Accounting Standards Adopted and Newly Issued Accounting Standards Not Yet Adopted (Policies)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2019

Accounting Changes and Error Corrections [Abstract]

Fiscal Period

The Company’s fiscal quarters end on the Sunday closest to the last day of each calendar quarter. For convenience, the fiscal quarters of each year are referred to as ending on March 31, June 30, September 30 and December 31. The first fiscal quarter of 2019 began on December 31, 2018 and ended on March 31, 2019; the second and third fiscal quarters of 2019 ended on June 30, 2019 and September 29, 2019, respectively. The first fiscal quarter of 2018 began on January 1, 2018 and ended on April 1, 2018; the second and third fiscal quarters of 2018 ended on July 1, 2018 and September 30, 2018, respectively.

Accounting Standards Adopted in the Current Fiscal Year and Not Yet Adopted

Accounting Standards Adopted in the Current Fiscal Year

In February 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued guidance with respect to the accounting for leases, as codified in Accounting Standards Topic 842 (“ASC 842”). The guidance is intended to improve financial reporting of leasing transactions by requiring entities that lease assets to recognize assets and liabilities for the rights and obligations created by leases, as well as by requiring additional disclosures related to an entity's leasing activities. The Company adopted this change in accounting principle as of the first day of the first fiscal quarter of 2019 using the modified retrospective method. Accordingly, financial information for periods prior to the date of initial application has not been adjusted. The Company has elected the package of practical expedients for adoption that permitted the Company not to reassess its prior conclusions regarding lease identification, lease classification and initial direct costs. The Company also elected a short-term lease exception policy and an accounting policy to not separate non-lease components from lease components. The Company did not elect to use an allowable expedient that permitted the use of hindsight in performing evaluations of its leases.

Upon adoption of ASC 842, the Company recognized operating lease obligations of $453.0 million, which represented the present value of the remaining minimum lease payments, discounted using the Company's incremental borrowing rate. The Company recognized operating lease right-of-use assets of $395.6 million. The Company recognized an adjustment to retained earnings upon adoption of $5.0 million, net of tax of $1.7 million, primarily related to an impairment resulting from an unfavorable differential between lease payments to be made and sublease rentals to be received on certain leases. The

remaining difference of $50.7 million between the recognized operating lease obligation and the right-of-use assets related to the derecognition of certain assets and liabilities recorded in accordance with U.S. GAAP that had been applied prior to the adoption of ASC 842, primarily $43.3 million of accrued rent payments. Lease-related reserves for lease incentives, closed restaurants and unfavorable leaseholds were also derecognized.

The accounting for the Company's existing finance (capital) leases upon adoption of ASC 842 remained substantially unchanged. Adoption of ASC 842 had no significant impact on the Company's cash flows from operations or its results of operations and did not impact any covenant related to the Company's long-term debt. The Company implemented internal controls necessary to ensure compliance with the accounting and disclosure requirements of ASC 842. See Note 5 for additional disclosures related to the Company's leasing activities.

Additional new accounting guidance became effective for the Company as of the beginning of fiscal 2019 that the Company reviewed and concluded was either not applicable to its operations or had no material effect on its consolidated financial statements in the current or future fiscal years.

Newly Issued Accounting Standards Not Yet Adopted

In June 2016, the FASB issued new guidance on the measurement of credit losses on financial instruments. The new guidance will replace the incurred loss methodology of recognizing credit losses on financial instruments that is currently required with a methodology that estimates the expected credit loss on financial instruments and reflects the net amount expected to be collected on the financial instrument. Application of the new guidance may result in the earlier recognition of credit losses as the new methodology will require entities to consider forward-looking information in addition to historical and current information used in assessing incurred losses. The Company will be required to adopt the new guidance on a modified retrospective basis beginning with its first fiscal quarter of 2020. The Company is currently in the process of developing the methodology and key assumptions it will use in estimating expected credit losses but has not yet quantified the impact of the new guidance on its consolidated financial statements and related disclosures.

In August 2018, the FASB issued guidance designed to improve the effectiveness of disclosures by removing, modifying and adding disclosures related to fair value measurements. The Company will be required to adopt the new guidance beginning with its first fiscal quarter of 2020; early adoption in any interim period after issuance of the new guidance is permitted. The Company is currently assessing the impact this guidance will have on its consolidated financial statements.

In August 2018, the FASB issued new guidance on the accounting for implementation costs incurred in a cloud computing arrangement that is a service contract. The guidance aligns the requirements for capitalizing implementation costs incurred in a hosting arrangement that is a service contract with existing guidance for capitalizing implementation cost incurred to develop or obtain internal-use software. The guidance also provides presentation and disclosure requirements for such capitalized costs. The Company will be required to adopt the new guidance beginning with its first fiscal quarter of 2020; early adoption in any interim period after issuance of the new guidance is permitted. The Company is currently assessing the impact this guidance will have on its consolidated financial statements.

The Company reviewed all other newly issued accounting pronouncements and concluded that they either are not applicable to the Company's operations or that no material effect is expected on the Company's financial statements when adoption is required in the future.