ACCOUNTING POLICIES

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2023

Basis of Presentation

HBT Financial, Inc. (“HBT Financial” or the “Company”) is headquartered in Bloomington, Illinois and is the holding company for Heartland Bank and Trust Company (“Heartland Bank” or the “Bank”). The Bank provides a comprehensive suite of business, commercial, wealth management and retail banking products and services to individuals, businesses, and municipal entities throughout Illinois and Eastern Iowa. Additionally, the Company is subject to the regulations of certain federal and state agencies and undergoes periodic examinations by those regulatory agencies.

The unaudited consolidated financial statements, including the notes thereto, have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S. (“GAAP”) interim reporting requirements. Certain information in footnote disclosures normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP has been condensed or omitted pursuant to rules and regulations of the SEC. These interim unaudited consolidated financial statements and notes thereto should be read in conjunction with the Company’s audited consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, filed with the SEC on March 8, 2023.

The unaudited consolidated financial statements include all normal, recurring adjustments necessary for a fair presentation of the results for the interim periods. The results for interim periods are not necessarily indicative of results for a full year.

The Company qualifies as an "emerging growth company" as defined by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (“JOBS Act”). The JOBS Act permits emerging growth companies an extended transition period for complying with new or revised accounting standards affecting public companies. The Company may remain an emerging growth company until the earliest to occur of: (1) the end of the fiscal year following the fifth anniversary of the completion of our initial public offering, which is December 31, 2024, (2) the last day of the fiscal year in which the Company has $1.235 billion or more in annual revenues, (3) the date on which the Company is deemed to be a “large accelerated filer” under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, (the “Exchange Act”) or (4) the date on which the Company has, during the previous three year period, issued, publicly or privately, more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt securities. The Company has elected to use the extended transition period until the Company is no longer an emerging growth company or until the Company chooses to affirmatively and irrevocably opt out of the extended transition period. As a result, the Company’s financial statements may not be comparable to companies that comply with new or revised accounting pronouncements applicable to public companies.

Use of Estimates

The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared in conformity with GAAP. In preparing the financial statements, management is required to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities as of the date of the balance sheet and the reported results of operations for the periods then ended.

Actual results could differ significantly from those estimates. Material estimates that are particularly susceptible to significant changes in the near term relate to the determination of the allowance for credit losses and fair value of assets acquired and liabilities assumed in business combinations.

Segment Reporting

The Company’s operations consist of one reportable segment. The Company’s chief operating decision maker evaluates the operations of the Company using consolidated information for purposes of allocating resources and assessing performance.

Reclassifications

Certain prior period amounts have been reclassified to conform to the current period presentation without any impact on the reported amounts of net income or stockholders’ equity.

Subsequent Events

In preparing these consolidated financial statements, the Company has evaluated events and transactions for potential recognition or disclosure through the date the financial statements were issued.

Impact of Recently Adopted Accounting Standards

On January 1, 2023, the Company adopted Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2016-13, Financial Instruments - Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments, as amended, which replaces the incurred loss methodology with an expected loss methodology, commonly referred to as the current expected credit losses (“CECL”) methodology. The measurement of expected credit losses under the CECL methodology is applicable to financial assets measured at amortized cost, including loan receivables and debt securities held-to-maturity. It also applies to off-balance sheet credit exposures not accounted for as insurance, such as loan commitments and letters of credit. In addition, Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 326 made changes to the accounting for debt securities available-for-sale. One such change is to require credit losses be presented as an allowance rather than as a write-down on debt securities available-for-sale management does not intend to sell or believes that it is more likely than not they will be required to sell.

The Company adopted ASC 326 using the modified retrospective method for all financial assets measured at amortized cost and off-balance sheet credit exposures. Results for reporting periods beginning after December 31, 2022 are presented under ASC 326 while prior period amounts continue to be reported in accordance with previously applicable GAAP. The Company recorded a net decrease to retained earnings of $6.9 million as of January 1, 2023 for the cumulative effect of adopting ASC 326. The following table illustrates the impact of ASC 326 on the allowance for credit losses:


	January 1, 2023
(dollars in thousands)	Pre-ASC 326 Adoption		Impact of ASC 326 Adoption		As Reported under ASC 326

Assets:
Allowance for credit losses on loans
Commercial and industrial	$	3,279	$	(822)	$	2,457
Commercial real estate - owner occupied	1,193		587		1,780
Commercial real estate - non-owner occupied	6,721		501		7,222
Construction and land development	4,223		1,969		6,192
Multi-family	1,472		85		1,557
One-to-four family residential	1,759		797		2,556
Agricultural and farmland	796		1,567		2,363
Municipal, consumer, and other	5,890		2,299		8,189
Allowance for credit losses on loans	$	25,333	$	6,983	$	32,316

Liabilities:
Allowance for credit losses on unfunded commitments	$	—	$	2,899	$	2,899

The Company also adopted ASC 326 using the prospective transition approach for purchase credit deteriorated (“PCD”) financial assets that were previously classified as purchased credit impaired (“PCI”) and accounted for under ASC 310-30. In accordance with ASC 326, management did not reassess whether PCI assets met the criteria of PCD assets as of the date of adoption. On January 1, 2023, the amortized cost basis of the PCD assets were adjusted to reflect the addition of $0.2 million to the allowance for credit losses. The remaining noncredit discount will be accreted into interest income at the effective interest rate as of January 1, 2023.

