Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)

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Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2023
Accounting Policies [Abstract]  
Basis of Presentation Basis of Presentation. Effective January 1, 2023, Brunswick Corporation (we, us, our, the Company, or Brunswick) changed its management reporting and updated its reportable segments to Propulsion, Engine Parts and Accessories (Engine P&A), Navico Group and Boat to align with our internal operating structure. As a result of this change, the Company has recast all segment information for all prior periods presented. For further information, refer to Note 5 –Segment Information. The Company has prepared its consolidated financial statements pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Certain previously reported amounts have been reclassified to conform with current period presentation. Brunswick's results reflect continuing operations only, unless otherwise noted.
Principles of Consolidation
Principles of Consolidation. Brunswick's consolidated financial statements include the accounts of all majority owned and controlled domestic and foreign subsidiaries. Intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated.
Use of Estimates
Use of Estimates. The preparation of the consolidated financial statements in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (GAAP) requires management to make certain estimates. Actual results could differ materially from those estimates. These estimates affect:

The reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting periods;
The reported amounts of assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements; and
The disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements.

Estimates in these consolidated financial statements include, but are not limited to:

Allowances for doubtful accounts;
Inventory valuation reserves;
Variable consideration related to recorded revenue;
Reserves related to repurchase and recourse obligations;
Warranty related reserves;
Losses on litigation and other contingencies;
Environmental reserves;
Insurance reserves;
Valuation of goodwill and other intangible assets;
Impairments of long-lived assets;
Reserves related to restructuring, exit and impairment activities;
Postretirement benefit liabilities;
Valuation allowances on deferred tax assets; and
Income tax reserves.
Cash and Cash Equivalents
Cash and Cash Equivalents. The Company considers all highly liquid investments with a maturity of three months or less when purchased to be cash equivalents. These investments include, but are not limited to, investments in money market funds, bank deposits, federal government and agency debt securities and commercial paper.
Restricted Cash
Restricted Cash. Restricted Cash is primarily related to cash deposited in a trust that is pledged as collateral against certain workers' compensation-related obligations. Refer to Note 11 – Commitments and Contingencies for more information.
Accounts and Notes Receivable and Allowance for Doubtful Accounts Accounts and Notes Receivable and Allowance for Doubtful Accounts. The Company carries its accounts and notes receivable at their face amounts less an allowance for doubtful accounts. On a regular basis, the Company records an allowance for uncollectible receivables based upon known bad debt risks and past loss history, customer payment practices and economic conditions. Actual collection experience may differ from the current estimate of net receivables. A change to the allowance for doubtful accounts may be required if a future event or other change in circumstances results in a change in the estimate of the ultimate collectability of a specific account.
Inventories
Inventories. Inventories are valued at the lower of cost or net realizable value, with net realizable value equal to the estimated selling price less the estimated costs to transact. Approximately 51 percent and 54 percent of the Company's inventories were determined by the first-in, first-out method (FIFO) as of December 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022, respectively. Remaining inventories valued at the last-in, first-out method (LIFO) were $192.1 million and $170.6 million lower than the FIFO cost of inventories as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. Inventory cost includes material, labor and manufacturing overhead. There were no liquidations of LIFO inventory layers in 2023, 2022 or 2021.
Property
