Equifax 2004 Annual Report Download - page 59

N O T E S T O C O N S O L I D A T E D F I N A N C I A L S T A T E M E N T S
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beginning after June 15, 2003. We adopted EITF Issue
No. 00-21 on July 1, 2003 and it did not have a material
impact on our fi nancial position or results of operations.
In December 2003, the Financial Accounting Standards
Board (“FASB”) issued a revision to SFAS No. 132,
“Employer’s Disclosures about Pensions and Other
Postretirement Benefi ts.” The purpose of the revision is to
require additional disclosures about the assets, obligations,
cash fl ows and net periodic benefi t cost of defi ned benefi t
pension plans and other defi ned benefi t postretirement plans.
These additional disclosures include information describing
the types of plan assets, investment strategy, measurements
date(s), plan obligations, cash fl ows and components of
net periodic benefi t cost recognized. As revised, SFAS 132
enhances disclosures by providing more relevant information
about the plan assets available to fi nance benefi t payments,
the obligation to pay benefi ts and an entity’s obligation to
fund the plan. This revised version of SFAS 132 is effec-
tive for fi scal years ending after December 15, 2003. We
adopted the revisions to SFAS 132 and have included the
additional disclosures in the Notes to our Consolidated
Financial Statements.
In December 2003, the FASB issued its revision to FASB
Interpretation No. 46, “Consolidation of Variable Interest
Entities (an Interpretation of ARB No. 51).” FIN 46
addresses the consolidation by a reporting entity of vari-
able interest entities that either do not have suffi cient equity
investment at risk to permit the entity to fi nance its activi-
ties without additional subordinated fi nancial support, or
in which the equity investors lack the characteristics of
a controlling fi nancial interest. Application of FIN 46 is
required in fi nancial statements of public entities that have
interests in variable interest entities or potential variable
interest entities (also referred to as special-purpose entities)
for periods ending after December 15, 2003. The FASB
subsequently issued FASB Staff Positions (“FSP’s”), which
deferred the effective date for applying the provisions of
FIN 46 for interests in certain variable interest entities or
potential variable interest entities created before February 1,
2003 until the end of the fi rst interim period ending after
March 15, 2004. These FSP’s also required certain disclo-
sures about variable interest entities and potential variable
interest entities. We adopted the provisions of FIN 46 in
March 2004 and it has not had a material impact on our
fi nancial position or results of operations.
In December 2003, the Staff of the Securities and
Exchange Commission, or SEC, issued Staff Accounting
Bulletin No. 104, or SAB 104, “Revenue Recognition,”
which supersedes SAB 101, “Revenue Recognition in
Financial Statements.” SAB 104’s primary purpose is to
rescind the accounting guidance contained in SAB 101
related to multiple-element revenue arrangements that
was superseded as a result of the issuance of EITF 00-21,
“Accounting for Revenue Arrangements with Multiple
Deliverables.” Additionally, SAB 104 rescinds the SEC’s
related “Revenue Recognition in Financial Statements
Frequently Asked Questions and Answers” issued with SAB
101 that had been codifi ed in SEC Topic 13, “Revenue
Recognition.” While the wording of SAB 104 has changed
to refl ect the issuance of EITF 00-21, the revenue recogni-
tion principles of SAB 101 remain largely unchanged by
the issuance of SAB 104, which was effective upon issu-
ance. We implemented SAB 104 in December 2003 and it
did not have a material effect on our fi nancial position or
results of operations.
In May 2004, the FASB issued FSP No. 106-2, “Accounting
and Disclosure Requirements Related to the Medicare
Modernization Act of 2003.” This staff position supersedes
FSP No. 106-1, “Accounting and Disclosure Requirements
Related to the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement
and Modernization Act of 2003” by clarifying the guidance
on the recognition of the effects of the Act on employers’
accumulated post-retirement benefi t obligation. Employers
that sponsor a post-retirement health care plan that provides
prescription benefi ts that are deemed actuarially equivalent
to the Medicare Part D benefi t are eligible for a federal sub-
sidy. This subsidy is to be treated as an actuarial experience
gain in the calculation of the accumulated post-retirement
benefi t obligation. FSP 106-2 is effective for the fi rst interim
period or annual period beginning after June 15, 2004. We
adopted the accounting and disclosure provisions of FSP
106-2 in July 2004 and it did not have a material effect on
our fi nancial position or results of operations.
In July 2004, the EITF of the FASB reached consensus
on Issue No. 02-14, “Whether the Equity Method of
Accounting Applies When an Investor Does Not Have an
Investment in Voting Stock of an Investee but Exercises
Signifi cant Infl uence through Other Means.” EITF Issue
No. 02-14 provides guidance pertaining to an investor’s
accounting when the investor has signifi cant infl uence over
an investee through means other than voting stock. The pro-
visions of EITF No. 02-14 apply to reporting periods begin-
ning after September 15, 2004. The Company’s accounting
for such investments has been consistent with EITF 02-14
and its adoption during the fourth quarter of 2004 did not
have a material impact on our fi nancial position or results
of operations.