Presentation of Financial Information (Policies)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2020

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Nature of Business

Nature of Business:

SmartFinancial, Inc. (the "Company") is a bank holding company whose principal activity is the ownership and management of its wholly-owned subsidiary, SmartBank (the "Bank"). The Company provides a variety of financial services to individuals and corporate customers through its offices in East and Middle Tennessee, Alabama, and the Florida Panhandle. The Bank’s primary deposit products are noninterest-bearing and interest-bearing demand deposits, savings and money market deposits, and time deposits. Its primary lending products are commercial, residential, and consumer loans.

Basis of Presentation and Accounting Estimates

Basis of Presentation and Accounting Estimates:

The accounting and financial reporting policies of the Company and its wholly-owned subsidiary conform to U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) and reporting guidelines of banking regulatory authorities and regulators. The accompanying interim consolidated financial statements for the Company and its wholly-owned subsidiary have not been audited. All material intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated.

In management’s opinion, all accounting adjustments necessary to accurately reflect the financial position and results of operations on the accompanying financial statements have been made. These adjustments are normal and recurring accruals considered necessary for a fair and accurate presentation. 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 foreclosed assets and deferred taxes, other than temporary impairments of securities, the fair value of financial instruments, goodwill, and the fair value of assets acquired and liabilities assumed in acquisitions. The results for interim periods are not necessarily indicative of results for the full year or any other interim periods. The accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and related notes appearing in the Company’s annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019.

Recently Issued and Adopted Accounting Pronouncements; Recently Issued Not Yet Effective Accounting Pronouncements

Recently Issued and Adopted Accounting Pronouncements:

As of January 1, 2020, the Company adopted ASU 2019-01, Leases: Codification Improvements (“ASU 2019-01”). ASU 2019-01 provides clarification to increase transparency and comparability among organizations by recognizing lease assets and liabilities on the balance sheet and disclosing essential information about leasing transactions. Specifically, ASU 2019-01 (i) allows the fair value of the underlying asset reported by lessors that are not manufacturers or dealers to continue to be its cost and not fair value as measured under the fair value definition, (ii) allows for the cash flows received for sales-type and direct financing leases to continue to be presented as results from investing, and (iii) clarifies that entities do not have to disclose the effect of the lease standard on adoption year interim amounts. The adoption of ASU 2019-01 did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

Recently Issued Not Yet Effective Accounting Pronouncements:

During interim periods, the Company follows the accounting policies set forth in its annual audited financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2019 as filed in its Annual Report on Form 10-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). The following is a summary of recent authoritative pronouncements issued but not yet effective that could impact the accounting, reporting, and/or disclosure of financial information by the Company.

In October 2019, the Financial Accounting Standards Board approved a delay for the implementation of ASU 2016-13, Financial Instruments - Credit Losses (Topic 326). The Board decided that CECL will be effective for larger Public Business Entities ("PBEs") that are SEC filers, excluding Smaller Reporting Companies ("SRCs") as currently defined by the SEC, for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019, and interim periods within those fiscal years. For calendar-year-end companies, this will be January 1, 2020. The determination of whether an entity is an SRC will be based on an entity’s most recent assessment in accordance with SEC regulations and the Company meets the regulations as an SRC.

For all other entities, the Board decided that CECL will be effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2022, including interim periods within those fiscal years. For all entities, early adoption will continue to be permitted; that is, early adoption is allowed for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, including interim periods within those fiscal years (that is, effective January 1, 2019, for calendar-year-end companies). The Company does not plan to adopt this standard early and being that the Company is an SRC, adoption is required for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2022.

In December 2019, the FASB issued ASU 2019-12, Income Taxes (Topic 740): Simplifying the Accounting for Income Taxes. The amendments in this update simplify various aspects of the current guidance to promote consistent application of the standard among reporting entities by moving certain exceptions to the general principles. The amendments are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2020, with early adoption permitted. The Company does not plan to adopt this standard early and adoption should not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

In March 2020, the FASB issued ASU 2020-04, Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848): Facilitation of the Effects of Reference Rate Reform on Financial Reporting, which provides temporary optional guidance to ease the potential burden in accounting for reference rate reform. The ASU provides optional expedients and exceptions for applying generally accepted accounting principles to contract modifications and hedging relationships, subject to meeting certain criteria, that reference London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”). It is intended to help stakeholders during the global market-wide reference rate transition period. The guidance is effective for all entities as of March 12, 2020 through December 31, 2022. The Company is implementing a transition plan to identify and modify its loans and other financial instruments, including certain indebtedness, with attributes that are either directly or indirectly influenced by LIBOR. The Company is assessing ASU 2020-04 and its impact on the transition away from LIBOR for its loan and other financial instruments.