Property. Property, including major improvements and product tooling costs, is recorded at cost. Product tooling costs principally comprise the cost to acquire and construct various long-lived molds, dies and other tooling the Company uses in its manufacturing processes. Design and prototype development costs associated with product tooling are expensed as incurred. Maintenance and repair costs are also expensed as incurred. Depreciation is recorded over the estimated service lives of the related assets, principally using the straight-line method. Buildings and improvements are depreciated over a useful life of five to forty years. Equipment is depreciated over a useful life of two to twenty years. Product tooling costs are amortized over the shorter of the useful life of the tooling or the anticipated life of the applicable product, for a period up to eight years. The Company capitalizes interest on qualifying assets during the construction period and capitalized $2.7 million and $6.9 million in the periods ending December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. The Company presents capital expenditures on a cash basis within the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows. There were $34.1 million and $56.2 million of unpaid capital expenditures within Accounts payable as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. The Company includes gains and losses recognized on the sale and disposal of property in either Cost of sales, Selling, general and administrative expenses or Restructuring, exit and impairment charges as appropriate. The amount of gains and losses for the years ended December 31 were as follows:
(in millions) 2023 2022 2021
Gains on the sale of property $ 2.6  $ 3.5  $ 1.4 
Losses on the sale and disposal of property (1.4) (1.2) (0.9)
Net gains on sale and disposal of property $ 1.2  $ 2.3  $ 0.5 
Software Development Costs
Software Development Costs for Internal Use. The Company expenses all software development and implementation costs incurred until the Company has determined that the software will result in probable future economic benefit and management has committed to funding the project. Once this is determined, external direct costs of material and services, payroll-related costs of employees working on the project and related interest costs incurred during the application development stage are capitalized. These capitalized costs are amortized over three to seven years. All other related costs, including training costs and costs to re-engineer business processes, are expensed as incurred.
Equity Investments
Equity Investments. For investments in which the Company owns or controls from 20 percent to 50 percent of the voting shares, the Company uses the equity method of accounting. The Company's share of net earnings or losses from equity method investments is included in the Consolidated Statements of Operations. The Company carries other investments, for which the Company does not have the ability to exercise significant influence, at fair value, with changes in fair value recognized in net income. For equity investments that do not have a readily determinable fair value, the Company measures the investment at cost less impairment, plus or minus observable equity price changes. The Company periodically evaluates the carrying value of its investments. During the year ended December 31, 2023, the Company recorded an impairment charge of $19.2 million due to a decline in the fair value of its investment in TN-BC Holdings LLC (the Joint Venture), as a result of a reduction in value of certain of the Joint Venture's underlying investments. See Note 7 – Investments for further details about the Company's evaluation of the fair value of its investments.
Long-Lived Assets
Long-Lived Assets. The Company continually evaluates whether events and circumstances have occurred that indicate the remaining estimated useful lives of its definite-lived intangible assets and other long-lived assets may warrant revision or that the remaining balance of such assets may not be recoverable. Once an impairment indicator is identified, the Company tests for recoverability of the related asset group using an estimate of undiscounted cash flows over the asset group's remaining life. If an asset group's carrying value is not recoverable, the Company records an impairment loss based on the excess of the carrying value of the asset group over the long-lived asset group's fair value. Fair value is determined using observable inputs, including the use of appraisals from independent third parties, when available, and, when observable inputs are not available, based on the Company's assumptions of the data that market participants would use in pricing the asset, based on the best information available in the circumstances. Specifically, the Company uses discounted cash flows to determine the fair value of the asset when observable inputs are unavailable. The Company tested its long-lived asset balances for impairment as indicators arose during 2023, 2022 and 2021, resulting in impairment charges of $1.3 million, $1.5 million and $0.8 million, respectively, which are recognized either in Restructuring, exit and impairment charges or Selling, general and administrative expense in the Consolidated Statements of Operations.
Other Long-Term Assets
Other Long-Term Assets. Other long-term assets consists mainly of capitalized financing costs and deposits.
Revenue Recognition
Revenue Recognition. Revenue is recognized as performance obligations under the terms of contracts with customers are satisfied; this occurs when control of promised goods is transferred to the customer. The Company recognizes revenue related to the sale of extended warranty contracts that extend the coverage period beyond the standard warranty period over the life of the extended warranty period.

