Operations and summary of significant accounting policies (Policy)

12 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2017

Accounting Policies [Line Items]

Principles of consolidation

Principles of consolidation:  These Consolidated Financial Statements are prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP and include the accounts of Woodward and its wholly and majority-owned subsidiaries.  Transactions within and between these companies are eliminated.

Use of estimates

Use of estimates:  The preparation of the Consolidated Financial Statements requires management to make use of estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amount of assets and liabilities, at the date of the financial statements and the reported revenues and expenses recognized during the reporting period, and certain financial statement disclosures.  Significant estimates include allowances for uncollectible amounts, net realizable value of inventories, customer rebates earned, useful lives of property and identifiable intangible assets, the evaluation of impairments of property, identifiable intangible assets and goodwill, the provision for income tax and related valuation reserves, the valuation of assets and liabilities acquired in business combinations, assumptions used in the determination of the funded status and annual expense of pension and postretirement employee benefit plans, the valuation of stock compensation instruments granted to employees, and contingencies. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

Foreign currency exchange rates

Foreign currency exchange rates:  The assets and liabilities of substantially all subsidiaries outside the United States are translated at fiscal year-end rates of exchange, and earnings and cash flow statements are translated at weighted-average rates of exchange.  Translation adjustments are accumulated with other comprehensive (losses) earnings as a separate component of stockholders’ equity and are presented net of tax effects in the Consolidated Statements of Stockholders’ Equity.  The effects of changes in foreign currency exchange rates on loans between consolidated subsidiaries that are considered permanent in nature are also accumulated with other comprehensive earnings, net of tax.

The Company is exposed to market risks related to fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates because some sales transactions, and certain of the assets and liabilities of its domestic and foreign subsidiaries, are denominated in foreign currencies.  Selling, general, and administrative expenses include a net foreign currency loss of $651 in fiscal year 2017, net foreign currency gain of $701 in fiscal year 2016, and a net foreign currency loss of $1,721 in fiscal year 2015.

Revenue recognition

Revenue recognition:  Woodward recognizes revenue upon shipment or delivery of products or services and when collectability is reasonably assured.  Delivery is upon completion of manufacturing, customer acceptance, and the transfer of the risks and rewards of ownership.  In countries whose laws provide for retention of some form of title by sellers, enabling recovery of goods in the event of customer default on payment, product delivery is considered to have occurred when the customer has assumed the risks and rewards of ownership of the products.

Occasionally, Woodward transfers title of product to customers, but retains substantive performance obligations such as completion of product testing, customer acceptance or in some instances regulatory acceptance.  In addition, occasionally customers pay Woodward for products or services prior to Woodward satisfying its performance obligation.  Under these circumstances, revenue is deferred until the performance obligations are satisfied.  In addition, service revenue is also recognized upon completion of applicable performance obligations.

Certain Woodward products include incidental software or firmware essential to the performance of the product as designed, which are treated as units of accounting associated with the related tangible product with which the software is included.  Woodward does not generally sell software on a standalone basis, although software upgrades, if any, are generally paid for by the customer. 

Revenue for certain non-recurring engineering projects is recognized when contractually specified milestones are achieved. 

Product freight costs are included in cost of goods sold.  Freight costs charged to customers are included in net sales.

Taxes collected from customers and remitted to government authorities are excluded from revenue and are recorded as liabilities until the taxes are remitted to the appropriate U.S. or foreign government authority.

Net sales generated through shipment of tangible products to customers represents more than 90% of total net sales for fiscal years 2017, 2016 and 2015.

Customer payments

Customer payments:  Woodward occasionally agrees to make payments to certain customers in order to participate in anticipated sales activity.  Payments made to customers are accounted for as a reduction of revenue unless they are made in exchange for identifiable goods or services with fair values that can be reasonably estimated.  Reductions in revenue associated with these customer payments are recognized immediately to the extent that the payments cannot be attributed to anticipated future sales, and are recognized in future periods to the extent that the payments relate to anticipated future sales.  Such determinations are based on the facts and circumstances underlying each payment.

Stock-based compensation

Stock-based compensation:  Compensation cost relating to stock-based payment awards made to employees and directors is recognized in the financial statements using a fair value method.  Non-qualified stock option awards and restricted stock awards are issued under Woodward’s stock-based compensation plans.  The cost of such awards, measured at the grant date, is based on the estimated fair value of the award.

