BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

All references in this report to “we,” “us,” or “our” are to Big Lots, Inc. and its subsidiaries. We are a community retailer operating in the United States (“U.S.”). At November 3, 2018, we operated 1,415 stores in 47 states. We make available, free of charge, through the “Investor Relations” section of our website (www.biglots.com) under the “SEC Filings” caption, our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (“Exchange Act”), as soon as reasonably practicable after we file such material with, or furnish it to, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). The contents of our websites are not part of this report.

The accompanying consolidated financial statements and these notes have been prepared in accordance with the rules and regulations of the SEC for interim financial information. The consolidated financial statements reflect all normal recurring adjustments which management believes are necessary to present fairly our financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows for all periods presented. The consolidated financial statements, however, do not include all information necessary for a complete presentation of financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”). Interim results may not necessarily be indicative of results that may be expected for, or actually result during, any other interim period or for the year as a whole. We have historically experienced, and expect to continue to experience, seasonal fluctuations, with a larger percentage of our net sales and operating profit realized in our fourth fiscal quarter. The accompanying consolidated financial statements and these notes should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements and notes included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended February 3, 2018 (“2017 Form 10-K”).

Fiscal Periods

Our fiscal year ends on the Saturday nearest to January 31, which results in fiscal years consisting of 52 or 53 weeks. Unless otherwise stated, references to years in this report relate to fiscal years rather than calendar years. Fiscal year 2018 (“2018”) is comprised of the 52 weeks that began on February 4, 2018 and will end on February 2, 2019. Fiscal year 2017 (“2017”) was comprised of the 53 weeks that began on January 29, 2017 and ended on February 3, 2018. The fiscal quarters ended November 3, 2018 (“third quarter of 2018”) and October 28, 2017 (“third quarter of 2017”) were both comprised of 13 weeks. The year-to-date periods ended November 3, 2018 (“year-to-date 2018”) and October 28, 2017 (“year-to-date 2017”) were both comprised of 39 weeks.

Selling and Administrative Expenses

Selling and administrative expenses include store expenses (such as payroll and occupancy costs) and costs related to warehousing, distribution, outbound transportation to our stores, advertising, purchasing, insurance, non-income taxes, accepting credit/debit cards, and overhead. Our selling and administrative expense rates may not be comparable to those of other retailers that include warehousing, distribution, and outbound transportation costs in cost of sales. Warehousing, distribution, and outbound transportation costs included in selling and administrative expenses were $45.5 million and $39.4 million for the third quarter of 2018 and the third quarter of 2017, respectively, and $131.1 million and $115.6 million for the year-to-date 2018 and the year-to-date 2017, respectively.

Advertising Expense

Advertising costs, which are expensed as incurred, consist primarily of television and print advertising, digital or internet marketing and advertising, and in-store point-of-purchase presentations. Advertising expenses are included in selling and administrative expenses. Advertising expenses were $16.4 million and $15.3 million for the third quarter of 2018 and the third quarter of 2017, respectively, and $54.7 million and $51.1 million for the year-to-date 2018 and the year-to-date 2017, respectively.

Derivative Instruments

We use derivative instruments to mitigate the risk of market fluctuations in the price of diesel fuel that we expect to consume to support our outbound transportation of inventory to our stores. We do not enter into derivative instruments for speculative purposes. Our derivative instruments may consist of collar or swap contracts. Our current derivative instruments do not meet the requirements for cash flow hedge accounting. Instead, our derivative instruments are marked-to-market to determine their fair value and any gains or losses are recognized currently in other income (expense) on our consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive income.

Supplemental Cash Flow Disclosures

The following table provides supplemental cash flow information for the year-to-date 2018 and the year-to-date 2017:



	Thirty-Nine Weeks Ended
(In thousands)	November 3, 2018		October 28, 2017
Supplemental disclosure of cash flow information:
Cash paid for interest, including capital leases	$	6,494	$	3,835
Cash paid for income taxes, excluding impact of refunds	59,600		99,037
Gross proceeds from borrowings under bank credit facility	1,376,400		1,246,300
Gross repayments of borrowings under bank credit facility	1,088,200		980,800
Non-cash activity:
Assets acquired under capital leases	785		90
Accrued property and equipment	$	37,440	$	15,224

Reclassifications

Merchandise Categories

We periodically assess, and make minor adjustments to, our product hierarchy, which can impact the roll-up of our merchandise categories. Our financial reporting process utilizes the most current product hierarchy in reporting net sales by merchandise category for all periods presented. Therefore, there may be minor reclassifications of net sales by merchandise category compared to previously reported amounts.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

In February 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842). The update requires a lessee to recognize, on the balance sheet, a liability to make lease payments and a right-of-use asset representing a right to use the underlying asset for the lease term. The ASU is effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those years, beginning after December 15, 2018, with early adoption permitted. The ASU allows for either the modified or full retrospective method of adoption. However, the FASB issued ASU No. 2018-11, Leases (Topic 842), Targeted Improvements, which allows entities to apply the transition provisions of the new standard at its adoption date instead of at the earliest comparative period presented in the consolidated financial statements. ASU 2018-11 will allow entities to continue to apply the legacy guidance in Topic 840, Leases, including its disclosure requirements, in the comparative periods presented in the year the new leases standard is adopted. Entities that elect this option would still adopt the new leases standard using a modified retrospective transition method, but would recognize a cumulative-effect adjustment to the opening balance of retained earnings in the period of adoption rather than in the earliest period presented. We have elected to use the modified retrospective transition method as allowed by ASU 2018-11. We will not early adopt this standard. We are still evaluating the impact that this standard will have on our consolidated financial statements, as we complete the implementation of a new lease system. Currently we anticipate the impact on our balance sheet will be material.

Recently Adopted Accounting Standards

In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606). This update provided a comprehensive new revenue recognition model that requires a company to recognize revenue to depict the transfer of goods or services to a customer at an amount that reflects the consideration it expects to receive in exchange for those goods or services. Additionally, this guidance expanded related disclosure requirements. During the first quarter of 2018, we adopted the new standard on the retrospective method. The adoption had no impact on the timing of the recognition of our revenue or costs. The adoption did result in an immaterial adjustment to the amount of gross revenue and costs that we had previously reported, as certain of our vendor relationships had different principal versus agent treatment under the new standard. Additionally, we considered the disclosure requirements of the standard and determined that no additional disclosures were necessary.