Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND ACCOUNTING POLICY

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BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND ACCOUNTING POLICY
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2018
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]  
BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND ACCOUNTING POLICY
BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND ACCOUNTING POLICY
The condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Era Group Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries. Unless the context otherwise indicates, any reference in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q to the “Company” refers to Era Group Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries, and any reference to “Era Group” refers to Era Group Inc. without its subsidiaries. The condensed consolidated financial information for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017 has been prepared by the Company and has not been audited by its independent registered public accounting firm. In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring adjustments) have been made to fairly present the Company’s financial position as of September 30, 2018, its results of operations for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017, its comprehensive income for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017, its changes in equity for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018, and 2017, and its cash flows for the nine months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017. Results of operations for the interim periods presented are not necessarily indicative of operating results for the full year or any future periods.
Certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) in the United States (“U.S.”) have been condensed or omitted. These condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and related notes thereto included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017.
Certain of the Company’s operations are subject to seasonal factors. Operations in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico are often at their highest levels from April to September, as daylight hours increase, and are at their lowest levels from November to February, as daylight hours decrease. The Company’s Alaskan operations also see an increase during May to September, as its firefighting operations occur during this time and daylight hours are significantly longer.
Basis of Consolidation. The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Era Group Inc., its wholly and majority-owned subsidiaries and entities that meet the criteria of Variable Interest Entities (“VIEs”) of which the Company is the primary beneficiary. Aeróleo Taxi Aereo S/A (“Aeróleo”) is a VIE of which the Company is the primary beneficiary. All significant inter-company accounts and transactions are eliminated in consolidation.
Reclassification. Certain amounts reported for prior periods in the consolidated financial statements have been reclassified to conform with the current period’s presentation.
Supplemental Cash Flow Information. The following table sets forth the Company’s reconciliation of cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash reported within the Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows (in thousands):
 
September 30, 2018
 
December 31, 2017
 
September 30, 2017
 
December 31, 2016
Cash and cash equivalents
$
47,631

 
$
13,583

 
$
26,896

 
$
26,950

Restricted cash (1)

 
3,250

 

 
3,777

Total cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash shown in the Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows
$
47,631

