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Accounting Policies
6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2018
Accounting Policies [Abstract]  
Accounting Policies
1.
Accounting Policies

In the opinion of Sensient Technologies Corporation (the “Company”), the accompanying unaudited consolidated condensed financial statements contain all adjustments (consisting of only normal recurring adjustments) that are necessary to present fairly the financial position of the Company as of June 30, 2018, and the results of operations and comprehensive income for the three and six months ended June 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively, and cash flows for the six months ended June 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively. The results of operations for any interim period are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the full year.

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the financial statements and accompanying notes. Actual results could differ from those estimates. Expenses are charged to operations in the period incurred.

Please refer to the notes in the Company’s annual consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2017, for additional details of the Company’s financial condition and a description of the Company’s accounting policies, which have been continued without change except for the Company’s Revenue Recognition accounting policy, which has been updated as a result of the Company’s adoption in the first quarter of 2018 of Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, as noted below.

Revenue Recognition
The Company recognizes revenue as the transfer of control of its products to the Company’s customers in an amount reflecting the consideration to which the Company expects to be entitled. In order to achieve this core principle, the Company applies the following five-step approach:

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Identification of the contract, or contracts, with a customer
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Identification of the performance obligations in the contract
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Determination of the transaction price
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Allocation of the transaction price to the performance obligations in the contract
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Recognition of revenue when, or as, we satisfy the performance obligations

The Company considers customer purchase orders, which in some cases are governed by master sales agreements, to be the contracts with the customer. For each contract, the Company considers the identified performance obligation to be the promise to transfer products. In determining the transaction price, the Company evaluates whether the price is subject to refund or adjustment and then determines the net consideration to which the Company expects to be entitled. In addition, the Company assesses the customer’s ability to pay as part of its evaluation of the contract. As the Company’s standard payment terms are less than one year, the Company elected the practical expedient under Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) 606-10-32-18, and determined that its contracts do not have a significant financing component. The Company allocates the transaction price to each distinct product based on the relative standalone selling price. Revenue is recognized when control of the product is transferred to the customer, the customer is obligated to pay the Company, and the Company has no remaining obligations, which is typically at shipment. In certain locations, primarily outside the United States, product shipping terms may vary. Thus, in such locations, the point at which control of the product transfers to the customer and revenue recognition occurs will vary accordingly.

Customer returns of non-conforming products are estimated at the time revenue is recognized. In certain customer relationships, volume rebates exist, which are recognized according to the terms and conditions of the contractual relationship. Customer returns, rebates, and discounts are not material to the Company’s consolidated financial statements. The Company has elected to recognize the revenue and cost for freight and shipping when control over the products has transferred to the customer. The Company has elected to immediately expense contract costs related to obtaining a contract as the amortization period of the asset the Company otherwise would have recognized would have been less than a year.
 
The Company disaggregates its revenue from customers by certain product lines and geographic locations for the Flavors & Fragrances and Color segments. Revenue for the Asia Pacific segment is managed on a geographic basis. For more information on the Company’s disaggregated revenue, see Note 4, Segment Information.

New Pronouncements
In May 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued, ASU No. 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers. Under this new standard, revenue is recognized when a customer obtains control of promised goods or services in an amount that reflects the consideration the entity expects to receive in exchange for those goods or services. The requirements of the new standard are effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2017. The Company adopted this standard in the first quarter of 2018 using the modified retrospective method. The adoption of this new standard did not have an impact on the revenue recognized by the Company. The Company has updated its revenue recognition accounting policy, as outlined above, and has included a disclosure on its disaggregated revenue in Note 4, Segment Information. Additionally, the Company has included a discussion of its disaggregated revenue under Segment Information, in its Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.

