Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Significant Accounting Policies [Text Block]

Note 1. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

The accounting and reporting policies of Cornerstone Bancshares, Inc. and subsidiary (Cornerstone) conform with United States generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and practices within the banking industry. The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has adopted the FASB Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) as the single source of authoritative nongovernmental GAAP. Rules and interpretive releases of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) are also sources of authoritative GAAP for SEC registrants. The policies that materially affect financial position and results of operations are summarized as follows:

Nature of operations:

Cornerstone is a bank-holding company which owns all of the outstanding common stock of Cornerstone Community Bank (the Bank). The Bank provides a variety of financial services through five full service branch locations in Chattanooga, Tennessee and a loan production office in Dalton, Georgia. The Bank's primary deposit products are demand deposits, savings accounts, and certificates of deposit. Its primary lending products are commercial loans, real estate loans, and installment loans. The Bank owned and operated a subsidiary, Eagle Financial, Inc. (Eagle), a finance and factoring company. On December 1, 2011, the Bank elected to transfer the operations, assets and liabilities of Eagle into the Bank. At the time of the transfer, the assets of Eagle were approximately $3.7 million and liabilities were approximately $255 thousand. The transfer allowed the Bank to combine the operations of Eagle with the Bank’s asset based lending department. As a result, the Bank formed Eagle Financial, a division of Cornerstone Community Bank. The Bank still retains the subsidiary in legal form in an inactive status.

Principles of consolidation:

The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Cornerstone, the Bank and Eagle. All material intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

Goodwill:

Goodwill represents the excess of the cost of Cornerstone’s 1997 purchase of the net assets of the Bank of East Ridge over the underlying fair value of such net assets at the date of acquisition. Cornerstone applies the provisions of ASC Topic 350, “Intangibles-Goodwill and Other,” which requires that goodwill and other intangible assets deemed to have an indefinite life not be amortized. Goodwill is tested annually for impairment. If the carrying value of goodwill exceeds the fair value, a write-down is recorded. See Note 7 for further discussion regarding goodwill.

Use of estimates:

In preparing financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, management is required to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities as of the date of the balance sheet and reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates. Material estimates that are particularly susceptible to significant change in the near term relate to the determination of the allowance for loan losses, the valuation of deferred tax assets, other-than-temporary impairments of securities, and the fair value of financial instruments.

Significant group concentrations of credit risk:

Most of Cornerstone’s activities are with customers located in middle and eastern Tennessee. The types of securities that Cornerstone invests in are included in Note 4. The types of lending Cornerstone engages in are included in Note 5. Cornerstone does not have any significant concentrations to any one industry or customer.

Commercial real estate, including commercial construction loans, represented 54 percent of the loan portfolio at December 31, 2011, and 52 percent of the loan portfolio at December 31, 2010.

Securities:

Debt securities are classified as held to maturity when the Bank has the intent and ability to hold the securities to maturity. Securities held to maturity are carried at amortized cost. The amortization of premiums and accretion of discounts are recognized in interest income using methods approximating the interest method over the period to maturity.

Debt securities not classified as held to maturity are classified as available for sale. Securities available for sale are carried at fair value, with unrealized gains and losses excluded from earnings and reported in other comprehensive income. Realized gains and losses on securities available for sale are included in other income and, when applicable, are reported as a reclassification adjustment, net of tax, in other comprehensive income. Gains and losses on sales of securities are determined using the specific-identification method. Purchase premiums and discounts are recognized in interest income using the interest method over the terms of the securities.

The Bank conducts a regular assessment of its securities portfolio to determine whether any are other-than-temporarily impaired.  In estimating other-than-temporary impairment losses, management considers, among other factors, the length of time and extent to which the fair value has been less than cost, the financial condition and near term prospects of the issuer, and the intent and ability of the Bank to retain its investment for a period of time sufficient to allow for any anticipated recovery.  The term “other-than-temporary” is not intended to indicate that the decline is permanent, but indicates that the prospects for a near-term recovery of value is not necessarily favorable, or that there is a lack of evidence to support a realizable value equal to or greater than the carrying value of the investment.  Once a decline in value for a debt security is determined to be other-than-temporary, the other-than-temporary impairment is separated into (a) the amount of the total other-than-temporary impairment related to a decrease in cash flows expected to be collected from the debt security (the credit loss) and (b) the amount of the total other-than-temporary impairment related to all other factors.  The amount of the total other-than-temporary impairment related to the credit loss is recognized in earnings.  The amount of the total other-than-temporary impairment related to all other factors is recognized in other comprehensive income.

Federal Home Loan Bank stock:

Cornerstone, as a member of the Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) system, is required to maintain an investment in capital stock of the FHLB. Based on redemption provisions of the FHLB, the stock has no quoted market value and is carried at cost. At its discretion, the FHLB may declare dividends on the stock. Management reviews for impairment based on the ultimate recoverability of the cost basis in the FHLB stock.

