The Operating Partnership meets the definition and criteria of a variable interest entity (“VIE”) in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification ("ASC") Topic 810 Consolidation, and the Company is the primary beneficiary of the VIE. As discussed below, the Company’s only material asset is its ownership interest in the Operating Partnership, and consequently, all of its assets and liabilities represent those assets and liabilities of the Operating Partnership. The Company’s debt is an obligation of the Operating Partnership where the creditors may have recourse, under certain circumstances, against the credit of the Company.

QTS is the sole general partner of the Operating Partnership, and its only material asset consists of its ownership interest in the Operating Partnership. Management operates QTS and the Operating Partnership as one business. The management of QTS consists of the same employees as the management of the Operating Partnership. QTS does not conduct business itself, other than acting as the sole general partner of the Operating Partnership and issuing public equity from time to time. QTS has not issued or guaranteed any indebtedness. Except for net proceeds from public equity issuances by QTS, which are contributed to the Operating Partnership in exchange for units of limited partnership interest of the Operating Partnership, the Operating Partnership generates all remaining capital required by the business through its operations, the direct or indirect incurrence of indebtedness, and the issuance of partnership units. Therefore, as general partner with control of the Operating Partnership, QTS consolidates the Operating Partnership for financial reporting purposes.

Obligations under the 3.875% Senior Notes due 2028 and the unsecured credit facility, both discussed in Note 8, are fully, unconditionally, and jointly and severally guaranteed by the Operating Partnership’s existing subsidiaries (other than certain foreign subsidiaries and receivables entities) and future subsidiaries that guarantee any indebtedness of QTS Realty Trust, Inc., the Operating Partnership, QTS Finance Corporation (the co-issuer of the 3.875% Senior Notes due 2028) or any subsidiary guarantor. The indenture governing the 3.875% Senior Notes due 2028 restricts the ability of the Operating Partnership to make distributions to QTS, subject to certain exceptions, including distributions required in order for QTS to maintain its status as a real estate investment trust under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”).

The consolidated financial statements of QTS Realty Trust, Inc. include the accounts of QTS Realty Trust, Inc. and its majority owned controlled subsidiaries including the Operating Partnership as well as unconsolidated entities accounted for using equity method accounting. This includes the operating results of the Operating Partnership for all periods presented.

Use of Estimates – The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, 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 items subject to such estimates and assumptions include the useful lives of fixed assets, allowances for doubtful accounts and deferred tax assets and the valuation of derivatives, real estate assets, acquired intangible assets and certain accruals. The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic increases uncertainty, which has reduced our ability to use past results to estimate future performance. Accordingly, our estimates and judgments may be subject to greater volatility than has been the case in the past.

We evaluate our investments in less than wholly owned entities to determine whether they should be recorded on a consolidated basis. The percentage of ownership interest in the entity, an evaluation of control and whether a VIE exists are all considered in our consolidation assessment. Investments in real estate entities which we have the ability to exercise significant influence, but do not have financial or operating control, are accounted for using the equity method of accounting. Accordingly, our share of the earnings or losses of these entities is included in consolidated net income (loss).

Variable Interest Entities (VIEs) – We determine whether an entity is a VIE and, if so, whether it should be consolidated by utilizing judgments and estimates that are inherently subjective. The determination of whether an entity in which we hold a direct or indirect variable interest is a VIE is based on several factors, including whether the entity’s total equity investment at risk upon inception is sufficient to finance the entity’s activities without additional subordinated financial support. We make judgments regarding the sufficiency of the equity at risk based first on a qualitative analysis, and then a quantitative analysis, if necessary.

We analyze any investments in VIEs to determine if we are the primary beneficiary. In evaluating whether we are the primary beneficiary, we evaluate our direct and indirect economic interests in the entity. Determining which reporting entity, if any, is the primary beneficiary of a VIE is primarily a qualitative approach focused on identifying which reporting entity has both (1) the power to direct the activities of a VIE that most significantly impact such entity’s economic performance and (2) the obligation to absorb losses or the right to receive benefits from such entity that could potentially be significant to such entity. Performance of that analysis requires the exercise of judgment.

