Organization, Description of Business and Basis of Presentation (Policies)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2021

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

New Accounting Pronouncements

Guidance Adopted in 2021

Simplifying the Accounting for Income Taxes. In December 2019, the FASB issued guidance intended to simplify the accounting for income taxes. The guidance removes the following exceptions: 1) exception to the incremental approach for intraperiod tax allocation when there is a loss from continuing operations and income or a gain from other items, 2) exception to the requirement to recognize a deferred tax liability for equity method investments when a foreign subsidiary becomes an equity method investment, 3) exception to the ability not to recognize a deferred tax liability for a foreign subsidiary when a foreign equity method investment becomes a subsidiary and 4) exception to the general methodology for calculating income taxes in an interim period when a year-to-date loss exceeds the anticipated loss for the year. Additionally, the guidance simplifies the accounting for income taxes by: 1) requiring that an entity recognize a franchise tax (or similar tax) that is partially based on income as an income-based tax and account for any incremental amount incurred as a non-income-based tax, 2) requiring that an entity evaluate when a step up in the tax basis of goodwill should be considered part of the business combination in which

the book goodwill was originally recognized and when it should be considered a separate transaction, 3) specifying that an entity is not required to allocate the consolidated amount of current and deferred tax expense to a legal entity that is not subject to tax in its separate financial statements (although the entity may elect to do so (on an entity-by-entity basis) for a legal entity that is both not subject to tax and disregarded by the taxing authority), 4) requiring that an entity reflect the effect of an enacted change in tax laws or rates in the annual effective tax rate computation in the interim period that includes the enactment date and 5) making minor improvements for income tax accounting related to employee stock ownership plans and investments in qualified affordable housing projects accounted for using the equity method. Different components of the guidance required retrospective, modified retrospective or prospective adoption. We adopted this guidance when it became effective, in the first quarter of 2021, and the impact on our financial statements was not material.

Lease revenues (Topic 842)

Lease revenues (Topic 842)

The accounting for the types of revenue that are accounted for under Topic 842 is discussed below.

Owned equipment rentals represent our most significant revenue type (they accounted for 71 percent of total revenues for the nine months ended September 30, 2021) and are governed by our standard rental contract. We account for such rentals as operating leases. The lease terms are included in our contracts, and the determination of whether our contracts contain leases generally does not require significant assumptions or judgments. Our lease revenues do not include material amounts of variable payments.

Owned equipment rentals: Owned equipment rentals represent revenues from renting equipment that we own. We do not generally provide an option for the lessee to purchase the rented equipment at the end of the lease, and do not generate material revenue from sales of equipment under such options.

We recognize revenues from renting equipment on a straight-line basis. Our rental contract periods are hourly, daily, weekly or monthly. By way of example, if a customer were to rent a piece of equipment and the daily, weekly and monthly rental rates for that particular piece were (in actual dollars) $100, $300 and $900, respectively, we would recognize revenue of $32.14 per day. The daily rate for recognition purposes is calculated by dividing the monthly rate of $900 by the monthly term of 28 days. This daily rate assumes that the equipment will be on rent for the full 28 days, as we are unsure of when the customer will return the equipment and therefore unsure of which rental contract period will apply.

As part of this straight-line methodology, when the equipment is returned, we recognize as incremental revenue the excess, if any, between the amount the customer is contractually required to pay, which is based on the rental contract period applicable to the actual number of days the equipment was out on rent, over the cumulative amount of revenue recognized to date. In any given accounting period, we will have customers return equipment and be contractually required to pay us more than the cumulative amount of revenue recognized to date under the straight-line methodology. For instance, continuing the above example, if the customer rented the above piece of equipment on December 29 and returned it at the close of business on January 1, we would recognize incremental revenue on January 1 of $171.44 (in actual dollars, representing the difference between the amount the customer is contractually required to pay, or $300 at the weekly rate, and the cumulative amount recognized to date on a straight-line basis, or $128.56, which represents four days at $32.14 per day).

We record amounts billed to customers in excess of recognizable revenue as deferred revenue on our balance sheet. We had deferred revenue (associated with both Topic 842 and Topic 606) of $81 and $51 as of September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, respectively. The increase in 2021 primarily reflects the impact of the General Finance acquisition discussed in note 3 to the condensed consolidated financial statements.

As noted above, we are unsure of when the customer will return rented equipment. As such, we do not know how much the customer will owe us upon return of the equipment and cannot provide a maturity analysis of future lease payments. Our equipment is generally rented for short periods of time. Lessees do not provide residual value guarantees on rented equipment.

We expect to derive significant future benefits from our equipment following the end of the rental term. Our rentals are generally short-term in nature, and our equipment is typically rented for the majority of the time that we own it. We additionally recognize revenue from sales of rental equipment when we dispose of the equipment.