In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-02, Leases, which requires lessees to recognize the lease assets and liabilities that arise from leases on the balance sheet and to disclose qualitative and quantitative information about lease transactions. This guidance is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, including interim periods within those fiscal years. In 2017, the Company created a project team within its Corporate Finance Department to review the impact that this ASU will have on the Company. In the first six months of 2018, the project team has begun gathering and reviewing existing leases and other relevant documents across all of the Company’s segments and installed a software solution to facilitate the implementation of this new standard. The Company believes it has a complete population of leasing agreements and has begun to analyze the agreements during the second quarter. The Company has also implemented additional internal controls over the evaluation of new leases and the implementation of this ASU around leases. In July 2018, the Company updated its Audit Committee on the status of the implementation of this ASU. The Company will continue to evaluate the expected impact of this standard on the Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements. The Company expects to complete this evaluation by the end of the year and to finalize its implementation calculations in the first quarter of 2019.

In August 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-15, Statement of Cash Flows: Classification of Certain Cash Receipts and Cash Payments. This ASU clarifies how certain cash receipts and cash payments are presented and classified in the statement of cash flows. Among these changes, is a requirement that a transferor’s receipt of a beneficial interest in securitized trade receivables be disclosed as an investing transaction. There is also a requirement to classify cash receipts received that are related to beneficial interests in previously transferred receivables (i.e., deferred purchase price) as inflows from investing activities. The guidance is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017, including interim periods within those years. The Company adopted this standard in the first quarter of 2018, using monthly cash receipts as its unit of account for cash received related to the beneficial interest in previously transferred receivables.  In the second quarter of 2018, the Company updated its unit of account to daily cash receipts for cash received related to the beneficial interest in the previously transferred receivables.  The Company has included $91 million and $59 million as cash flows from investing activities for the six month periods ended June 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively, related to collections on beneficial interests in previously transferred receivables.  The reported amounts include adjustments of $35 million and $25 million of collections on beneficial interests in previously transferred receivables for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively, which were previously reported as cash flows from operating activities.

In December 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-16, Accounting for Income Taxes: Intra-Entity Asset Transfers of Assets Other than Inventory. Prior to the adoption of ASU 2016-16, the tax effects of intra-entity asset transfers were deferred until the transferred asset was sold to a third party or otherwise recovered through use. ASU 2016-16 eliminates the exception for all intra-entity sales of assets other than inventory. The guidance is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017, including interim periods within those years. The Company adopted this standard in the first quarter of 2018 resulting in a cumulative effect of $0.4 million increase to Earnings reinvested in the business; an increase of $3.0 million to Deferred Tax Assets; a decrease of $3.7 million to Prepaid Expense and Other Current Assets; and a decrease of $1.1 million to Deferred Tax Liabilities on the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheet.
 
In March 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-07, Improving the Presentation of Net Periodic Pension Cost and Net Periodic Postretirement Benefit Cost. This ASU requires employers to present the service cost component of the net periodic benefit cost in the same income statement line item as the other employee compensation costs arising from services rendered during the period. The other components of net benefit cost are to be presented outside of any subtotal of operating income. This ASU is effective for fiscal years and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2017, and early adoption is permitted. The Company adopted this standard in the first quarter of 2018, and as a result, the Company’s non-service cost portion of its pension expense is now recorded in Interest Expense on the Company’s Condensed Statement of Earnings. The Company’s service cost portion of pension expense is recorded in Selling and Administrative Expenses on the Company’s Consolidated Statement of Earnings. This change did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

In August 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-12, Targeted Improvements to Accounting for Hedging Activities, which expands an entity’s ability to hedge non-financial and financial risk components and reduce complexity in fair value hedges of interest rate risk. This guidance eliminates the requirement to separately measure and report hedge ineffectiveness and generally requires the entire change in the fair value of a hedging instrument to be presented in the same income statement line item as the hedged item. This ASU is effective for fiscal years and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2018. The Company is currently evaluating the expected impact of this standard.

In February 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-02, Reclassification of Certain Tax Effects from Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income. This ASU allows entities the option to reclassify to retained earnings tax effects related to the change in federal tax rate for all items accounted for in Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (OCI). This ASU is effective for fiscal years and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2018. Early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently evaluating if the Company will make this policy election.

Please refer to the notes in the Company’s annual consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2017, for additional details of the Company’s financial condition and a description of the Company’s accounting policies, which have been continued without change.