In March 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued ASU No. 2016-09 Compensation—Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting, which changes the accounting for certain aspects of share-based payments to employees. The new guidance requires, among its other provisions, that excess tax benefits (which represent the excess of actual tax benefits received at the date of vesting or settlement over the benefits recognized over the vesting period or upon issuance of share-based payments) and tax deficiencies (which represent the amount by which actual tax benefits received at the date of vesting or settlement is lower than the benefits recognized over the vesting period or upon issuance of share-based payments) be recorded in the income statement as an increase or decrease in income taxes when the awards vest or are settled. This is in comparison to the prior requirement that these excess tax benefits be recognized in additional paid-in capital and these tax deficiencies be recognized either as an offset to accumulated excess tax benefits, if any, or in the income statement. The new guidance also requires excess tax benefits to be classified, together with other income tax cash flows, as an operating activity in the statement of cash flows rather than, as previously required, a financing activity. The new guidance is effective for the first quarter of our fiscal year ending November 30, 2018, with early adoption permitted.

We have elected to early adopt ASU No. 2016-09 effective December 1, 2016 on a prospective basis, where permitted by the new standard. As a result of this adoption:


•	We recognized discrete tax benefits of $0.8 million and $9.4 million in the income taxes line item of our consolidated income statement for the three and nine months ended August 31, 2017, respectively, related to excess tax benefits upon vesting or settlement in that period.


•	We elected to adopt the cash flow presentation of the excess tax benefits prospectively, commencing with our cash flow statements for periods beginning after November 30, 2016, where these benefits are classified, together with other income tax cash flows, as an operating activity.


•	We have elected to continue to estimate the number of stock-based awards expected to vest, rather than electing to account for forfeitures as they occur to determine the amount of compensation cost to be recognized in each period.

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At this time, we have not changed our policy on statutory withholding requirements and will continue to allow an employee to withhold at the minimum statutory withholding requirements. Amounts paid by us to taxing authorities when directly withholding shares associated with employees’ income tax withholding obligations are classified as a financing activity in our cash flow statement for the nine months ended August 31, 2017. ASU No. 2016-09 requires that this cash flow presentation be made retrospectively and our cash flow statement for the nine months ended August 31, 2016 has been restated accordingly.


•	We excluded the excess tax benefits from the assumed proceeds available to repurchase shares in the computation of our diluted earnings per share for the three and nine months ended August 31, 2017.

Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements

In August 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-12 Derivatives and Hedging (Topic 815)—Targeted Improvements to Accounting for Hedging Activities. This guidance eliminates the requirement to separately measure and report hedge ineffectiveness and generally requires, for qualifying hedges, the entire change in the fair value of a hedging instrument to be presented in the same income statement line as the hedged item. The guidance also modifies the accounting for components excluded from the assessment of hedge effectiveness, eases documentation and assessment requirements and modifies certain disclosure requirements. The new standard will be effective for the first quarter of our fiscal year ending November 30, 2020. Early adoption is permitted in any interim period or fiscal year before the effective date for all entities. If the guidance is early adopted in an interim period, any adjustments would be reflected as of the beginning of the fiscal year that includes that interim period. We have not yet determined the impact from adoption of this new accounting pronouncement on our financial statements.

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. This guidance revises how employers that sponsor defined benefit pension and other postretirement plans present the net periodic benefit cost in their income statement and requires that the service cost component of net periodic benefit cost be presented in the same income statement line items as other employee compensation costs from services rendered during the period. Of the components of net periodic benefit cost, only the service cost component will be eligible for asset capitalization. The other components of the net periodic benefit cost must be presented separately from the line items that include the service cost and outside of any subtotal of operating income on the income statement. The new standard will be effective for the first quarter of our fiscal year ending November 30, 2019. Early adoption is permitted as of the beginning of an annual reporting period for all entities. We have not yet determined the impact from adoption of this new accounting pronouncement on our financial statements.

