Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2017

IDEX is an applied solutions company specializing in fluid and metering technologies, health and science technologies, and fire, safety and other diversified products built to customers’ specifications. IDEX’s products are sold in niche markets to a wide range of industries throughout the world. The Company’s products include industrial pumps, compressors, flow meters, injectors and valves, and related controls for use in a wide variety of process applications; precision fluidics solutions, including pumps, valves, degassing equipment, corrective tubing, fittings, and complex manifolds, optical filters and specialty medical equipment and devices for use in life science applications; precision-engineered equipment for dispensing, metering and mixing paints; and engineered products for industrial and commercial markets, including fire and rescue, transportation equipment, oil & gas, electronics, and communications. These activities are grouped into three reportable segments: Fluid & Metering Technologies, Health & Science Technologies and Fire & Safety/Diversified Products.

Principles of Consolidation

The consolidated financial statements include the Company and its subsidiaries. All intercompany transactions and accounts have been eliminated.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”) requires management to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities, and reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates. The principal areas of estimation reflected in the financial statements are revenue recognition, sales returns and allowances, allowance for doubtful accounts, inventory valuation, recoverability of long-lived assets, income taxes, product warranties, contingencies and litigation, insurance-related items, defined benefit retirement plans and purchase accounting related to acquisitions.

Revenue Recognition

The Company recognizes revenue when persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists, delivery has occurred, the sales price is fixed or determinable, and collectability of the sales price is reasonably assured. For product sales, delivery does not occur until the products have been shipped and risk of loss has been transferred to the customer. Revenue from services is recognized when the services are provided or ratably over the contract term. Some arrangements with customers may include multiple deliverables, including the combination of products and services. In such cases, the Company has identified these as separate elements in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 605-25, Revenue Recognition-Multiple-Element Arrangements, and recognizes revenue consistent with the policy for each separate element based on the relative selling price method. Revenues from certain long-term contracts are recognized on the percentage-of-completion method. Percentage-of-completion is measured principally by the percentage of costs incurred to date for each contract to the estimated total costs for such contract at completion. Provisions for estimated losses on uncompleted long-term contracts are made in the period in which such losses are determined. Due to uncertainties inherent in the estimation process, it is reasonably possible that completion costs, including those arising from contract penalty provisions and final contract settlements, will be revised in the near-term. Such revisions to costs and income are recognized in the period in which the revisions are determined.

The Company records allowances for discounts, product returns and customer incentives at the time of sale as a reduction of revenue as such allowances can be reliably estimated based on historical experience and known trends. The Company also offers product warranties and accrues its estimated exposure for warranty claims at the time of sale based upon the length of the warranty period, warranty costs incurred and any other related information known to the Company.

Shipping and Handling Costs

Shipping and handling costs are included in Cost of sales and are recognized as a period expense during the period in which they are incurred.

Advertising Costs

Advertising costs of $15.8 million, $15.3 million and $16.1 million for 2017, 2016 and 2015, respectively, are expensed as incurred within Selling, general and administrative expenses.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

The Company considers all highly liquid instruments purchased with an original maturity of 90 days or less to be cash and cash equivalents.

Accounts Receivable and Allowance for Doubtful Accounts

Accounts receivable are recorded at face amounts less an allowance for doubtful accounts. The Company maintains allowances for doubtful accounts for estimated losses as a result of customers’ inability to make required payments. Management evaluates the aging of the accounts receivable balances, the financial condition of its customers, historical trends and the time outstanding of specific balances to estimate the amount of accounts receivable that may not be collected in the future and records the appropriate provision.

Inventories

The Company states inventories at the lower of cost or net realizable value. Cost, which includes material, labor, and factory overhead, is determined on a FIFO basis. We make adjustments to reduce the cost of inventory to its net realizable value, if required, for estimated excess, obsolescence or impaired balances. Factors influencing these adjustments include changes in market demand, product life cycle and engineering changes.

Impairment of Long-Lived Assets

Long-lived assets are reviewed for impairment if an event occurs or circumstances change that would more likely than not reduce the fair value of a long-lived asset below its carrying amount, as measured by comparing their net book value to the projected undiscounted future cash flows generated by their use. A long-lived asset impairment exists when the carrying amount of the asset exceeds its fair value. The amount and timing of impairment charges for these assets require the estimation of future cash flows to determine the fair value of the related assets. Impaired assets are recorded at their estimated fair value based on a discounted cash flow analysis.

Goodwill and Indefinite-Lived Intangible Assets

In accordance with ASC 350, Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets, the Company reviews the carrying value of goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets annually on October 31, or if an event occurs or circumstances change that would more likely than not reduce the fair value of a reporting unit below its carrying amount. The Company evaluates the recoverability of these assets based on the estimated fair value of each of the thirteen reporting units and the indefinite-lived intangible assets. See Note 4 for a further discussion on goodwill and intangible assets.

Borrowing Expenses

Expenses incurred in securing and issuing debt are capitalized and included as a reduction of Long-term borrowings. These amounts are amortized over the life of the related borrowing and the related amortization is included in Interest expense.

