Summary of Significant Accounting Policies | ( 2) Summary of Significant Accounting Policies The significant accounting policies described in the Company’s audited financial statements as of and for the year ended December 31, 2017, and the notes thereto, which are included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on March 20, 2018, have had no material changes during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018, other than our adoption of ASC 606 (as defined below) which is discussed in detail in this note. Basis of Presentation The accompanying consolidated financial statements and the related disclosures as of September 30, 2018 and for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017 are unaudited and have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”) and the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) for interim financial statements. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and notes required by GAAP for complete financial statements. These interim consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the Company’s 2017 and 2016 audited consolidated financial statements and notes included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 20, 2018. The December 31, 2017 consolidated balance sheet included herein was derived from the audited financial statements as of that date, but does not include all disclosures including notes required by GAAP for complete financial statements. In the opinion of management, the unaudited interim consolidated financial statements reflect all adjustments, consisting of normal and recurring adjustments, necessary for the fair presentation of the Company’s financial position and results of operations for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017. The results of operations for the interim periods are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the year ending December 31, 2018 or any other interim period or future year or period. Principles of Consolidation The accompanying consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Synlogic and its wholly owned subsidiaries. All intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements Revenue Recognition In May 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board, or FASB, issued Accounting Standards Update, or ASU, No. 2014-09, which amends the guidance for accounting for revenue from contracts with customers. This ASU supersedes the revenue recognition requirements in Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 605, Revenue Recognition Revenue from Contracts with Customers Effective January 1, 2018, the Company adopted ASC 606 using the modified retrospective transition method. Under this method, results for reporting periods beginning after January 1, 2018 are presented under ASC 606, while prior period amounts are not adjusted and continue to be reported in accordance The Company may enter into collaboration agreements for research and development services, under which the Company may license certain rights to its product candidates to third parties. The terms of these arrangements typically include payment to the Company of one or more of the following: non-refundable, upfront license fees; reimbursement of certain costs; customer option exercise fees; development, regulatory and commercial milestone payments; and royalties on net sales of licensed products. Variable consideration is constrained until it is deemed not be at significant risk of reversal. In determining the appropriate amount of revenue to be recognized as it fulfills its obligations under each of its agreements for which the collaboration partner is also a customer, the Company performs the following steps: (i) identification of the promised goods or services in the contract; (ii) determination of whether the promised goods or services are performance obligations including whether they are distinct in the context of the contract; (iii) measurement of the transaction price, including the constraint on variable consideration; (iv) allocation of the transaction price to the performance obligations; and (v) recognition of revenue when (or as) the Company satisfies each performance obligation. As part of the accounting for these arrangements, the Company must use significant judgment to determine: a) the number of performance obligations based on the determination under step (ii) above; b) the transaction price under step (iii) above; and c) the contract term and pattern of satisfaction of the performance obligations under step (v) above. The Company uses significant judgment to determine whether milestones or other variable consideration, except for royalties, should be included in the transaction price as described further below. The transaction price is allocated to the goods and services the Company expects to provide. The Company uses estimates to determine the timing of satisfaction of performance obligations, which may include the use of full time equivalent time as a measure of satisfaction of performance obligations. Amounts received prior to satisfying the revenue recognition criteria are recorded as deferred revenue in the Company’s consolidated balance sheets. Amounts expected to be recognized as revenue within the 12 months following the balance sheet date are classified as current deferred revenue. Amounts not expected to be recognized as revenue within the 12 months following the balance sheet date are classified as deferred revenue, net of current portion. Licenses of Intellectual Property In assessing whether a promise or performance obligation is distinct from the other promises, the Company considers factors such as the research, manufacturing and commercialization capabilities of the customer and the availability of the