We consider a variety of factors in identifying the entity that holds the power to direct matters that most significantly impact the VIE’s economic performance including, but not limited to, the ability to direct financing, leasing, construction and other operating decisions and activities. In addition, we consider the rights of other investors to participate in those decisions, to replace the manager and to sell or liquidate the entity. We determine whether we are the primary beneficiary of a VIE at the time we become involved with a variable interest entity and reconsider that conclusion upon a reconsideration event. As of December 31, 2020, we had one unconsolidated entity that was considered a VIE for which we are not the primary beneficiary. Our maximum exposure to losses associated with this VIE is limited to our net investment, which was approximately $22.6 million as of December 31, 2020.

Real Estate Assets – Real estate assets are reported at cost. All capital improvements for the income-producing properties that extend their useful lives are capitalized to individual property improvements and depreciated over their estimated useful lives. Depreciation for real estate assets is generally provided on a straight-line basis over 40 years from the date the property was placed in service. Property improvements are depreciated on a straight-line basis over the life of the respective improvement ranging from 20 to 40 years from the date the components were placed in service. Leasehold improvements are depreciated over the lesser of 20 years or through the end of the respective life of the lease. Repairs and maintenance costs are expensed as incurred. For the year ended December 31, 2020, depreciation expense related to real estate assets and non-real estate assets was $147.8 million and $13.4 million, respectively, for a total of $161.2 million. For the year ended December 31, 2019, depreciation expense related to real estate assets and non-real estate assets was $118.9 million and $11.9

million, respectively, for a total of $130.8 million. For the year ended December 31, 2018, depreciation expense related to real estate assets and non-real estate assets was $101.2 million and $12.3 million, respectively, for a total of $113.5 million. We capitalize certain real estate development costs, including internal costs incurred in connection with development. The capitalization of costs during the construction period (including interest and related loan fees, property taxes and other direct and indirect project costs) begins when development efforts commence and ends when the asset is ready for its intended use. The capitalization of internal costs increases construction in progress recognized during development of the related property and the cost of the real estate asset when placed into service and such costs are depreciated over its estimated useful life. Capitalization of such costs, excluding interest, aggregated to $18.4 million, $17.8 million and $17.4 million for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018 respectively. Interest is capitalized during the period of development by applying our weighted average effective borrowing rate to the actual development and other capitalized costs paid during the construction period. Interest is capitalized until the property is ready for its intended use. Interest costs capitalized totaled $30.2 million, $33.2 million and $26.8 million for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, respectively.

Acquisitions and Sales – Acquisitions of real estate and other entities are either accounted for as asset acquisitions or business combinations depending on facts and circumstances. When substantially all of the fair value of gross assets acquired is concentrated in a single identifiable asset or a group of similar identifiable assets, the transaction is accounted for as an asset acquisition. In an asset acquisition, the purchase price paid for assets acquired is allocated between identified tangible and intangible assets acquired based on relative fair value. Transaction costs associated with asset acquisitions are capitalized. When substantially all of the fair value of assets acquired is not concentrated in a group of similar identifiable assets, the set of assets will generally be considered a business. When accounting for business combinations, purchase accounting is applied to the assets and liabilities related to all real estate investments acquired in accordance with the accounting requirements of ASC Topic 805, Business Combinations, which requires the recording of net assets of acquired businesses at fair value. The fair value of the consideration transferred is assigned to the acquired tangible assets, consisting primarily of land, construction in progress, building and improvements, and identified intangible assets and liabilities, consisting of the value of above-market and below-market leases, value of in-place leases, value of customer relationships, and finance leases. The excess of the fair value of liabilities assumed, common stock issued and cash paid over the fair value of identifiable assets acquired is allocated to goodwill, which is not amortized. Transaction costs associated with business combinations are expensed as incurred.

In developing estimates of fair value of acquired assets and assumed liabilities, management analyzes a variety of factors including market data, estimated future cash flows of the acquired operations, industry growth rates, current replacement cost for fixed assets and market rate assumptions for contractual obligations. Such a valuation requires management to make significant estimates and assumptions, particularly with respect to the intangible assets.

Acquired in-place leases are amortized as amortization expense on a straight-line basis over the remaining life of the underlying leases. Acquired customer relationships are amortized as amortization expense on a straight-line basis over the expected life of the customer relationship. These amortization expenses are accounted for as real estate amortization expense. Above or below market leases are amortized on a straight-line basis over their expected lives and are recorded as a reduction to or increase in rental revenue when we are the lessor as well as a reduction to or increase in rent expense over the remaining lease terms when we are the lessee.

We account for the sale of assets to non-customers under Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) ASU No. 2017-5, Other Income—Gains and Losses from the Derecognition of Nonfinancial Assets (Subtopic 610-20), which provides for recognition or derecognition based on transfer of ownership. During the year ended December 31, 2019, we sold our Manassas facility to an unconsolidated entity in exchange for cash consideration and noncash consideration in the form of an equity interest in the unconsolidated entity. After measuring the consideration received at fair value, we recognized a $13.4 million gain on sale of real estate, net of approximately $5.8 million of transaction costs, associated with our contribution of certain assets in our Manassas facility to the unconsolidated entity. Substantially all of the fair value of the assets contributed to the entity was concentrated in a group of similar identifiable assets and the sale of the assets were not to a customer, therefore the transaction was accounted for as an asset sale. The gain on sale of real estate is included within the “Gain on sale of real estate, net” line item of the consolidated statements of operations. In addition, during the year ended December 31, 2019, we recognized a $1.4 million gain on sale of certain land and improvements near our Atlanta (DC-1) (formerly known as Atlanta-Metro) facility which is included within the “Gain on sale of real estate, net” line item of the consolidated statements of operations. During the year ended December 31, 2018, we recognized a $7.0 million net loss on sale of equipment associated with our strategic growth plan which was included within the “Restructuring” line item of the consolidated statements of operations.

Impairment of Long-Lived Assets, Intangible Assets and Goodwill – We review our long-lived assets, intangible assets and equity method investments for impairment when events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of the assets may not be recoverable. Recoverability of assets to be held and used is measured by comparison of the carrying amount to the future net cash flows, undiscounted and without interest, expected to be generated by the asset group. If the net carrying value of the asset group exceeds the value of the undiscounted cash flows, the fair value of the asset group is assessed and may be considered impaired. An impairment loss is recognized based on the excess of the carrying amount of the impaired asset over its fair value. No impairment losses were recorded for the year ended December 31, 2020. For the year ended December 31, 2019, we recognized an $11.5 million impairment loss related to the write-down of certain data center assets and equipment in one of our Dulles, Virginia data centers. The Dulles campus has two data center buildings and we initiated a plan in the fourth quarter of 2019 to abandon one of the buildings and relocate customers from the smaller and older facility being abandoned to the newer facility in an effort to better optimize our operating cost structure. The impairment loss was included within the “Transaction, integration and impairment costs” line item of the consolidated statements of operations. For the year ended December 31, 2018, we recognized $8.8 million of impairment losses related to certain product-related assets, which was included in the “Restructuring” line item of the consolidated statements of operations.

The fair value of goodwill is the consideration transferred in a business combination which is not allocable to identifiable intangible and tangible assets. Goodwill is subject to at least an annual assessment for impairment. In connection with the goodwill impairment evaluation that we performed as of October 1, 2020, we determined qualitatively that it is not more likely than not that the fair value of our one reporting unit was less than the carrying amount, thus we did not perform a quantitative analysis. As we continue to operate and assess our goodwill at the consolidated level for our single reporting unit and our market capitalization significantly exceeds our net asset value, further analysis was not deemed necessary as of December 31, 2020.

Cash and Cash Equivalents – We consider all demand deposits and money market accounts purchased with a maturity date of three months or less at the date of purchase to be cash equivalents. Our account balances at one or more institutions periodically exceed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) insurance coverage and, as a result, there is concentration of credit risk related to amounts on deposit in excess of FDIC coverage. We mitigate this risk by depositing a majority of our funds with several major financial institutions. We also have not experienced any losses and do not believe that the risk is significant.

