $67,800 in the nine months ended September 30, 2013 and 2012, respectively.