associated expertise in the general marketplace. In addition, the Company considers whether the customer can benefit from a promise for its intended purpose without the receipt of the remaining promises, whether the value of the promise is dependent on the unsatisfied promise, whether there are other vendors that could provide the remaining promise, and whether it is separately identifiable from the remaining promise. For licenses that are combined with other promises, the Company utilizes judgment to assess the nature of the combined performance obligation to determine whether the combined performance obligation is satisfied over time or at a point in time and, if over time, the appropriate method of measuring progress for purposes of recognizing revenue. The Company evaluates the measure of progress each reporting period and, if necessary, adjusts the measure of performance and related revenue recognition. Research and Development Services If an arrangement is determined to contain a promise or obligation for the Company to perform research and development services, the Company must determine whether these services are distinct from the other promises in the arrangement. In assessing whether the services are distinct from the other promises, the Company considers the capabilities of the customer to perform these same services. In addition, the Company considers whether the customer can benefit from a promise for its intended purpose without the receipt of the remaining promise, whether the value of the promise Customer Options If an arrangement is determined to contain customer options that allow the customer to acquire additional goods or services, the goods and services underlying the customer options are not considered to be performance obligations at the outset of the arrangement, as they are contingent upon option exercise. The Company evaluates the customer options for material rights, that is, the option to acquire additional goods or services for free or at a discount. If the customer options are determined to represent a material right, the material right is recognized as a separate performance obligation at the outset of the arrangement. The Company allocates the transaction price to material rights based on an alternative approach when the goods or services are both (i) similar to the original goods and services in the contract and (ii) provided in accordance with the terms of the original contract. Under this alternative, the Company allocates the total amount of consideration expected to be received from the customer to the total goods or services expected to be provided to the customer. Amounts allocated to a material right are not recognized as revenue until the option is exercised and the performance obligation is satisfied. Milestone Payments At the inception of each arrangement that includes milestone payments, the Company evaluates whether a significant reversal of cumulative revenue provided in conjunction with achieving the milestones is probable Royalties For arrangements that include sales-based royalties, including milestone payments based on a level of sales, and the license is deemed to be the predominant item to which the royalties relate, the Company recognizes revenue at the later of (i) when the related sales occur, or (ii) when the performance obligation to which some or all of the royalty has been allocated has been satisfied (or partially satisfied). To date, the Company has not recognized any royalty revenue resulting from any of its licensing arrangements. Contract Costs The Company recognizes as an asset the incremental costs of obtaining a contract with a customer if the costs are expected to be recovered. As a practical expedient, the Company recognizes the incremental costs of obtaining a contract as an expense when incurred if the amortization period of the asset that we otherwise would have recognized is one year or less. To date, the Company has not incurred any incremental costs of obtaining a contract with a customer. For additional discussion of accounting for collaboration revenues, see Note 9, AbbVie Collaboration Agreement. Impact of Adoption As a result of adopting ASC 606 on January 1, 2018, the Company recorded a cumulative-effect decrease to opening accumulated deficit of $0.3 million as of January 1, 2018 and a corresponding decrease to deferred revenue. Total revenue recorded in the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018 under ASC 606 was $1.8 million and $2.4 million, respectively, as compared to $2.1 million and $2.3 million, respectively, that would have been recorded under ASC 605. Deferred revenue as of September 30, 2018 was $ 0.4 The most significant changes relate to the Company’s revenue recognition pattern for the AbbVie Collaboration Agreement and the accounting for milestone payments. Under ASC 605, the Company was recognizing the revenue allocated to each unit of accounting on a straight‑line basis over the period the Company is expected to complete its obligations. Under ASC 606, the Company is recognizing the revenue allocated to each performance obligation measuring progress using an input method over the period the Company is expected to complete each performance obligation. Under ASC 605, the Company recognized revenue related to milestone payments as the milestone was achieved, using the milestone method. Under ASC 606, the Company determined that the milestones at the beginning of certain research and development phases represent a 90-day contract with daily customer renewal options for the Company’s continued research and development services. As a result, revenue from these milestones is recognized over a performance obligation consisting of the next phase of research and development services. For further discussion of the adoption of this standard, see Note 9, AbbVie Collaboration Agreement Stock Compensation In May 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-09, Compensation – Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Scope Modification Accounting. The new standard is intended to reduce the diversity in practice, cost and complexity when applying the guidance in Topic 718 to a change to the terms or conditions of a share-based payment award. The new standard will be effective for annual reporting periods and interim periods within those annual periods, beginning after December 15, 2017. The amendments in this update will be applied prospectively to an award modified on or after the adoption date. The Company adopted this standard as of January 1, 2018 and it did not have a material impact on the Company’s financial position or results of operations. Income Taxes In March 2018, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2018-05, Income Taxes (Topic 740): Amendments to SEC Paragraphs Pursuant to SEC Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 118 (“ASU 2018-05”). The standard amends Accounting Standards Codification 740, Income Taxes (“ASC 740”), to provide guidance on accounting for the tax effects of the Tax Act pursuant to Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 118, effective immediately. The ASU permits companies to use provisional amounts for certain income tax effects of the Tax Act during a one-year measurement period. The provisional accounting impacts for the Company may change in future reporting periods until the accounting analysis is finalized, which will occur no later than the first quarter of fiscal 2019. Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02 – Leases (Topic 842), which replaces the existing accounting guidance for leases. This standard requires entities that lease assets to recognize the assets and liabilities for the rights and obligations created by those leases on the balance sheet. The standard is effective for fiscal years and the interim periods within those fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018. The guidance is required to be applied by the modified retrospective transition approach and early adoption is permitted. In July 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-11 Leases – Targeted Improvements, intended to ease the implementation of the new lease standard for financial statement preparers by, among other things, allowing for an additional transition method. In lieu of presenting transition requirements to comparative periods, as previously required, an entity may now elect to show a cumulative effect adjustment on the date of adoption without the requirement to recast prior period financial statements or disclosures presented in accordance with ASU 2016-02. We expect to adopt the new standard and elect to use the cumulative effect adjustment transition option effective January 1, 2019, which will be the initial date of application per ASU 2018-11. The Company expects to elect the available package of practical expedients which allows us to not reassess previous accounting conclusions around whether arrangements are or contain leases, the classification of our leases, and the treatment of initial direct costs. The Company also expects it will make an accounting policy election to keep leases with an initial term of 12 months or less off of the balance sheet. The Company is continuing to evaluate the new lease guidance and is in the process of evaluating its existing population of contracts to ensure all contracts that meet the definition of a lease contract under the new standard are identified. As a result, the Company is currently assessing the impact that adoption of this guidance will have on its financial statements and footnote disclosures and it anticipates it will result in an increase in assets and liabilities. In February 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-02 – Income Statement – Reporting Comprehensive Income (Topic 220), which provides amended guidance on income tax accounting. The amended guidance permits the reclassification of the income tax effect on amounts recorded within other comprehensive income impacted by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act into retained earnings. The amended guidance is effective for periods ending after December 15, 2018 and applies only to those amounts remaining in Other Comprehensive Income at the date of enactment of the Act. The amended guidance may be adopted on either a retrospective basis or at the beginning of the period of adoption. The Company is assessing the potential impact of the amended standard but does not expect it to have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements. In June 2018, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2018-07, Compensation—Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Improvements to Nonemployee Share-Based Payment Accounting (ASU “2018-07”). The standard is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, including interim periods within that fiscal year. Early adoption is permitted, but no earlier than an entity’s adoption date of ASC 606. The standard expands the scope of ASC 718 to include all share-based payment arrangements related to the acquisition of goods and services from both nonemployees and employees. Under the amended guidance, equity-classified share-based payment awards issued to nonemployees will be measured at grant date fair value. Upon transition, the entity is required to remeasure these nonemployee awards at fair value as of the adoption date. The Company is currently evaluating the new guidance but does not expect it to have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements. |