Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2018

In November 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-18, Statement of Cash Flows (Topic 230): Restricted Cash (a consensus of the FASB Emerging Issues Task Force). The amendments in this Update require that a statement of cash flows explain the change during the period in the total of cash, cash equivalents, and amounts generally described as restricted cash or restricted cash equivalents. Accordingly, restricted cash will be included with cash and cash equivalents when reconciling the beginning-of-period and end-of-period total amounts shown on the Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows. The Company adopted ASU 2016-18 beginning on January 1, 2018 and adopted the standard using a retrospective approach.

The following table provides a reconciliation of cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash reported within the Consolidated Balance Sheet that sum to the total of the same such amounts shown in the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows:



	September 30, 2018		September 30, 2017
Cash and cash equivalents	$	4,198	$	6,130
Restricted cash included in current assets	6,520		1,020
Restricted cash included in long-term assets	—		5,000
Total cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash shown in the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows	$	10,718	$	12,150

Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements

ASU 2016-02 "Leases (Topic 842)"

In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842). The amendments in this Update increase transparency and comparability among organizations by recognizing lease assets and lease liabilities on the balance sheet and disclosing key information about leasing arrangements. The liability recorded for a lease is meant to recognize the lease payments and the asset as a right to use the underlying asset for the lease, including optional periods if it reasonably certain the option will be exercised. Recording of the liability should be based on the present value of the lease payments. If a lease term is less than twelve months, a company is allowed to elect not to record the asset and liability. Expense related to these leases are to be amortized on a straight-line basis over the expected term of the lease. Additionally, the provisions of Topic 842 provide additional guidance on separating lease terms from maintenance and other type of provisions that provide a good or service, accounting for sale-leaseback provisions, and leveraged leases. Reporting in the cash flow statement remains virtually unchanged. Additional qualitative and quantitative disclosures are required.

In July 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-11 "Leases (Topic 842) Targeted Improvements." This amendment allows companies to elect to record a cumulative effect adjustment to beginning retained earnings on the date of adoption. We expect to elect the provisions of ASU 2018-11 as of the date of adoption on January 1, 2019.

ASU 2016-02 will be effective for the Company beginning on January 1, 2019. The Company is in the initial stages of evaluating the impact of the new standard on the accounting policies, processes, and system requirements. We have begun the process of reviewing existing agreements and are evaluating the impact of this ASU on our financial statements. We expect certain operating leases to be recognized as assets and liabilities as a result of adopting the standard. The Company continues to assess the potential impacts of the new standard and anticipates this standard will have a material impact on the consolidated financial statements. The Company cannot reasonably estimate quantitative information related to the impact of the new standard on the financial statements at this time.

ASU 2017-04 "Intangibles - Goodwill and Other (Topic 350)"

In January 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-04, Intangibles-Goodwill and Other (Topic 350): Simplifying the Test for Goodwill Impairment. This ASU is meant to simplify how an entity is required to test goodwill for impairment by eliminating Step 2 from the goodwill impairment test. Step 2 measures a goodwill impairment loss by comparing the implied fair value of a reporting unit’s goodwill with the carrying amount of that goodwill. ASU 2017-04 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019, with early adoption permitted for interim or annual goodwill impairment tests performed on testing dates after January 1, 2017. The Company expects to early adopt ASU 2017-04 on October 1, 2018 for the annual goodwill impairment test completed during the fourth quarter which will simplify the test by comparing the implied fair value of the reporting unit's goodwill with the carrying amount of goodwill and eliminating Step 2. The Company does not expect this guidance to have a material impact on our financial statements.

Revenue Recognition

The Company recognizes revenue when control of the promised goods or services is transferred to our customers, in amount that reflects the consideration we expect to be entitled to in exchange for those goods or services. Fuel Tech’s sales of products to customers represent single performance obligations, which are not impacted upon the adoption of ASC 606. The majority of our contracts have a single performance obligation as the promise to transfer the individual goods or services is not separately identifiable from other promises in the contracts and, therefore, not distinct. Revenue is measured as the amount of consideration we expect to receive in exchange for transferring goods or providing services. Sales, value add, and other taxes we collect concurrent with revenue-producing activities are excluded from revenue.

FUEL CHEM

Revenues from the sale of chemical products are recognized when control transfers to customer upon shipment or delivery of the product based on the applicable shipping terms. We generally recognize revenue for these arrangements at a point in time based on our evaluation of when the customer obtains control of the promised goods or services.

Air Pollution Control Technology

Fuel Tech’s APC contracts are typically six to eighteen months in length. A typical contract will have three or four critical operational measurements that, when achieved, serve as the basis for us to invoice the customer via progress billings. At a minimum, these measurements will include the generation of engineering drawings, the shipment of equipment and the completion of a system performance test.

As part of most of its contractual APC project agreements, Fuel Tech will agree to customer-specific acceptance criteria that relate to the operational performance of the system that is being sold. These criteria are determined based on modeling that is performed by Fuel Tech personnel, which is based on operational inputs that are provided by the customer. The customer will warrant that these operational inputs are accurate as they are specified in the binding contractual agreement. Further, the customer is solely responsible for the accuracy of the operating condition information; typically all performance guarantees and equipment warranties granted by us are voidable if the operating condition information is inaccurate or is not met.

Since control transfers over time, revenue is recognized based on the extent of progress towards completion of the single performance obligation. Fuel Tech uses the cost-to-cost input measure of progress for our contracts since it best depicts the transfer of assets to the customer which occurs as we incur costs on our contracts. Under the cost-to-cost input measure of progress, the extent of progress towards completion is measured based on the ratio of costs incurred to date to the total estimated costs at completion of the performance obligation. Revenues are recorded proportionally as costs are incurred. Costs to fulfill include all internal and external engineering costs, equipment charges, inbound and outbound freight expenses, internal and site transfer costs, installation charges, purchasing and receiving costs, inspection costs, warehousing costs, project personnel travel expenses and other direct and indirect expenses specifically identified as project- or product-line related, as appropriate (e.g. test equipment depreciation and certain insurance expenses).

Fuel Tech has installed over 1,000 units with APC technology and normally provides performance guarantees to our customers based on the operating conditions for the project. As part of the project implementation process, we perform system start-up and optimization services that effectively serve as a test of actual project performance. We believe that this test, combined with the accuracy of the modeling that is performed, enables revenue to be recognized prior to the receipt of formal customer acceptance.