Basis of Presentation (Policies)	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2017
Basis of Presentation
Basis of Presentation	Basis of Presentation The unaudited consolidated financial statements of Heritage Commerce Corp (the “Company” or “HCC”) and its wholly owned subsidiary, Heritage Bank of Commerce (“HBC”), have been prepared pursuant to the rules and regulations for reporting on Form 10-Q. Accordingly, certain information and notes required by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) for annual financial statements are not included herein. The interim statements should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes that were included in the Company’s Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016. The Company acquired Focus Business Bank (“Focus”) on August 20, 2015. Focus was merged with HBC, with HBC as the surviving bank. HBC is a commercial bank serving customers primarily located in Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa, and San Benito counties of California. BVF/CSNK Acquisition Corp., a Delaware corporation (“BVF/CSNK”), the parent company of CSNK Working Capital Finance Corp. dba Bay View Funding (“Bay View Funding”) is a wholly owned subsidiary of HBC, and provides business-essential working capital factoring financing to various industries throughout the United States. No customer accounts for more than 10 percent of revenue for HBC or the Company. The Company reports its results for two segments: banking and factoring. The Company’s management uses segment results in its operating and strategic planning. In management’s opinion, all adjustments necessary for a fair presentation of these consolidated financial statements have been included and are of a normal and recurring nature. All intercompany transactions and balances have been eliminated. 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 disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the consolidated financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting periods. Actual results could differ significantly from these estimates. The results for the three months ended March 31, 2017 are not necessarily indicative of the results expected for any subsequent period or for the entire year ending December 31, 2017.
Reclassifications	Reclassifications Certain reclassifications of prior year balances have been made to conform to the current year presentation. These reclassifications had no impact on the Company’s consolidated financial position, results of operations or net change in cash and cash equivalents.
Adoption of New Accounting Standards	Adoption of New Accounting Standards In March 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2016-09, Compensation—Stock Compensation: Improvements to Employee Share Based Payment Accounting. The standard is intended to simplify several areas of accounting for share based compensation arrangements, including the income tax impact, classification on the statement of cash flows and forfeitures. All excess tax benefits and tax deficiencies (including tax benefits of dividends on share based payment awards) should be recognized as income tax expense or benefit in the income statement. The tax effects of exercised or vested awards should be treated as discrete items in the reporting period in which they occur. An entity also should recognize excess tax benefits regardless of whether the benefit reduces taxes payable in the current period. Excess tax benefits should be classified along with other income tax cash flows as an operating activity. An entity can make an entity wide accounting policy election to either estimate the number of awards that are expected to vest (current GAAP) or account for forfeitures when they occur. The threshold to qualify for equity classification permits withholding up to the maximum statutory tax rates in the applicable jurisdictions. Cash paid by an employer when directly withholding shares for tax withholding purposes should be classified as a financing activity. A nonpublic entity can make an accounting policy election to apply a practical expedient to estimate the expected term for all awards with performance or service conditions that meet certain conditions. A nonpublic entity can make a one time accounting policy election to switch from measuring all liability classified awards at fair value to intrinsic value. The Company adopted the new guidance on January 1, 2017. The amount of the impact on the effective tax rate will be determined by the number of stock options exercised and the stock price of the Company when the stock options are exercised, and the amount of restricted stock awards vesting. The adoption of this guidance resulted in a reduction to income tax expense of $112,000 for the first quarter of 2017. In connection with the adoption, the Company has elected to estimate forfeitures each reporting period. Newly Issued, but not yet Effective Accounting Standards In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU No. 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, which was an update to the guidance for accounting for revenue from contracts with customers. The guidance in this update affects any entity that either enters into contracts with customers to transfer goods or services or enters into contracts for the transfer of nonfinancial assets unless those contracts are within the scope of other standards (for example, insurance contracts or lease contracts). The core principle of the guidance is that an entity should recognize revenue to depict the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. The guidance provides steps to follow to achieve the core principle. An entity should disclose sufficient information to enable users of financial statements to understand the nature, amount, timing and uncertainty of revenue and cash flows arising from contracts with customers. Qualitative and quantitative information is required about contracts with customers, significant judgments and changes in judgments, and assets recognized from the costs to obtain or fulfill a contract. The amendments in this update become effective for annual periods and interim periods within those annual periods beginning after December 15, 2017. We are currently evaluating the impact of adopting the new guidance on the consolidated financial statements. Our preliminary finding is that the new pronouncement will not have a significant impact on the consolidated financial statements as the majority of our business transactions will not be