Earnings per Common Share

Earnings per common share (“EPS”) is computed by dividing net income by the weighted average number of shares of common stock (basic) plus common stock equivalents (diluted) outstanding during the year. Common stock equivalents consist of stock options, which have been included in the calculation of weighted average shares outstanding using the treasury stock method, restricted stock and performance share units.

ASC 260, Earnings per Share, concludes that all outstanding unvested share-based payment awards that contain rights to nonforfeitable dividends participate in undistributed earnings with common shareholders. If awards are considered participating securities, the Company is required to apply the two-class method of computing basic and diluted earnings per share. The Company has determined that its outstanding shares of restricted stock are participating securities. Accordingly, EPS was computed using the two-class method prescribed by ASC 260.

Share-Based Compensation

The Company accounts for share-based payments in accordance with ASC 718, Compensation-Stock Compensation. Accordingly, the Company expenses the fair value of awards made under its share-based compensation plans. That cost is recognized in the consolidated financial statements over the requisite service period of the grants. See Note 13 for further discussion on share-based compensation.

Depreciation and Amortization

Property and equipment are stated at cost, with depreciation and amortization provided using the straight-line method over the following estimated useful lives:



Land improvements	8 to 12 years
Buildings and improvements	8 to 30 years
Machinery, equipment and other	3 to 12 years
Office and transportation equipment	3 to 10 years

Certain identifiable intangible assets are amortized over their estimated useful lives using the straight-line method. The estimated useful lives used in the computation of amortization of identifiable intangible assets are as follows:



Patents	5 to 17 years
Trade names	10 to 20 years
Customer relationships	6 to 20 years
Unpatented technology and other	6 to 20 years

Research and Development Expenditures

Costs associated with engineering activities, including research and development, are expensed in the period incurred and are included in Cost of sales.

Foreign Currency

The functional currency of substantially all operations outside the United States is the respective local currency. Accordingly, those foreign currency balance sheet accounts have been translated using the exchange rates in effect as of the balance sheet date. Income statement amounts have been translated using the average exchange rate for the year. The gains and losses resulting from changes in exchange rates from year to year have been reported in Accumulated other comprehensive loss in the Consolidated Balance Sheets.

Income Taxes

Income tax expense includes United States, state, local and international income taxes. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the tax consequences of temporary differences between the financial reporting and the tax basis of existing assets and liabilities and for loss carryforwards. The tax rate used to determine the deferred tax assets and liabilities is the enacted tax rate for the year and manner in which the differences are expected to reverse. Valuation allowances are recorded to reduce deferred tax assets to the amount that will more likely than not be realized.

Concentration of Credit Risk

The Company is not dependent on a single customer as its largest customer accounted for less than 2% of net sales for all years presented.

New Accounting Pronouncements

Recently Adopted Accounting Standards

In March 2017, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2017-07, Improving the Presentation of Net Periodic Pension Cost and Net Periodic Postretirement Benefit Cost, which amends the requirements related to the income statement presentation of the components of net periodic benefit cost for a company’s sponsored defined benefit pension and other postretirement plans. Under this ASU, companies are required to disaggregate the current service cost component from the other components of net benefit cost and present it with other current compensation costs for related employees in the income statement and present the other components elsewhere in the income statement and outside of income from operations if such a subtotal is presented. This ASU also requires companies to disclose the income statement lines that contain the other components if they are not presented on appropriately described separate lines. In addition, only the service cost component of periodic net benefit cost is eligible for capitalization. The Company elected to early adopt this standard in the quarter ended March 31, 2017 as presenting the service cost within income from operations is more indicative of our current pension cost. The Company adopted this standard retrospectively and thus $6.6 million was reclassified from Selling, general and administrative expenses to Other (income) expense - net for the twelve months ended December 31, 2016, and $5.3 million was reclassified from Selling, general and administrative expenses to Other (income) expense - net for the twelve months ended December 31, 2015 to conform to current period presentation. The Company elected to apply the practical expedient that permits the use of previously disclosed service cost and other costs from the prior year’s pension and other postretirement benefit plan footnote in the comparative periods as appropriate estimates when retrospectively changing the presentation of these costs in the income statement. The Company included the required disclosures and the changes resulting from the adoption of this standard in Note 15.

In January 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-04, Simplifying the Test for Goodwill Impairment, which eliminates Step 2 from the goodwill impairment test. Under this ASU, if the carrying amount of a reporting unit exceeds its fair value, an impairment loss will be recognized in an amount equal to the excess, limited to the total amount of goodwill allocated to the reporting unit. This ASU also eliminated the requirements for any reporting unit with a zero or negative carrying amount to perform a qualitative assessment and, if it fails that qualitative test, to perform Step 2 of the goodwill impairment test. In addition, companies will be required to disclose the amount of goodwill allocated to each reporting unit with a zero or negative carrying amount of net assets. The Company early adopted this standard on January 1, 2017. The adoption of this standard did not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.

In July 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-11, Simplifying the Measurement of Inventory. Under this guidance, entities utilizing the FIFO or average cost method should measure inventory at the lower of cost or net realizable value, where net realizable value is defined as the estimated selling price in the ordinary course of business, less reasonably predictable costs of completion, disposal and transportation. The Company adopted this guidance on January 1, 2017. The adoption of this standard did not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.

