Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Basis of Presentation

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Basis of Presentation
3 Months Ended
Dec. 30, 2017
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]  
Basis of Presentation
Basis of Presentation
The condensed consolidated balance sheets of Central Garden & Pet Company and subsidiaries (the “Company” or “Central”) as of December 30, 2017 and December 24, 2016, the condensed consolidated statements of operations, the condensed consolidated statements of cash flows and the condensed consolidated statements of comprehensive income for the three months ended December 30, 2017 and December 24, 2016, have been prepared by the Company, without audit. In the opinion of management, the interim financial statements include all normal recurring adjustments necessary for a fair statement of the results for the interim periods presented.
For the Company’s foreign business in the UK, the local currency is the functional currency. Assets and liabilities are translated using the exchange rate in effect at the balance sheet date. Income and expenses are translated at the average exchange rate for the period. Deferred taxes are not provided on translation gains and losses because the Company expects earnings of its foreign subsidiary to be permanently reinvested. Transaction gains and losses are included in results of operations. See Note 8, Supplemental Equity Information, for further detail.
Due to the seasonal nature of the Company’s garden business, the results of operations for the three months ended December 30, 2017 are not indicative of the operating results that may be expected for the entire fiscal year. These interim financial statements should be read in conjunction with the annual audited financial statements, accounting policies and financial notes thereto, included in the Company’s 2017 Annual Report on Form 10-K, which has previously been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The September 30, 2017 balance sheet presented herein was derived from the audited financial statements.
Noncontrolling Interest
Noncontrolling interest in the Company’s condensed consolidated financial statements represents the 20% interest not owned by Central in a consolidated subsidiary. Since the Company controls this subsidiary, its financial statements are consolidated with those of the Company, and the noncontrolling owner’s 20% share of the subsidiary’s net assets and results of operations is deducted and reported as noncontrolling interest on the consolidated balance sheets and as net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interest in the consolidated statements of operations. See Note 8, Supplemental Equity Information, for additional information.
Restricted Cash
Restricted cash includes cash and highly liquid instruments that are used as collateral for stand-alone letter of credit agreements related to normal business transactions. These agreements require the Company to maintain specified amounts of cash as collateral in segregated accounts to support the letters of credit issued thereunder, which will affect the amount of cash the Company has available for other uses. The amount of cash collateral in these segregated accounts was approximately $12.4 million, $11.0 million and $12.6 million as of December 30, 2017, December 24, 2016 and September 30, 2017, respectively, and is reflected in Restricted cash on the condensed consolidated balance sheets.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements and U.S. Tax Reform
Accounting Pronouncements Recently Adopted
Stock Based Compensation

In March 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2016-09, Stock Compensation, which is intended to simplify several aspects of the accounting for share-based payment award transactions. ASU 2016-09 (i) requires all income tax effects of awards to be recognized in the income statement when the awards vest or are settled, (ii) requires classification of excess tax benefits as an operating activity in the statement of cash flows rather than a financing activity, (iii) eliminates the requirement to defer recognition of an excess tax benefit until the benefit is realized through a reduction to taxes payable, (iv) modifies statutory withholding tax requirements and (v) provides for a policy election to account for forfeitures as they occur. The Company adopted ASU 2016-09 on October 1, 2017. As a result of the adoption of ASU 2016-09, the Company now records excess tax benefits currently in its provision for income taxes. Upon adoption, the Company determined it had no previously unrecognized excess tax benefits. Additionally, the Company elected to account for forfeitures as they occur using a modified retrospective transition method, which requires the Company to record a cumulative-effect adjustment to accumulated earnings, and the Company determined that the cumulative impact was immaterial. The Company presents its excess tax benefits as a component of operating cash flows rather than financing cash flows on a prospective basis.
Inventory Measurement
In July 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-11 (ASU 2015-11), Simplifying the Measurement of Inventory. Under ASU 2015-11, inventory will be measured at the “lower of cost and net realizable value” and options that currently exist for “market value” will be eliminated. The standard defines net realizable value as the “estimated selling prices in the ordinary course of business, less reasonably predictable costs of completion, disposal, and transportation.” No other changes were made to the current guidance on inventory measurement. The Company adopted ASU 2015-11 on October 1, 2017. The adoption of ASU 2015-11 did not have a material impact on the Company's consolidated financial statements.
Accounting Standards Not Yet Adopted
Revenue Recognition
In May 2014, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2014-09 (ASU 2014-09), Revenue from Contracts with Customers. This update was issued as Accounting Standards Codification Topic 606. The core principle of this amendment is that 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. On July 9, 2015, the FASB deferred the effective date of ASU 2014-09 for one year. ASU 2014-09 is now effective for the Company in the first quarter of its fiscal year ending September 28, 2019.