Deferred financing costs represent fees and other costs incurred in connection with obtaining debt and are amortized over the term of the loan and are included in interest expense. Debt issuance costs related to revolving debt arrangements are deferred and presented as assets on the balance sheet; however, all other debt issuance costs are recorded as a direct offset to the associated liability. Amortization of debt issuance costs, including those costs presented as offsets to the associated liability in the consolidated balance sheets, were $4.1 million, $3.9 million and $3.9 million for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, respectively. During the year ended December 31, 2020, we wrote off unamortized financing costs of $3.7 million primarily in connection with the early extinguishment of the $400 million 4.750% senior notes due 2025. During the year ended December 31, 2019, we wrote off unamortized financing costs of $1.5 million in connection with the modification of our unsecured credit facility in October 2019 whereby we added a seven year additional term loan, increased capacity of the revolving facility, extended maturity dates as well as decreased the interest rates. During the year ended December 31, 2018, we wrote off unamortized financing costs of $0.6 million in connection with the modification of our unsecured credit facility in November 2018 whereby we decreased the interest rates, modified and/or eliminated certain covenants and extended the term for an additional year.

Initial direct costs, or deferred leasing costs, include commissions paid to third parties, including brokers, leasing and referral agents, and internal sales commissions paid to employees for successful execution of lease agreements and are accounted for pursuant to ASC Topic 842, Leases. These costs are incurred when we execute lease agreements and represent only incremental costs that would not have been incurred if the lease agreement had not been executed. To a lesser extent, we incur the same incremental costs to obtain managed services contracts with customers that are accounted for pursuant to ASC Topic 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers. Because the framework of accounting for these costs and the underlying nature of the costs are the same for our revenue and lease contracts, the costs are presented on a combined basis within our financial statements and within the below table. Both revenue and leasing commissions are capitalized and generally amortized over the term of the related leases or the expected term of the contract using the straight-line method. If a customer lease terminates prior to the expiration of its initial term, any unamortized initial direct costs related to the lease are written off to amortization expense. Amortization of deferred leasing costs totaled $26.1 million, $24.2 million and $21.3 million for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, respectively. Deferred leasing costs, net of accumulated amortization are as follows:

Revenue Recognition – We derive our revenues from leases with customers for data center space which include lease components and nonlease revenue components, such as power, tenant recoveries, and managed services. We adopted ASC Topic 842, Leases, the new accounting standard for leases, effective January 1, 2019 using the modified retrospective approach. We have elected the available practical expedient under ASC Topic 842, Leases, to combine our nonlease revenue components that have the same pattern of transfer as the related operating lease component into a single combined lease component. The single combined component is accounted for under ASC Topic 842 if the lease component is the predominant component and is accounted for under ASC Topic 606 if the nonlease components are the predominant components. In our contracts, the single combined component is accounted for under ASC Topic 842 as the lease component is the predominant component.

Our leases with customers are classified as operating leases and rental revenue is recognized on a straight-line basis over the customer lease term. Occasionally, customer leases include options to extend or terminate the lease agreements. We do not include any of these extension or termination options in a customer’s lease term for lease classification purposes or recognizing rental revenue unless it is reasonably certain the customer will exercise these extension or termination options.

Rental revenue also includes revenue from power delivery on fixed power arrangements, whereby customers are billed and pay a fixed monthly fee per committed available amount of connected power. These fixed power arrangements require us to provide a series of distinct services and to stand ready to deliver the power over the contracted term which is co-terminus with the lease. Customer fixed power arrangements have the same pattern of transfer over the lease term as the lease component and are therefore combined with the lease component to form a single lease component that is recognized over the term of the lease on a straight-line basis.

In addition, rental revenue includes straight line rent. Straight line rent represents the difference in rents recognized during the period versus amounts contractually due pursuant to the underlying leases and is recorded as deferred rent receivable/payable in the consolidated balance sheets. For lease agreements that provide for scheduled rent increases, rental income is recognized on a straight-line basis over the non-cancellable term of the leases, which commences when control of the space has been provided to the customer. The amount of the straight-line rent receivable on the balance sheets included in rents and other receivables, net was $63.6 million and $38.7 million as of December 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019, respectively.