subject to this pronouncement. In January 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-01, Financial Instruments - Recognition and Measurement of Financial Assets and Liabilities. The new guidance is intended to improve the recognition and measurement of financial instruments by requiring: equity investments (other than equity method or consolidation) to be measured at fair value with changes in fair value recognized in net income; public business entities to use the exit price notion when measuring the fair value of financial instruments for disclosure purposes; separate presentation of financial assets and financial liabilities by measurement category and form of financial assets (i.e. securities or loans and receivables) on the balance sheet or the accompanying notes to the financial statements; eliminating the requirement to disclose the fair value of financial instruments measured at amortized cost for organizations that are not public business entities; eliminating the requirement for non-public business entities to disclose the method(s) and significant assumptions used to estimate the fair value that is to be required to be disclosed for financial instruments measured at amortized cost on the balance sheet; and requiring a reporting organization to present separately in other comprehensive income the portion of the total change in fair value of a liability resulting from the change in the instrument-specific credit risk (also referred to as “own credit”) when the organization has elected to measure the liability at fair value in accordance with the fair value option for financial instruments. The new guidance is effective for public business entities for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017. We are currently evaluating the impact of adopting the new guidance on the consolidated financial statements. Our preliminary finding is that the new pronouncement will not have a significant impact on our Statement of Operations as the majority of the Company's investment securities are classified as available-for-sale and held-to-maturity debt securities. The pronouncement will require some revision to our disclosures within the consolidated financial statements and we are currently evaluating the impact. In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-02, Leases. The standard requires a lessee to recognize assets and liabilities on the balance sheet for leases with lease terms greater than 12 months. A lessee should recognize in the statement of financial position a liability to make lease payments (the lease liability) and a right of use asset representing its right to use the underlying asset for the lease term. When measuring assets and liabilities arising from a lease, a lessee (and a lessor) should include payments to be made in optional periods only if the lessee is reasonably certain to exercise an option to extend the lease or not to exercise an option to terminate the lease. Similarly, optional payments to purchase the underlying asset should be included in the measurement of lease assets and lease liabilities only if the lessee is reasonably certain to exercise that purchase option. Reasonably certain is a high threshold that is consistent with and intended to be applied in the same way as the reasonably assured threshold in the previous leases guidance. In addition, also consistent with the previous leases guidance, a lessee (and a lessor) should exclude most variable lease payments in measuring lease assets and lease liabilities, other than those that depend on an index or a rate or are in substance fixed payments. For leases with a term of 12 months or less, a lessee is permitted to make an accounting policy election by class of underlying asset not to recognize lease assets and lease liabilities. If a lessee makes this election, it should recognize lease expense for such leases generally on a straight line basis over the lease term. The new guidance is effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those years, beginning after December 15, 2018, and early adoption is permitted. We are currently evaluating the impact of adopting the new guidance on our consolidated financial statements. In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-13, Financial Instruments—Credit Losses: Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments. The standard is the final guidance on the new current expected credit loss (“CECL”) model. The amendments in this update replace the incurred loss impairment methodology in current GAAP with a methodology that reflects expected credit losses and requires consideration of a broader range of reasonable and supportable information to estimate future credit loss estimates. As CECL encompasses all financial assets carried at amortized cost, the requirement that reserves be established based on an organization’s reasonable and supportable estimate of expected credit losses extends to held to maturity debt securities. The update amends the accounting for credit losses on available for sale securities, whereby credit losses will be presented as an allowance as opposed to a write down. In addition, CECL will modify the accounting for purchased loans with credit deterioration since origination, so that reserves are established at the date of acquisition for purchased loans. Lastly, the amendment requires enhanced disclosures on the significant estimates and judgments used to estimate credit losses, as well as on the credit quality and underwriting standards of an organization’s portfolio. These disclosures require organizations to present the currently required credit quality disclosures disaggregated by the year of origination or vintage. The guidance allows for a modified retrospective approach with a cumulative effect adjustment to the balance sheet upon adoption (charge to retained earnings instead of the income statement). The new guidance is effective for public business entities for fiscal years, and interim periods within those years, beginning after December 15, 2019, and early adoption is permitted. We have formed a committee that is assessing our data and system needs and are evaluating the impact of adopting the new guidance. We expect to recognize a one-time cumulative effect adjustment to the allowance for loan losses as of the beginning of the first reporting period in which the new standard is effective, but cannot yet determine the magnitude of any such one-time adjustment or the overall impact of the new guidance on the consolidated financial statements.

