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Basis and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2014

Aaron’s, Inc. (the “Company” or “Aaron’s”) is a leading specialty retailer primarily engaged in the business of leasing and selling consumer electronics, computers, furniture, appliances and household accessories throughout the United States and Canada. The Company’s major operating divisions are the Sales & Lease Ownership division (established as a monthly payment concept), the HomeSmart division (established as a weekly payment concept) and the Woodhaven Furniture Industries division, which manufactures upholstered furniture and bedding predominantly for use by Company-operated and franchised stores.

Basis of Presentation

The preparation of the Company’s consolidated financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“U.S. GAAP”) for interim financial information requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect amounts reported in these financial statements and accompanying notes. Actual results could differ from those estimates. Generally, actual experience has been consistent with management’s prior estimates and assumptions. Management does not believe these estimates or assumptions will change significantly in the future absent unsurfaced and unforeseen events.

The accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements do not include all information required by U.S. GAAP for complete financial statements. In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring accruals) considered necessary for a fair presentation have been included in the accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements. These financial statements should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and notes thereto included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission for the year ended December 31, 2013 (the “2013 Annual Report”). The results of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2014 are not necessarily indicative of operating results for the full year.

Certain reclassifications have been made to the prior periods to conform to the current period presentation. In all periods presented, RIMCO has been reclassified from the RIMCO segment to Other in Note 6 to the consolidated financial statements.

Principles of Consolidation and Variable Interest Entities

The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Aaron’s, Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiaries. Intercompany balances and transactions between consolidated entities have been eliminated.

On October 14, 2011, the Company purchased 11.5% of the common stock of Perfect Home Holdings Limited (“Perfect Home”), a privately-held rent-to-own company that is primarily financed by share capital and subordinated debt. Perfect Home is based in the U.K. and operated 64 retail stores as of March 31, 2014. As part of the transaction, the Company also received notes and an option to acquire the remaining interest in Perfect Home at any time through December 31, 2013. The Company did not exercise this purchase option but is in discussions with the owners of Perfect Home to extend the maturity of the notes through June 2015. The Company’s investment is denominated in British Pounds.

Perfect Home is a variable interest entity (“VIE”) as it does not have sufficient equity at risk; however, the Company is not the primary beneficiary and lacks the power through voting or similar rights to direct those activities of Perfect Home that most significantly affect its economic performance. As such, the VIE is not consolidated by the Company.

Because the Company is not able to exercise significant influence over the operating and financial decisions of Perfect Home, the equity portion of the investment in Perfect Home, totaling less than $1,000 at March 31, 2014 and December 31, 2013, is accounted for as a cost method investment and is included in prepaid expenses and other assets in the consolidated balance sheets. The notes purchased from Perfect Home totaling £12.7 million ($21.3 million) and £12.5 million ($20.7 million) at March 31, 2014 and December 31, 2013, respectively, are accounted for as held-to-maturity securities in accordance with Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 320, Debt and Equity Securities, and are included in investments in the consolidated balance sheets. The increase in the Company’s British pound-denominated notes during the three months ended March 31, 2014 relates to accretion of the original discount on the notes with a face value of £10 million. Utilizing a Black-Scholes model, the options to buy the remaining interest in Perfect Home and to sell the Company’s interest in Perfect Home were determined to have only nominal values.

The Company’s maximum exposure to any potential losses associated with this VIE is equal to its total recorded investment which totals $21.3 million at March 31, 2014.

Accounting Policies and Estimates

See Note 1 to the consolidated financial statements in the 2013 Annual Report.

Income Taxes

The Company files a federal consolidated income tax return in the U.S., and the Company and its subsidiaries file in various state and foreign jurisdictions. With few exceptions, the Company is no longer subject to federal, state and local tax examinations by tax authorities for years before 2010.

As of March 31, 2014 and December 31, 2013, the amount of uncertain tax benefits that, if recognized, would affect the effective tax rate is $1.7 million and $1.5 million, respectively, including interest and penalties. The Company recognizes potential interest and penalties related to uncertain tax benefits as a component of income tax expense.