Re-rent revenue: Re-rent revenue reflects revenues from equipment that we rent from vendors and then rent to our customers. We account for such rentals as subleases. The accounting for re-rent revenue is the same as the accounting for owned equipment rentals described above.

“Other” equipment rental revenue is primarily comprised of 1) Rental Protection Plan (or "RPP") revenue associated with the damage waiver customers can purchase when they rent our equipment to protect against potential loss or damage, 2) environmental charges associated with the rental of equipment, 3) charges for rented equipment that is damaged by our customers and 4) charges for setup and other services performed on rented equipment.

Revenues from contracts with customers (Topic 606)

Revenues from contracts with customers (Topic 606)

The accounting for the types of revenue that are accounted for under Topic 606 is discussed below. Substantially all of our revenues under Topic 606 are recognized at a point-in-time rather than over time.

Delivery and pick-up: Delivery and pick-up revenue associated with renting equipment is recognized when the service is performed.

“Other” equipment rental revenue is primarily comprised of revenues associated with the consumption of fuel by our customers which are recognized when the equipment is returned by the customer (and consumption, if any, can be measured).

Sales of rental equipment, new equipment and contractor supplies are recognized at the time of delivery to, or pick-up by, the customer and when collectibility is probable.

Service and other revenues primarily represent revenues earned from providing repair and maintenance services on our customers’ fleet (including parts sales). Service revenue is recognized as the services are performed.

Receivables and contract assets and liabilities

As reflected above, most of our equipment rental revenue is accounted for under Topic 842 (such revenue represented 77 percent of our total revenues for the nine months ended September 30, 2021). The customers that are responsible for the remaining revenue that is accounted for under Topic 606 are generally the same customers that rent our equipment. We manage credit risk associated with our accounts receivables at the customer level. Because the same customers generate the revenues that are accounted for under both Topic 606 and Topic 842, the discussions below on credit risk and our allowances for doubtful accounts address receivables arising from revenues from both Topic 606 and Topic 842.

Concentration of credit risk with respect to our receivables is limited because a large number of geographically diverse customers makes up our customer base. Our largest customer accounted for less than one percent of total revenues for the nine months ended September 30, 2021, and for each of the last three full years. Our customer with the largest receivable balance represented approximately one percent and two percent of total receivables at September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, respectively. We manage credit risk through credit approvals, credit limits and other monitoring procedures.

Our allowances for doubtful accounts reflect our estimate of the amount of our receivables that we will be unable to collect based on historical write-off experience and, as applicable, current conditions and reasonable and supportable forecasts that affect collectibility. Our estimate could require change based on changing circumstances, including changes in the economy or in the particular circumstances of individual customers. Accordingly, we may be required to increase or decrease our allowances. Trade receivables that have contractual maturities of one year or less are written-off when they are determined to be uncollectible based on the criteria necessary to qualify as a deduction for federal tax purposes. Write-offs of such receivables require management approval based on specified dollar thresholds. See the table below for a rollforward of our allowance for doubtful accounts.

The measurement of expected credit losses is based on relevant information from past events, including historical experiences, current conditions and reasonable and supportable forecasts that affect collectibility. Our allowance for doubtful accounts as of September 30, 2021 included an adjustment for the estimated impact of COVID-19 on future collectibility that was not material to our financial statements. Trade receivables are the only material financial asset we have that is subject to the requirement to measure expected credit losses as noted above, as this requirement does not apply to receivables arising from operating lease revenues. Substantially all of our non-lease trade receivables are due in one year or less. As discussed above, most of our equipment rental revenue is accounted for as lease revenue (such revenue represented 77 percent of our total revenues for the nine months ended September 30, 2021, and these revenues account for corresponding portions of the $1.602 billion of net accounts receivable and the associated allowance for doubtful accounts of $115 reported on our condensed consolidated balance sheet as of September 30, 2021).

As discussed above, most of our equipment rental revenue is accounted for under Topic 842. The customers that are responsible for the remaining revenue that is accounted for under Topic 606 are generally the same customers that rent our equipment. We manage credit risk associated with our accounts receivables at the customer level. The rollforward of our allowance for doubtful accounts (in total, and associated with revenues arising from both Topic 606 and Topic 842) is shown below.

	Three Months Ended September 30, 2021		Three Months Ended September 30, 2020		Nine Months Ended September 30, 2021		Nine Months Ended September 30, 2020
Beginning balance	$	112	$	108	$	108	$	103
Charged to costs and expenses (1)	1		2		3		8
Charged to revenue (2)	8		12		17		22
Deductions and other (3)	(6)		(8)		(13)		(19)
Ending balance	$	115	$	114	$	115	$	114

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(1)    Reflects bad debt expenses recognized within selling, general and administrative expenses (associated with Topic 606 revenues).

(2)    Primarily reflects doubtful accounts associated with lease revenues that were recognized as a reduction to equipment rentals revenue (primarily associated with Topic 842 revenues).

(3)    Primarily represents write-offs of accounts, net of immaterial recoveries and other activity.

We do not have material contract assets, or impairment losses associated therewith, or material contract liabilities, associated with contracts with customers. Our contracts with customers do not generally result in material amounts billed to customers in excess of recognizable revenue. We did not recognize material revenue during the nine months ended September 30, 2021 or 2020 that was included in the contract liability balance as of the beginning of such periods.

Performance obligations

Most of our Topic 606 revenue is recognized at a point-in-time, rather than over time. Accordingly, in any particular period, we do not generally recognize a significant amount of revenue from performance obligations satisfied (or partially satisfied) in previous periods, and the amounts of such revenue recognized during the nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020 were not material. We also do not expect to recognize material revenue in the future related to performance obligations that were unsatisfied (or partially unsatisfied) as of September 30, 2021.

Payment terms

Our Topic 606 revenues do not include material amounts of variable consideration. Our payment terms vary by the type and location of our customer and the products or services offered. The time between invoicing and when payment is due is not significant. Our contracts do not generally include a significant financing component. For certain products or services and customer types, we require payment before the products or services are delivered to the customer. Our contracts with customers do not generally result in significant obligations associated with returns, refunds or warranties. See above for a discussion of how we manage credit risk.

Revenue is recognized net of taxes collected from customers, which are subsequently remitted to governmental authorities.

Contract costs

We do not recognize any assets associated with the incremental costs of obtaining a contract with a customer (for example, a sales commission) that we expect to recover. Most of our revenue is recognized at a point-in-time or over a period of one year or less, and we use the practical expedient that allows us to recognize the incremental costs of obtaining a contract as an expense when incurred if the amortization period of the asset that we otherwise would have recognized is one year or less.

Contract estimates and judgments

Our revenues accounted for under Topic 606 generally do not require significant estimates or judgments, primarily for the following reasons:

•The transaction price is generally fixed and stated in our contracts;

•As noted above, our contracts generally do not include multiple performance obligations, and accordingly do not generally require estimates of the standalone selling price for each performance obligation;

•Our revenues do not include material amounts of variable consideration, or result in significant obligations associated with returns, refunds or warranties; and

•Most of our revenue is recognized as of a point-in-time and the timing of the satisfaction of the applicable performance obligations is readily determinable. As noted above, our Topic 606 revenue is generally recognized at the time of delivery to, or pick-up by, the customer.

Our revenues accounted for under Topic 842 also generally do not require significant estimates or judgments. We monitor and review our estimated standalone selling prices on a regular basis.

Leases

As discussed in note 2 to the condensed consolidated financial statements, most of our equipment rental revenue is accounted for as lease revenue under Topic 842 (such lease revenue represented 77 percent of our total revenues for the nine months ended September 30, 2021). See note 2 to the condensed consolidated financial statements for a discussion of our revenue accounting (such discussion includes lessor disclosures required under Topic 842).

We determine if an arrangement is a lease at inception. Our material lease contracts are generally for real estate or vehicles, and the determination of whether such contracts contain leases generally does not require significant estimates or judgments. We lease real estate and equipment under operating leases. We lease a significant portion of our branch locations, and also lease other premises used for purposes such as district and regional offices and service centers. Our finance lease obligations consist primarily of rental equipment (primarily vehicles) and building leases.

Operating leases result in the recognition of right-of-use ("ROU") assets and lease liabilities on the balance sheet. ROU assets represent our right to use the leased asset for the lease term and lease liabilities represent our obligation to make lease payments. Operating lease ROU assets and liabilities are recognized at commencement date based on the present value of lease payments over the lease term. As most of our leases do not provide an implicit rate, we use our estimated incremental borrowing rate at the commencement date to determine the present value of lease payments. The operating lease ROU assets also include any lease payments made and exclude lease incentives. Our lease terms may include options, at our sole discretion, to extend or terminate the lease that we are reasonably certain to exercise. The amount of payments associated with such

options reflected in the “Maturity of lease liabilities” table below is not material. Most real estate leases include one or more options to renew, with renewal terms that can extend the lease term from 1 to 5 years or more. Lease expense is recognized on a straight-line basis over the lease term.

Leases with an initial term of 12 months or less are not recorded on the balance sheet. Lease expense on such leases is recognized on a straight-line basis over the lease term. The primary leases we enter into with initial terms of 12 months or less are for equipment that we rent from vendors and then rent to our customers. We generate sublease revenue from such leases that we refer to as "re-rent revenue" as discussed in note 2 to the condensed consolidated financial statements. Apart from this re-rent revenue, we do not generate material sublease income.

We have lease agreements with lease and non-lease components, and, for our real estate operating leases, we use the practical expedient that allows us to account for the lease and non-lease components as a single lease component. Our lease agreements do not contain any material residual value guarantees or material restrictive covenants.