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Significant Accounting Policies
9 Months Ended
Sep. 29, 2020
Significant Accounting Policies  
Significant Accounting Policies

1.  Significant Accounting Policies

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated and its wholly owned subsidiaries (referred to herein collectively as the “Company,” “we,” “us” and “our”) and are prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”). All intercompany accounts and transactions for the periods presented have been eliminated in consolidation. The unaudited financial statements presented herein include all material adjustments (consisting of normal recurring adjustments) which are, in the opinion of management, necessary for the fair statement of the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows for the period. However, these results are not necessarily indicative of results that may be achieved for any other interim period or for the full fiscal year. Certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP have been omitted pursuant to the rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019 filed with the SEC on March 12, 2020, as amended on June 22, 2020 (“fiscal 2019 10-K”).

On October 2, 2019, we completed the acquisition of North Italia and the remaining business of Fox Restaurant Concepts LLC (“FRC”), including Flower Child and all other FRC brands (the "Acquisitions"). The results of operations, financial position and cash flows of the acquired businesses are included in our consolidated financial statements as of the acquisition date.

We utilize a 52/53-week fiscal year ending on the Tuesday closest to December 31 for financial reporting purposes. Fiscal 2020 consists of 52 weeks and will end on December 29, 2020. Fiscal 2019, which ended on December 31, 2019, was also a 52-week year.

Beginning with our fiscal 2019 10-K, we separately disclosed our acquisition-related costs on the consolidated statement of income. Corresponding balances for the thirteen and thirty-nine weeks ended October 1, 2019 were reclassified to conform to the current presentation.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires us to make estimates and assumptions for the reporting periods covered by the financial statements. These estimates and assumptions affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses, and the disclosure of contingent liabilities. Actual results could differ from these estimates.

COVID-19 Pandemic

The Company is subject to risks and uncertainties as a result of the outbreak of, and local, state and federal governmental responses to, the COVID-19 pandemic which was declared a National Public Health Emergency on March 13, 2020. We have experienced significant disruptions to our business due to suggested and mandated social distancing and shelter-in-place orders, which resulted in the temporary closure of a number of restaurants across our portfolio while the remaining locations shifted to an off-premise only operating model on an interim basis. In late April 2020, certain jurisdictions began allowing the reopening of restaurant dining rooms, and we began to reopen dining rooms across our concepts the second week of May. However, restrictions on the type of

operating model and occupancy capacity continue to change. The following table presents the number of restaurants and their operating model as of October 29, 2020:

    

The Cheesecake 

    

    

    

    

Factory

North Italia

Other FRC

Other

Total

Indoor dining with limited capacity

187

(1)

21

24

36

268

Outdoor only with social distancing

17

2

1

20

Off-premise only

1

1

2

Currently closed

 

 

 

1

 

4

 

5

Total

 

205

 

23

 

25

 

42

 

295

(1)On average, The Cheesecake Factory restaurants with reopened dining rooms were operating at 50% capacity.

In our initial response to the pandemic, the Company and its Board of Directors (the "Board") implemented the following measures to preserve liquidity and enhance financial flexibility:

Eliminated non-essential capital expenditures and expenses;
Suspended new unit development;
Reduced Board, executive and corporate support staff compensation;
Furloughed approximately 41,000 hourly staff members;
Engaged in discussions with our landlords regarding ongoing rent obligations, including the potential deferral, abatement and/or restructuring of rent otherwise payable during the period of the COVID-19 pandemic related closure;
Increased borrowings under our revolving credit facility;
Raised additional equity capital; and
Suspended the dividend on our common stock and share repurchases.

During the third quarter of fiscal 2020, we called back to work a majority of our staff members who were previously furloughed, and restored Board, executive and corporate support staff compensation. In addition, we resumed new unit development on a limited basis and will continue to evaluate the pace and quantity of new unit development as more clarity on the restaurant industry operating environment emerges.

We cannot predict how long the COVID-19 pandemic will last or whether it will reoccur, what additional restrictions may be enacted, to what extent we can maintain off-premise sales volumes or if individuals will be comfortable returning to our dining rooms during or following social distancing protocols and what long-lasting effects the COVID-19 pandemic may have on the full-service segment of the restaurant industry. The extent of the reopening process, along with the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on economic conditions and consumer spending behavior, will determine the significance of the impact to our operating results and financial position.

In the first quarter of fiscal 2020, these considerable developments triggered the need to perform impairment assessments of our long-lived assets, goodwill and other intangible assets and a revaluation of contingent consideration associated with the Acquisitions. No additional impairment assessments were required in the second or third quarters of fiscal 2020. Future changes in estimates could further impact the carrying value of these items. (See Notes 3 and 4 for further discussion of impairment of long-lived and intangible assets, respectively. See Note 9 for further discussion of the revaluation of contingent consideration.)

See “Risk Factors” included in Part II, Item 1A for further discussion of risks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Derivative Financial Instruments

We recognize derivative financial instruments on the balance sheet at fair value under a Level 2 categorization. Our only derivative is an interest rate swap which is designated as a cash flow hedge. Therefore, the effective portion of the changes in fair value are recognized in accumulated other comprehensive income when the hedged item is recognized in earnings, and the ineffective portion of changes in the fair value are immediately recognized in earnings as interest expense. We classify cash inflows and outflows from derivatives within operating activities on the consolidated statements of cash flows. See Note 8 for further discussion of this interest rate swap.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

In August 2018, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") issued ASU 2018-13, Fair Value Measurement (Topic 820): Disclosure Framework - Changes to the Disclosure Requirements for Fair Value Measurement. The update eliminates, adds and modifies certain disclosure requirements for fair value measurements. We adopted this standard as of the beginning of fiscal 2020 and such adoption did not have a significant impact on our consolidated financial statements.

In August 2020, the FASB issued ASU 2020-06, Accounting for Convertible Instruments and Contracts in an Entity's Own Equity, which is intended to simplify the accounting and measurement of convertible instruments and the settlement assessment for contracts in an entity's own equity. This pronouncement is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2021 and early adoption is permitted. The guidance allows for either full retrospective adoption or modified retrospective adoption. We plan to adopt this pronouncement for our fiscal year beginning December 30, 2020 utilizing the modified retrospective method. Depending on the future value of our stock price, the adoption of this standard could have a material impact on our additional paid-in capital and retained earnings balances due to the elimination of the beneficial conversion feature provision.