Forfeitures are estimated at the time of each grant in order to estimate the portion of the award that will ultimately vest.  The estimate is based on Woodward’s historical rates of forfeitures and is updated periodically.  The portion of the award that is ultimately expected to vest is recognized as expense over the requisite service periods, which is generally the vesting period of the awards.

Research and development

Research and development costs:  Company funded expenditures related to new product development, and significant product enhancement and/or upgrade activities are expensed as incurred and are separately reported in the Consolidated Statements of Earnings.

Income taxes

Income taxes:  Deferred income taxes are provided for the temporary differences between the financial reporting basis and the tax basis of Woodward’s assets, liabilities, and certain unrecognized gains and losses recorded in accumulated other comprehensive (losses) earnings.  Woodward provides for taxes that may be payable if undistributed earnings of overseas subsidiaries were to be remitted to the United States, except for those earnings that it considers to be indefinitely invested.

Cash equivalents

Cash equivalents:  Highly liquid investments purchased with an original maturity of three months or less are considered to be cash equivalents.

Cash and cash equivalents are maintained with multiple financial institutions.  Generally, these deposits may be redeemed upon demand and are maintained with financial institutions with reputable credit and therefore bear minimal credit risk.  Woodward holds cash and cash equivalents at financial institutions in excess of amounts covered by the Federal Depository Insurance Corporation (the “FDIC”), sometimes invests excess cash in money market funds or other highly liquid investments not insured by the FDIC, and holds cash and cash equivalents outside the United States that are not insured by the FDIC.

Accounts receivable

Accounts receivable:  Almost all of Woodward’s sales are made on credit and result in accounts receivable, which are recorded at the amount invoiced and are generally not collateralized.  In the normal course of business, not all accounts receivable are collected and, therefore, an allowance for uncollectible amounts is provided equal to the amount that Woodward believes ultimately will not be collected.  In establishing the amount of the allowance related to the credit risk of accounts receivable, customer-specific information is considered related to delinquent accounts, past loss experience, bankruptcy filings, deterioration in the customer’s operating results or financial position, and current economic conditions. Accounts receivable losses are deducted from the allowance, and the related accounts receivable balances are written off when the receivables are deemed uncollectible.  Recoveries of accounts receivable previously written off are recognized when received.  In addition, an allowance associated with anticipated future sales returns is also established and is included in the allowance for uncollectible amounts.

Inventories

Inventories:  Inventories are valued at the lower of cost or net realizable value, with cost being determined using methods that approximate a first-in, first-out basis.

Short-term Investments Policy [Policy Text Block]

Short-term investments:  From time to time, certain of Woodward’s foreign subsidiaries will invest excess cash in short-term time deposits with a fixed maturity date of longer than three months but less than one year from the date the deposit. Woodward believes that the investments are with creditworthy financial institutions.  Amounts with maturities of less than 365 days are classified as “Other current assets.”

Property, plant and equipment

Property, plant, and equipment:  Property, plant, and equipment are recorded at cost and are depreciated over the estimated useful lives of the assets.  Assets are generally depreciated using the straight-line method.  Assets are tested for recoverability whenever events or circumstances indicate the carrying value may not be recoverable.

Estimated lives over which fixed assets are generally depreciated at September 30, 2017 were as follows:

Land improvements	3	-	20	years
Buildings and improvements	3	-	40	years
Leasehold improvements	1	-	10	years
Machinery and production equipment	3	-	20	years
Computer equipment and software	3	-	10	years
Office furniture and equipment	3	-	13	years
Other	3	-	13	years

Included in computer equipment and software are Woodward’s enterprise resource planning (“ERP”) systems, which have an estimated useful life of 10 years.  All other computer equipment and software is generally depreciated over three to five years.

Goodwill

Goodwill:Woodward tests goodwill for impairment at the reporting unit level on an annual basis and more often if an event occurs or circumstances change that would more likely than not reduce the fair value of a reporting unit below its carrying amount.  Based on the relevant U.S. GAAP authoritative guidance, Woodward aggregates components of a single operating segment into a reporting unit, if appropriate.   The impairment tests consist of comparing the implied fair value of each reporting unit with its carrying amount that includes goodwill.  If the carrying amount of the reporting unit exceeds its implied fair value, Woodward compares the implied fair value of goodwill with the recorded carrying amount of goodwill.  If the carrying amount of goodwill exceeds the implied fair value of goodwill, an impairment loss would be recognized to reduce the carrying amount to its implied fair value.  Based on the results of Woodward’s goodwill impairment testing it has recorded no impairment charges.

