MOODYS CORP /DE/MCO
MOODYS CORP /DE/ New Standards Disclosure
Adoption of New Accounting Standards in 2025
In December 2023, the FASB issued ASU 2023-09, "Income Taxes (Topic 740): Improvements to Income Tax Disclosures" ("ASU No. 2023-09"), which is intended to enhance the transparency and decision usefulness of income tax disclosures. The amendments in ASU No. 2023-09 require entities to disclose additional income tax information, primarily related to greater disaggregation of the entity's ETR reconciliation and income taxes paid by jurisdiction disclosures. This ASU is effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2024, and should be applied on a prospective basis; however, retrospective application is permitted. The Company adopted this ASU retrospectively for all periods presented with the new required disclosures presented in Note 15.
In July 2025, the FASB issued ASU 2025-05, "Financial Instruments—Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses for Accounts Receivable and Contract Assets", which amends Topic 326 to provide a practical expedient and an accounting policy election related to the estimation of expected credit losses for current accounts receivable and current contract assets that arise from transactions accounted for under ASC 606. Specifically, in developing reasonable and supportable forecasts as part of estimating expected credit losses on accounts receivable, entities may elect a practical expedient that assumes that current conditions as of the balance sheet date do not change for the remaining life of the asset. This ASU is effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2025, and interim reporting periods within those annual reporting periods, with early adoption permitted. The Company early adopted this ASU in the fourth quarter of 2025, and applied it prospectively as of January 1, 2025, in accordance with the transition provisions for early adoption. The adoption of this ASU did not have a material impact on the financial statements.
Reclassification of Previously Reported Transaction and Recurring Revenue
In the first quarter of 2025, the Company reclassified certain prior-year transaction and recurring revenue amounts to align with a refined classification methodology. The impact of the reclassifications was not material, and the reclassified amounts for 2024 and 2023 are reflected in Note 3.
Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements
In November 2024, the FASB issued ASU 2024-03, "Income Statement—Reporting Comprehensive Income—Expense Disaggregation Disclosures (Subtopic 220-40): Disaggregation of Income Statement Expenses" ("ASU No. 2024-03"). The amendments in this ASU require more detailed disclosures about specific expense categories in the notes to financial statements (including employee compensation, depreciation and intangible asset amortization) and apply to both interim and annual reporting periods. ASU No. 2024-03 also requires disclosure of total selling expenses for both interim and annual reporting periods, with an additional requirement to provide an entity’s definition of selling expenses in annual reporting. This ASU is effective in fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2026, and interim periods within fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2027. Early adoption is permitted. The amendments in this ASU should be applied either (1) prospectively for annual and interim reporting periods beginning after the aforementioned effective dates or (2) retrospectively to any or all prior periods presented in the financial statements. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of adopting this ASU on its consolidated financial statements and disclosures.
In September 2025, the FASB issued ASU 2025-06 "Intangibles—Goodwill and Other—Internal-Use Software (Subtopic 350-40): Targeted Improvements to the Accounting for Internal-Use Software" ("ASU No. 2025-06"). This ASU eliminates prescriptive software development stages and requires capitalization of software costs when (1) management commits to funding the project, and (2) completion and intended use are probable, with consideration to when significant uncertainty associated with the development activities of the software no longer exists. This ASU also clarifies the disclosure requirements for internal-use software costs and supersedes prior guidance on website development costs. This ASU is effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2027, with early adoption permitted. Entities may transition using prospective, modified prospective, or retrospective approaches. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of adopting this ASU on its consolidated financial statements and disclosures.
Historical Timeline
| Fiscal Year | Filed | |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Feb 18, 2026 | Showing above |
| 2024 | Feb 14, 2025 | |
| 2023 | Feb 14, 2024 | |
| 2022 | Feb 15, 2023 | |
| 2021 | Feb 22, 2022 | |
| 2020 | Feb 22, 2021 | |
| 2019 | Feb 24, 2020 | |
| 2018 | Feb 25, 2019 | |
About New Standards Disclosures
New accounting standards disclosures describe recently adopted pronouncements and those not yet effective, along with management's assessment of their expected impact. This section provides an early warning system for upcoming changes to how a company reports its financial results, often years before the new rules take effect.
Key signals: when management describes a not-yet-adopted standard's impact as "material" or "still being evaluated," it signals potential significant changes to reported metrics upon adoption. Watch for standards that affect a company's core operations — for example, revenue recognition changes for software companies or lease accounting changes for retailers with large store footprints. The transition method chosen (full retrospective versus modified retrospective) affects comparability with prior periods. Companies that delay adoption to the latest permitted date may be struggling with implementation complexity. Compare the disclosed impact assessments against peers in the same industry to gauge whether management's expectations are reasonable.