SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (Policies)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2022

SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Basis of Presentation

The financial statements and related disclosures have been prepared pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). The financial statements have been prepared using the accrual basis of accounting in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“GAAP”) of the United States.

All amounts in these financial statements, notes and tables have been rounded to the nearest thousand dollars, except share and per share amounts, unless otherwise indicated.

Basis of Consolidation

The financial statements have been prepared on a consolidated basis, with the Company’s wholly owned subsidiaries, Trinity Reliant Ventures Limited, Artelo Biosciences Limited and Artelo Biosciences Corporation. All intercompany transactions and balances have been eliminated.

Property and equipment

Property and equipment are stated at cost. Depreciation is computed on the straight-line method.

Maintenance and repairs are charged to expense as incurred. Improvements of a major nature are capitalized. At the time of retirement or other disposition of property and equipment, the cost and accumulated depreciation are removed from the accounts and any gains or losses are reflected in income.

The long-lived assets of the Company are reviewed for impairment in accordance with ASC No. 360, “Property, Plant and Equipment” (“ASC No. 360”), whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset may not be recoverable. The recoverability of assets to be held and used is measured by a comparison of the carrying amount of an asset to the future undiscounted cash flows expected to be generated by the assets. If such assets are considered to be impaired, the impairment to be recognized is measured by the amount by which the carrying amount of the assets exceeds the fair value of the assets. No impairment losses were recorded during the year ended December 31, 2022, the four months ended December 31, 2021, and the year ended August 31, 2021.

Research and Development ("R&D")

R&D expenses consist primarily of costs related to clinical studies and outside services, personnel expenses, and other R&D expenses. Clinical studies and outside services costs relate primarily to services performed by clinical research organizations and related clinical or development manufacturing costs, materials, and supplies, filing fees, regulatory support, and other third-party fees. Personnel expenses relate primarily to salaries and benefits. R&D expenditures are charged to operations as incurred.

The Company recognizes R&D tax credits receivable from the United Kingdom government for spending on R&D as an offset of R&D expenses.

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. The estimates and judgments will also affect the reported amounts for certain expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from these good faith estimates and judgments.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

Cash and cash equivalents include cash in banks, money market funds, commercial paper, and certificates of term deposits with maturities of less than three months from inception, which are readily convertible to known amounts of cash and which, in the opinion of management, are subject to an insignificant risk of loss in value. The Company had $6,888, $12,162 and $6,629 in cash and cash equivalents at December 31, 2022, December 31, 2021 and August 31, 2021, respectively.

Periodically, the Company may carry cash balances at financial institutions more than the federally insured limit of $250 per institution. The amount in excess of the FDIC insurance as of December 31, 2022, was approximately $6,388. The Company has not experienced losses on these accounts and management believes, based upon the quality of the financial institutions, that the credit risk with regard to these deposits is not significant.

Marketable Securities

Our investments in debt securities are carried at fair value. Investments in debt securities that are not classified as held-to-maturity are carried at fair value and classified as either trading or available-for-sale. Realized and unrealized gains and losses on trading debt securities are charged to income and unrealized gains and losses on available-for-sale debt securities are included in other comprehensive income or loss. The marketable securities held by the Company, classified as trading marketable securities, had an outstanding balance of $9,150, $11,951 and $3,436 as of December 31, 2022, December 31, 2021 and August 31, 2021, respectively. The Company’s holdings in US Treasury instruments, classified as available-for-sale securities had an outstanding balance of $1,495, $1,519 and $0 as of December 31, 2022, December 31, 2021 and August 31, 2021, respectively.

Intangible Assets

The Company capitalizes certain costs related to the acquisition of intangible assets; if such assets are determined to have a finite useful life they are amortized on a straight-line basis over the estimated useful life.

The Company tests its intangible assets for impairment at least annually and whenever events or circumstances change that indicate impairment may have occurred. A significant amount of judgment is involved in determining if an indicator of impairment has occurred. Such indicators may include, among others and without limitation: a significant decline in the Company’s expected future cash flows; a sustained, significant decline in the Company’s stock price and market capitalization; a significant adverse change in legal factors or in the business climate of the Company’s segments; unanticipated competition; and slower growth rates. The Company determined that there was no impairment of its intangible assets at December 31, 2022, December 31, 2021 and August 31, 2021.

Foreign Currency Transactions

The Company has operations outside of the United States, which results in exposure to market risks from changes in foreign currency rates. The financial risk arises from the fluctuations in foreign exchange rates and the degrees of volatility in these rates. Currently the Company does not use derivative instruments to reduce its exposure to foreign currency risk. Nonmonetary assets and liabilities are translated at historical rates and monetary assets and liabilities are translated at exchange rates in effect at the end of the year. Revenues and expenses are translated at average rates for the year. Gains and losses from translation of foreign currency financial statements into U.S. dollars are included as other comprehensive income.

Financial Instruments

The Company follows ASC 820, “Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures”, which defines fair value as the exchange price that would be received for an asset or paid to transfer a liability (an exit price) in the principal or most advantageous market for the asset or liability in an orderly transaction between market participants on the measurement date. ASC 820 also establishes a fair value hierarchy that distinguishes between (1) market participant assumptions developed based on market data obtained from independent sources (observable inputs) and (2) an entity’s own assumptions about market participant assumptions developed based on the best information available in the circumstances (unobservable inputs). The fair value hierarchy consists of three broad levels, which gives the highest priority to unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1) and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs (Level 3). The three levels of the fair value hierarchy are described below:

Level 1

Level 1 applies to assets or liabilities for which there are quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities.

