Significant Accounting Policies (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

The following table reconciles the Net income attributable to Laureate Education, Inc. as presented in the table above, to the amounts in our Consolidated Statements of Operations:



For the years ended December 31,	2019		2018			2017
Net income (loss) attributable to Laureate Education, Inc.:
Variable interest entities	$	55,212	$	33,199		$	13,035
Other operations including discontinued operations	840,755		503,149			513,205
Corporate and eliminations	42,517		(166,281		)	(434,775		)
Net income attributable to Laureate Education, Inc.	$	938,484	$	370,067		$	91,465

The following table presents selected assets and liabilities of the consolidated VIEs. Except for Goodwill, the assets in the table below include the assets that can be used only to settle the obligations for the VIEs. The liabilities in the table are liabilities for which the creditors of the VIEs do not have recourse to the general credit of Laureate.



	December 31, 2019				December 31, 2018
	VIE		Consolidated		VIE		Consolidated
Balance Sheets data:
Cash and cash equivalents	$	157,003	$	339,629	$	158,387	$	387,780
Current assets held for sale	16,050		83,800		183,880		337,686
Other current assets	173,072		519,498		141,346		491,667
Total current assets	346,125		942,927		483,613		1,217,133

Goodwill	159,957		1,701,495		168,473		1,707,089
Tradenames	61,691		1,119,454		66,929		1,126,244
Other intangible assets, net	—		1,431		—		25,429
Operating lease right-of-use assets, net	65,761		861,878		—		—
Long-term assets held for sale	52,519		305,973		165,087		1,035,197
Other long-term assets	262,579		1,582,470		312,711		1,658,544
Total assets	948,632		6,515,628		1,196,813		6,769,636

Current liabilities held for sale	11,741		64,204		101,320		321,520
Other current liabilities	130,602		1,006,600		106,657		868,567
Long-term operating leases, less current portion	56,571		792,358		—		—
Long-term liabilities held for sale	29,666		124,914		42,265		358,863
Long-term debt and other long-term liabilities	28,619		1,711,106		24,502		3,155,344
Total liabilities	257,199		3,699,182		274,744		4,704,294

Total stockholders' equity	691,433		2,804,151		922,069		2,050,946
Total stockholders' equity attributable to Laureate Education, Inc.	691,433		2,816,963		921,747		2,061,079

The VIEs in Brazil and Mexico include several not-for-profit foundations that had insignificant revenues and operating expenses. Selected Consolidated Statements of Operations information for VIEs that are included in continuing operations was as follows, net of the charges related to the above-described contractual arrangements:



For the years ended December 31,	2019			2018			2017
Selected Statements of Operations information:
Revenues, by segment:
Brazil	$	—		$	—		$	104
Mexico	57			94			—
Andean	435,648			441,294			418,019
Revenues	435,705			441,388			418,123

Depreciation and amortization	25,584			25,489			26,899

Operating income (loss), by segment:
Brazil	20			(71		)	(1		)
Mexico	(333		)	(489		)	(876		)
Andean	50,816			9,692			(4,858		)
Operating income (loss)	50,503			9,132			(5,735		)

Net income attributable to Laureate Education, Inc.	55,212			33,199			13,035

Schedule of Balances of The Allowance For Doubtful Accounts

The reconciliations of the beginning and ending balances of the Allowance for doubtful accounts were as follows:



For the years ended December 31,	2019			2018			2017
Balance at beginning of period	$	163,670		$	178,392		$	165,713
Additions: charges to bad debt expense	94,290			102,877			109,342
Additions: charges to other accounts ^(a)	9,510			—			—
Deductions ^(b)	(73,312		)	(117,599		)	(96,663		)
Balance at end of period	$	194,158		$	163,670		$	178,392

^(a) Charges to other accounts includes reclassifications.

^(b) Deductions includes accounts receivable written off against the allowance (net of recoveries), reclassifications, and foreign currency translation. The beginning and ending balances of the Allowance for doubtful accounts include the current portion, as shown on the face of Consolidated Balance Sheets, in addition to the noncurrent portion that is included in Notes receivable, net on the Consolidated Balance Sheets.

Laureate’s financing receivables balances were as follows:



	December 31, 2019			December 31, 2018
Financing receivables	$	28,856		$	16,531
Allowance for doubtful accounts	(5,909		)	(6,395		)
Financing receivables, net of allowances	$	22,947		$	10,136

Schedule of Depreciation And Amortization Periods

Depreciation and amortization periods are as follows:



Buildings	10-50 years
Furniture, equipment and software	2-10 years
Leasehold improvements	2-25 years

- Definition

Tabular disclosure of the significant judgments and assumptions made in determining whether a variable interest (as defined) held by the entity requires the variable interest entity (VIE) (as defined) to be consolidated and (or) disclose information about its involvement with the VIE, individually or in aggregate (as applicable); the nature of restrictions, if any, on the consolidated VIE's assets and on the settlement of its liabilities reported by an entity in its statement of financial position, including the carrying amounts of such assets and liabilities; the nature of, and changes in, the risks associated with involvement in the VIE; how involvement with the VIE affects the entity's financial position, financial performance, and cash flows; the lack of recourse if creditors (or beneficial interest holders) of the consolidated VIE have no recourse to the general credit of the primary beneficiary (if applicable); the terms of arrangements, giving consideration to both explicit arrangements and implicit variable interests, if any, that could require the entity to provide financial support to the VIE, including events or circumstances that could expose the entity to a loss; the methodology used by the entity for determining whether or not it is the primary beneficiary of the variable interest entity; the significant factors considered and judgments made in determining that the power to direct the activities of a VIE that most significantly impact the VIE's economic performance are shared (as defined); the carrying amounts and classification of assets and liabilities of the VIE included in the statement of financial position; the entity's maximum exposure to loss, if any, as a result of its involvement with the VIE, including how the maximum exposure is determined and significant sources of the entity's exposure to the VIE; a comparison of the carrying amounts of the assets and liabilities and the entity's maximum exposure to loss; information about any liquidity arrangements, guarantees, and (or) other commitments by third parties that may affect the fair value or risk of the entity's variable interest in the VIE; whether or not the entity has provided financial support or other support (explicitly or implicitly) to the VIE that it was not previously contractually required to provide or whether the entity intends to provide that support, including the type and amount of the support and the primary reasons for providing the support; and supplemental information the entity determines necessary to provide.

+ References + Details