Certain customer leases contain provisions under which customers reimburse us for power and cooling-related charges as well as a portion of the property’s real estate taxes, insurance and other operating expenses. Recoveries of power and cooling-related expenses relate specifically to our variable power arrangements, whereby customers pay variable monthly fees for the specific amount of power utilized at the current utility rates. Our performance obligation is to stand ready to deliver power over the life of the customer contract up to a contracted power capacity. Customers have the flexibility to increase or decrease the amount of power consumed, and therefore sub-metered power revenue is constrained at contract inception. The reimbursements are included in revenue as recoveries from customers and are recognized each month as the uncertainty related to the consideration is resolved (i.e. we provide power to our customers) and customers utilize the power. Reimbursement of real estate taxes, insurance, common area maintenance, or other operating expenses are accounted for as variable payments under lease guidance pursuant to the practical expedient and are recognized as revenue in the period that the expenses are recognized. Variable lease revenue from recoveries discussed above, including power, common area maintenance or other operating costs, have the same pattern of transfer over the lease term as the lease component and are therefore combined with the lease component to form a single lease component. Variable lease revenue from recoveries is included within the “rental” line item on the statements of operations.

Other revenue primarily consists of revenue from our managed service offerings as well as revenue earned from partner channel, management and development fees. We, through our TRS, may provide use of our managed services to our customers on an individual or combined basis. In our managed services offering the TRS’s performance obligation is to provide services (e.g. cloud hosting, data backup, data storage or data center personnel labor hours) to facilitate a fully integrated information technology (“IT”) outsourcing environment over a contracted term. Although underlying services may vary, over the contracted term monthly service offerings are substantially the same and we account for the services as a series of distinct services in accordance with ASC Topic 606. Service fee revenue is recognized as the revenue is earned, which generally coincides with the services being provided. As we have the right to consideration from customers in an amount that corresponds directly with the value to the customer of the TRS’s performance of providing continuous services, we recognize monthly revenue for the amount invoiced.

With respect to the transaction price allocated to remaining performance obligations within our managed service contracts, we have elected to use the optional exemption provided by ASC Topic 606 whereby we are not required to estimate the total transaction price allocated to remaining performance obligations as we apply the “right-to-invoice” practical expedient. As described above, the nature of our performance obligation in these contracts is to provide monthly services that are substantially the same and accounted for as a series of distinct services. These contracts generally have a remaining term ranging from month-to-month to three years.

Management fees and other revenues are generally received from our unconsolidated entity properties as well as third parties. Management fee revenue is earned based on a contractual percentage of unconsolidated entity property revenue. Development fee revenue is earned on a contractual percentage of hard costs to develop a property. We recognize revenue for these services provided when earned based on the performance criteria in ASC Topic 606, with such revenue recorded in “Other” revenue on the consolidated statements of operations.

Allowance for Uncollectible Accounts Receivable – We record a provision for uncollectible accounts if a receivable balance relating to lease components from an individual contract is considered by management not to be probable of collection, and this provision is recorded as a reduction to leasing revenues. We also record a general provision of estimated uncollectible tenant receivables based on general probability of collection in accordance with ASC 450-20 Loss

Advance Rents and Security Deposits – Advance rents, typically prepayment of the following month’s rent, consist of payments received from customers prior to the time they are earned and are recognized as revenue in subsequent periods when earned. Security deposits are collected from customers at the lease origination and are generally refunded to customers upon lease expiration.

Deferred Income – Deferred income generally results from non-refundable charges paid by the customer at lease inception to prepare their space for occupancy. We record this initial payment, commonly referred to as set-up fees, as a deferred income liability which amortizes into rental revenue over the term of the related lease on a straight-line basis. Deferred income was $85.4 million, $39.2 million and $33.2 million as of December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, respectively. Additionally, $20.3 million, $15.2 million and $12.5 million of deferred income was amortized into revenue for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, respectively.