Other intangibles

Other intangibles:  Other intangibles are recognized apart from goodwill whenever an acquired intangible asset arises from contractual or other legal rights, or whenever it is capable of being separated or divided from the acquired entity and sold, transferred, licensed, rented, or exchanged, either individually or in combination with a related contract, asset, or liability.  All of Woodward’s intangibles have an estimated useful life and are being amortized using patterns that reflect the periods over which the economic benefits of the assets are expected to be realized.  Amortization expense is allocated to cost of goods sold and selling, general, and administrative expenses based on the nature of the intangible asset.  Impairment losses are recognized if the carrying amount of an intangible is both not recoverable and exceeds its fair value.  Woodward has recorded no impairment charges on its other intangibles.

Estimated lives over which intangible assets are amortized at September 30, 2017 were as follows:

Customer relationships	9	-	30	years
Intellectual property	10	-	17	years
Process technology	8	-	30	years
Other			15	years

Impairment of long-lived assets

Impairment of long-lived assets:  Woodward reviews the carrying amount of its long-lived assets or asset groups to be used in operations whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of the assets might not be recoverable.  Factors that would necessitate an impairment assessment include a significant adverse change in the extent or manner in which an asset is used, a significant adverse change in legal factors or the business climate that could affect the value of the asset, or a significant decline in the observable market value of an asset, among others.

If such facts indicate a potential impairment, the Company would assess the recoverability of an asset group by determining if the carrying amount of the asset group exceeds the sum of the projected undiscounted cash flows expected to result from the use and eventual disposition of the assets over the remaining economic life of the primary asset in the asset group.  If the recoverability test indicates that the carrying amount of the asset group is not recoverable, the Company will estimate the fair value of the asset group using appropriate valuation methodologies, which would typically include an estimate of discounted cash flows.  Any impairment would be measured as the difference between the asset groups carrying amount and its estimated fair value.  There were no impairment charges recorded in fiscal years 2017, 2016 or 2015.   

Investments in marketable equity securities

Investment in marketable equity securities:  Woodward holds marketable equity securities related to its deferred compensation program.  Based on Woodward’s intentions regarding these instruments, marketable equity securities are classified as trading securities.  The trading securities are reported at fair value, with realized gains and losses recognized in “Other (income) expense, net.” The trading securities are included in “Other assets.”  The associated obligation to provide benefits is included in “Other liabilities.”

Investments in unconsolidated subsidiaries

Investments in unconsolidated subsidiaries:  Investments in, and operating results of, entities in which Woodward does not have a controlling financial interest or the ability to exercise significant influence over the operations are included in the financial statements using the cost method of accounting.  Investments and operating results of entities in which Woodward does not have a controlling interest but does have the ability to exercise significant influence over operations are included in the financial statements using the equity method of accounting.

Derivatives

Derivatives:  The Company is exposed to various market risks that arise from transactions entered into in the normal course of business.  The Company has historically utilized derivative instruments, such as treasury lock agreements to lock in fixed rates on future debt issuances, which qualify as cash flow or fair value hedges to mitigate the risk of variability in cash flows related to future interest payments attributable to changes in the designated benchmark rate.  The Company records all such interest rate hedge instruments on the balance sheet at fair value.  Cash flows related to the instrument designated as a qualifying hedge are reflected in the accompanying Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows in the same categories as the cash flows from the items being hedged.  Accordingly, cash flows relating to the settlement of interest rate derivatives hedging the forecasted future interest payments on debt have been reflected upon settlement as a component of financing cash flows.  The resulting gain or loss from such settlement is deferred to other comprehensive income and reclassified to interest expense over the term of the underlying debt.  This reclassification of the deferred gains and losses impacts the interest expense recognized on the underlying debt that was hedged and is therefore reflected as a component of operating cash flows in periods subsequent to settlement.  The periodic settlement of interest rate derivatives hedging outstanding variable rate debt is recorded as an adjustment to interest expense and is therefore reflected as a component of operating cash flows.