Loans:

Cornerstone grants mortgage, commercial and consumer loans to customers. A substantial portion of the loan portfolio is represented by real estate loans secured by properties located in Chattanooga, Tennessee and surrounding areas. The ability of Cornerstone’s debtors to honor their contracts is somewhat dependent on the real estate and economic conditions in these areas.

Loans that management has the intent and ability to hold for the foreseeable future or until maturity are stated at unpaid principal balances, less the allowance for loan losses and net deferred loan fees and costs. Mortgage loans originated and intended for sale in the secondary market are carried at the lower of cost or estimated market value in the aggregate.

Interest income is accrued based on the unpaid principal balance. Loan origination and commitment fees, as well as certain direct origination costs, are deferred and amortized as a yield adjustment over the lives of the related loans using the interest method. Amortization of deferred loan fees is discontinued when a loan is placed on nonaccrual status.

The accrual of interest on mortgage and commercial loans is discontinued at the time the loan is 90 days past due unless the credit is well-secured and in process of collection. Credit card loans and other consumer loans are typically charged off no later than 120 days past due. Past due status is based on contractual terms of the loan. In all cases, loans are placed on nonaccrual or charged off at an earlier date if collection of principal or interest is considered doubtful.

Loans: (continued)

All interest accrued but not collected for loans that are charged off is reversed against interest income. The interest on these loans is accounted for on the cash-basis or cost-recovery method, until qualifying for return to accrual. Loans are returned to accrual status when all the principal and interest amounts contractually due are brought current and future payments are reasonably assured.

A troubled-debt restructuring (TDR) is a loan that the Bank has granted a concession to the borrower, which would not otherwise be considered due to the borrower experiencing financial difficulty. If a loan is in nonaccrual status before it is determined to be a TDR, then the loan remains in nonaccrual status. TDR loans in nonaccrual status may be returned to accrual status if there has been at least a six month sustained period of repayment performance by the borrower. When the Bank modifies the terms of an existing loan that is not considered a TDR, the Bank accounts for the loan modification as a new loan if the terms of the new loan resulting from the refinancing or restructuring are at least as favorable to the Bank as the terms for comparable loans to other customers with similar risk characteristics who are not undergoing a refinancing or restructuring and the modifications are more than minor.

Allowance for loan losses:

The allowance for loan losses is maintained at a level that management believes to be adequate to absorb probable losses in the loan portfolio. Loan losses are charged against the allowance when management believes that the full collectability of the loan is unlikely. As such, a loan may be partially charged-off after a "confirming event" has occurred which serves to validate that full repayment pursuant to the terms of the loan is unlikely. Subsequent recoveries are credited to the allowance.

Management’s determination of the adequacy of the allowance is based on an evaluation of the portfolio, current economic conditions, volume, growth, composition of the loan portfolio, homogeneous pools of loans, risk ratings of specific loans, historical loan loss factors, loss experience of various loan segments, identified impaired loans, and other factors related to the portfolio. This evaluation is performed at least quarterly and is inherently subjective, as it requires material estimates that are susceptible to significant change including the amounts and timing of future cash flows expected to be received on any impaired loans.

As part of management’s quarterly assessment of the allowance, management divides the loan portfolio into five segments:  commercial real estate-mortgage (includes owner-occupied and all other), consumer real estate-mortgage, construction and land development, commercial and industrial, and consumer and other.  Each segment is then analyzed such that a specific and general allocation of the allowance is estimated for each loan segment.  

The general component involves the use of a historic loss model to estimate future losses.  The model includes each of the five loan portfolio segments and utilizes the incurred losses over the last twelve months to estimate future losses.  The historic loss percentages derived from this model are then applied to the outstanding non-impaired loan balance for each loan category.  The amounts for each loan category are then summed to determine the amount of loan and lease loss allowance required.

The estimated general loan loss allocation for all five loan portfolio segments is then adjusted for management’s estimate of probable losses for several environmental factors. The allocation for environmental factors is particularly subjective. This amount represents estimated probable inherent credit losses which exist, but have not yet been identified, as of the balance sheet date, and is based upon quarterly trend assessments in delinquent and nonaccrual loans, unanticipated charge-offs, credit concentration changes, prevailing economic conditions, changes in lending personnel experience, changes in lending policies, or procedures and other influencing factors.  These environmental factors are considered for each of the loan segments, and the general allowance allocation, as determined by the processes noted above for each component, is increased or decreased based on the incremental assessment of these various environmental factors.  