Earnings Per Share

Earnings per share is computed by dividing net earnings by the weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding during the period. The computation of earnings per share assuming dilution includes the dilutive effect of stock options, restricted stock units (RSUs) and restricted stock awards (RSAs) as determined under the treasury stock method. The following table shows the calculation of dilutive stock awards for the three months ended March 31, 2014 and 2013 (shares in thousands):



	Three Months Ended March 31,
	2014	2013
Weighted average shares outstanding	72,467	75,760
Effect of dilutive securities:
Stock options	228	545
RSUs	171	256
RSAs	18	13
Weighted average shares outstanding assuming dilution	72,884	76,574

During the first three months of 2014, there were approximately 88,000 weighted-average stock options and 52,000 weighted-average RSUs excluded from the computation for earnings per share assuming dilution because the awards would have been anti-dilutive for the period. There were no anti-dilutive RSAs for the three months ended March 31, 2014.

During first three months of 2013, there were approximately 21,000 anti-dilutive RSUs excluded from the computation for earnings per share assuming dilution because the awards would have been anti-dilutive for the period. There were no anti-dilutive stock options or RSAs for the three months ended March 31, 2013. In addition, approximately 190,000 weighted-average performance-based RSUs are not included in the computation of diluted earnings per share for the three months ended March 31, 2014 due to the fact that the revenue and pre-tax profit margin targets applicable to these awards either have not been met or relate to future performance periods as of March 31, 2014. Refer to Note 10 in the Company’s 2013 Annual Report for additional information regarding the Company’s restricted stock arrangements.

Accelerated Share Repurchase Program

In December 2013, the Company entered into an accelerated share repurchase program with a third-party financial institution to purchase $125.0 million of the Company’s common stock, as part of its previously announced share repurchase program. The Company paid $125.0 million and received an initial delivery of 3,502,627 shares, estimated to be approximately 80% of the total number of shares to be repurchased under the agreement, which reduced the Company's shares outstanding at December 31, 2013. The value of the initial shares received on the date of purchase was $100.0 million, reflecting a $28.55 price per share, which was recorded as treasury shares. The Company recorded the remaining $25.0 million as a forward contract indexed to its own common stock in additional paid-in capital for the year ended December 31, 2013.

In February 2014, the accelerated share repurchase program was completed and the Company received 1,000,952 additional shares determined using a volume weighted average price of the Company's stock (inclusive of a discount) during the trading period. All amounts initially classified as additional paid-in capital were reclassified to treasury shares during the first quarter of 2014 upon settlement.

Lease Merchandise

All lease merchandise is available for lease or sale. On a monthly basis, all damaged, lost or unsalable merchandise identified is written off. The Company records lease merchandise adjustments on the allowance method. Lease merchandise write-offs totaled $13.4 million and $12.8 million for the three months ended March 31, 2014 and 2013, respectively, and are included in operating expenses in the accompanying consolidated statements of earnings.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

The Company classifies highly liquid investments with maturity dates of three months or less when purchased as cash equivalents. The Company maintains its cash and cash equivalents in a limited number of banks. Bank balances typically exceed coverage provided by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. However, due to the size and strength of the banks where the balances are held, such exposure to loss is considered minimal.

Investments

The Company maintains investments in various corporate debt securities, or bonds. The Company has the positive intent and ability to hold its investments in debt securities to maturity. Accordingly, the Company classifies its investments in debt securities, which mature at various dates from 2014 to 2015, as held-to-maturity securities and carries the investments at amortized cost in the consolidated balance sheets.

The Company evaluates securities for other-than-temporary impairment on a quarterly basis, and more frequently when economic or market concerns warrant such evaluation. Consideration is given to (1) the length of time and the extent to which the fair value has been less than cost, (2) the financial condition and near-term prospects of the issuer and (3) the intent and ability of the Company to retain its investment in the issuer for a period of time sufficient to allow for any anticipated recovery in fair value. The Company does not intend to sell the securities and it is not more likely than not that the Company will be required to sell the investments before recovery of their amortized cost bases.