From time to time, in order to hedge against foreign currency exposure, Woodward designates certain non-derivative financial instrument loans as net investment hedges.  Foreign exchange gains or losses on the loans are recognized in foreign currency translation adjustments within total comprehensive (losses) earnings.  Further information on net investment hedges can be found at Note 6, Derivative instruments and hedging activities.

Financial Instruments

Financial instruments:  The Company’s financial instruments include cash and cash equivalents, short-term investments, investments in the deferred compensation program, notes receivable from municipalities, investments in term deposits and debt.  Because of their short-term maturity, the carrying amount of cash and cash equivalents and short-term debt approximate fair value.  The fair value of investments in the deferred compensation program are adjusted to fair value based on the quoted market prices for the investments in the various mutual funds owned.  The fair value of the long-term notes from municipalities are estimated based on a model that discounts future principal and interest payments received at interest rates available to the Company at the end of the period for similarly rated municipality notes of similar maturity.  The fair value of term deposits are estimated based on a model that discounts future principal and interest payments received at interest rates available to the Company at the end of the period for similar term deposits with the same maturity in the same jurisdictions.  The fair value of long-term debt is estimated based on a model that discounts future principal and interest payments at interest rates available to the Company at the end of the period for similar debt with the same maturity.  Further information on the fair value of financial instruments can be found at Note 5, Financial instruments and fair value measurements.

Financial assets and liabilities recorded at fair value in the Consolidated Balance Sheets are categorized based upon a fair value hierarchy established by U.S. GAAP, which prioritizes the inputs used to measure fair value into the following levels:

Level 1: Inputs based on quoted market prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities at the measurement date. 

Level 2: Quoted prices included in Level 1, such as quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities in active markets; quoted prices for identical or similar assets and liabilities in markets that are not active; or other inputs that are observable and can be corroborated by observable market data.

Level 3: Inputs reflect management’s best estimates and assumptions of what market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability at the measurement date.  The inputs are unobservable in the market and significant to the valuation of the instruments.

Postretirement benefits

Postretirement benefits:  The Company provides various benefits to certain current and former employees through defined benefit pension and postretirement plans.  For financial reporting purposes, net periodic benefits expense and related obligations are calculated using a number of significant actuarial assumptions.  Changes in net periodic expense and funding status may occur in the future due to changes in these assumptions.  The funded status of defined pension and postretirement plans recognized in the statement of financial position is measured as the difference between the fair market value of the plan assets and the benefit obligation.  For a defined benefit pension plan, the benefit obligation is the projected benefit obligation; for any other defined benefit postretirement plan, such as a retiree health care plan, the benefit obligation is the accumulated benefit obligation.  Any over-funded status is recognized as an asset and any underfunded status is recognized as a liability.

Projected benefit obligation is the actuarial present value as of the measurement date of all benefits attributed by the plan benefit formula to employee service rendered before the measurement date using assumptions as to future compensation levels if the plan benefit formula is based on those future compensation levels.  The accumulated benefit obligation is the actuarial present value of benefits (whether vested or unvested) attributed by the plan benefit formula to employee service rendered before the measurement date and based on employee service and compensation, if applicable, prior to that date.  The accumulated benefit obligation differs from the projected benefit obligation in that it includes no assumption about future compensation levels.

Deferred Compensation, Excluding Share-based Payments and Retirement Benefits [Member]

Accounting Policies [Line Items]

Deferred compensation

Deferred compensation:  The Company maintains a deferred compensation plan, or “rabbi trust,” as part of its overall compensation package for certain employees.

Deferred compensation obligations will be settled either by delivery of a fixed number of shares of Woodward’s common stock (in accordance with certain eligible members’ irrevocable elections) or in cash.  Woodward has contributed shares of its common stock into a trust established for the future settlement of deferred compensation obligations that are payable in shares of Woodward’s common stock.  Common stock held by the trust is reflected in the Consolidated Balance Sheet as “Treasury stock held for deferred compensation” and the related deferred compensation obligation is reflected as a separate component of equity in amounts equal to the fair value of the common stock at the dates of contribution.  These accounts are not adjusted for subsequent changes in the fair value of the common stock.  Deferred compensation obligations that will be settled in cash are accounted for on an accrual basis in accordance with the terms of the underlying contract and are reflected in the Consolidated Balance Sheet as “Other liabilities.”