Loans: (continued)

The Bank’s allowance for loan losses includes a specific allocation for loans classified as impaired.  In assessing the adequacy of the allowance, Cornerstone considers the results of our ongoing independent loan review process.  Cornerstone undertakes this process both to ascertain whether there are loans in the portfolio whose credit quality has weakened over time and to assist in the overall evaluation of the risk characteristics of the entire loan portfolio.  Cornerstone’s loan review process includes the judgment of management, independent loan reviewers, and reviews that may have been conducted by third-party reviewers. Cornerstone incorporates relevant loan review results in the loan impairment determination. For each impaired loan, management determines the impaired amount and assigns a specific reserve.  In addition, regulatory agencies, as an integral part of their examination process, will periodically review Cornerstone’s allowance for loan losses, and may require the company to record adjustments to the allowance based on their judgment about information available to them at the time of their examinations.

A loan is considered impaired when, based on current information and events, it is probable that Cornerstone will be unable to collect the scheduled payments of principal or interest when due according to the contractual terms of the loan agreement. Factors considered by management in determining impairment include payment status, collateral value, and the probability of collecting scheduled principal and interest payments when due. Loans that experience insignificant payment delays and payment shortfalls generally are not classified as impaired. Management determines the significance of payment delays and payment shortfalls on a case-by-case basis, taking into consideration all of the circumstances surrounding the loan and the borrower, including the length of the delay, the reasons for the delay, the borrower’s prior payment record, and the amount of the shortfall in relation to the principal and interest owed. Impairment is measured on a loan by loan basis for commercial and construction loans by either the present value of expected future cash flows discounted at the loan’s effective interest rate, the loan’s obtainable market price, or the fair value of the collateral if the loan is collateral dependent.

Large groups of smaller balance homogeneous loans are collectively evaluated for impairment. Accordingly, Cornerstone does not separately identify individual consumer loans for impairment disclosures, unless such loans are the subject of a restructuring agreement due to financial difficulties of the borrower.

Derivative loan commitments:

Mortgage loan commitments are referred to as derivative loan commitments if the loan that will result from exercise of the commitment will be held for sale upon funding. Loan commitments that are derivatives are recognized at fair value on the consolidated balance sheet in derivative assets or derivative liabilities with changes in their fair values recorded in net gains on sales of loans.

Cornerstone records a zero value for the loan commitment at inception, when the commitment is issued to a borrower. Subsequent to inception, changes in the fair value of the loan commitment are recognized based on changes in the fair value of the underlying mortgage loan due to interest rate changes, changes in the probability the derivative loan commitment will be exercised, and the passage of time. In estimating fair value, Cornerstone assigns a probability to a loan commitment based on an expectation that it will be exercised and the loan will be funded.

Premises and equipment:

Land is carried at cost.  Buildings and equipment are carried at cost, less accumulated depreciation and amortization computed on the straight-line and declining balance methods over the estimated useful lives of the assets.  Maintenance and repairs are expensed as incurred while major additions and improvements are capitalized. Gains and losses on dispositions are included in current operations.

Investment in partnership:

Cornerstone’s investment in a partnership consists of an equity interest in a lending partnership for the purposes of investing in the New Market Tax Credit Program. This program permits taxpayers to claim a credit against federal income taxes for Qualified Equity Investments made to acquire stock or a capital interest in designated Community Development Entities (CDEs).  These designated CDEs must use substantially all (defined as 85 percent) of these proceeds to make qualified low-income community investments.

Cornerstone uses the equity method when it owns an interest in a partnership and can exert significant influence over the partnership’s operations but cannot control the partnership’s operations. Under the equity method, Cornerstone’s ownership interest in the partnership’s capital is reported as an investment on its consolidated balance sheets and Cornerstone’s allocable share of the income or loss from the partnership is reported in noninterest income or expense in the consolidated statements of operations. Cornerstone ceases recording losses on an investment in partnership when the cumulative losses and distributions from the partnership exceed the carrying amount of the investment and any advances made by Cornerstone. After Cornerstone’s investment in such partnership reaches zero, cash distributions received from these investments are recorded as income.

Foreclosed assets:

Assets acquired through, or in lieu of, loan foreclosure are held for sale and are initially recorded at fair value less cost to sell at the date of foreclosure, establishing a new cost basis. Subsequent to foreclosure, valuations are periodically performed by management and the assets are carried at the lower of carrying amount or fair value less cost to sell. Revenues and expenses from operations and changes in the valuation allowance are included in net expenses from foreclosed assets.

Securities sold under agreements to repurchase:

Cornerstone enters into sales of securities under agreements to repurchase identical securities the next day. Securities sold under agreements to repurchase amounted to $29,390,810 at December 31, 2011, mature on a daily basis and are secured by securities available for sale with a fair value of $28,408,818.

