Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2013

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies [Text Block]

Note 2 – Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Use of estimates

The preparation of the Company’s consolidated financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, as well as the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Management bases its estimates and judgments on historical experience and various other factors that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

Significant estimates include the assessment of collectability of revenue recognized, and the valuation of amounts receivable, inventory, investments, deferred income tax assets, goodwill and intangible assets, liabilities, and stock-based compensation. These estimates have the potential to significantly impact our consolidated financial statements, either because of the significance of the financial statement item to which they relate, or because they require judgment and estimation due to the uncertainty involved in measuring, at a specific point in time, events that are continuous in nature.

The critical accounting policies used in the preparation of our audited consolidated financial statements are discussed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012. There have been no changes to these policies in the first nine months of 2013.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

In February 2013, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update 2013 - 02, Other Comprehensive Income (Topic 220) (“ASU 2013 - 02 ”). ASU 2013 - 02 requires entities to disclose additional information about items reclassified out of accumulated other comprehensive income (“AOCI”). Specifically, entities must report 1) changes in AOCI balances by component, including the income tax benefit or expense attributed to each component, and 2) significant items reclassified out of AOCI by component, either on the face of the income statement or as a separate footnote to the financial statements. ASU 2013 - 02 does not change the current GAAP requirement for a total for comprehensive income to be reported in condensed interim financial statements in either a single continuous statement or two separate but consecutive statements. ASU 2013 - 02 is effective for interim periods and fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2012, with early adoption permitted. The Company adopted ASU 2013 - 02 in the first quarter of 2013. As the Company’s AOCI is immaterial, and consists solely of cumulative foreign currency translation adjustments of a subsidiary, its adoption did not have a significant impact on the Company’s condensed consolidated interim financial statements.

Future Accounting Pronouncements

In March 2013, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update 2013 - 05, Foreign Currency Matters (Topic 83) (“ASU 2013 - 05 ”). ASU 2013 - 05 specifies that a cumulative translation adjustment (CTA) is attached to a parent company’s investment in a foreign entity and should be released in a manner consistent with derecognition guidance on investments in entities. Therefore, the entire amount of the CTA associated with a foreign entity would be released upon 1) sale of a subsidiary or group of net assets within a foreign entity, which represents the substantially complete liquidation of the investment in the entity, 2) loss of a controlling financial interest in an investment in a foreign entity, or 3) step acquisition of a foreign entity. ASU 2013 - 05 does not change the requirement to release a pro rata portion of the CTA of the foreign entity into earnings for a partial sale of an equity method investment in a foreign entity. ASU 2013 - 05 is effective for interim periods and fiscal years beginning on or after December 15, 2013, with early adoption permitted. The Company does not expect that the adoption of ASU 2013 - 05 will have a significant impact on its consolidated financial statements.

In July 2013, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update 2013 - 11, Presentation of an Unrecognized Tax Benefit When a Net Operating Loss Carryforward, a Similar Tax Loss, or Tax Credit Carryforward Exists (“ASU 2013 - 11 ”). ASU 2013 - 11 requires that an unrecognized tax benefit must be presented as a reduction to a deferred tax asset for a net operating loss carryforward, a similar tax loss, or a tax credit carryforward. An exception to this presentation can be made when the carryforward or tax loss is not available at the reporting date under applicable tax law to settle taxes that would result from the disallowance of the tax position, or when the reporting entity does not intend to use the deferred tax asset for this purpose. In those circumstances, the unrecognized tax benefit would be presented as a liability. ASU 2013 - 11 does not require any additional disclosures. The ASU is effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2013, and interim periods within those years. Early adoption is permitted. The Company has not yet assessed the impact of ASU 2013 - 11 on its consolidated financial statements.