Summary of Significant Accounting Policies | 2. SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES Basis of Presentation These unaudited consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”).” Recent Accounting Pronouncements In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU No 2016-02 “Leases” (Topic 842). The standard requires companies that lease valuable assets like aircraft, real estate, and heavy equipment to recognize on their balance sheets the assets and liabilities generated by contracts longer than a year. The standard also requires companies to disclose in the footnotes to their financial statements information about the amount, timing, and uncertainty for the payments they make for the lease agreements. This standard is effective for fiscal years and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2018, and the Company adopted the standard using the modified retrospective approach effective January 1, 2019. The lessor accounting model under ASC 842 is similar to existing guidance, however, it limits the capitalization of initial direct leasing costs, such as internally generated costs. The Company elected all practical expedients permitted under ASC 842, other than the hindsight practical expedient. Accordingly, the Company will retain distinction between a finance lease (i.e., capital leases under existing guidance) and an operating lease and account for its existing operating leases as operating leases under the new guidance, without reassessing (a) whether the contracts contain a lease under ASC 842, (b) whether classification of the operating leases would be different in accordance with ASC 842c or (c) whether the unamortized initial direct costs before transition adjustments would have met the definition of initial direct costs in ASC 842 at lease commencement. The Company does not have a cumulative effect adjustment to retained earnings upon adoption. In June 2018, the FASB issued ASU No. 2018-07, “Compensation – Stock Compensation (Topic 718),” which expands the scope of Topic 718 to include share-based payment transactions for acquiring goods and services from non-employees. The adoption of ASU 2018-07 on January 1, 2019, did not have a significant impact on our Consolidated Financial Statements. Principles of Consolidation The accompanying consolidated financial statements include Power REIT and its wholly-owned subsidiaries. All intercompany balances have been eliminated in consolidation. Fair Value Fair value represents the exchange price that would be received for an asset or paid to transfer a liability (an exit price) in the principal or most advantageous market for the asset or liability in an orderly transaction between market participants on the measurement date. The Trust measures its financial assets and liabilities in three levels, based on the markets in which the assets and liabilities are traded and the reliability of the assumptions used to determine fair value. ○ Level 1 – valuations for assets and liabilities traded in active exchange markets, or interest in open-end mutual funds that allow a company to sell its ownership interest back at net asset value on a daily basis. Valuations are obtained from readily available pricing sources for market transactions involving identical assets, liabilities or funds. ○ Level 2 – valuations for assets and liabilities traded in less active dealer, or broker markets, such as quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities or quoted prices in markets that are not active. Level 2 includes U.S. Treasury, U.S. government and agency debt securities, and certain corporate obligations. Valuations are usually obtained from third party pricing services for identical or comparable assets or liabilities. ○ Level 3 – valuations for assets and liabilities that are derived from other valuation methodologies, such as option pricing models, discounted cash flow models and similar techniques, and not based on market exchange, dealer, or broker traded transactions. Level 3 valuations incorporate certain assumptions and projections in determining the fair value assigned to such assets or liabilities. In determining fair value, the Trust utilizes valuation techniques that maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs to the extent possible as well as considering counterparty credit risk. The carrying amounts of Power REIT’s financial instruments, including cash and cash equivalents, deposits, and accounts payable approximate fair value because of their relatively short-term maturities. The carrying value of long-term debt approximates fair value since the related rates of interest approximate current market rates. There are no financial assets and liabilities carried at fair value on a recurring basis as of June 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018. |