| Significant Accounting Policies | Significant Accounting Policies Basis of Presentation— The Consolidated Financial Statements of MSA Safety Incorporated ("MSA" or "the Company") are prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (GAAP) and require management to make certain judgments, estimates, and assumptions. These may affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the consolidated financial statements. They also may affect the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the period. Actual results could differ from those estimates upon subsequent resolution of identified matters. Principles of Consolidation— The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and all subsidiaries. Intercompany accounts and transactions are eliminated. Noncontrolling Interests— Noncontrolling interests reflect noncontrolling shareholders’ investments in certain consolidated subsidiaries and their proportionate share of the income and accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) of those subsidiaries. Currency Translation— The functional currency of all significant non-U.S. subsidiaries is the local currency. Assets and liabilities of these operations are translated at year-end exchange rates. Income statement accounts are translated using the average exchange rates for the reporting period. Translation adjustments for these companies are reported as a component of shareholders’ equity and are not included in income. Foreign currency transaction gains and losses are included in net income for the reporting period. Cash Equivalents— Cash equivalents include temporary deposits with financial institutions and highly liquid investments with original maturities of 90 days or less. Other highly liquid investments consist of $11.4 million in money market funds that are valued at net asset value (“NAV”). The money market funds are required to price and transact at a NAV per share that fluctuates based upon the pricing of the underlying portfolio of securities and this requirement may impact the value of those fund shares. Restricted Cash— Restricted cash, which is designated for use other than current operations, is included in prepaid expenses and other current assets in the Consolidated Balance Sheet. Restricted cash balances were $0.5 million and $3.6 million at December 31, 2018 and 2017 , respectively. These balances were used to support letter of credit balances. Inventories— Inventories are stated at the lower of cost or net realizable value. The majority of U.S. inventories are valued on the last-in, first-out (LIFO) cost method which is used since this method provides better matching of costs and revenues. Other inventories are valued at actual costs, at standard costs which approximate actual costs or in very rare occasions, on the average cost method. It is the Company's general policy to write-down any inventory identified as obsolete. Additionally, it will write-down any inventory balance in excess of the last twenty-four months of consumption. Investment securities — The Company’s investment securities, primarily fixed income, are classified as available for sale. The securities are recorded at fair market value and reported in “Investments, short-term” in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheet with changes in fair market value recorded in other comprehensive income, net of tax. The purchases and sales of these investments are classified as investing activities in the Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows. Property and Depreciation— Property is recorded at cost. Depreciation is computed using straight-line and accelerated methods over the estimated useful lives of the assets, generally as follows: buildings 20 to 40 years and machinery and equipment 3 to 10 years. Expenditures for significant renewals and improvements are capitalized. Ordinary repairs and maintenance are expensed as incurred. Gains or losses on property dispositions are included in other income and the cost and related depreciation are removed from the accounts. Depreciation expense for the years ended December 31, 2018 , 2017 and 2016 was $26.9 million , $28.0 million and $27.0 million , respectively. Properties, plants, and equipment are reviewed for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of such assets may not be recoverable. Recoverability of assets is determined by comparing the estimated undiscounted net cash flows of the operations related to the assets to their carrying amount. An impairment loss would be recognized when the carrying amount of the assets exceeds the estimated undiscounted net cash flows. The amount of the impairment loss to be recorded is calculated as the excess of the carrying value of the assets over their fair value, with fair value determined using the best information available, which generally is a discounted cash flow model. Software Development Costs— Software development costs consist primarily of costs incurred in software development and related personnel compensation to create, enhance and deploy the Company’s broad range of wireless technology and cloud-based computing safety services. Software development costs, other than software development costs qualifying for capitalization, are expensed as incurred. Costs of computer software developed or obtained for internal use that are incurred in the preliminary project and post implementation stages are expensed as incurred. Certain costs incurred during the application and development stage, which primarily include compensation and related expenses, are capitalized. Additionally, costs of upgrades and enhancements are capitalized when it is probable that the upgrades and enhancements will result in added functionality. The estimated useful life of costs capitalized is three years. Capitalized costs are amortized using the straight-line method over the estimated useful life, beginning in the period in which the software is ready for its intended use or when the upgrade or enhancement is deployed. During 2018, there was approximately $1.6 million of software development costs capitalized. During 2017, there was no software development costs capitalized. Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets— Intangible assets with a finite useful life are amortized on a straight-line basis over their useful lives. Indefinite lived intangible assets are assessed for possible impairment annually on October 1st or whenever circumstances change such that the recorded value of the asset may not be recoverable. We performed a quantitative assessment of the indefinite lived trade name intangible asset as outlined in ASC 350 by comparing the estimated fair value of the trade name intangible asset to their carrying value. We estimate the fair value using the relief from royalty income approach. A number of significant assumptions and estimates are involved in the application of the relief from royalty model, including sales volumes and prices, royalty rates and tax rates. Forecasts are based on sales generated by the underlying trade name assets and are generally based on approved business unit operating plans for the early years and historical relationships in later years. Based on this assessment, there was no indication of impairment for 2018 . Goodwill is not amortized, but is subject to impairment assessments. On October 1st of each year, or more frequently if indicators of impairment exist or if a decision is made to sell a business, we evaluate goodwill and indefinite lived intangible assets for impairment. A significant amount of judgment is involved in determining if an indicator of impairment has occurred. Such indicators may include a decline in expected cash flows, a significant adverse change in the business climate, unanticipated competition, slower growth rates, or negative developments in equity and credit markets, among others. All goodwill is assigned to and evaluated for impairment at the reporting unit level, which is defined as an operating segment or one level below an operating segment. For goodwill impairment testing purposes, we consider our operating segments to be our reporting units. The evaluation of impairment involves using either a qualitative or quantitative approach as outlined in Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) Topic 350. The qualitative evaluation is an assessment of factors to determine whether it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying value, including goodwill. Factors considered as part of the qualitative assessment include entity-specific industry, market and general economic conditions. In 2018 , we elected to bypass the qualitative evaluation for all of our reporting units, and performed a two-step quantitative test at October 1, 2018 . Step 1 of the quantitative testing involves comparing the estimated fair value of each reporting unit to its carrying value. We estimate reporting unit fair value using a weighted average of fair values determined by discounted cash flow (DCF) and market approach methodologies, as we believe both are equally important indicators of fair value. A number of significant assumptions and estimates are involved in the application of the DCF model, including sales volumes and prices, costs to produce, tax rates, capital spending, discount rates, and working capital changes. Cash flow forecasts are generally based on approved reporting unit operating plans for the early years and historical relationships in later years. The betas used in calculating the individual reporting units’ weighted average cost of capital (WACC) rate are estimated for each reporting unit based on peer data. The market approach methodology measures value through an analysis of peer companies. The analysis entails measuring the multiples of EBITDA at which peer companies are trading. In the event the estimated fair value of a reporting unit per the weighted average of the DCF and market approach models is less than the carrying value, Step 2 of the analysis would be required. The additional analysis would compare the carrying amount of the reporting unit’s goodwill with the implied fair value of that goodwill, which may involve the use of valuation specialist. The implied fair value of goodwill is the excess of the fair value of the reporting unit over the fair value amounts assigned to all of the assets and liabilities of that unit as if the reporting unit had been acquired in a business combination and the fair value of the reporting unit represented the purchase price. If the carrying value of goodwill exceeds its implied fair value, an impairment loss equal to such excess would be recognized, which could materially and adversely affect reported consolidated results of operations and shareholders’ equity. There has been no impairment of our goodwill as of December 31, 2018 , 2017 or 2016 . Revenue Recognition— We generate revenue primarily from manufacturing and selling a comprehensive line of safety products to protect the health and safety of workers and facility infrastructures around the world in the oil, gas and petrochemical, fire service, construction, utilities and mining industries. Our core safety products include fixed gas and flame detection instruments, breathing apparatus where SCBA is the principal product, portable gas detection instruments, industrial head protection products, firefighter helmets & protective apparel and fall protection devices. Our customers generally fall into two categories: distributors and industrial or military end-users. In our Americas segment, approximately 75% to 85% of our sales are made through distributors. In our International segment, approximately 55% to 65% of our sales are made through distributors. The underlying principles of revenue recognition are identical for both categories of customers and revenue is generally recognized at a point in time as described below. We account for revenue in accordance with ASC Topic 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers , which we adopted on January 1, 2018, using the modified retrospective method. Revenue from the sale of products is recognized when there is persuasive evidence of an arrangement and control passes to the customer, which generally occurs either when product is shipped to the customer or, in the case of most U.S. distributor customers, when product is delivered to the distributor's delivery site. We establish our shipping terms according to local practice and market characteristics. We do not ship product unless we have an order or other documentation authorizing shipment to our customers. Our payment terms vary by the type and location of our customer and the products offered. The term between invoicing and when payment is due is not significant. Revenue is measured as the amount of consideration we expect to receive in exchange for transferring goods or providing services. Amounts billed and due from our customers are classified as receivables on the consolidated balance sheet. We make appropriate