Revenue is measured as the amount of consideration the Company expects to be entitled to in exchange for transferring goods or providing services. The Company has excluded sales, value add and other taxes collected concurrent with revenue-producing activities from the determination of the transaction price for all contracts. The Company has elected to account for shipping and handling activities that occur after the customer has obtained control of a good as a fulfillment activity. For all contracts with customers, the Company has not adjusted the promised amount of consideration for the effects of a significant financing component as the period between the transfer of the promised goods and the customer's payment is expected to be one year or less.
For product sales, the Company transfers control and recognizes revenue at the time the product ships from a manufacturing or distribution facility ("free on board shipping point"), or at the time the product arrives at the customer's facility ("free on board destination"). When the shipping terms are "free on board shipping point", the customer obtains control and is able to direct the use of, and obtain substantially all of the benefits from, the products at the time the products are shipped. For shipments provided under "free on board destination", control transfers to the customer upon delivery. Payment terms vary but are generally due within 30 days of transferring control. For the Company's Boat and Propulsion segments, most product sales to dealers are wholesale financed through the Company's joint venture, Brunswick Acceptance Company, LLC (BAC), or other lending institutions, and payment is typically due in the month of shipment. For further information on the BAC joint venture, refer to Note 8 – Financing Joint Venture. In addition, periodically the Company may require the customer to provide upfront cash deposits in advance of performance.

The Company also sells separately priced, extended warranty contracts that extend the coverage period beyond the standard warranty period. When determining an appropriate allocation of the transaction price to the extended warranty performance obligation, the Company uses an observable price to determine the stand-alone selling price. Extended warranties typically range from an additional 1 to 3 years. The Company receives payment at the inception of the contract and recognizes revenue over the extended warranty coverage period. This time-elapsed method is used to measure progress because the Company, on average, satisfies its performance obligation evenly over the warranty period.

See Note 2 – Revenue Recognition for more information.
Advertising Costs
Advertising Costs. The Company records advertising and promotion costs in Selling, general and administrative expense in the Consolidated Statements of Operations in the period when the advertising first takes place. Advertising and promotion costs were $28.5 million, $39.9 million and $33.2 million for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively.
Foreign Currency Foreign Currency. The functional currency for the majority of Brunswick's operations is the U.S. dollar. All assets and liabilities of operations with a functional currency other than the U.S. dollar are translated at period-end currency exchange rates. The resulting translation adjustments are recorded in Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss). Revenues and expenses of operations with a functional currency other than the U.S. dollar are translated at the average exchange rates for the period. Transaction gains and losses resulting from changes in foreign currency exchange rates are recorded in either Cost of sales or Other income (expense), net in the Consolidated Statements of Operations.
Share-Based Compensation
Share-Based Compensation. The Company records amounts for all share-based compensation, including non-vested stock awards and performance-based share awards, over the vesting period in the Consolidated Statements of Operations based upon their fair values at the date of the grant. Share-based compensation costs are included in Selling, general and administrative expense in the Consolidated Statements of Operations. See Note 16 – Stock Plans and Management Compensation for a description of the Company's accounting for share-based compensation plans.
Research and Development Research and Development. Research and development costs are expensed as incurred.
Derivatives
Derivatives. The Company uses derivative financial instruments to manage its risk associated with movements in foreign currency exchange rates, interest rates and commodity prices. These instruments are used in accordance with guidelines established by the Company's management and are not used for trading or speculative purposes. The Company records all derivatives on the Consolidated Balance Sheets at fair value. See Note 12 – Financial Instruments for further discussion.
IT Security Incident. As previously announced on June 13, 2023, the Company experienced an IT security incident that impacted some of its systems and global facilities. The Company activated its response protocols, including pausing operations in some locations, engaging leading security experts and coordinating with relevant law enforcement agencies. Normal global business operations resumed over the course of nine days following the incident. While we were able to quickly restore our operations, the incident resulted in disruption to sales as well as non-recurring costs. We will attempt to recover a portion of the lost operating earnings from lost sales and non-recurring costs from our insurance carriers. Non-recurring costs include labor while plants were idle, IT-related costs and costs for legal, consulting and other professional services directly related to this incident. The Company incurred non-recurring costs related to the IT security incident of $10.1 million during the year ended December 31, 2023. A portion of the non-recurring costs are included in Cost of sales and a portion in Selling, general and administrative expense in the Consolidated Statements of Operations. We estimate the incident resulted in lost revenue of approximately $80 million to $85 million and operating earnings of $35 million to $40 million during the year ended December 31, 2023.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
Recently Adopted Accounting Standards