In August 2020, the SEC issued amendments to its disclosure rules to modernize the requirements in Regulation S-K, Item 101 on description of a business, Item 103 on legal proceedings, and Item 105 on risk factors. These amendments are intended to improve the readability of disclosures, reduce repetition, and eliminate immaterial information, thereby simplifying compliance for registrants and making disclosures more meaningful for investors. The amendments to the disclosure requirements related to a registrant’s description of its business and risk factors are intended to expand the use of a principles-based approach that gives registrants more flexibility to tailor disclosures. The amendments to the disclosure requirements related to legal proceedings continue to reflect the current, more prescriptive approach because those requirements depend less on a registrant’s specific characteristics. Further, additional human capital disclosures are required as part of the amendments to the description of the business. The final rule is effective on November 9, 2020, and the Company will incorporate these changes as part of our annual filing on Form 10-K.  

Operating, Accounting and Reporting Considerations related to COVID-19

Operating, Accounting and Reporting Considerations related to COVID-19:

The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted the global economy.  In response to this crisis, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act was passed by Congress and signed into law on March 27, 2020.  The CARES Act provides an estimated $2.2 trillion to fight the COVID-19 pandemic and stimulate the economy by supporting individuals and businesses through loans, grants, tax changes, and other types of relief.  Some of the provisions applicable to the Company include, but are not limited to:

● Accounting for Loan Modifications – Section 4013 of the CARES Act provides that a financial institution may elect to suspend (1) the requirements under GAAP for certain loan modifications that would otherwise be categorized as a TDR and (2) any determination that such loan modifications would be considered a TDR, including the related impairment for accounting purposes.  See Note 5 Loans and Allowance for Loan Losses for more information.

● Paycheck Protection Program - The CARES Act established the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”), an expansion of the Small Business Administration’s (“SBA”) 7(a) loan program and the Economic Injury Disaster

Loan Program (“EIDL”), administered directly by the SBA.  The Company is a participant in the PPP.  See Note 5 Loans and Allowance for Loan Losses for more information.

● Mortgage Forbearance - Under the CARES Act, through the earlier of December 31, 2020, or the termination date of the COVID-19 national emergency, a borrower with a federally backed mortgage loan that is experiencing financial hardship due to COVID-19 may request a forbearance.  A multifamily borrower with a federally backed multifamily mortgage loan that was current as of February 1, 2020, and is experiencing financial hardship due to COVID-19 may request forbearance on the loan for up to 30 days, with up to two additional 30-day periods at the borrower’s request.

Also in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (“FRB”), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”), the National Credit Union Administration (“NCUA”), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”), and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”), in consultation with the state financial regulators (collectively, the “agencies”) issued a joint interagency statement (issued March 22, 2020; revised statement issued April 7, 2020).  Some of the provisions applicable to the Company include, but are not limited to:

● Accounting for Loan Modifications - Loan modifications that do not meet the conditions of the CARES Act may still qualify as a modification that does not need to be accounted for as a TDR.  The agencies confirmed with FASB staff that short-term modifications made on a good faith basis in response to COVID-19 to borrowers who were current prior to any relief are not TDRs.  This includes short-term (e.g., six months) modifications such as payment deferrals, fee waivers, extensions of repayment terms, or insignificant delays in payment.  See Note 5 Loans and Allowance for Loan Losses for more information.

● Past Due Reporting - With regard to loans not otherwise reportable as past due, financial institutions are not expected to designate loans with deferrals granted due to COVID-19 as past due because of the deferral.  A loan’s payment date is governed by the due date stipulated in the legal agreement.  If a financial institution agrees to a payment deferral, these loans would not be considered past due during the period of the deferral.

● Nonaccrual Status and Charge-offs - During short-term COVID-19 modifications, these loans generally should not be reported as nonaccrual or as classified.

The Company began offering short-term loan modifications to assist borrowers during the COVID-19 national emergency.  The Company offered deferral options of: 1) three months deferral of payment and then three months of interest only, 2) three months of interest only, 3) three months deferral of payment, 4) six months of interest only. These modifications generally meet the criteria of both Section 4013 of the CARES Act and the joint interagency statement, and therefore, the Company does not account for such loan modifications as TDRs.   On August 3, 2020, the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council on behalf of its members (collectively “the FFIEC members”) issued a joint statement on additional loan accommodations related to COVID-19.  The joint statement clarifies that for loan modifications in which Section 4013 is being applied, subsequent modifications could also be eligible under Section 4013.  To be eligible, each loan modification must be (1) related to the COVID event; (2) executed on a loan that was not more than 30 days past due as of December 31, 2019; and (3) executed between March 1, 2020, and the earlier of (A) 60 days after the date of termination of the National Emergency or (B) December 31, 2020.  All of the Company’s loan modifications granted under Section 4013 of the CARES Act are in compliance with the aforementioned FFIEC requirements.  Accordingly, the Company does not account for such loan modifications as TDRs.

Reclassifications

Reclassifications:

Certain captions and amounts in the 2019 consolidated financial statements were reclassified to conform to the 2020 financial statement presentation. These reclassifications had no impact on net income or shareholders’ equity as previously reported.

Earnings Per Share

Basic earnings per common share is computed by dividing net income available to common stockholders by the weighted-average number of common shares outstanding. Diluted earnings per common share is computed by dividing net income available to common shareholders by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding and dilutive common share equivalents using the treasury stock method. Dilutive common share equivalents include common shares issuable upon exercise of outstanding stock options and restricted stock.