Accounts Receivable

Accounts receivable consist primarily of receivables due from customers of Company-operated stores, corporate receivables incurred during the normal course of business (primarily related to vendor consideration, real estate leasing activities and in-transit credit card transactions) and franchisee obligations. Accounts receivable, net of allowances, consist of the following:



(In Thousands)	March 31, 2014		December 31, 2013
Customers	$	5,332	$	8,275
Corporate	14,673		16,730
Franchisee	40,858		43,679
	$	60,863	$	68,684

Assets Held for Sale

Certain properties, primarily consisting of parcels of land and commercial buildings as well as the net assets of the RIMCO operating segment, met the held for sale classification criteria as of March 31, 2014 and December 31, 2013. After adjustment to fair value, the $6.4 million and $15.8 million carrying value of these properties has been classified as assets held for sale in the consolidated balance sheets as of March 31, 2014 and December 31, 2013, respectively. In January 2014, the Company sold the 27 Company-operated RIMCO stores which had a carrying value of $9.7 million as of December 31, 2013.

The Company estimated the fair values of real estate properties using the market values for similar properties and estimated the fair value of the RIMCO disposal group based on our expectations of a sale price. These properties are considered Level 2 assets as defined in ASC Topic 820, Fair Value Measurements.

During the three months ended March 31, 2014 and 2013, the Company recorded impairment charges of $161,000 and $2.1 million, respectively. Such impairment charges related primarily to the impairment of various land outparcels and buildings included in the Sales and Lease Ownership segment that the Company decided not to utilize for future expansion and are generally included in other operating (income) expense, net within the consolidated statements of earnings.

Deferred Compensation

The Company maintains the Aaron’s, Inc. Deferred Compensation Plan, an unfunded, nonqualified deferred compensation plan for a select group of management, highly compensated employees and non-employee directors. On a pre-tax basis, eligible employees can defer receipt of up to 75% of their base compensation and up to 100% of their incentive pay compensation, and eligible non-employee directors can defer receipt of up to 100% of both their cash and stock director fees.

Compensation deferred under the plan is credited to each participant’s deferral account and a deferred compensation liability is recorded in accounts payable and accrued expenses in the consolidated balance sheets. The deferred compensation liability was $12.6 million as of both March 31, 2014 and December 31, 2013. Liabilities under the plan are recorded at amounts due to participants, based on the fair value of participants’ selected investments. The Company has established a rabbi trust to fund obligations under the plan with Company-owned life insurance. The obligations are unsecured general obligations of the Company and the participants have no right, interest or claim in the assets of the Company, except as unsecured general creditors. The cash surrender value of these insurance contracts totaled $14.1 million as of both March 31, 2014 and December 31, 2013 and is included in prepaid expenses and other assets in the consolidated balance sheets.

During the three month periods ended March 31, 2014 and 2013, deferred compensation expense charged to operations for the Company’s matching contributions totaled $22,000 and $37,000, respectively. Benefits of $501,000 and $274,000 were paid in the first three months of 2014 and 2013, respectively.

Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss

Changes in accumulated other comprehensive loss by component for the three months ended March 31, 2014 are as follows:



(In Thousands)	Foreign Currency			Total
Balance at January 1, 2014	$	(64	)	$	(64	)
Other comprehensive loss	(4		)	(4		)
Balance at March 31, 2014	$	(68	)	$	(68	)

There were no reclassifications out of accumulated other comprehensive loss for the three months ended March 31, 2014.

Fair Value Measurement

Fair value is defined as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. To increase the comparability of fair value measures, the following hierarchy prioritizes the inputs to valuation methodologies used to measure fair value:

Level 1—Valuations based on quoted prices for identical assets and liabilities in active markets.

Level 2—Valuations based on observable inputs other than quoted prices included in Level 1, such as quoted prices for similar assets and liabilities in active markets, quoted prices for identical or similar assets and liabilities in markets that are not active, or other inputs that are observable or can be corroborated by observable market data.

Level 3—Valuations based on unobservable inputs reflecting our own assumptions, consistent with reasonably available assumptions made by other market participants. These valuations require significant judgment.

The Company measures assets held for sale at fair value on a nonrecurring basis and records impairment charges when they are deemed to be impaired. The Company maintains certain financial assets and liabilities, including investments and fixed-rate long term debt, that are not measured at fair value but for which fair value is disclosed.

The fair values of the Company’s other current financial assets and liabilities, including cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable and accounts payable, approximate their carrying values due to their short-term nature.