Level 2

Level 2 applies to assets or liabilities for which there are inputs other than quoted prices that are observable for the asset or liability such as quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities in active markets; quoted prices for identical assets or liabilities in markets with insufficient volume or infrequent transactions (less active markets); or model-derived valuations in which significant inputs are observable or can be derived principally from, or corroborated by, observable market data.

Level 3

Level 3 applies to assets or liabilities for which there are unobservable inputs to the valuation methodology that are significant to the measurement of the fair value of the assets or liabilities.

The carrying amounts shown of the Company’s financial instruments including cash and cash equivalents and accounts payable approximate fair value due to the short-term maturities of these instruments.

Set out below are the Company’s financial instruments that are required to be remeasured at fair value on a recurring basis in the fair value hierarchy as of December 31, 2022, December 31, 2021 and August 31, 2021:

	December 31, 2022
	Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Total
Marketable securities – trading securities
Commercial paper	$	-	$	9,150	$	-	$	9,150
		-		9,150		-		9,150
Available-for sale securities
US Treasury		-		1,495		-		1,495
		-		1,495		-		1,495
	$	-	$	10,645	$	-	$	10,645

	December 31, 2021
	Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Total
Marketable securities
Commercial paper	$	-	$	10,486	$	-	$	10,486
Asset-backed securities		-		1,165		-		1,165
Corporate debt securities		-		300		-		300
		-		11,951		-		11,951
Available-for sale securities
US Treasury		-		1,519		-		1,519
		-		1,519		-		1,519
		-		13,470		-		13,470

	August 31, 2021
	Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Total
Marketable securities
Commercial paper	$	-	$	2,724	$	-	$	2,724
Asset-backed securities		-		409		-		409
Corporate debt securities		-		303		-		303
		-		3,436		-		3,436

Concentrations of Credit Risk

The Company’s financial instruments that are exposed to concentrations of credit risk primarily consist of its cash and cash equivalents. The Company places its cash and cash equivalents with financial institutions of high credit worthiness. At times, its cash and cash equivalents with a particular financial institution may exceed any applicable government insurance limits. The Company’s management has assessed the financial strength and credit worthiness, and will continue to do so on an ongoing basis, of any parties to which it extends funds, and as such, it believes that any associated credit risk exposures are limited.

Share-based Expenses

ASC 718 “Compensation – Stock Compensation” prescribes accounting and reporting standards for all share-based payment transactions in which employee services are acquired. Transactions include incurring liabilities, or issuing or offering to issue shares, options, and other equity instruments such as employee stock ownership plans and stock appreciation rights. Share-based payments to employees, including grants of employee stock options, are recognized as compensation expense in the financial statements based on their fair values. That expense is recognized over the period during which an employee is required to provide services in exchange for the award, known as the requisite service period (usually the vesting period).

Share-based expenses were $2,458, $934 and $1,531 for the year ended December 31, 2022, the four months ended December 31, 2021, and the year ended August 31, 2021, respectively.

Deferred Income Taxes and Valuation Allowance

The Company accounts for income taxes under ASC 740 “Income Taxes.” Under the asset and liability method of ASC 740, deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the future tax consequences attributable to differences between the financial statements carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using enacted 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 rates is recognized in income in the period the enactment occurs. A valuation allowance is provided for certain deferred tax assets if it is more likely than not that the Company will not realize tax assets through future operations.

Net Loss per Share of Common Stock

Basic earnings per share (“EPS”) is computed based on the weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding during the period. Diluted EPS is computed based on the weighted average number of shares of common stock plus the effect of dilutive potential common shares outstanding during the period using the treasury stock method and as if converted method. Dilutive potential common shares include outstanding stock options and warrants.

For the year ended December 31, 2022, four months ended December 31, 2021, and year ended August 31, 2021, the following common stock equivalents were excluded from the computation of diluted net loss per share as the result was anti-dilutive.

	December 31,		December 31,		August 31,
	2022		2021		2021
Stock options		313,109		333,945		190,623
Warrants		270,053		295,601		295,561
		583,162		629,546		486,184

Related Parties

The Company follows ASC 850, Related Party Disclosures, for the identification of related parties and disclosure of related party transactions.

Commitments and Contingencies

The Company follows ASC 450-20, “Loss Contingencies,” to report accounting for contingencies. Liabilities for loss contingencies arising from claims, assessments, litigation, fines and penalties and other sources are recorded when it is probable that a liability has been incurred and the amount of the assessment can be reasonably estimated.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

In June 2022, the FASB issued ASU 2022-03, ASC Subtopic “Fair Value Measurement (Topic 820): Fair Value Measurement of Equity Securities Subject to Contractual Sale Restrictions”. These amendments clarify that a contractual restriction on the sale of an equity security is not considered part of the unit of account of the equity security and, therefore, is not considered in measuring fair value. The amendments in this update are effective for public business entities for fiscal years, including interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2023. Early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently assessing the impact of the adoption of this standard on its consolidated financial statements.