Accounting Policies (Policies)

9 Months Ended

Aug. 31, 2014

Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Basis of presentation

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the instructions to Form 10-Q and do not include all the information and notes required by United States generally accepted accounting principles (U.S. GAAP) for complete financial statements. In our opinion, the accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements contain all adjustments, which are of a normal and recurring nature, necessary to present fairly the financial position and the results of operations for the interim periods presented.

The results of consolidated operations for the three and nine month periods ended August 31, 2014 are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the full year. Historically, our net sales, net income and cash flow from operations are lower in the first half of the fiscal year and increase in the second half. The typical increase in net sales, net income and cash flow from operations in the second half of the year is largely due to the consumer business cycle in the U.S., where customers typically purchase more products in the fourth quarter due to the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday seasons.

For further information, refer to the consolidated financial statements and notes included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended November 30, 2013.

Accounting and disclosure charges

Accounting and Disclosure Changes

In May 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2014-09 Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606). This guidance is intended to improve and converge with international standards the financial reporting requirements for revenue from contracts with customers. It will be effective for our first quarter of 2018 and early adoption is not permitted. We have not yet determined the impact from adoption of this new accounting pronouncement on our financial statements.

In February 2013, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2013-02 Comprehensive Income (Topic 220): Reporting of Amounts Reclassified Out of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income. This guidance is intended to provide disclosure on items reclassified out of accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) either in the notes or parenthetically on the face of the income statement. We adopted this new accounting pronouncement with our first quarter of 2014 and have included the necessary disclosures in note 10, Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss, in this filing. There was no impact on our financial statements from adoption, other than the additional disclosures.