provisions for uncollectible accounts receivable which have historically been insignificant in relation to our net sales. Certain contracts with customers, primarily distributor customers, have an element of variable consideration that is estimated when revenue is recognized under the contract to the extent that it is material to the individual contract. Variable consideration includes volume incentive rebates, performance guarantees, price concessions and returns. Rebates are based on achieving a certain level of purchases and other performance criteria that are documented in established distributor programs. These rebates are estimated based on projected sales to the customer and accrued as a reduction of net sales as they are earned by the customer. The rebate accrual is reviewed monthly and adjustments are made as the estimate of projected sales changes. Product returns, including an adjustment for restocking fees if it is material, are estimated based on historical return experience and revenue is adjusted. Sales, value add and other taxes collected with revenue-producing activities and remitted to governmental authorities are excluded from revenue. Refer to Note 7—Segment Information for disaggregation of revenue by segment and product group, as we believe this best depicts how the nature, amount, timing and uncertainty of our revenue and cash flows are affected by economic factors. Depending on the terms of the arrangement, we may defer revenue for which we have a future obligation, including training and extended warranty and technical services, until such time that the obligation has been satisfied. We use an observable price, or a cost plus margin approach when one is not available, to determine the stand-alone selling price for separate performance obligations. We have elected to recognize the cost for shipping and handling as an expense when control of the product has passed to the customer. These costs are included within the Cost of Products Sold line on the Consolidated Statement of Income. Amounts billed to customers for shipping and handling are included in net sales. We typically receive interim milestone payments under certain contracts, including our fixed gas and flame detection projects, as work progresses. For some of these contracts, we may be entitled to receive an advance payment. Revenue for these contracts is generally recognized as control passes to the customer, which is a point in time upon shipment of the product, and if applicable, acceptance by the customer. We recognize a liability for these advance payments in excess of revenue recognized and present it as contract liabilities on the Consolidated Balance Sheet. The advance payment is typically not considered a significant financing component because it is used to meet working capital demands that can be higher in the early stages of a contract and to protect us from the other party failing to adequately complete some or all of its obligations under the contract. In some cases, the customer retains a small portion of the contract price, typically 10%, until completion of the contract, which we present as contract assets on the Consolidated Balance Sheet. Accordingly, during the period of contract performance, billings and costs are accumulated on the Consolidated Balance Sheet as contract assets or contract liabilities, but no income is recognized until completion of the project and control has passed to the customer. As of December 31, 2018 , there were no material contract assets or contract liabilities recorded on the Consolidated Balance Sheet. Practical Expedients and Exemptions We do not disclose the value of unsatisfied performance obligations for (i) contracts with an original expected length of one year or less and (ii) contracts for which we recognize revenue at the amount to which we have the right to invoice for services performed. We do not assess whether a contract has a significant financing component if the expectation at contract inception is such that the period between payment by the customer and the transfer of the promised goods or services to the customer will be one year or less. We generally expense sales commissions when incurred because the amortization period would have been one year or less. These costs are recorded within selling, general and administrative expenses in our Condensed Consolidated Statement of Income. Product Warranties— Estimated expenses related to product warranties and additional service actions are charged to cost of products sold in the period in which the related revenue is recognized or when significant product quality issues are identified. Research and Development— Research and development costs are expensed as incurred. Income Taxes— Deferred income taxes are recognized for temporary differences between financial and tax reporting. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using enacted tax rates in effect for the year in which those temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. If it is more likely than not that some portion or all of a deferred tax asset will not be realized, a valuation allowance is recognized. We record tax benefits related to uncertain tax positions taken or expected to be taken on a tax return when such benefits meet a more likely than not threshold. We recognize interest related to unrecognized tax benefits in interest expense and penalties in operating expenses. Deferred taxes are booked for available cash in excess of working capital for non-U.S. subsidiaries as these earnings are no longer considered to be permanently reinvested. Stock-Based Compensation— We recognize compensation expense for employee and non-employee director stock-based compensation based on the grant date fair value. Except for retirement-eligible participants, for whom there is no requisite service period, this expense is recognized ratably over the requisite service periods following the date of grant. For retirement-eligible participants, this expense is recognized at the grant date. Derivative Instruments— We may use derivative instruments to minimize the effects of changes in currency exchange rates. We do not enter into derivative transactions for speculative purposes and do not hold derivative instruments for trading purposes. Changes in the fair value of derivative instruments designated as fair value hedges are recorded in the balance sheet as adjustments to the underlying hedged asset or liability. Changes in the fair value of derivative