Basis of Presentation

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2021

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Basis of Presentation

Basis of Presentation

The unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements have been prepared by The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. and its subsidiaries (the “Company,” “IPG,” “we,” “us” or “our”) in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”) and pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) for reporting interim financial information on Form 10-Q. Accordingly, they do not include certain information and disclosures required for complete financial statements. The effects of the novel coronavirus ("COVID-19") pandemic have impacted and will likely continue to impact our results of operations, cash flows and financial position. The Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements presented herein reflect the latest estimates and assumptions made by management that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and related disclosures as of the date of the consolidated financial statements and reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reporting periods presented. The Company believes it has used reasonable estimates and assumptions to assess the fair values of goodwill, long-lived assets and indefinite-lived intangible assets; assessment of the annual effective tax rate; valuation of deferred income taxes and allowance for expected credit losses on future uncollectible accounts receivable.

Actual results could differ from these estimates and assumptions. The consolidated results for interim periods are not necessarily indicative of results for the full year and should be read in conjunction with our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 (the “2020 Annual Report”).

Cost of services is comprised of the expenses of our revenue-producing reportable segments, Integrated Agency Networks (“IAN”) and IPG DXTRA (“DXTRA”), including salaries and related expenses, office and other direct expenses and billable expenses, and includes an allocation of the centrally managed expenses from Corporate and other. Office and other direct expenses include rent expense, professional fees, certain expenses incurred by our staff in servicing our clients and other costs directly attributable to client engagements.

Selling, general and administrative expenses are primarily the unallocated expenses from Corporate and other, excluding depreciation and amortization.

Depreciation and amortization of fixed assets and intangible assets of the Company is disclosed as a separate operating expense.

Restructuring charges in 2021 consist of adjustments to the Company's restructuring actions taken during 2020 to lower our operating expenses structurally and permanently relative to revenue and to accelerate the transformation of our business, as discussed further in Note 7. Restructuring charges mainly include severance and termination costs and lease impairment costs.

In the opinion of management, these unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements include all adjustments, consisting only of normal and recurring adjustments necessary for a fair statement of the information for each period contained therein. Certain reclassifications and immaterial changes have been made to prior-period financial statements to conform to the current-period presentation.