Adoption of New Accounting Standards

In March 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2016-09, Compensation—Stock Compensation: Improvements to Employee Share Based Payment Accounting. The standard is intended to simplify several areas of accounting for share based compensation arrangements, including the income tax impact, classification on the statement of cash flows and forfeitures. All excess tax benefits and tax deficiencies (including tax benefits of dividends on share based payment awards) should be recognized as income tax expense or benefit in the income statement. The tax effects of exercised or vested awards should be treated as discrete items in the reporting period in which they occur. An entity also should recognize excess tax benefits regardless of whether the benefit reduces taxes payable in the current period. Excess tax benefits should be classified along with other income tax cash flows as an operating activity. An entity can make an entity wide accounting policy election to either estimate the number of awards that are expected to vest (current GAAP) or account for forfeitures when they occur. The threshold to qualify for equity classification permits withholding up to the maximum statutory tax rates in the applicable jurisdictions. Cash paid by an employer when directly withholding shares for tax withholding purposes should be classified as a financing activity. A nonpublic entity can make an accounting policy election to apply a practical expedient to estimate the expected term for all awards with performance or service conditions that meet certain conditions. A nonpublic entity can make a one time accounting policy election to switch from measuring all liability classified awards at fair value to intrinsic value. The Company adopted the new guidance on January 1, 2017. The amount of the impact on the effective tax rate will be determined by the number of stock options exercised and the stock price of the Company when the stock options are exercised, and the amount of restricted stock awards vesting. The adoption of this guidance resulted in a reduction to income tax expense of $112,000 for the first quarter of 2017. In connection with the adoption, the Company has elected to estimate forfeitures each reporting period.

Newly Issued, but not yet Effective Accounting Standards

In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU No. 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, which was an update to the guidance for accounting for revenue from contracts with customers. The guidance in this update affects any entity that either enters into contracts with customers to transfer goods or services or enters into contracts for the transfer of nonfinancial assets unless those contracts are within the scope of other standards (for example, insurance contracts or lease contracts). The core principle of the guidance is that an entity should recognize revenue to depict the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. The guidance provides steps to follow to achieve the core principle. An entity should disclose sufficient information to enable users of financial statements to understand the nature, amount, timing and uncertainty of revenue and cash flows arising from contracts with customers. Qualitative and quantitative information is required about contracts with customers, significant judgments and changes in judgments, and assets recognized from the costs to obtain or fulfill a contract. The amendments in this update become effective for annual periods and interim periods within those annual periods beginning after December 15, 2017. We are currently evaluating the impact of adopting the new guidance on the consolidated financial statements. Our preliminary finding is that the new pronouncement will not have a significant impact on the consolidated financial statements as the majority of our business transactions will not be subject to this pronouncement.