instruments that do not qualify for hedge accounting treatment are recognized in the consolidated statement of income as currency exchange losses, net in the current period. Commitments and Contingencies— For asserted claims and assessments, liabilities are recorded when a loss is deemed to be probable and the amount of the loss is reasonably estimable. Management assesses the probability of an unfavorable outcome with respect to asserted claims or assessments based on many factors such as the nature of the matter, available defenses and case strategy, progress of the matter, views and opinions of legal counsel and other advisors, applicability and success of appeals processes, and the outcome of similar historical matters, among others. Once an unfavorable outcome is assessed to be probable, management evaluates estimates of the potential loss, and the most reasonable loss estimate is recorded (or, if the estimate of the loss is a range, and no amount within the range is considered to be a better estimate than any other amount, the minimum amount in the range is recorded). If a loss is deemed to be reasonably possible but less than probable and/or such loss cannot be reasonably estimated, then the matter is disclosed and no liability is recorded. With respect to unasserted claims or assessments, management first determines whether it is probable that a claim or assessment may be asserted and then, if so, the degree of probability of an unfavorable outcome. If an unfavorable outcome is probable, management assesses whether the amount of potential loss can be reasonably estimated and, if so, accrues the most reasonable estimate of the loss (or, if the estimate of the loss is a range, and not amount within the range is considered to be a better estimate than any other amount, the minimum amount in the range is recorded). If an unfavorable outcome is reasonably possible but less than probable, or the amount of loss cannot be reasonably estimated, then the matter is disclosed and no liability is recorded. Legal matters are reviewed on a continuous basis to determine if there has been a change in management’s judgment regarding the likelihood and/or estimate of a potential loss. Please refer to Note 19 for further details on product liability related matters. Discontinued Operations and Assets Held For Sale— For those businesses where management has committed to a plan to divest, each business is valued at the lower of its carrying amount or estimated fair value less cost to sell. If the carrying amount of the business exceeds its estimated fair value, an impairment loss is recognized. Fair value is estimated using accepted valuation techniques such as a discounted cash flow model, valuations performed by third parties, earnings multiples, or indicative bids, when available. A number of significant estimates and assumptions are involved in the application of these techniques, including the forecasting of markets and market share, sales volumes and prices, costs and expenses, and multiple other factors. Management considers historical experience and all available information at the time the estimates are made; however, the fair value that is ultimately realized upon the divestiture of a business may differ from the estimated fair value reflected in the Consolidated Financial Statements. Depreciation and amortization expense is not recorded on assets of a business to be divested once they are classified as held for sale. For businesses classified as discontinued operations, the results of operations are reclassified from their historical presentation to discontinued operations on the Consolidated Statement of Income, for all periods presented. The gains or losses associated with these divested businesses are recorded in discontinued operations on the Consolidated Statement of Income. Additionally, segment information does not include the operating results of businesses classified as discontinued operations for all periods presented. Management does not expect any continuing involvement with these businesses following their divestiture, and these businesses are expected to be disposed of within one year. Concentration of credit and business risks - We are exposed to credit risk in the event of nonpayment by customers, principally in the oil, gas and petrochemical, fire service, construction, utilities, and mining industries. Changes in these industries may significantly affect our financial performance and management's estimates. We mitigate our exposure to credit risk by performing ongoing credit evaluations and, when deemed necessary, requiring letters of credit, credit insurance, prepayments, guarantees or other collateral. No individual customer represented more than 10% of our sales. Reclassifications - Certain reclassifications of prior years' data have been made to conform to the current year presentation. These reclassifications relate to (1) additional captions disclosed within the operating section of the Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows but do not change the overall cash flow from operating activities for the prior years as previously reported, and (2) additional captions disclosed for product warranty activity within the table that reconciles the changes in the Company's accrued warranty reserve (Note 19). Recently Adopted and Recently Issued Accounting Standards— In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU 2014-09, Revenue with Contracts from Customers . This ASU establishes a single revenue recognition model for all contracts with customers based on recognizing 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, eliminates industry specific requirements and expands disclosure requirements. We adopted ASU 2014-09 using the modified retrospective method as of January 1, 2018. The majority of our revenue transactions consist of a single performance obligation to transfer promised goods or services. The adoption of this new standard did not impact the Company's consolidated statement of income or balance sheet and there was no cumulative effect of initially applying the standard to the opening balance of retained earnings. See Revenue Recognition section above for further information on our updated revenue recognition policy. In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02, Leases . This ASU requires lessees to record a right of use asset and a liability for virtually all leases. This ASU will be effective beginning January 1, 2019. The Company has developed a