On January 1, 2023, the Company also adopted ASU 2022-02, Financial Instruments - Credit Losses (Topic 326): Troubled Debt Restructurings and Vintage Disclosures. ASU 2022-02 eliminates the recognition and measurement guidance for troubled debt restructurings (“TDRs”) by creditors in ASC 310-40. This ASU also enhances disclosure requirements for certain loan restructurings by creditors when a borrower is experiencing financial difficulty. Specifically, rather than applying the recognition and measurement guidance for TDRs, an entity will apply refinancing and restructuring guidance to determine whether a modification or other form of restructuring results in a new loan or a continuation of an existing loan. Additionally, the amendments in ASU 2022-02 require a public business entity to disclosure current-period gross write-offs by year of origination for financing receivables and net investments in leases in the existing vintage disclosures. This standard did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated results of operations or financial position.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

In June 2022, the FASB issued ASU 2022-03, Fair Value Measurement (Topic 820): Fair Value Measurement of Equity Securities Subject to Contractual Sale Restrictions. ASU 2022-03 clarifies that a contractual restriction on the sale of an equity security is not considered part of the unit of account of the equity security and, therefore, is not considered in measuring fair value and that contractual sale restrictions cannot be recognized and measured as a separate unit of account. The amendments in this update are effective for years beginning after December 15, 2023, including interim periods within those years. This standard is not expected to have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated results of operations or financial position.

In March 2022, the FASB issued ASU 2022-01, Derivatives and Hedging (Topic 815): Fair Value Hedging – Portfolio Layer Method. ASU 2022-01 replaces the current last-of-layer hedge accounting method with an expanded portfolio layer method that permits multiple hedged layers of a single closed portfolio. The scope of the portfolio layer method is also expanded to include non-prepayable financial assets. ASU 2022-01 also provides additional guidance on the accounting for and disclosure of hedge basis adjustments that are applicable to the portfolio layer method, and specifies how hedge basis adjustments should be considered when determining credit losses for the assets included in the closed portfolio. Amendments related to hedge basis adjustments which are included in this standard apply on a modified retrospective basis by means of a cumulative-effect adjustment to the opening balance of retained earnings on the initial application date. Amendments related to hedge basis adjustments which are included in this standard apply on a modified retrospective basis by means of a cumulative-effect adjustment to the opening balance of retained earnings on the initial application date. Amendments related to disclosure which are included in this standard may be applied on a prospective basis from the initial application date, or on a retrospective basis to each prior period presented after the date of adoption of the amendments in ASU 2017-12, Derivatives and Hedging (Topic 815): Targeted Improvements to Accounting for Hedging Activities. The amendments in this update are effective for years beginning after December 15, 2023, including interim periods within those years. Early adoption is permitted. This standard is not expected to have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated results of operations or financial position.

In March 2020, the FASB issued ASU 2020-04, Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848): Facilitation of the Effects of Reference Rate Reform on Financial Reporting. ASU 2020-04 provides optional expedients and exceptions for applying GAAP to contracts, hedging relationships, and other transactions affected by reference rate reform, if certain criteria are met. In January 2021, the FASB also issued ASU 2021-01, Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848): Scope, which refined the scope for certain optional expedients and exceptions for contract modifications and hedge accounting to apply to derivative contracts and certain hedging relationships affected by the discounting transition. Entities may apply the provisions as of the beginning of the reporting period when the election is made and are available until December 31, 2024. The Company is currently evaluating the effect that this standard will have on the consolidated results of operations and financial position.

In March 2023, the FASB issued ASU 2023-02, Investments—Equity Method and Joint Ventures (Topic 323). ASU 2023-02 permits an election to use the proportional amortization method to account for equity investments made primarily for the purpose of receiving income tax credits and other income tax benefits, regardless of the tax credit program from which the income tax credits are received, provided that certain conditions are met. The proportional amortization method results in the cost of the investment being amortized in proportion to the income tax credits and other income tax benefits received, with the amortization of the investment and the income tax credits being presented net in the income statement as a component of income tax expense. ASU 2023-02 must be applied on a retrospective or modified retrospective basis, and is applicable for the Company beginning after December 15, 2023. Early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the effect that this standard will have on the consolidated results of operations and financial position.