1. NATURE OF OPERATIONS, BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (Policies)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2012

Nature Of Operations Basis Of Presentation And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies Policies

Nature of Operations

Envision Solar International Inc. (along with its subsidiaries, hereinafter the “Company”, “us”, “we”, “our” or “Envision”), a Nevada corporation, is a developer of solar products and proprietary technology solutions. The Company focuses on creating high quality products which transform both surface and top deck parking lots of commercial, institutional, governmental and other customers into shaded renewable generation plants. The Company's chief differentiator is its ability to design and engineer architecturally accretive solar shaded parking solutions as products which are a complex integration of simple, commonly available engineered components. The resulting products are built to have the longest life expectancy in the industry while also delivering a highly appealing architectural enhancement to our customer’s locations. Envision's products deliver multiple layers of value such as architectural enhancement of the parking lot, reduction of heat islanding through shading, improved parking through shading, high visibility "green halo" branding, reduction of net operating costs through reduced utility bills and the creation of an iconic luxury landmark where simple parking existed previously.

Basis of Presentation

The interim unaudited consolidated financial statements included herein have been prepared by the Company, pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission. In the opinion of the Company’s management, all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring adjustments and reclassifications and non-recurring adjustments) necessary to present fairly our results of operations and cash flows for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2012 and 2011, and our financial position as of September 30, 2012, have been made. The results of operations for such interim periods are not necessarily indicative of the operating results to be expected for the full year.

Certain information and disclosures normally included in the notes to the annual consolidated financial statements have been condensed or omitted from these interim financial statements. Accordingly, these interim unaudited consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2011. The December 31, 2011 consolidated balance sheet is derived from those statements.

Principals of Consolidation

The unaudited consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Envision Solar International, Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiary. All significant inter-company balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of 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 at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates. Significant estimates in the accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements include the allowance for doubtful accounts receivable, valuation of inventory, depreciable lives of property and equipment, estimates of costs to complete and earnings on uncompleted contracts, estimates of loss contingencies, valuation of accrued rent, valuation of derivatives, valuation of beneficial conversion features in convertible debt, valuation of share-based payments, and the valuation allowance on deferred tax assets.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

For the purposes of the unaudited consolidated statements of cash flows, the Company considers all highly liquid investments with an original maturity of three months or less when purchased to be cash equivalents. There were no cash equivalents at September 30, 2012 and December 31, 2011 respectively.

Fair Value of Financial Instruments

The Company’s financial instruments, including cash, accounts receivable, accounts payable, accrued expenses and short term loans, are carried at historical cost basis. At September 30, 2012, the carrying amounts of these instruments approximated their fair values because of the short-term nature of these instruments.

Accounting for Derivatives

The Company evaluates its convertible instruments, options, warrants or other contracts to determine if those contracts or embedded components of those contracts qualify as derivatives to be separately accounted for under ASC Topic 815, “Derivatives and Hedging”.  The result of this accounting treatment is that the fair value of the derivative is marked-to-market each balance sheet date and recorded as a liability.  In the event that the fair value is recorded as a liability, the change in fair value is recorded in the statement of operations as other income (expense).  Upon conversion or exercise of a derivative instrument, the instrument is marked to fair value at the conversion date and then that fair value is reclassified to equity.  Equity instruments that are initially classified as equity that become subject to reclassification under ASC Topic 815 are reclassified to liability at the fair value of the instrument on the reclassification date.

Revenue Recognition

Revenues are primarily derived from construction projects for the construction and installation of integrated solutions and proprietary products. Revenues also consist of design fees for the design of solar systems and arrays, and revenues from sales of professional services.

Revenues from design services and professional services are recognized as earned.

Revenues and related costs on construction projects are recognized using the “percentage of completion method” of accounting in accordance with ASC 605-35, “Construction-Type and Production-Type Contracts.” Under this method, contract revenues are recognized over the performance period of the contract in direct proportion to the costs incurred as a percentage of total estimated costs for the entirety of the contract. Costs include direct material, direct labor, subcontract labor and any allocable indirect costs and are charged to the periods as incurred. All unallocable indirect costs and corporate general and administrative costs are also charged to the periods as incurred. Any recognized revenues that have not been billed to a customer are recorded as an asset in “costs and estimated earnings in excess of billings on uncompleted contracts.” Any billings of customers in excess of recognized revenues are recorded as a liability in “Billings in excess of costs and estimated earnings on uncompleted contracts.” However, in the event a loss on a contract is foreseen, the Company will recognize the loss when such loss is determined.

For contracts that do not qualify for use of the percentage of completion method, the Company accounts for construction contracts using the “completed contract method” of accounting in accordance with ASC 605-35. Under this method, contract costs are accumulated as deferred assets and billings and/or cash received are recorded to a deferred revenue liability account during the periods of construction, but no revenues, costs or profits are recognized in operations until the period upon completion of the contract. Costs include direct material, direct labor, subcontract labor and any allocable indirect costs. All unallocable indirect costs and corporate general and administrative costs are charged to the periods as incurred. However, in the event a loss on a contract is foreseen, the Company will recognize the loss when such loss is determined. The deferred asset (accumulated contract costs) in excess of the deferred liability (billings and/or cash received) is classified as a current asset under “Costs in excess of billings on uncompleted contracts.” The deferred liability (billings and/or cash received) in excess of the deferred asset (accumulated contract costs) is classified under current liabilities as “Billings in excess of costs on uncompleted contracts.”

A contract is considered complete when all costs except insignificant items have been incurred and the installation is operating according to specifications or has been accepted by the customer.

The Company has contracts in various stages of completion. Such contracts require estimates to determine the appropriate cost and revenue recognition. Cost estimates are reviewed periodically on a contract-by-contract basis throughout the life of the contract such that adjustments to the profit resulting from revisions are made cumulative to the date of the revision. Significant management judgments and estimates, including the estimated costs to complete projects, must be made and used in connection with the revenue recognized in the accounting period. Current estimates may be revised as additional information becomes available.

The Company includes shipping and handling fees billed to customers as revenues, and shipping and handling costs as cost of revenues. The Company generally provides a standard one year warranty on its products for materials and workmanship but will pass on the warranties from its vendors, if any, which generally cover at least such period. As the Company expands its product offerings, it will offer expanded warranties on certain components. In accordance with ASC 450-20-25, the Company accrues for product warranties when the loss is probable and can be reasonably estimated.  At September 30, 2012, the Company has no product warranty accrual given its lack of historical warranty experience.

Net Loss Per Share

Basic net loss per share is computed by dividing the net loss by the weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding during the periods presented. Diluted net loss per common share is computed using the weighted average number of common shares outstanding for the period, and, if dilutive, potential common shares outstanding during the period. Potential common shares consist of the incremental common shares issuable upon the exercise of stock options, stock warrants, convertible debt instruments or other common stock equivalents.

Convertible debt convertible into 7,521,711 common shares, options to purchase 23,355,292 common shares and warrants to purchase 9,107,541 common shares were outstanding at September 30, 2012. These shares were not included in the computation of diluted loss per share for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2012 because the effects would have been anti-dilutive. These options and warrants may dilute future earnings per share.

Segments

The Company follows ASC 280-10 for, "Disclosures about Segments of an Enterprise and Related Information." During 2012, the Company only operated in one segment; therefore, segment information has not been presented.

New Accounting Pronouncements

There are no new accounting pronouncements during the three and nine month period ended September 30, 2012 that effect the consolidated financial position of the Company or the results of its’ operations. Any Accounting Standard Updates which are not effective until after September 30, 2012 are not expected to have a significant effect on the Company’s consolidated financial position or results of its’ operations.