Nature of Business and Basis of Presentation (Policies)

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2013

Nature of Business and Basis of Presentation [Abstract]

Business Activity

Business Activity

Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (the "Company") is a South Carolina corporation that owns all of the capital stock of Southern First Bank (the "Bank") and all of the stock of Greenville First Statutory Trust I and II (collectively, the "Trusts"). On April 1, 2013, the Bank converted from a national bank charter to a South Carolina state bank charter and the bank name was changed from Southern First Bank, N.A. to Southern First Bank. As a national bank, the Bank's primary federal regulator was the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (the "OCC"), and subsequent to the conversion, the Bank's primary federal regulator is the Federal Deposit Insurance corporation (the "FDIC"). The Bank is also regulated and examined by the South Carolina Board of Financial Institutions. The Bank is primarily engaged in the business of accepting demand deposits and savings deposits insured by the FDIC, and providing commercial, consumer and mortgage loans to the general public. The Trusts are special purpose non-consolidated entities organized for the sole purpose of issuing trust preferred securities.

Basis of Presentation

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP") for interim financial information and with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, they do not include all the information and footnotes required by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America for complete financial statements. In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring accruals) considered necessary for a fair presentation have been included. Operating results for the three and six month periods ended June 30, 2013 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ending December 31, 2013. For further information, refer to the consolidated financial statements and footnotes thereto included in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on March 5, 2013 (File No. 000-27719). The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and the Bank. In accordance with Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") Accounting Standards Codification ("ASC") 810, "Consolidation," the financial statements related to the Trusts have not been consolidated.

Use of Estimates

Use of Estimates

The preparation of consolidated financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities as of the date of the consolidated financial statements and the reported amount of income and expenses during the reporting periods. Actual results could differ from those estimates. Material estimates that are particularly susceptible to significant change in the near term relate to the determination of the allowance for loan losses, other real estate owned, fair value of financial instruments, evaluating other-than-temporary-impairment of investment securities and valuation of deferred tax assets.

Reclassifications

Reclassifications

Certain amounts, previously reported, have been reclassified to state all periods on a comparable basis and had no effect on shareholders' equity or net income.

Subsequent Events

Subsequent Events

Subsequent events are events or transactions that occur after the balance sheet date but before financial statements are issued. Recognized subsequent events are events or transactions that provide additional evidence about conditions that existed at the date of the balance sheet, including the estimates inherent in the process of preparing financial statements. Non-recognized subsequent events are events that provide evidence about conditions that did not exist at the date of the balance sheet but arose after that date. Management performed an evaluation to determine whether there have been any subsequent events since the balance sheet date and determined that no subsequent events occurred requiring accrual or disclosure.

Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements

Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements

The following is a summary of recently adopted authoritative pronouncements that have impacted the accounting, reporting, and/or disclosure of financial information by the Company.

The Comprehensive Income topic of the ASC was amended in June 2011. The amendment eliminated the option to present other comprehensive income as a part of the statement of changes in stockholders' equity and required consecutive presentation of the statement of net income and other comprehensive income. The amendments were applicable to the Company January 1, 2012 and have been applied retrospectively. In December 2011, the topic was further amended to defer the effective date of presenting reclassification adjustments from other comprehensive income to net income on the face of the financial statements while the FASB redeliberated the presentation requirements for the reclassification adjustments. In February 2013, the FASB further amended the Comprehensive Income topic clarifying the conclusions from such redeliberations. Specifically, the amendments do not change the current requirements for reporting net income or other comprehensive income in financial statements. However, the amendments do require an entity to provide information about the amounts reclassified out of accumulated other comprehensive income by component. In addition, in certain circumstances an entity is required to present, either on the face of the statement where net income is presented or in the notes, significant amounts reclassified out of accumulated other comprehensive income by the respective line items of net income. The amendments were effective for the Company on a prospective basis for reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2012. These amendments did not have a material effect on the Company's financial statements.