The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) and include our consolidated accounts and the accounts of our wholly owned subsidiaries. All intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

The preparation of consolidated financial statements in conformity with 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 reported amounts of income and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates. In the event estimates and/or assumptions prove to be different from actual amounts, adjustments are made in subsequent periods to reflect more current information.

Management evaluates its estimates on a routine basis. Effective July 1, 2019, TPL revised the estimated useful lives of certain water service-related assets after its disaggregation of water service-related projects into sub classifications. TPL purchased these water service-related assets from July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2019. Based on information gained from operations over this time period, management believes that these water service-related assets will benefit periods ranging from three to 30 years, beginning at the point the water service-related assets were originally placed in service.

The net book value of these water service-related assets at June 30, 2019, was not modified and is depreciated over the revised estimated useful lives of these assets. The effect of the change in estimated useful lives resulted in an additional $2.4 million of depreciation expense for the year ended December 31, 2019.

Oil and gas royalties are received in connection with royalty interests owned by TPL. Oil and gas royalties are reported net of production taxes and are recognized as revenue when crude oil and gas products are removed from the respective mineral reserve locations. Oil and gas royalty payments are generally received one to two months after the crude oil and gas products are removed. An accrual for amounts not received during the month removed is included in accounts receivable and accrued receivables, net based on historical trends.

The oil and gas royalties which we receive are dependent upon the market prices for oil and gas, and locational and contractual price differences. The market prices for oil and gas are subject to national and international economic and political conditions and subject to significant price fluctuations.

TPL has analyzed public reports of drilling activities by the oil companies operating where we have an oil and gas royalty interest in an effort to identify unpaid royalties associated with royalty interests we own. Rights to certain oil and gas royalties we believe to be due and payable may be subject to dispute with the oil company involved as a result of disagreements with respect to drilling and related engineering information. Disputed oil and gas royalties are recorded when these contingencies are resolved.

Easement contracts represent contracts which permit companies to install pipelines, electric lines and other equipment on land owned by TPL. When TPL receives a signed contract and payment, we make available the respective parcel of land to the grantee. Easement income is recognized upon the execution of the easement agreement, or in the event of a renewal upon receipt of the renewal payment, as at that point in time, we have satisfied our performance obligation and the customer has right of use.

Leases of our surface acreage include, but are not limited to, facility, roadway and surface leases with a typical lease term of ten years and generally require fixed annual payments. Lease cancellations are allowed under certain circumstances, but initial lease deposits are generally nonrefundable. The initial lease deposits and annual payments are recorded as unearned revenue upon receipt and amortized over the life of the lease. Advance lease payments are deferred and amortized over the appropriate accounting period.

We consider purchasers of land to be our customers as land management, leasing and sales are normal operating activities for TPL. Revenue is recognized on land sales when the performance obligation to the purchaser (customer) is complete. Revenue from land exchanges is recognized based upon the estimated fair value of the consideration exchanged.

We consider investments in bank deposits, money market funds, and highly-liquid cash investments with original maturities of three months or less to be cash equivalents. The following table provides a reconciliation of cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash reported within the consolidated balance sheets that sum to the total of the same such amounts shown in the consolidated statements of cash flows (in thousands):

Receivables consist primarily of trade accounts receivable related to water and material sales and royalty income due related to our oil, gas and produced water royalties. An allowance is recorded for expected credit losses and is based upon our historical write-off experience, aging of trade accounts receivable and collectibility patterns of our customers. As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, the allowance for expected credit loss was approximately $0.1 million.

The Company accrues oil and gas royalties, which are included in accounts receivable and accrued receivables, net. An accrual is necessary due to the time lag between the production of oil and gas and generation of the actual payment by operators. The oil and gas royalty accrual is based upon historical production volumes, estimates of the timing of future payments and recent market prices for oil and gas. Accrued oil and gas royalties included in accounts receivable and accrued receivables, net totaled $49.9 million and $20.7 million as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively.

Property, plant and equipment is carried at cost less accumulated depreciation. Maintenance and repair costs are expensed as incurred. Costs associated with our development of infrastructure for sourcing and treating water are capitalized. We account for depreciation of property, plant and equipment on the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the assets. Depreciable lives by category are as follows:

Real estate acquired is recorded at cost and carried at the lower of cost or market. Valuations are periodically performed or obtained by management whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount may not be recoverable. Impairments, if any, are recorded by a charge to net income and a valuation allowance if the carrying value of the property exceeds its estimated fair value. Minimal real estate improvements are made to land. No impairments were recorded for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019.

We follow the successful efforts method of accounting for our royalty interests acquired, which are carried at the lower of cost or market. Valuations are periodically performed or obtained by management whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount may not be recoverable. Impairments, if any, are recorded by a charge to net income and a reduction in the carrying value of our royalty interests if the carrying value exceeds the estimated fair value. No impairments were recorded for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019.

The fair market value of the Trust’s land and royalty interests that were assigned through the 1888 Declaration of Trust, (referred to as “Assigned”) land and royalty interests, was not determined in 1888 when the Trust was formed; therefore, no value is assigned in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets to the Assigned land and royalty interests. Consequently, in the consolidated statements of income and total comprehensive income, no allowance is made for depletion and no cost is deducted from the proceeds of sales of the Assigned land and royalty interests. Even though the 1888 value of real properties cannot be precisely determined, it has been concluded that the effect of this matter can no longer be significant to our financial position or results of operations. Minimal real estate improvements are made to land.

