Summary of Significant Accounting Policies | 1. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies Basis of Presentation As of July 29, 2017, Burlington Stores, Inc., a Delaware Corporation, and its subsidiaries (collectively, the Company), through its indirect subsidiary Burlington Coat Factory Warehouse Corporation (BCFWC), has expanded its store base to 600 retail stores, inclusive of an internet store. These unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements include the accounts of Burlington Stores, Inc. and its subsidiaries. All inter-company accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. The Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements are unaudited, but in the opinion of management reflect all adjustments (which are of a normal and recurring nature) necessary for the fair presentation of the results of operations for the interim periods presented. Certain information and note disclosures normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (GAAP) have been condensed or omitted. These Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements should be read in conjunction with the audited Consolidated Financial Statements and notes thereto included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 28, 2017 (Fiscal 2016 10-K). The balance sheet at January 28, 2017 presented herein has been derived from the audited Consolidated Financial Statements contained in the Fiscal 2016 10-K. Because the Company’s business is seasonal in nature, the operating results for the three and six month periods ended July 29, 2017 are not necessarily indicative of results for the fiscal year ending February 3, 2018 (Fiscal 2017). Accounting policies followed by the Company are described in Note 1 to the Fiscal 2016 10-K, “Summary of Significant Accounting Policies.” Adopted Accounting Standards In March 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued Accounting Standard Update (ASU) No. 2016-09, “Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting” (ASU 2016-09). ASU 2016-09 changes how companies account for certain aspects of share-based payments to employees including: (i) requiring all income tax effects of awards to be recognized in the income statement, rather than in additional paid in capital, when the awards vest or are settled, (ii) eliminating the requirement that excess tax benefits be realized before companies can recognize them, (iii) requiring companies to present excess tax benefits as an operating activity on the statement of cash flows rather than as a financing activity, (iv) increasing the amount an employer can withhold to cover income taxes on awards and still qualify for the exception to liability classification for shares used to satisfy the employer’s statutory income tax withholding obligation, (v) requiring an employer to classify the cash paid to a tax authority when shares are withheld to satisfy its statutory income tax withholding obligation as a financing activity on its statement of cash flows and (vi) requiring an employer to elect whether to account for forfeitures of share-based payments by (a) recognizing forfeitures of awards as they occur or (b) estimating the number of awards expected to be forfeited and adjusting the estimate when it is likely to change, as is currently required. ASU 2016-09 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2016. The Company adopted this standard effective January 29, 2017. The primary impact of adoption was the prospective recognition of excess tax benefits in the income statement as an income tax benefit rather than equity, which increased net income per share during the three and six month periods ended July 29, 2017 by $0.09 and $0.16, respectively, by lowering the Company’s effective tax rate approximately 1,140 basis points and 880 basis points, respectively. The Company has applied the amendment relating to the presentation of the excess tax benefits on the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows retrospectively, resulting in the reclassification of $6.5 million of excess tax benefits from cash flows from financing activities to cash flows from operating activities for the six month period ended July 30, 2016. The Company has elected to account for forfeitures of share-based awards as they occur, on a modified retrospective basis, resulting in a $0.4 million cumulative-effect adjustment to retained earnings as of January 29, 2017. The presentation requirements for cash flows related to employee taxes paid for withheld shares had no impact to any of the periods presented in the Company’s Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows since such cash flows have historically been presented as a financing activity. Pending Accounting Standards In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU 2014-09, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers,” which converges revenue recognition under U.S. GAAP and International Financial Reporting Standards. The new guidance supersedes most preexisting revenue recognition guidance, and provides a five-step analysis of transactions to determine when and how revenue is recognized. The core principle of the guidance is that an entity should recognize revenue to depict the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. In August 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-14, which deferred the effective date of ASU 2014-09 for public companies to periods beginning after December 15, 2017, with early adoption permitted. The standard shall be applied either retrospectively to each period presented or as a cumulative-effect adjustment as of the date of adoption. This ASU will be effective for the Company as of the beginning of the fiscal year ending February 2, 2019 (Fiscal 2018). The Company is in the process of determining the impact of the adoption of this guidance on its consolidated financial statements or notes thereto. The Company believes that there will be no change in the timing or amount of revenue recognized under the new standard as it relates to revenue from point of sale at the registers in our stores, which constitutes more than 99% of the Company’s revenue. The new standard will require a change in the presentation of the Company’s sales return reserve on the balance sheet, which is currently recorded net. The new standard will require the reserve to be established at the gross sales value with an asset established for the value of the merchandise returned. The Company does not, however, anticipate that the new guidance will have a significant impact on its consolidated financial statements. In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02, “Leases.” The standard’s core principle is to increase transparency and comparability among organizations by recognizing lease assets and liabilities on the balance sheet and disclosing key information about leasing arrangements. This standard is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, including interim periods within those fiscal years. This ASU will be effective for the Company as of the beginning of the fiscal year ending February 1, 2020 (Fiscal 2019). Early adoption is permitted. While the Company is continuing to evaluate the impact of the adoption of this guidance on its consolidated financial statements or notes thereto, it does expect that this new guidance will result in a significant increase to the assets and liabilities presented on its consolidated balance sheets. Refer to Note 13 to the Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements included in the Fiscal 2016 10-K (entitled “Lease Commitments”) for further detail of the Company’s future minimum lease payments. This guidance is not expected, however, to have a material impact on the Company's liquidity. On August 26, 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-15, “Statement of Cash Flows: Classification of Certain Cash Receipts and Cash Payments.” The primary purpose of this ASU is to reduce the diversity in practice that has resulted from the lack of consistent principles on this topic. This ASU is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017. This ASU will be effective for the Company as of the beginning of Fiscal 2018. Early adoption is permitted in any interim or annual period. The Company does not anticipate that the new guidance will have a significant impact on its consolidated financial statements. On November 17, 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-18, “Statement of Cash Flows: Restricted Cash.” The primary purpose of this ASU is to reduce the diversity in practice that exists in the classification and presentation of changes in restricted cash on the statement of cash flows. This ASU will require that a statement of cash flows explain the change during the period in the total of cash, cash equivalents, and amounts generally described as restricted cash or restricted cash equivalents. Therefore, amounts generally described as restricted cash and restricted cash equivalents should 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. This ASU is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017. This ASU will be effective for the Company as of the beginning of Fiscal 2018. Early adoption is permitted in any interim or annual period. While t he Company is still in the process of determining the impact of the adoption of this guidance on its consolidated financial statements or notes thereto, it does not anticipate that the new guidance will have a significant impact on its consolidated financial statements On January 26, 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-04, “Intangibles—Goodwill and Other: Simplifying the Test for Goodwill Impairment,” which aims to simplify the subsequent measurement of goodwill by eliminating Step 2 from the goodwill impairment test. Under the new guidance, goodwill impairment will be measured as the amount by which the carrying value exceeds the fair value. The loss recognized should not exceed the total amount of goodwill allocated to the reporting unit. The new guidance will be effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2019, including interim periods. This ASU will be effective for the Company as of the beginning of Fiscal 2020. Early adoption is permitted for annual or interim goodwill impairment tests performed on testing dates after January 1, 2017. The Company does not anticipate that the new guidance will have a significant impact on its consolidated financial statements. There were no other new accounting standards that had a material impact on the Company’s Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements during the three and six month periods ended July 29, 2017, and there were no other new accounting standards or pronouncements that were issued but not yet effective as of July 29, 2017 that the Company expects to have a material impact on its financial position or results of operations upon becoming effective. |