2.Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Principles of Consolidation

The accompanying consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Basic and its wholly-owned subsidiaries. Basic has no variable interest in any other organization, entity, partnership, or contract. All intercompany transactions and balances have been eliminated.

Estimates, Risks and Uncertainties

Preparation of the accompanying 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 amount of assets and liabilities and disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the consolidated financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Management uses historical and other pertinent information to determine these estimates. Actual results could differ from those estimates. Areas where critical accounting estimates are made by management include:

• Depreciation and amortization of property and equipment and intangible assets

• Impairment of property and equipment, goodwill and intangible assets

• Allowance for doubtful accounts

•Litigation and self-insured risk reserves

• Fair value of assets acquired and liabilities assumed in an acquisition

•Stock-based compensation

• Income taxes

Revenue Recognition

Completion and Remedial Services — Completion and remedial services consists primarily of pumping services focused on cementing, acidizing and fracturing, nitrogen units, coiled tubing units, snubbing units, thru-tubing and rental and fishing tools. Basic recognizes revenue when services are performed, collection of the relevant receivables is probable, persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists and the price is fixed or determinable. Basic prices completion and remedial services by the hour, day, or project depending on the type of service performed. When Basic provides multiple services to a customer, revenue is allocated to the services performed based on the fair value of the services.

Fluid Services — Fluid services consists primarily of the sale, transportation, treatment, storage and disposal of fluids used in the drilling, production and maintenance of oil and natural gas wells, and well site construction and maintenance services. Basic recognizes revenue when services are performed, collection of the relevant receivables is probable, persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists and the price is fixed or determinable. Basic prices fluid services by the job, by the hour or by the quantities sold, disposed of or hauled.

Well Servicing — Well servicing consists primarily of maintenance services, workover services, completion services, plugging and abandonment services and rig manufacturing and servicing. Basic recognizes revenue when services are performed, collection of the relevant receivables is probable, persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists and the price is fixed or determinable. Basic prices well servicing by the hour or by the day of service performed. Rig manufacturing revenue is recognized when the rig is accepted by the customer, based on the completed contract method by individual rig.

Contract Drilling — Contract drilling consists primarily of drilling wells to a specified depth using drilling rigs. Basic recognizes revenues based on either a “daywork” contract, in which an agreed upon rate per day is charged to the customer, a “footage” contract, in which an agreed upon rate is charged per the number of feet drilled, or a “turnkey” contract, in which an agreed upon single rate is charged for a drilled well.

Taxes assessed on sales transactions are presented on a net basis and are not included in revenue.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

Basic considers all highly liquid instruments purchased with a maturity of three months or less to be cash equivalents. Basic maintains its excess cash in various financial institutions, where deposits may exceed federally insured amounts at times.

Fair Value of Financial Instruments

The following is a summary of the carrying amounts and estimated fair values of our financial instruments as of December 31, 2014 and 2013. Fair value is defined as the amount that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date.

The carrying amounts of cash and cash equivalents, trade accounts receivable, accounts receivable-related parties, accounts payable and accrued expenses approximate fair value because of the short maturities of these instruments. The carrying amount of our revolving credit facility in long-term debt also approximates fair value due to its variable-rate characteristics.



	December 31, 2014				December 31, 2013
	Carrying Amount		Fair Value		Carrying Amount		Fair Value
	(In thousands)
7.75% Senior Notes due 2019, excluding premium		$ 475,000		$ 372,875		$ 475,000		$ 496,375
7.75% Senior Notes due 2022, excluding premium		300,000		225,000		300,000		309,750

7.75% Senior Notes due 2019, and 7.75% Senior Notes due 2022: The fair value of our long-term notes is based upon the quoted market prices at December 31, 2014 and December 31, 2013.

Inventories

For rental and fishing tools, inventories consisting mainly of grapples, controls, and drill bits are stated at the lower of cost or market, with cost being determined on the average cost method. Other inventories, consisting mainly of manufacturing raw materials, rig components, repair parts, drilling and completion materials and gravel, are held for use in the operations of Basic and are stated at the lower of cost or market, with cost being determined on the first-in, first-out (“FIFO”) method.