Early adoption is permitted. The guidance permits two implementation approaches, one requiring retrospective application of the new standard with restatement of prior years and one requiring prospective application of the new standard with disclosure of results under old standards. The Company is still in the early stages of assessing the adoption method and analyzing the impact of the adoption of this update on its consolidated financial statements. As part of its assessment work to-date, the Company has formed an implementation work team and conducted training sessions on the new ASU’s revenue recognition model and begun the process of scoping of revenue streams under the new ASU. Additionally, the Company is also analyzing the impact of the new standard on its current accounting policies and internal controls. Upon completion of these and other assessments, the Company will evaluate the impact of adopting the new standard on its consolidated financial statements.
Leases
In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02 (ASU 2016-02), Leases (Topic 842). ASU 2016-02 requires companies to generally recognize on the balance sheet operating and financing lease liabilities and corresponding right-of-use assets. ASU 2016-02 is effective for the Company in its first quarter of fiscal 2020 on a modified retrospective basis and earlier adoption is permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of its pending adoption of ASU 2016-02 on its consolidated financial statements, and it currently expects that most of its operating lease commitments will be subject to the new standard and the Company will record material operating lease liabilities and right-of-use assets upon the adoption of ASU 2016-02.
Statement of Cash Flows
In August 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-15, Statement of Cash Flows (Topic 230): Classification of Certain Cash Receipts and Cash Payments (ASU 2016-15) . The ASU provides additional clarification guidance on the classification of certain cash receipts and payments in the statement of cash flows. The new guidance is effective for fiscal years and interim periods within those years beginning after December 15, 2017 with early adoption permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact the adoption of ASU 2016-15 will have on its consolidated financial statements.
In November 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-18, Statement of Cash Flows (Topic 230): Restricted Cash (a consensus of the FASB Emerging Issues Task Force) (ASU 2016-18). This ASU clarifies the presentation of restricted cash on the statement of cash flows. Amounts generally described as restricted cash and restricted cash equivalents should be included with cash and cash equivalents when reconciling the beginning and ending cash balances on the statement of cash flows. ASU 2016-18 is effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017, or the Company's first quarter of fiscal 2019, with early adoption permitted. The Company held restricted cash balances of $12.4 million, $11.0 million and $12.6 million as of December 30, 2017, December 24, 2016 and September 30, 2017, respectively. The Company does not anticipate the adoption of ASU 2016-18 will have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements and related disclosures.
Business Combinations

In January 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-01, Clarifying the Definition of a Business (ASU 2017-01), which requires an evaluation of whether substantially all of the fair value of assets acquired is concentrated in a single identifiable asset or a group of similar identifiable assets. If so, the transaction does not qualify as a business. The guidance also requires an acquired business to include at least one substantive process and narrows the definition of outputs. The Company is required to apply this guidance to annual periods beginning after December 15, 2017, including interim periods within those periods, or the Company's first quarter of fiscal 2019. The adoption of this ASC may have an impact on accounting for any future acquisitions the Company may have.

    Goodwill

In January 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-04, Intangibles - Goodwill and Other: Simplifying the Test for Goodwill Impairment. The new guidance simplifies the subsequent measurement of goodwill by removing the second step of the two-step impairment test. The amendment requires an entity to perform its annual or interim goodwill impairment test by comparing the fair value of a reporting unit with its carrying amount. An entity still has the option to perform the qualitative assessment for a reporting unit to determine if the quantitative impairment test is necessary. The new guidance is effective for annual periods or any interim goodwill impairment tests in fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019, or the Company's first quarter of fiscal 2021. The amendment should be applied on a prospective basis. Based on the Company's most recent annual goodwill impairment test performed as of June 25, 2017, there were no reporting units for which the carrying amount of the reporting unit exceeded its fair value; therefore, this ASU would not currently have an impact on the Company's consolidated financial statements and related disclosures. However, if upon adoption the carrying amount of a reporting unit exceeds its fair value, the Company would be impacted by the amount of impairment recognized.

Income Taxes

On December 22, 2017, the U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “Tax Reform Act”) was signed into law by the U.S. government. The Tax Reform Act significantly revised the U.S. corporate income tax code by, among other things, lowering the U.S. federal corporate tax rate from 35% to 21% effective January 1, 2018. U.S. GAAP requires that the impact of tax legislation be recognized in the period in which the law was enacted.
The Securities and Exchange Commission issued Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 118 (“SAB 118”) on December 22, 2017.  This guidance allows registrants a “measurement period,” not to exceed one year from the date of enactment, to complete their accounting for the tax effects of the Act.  SAB 118 further directs that during the measurement period, registrants who are able to make reasonable estimates of the tax effects of the Act should include those amounts in their financial statements as “provisional” amounts.  Registrants should reflect adjustments over subsequent periods as they are able to refine their estimates and complete their accounting for the tax effects of the Act.  We have made reasonable estimates and recorded provisional amounts within the meaning of SAB 118.  Any adjustments recorded to the provisional amounts through the first quarter of fiscal 2019 will be included as an adjustment to tax expense. The provisional amounts incorporate assumptions made based upon the Company’s current interpretation of the Tax Reform Act and may change as the Company receives additional clarification and implementation guidance.

As a result of the Tax Reform Act, the Company recorded a provisional tax benefit of $16.3 million due to the remeasurement of its deferred tax assets and liabilities in the three months ended December 30, 2017. This tax benefit represents provisional amounts and the Company’s current best estimates.