Basis of Presentation (Policies)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2017

Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Consolidation, Policy

The accompanying Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements represent Essendant Inc. (“ESND”) with its wholly owned subsidiary Essendant Co. (“ECO”), and ECO’s subsidiaries (collectively, “Essendant” or the “Company”). The Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States and include the accounts of ESND and its subsidiaries. All intercompany transactions and balances have been eliminated. The Company operates in a single reportable segment as a leading national wholesale distributor of workplace items.

The accompanying Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements are unaudited. The Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet as of December 31, 2016, was derived from the December 31, 2016 audited financial statements. The Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements have been prepared in accordance with the rules and regulations of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in financial statements, prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States, have been condensed or omitted pursuant to such rules and regulations. Accordingly, the reader of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q should refer to the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016 (the “2016 Form 10-K”) for further information.

In the opinion of management, the accompanying unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements reflect all adjustments, consisting only of normal recurring adjustments, necessary to present fairly the financial position of Essendant at March 31, 2017 and the results of operations and cash flows for the three months ended March 31, 2017 and 2016. The results of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2017 should not necessarily be taken as indicative of the results of operations that may be expected for the entire year.

New Accounting Pronouncements

New Accounting Pronouncements

In March 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2016-09, Compensation – Stock Compensation (Topic 718), Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting. Under the new guidance, when awards vest or are settled, companies are required to record excess tax benefits and tax deficiencies as income tax expense or benefit in the income statement instead of in additional paid-in capital. Furthermore, excess tax benefits are presented as an operating activity on the statement of cash flows rather than as a financing activity. In the quarter ended March 31, 2017, the Company adopted the standard which resulted in $0.3 million of incremental tax expense that was recognized due to excess tax deficiencies of vested or settled awards in the period. Furthermore, the Company notes certain other changes resulting from adoption including changes in the calculation of the effect of dilutive securities for purposes of calculating diluted net income per share which was immaterial in the period and Condensed Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows presentation changes. The Company has elected to apply guidance concerning cash flow presentation on a prospective basis and to continue to estimate the number of awards expected to be forfeited.

In January 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-04, “Intangibles—Goodwill and Other (Topic 350): Simplifying the Test for Goodwill Impairment,” which eliminates the second step of the two-step goodwill impairment test. Specifically, the standard requires an entity to perform its interim or annual goodwill impairment test by comparing the fair value of a reporting unit with its carrying amount. An impairment charge is recognized for the amount by which the carrying amount exceeds the reporting unit's fair value; however, the loss recognized could not exceed the total amount of goodwill allocated to that reporting unit. An entity still has the option to perform a qualitative assessment to determine if the quantitative impairment test is necessary. The Company early adopted the standard in the quarter ended March 31, 2017 when an interim impairment test was conducted as further discussed in Note 4 – “Goodwill and Intangible Assets”.

In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU No. 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, that outlines a single comprehensive model for entities to use in accounting for revenue arising from contracts with customers and supersedes most current revenue recognition guidance, including industry-specific guidance. The ASU is based on the principle that an entity should recognize revenue to depict the transfer of goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. The ASU also requires additional disclosure about the nature, amount, timing and uncertainty of revenue and cash flows arising from customer contracts, including significant judgments and changes in judgments and assets recognized from costs incurred to fulfill a contract. In August 2015, the FASB issued ASU No. 2015-14, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, which deferred the effective date of ASU No. 2014-09. This standard is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017, including interim periods within that reporting period.

Entities have the option of using either a full retrospective or a modified retrospective approach for the adoption of the new standard. The Company currently anticipates adopting the standard using the modified retrospective approach, which will require the Company to recognize the cumulative effect of initial adoption of the standard for all contracts as of, and new contracts after, the date of initial application.

Based on the Company’s initial assessment and detailed review of the revenue transactions of the organization with its customers, the impact of the application of the new standard will most likely result in recognition of financing components for certain rebate arrangements that have significant, implied terms and are expected to result in a reduction of net revenues related to implicit interest associated with the significant financing components of those rebate arrangements. The Company also expects other disclosure changes resulting from certain policy elections and practical expedient uses, or allowable divergences from authoritative guidance. The Company expects that revenue recognition related to the processing, fulfillment and shipment of various warehoused goods to remain substantially unchanged. While the Company has not completed the full assessment it will continue to monitor for modifications required by the standards throughout the year ended December 31, 2017.

In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842), that requires lessees to recognize right-of-use assets and lease liabilities for all leases other than those that meet the definition of short-term leases. For short-term leases, lessees may elect an accounting policy by class of underlying asset under which these assets and liabilities are not recognized and lease payments are generally recognized over the lease term on a straight-line basis. This standard will be effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2018, including interim periods within that reporting period, and early application is permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the new guidance to determine the impact it will have on its consolidated financial statements.

In August 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-15, Statement of Cash Flows (Topic 230), Classification of Certain Cash Receipts and Cash Payments. This standard amends and adjusts how cash receipts and cash payments are presented and classified in the statement of cash flows and is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017, and interim periods within those fiscal years and will require adoption on a retrospective basis unless impracticable. If impracticable the Company would be required to apply the amendments prospectively as of the earliest date possible. The Company is currently evaluating the impact the new guidance will have on its statement of cash flows or financial statement disclosures.

In March 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-07, “Compensation – Retirement Benefits (Topic 715): Improving the Presentation of Net Periodic Pension Cost and Net Periodic Postretirement Benefit Cost.” The standard requires registrants that include a measure of operating income to include the service cost component in the same financial statement line item as other compensation costs and to report other pension-related costs, including amortization of prior service cost/credit, and settlement and curtailment effects, etc. separately, excluding them from operating expenses and income. The ASU also stipulates that only the service cost component of net benefit cost is eligible for capitalization. Application of the standard is required to be made on a retrospective basis for the presentation of the service cost component and the other components of net periodic pension cost and net periodic postretirement benefit cost in the income statement while the change in capitalized benefit cost is to be applied prospectively. This standard will be effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2017, including interim periods within that reporting period, and early application is permitted as of the beginning of an annual period. The Company is currently evaluating the new guidance to determine the impact it will have on the presentation of its consolidated financial statements, but does not expect any impact on the Company’s net income.

Inventory

Inventory

Approximately 98.4% of total inventory as of March 31, 2017 and 98.3% as of December 31, 2016, respectively, has been valued under the Last-In-First-Out (“LIFO”) method. An actual valuation of inventory under the LIFO method can be made only at the end of each fiscal year based on the inventory levels and costs at that time. Interim LIFO calculations are based on management’s estimates of expected year-end inventory levels and costs, and are subject to the final year-end LIFO inventory valuation. Inventory valued under the LIFO accounting method is recorded at the lower of cost or market. If the Company had valued its entire inventory under the lower of First-In-First-Out (“FIFO”) cost or market, inventory values would have been $157.0 million and $147.9 million higher than reported as of March 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, respectively.

The change in the LIFO reserve in the first quarter of 2017 included a LIFO liquidation relating to decrements in three of the Company’s eight LIFO pools. These decrements resulted in liquidation of LIFO inventory quantities carried at lower costs in prior years as compared with the cost of current year purchases. This liquidation resulted in LIFO income of $1.6 million which was more than offset by LIFO expense of $10.7 million related to current inflation for an overall net increase in cost of sales of $9.1 million for the three months ended March 31, 2017.