Property and Equipment

Property and equipment are stated at cost or at estimated fair value at acquisition date if acquired in a business combination. Expenditures for repairs and maintenance are charged to expense as incurred and additions and improvements that significantly extend the lives of the assets are capitalized. Upon sale or other retirement of depreciable property, the cost and accumulated depreciation and amortization are removed from the related accounts and any gain or loss is reflected in operations. All property and equipment are depreciated or amortized (to the extent of estimated salvage values) on the straight-line method and the estimated useful lives of the assets are as follows:


Buildings and improvements	20-30 years
Well service units and equipment	3-15 years
Fluid services equipment	5-10 years
Brine and fresh water stations	15 years
Frac/test tanks	10 years
Pumping equipment	5-10 years
Construction equipment	3-10 years
Contract drilling equipment	3-10 years
Disposal facilities	10-15 years
Vehicles	3-7 years
Rental equipment	2-15 years
Aircraft	10 years
Software and computers	3 years

The components of a well servicing rig generally require replacement or refurbishment during the well servicing rig’s life and are depreciated over their estimated useful lives, which ranges from 3 to 15 years. The costs of the original components of a purchased or acquired well servicing rig are not maintained separately from the base rig.

Impairments

Long-lived assets, such as property, plant, and equipment, and purchased intangibles subject to amortization, are reviewed for impairment at a minimum annually, or whenever, in management’s judgment, events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of such assets may not be recoverable. Recoverability of assets to be held and used is measured by a comparison of the carrying amount of such assets to estimated undiscounted future cash flows expected to be generated by the assets. Expected future cash flows and carrying values are aggregated at their lowest identifiable level, which is at the business segment level. If the carrying amount of such assets exceeds its estimated future cash flows, an impairment charge is recognized by the amount by which the carrying amount of such assets exceeds the fair value of the assets. Assets to be disposed of would be separately presented in the consolidated balance sheet and reported at the lower of the carrying amount or fair value less costs to sell, and are no longer depreciated. The assets and liabilities, if material, of a disposed group classified as held for sale would be presented separately in the appropriate asset and liability sections of the consolidated balance sheet. These assets are normally sold within a short period of time through a third party auctioneer.

Deferred Debt Costs

Basic capitalizes certain costs in connection with obtaining its borrowings, such as lender’s fees and related attorney’s fees. These costs are being amortized to interest expense using the effective interest method.

Deferred debt costs were approximately $25.7 million net of accumulated amortization of $10.4 million, and $23.2 million net of accumulated amortization of $7.2 million at December 31, 2014 and December 31, 2013, respectively. Amortization of deferred debt costs totaled approximately $3.2 million, $3.1 million and $2.8 million for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2013 and 2012, respectively.

Basic recorded a charge of $1.8 million during the fourth quarter of 2012 related to the write-off of debt costs associated with its 2016 Notes. On October 16, 2012, Basic completed the closing of an early tender for approximately $223.3 million of the 2016 Notes and delivered to the trustee amounts required to satisfy and discharge remaining obligations for the outstanding notes. Additionally, on October 16, 2012, Basic incurred $7.0 million of deferred debt costs associated with the issuance of 7.75% Senior Notes due 2022.

Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets

Goodwill and other intangible assets not subject to amortization are tested for impairment annually or more frequently if events or changes in circumstances indicate that the asset might be impaired. A qualitative assessment is allowed to determine if goodwill is potentially impaired. The qualitative assessment determines whether it is more likely than not that a reporting unit’s fair value is less than its carrying amount. If it is more likely that not that the fair value of the reporting unit is less than the carrying amount, then the two step impairment test is performed. First, the fair value of each reporting unit is compared to its carrying value to determine whether an indication of impairment exists. If impairment is indicated, then the fair value of the reporting unit’s goodwill is determined by allocating the unit’s fair value to its assets and liabilities (including any unrecognized intangible assets) as if the reporting unit had been acquired in a business combination. The amount of impairment for goodwill is measured as the excess of its carrying value over its fair value. Basic completes its assessment of goodwill impairment as of December 31 each year.

The Company performed an annual assessment of goodwill as of December 31, 2014. For step one of the impairment testing, the Company tested three reporting units for goodwill impairment: well servicing, fluid services, and completion and remedial services. The Company’s contract drilling reporting unit does not carry any goodwill, and was not subject to the test.

To estimate the fair value of the reporting units, we primarily used level 1 and level 3 inputs from the fair value hierarchy, which included a weighting of the discounted cash flow method and the public company guideline method (level 3 inputs) of determining fair value of a business unit. In order to validate the reasonableness of the estimated fair values obtained for the reporting units, a reconciliation of fair value to market capitalization (level 1 inputs) was performed for each unit on a stand-alone basis. A control premium, derived from market transaction data, was used in this reconciliation to ensure that fair values were reasonably stated in conjunction with our capitalization. The measurement date for our common stock price and market capitalization was the closing price on December 31, 2014.

