BASIS OF PRESENTATION (Policies)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2020

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Basis of Presentation

Management of Booking Holdings Inc. (the "Company") is responsible for the Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements included in this document. The Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America ("GAAP") and include all normal and recurring adjustments that management of the Company considers necessary for a fair presentation of its financial position and operating results. The Company prepared the Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements following the requirements of the Securities and Exchange Commission for interim reporting. As permitted under those rules, the Company condensed or omitted certain footnotes or other financial information that are normally required by GAAP for annual financial statements. These statements should be read in combination with the Consolidated Financial Statements in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019.

The Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements include the accounts of the Company and its wholly-owned subsidiaries. All inter-company accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. The functional currency of the Company's subsidiaries is generally the respective local currency. For international operations, assets and liabilities are translated into U.S. Dollars at the rate of exchange existing at the balance sheet date. Income statement amounts are translated at monthly average exchange rates applicable for the period. Translation gains and losses are included as a component of "Accumulated other comprehensive loss" in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets. Foreign currency transaction gains and losses are included in "Foreign currency transactions and other" in the Unaudited Consolidated Statements of Operations.

Revenues, expenses, assets and liabilities can vary during each quarter of the year. Therefore, the results and trends in these interim financial statements may not be the same as those for any subsequent quarter or the full year, especially during the periods that are impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Change in Presentation and Reclassification

Change in Presentation and Reclassification

In the year ended December 31, 2019 and prior periods, the Company's marketing expenses were presented in the Consolidated Statements of Operations as "Performance marketing" and "Brand marketing" expenses. In the first quarter of 2020, the Company changed the presentation of marketing expenses by combining "Performance marketing" and "Brand marketing" into "Marketing expenses" in the Unaudited Consolidated Statement of Operations because of the increased convergence of performance marketing and brand marketing channels in areas including digital marketing and the Company's view of overall marketing expenditure as its investment in customer acquisition and retention.  The change in presentation had no impact on operating income or net income. The Unaudited Statement of Operations for the three months ended March 31, 2019 has been recast to conform to the current year presentation.

In addition to the change in presentation for marketing expenses, certain amounts from prior periods have been reclassified to conform to the current period presentation.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements Adopted

Recent Accounting Pronouncements Adopted

Simplifying the Test for Goodwill Impairment

In January 2017, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") issued a new accounting update to simplify the test for goodwill impairment. The revised guidance eliminates the previously required step two of the goodwill impairment test, which required a hypothetical purchase price allocation to measure goodwill impairment. Under the revised guidance, a goodwill impairment loss will be measured at the amount by which a reporting unit’s carrying amount exceeds its fair value,

not to exceed the carrying amount of goodwill. The Company adopted this update in the first quarter of 2020 and applied it on a prospective basis (see Note 8 for further information on the goodwill impairment test performed at March 31, 2020).

Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments

In June 2016, the FASB issued a new accounting update on the measurement of credit losses for certain financial assets measured at amortized cost and available-for-sale debt securities. For financial assets measured at amortized cost, this update requires an entity to (1) estimate its lifetime expected credit losses upon recognition of the financial assets and establish an allowance to present the net amount expected to be collected, (2) recognize this allowance and changes in the allowance during subsequent periods through net income and (3) consider relevant information about past events, current conditions and reasonable and supportable forecasts in assessing the lifetime expected credit losses. For available-for-sale debt securities, this update made several targeted amendments to the existing other-than-temporary impairment model, including (1) requiring disclosure of the allowance for credit losses, (2) allowing reversals of the previously recognized credit losses until the entity has the intent to sell, is more-likely-than-not required to sell the securities or the maturity of the securities, (3) limiting impairment to the difference between the amortized cost basis and fair value and (4) not allowing entities to consider the length of time that fair value has been less than amortized cost as a factor in evaluating whether a credit loss exists. The Company adopted this update in the first quarter of 2020 and applied this update on a modified retrospective basis. Upon adoption of the new standard on January 1, 2020, the Company recorded a net decrease to its retained earnings of $3 million, net of tax. See Note 7 for further information related to allowance for expected credit losses on accounts receivable and other financial assets and Note 5 for further information related to investments in available-for-sale debt securities.

Other Recent Accounting Pronouncement(s)

Other Recent Accounting Pronouncement

Simplifying the Accounting for Income Taxes

In December 2019, the FASB issued a new accounting update relating to income taxes.  This update provides an 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.  This update also (1) requires an entity to 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) requires an entity to evaluate when a step-up in the tax basis of goodwill should be considered part of the business combination in which goodwill was originally recognized for accounting purposes and when it should be considered a separate transaction, and (3) requires 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. 

For public business entities, this update is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2020, including interim periods within those fiscal years.  Early adoption is permitted. The amendment related to franchise taxes that are partially based on income should be applied on either a retrospective basis for all periods presented or a modified retrospective basis through a cumulative-effect adjustment to retained earnings as of the beginning of the fiscal year of adoption. All other amendments should be applied on a prospective basis. The Company is currently evaluating the impact to its Consolidated Financial Statements of adopting this update and does not expect it to have a material impact.