Supplier Finance Programs: In September 2022, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2022-04, Liabilities — Supplier Finance Programs (Subtopic 405-50): Disclosure of Supplier Finance Program Obligations, which adds disclosure requirements associated with participation in supplier finance programs. ASU 2022-04 requires the buyer in a supplier finance program to disclose qualitative and quantitative information about the program including key terms and obligations outstanding at the end of the reporting period. ASU 2022-04 is effective for financial statements for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2022. The Company adopted the guidance in ASU 2022-04 on January 1, 2023. For further information, refer to Note 20 – Supplier Finance Program Obligations.

Fair Value Hedge Accounting: In March 2022, the FASB issued ASU 2022-01, Fair Value Hedging — Portfolio Layer Method, which clarifies the guidance in ASC 815 on fair value hedge accounting of interest-rate risk for portfolios of financial assets. The ASU amends the guidance that established the “last-of-layer” method for making the fair value hedge accounting for these portfolios more accessible. The amendment was effective for financial statements for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2022. The adoption of this standard did not have a material impact on the Company's consolidated financial statements.

Revenue Contracts Acquired in Business Combinations: In October 2021, the FASB issued ASU 2021-08, Accounting for Contract Assets and Contract Liabilities From Contracts With Customers, which amended the guidance in Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) 805 to require that the acquirer recognize and measure contract assets and contract liabilities acquired in a business combination in accordance with ASC 606. The Company early adopted the guidance in ASU 2021-08 on July 2, 2022. The adoption of this standard did not have a material impact on the Company's consolidated financial statements.

Recently Issued Accounting Standards

Segment Reporting: In November 2023, the FASB issued ASU 2023-07, Segment Reporting (Topic 280) — Improvements to Reportable Segment Disclosures, which adds new disclosure requirements related to significant segment expenses regularly provided to the chief operating decision maker (CODM) and included in each reported measure of segment profit or loss, other segment items that constitute the difference between segment revenues less significant segment expenses and the measure of profit or loss, disclosure of the CODMs title and position as well as an explanation of how the CODM uses the reported measures and expanded interim disclosures. ASU 2023-07 is effective for financial statements for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2023 and interim periods within fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2024. We are currently evaluating the potential impact of adopting this guidance on the consolidated financial statements.
Income Taxes: In December 2023, the FASB issued ASU 2023-09, Income Taxes (Topic 740) — Improvements to Income Tax Disclosures. Under this ASU, entities must disclose, on an annual basis, specific categories in the rate reconciliation and provide additional information for reconciling items that meet a quantitative threshold. In addition, ASU 2023-09 requires entities to disclose additional information about income taxes paid. ASU 2023-09 is effective for financial statements for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2024. We are currently evaluating the potential impact of adopting this guidance on the consolidated financial statements.
Marketable Securities, Policy
Investments in Marketable Securities. The Company classifies investments in debt securities that are not considered to be cash equivalents as Short-term investments in marketable securities as discussed in Note 7 – Investments. Short-term investments in marketable securities have a stated maturity of twelve months or less from the balance sheet date. These securities are considered as available-for-sale and are reported at fair value. Unrealized gains and losses on these debt securities are recorded net of tax as a component of Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) in Unrealized investment gains (losses) within Shareholders' equity. Declines in market value from the original cost deemed to be "other-than-temporary" are charged to Other income (expense), net in the Consolidated Statements of Operations in the period in which the loss occurs. The Company considers both the duration and extent of which a decline in value has occurred in its determination of whether a decline in value has been "other-than-temporary." Realized gains and losses are calculated based on the specific identification method and are included in Other income (expense), net in the Consolidated Statements of Operations.