Based on the results of step one of the impairment test, impairment was indicated in two of the three of the assessed reporting units. As such, the Company was required to perform step two assessment on the potentially impaired reporting units. Step two requires the allocation of the estimated fair value to the tangible and intangible assets and liabilities of the respective reporting unit. This assessment indicated that $34.7 million was considered impaired as of December 31, 2014. This non-cash charge eliminated all of the Company’s existing well servicing and fluid services goodwill as of December 31, 2014.

The changes in the carrying amount of goodwill for the year ended December 31, 2014, are as follows (in thousands):



	Completion
	and Remedial		Fluid		Well		Contract
	Services		Services		Servicing		Drilling		Total
Balance as of December 31, 2013	$	77,696	$	26,596	$	6,622	$	-	$	110,914
Goodwill additions		315		1,485		-		-		1,800
Goodwill impairment		-		(28,081)		(6,622)		-		(34,703)
Balance as of December 31, 2014	$	78,011	$	-	$	-	$	-	$	78,011

Basic had trade names of $1.9 million as of December 31, 2014 and 2013. Trade names have an indefinite life and are tested for impairment annually.

Basic’s intangible assets subject to amortization were as follows (in thousands):


	December 31, 2014		December 31, 2013
Customer relationships	$	88,576	$	87,139
Non-Compete agreements		13,223		13,004
Trade names		1,939		1,939
Other intangible assets		2,097		2,086
		105,835		104,168
Less accumulated amortization		34,662		26,613
Intangible assets subject to amortization, net	$	71,173	$	77,555

Amortization expense for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2013 and 2012 was approximately $8.6 million, $8.4 million, and $6.9 million, respectively. Amortization expense for the next five succeeding years is estimated to be approximately $8.7 million, $8.2 million, $7.6 million, $6.2 million, and $6.0 million in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019, respectively.



	Completion
	and Remedial
	Services		Well Servicing		Fluid Services		Contract Drilling		Total
Intangible assets subject to amortization, net	$	52,483	$	5,371	$	9,976	$	3,343	$	71,173

Customer relationships are amortized over a 15-year life, non-compete agreements are amortized over a five-year life, rig engineering plans and developed technology are amortized over 15-year life.

Stock-Based Compensation

Basic has historically compensated our directors, executives and employees through the awarding of stock options and restricted stock. Basic accounted for stock option and restricted stock awards in 2014, 2013, and 2012 using a grant date fair-value based method, resulting in compensation expense for stock-based awards being recorded in our consolidated statements of operations. For performance based restricted stock awards, compensation expense is recognized in the Company's financial statements based on their grant date fair value. Basic utilizes (i) the closing stock price on the date of grant to determine the fair value of vesting restricted stock awards and (ii) a Monte Carlo simulation to determine the fair value of restricted stock awards with a combination of market and service vesting criteria. The Monte Carlo simulation model utilizes multiple input variables that determine the probability of satisfying the market condition stipulated in the award grant and calculates the fair value of the award. The expected volatility utilized in the model was estimated using our historical volatility and the historical volatilities of our peer companies. The risk-free interest rate was based on the U.S. treasury rate for a term commensurate with the expected life of the grant. Stock options issued are valued on the grant date using Black-Scholes-Merton option pricing model and restricted stock issued is valued based on the fair value of Basic’s common stock at the grant date. In addition, judgment is required in estimating the amount of stock-based awards that are expected to be forfeited. Because the determination of these various assumptions is subject to significant management judgment and different assumptions could result in material differences in amounts recorded in Basic’s consolidated financial statements, management believes that accounting estimates related to the valuation of stock options are critical.

Income Taxes

Deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the future tax consequences attributable to differences between the financial statement carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using statutory tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the years in which those temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. The effect on deferred tax assets and liabilities of a change in tax rate is recognized in the period that includes the statutory enactment date. A valuation allowance for deferred tax assets is recognized when it is more likely than not that the benefit of deferred tax assets will not be realized.

Accounts Receivable

Basic estimates its allowance for losses on accounts receivable based on historic collections and expectations for future collections. These losses have historically been within management’s expectations. Basic regularly reviews accounts for collectability. After all collection efforts are exhausted, if the balance is still determined to be uncollectable, the balance is written off. Expense related to the write off of uncollected accounts is recorded in general and administrative expense.

Concentrations of Credit Risk

Financial instruments, which potentially subject Basic to concentration of credit risk, consist primarily of temporary cash investments and trade receivables. Basic restricts investment of temporary cash investments to financial institutions with high credit standing. Basic’s customer base consists primarily of multi-national and independent oil and natural gas producers. It performs ongoing credit evaluations of its customers but generally does not require collateral on its trade receivables. Credit risk is considered by management to be limited due to the large number of customers comprising its customer base. Basic maintains an allowance for potential credit losses on its trade receivables, and such losses have been within management’s expectations.