In January 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-04 Intangibles—Goodwill and Other Topics (Topic 350)—Simplifying the Test for Goodwill Impairment. This guidance eliminates the requirement to calculate the implied fair value of goodwill of a reporting unit to measure a goodwill impairment charge. Instead, a company will record an impairment charge based on the excess of a reporting unit's carrying amount over its fair value. The new standard will be effective for the first quarter of our fiscal year ending November 30, 2021. Early adoption is permitted for all entities for annual and interim goodwill impairment testing dates after January 1, 2017. We have not yet determined the impact from adoption of this new accounting pronouncement on our financial statements.

In January 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-01 Business Combinations (Topic 805)—Clarifying the Definition of a Business. This guidance changes the definition of a business to assist entities in evaluating when a set of transferred assets and activities constitutes a business. The guidance requires an entity to evaluate if substantially all of the fair value of the gross assets acquired is concentrated in a single identifiable asset or a group of similar identifiable assets; if so, the set of transferred assets and activities is not a business. The guidance also requires a business to include at least one substantive process and narrows the definition of outputs by more closely aligning it with how outputs are described in Accounting Standards Codification (ASC 606) Revenue from Contracts with Customers. The new standard will be effective for the first quarter of our fiscal year ending November 30, 2019. Early adoption is permitted for all entities. We have not yet determined the impact from adoption of this new accounting pronouncement on our financial statements.

In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-02 Leases (Topic 842). This guidance revises existing practice related to accounting for leases under Accounting Standards Codification Topic 840 Leases (ASC 840) for both lessees and lessors. Our leases principally relate to: (i) certain real estate, including that related to a number of administrative, distribution and manufacturing locations; (ii) certain machinery and equipment, including a corporate airplane and automobiles; and (iii) certain software. In addition, in 2016, we entered into a 15-year lease for a headquarters building, which is expected to commence upon completion of building construction and fit-out, currently scheduled for the second half of 2018. The new guidance in ASU No. 2016-02 requires lessees to recognize a right-of-use asset and a lease liability for virtually all of their leases (other than leases that meet the definition of a short-term lease). The lease liability will be equal to the present value of lease payments and the right-of-use asset will be based on the lease liability, subject to adjustment such as for initial direct costs. For income statement purposes, the new standard retains a dual model similar to ASC 840, requiring leases to be classified as either operating or finance. For lessees, operating leases will result in straight-line expense (similar to current accounting by lessees for operating leases under ASC 840) while finance leases will result in a front-loaded expense pattern (similar to current accounting by lessees for capital leases under ASC 840). The new standard will be effective for the first quarter of our fiscal year ending November 30, 2020. Early adoption is permitted for all entities. We have not yet determined the impact from adoption of this new accounting pronouncement on our financial statements.

In July 2015, the FASB issued ASU No. 2015-11 Simplifying the Measurement of Inventory (Topic 330). This guidance is intended to simplify the subsequent measurement of inventories by replacing the current lower of cost or market test with a lower of cost and net realizable value test. It will be effective for the first quarter of our fiscal year ending November 30, 2018, and early adoption is permitted. We do not believe the impact from adoption of this new accounting pronouncement will have a material impact on our financial statements.

In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU 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. The new standard will be effective for the first quarter of our fiscal year ending November 30, 2019. Early adoption is permitted for all entities, but not before the original effective date for public business entities (that is, annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2016 or our fiscal year ending November 30, 2018). We do not expect to early adopt this new accounting pronouncement. In preparation for our adoption of the new standard in our fiscal year ending November 30, 2019, we have obtained representative samples of contracts and other forms of agreements with our customers in the U.S. and international locations and are evaluating the provisions contained therein in light of the five-step model specified by the new guidance. That five-step model includes: (1) determination of whether a contract—an agreement between two or more parties that creates legally enforceable rights and obligations—exists; (2) identification of the performance obligations in the contract; (3) determination of the transaction price; (4) allocation of the transaction price to the performance obligations in the contract; and (5) recognition of revenue when (or as) the performance obligation is satisfied. We are also evaluating the impact of the new standard on certain common practices currently employed by us and by other manufacturers of consumer products, such as slotting fees, co-operative advertising, rebates and other pricing allowances, merchandising funds and consumer coupons. We have not yet determined the impact of the new standard on our financial statements or whether we will adopt on a prospective or retrospective basis in the first quarter of our fiscal year ending November 30, 2019.