We lease certain facilities under operating leases. A determination of whether a contract contains a lease is made at the inception of the arrangement. Our leased facilities include our administrative offices located in Dallas and Midland, Texas, as well as some modular buildings in our West Texas yards.

Our leases generally contain options to extend or terminate the lease. We reevaluate our leases on a regular basis to consider the economic and strategic incentives of exercising the renewal options, and how they align with our operating strategy. Therefore, substantially all the renewal option periods are not included within the lease term and the associated payments are not included in the measurement of the right-of-use asset and lease liability as the options to extend are not reasonably certain at lease commencement. Short-term leases with an initial term of 12 months or less are not recognized in the right-to-use asset and lease liability on the consolidated balance sheets.

The lease liabilities are measured at the lease commencement date and determined using the present value of the minimum lease payments not yet paid and our incremental borrowing rate, which approximates the rate at which we would borrow, on a collateralized basis, over the term of a lease in the applicable currency environment. The interest rate implicit in the lease is generally not determinable in transactions where we are the lessee.

For real estate leases, we account for lease components and non-lease components (such as common area maintenance) as a single lease component. Certain real estate leases require reimbursement for real estate taxes, common area maintenance and insurance, which are expensed as incurred as variable lease costs. Certain leases contain fixed lease payments for items such as common area maintenance and parking. These fixed payments are considered part of the lease payment and included in the right-of-use assets and lease liabilities. See Note 10, “Commitments” for additional information.

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 and operating loss and tax credit carry-forwards. 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 that includes the enactment date.

When tax returns are filed, it is highly certain that some positions taken would be sustained upon examination by the taxing authorities, while others are subject to uncertainty about the merits of the position taken or the amount of the position that would be ultimately sustained. The benefit of a tax position is recognized in the financial statements in the period during which, based on all available evidence, management believes it is more likely than not that the position will be sustained upon examination, including the resolution of appeals or litigation processes, if any. Tax positions taken are not offset or aggregated with other positions. Tax positions that meet the more-likely-than-not recognition threshold are measured as the largest amount of tax benefit that is more than 50% likely of being realized upon settlement with the applicable taxing authority. The portion of the benefits associated with tax positions taken that exceeds the amount measured as described above is reflected as a liability for unrecognized tax benefits in the accompanying balance sheet along with any associated interest and penalties that would be payable to the taxing authorities upon examination. The liability for unrecognized tax benefits is zero as of December 31, 2021 and 2020. We recognize interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits in the provision for income taxes in the consolidated statements of income and total comprehensive income.

For share-based compensation awards, the Company recognizes compensation expense in the financial statements over the awards’ vesting periods using the graded-vesting method for its awards with service conditions only. The Company utilizes the closing stock price on the date of grant to determine the fair value of service-vesting restricted stock awards. Unvested restricted stock awards are entitled to dividends which are accrued and distributed to award recipients at the time such awards vest. Forfeitures are recognized in the period in which they occur. Share-based compensation is included as a component of salaries and related employee expenses on the consolidated statements of income and total comprehensive income.

Basic income per share is based on the weighted average number of shares outstanding during the period. Diluted net income per share is computed based upon the weighted average number of shares outstanding during the period plus unvested shares issued pursuant to our equity and deferred compensation plans. See Note 9, “Net Income Per Share.”

We invest our cash and cash equivalents (which include U.S. Treasury bills and commercial paper with maturities of three months or less) among three major financial institutions in an attempt to minimize exposure to risk from any one of these entities. As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, we had cash and cash equivalents deposited in our financial institutions in excess of federally-insured levels. We regularly monitor the financial condition of these financial institutions and believe that we are not exposed to any significant credit risk in cash and cash equivalents.

Certain financial information on the consolidated statements of income and total comprehensive income for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 have been revised to conform to the current year presentation. These revisions include a reclassification of $50.6 million and $39.1 million of produced water royalties revenue for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively, previously included in easements and other surface-related income to a separate financial statement line item within revenues.

In December 2019, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (the “FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2019-12, “Income Taxes (Topic 740) — Simplifying the Accounting for Income Taxes.” The ASU simplifies the accounting for income taxes by eliminating certain exceptions related to the approach for intraperiod tax allocation, the methodology for calculating income taxes in an interim period, hybrid taxes and the recognition of deferred tax liabilities for outside basis differences. It also clarifies and simplifies other aspects of the accounting for income taxes. The Company adopted the guidance effective January 1, 2021. The adoption had minimal impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements and disclosures.

In July 2021, the FASB issued ASU 2021-05, “Leases (Topic 842) Lessors – Certain Leases with Variable Lease Payments.” Under the ASU, a lessor would classify a lease with variable lease payments that do not depend on an index or rate as an operating lease at lease commencement if the lease would have been classified as a sales-type lease or direct financing lease under ASC 842 classification criteria and the lessor would have otherwise recognized a day one loss. The ASU is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2021, including interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted. The adoption of this guidance effective January 1, 2022, had no impact on our consolidated financial statements and disclosures.