Foreign Currency - The financial position of foreign subsidiaries whose functional currency is not the U.S. dollar is translated at the exchange rates in effect at the end of the period, while revenues and expenses are translated at average exchange rates during the period. Gains or losses from translation of foreign operations where the local currency is the functional currency are included as components of other comprehensive income (loss). Prior to February 2020, gains or losses from foreign currency transactions were included in determining net income (loss). In February 2020, we entered into a net investment hedge which resulted in gains or losses subsequently being recognized in Other Comprehensive Income (Loss).

Equity-based Compensation – Equity-based compensation costs are measured based upon their estimated fair value on the date of grant or modification and amortized ratably over their respective service periods. We have elected to account for forfeitures as they occur. Equity-based compensation expense was $27.0 million, $16.4 million, and $18.1 million for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, respectively. Equity based compensation expense for the year ended December 31, 2020 includes $1.8 million of equity-based compensation expense associated with the revaluation and acceleration of equity awards related to an executive officer's retirement which is included within the "Transaction, integration, and impairment costs" line item of the consolidated statements of operations. Equity-based compensation expense for the year ended December 31, 2018 includes $3.1 million of equity-based compensation associated with the acceleration of equity awards related to certain employees impacted by the Company’s strategic growth plan which was included in the “Restructuring” expense line item on the consolidated statements of operations.

All distributions will be made at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend on our historical and projected results of operations, liquidity and financial condition, our REIT qualification, our debt service requirements, operating expenses and capital expenditures, prohibitions and other restrictions under financing arrangements and applicable law and other factors as our board of directors may deem relevant from time to time. We anticipate that our estimated cash available for distribution will exceed the annual distribution requirements applicable to REITs and the amount necessary to avoid the payment of tax on undistributed income. However, under some circumstances, we may be required to make distributions in

The partnership agreement of the Operating Partnership requires the Operating Partnership to distribute at least quarterly 100% of our “available cash” (as defined in the partnership agreement) to the partners of the Operating Partnership, in accordance with the terms established for the class of partnership interests held by such partner. Furthermore, because QTS intends to continue to qualify as a REIT for tax purposes, QTS is required to make reasonable efforts to distribute available cash (a) to limited partners of the Operating Partnership so as to preclude any such distribution or portion thereof from being treated as part of a sale of property to the Operating Partnership by a limited partner under Section 707 of the Code or the regulations thereunder; provided, however, that neither of QTS nor the Operating Partnership shall have liability to a limited partner under any circumstances as a result of any distribution to a limited partner being so treated, and (b) to QTS, its general partner, in an amount sufficient to enable QTS to make distributions to its stockholders that will enable QTS to (1) satisfy the requirements for qualification as a REIT under the Code and the regulations thereunder, and (2) avoid any U.S. federal income or excise tax liability. Consistent with the partnership agreement, we intend to continue to distribute quarterly an amount of our available cash sufficient to enable QTS to pay quarterly dividends to its stockholders in an amount necessary to satisfy the requirements applicable to REITs under the Code and to eliminate U.S. federal income and excise tax liability.

Fair Value Measurements – ASC Topic 820, Fair Value Measurement, emphasizes that fair-value is a market-based measurement, not an entity-specific measurement. Therefore, a fair-value measurement should be determined based on the assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability. As a basis for considering market participant assumptions in fair-value measurements, a fair-value hierarchy is established that distinguishes between market participant assumptions based on market data obtained from sources independent of the reporting entity (observable inputs that are classified within Levels 1 and 2 of the hierarchy) and the reporting entity’s own assumptions about market participant assumptions (unobservable inputs classified within Level 3 of the hierarchy).

