Organization, Basis of Presentation and Significant Accounting Policies |
3 Months Ended |
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Mar. 31, 2018 | |
| Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract] | |
| Organization, Basis of Presentation and Significant Accounting Policies |
Organization, Basis of Presentation and Significant Accounting Policies
Gladstone Commercial Corporation is a real estate investment trust (“REIT”) that was incorporated under the General Corporation Law of the State of Maryland on February 14, 2003. We focus on acquiring, owning and managing primarily office and industrial properties. On a selective basis, we may make long term industrial and commercial mortgage loans; however, we do not have any mortgage loans currently outstanding. Subject to certain restrictions and limitations, our business is managed by Gladstone Management Corporation, a Delaware corporation (the "Adviser"), and administrative services are provided by Gladstone Administration, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (the "Administrator"), each pursuant to a contractual arrangement with us. Our Adviser and Administrator collectively employ all of our personnel and pay their salaries, benefits, and general expenses directly. Gladstone Commercial Corporation conducts substantially all of its operations through a subsidiary, Gladstone Commercial Limited Partnership, a Delaware limited partnership (the "Operating Partnership").
All further references herein to “we,” “our,” “us” and the "Company" mean Gladstone Commercial Corporation and its consolidated subsidiaries, except where it is made clear that the term means only Gladstone Commercial Corporation.
Interim Financial Information
Our interim financial statements are prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP") for interim financial information and pursuant to the requirements for reporting on Form 10-Q and in accordance with Article 10 of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, certain disclosures accompanying annual financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP are omitted. The year-end balance sheet data presented herein was derived from audited financial statements, but does not include all disclosures required by GAAP. In the opinion of our management, all adjustments, consisting solely of normal recurring accruals, necessary for the fair statement of financial statements for the interim period, have been included. The interim financial statements and notes thereto should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and notes thereto included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017, as filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on February 14, 2018. The results of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2018 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for other interim periods or for the full fiscal year.
Use of Estimates
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting periods. Actual results could materially differ from those estimates.
Critical Accounting Policies
In preparation of our financial statements in accordance with GAAP, we apply certain critical accounting policies which require management to make judgments that are subjective in nature to make certain estimates and assumptions. Application of our accounting policies involves the exercise of judgment regarding the use of assumptions as to future uncertainties, and as a result, actual results could materially differ from these estimates. A summary of all of our significant accounting policies is provided in Note 1 to our consolidated financial statements included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017. There were no material changes to our critical accounting policies during the three months ended March 31, 2018.
Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements
In May 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") issued guidance regarding the recognition of revenue from contracts with customers. Under this guidance, an entity will recognize revenue to depict the transfer of 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. This guidance also requires improved disclosures regarding the nature, amount, timing and uncertainty of revenue and cash flows arising from contracts with customers. We adopted this guidance for our annual and interim periods beginning January 1, 2018 and will use the modified retrospective method, under which the cumulative effect of initially applying the guidance is recognized at the date of initial application. Our adoption of this guidance did not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements. Further, as discussed below, once the new guidance regarding the principles for the recognition measurement, presentation and disclosure of leases goes into effect on January 1, 2019, we expect the new revenue standard will apply to executory costs and other components of revenue due under leases that are deemed to be non-lease components (examples include common area maintenance and provision of utilities), even when the revenue for such activities is not separately stipulated in the lease. Revenue from these non-lease components, which were previously recognized on a straight-line basis under current lease guidance, would be recognized under the new revenue guidance as the related services are delivered. As a result, while our total revenue recognized over the lease term would not differ under the new guidance, the revenue recognition pattern could be different. We are currently evaluating the impact of revenue recognition from the adoption of the lease standard on our consolidated financial statements.
In February 2016, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update ("ASU") 2016-02, “Leases: Amendments to the FASB Accounting Standards Codification” (“ASU 2016-02”). The new standard requires lessees to apply a dual approach, classifying leases as either finance or operating leases based on the principle of whether or not the lease is effectively a financed purchase of the leased asset by the lessee. This classification will determine whether lease expense is recognized based on an effective interest method or on a straight line basis over the term of the lease, respectively. A lessee is also required to record a right-of-use asset and a lease liability for all leases with a term of greater than 12 months regardless of their classification. Leases with a term of 12 months or less will be accounted for similar to existing guidance for operating leases today. The new standard requires lessors to account for leases using an approach that is substantially equivalent to existing guidance for sales-type leases, direct financing leases and operating leases. We are evaluating the adoption of ASU 2016-02, but we expect the standard to minimally impact our consolidated financial statements as we currently have four operating ground lease arrangements with terms greater than one year for which we are the lessee, and we don't expect the purchase of properties with ground leases to be crucial to our acquisition strategy. We also expect our general and administrative expense to increase as the new standard requires us to expense non-incremental leasing costs that were previously capitalized to leasing commissions. ASU 2016-02 supersedes the previous leases standard, ASC 840 "Leases." The standard is effective on January 1, 2019, with early adoption permitted. We will adopt using the modified retrospective method, under which the cumulative effect of initially applying the guidance is recognized at the date of initial application.
In August 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-15, "Statement of Cash Flows (Topic 230): Classification of Certain Cash Receipts and Cash Payments (a consensus of the Emerging Issues Task Force)," which clarifies how entities should classify certain cash receipts and cash payments on the statement of cash flows with the objective of reducing the existing diversity in practice related to eight specific cash flow issues. The areas addressed in the new guidance relate to debt prepayment costs, settlement of zero-coupon debt instruments, contingent consideration payments made after a business combination, proceeds from the settlement of insurance claims, proceeds from the settlement of corporate-owned and bank-owned life insurance policies, distributions received from equity method investments, beneficial interest in securitization transactions and separately identifiable cash flows and application of the predominance principle. We adopted this guidance for the calendar year beginning January 1, 2018, and the standard requires retrospective adoption. The adoption of this guidance did not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements, as we have not historically completed transactions contemplated in this update.
In November 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-18, "Statement of Cash Flows (Topic 230): Restricted Cash (a consensus of the FASB Emerging Issues Task Force)," which requires the statement of cash flows to explain the change during the period in the total of cash, cash equivalents and amounts described as restricted cash or restricted cash equivalents. Under the new guidance, amounts described as restricted cash and restricted cash equivalents will 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. We adopted this guidance for the calendar year beginning January 1, 2018, and the standard requires retrospective adoption. We do not expect the adoption of this guidance to have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.
In February 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-05 to provide guidance for recognizing gains and losses from the transfer of nonfinancial assets and in-substance non-financial assets in contracts with non-customers, unless other specific guidance applies. The standard requires a company to de-recognize nonfinancial assets once it transfers control of a distinct nonfinancial asset or distinct in substance nonfinancial asset. Additionally, when a company transfers its controlling interest in a nonfinancial asset, but retains a noncontrolling ownership interest, the company is required to measure any non-controlling interest it receives or retains at fair value. The guidance requires companies to recognize a full gain or loss on the transaction. As a result of the new guidance, the guidance specific to real estate sales in ASC 360-20 will be eliminated, and partial sales of real estate assets will now be subject to the same de-recognition model as all other nonfinancial assets. We adopted this guidance for the calendar year beginning January 1, 2018, and the standard requires retrospective adoption. We do not expect the adoption of this guidance to have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements, as we typically complete fee simple sales, with no continuing involvement.
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