BASIS OF PRESENTATION

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2012

BASIS OF PRESENTATION

BASIS OF PRESENTATION

NOTE A

BASIS OF PRESENTATION

The accompanying financial statements have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America for interim financial information and the instructions to Form 10-Q.  Accordingly, they do not include all of the financial information and footnotes required by generally accepted accounting principles for complete financial statements.  References to “we,” “us,” “our,” “its,” or the “Company” refer to TGC Industries, Inc. and our subsidiaries.

In connection with the preparation of these consolidated financial statements, the Company evaluated subsequent events after the balance sheet date of March 31, 2012, through May 10, 2012, the dates these consolidated financial statements were issued.

REVENUE RECOGNITION

Seismic Surveys

The Company provides seismic data acquisition survey services to its customers under general service agreements which define certain obligations for the Company and for its customers.  A supplemental agreement setting forth the terms of a specific project, which may be cancelled by either party upon 30 days’ advance written notice, is entered into for every project.  These supplemental agreements are either “turnkey” agreements providing for a fixed fee to be paid for each unit of seismic data acquired or “term” agreements providing for a fixed hourly, daily, or monthly fee during the term of the project.  The duration of these projects will vary from a few days to several months.  The Company recognizes revenue when services are performed under both types of agreements.  Services are defined as the commencement of data acquisition.  Under turnkey agreements, the total number of units of seismic data to be gathered is set forth in the agreement, and revenue is recognized as services are performed on a per unit of seismic data acquired rate.  Under term agreements, revenue is recognized as services are performed based on the time worked rate provided in the term agreement.  Under both turnkey and term agreements, cost of earned revenue is recognized by multiplying total estimated agreement cost by the percentage-of-completion of the agreement.  The excess of that amount over the cost of earned revenue reported in prior periods is recognized as cost of earned revenue for the period.  Agreements are not segmented or combined for purposes of calculating percentage of completion.  The asset “Cost and estimated earnings in excess of billings on uncompleted contracts” represents costs incurred on turnkey agreements in excess of billings on those agreements.  The liability “Billings in excess of costs and estimated earnings on uncompleted contracts” represents billings on turnkey agreements in excess of costs on those agreements.

RECENT ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENTS

In May 2011, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued Accounting Standards Update (ASU) No. 2011-04, Fair Value Measurement (Topic 820): Amendments to Achieve Common Fair Value Measurement and Disclosure Requirements in U.S. GAAP and International Financial Reporting Standards, to provide a consistent definition of fair value and ensure that the fair value measurement and disclosure requirements are similar between U.S. GAAP and International Financial Reporting Standards. ASU 2011-04 changes certain fair value measurement principles and enhances disclosure requirements, particularly for Level 3 fair value measurements. ASU 2011-04 became effective in our first quarter of 2012 and will be applied prospectively.  The adoption of this standard did not have a significant impact on our financial statements or disclosures.

In June 2011, the FASB issued ASU No. 2011-05, Comprehensive Income (Topic 220): Presentation of Comprehensive Income, to require an entity to present the total of comprehensive income, the components of net income, and the components of other comprehensive income either in a single continuous statement of comprehensive income or in two separate but consecutive statements. ASU 2011-05 eliminates the option to present the components of other comprehensive income as part of the statement of equity. This update does not change what items are reported in other comprehensive income or the requirement to report reclassification of items from other comprehensive income to net income. ASU 2011-05 became effective in our first quarter of 2012.  The adoption changed the order in which we presented certain financial statements, but did not have any other impact on our financial statements.

In September 2011, the FASB issued ASU 2011-08, Intangibles-Goodwill and Other-Topic 350: Testing for Impairment.  ASU 2011-08 amends the guidance in FASB Accounting Standards Codification Topic (“ASC”) 350-20, Intangibles-Goodwill and Other-Goodwill.  The intent of this ASU is to simplify how entities test goodwill for impairment by allowing an entity to use a qualitative approach to test goodwill for impairment. The amendments in the ASU permit an entity to first assess qualitative factors to determine whether it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying amount as a basis for determining whether it is necessary to perform the two-step goodwill impairment test described in ASC 350-20.  The amendments do not change the current guidance for testing other indefinite-lived assets for impairment.  ASU 2011-08 is effective for goodwill impairment tests performed for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2011.  Early application is permitted.  The Company elected to adopt this standard early and effective as of December 31, 2011, in its year-end goodwill impairment analysis.

In December 2011, the FASB issued ASU No. 2011-11, Balance Sheet (Topic 210) — Disclosures about Offsetting Assets and Liabilities (“ASU 2011-11”). This update requires the following new disclosures related to recognized financial instruments (and derivatives) subject to master netting arrangements or similar agreements: (i) the gross amounts of recognized financial assets and liabilities; (ii) the amounts offset under current GAAP; (iii) the net amounts presented in the balance sheet; (iv) the amounts subject to an enforceable master netting arrangement or similar agreement that were not included in (ii); and (v) the net amount representing the difference between (iii) and (iv). The update also requires qualitative disclosures related to counterparties, setoff rights, and terms of enforceable master netting arrangements and related agreements depending on their effect or potential effect on the entity’s financial position. The new disclosures will enable financial statement users to compare balance sheets prepared under US GAAP and International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”), which are subject to different offsetting models. ASU 2011-11 is effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those years, beginning on or after January 1, 2013. The Company does not currently expect that the adoption of this update in the first quarter of 2013 will have a significant effect on its consolidated financial statements and related disclosures.