Level 1 inputs utilize quoted prices (unadjusted) in active markets for identical assets or liabilities that we have the ability to access. Level 2 inputs are inputs other than quoted prices included in Level 1 that are observable for the asset or liability, either directly or indirectly. Level 2 inputs may include quoted prices for similar assets and liabilities in active markets, as well as inputs that are observable for the asset or liability (other than quoted prices), such as interest rates, foreign exchange rates, and yield curves that are observable at commonly quoted intervals. Level 3 inputs are unobservable inputs for the asset or liability, which are typically based on an entity’s own assumptions, as there is little, if any, related market activity. In instances where the determination of the fair-value measurement is based on inputs from different levels of the fair-value hierarchy, the level in the fair-value hierarchy within which the entire fair-value measurement falls is based on the lowest level input that is significant to the fair-value measurement in its entirety. Our assessment of the significance of a particular input to the fair-value measurement in its entirety requires judgment, and considers factors specific to the asset or liability.

COVID-19 – We continue to actively monitor developments with respect to COVID-19 and have taken numerous actions based on corporate policies specifically focusing on the safety and wellness of our customers, partners, and employees, as well as providing continuous and resilient services. Although the COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant disruptions to the United States and global economy and has contributed to significant volatility in financial markets, as of December 31, 2020, these developments have not had a known material adverse effect on our business. As of December 31, 2020, each of our data centers in North America and Europe are fully operational and operating in accordance with our business continuity plans. Across each of the respective jurisdictions in which we operate, our business has been deemed essential operations, which has allowed us to remain fully staffed with critical personnel in place to continue to provide service and support for our customers.

The extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic impacts our and our customers' business and operations will depend on future developments that are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted with confidence, including the duration of the pandemic, new information that may emerge concerning the severity, variants or mutations of COVID-19, vaccine efficacy and rollout, the response of the overall economy and financial markets and the actions taken to contain COVID-19 or treat its impact, such as government actions, laws or orders or any changes or amendments thereto and the success of any lifting or easing of, or the risk of any premature lifting or easing of, any such restrictions, among others. Due to uncertainties regarding COVID-19, any

In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-13, Financial Instruments – Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments, and subsequent amendments to the guidance: ASU 2018-19 in November 2018, ASU 2019-4 in April 2019, ASU 2019-5 in May 2019, ASUs 2019-10 & 2019-11 in November 2019, and ASU 2020-2 in February 2020. The standard, as amended, requires entities to use a new impairment model based on current expected credit losses (“CECL”) rather than incurred losses. The CECL model is designed to capture expected credit losses through the establishment of an allowance account, which will be presented as an offset to the amortized cost basis of the related financial asset. The guidance is effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2019. We adopted this ASU effective January 1, 2020. As the majority of our revenue is generated from operating leases which are governed under ASC Topic 842, the provisions of this standard did not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.

In January 2020, the FASB issued ASU 2020-1, Investments—Equity Securities (Topic 321), Investments—Equity Method and Joint Ventures (Topic 323), and Derivatives and Hedging (Topic 815): Clarifying the Interactions between Topic 321, Topic 323, and Topic 815, which clarifies the interaction between the accounting for equity securities under Topic 321, the accounting for equity method investments in Topic 323, and the accounting for certain forward contracts and purchased options in Topic 815. ASU 2020-1 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2020, and interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted. The amendments in this Update should be applied prospectively. We do not expect the provisions of the standard will have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements when adopted.

In March 2020, the FASB issued ASU 2020-4, Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848): Facilitation of the Effects of Reference Rate Reform on Financial Reporting. ASU 2020-4 contains practical expedients for reference rate reform related activities that impact debt, leases, derivatives and other contracts. The guidance in ASU 2020-4 is optional and may be elected over time as reference rate reform activities occur. The standard is effective for all entities as of March 12, 2020 through December 31, 2022. An entity can elect to apply the amendments as of any date from the beginning of an interim period that includes or is subsequent to March 12, 2020, or prospectively from a date within an interim period that includes or is subsequent to March 12, 2020, up to that date that the financial statements are available to be issued. Beginning in the first quarter of 2020, we have elected to apply the hedge accounting expedients related to probability and the assessments of effectiveness for future LIBOR-indexed cash flows to assume that the index upon which future hedged transactions will be based matches the index on the corresponding derivatives. Application of these expedients preserves the presentation of derivatives consistent with past presentation. We continue to evaluate the impact of the guidance but we do not expect the provisions of the standard will have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.