IBM 2013 Annual Report Download - page 89

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
International Business Machines Corporation and Subsidiary Companies
88
Shipping and Handling
Costs related to shipping and handling are recognized as incurred
and included in cost in the Consolidated Statement of Earnings.
Expense and Other Income
Selling, General and Administrative
Selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expense is charged to
income as incurred. Expenses of promoting and selling products
and services are classified as selling expense and include such
items as compensation, advertising, sales commissions and travel.
General and administrative expense includes such items as com-
pensation, legal costs, office supplies, non-income taxes, insurance
and office rental. In addition, general and administrative expense
includes other operating items such as an allowance for credit losses,
workforce rebalancing accruals for contractually obligated payments
to employees terminated in the ongoing course of business, acquisi-
tion costs related to business combinations, amortization of certain
intangible assets and environmental remediation costs.
Advertising and Promotional Expense
The company expenses advertising and promotional costs as
incurred. Cooperative advertising reimbursements from vendors are
recorded net of advertising and promotional expense in the period
in which the related advertising and promotional expense is incurred.
Advertising and promotional expense, which includes media, agency
and promotional expense, was $1,294 million, $1,339 million and
$1,373 million in 2013, 2012 and 2011, respectively, and is recorded
in SG&A expense in the Consolidated Statement of Earnings.
Research, Development and Engineering
Research, development and engineering (RD&E) costs are expensed
as incurred. Software costs that are incurred to produce the finished
product after technological feasibility has been established are
capitalized as an intangible asset. See “Software Costs” on page 87.
Intellectual Property and Custom Development Income
The company licenses and sells the rights to certain of its intellectual
property (IP) including internally developed patents, trade secrets
and technological know-how. Certain IP transactions to third parties
are licensing/royalty-based and others are transaction-based sales
and other transfers. Licensing/royalty-based fees involve transfers
in which the company earns the income over time, or the amount
of income is not fixed or determinable until the licensee sells
future related products (i.e., variable royalty, based upon licensee’s
revenue). Sales and other transfers typically include transfers of
IP whereby the company has fulfilled its obligations and the fee
received is fixed or determinable at the transfer date. The company
also enters into cross-licensing arrangements of patents, and
income from these arrangements is recorded when earned. In addi-
tion, the company earns income from certain custom development
projects for strategic technology partners and specific clients. The
company records the income from these projects when the fee is
realized and earned, is not refundable and is not dependent upon
the success of the project.
Other (Income) and Expense
Other (income) and expense includes interest income (other than
from Global Financing external business transactions), gains and
losses on certain derivative instruments, gains and losses from
securities and other investments, gains and losses from certain real
estate transactions, foreign currency transaction gains and losses,
gains and losses from the sale of businesses and amounts related
to accretion of asset retirement obligations.
Business Combinations and
Intangible Assets Including Goodwill
The company accounts for business combinations using the acqui-
sition method and accordingly, the identifiable assets acquired, the
liabilities assumed, and any noncontrolling interest in the acquiree
are recorded at their acquisition date fair values. Goodwill represents
the excess of the purchase price over the fair value of net assets,
including the amount assigned to identifiable intangible assets. The
primary drivers that generate goodwill are the value of synergies
between the acquired entities and the company and the acquired
assembled workforce, neither of which qualifies as an identifiable
intangible asset. Goodwill recorded in an acquisition is assigned to
applicable reporting units based on expected revenues. Identifiable
intangible assets with finite lives are amortized over their useful lives.
Amortization of completed technology is recorded in Cost, and amor-
tization of all other intangible assets is recorded in SG&A expense.
Acquisition-related costs, including advisory, legal, accounting,
valuation and other costs, are expensed in the periods in which the
costs are incurred. The results of operations of acquired businesses
are included in the Consolidated Financial Statements from the
acquisition date.
Impairment
Long-lived assets, other than goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible
assets, are tested for impairment whenever events or changes in
circumstances indicate that the carrying amount may not be recover-
able. The impairment test is based on undiscounted cash flows and,
if impaired, the asset is written down to fair value based on either
discounted cash flows or appraised values. Goodwill and indefinite-
lived intangible assets are tested annually, in the fourth quarter, for
impairment and whenever changes in circumstances indicate an
impairment may exist. Goodwill is tested at the reporting unit level
which is the operating segment, or a business, which is one level
below that operating segment (the “component” level) if discrete
financial information is prepared and regularly reviewed by manage-
ment at the segment level. Components are aggregated as a single
reporting unit if they have similar economic characteristics.
Depreciation and Amortization
Property, plant and equipment are carried at cost and depreciated
over their estimated useful lives using the straight-line method. The
estimated useful lives of certain depreciable assets are as follows:
buildings, 30 to 50 years; building equipment, 10 to 20 years; land
improvements, 20 years; plant, laboratory and office equipment, 2
to 20 years; and computer equipment, 1.5 to 5 years. Leasehold
improvements are amortized over the shorter of their estimated
useful lives or the related lease term, rarely exceeding 25 years.