Basic did not have any one customer which represented 10% or more of consolidated revenue for 2014, 2013 or 2012.

Asset Retirement Obligations

Basic is required to record the fair value of an asset retirement obligation as a liability in the period in which it incurs a legal obligation associated with the retirement of tangible long-lived assets and capitalize an equal amount as a cost of the asset depreciating it over the life of the asset. Subsequent to the initial measurement of the asset retirement obligation, the obligation is adjusted at the end of each quarter to reflect the passage of time, changes in the estimated future cash flows underlying the obligation, acquisition or construction of assets, and settlements of obligations.

Environmental

Basic is subject to extensive federal, state and local environmental laws and regulations. These laws, which are constantly changing, regulate the discharge of materials into the environment and may require Basic to remove or mitigate the adverse environmental effects of disposal or release of petroleum, chemical and other substances at various sites. Environmental expenditures are expensed or capitalized depending on the future economic benefit. Expenditures that relate to an existing condition caused by past operations and that have no future economic benefits are expensed. Liabilities for expenditures of a non-capital nature are recorded when environmental assessment and/or remediation is probable and the costs can be reasonably estimated.

Litigation and Self-Insured Risk Reserves

Basic estimates its reserves related to litigation and self-insured risks based on the facts and circumstances specific to the litigation and self-insured claims and its past experience with similar claims. Basic maintains accruals in the consolidated balance sheets to cover self-insurance retentions (See Note 7).

Comprehensive Income (Loss)

All items that are required to be recognized under accounting rules as components of comprehensive income (loss) are to be reported in a financial statement that is displayed with the same prominence as other financial statements. For the three-year period ended December 31, 2014, Basic did not have any items of other comprehensive income (loss).

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

In January 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-01, “Simplifying Income Statement Presentation by Eliminating the Concept of Extraordinary Items.” ASU 2015-01 eliminates from U.S. GAAP the concept of an extraordinary item. The Board released the new guidance as part of its simplification initiative, which is intended to “identify, evaluate, and improve areas of U.S. GAAP for which cost and complexity can be reduced while maintaining or improving the usefulness of the information provided to users of financial statements.” The ASU is effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2015, and interim periods within those annual periods. Basic does not believe this pronouncement will have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.

In April 2014, the FASB issued ASU No. 2014-08, “Presentation of Financial Statements (Topic 205) and Property, Plant, and Equipment (Topic 360): Reporting Discontinued Operations and Disclosures of Disposals of Components of an Entity." ASU 2014-08 raises the threshold for a disposal to qualify as a discontinued operation and requires new disclosures of both discontinued operations and certain other disposals that do not meet the definition of a discontinued operation. It is effective for annual periods beginning on or after December 15, 2014. Early adoption is permitted but only for disposals that have not been reported in financial statements previously issued. Basic does not believe this pronouncement will have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.

In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU No. 2014-09, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606).” ASU 2014-09 provides a framework that replaces the existing revenue recognition guidance. It is effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2016, including interim periods within that reporting period. Basic is in the process of determining if this pronouncement will have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.

In June 2014, the FASB issued ASU No. 2014-12, “Compensation-Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Accounting for Share-Based Payments When the Terms of an Award Provide That a Performance Target Could Be Achieved after the Requisite Service Period.” ASU 2014-12 requires a reporting entity to treat a performance target that affects vesting and that could be achieved after the requisite service period as a performance condition. It is effective for annual periods, and interim periods within those annual periods, beginning after December 15, 2015. Early adoption is permitted. ASU 2014-12 may be adopted either prospectively for share-based payment awards granted or modified on or after the effective date, or retrospectively, using a modified retrospective approach. The modified retrospective approach would apply to share-based payment awards outstanding as of the beginning of the earliest annual period presented in the financial statements on adoption, and to all new or modified awards thereafter. Basic will determine if this pronouncement will have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.

In July 2013, the FASB issued ASU No. 2013-11, “Income Taxes (Topic 740): Presentation of an Unrecognized Tax Benefit When a Net Operating Loss Carryforward, a Similar Tax Loss, or a Tax Credit Carryforward Exist”. ASU 2013-11 reduces diversity in proactive by providing guidance on the presentation of unrecognized tax benefits and will better reflect the manner in which an entity would settle at the reporting date any additional income taxes that would result from the disallowance of a tax position when net operating loss carryforwards, similar tax losses, or tax credit carryforwards exist. ASU 2013-11 became effective for Basic on January 1, 2014 and it did not have a material impact on Basic’s consolidated financial statements.