New Accounting Pronouncements

In January 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-01, Clarifying the Definition of a Business, which clarifies the definition of a business and assists entities with evaluating whether transactions should be accounted for as acquisitions or disposals of assets or businesses. Under this guidance, when substantially all of the fair value of gross assets acquired is concentrated in a single asset or group of similar assets, the assets acquired would not represent a business. In addition, in order to be considered a business, an acquisition would have to include at a minimum an input and a substantive process that together significantly contribute to the ability to create an output. The amended guidance also narrows the definition of outputs by more closely aligning it with how outputs are described in FASB guidance for revenue recognition. This guidance is effective for interim and annual periods for the Company on January 1, 2018, with early adoption permitted. The Company does not believe the guidance will have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.

In October 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-16, Intra-Entity Transfers of Assets Other Than Inventory, which amends ASC 740, Income Taxes. This ASU requires that the income tax consequences of an intra-entity asset transfer other than inventory are recognized at the time of the transfer. An entity will continue to recognize the income tax consequences of an intercompany transfer of inventory when the inventory is sold to a third party. The update is effective for financial statements issued for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017. The ASU requires adoption on a modified-retrospective basis through a cumulative adjustment to retained earnings at the beginning of the period of adoption. The Company is currently assessing the impact that adopting this new accounting standard will have on its consolidated financial statements and footnote disclosures.

In August 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-15, Classification of Certain Cash Receipts and Cash Payments (a consensus of the FASB Emerging Issues Task Force). This ASU addresses the following eight specific cash flow issues: Debt prepayment or debt extinguishment costs; settlement of zero-coupon debt instruments or other debt instruments with coupon interest rates that are insignificant in relation to the effective interest rate of the borrowing; contingent consideration payments made after a business combination; proceeds from the settlement of insurance claims; proceeds from the settlement of corporate-owned life insurance policies (including bank-owned life insurance policies); distributions received from equity method investees; beneficial interests in securitization transactions; and separately identifiable cash flows and application of the predominance principle. This standard is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017. The Company does not believe the guidance will have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.

In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02, Leases, which sets out the principles for the recognition, measurement, presentation and disclosure of leases for both parties to a contract (i.e. lessees and lessors). The standard introduces a new lessee model that will require most leases to be recorded on the balance sheet and eliminates the required use of bright line tests in current U.S. GAAP for determining lease classification. The new standard requires lessors to account for leases using an approach that is substantially equivalent to existing guidance for sales-type leases, direct financing leases and operating leases. This standard is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018 and interim periods within those fiscal years. Companies are permitted to adopt the standard early and a modified retrospective application is permitted. The new guidance requires adoption on a retrospective basis unless it is impracticable to apply, in which case the company would be required to apply the amendments prospectively as of the earliest date practicable. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of adopting the new guidance on our consolidated financial statements.

In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, which will replace numerous requirements in U.S. GAAP, including industry-specific requirements, and provide companies with a new five-step model for recognizing revenue from contracts with customers. Under ASU 2014-09, an entity should recognize revenue to depict the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. This ASU also requires disclosures sufficient to enable users to understand the nature, amount, timing, and uncertainty of revenue and cash flows arising from contracts with customers, including qualitative and quantitative disclosures about contracts with customers, significant judgments and changes in judgments, and assets recognized from the costs to obtain or fulfill a contract. This standard is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017, using either of the following transition methods: (i) a full retrospective approach reflecting the application of the standard in each prior reporting period with the option to elect certain practical expedients, or (ii) a retrospective approach with the cumulative effect of initially adopting ASU 2014-09 recognized at the date of adoption. The FASB has also issued the following standards which clarify ASU 2014-09 and have the same effective date as the original standard: ASU 2016-08, Revenue from Contracts with Customers: Principal versus Agent Considerations (Reporting Revenue Gross versus Net); ASU 2016-10, Revenue from Contracts with Customers: Identifying Performance Obligations and Licensing; ASU 2016-12, Revenue from Contracts with Customers: Narrow-Scope Improvements and Practical Expedients; and ASU 2016-20, Technical Corrections and Improvements to Topic 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers.

In 2016, we established an implementation team and analyzed the impact of the standard by surveying business units and reviewing contracts to identify potential differences that may result from applying the requirements of the new standard. We have completed our contract reviews. The contract reviews generally supported the recognition of revenue at a point in time, which is consistent with the current revenue recognition model used by most of our business units. As a result, we expect revenue recognition to remain substantially unchanged under the new standard. For our business units that currently recognize revenue under a percentage of completion model, we also expect revenue recognition to remain substantially unchanged as the contract reviews supported the recognition of revenue over time. The implementation team has reported these findings to the Audit Committee. The Company has implemented the appropriate changes to its processes, systems and controls to comply with the new guidance and is currently evaluating new disclosure requirements. The Company expects to adopt the standard in 2018 using the modified retrospective method and does not expect the adoption to have an impact on our consolidated financial statements.