 
$
16,833

 
$
26,896

 
$
30,727

(1) Restricted cash represents amounts deposited in escrow accounts at the end of each period. Escrow deposits are shown as a separate line item in the consolidated balance sheet.
Revenue Recognition. The Company recognizes revenues for flight services and emergency response services with the passing of each day as the Company has the right to consideration from its customers in an amount that corresponds directly with the value to the Company’s customer of the performance completed to date. Therefore, the Company has elected to exercise the right to invoice practical expedient in its adoption of ASC 606. The right to invoice represents a method for recognizing revenue over time using the output measure of “value to the customer” which is an objective measure of an entity’s performance in a contract. The Company typically invoices its customers on a monthly basis for revenues earned during the prior month with payment terms of 30 days. The Company’s customer arrangements do not contain any significant financing component for its customers.
Trade Receivables. Customers are primarily international, independent and major integrated exploration, development and production companies, international helicopter operators and the U.S. government. Customers are typically granted credit on a short-term basis, and related credit risks are considered minimal. The Company routinely reviews its trade receivables and makes provisions for probable doubtful accounts; however, those provisions are estimates. Actual results could differ from those estimates, and those differences may be material.
New Accounting Standards - Adopted. The Company adopted the provisions of Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) Accounting Standards Update (ASU) No. 2014-09, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers,” and its amendments issued by the provisions of ASU No. 2016-08, “Principal versus Agent Considerations (Reporting Revenue Gross versus Net),” ASU No. 2016-10, “Identifying Performance Obligations and Licensing,” ASU No. 2016-12, “Narrow-Scope Improvements and Practical Expedients,” and ASU No. 2016-20, “Technical Corrections and Improvements to Topic 606, Revenue From Contracts with Customers,” collectively Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) Topic 606 beginning January 1, 2018.  ASC Topic 606 outlines a single comprehensive model for entities to use in accounting for revenue arising from all contracts with customers except where revenues are in scope of another accounting standard.  The ASU superseded the revenue recognition requirements in ASC Topic 605, “Revenue Recognition,” and most industry-specific guidance.  ASC Topic 606 sets forth a five-step model for determining when and how revenue is recognized.  Under the model, an entity will be required to recognize revenue to depict the transfer of goods or services to a customer at an amount reflecting the consideration it expects to receive in exchange for those goods and services.  The adoption of ASC Topic 606 did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.  See Note 10 - Revenues for additional information relating to Revenue from Contracts with Customers. 
The Company adopted the provisions of FASB ASU No. 2016-15, “Classification of Certain Cash Receipts and Cash Payments,” beginning January 1, 2018.  This ASU clarifies how certain cash receipts and cash payments should be classified and presented in the statement of cash flows.  The Company has made an accounting policy election to classify distributions received from equity method investees using the nature of the distribution approach which classifies distributions received from investees as either cash inflows from operating activities or cash inflows from investing activities based on the nature of the activities of the investee that generated the distribution.  Adoption of this ASU did not have a material impact on the Company’s historical financial statements.
In October 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-16 - Income Taxes, which requires entities to recognize income tax consequences of intra-entity transfers of assets, other than inventory, when the transfer occurs rather than when the asset is sold to a third party as is the case under current GAAP. ASU 2016-16 will be effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2017 including interim periods within that period. The Company adopted ASU 2016-16 effective January 1, 2018, and such adoption did not have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.
The Company adopted the provisions of FASB ASU No. 2016-18, “Restricted Cash,” beginning January 1, 2018.  This ASU requires amounts deemed restricted cash be included with cash and cash equivalents when reconciling the beginning-of-period and end-of-period total amounts shown on the statement of cash flows, and presentation should permit a reconciliation when cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash are presented in more than one line item on the balance sheet.  The Company had amounts deposited in escrow accounts as discussed further below in Note 3. These amounts are deemed restricted cash and are included in the “Escrow deposits” line of our consolidated balance sheet.  The impact of adopting this ASU has been included as adjustments in the prior period statement of cash flows.
In May 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-09 - Compensation - Stock Compensation: Scope of Modification Accounting, which is designed to reduce diversity in practice and complexity when accounting for changes in the terms of a share-based payment award. ASU 2017-09 will be effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2017, including interim periods within that period, and early adoption is permitted for any interim period for which financial statements have not yet been issued. The Company adopted ASU 2017-09 effective January 1, 2018, and such adoption did not have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.
New Accounting Standards - Not Yet Adopted. In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-02, “Leases” (ASU No. 2016-02), which establishes comprehensive accounting and financial reporting requirements for leasing arrangements.  This ASU supersedes the existing requirements in FASB ASC Topic 840, “Leases,” and requires lessees to recognize substantially all lease assets and lease liabilities on the balance sheet.  The provisions of ASU No. 2016-02 also modify the definition of a lease and outline requirements for recognition, measurement, presentation and disclosure of leasing arrangements by both lessees and lessors.  The ASU is effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2018, and early adoption of the standard is permitted.  Entities are required to adopt the ASU using a modified retrospective approach, subject to certain optional practical expedients, and apply the provisions of ASU No. 2016-02 to leasing arrangements existing at or entered into after the earliest comparative period presented in the financial statements. In July 2018 the ASU No. 2016-02 was further amended by the provisions of ASU No. 2018-11, “Targeted Improvements” to Topic 842 whereby the FASB decided to provide an alternate transition method by allowing entities to initially apply the new leases standard at the adoption date (such as January 1, 2019, for calendar year-end public business entities) and recognize a cumulative-effect adjustment to the opening balance of retained earnings in the period of adoption consistent with preparers’ requests. The Company currently plans to adopt this standard in the first quarter of 2019 using the current-period adjustment method and will recognize a cumulative-effect adjustment to the opening balance of retained earnings in that period.  The Company has identified the relevant lease contracts and the review and evaluation of these is substantially complete. While the Company’s evaluation of ASU 2016-02 is still ongoing, the Company expects the adoption of the ASU will have a material impact on the consolidated balance sheet. The Company will elect an optional practical expedient to retain its current classification of leases, and as a result, anticipates that the initial impact of adopting this new standard on its consolidated statement of income and consolidated statement of cash flows will not be material. 
In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-13, “Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments” (ASU No. 2016-13), which sets forth the current expected credit loss model, a new forward-looking impairment model for certain financial instruments based on expected losses rather than incurred losses.  The ASU is effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2019, and early adoption of the standard is permitted.  Entities are required to adopt ASU No. 2016-13 using a modified retrospective approach, subject to certain limited exceptions.  The Company is currently evaluating the potential impact of the adoption of this ASU on its consolidated financial statements.
In August 2018, the FASB issued ASU-2018-15, “Intangibles-Goodwill and Other-Internal-Use Software” (Subtopic 350-40), providing guidance addressing a customer's accounting for implementation costs incurred in a cloud computing arrangement (“CCA”) that is considered a service contract. Under the new guidance, implementation costs for a CCA should be evaluated for capitalization using the same approach as implementation costs associated with internal-use software and should be expensed over the term of the hosting arrangement, which includes any reasonably certain renewal periods. The new guidance is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019 for calendar year-end public business entities. Early adoption is permitted, including adoption in any interim period. The Company is evaluating the potential impact of the adoption of ASU-2018-15 on its consolidated financial statements.
In August 2018, the FASB issued ASU-2018-13, “Fair Value Measurements” (ASU No.2018-13, update to topic ASC-820), providing guidance for the changes in unrealized gains and losses for the period included in other comprehensive income for recurring Level 3 fair value measurements held at the end of the reporting period, and the range and weighted average of significant unobservable inputs used to develop Level 3 fair value measurements. For certain unobservable inputs, an entity may disclose other quantitative information (such as the median or arithmetic average) in lieu of the weighted average if the entity determines that other quantitative information would be a more reasonable and rational method to reflect the distribution of unobservable inputs used to develop Level 3 fair value measurements. ASU-2018-13 will be effective for interim and annual periods beginning December 15, 2019. The Company has not adopted ASU-2018-13 and believes such adoption will not have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.