In January 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-01, Financial Instruments - Recognition and Measurement of Financial Assets and Liabilities. The new guidance is intended to improve the recognition and measurement of financial instruments by requiring: equity investments (other than equity method or consolidation) to be measured at fair value with changes in fair value recognized in net income; public business entities to use the exit price notion when measuring the fair value of financial instruments for disclosure purposes; separate presentation of financial assets and financial liabilities by measurement category and form of financial assets (i.e. securities or loans and receivables) on the balance sheet or the accompanying notes to the financial statements; eliminating the requirement to disclose the fair value of financial instruments measured at amortized cost for organizations that are not public business entities; eliminating the requirement for non-public business entities to disclose the method(s) and significant assumptions used to estimate the fair value that is to be required to be disclosed for financial instruments measured at amortized cost on the balance sheet; and requiring a reporting organization to present separately in other comprehensive income the portion of the total change in fair value of a liability resulting from the change in the instrument-specific credit risk (also referred to as “own credit”) when the organization has elected to measure the liability at fair value in accordance with the fair value option for financial instruments. The new guidance is effective for public business entities for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017. We are currently evaluating the impact of adopting the new guidance on the consolidated financial statements. Our preliminary finding is that the new pronouncement will not have a significant impact on our Statement of Operations as the majority of the Company's investment securities are classified as available-for-sale and held-to-maturity debt securities. The pronouncement will require some revision to our disclosures within the consolidated financial statements and we are currently evaluating the impact.

In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-02, Leases. The standard requires a lessee to recognize assets and liabilities on the balance sheet for leases with lease terms greater than 12 months. A lessee should recognize in the statement of financial position a liability to make lease payments (the lease liability) and a right of use asset representing its right to use the underlying asset for the lease term. When measuring assets and liabilities arising from a lease, a lessee (and a lessor) should include payments to be made in optional periods only if the lessee is reasonably certain to exercise an option to extend the lease or not to exercise an option to terminate the lease. Similarly, optional payments to purchase the underlying asset should be included in the measurement of lease assets and lease liabilities only if the lessee is reasonably certain to exercise that purchase option. Reasonably certain is a high threshold that is consistent with and intended to be applied in the same way as the reasonably assured threshold in the previous leases guidance. In addition, also consistent with the previous leases guidance, a lessee (and a lessor) should exclude most variable lease payments in measuring lease assets and lease liabilities, other than those that depend on an index or a rate or are in substance fixed payments. For leases with a term of 12 months or less, a lessee is permitted to make an accounting policy election by class of underlying asset not to recognize lease assets and lease liabilities. If a lessee makes this election, it should recognize lease expense for such leases generally on a straight line basis over the lease term. The new guidance is effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those years, beginning after December 15, 2018, and early adoption is permitted. We are currently evaluating the impact of adopting the new guidance on our consolidated financial statements.

In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-13, Financial Instruments—Credit Losses: Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments. The standard is the final guidance on the new current expected credit loss (“CECL”) model. The amendments in this update replace the incurred loss impairment methodology in current GAAP with a methodology that reflects expected credit losses and requires consideration of a broader range of reasonable and supportable information to estimate future credit loss estimates. As CECL encompasses all financial assets carried at amortized cost, the requirement that reserves be established based on an organization’s reasonable and supportable estimate of expected credit losses extends to held to maturity debt securities. The update amends the accounting for credit losses on available for sale securities, whereby credit losses will be presented as an allowance as opposed to a write down. In addition, CECL will modify the accounting for purchased loans with credit deterioration since origination, so that reserves are established at the date of acquisition for purchased loans. Lastly, the amendment requires enhanced disclosures on the significant estimates and judgments used to estimate credit losses, as well as on the credit quality and underwriting standards of an organization’s portfolio. These disclosures require organizations to present the currently required credit quality disclosures disaggregated by the year of origination or vintage. The guidance allows for a modified retrospective approach with a cumulative effect adjustment to the balance sheet upon adoption (charge to retained earnings instead of the income statement). The new guidance is effective for public business entities for fiscal years, and interim periods within those years, beginning after December 15, 2019, and early adoption is permitted. We have formed a committee that is assessing our data and system needs and are evaluating the impact of adopting the new guidance. We expect to recognize a one-time cumulative effect adjustment to the allowance for loan losses as of the beginning of the first reporting period in which the new standard is effective, but cannot yet determine the magnitude of any such one-time adjustment or the overall impact of the new guidance on the consolidated financial statements.