Income taxes:

Cornerstone accounts for income taxes in accordance with income tax accounting guidance in ASC Topic 740. The income tax accounting guidance results in two components of income tax expense – current and deferred. Current income tax expense reflects taxes to be paid or refunded for the current period by applying the provisions of the enacted tax law to taxable income or loss. Cornerstone determines deferred income taxes using the liability method. Under this method, the net deferred tax asset or liability is based on the tax effects of the differences between the book and tax bases of assets and liabilities. Cornerstone’s deferred taxes relate primarily to differences between the basis of the allowance for loan losses and accumulated depreciation. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are reflected at income tax rates applicable to the period in which the deferred tax assets or liabilities are expected to be realized or settled. As changes in tax laws or rates are enacted, deferred tax assets and liabilities are adjusted through the provision for income taxes. Cornerstone files consolidated income tax returns with its subsidiary. With few exceptions, Cornerstone is no longer subject to tax examinations by tax authorities for years before 2008.

Cornerstone recognizes deferred tax assets if it is more likely than not, based on the technical merits, that the tax position will be realized or sustained upon examination. Cornerstone follows the statutory requirements for its income tax accounting and generally avoids risks associated with potentially problematic tax positions that may be challenged upon examination. Cornerstone recognizes interest and penalties on income taxes as a component of income tax expense.

Transfers of financial assets:

Transfers of financial assets are accounted for as sales, when control over the assets has been surrendered. Control over assets is deemed to be surrendered when (1) the assets have been isolated from Cornerstone, (2) the transferee obtains the right (free of conditions that constrain it from taking advantage of that right) to pledge or exchange the transferred assets, and (3) Cornerstone does not maintain effective control over the transferred assets through an agreement to repurchase them before their maturity, or the ability to unilaterally cause the holder to return specific assets.

Advertising costs:

Cornerstone expenses all advertising costs as incurred. Advertising expense was $78,097, $79,790, and $97,734, for the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009, respectively.

Statements of cash flows:

Cornerstone considers all cash and amounts due from depository institutions, interest-bearing deposits at other financial institutions, and federal funds sold to be cash equivalents for purposes of the statements of cash flows.

Stock option plan:

Cornerstone recognizes compensation cost relating to share-based payment transactions in accordance with ASC Topic 718. Compensation cost has been measured based on the grant date fair value of the equity or liability instruments issued. Compensation cost is calculated and recognized over the employee service period, generally defined as the vesting period. Cornerstone uses a stock option pricing model to determine the fair value of the award on the grant date.

Segment reporting:

ASC Topic 280, “Segment Reporting,” provides for the identification of reportable segments on the basis of distinct business units and their financial information to the extent such units are reviewed by an entity’s chief decision maker (which can be an individual or group of management persons). ASC Topic 280 permits aggregation or combination of segments that have similar characteristics. In Cornerstone’s operations, each bank branch is viewed by management as being a separately identifiable business or segment from the perspective of monitoring performance and allocation of financial resources. Although the branches operate independently and are managed and monitored separately, each is substantially similar in terms of business focus, type of customers, products and services. Further, the results of Eagle for 2011, 2010 and 2009 were not significant for separate disclosure. Accordingly, Cornerstone’s consolidated financial statements reflect the presentation of segment information on an aggregated basis in one reportable segment.

Earnings per common share:

Basic earnings per common share represents income available to common stockholders divided by the weighted-average number of common shares outstanding during the period. Diluted earnings per common share reflects additional common shares that would have been outstanding if dilutive potential common shares had been issued, as well as any adjustment to income that would result from the assumed issuance. Potential common shares that may be issued by Cornerstone relate solely to outstanding stock options, and are determined using the treasury stock method.

Variable interest entities:

An entity is referred to as a variable interest entity (VIE) if it meets the criteria outlined in ASC Topic 810, which are: (1) the entity has equity that is insufficient to permit the entity to finance its activities without additional subordinated financial support from other parties, or (2) the entity has equity investors that cannot make significant decisions about the entity’s operations or that do not absorb the expected losses or receive the expected returns of the entity. A VIE must be consolidated by Cornerstone if it is deemed to be the primary beneficiary of the VIE, which is the party involved with the VIE that has a majority of the expected losses, expected residual returns, or both. At December 31, 2011, Cornerstone has an investment in Appalachian Fund for Growth II Partnership that qualifies as an unconsolidated VIE.

Comprehensive income:

Comprehensive income consists of net income and other comprehensive income. Other comprehensive income includes unrealized gains on securities available for sale, and unrealized losses related to factors other than credit losses on debt securities.

Reclassifications:

Certain amounts in the prior consolidated financial statements have been reclassified to conform to the current year presentation. The reclassifications had no effect on net income or stockholders’ equity as previously reported.

Off-balance sheet credit related financial instruments:

In the ordinary course of business, Cornerstone has entered into commitments to extend credit, including commitments under credit card arrangements, commercial letters of credit, and standby letters of credit. Such financial instruments are recorded when they are funded.

Subsequent events:

Cornerstone has evaluated subsequent events for potential recognition and/or disclosures in the consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.