transition plan and continues to evaluate the impact that the adoption of ASU 2016-02 will have on the consolidated financial statements. During 2017, we conducted a survey to identify all leases across the organization and are currently working to obtain all lease contracts to accumulate the necessary information for adoption. We identified that a majority of our leases fall into one of three categories: office equipment, real estate and vehicles. We also identified that most office equipment and vehicle leases utilize standard master leasing contracts that have similar terms. During 2018, we selected a service provider to help us inventory and account for our leases and gathered the majority of the data necessary to prepare the transition accounting. We are finalizing the data upload to the system and accumulating information for leases entered into at the end of 2018. We estimate that total assets and total liabilities will increase within the range of $52 million and $58 million on January 1, 2019 when the ASU is adopted. In July 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-10, Codification Improvements to Topic 842, Leases . ASU 2018-10 includes certain clarifications to address potential narrow-scope implementation issues which the Company is incorporating into its assessment and adoption of ASU 2016-02. Additionally, in July 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-11, Targeted Improvements to Topic 842, Leases . ASU 2018-11 which provides an additional transition method to adopt ASU 2016-02 identified as comparative reporting at adoption. We expect to use this new transition approach and the comparative periods presented in our consolidated financial statements will continue to be reported in accordance with ASC 840, Leases . We anticipate that we will elect the package of practical expedients allowed in the standard, which among other things, allows us to carry forward our historical lease classification. All of our leases have historically been classified as operating leases. We also anticipate that we will make an accounting policy election to use the practical expedient allowed in the standard to not separate lease and non-lease components for new leases entered into after January 1, 2019 when calculating the lease liability under ASU 2016-02. In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-09, Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting . This ASU simplifies the accounting for many aspects associated with share-based payment accounting, including income taxes and the use of forfeiture rates. This ASU was adopted on January 1, 2017. The provisions of this ASU which impacted us included a requirement that all excess tax benefits and deficiencies that pertain to share-based payment arrangements be recognized as a component of income tax expense rather than as a component of shareholders’ equity. The Company expects this to create volatility in its effective tax rate on a go-forward basis as the impact is treated as a discrete item within our quarterly tax provision. The extent of excess tax benefits/deficiencies is subject to variation in our stock price and timing/extent of stock-based compensation share vestings and employee stock option exercises. This ASU also removes the impact of the excess tax benefits and deficiencies from the calculation of diluted earnings per share and no longer requires a presentation of excess tax benefits and deficiencies related to the vesting and exercise of share-based compensation as both an operating outflow and financing inflow on the statement of cash flows. We have applied all of these changes on a prospective basis and therefore, prior years were not adjusted. Additionally, this ASU allows for an accounting policy election to estimate the number of awards that are expected to vest or account for forfeitures when they occur. We elected to maintain our current forfeitures policy and will continue to include an estimate of those forfeitures when recognizing stock-based compensation expense. This ASU also requires cash payments to tax authorities when an employer uses a net-settlement feature to withhold shares to meet statutory tax withholding provisions to be presented as a financing activity (eliminating previous diversity in practice). Adoption of this ASU resulted in an additional discrete tax benefit of approximately $2.5 million and $8.3 million during years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017 , respectively. In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-13, Allowance for Loan and Lease Losses. This ASU introduces an approach based on expected losses to estimate credit losses on certain types of financial instruments, including loans, held-to-maturity debt securities, loan commitments, financial guarantees and net investments in leases, as well as reinsurance and trade receivables. This ASU will be effective beginning in 2020. Based on a review of its portfolio of financial instruments, the Company does not believe the adoption of this ASU will have a material impact on the consolidated financial statements, but does expect the adoption to result in additional disclosures. In August 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-15, Classification of Certain Cash Payments and Cash Receipts. This ASU clarifies how certain cash receipts and cash payments are presented and classified in the statement of cash flows. The Company's adoption of this ASU on January 1, 2018 did not have a material impact on our presentation of the consolidated statement of cash flows. In October 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-16, Intra-entity Transfers of Assets Other than Inventory . This ASU states that an entity should recognize the income tax consequences of an intra-entity transfer of an asset other than inventory when the transfer occurs. This ASU was early adopted on January 1, 2017 using the modified retrospective approach which resulted in a $6.2 million cumulative-effective adjustment directly to retained earnings for any previously deferred income tax effects during the year ended December 31, 2017. In November 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-18, Restricted Cash . This ASU requires that amounts generally described as restricted cash and restricted cash equivalents are 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. We adopted this ASU on January 1, 2018 using the retrospective method. The adoption of ASU 2016-18 had an impact on our financial stat |
