Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

BASIS OF PRESENTATION (Policies)

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BASIS OF PRESENTATION (Policies)
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2017
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]  
Principles of Consolidation
Principles of Consolidation
In our opinion, the accompanying interim, unaudited, consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States for interim financial information and with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Rule 10-01 of Regulation S-X. These consolidated financial statements contain all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring accruals) necessary to present fairly our financial position as of March 31, 2017, our results of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2017 and 2016, and cash flows for the three months ended March 31, 2017 and 2016. The results reported in these consolidated financial statements should not be regarded as necessarily indicative of results that may be expected for any other period or the entire year. The interim consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016.
For interim consolidated financial statement purposes, we provide for accruals under our various employee benefit plans and self-insurance reserves for each three month period based on one quarter of the estimated annual expense.
Fair Value of Financial Instruments, Policy [Policy Text Block]
Fair Value of Financial Instruments
The carrying amounts of our cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable, finance receivables and accounts payable approximate fair value as of March 31, 2017. The fair values of our investment securities are disclosed in note 4, recognized multiemployer pension withdrawal liabilities in note 6, our short and long-term debt in note 8 and our derivative instruments in note 13. We utilized Level 1 inputs in the fair value hierarchy of valuation techniques to determine the fair value of our cash and cash equivalents, and Level 2 inputs to determine the fair value of our accounts receivable, finance receivables and accounts payable.
Accounting Estimates
Accounting Estimates
The preparation of the accompanying interim, unaudited, consolidated financial statements requires management to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingencies at the date of the consolidated financial statements, as well as the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Estimates have been prepared on the basis of the most current and best information and actual results could differ materially from those estimates.
Change in Accounting Methodology
The preparation of the accompanying interim, unaudited, consolidated financial statements requires management to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingencies at the date of the consolidated financial statements, as well as the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Estimates have been prepared on the basis of the most current and best information and actual results could differ materially from those estimates.
Adoption of New Accounting Standards
Adoption of New Accounting Standards

In March 2016, the FASB issued an accounting standards update that simplified the income tax accounting and cash flow presentation related to share-based compensation by requiring the recognition of all excess tax benefits and deficiencies directly on the income statement and classification as cash flows from operating activities on the statements of consolidated cash flows. This update also made several changes to the accounting for forfeitures and employee tax withholding on share-based compensation. This new guidance became effective for us in the first quarter of 2017 and we adopted the statements of consolidated cash flows presentation on a prospective basis. Upon adoption we determined the impact to income tax expense in the statements of consolidated income, for the first quarter of 2017, to be a benefit of $55 million. Additionally, we have elected to continue estimating forfeitures expected to occur to determine the amount of compensation cost to be recognized each period.
Other accounting pronouncements adopted during the periods covered by the consolidated financial statements did not have a material impact on our consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows.