WATERS CORP /DE/WAT
WATERS CORP /DE/ New Standards Disclosure
Recently Adopted Accounting Standards
In
November 2023
, accounting guidance was issued that requires additional disclosures of reportable segment information. The guidance requires that public entities disclose, on an annual and interim basis
(1) significant
segment expenses that are regularly provided to the chief operating decision maker (“CODM”) and included within each reported measure of segment profit or loss,
(2) an amount for other segment items by reportable segment and a description of its composition (the other segment items category is the difference between segment revenue less the segment expenses disclosed under the significant expense principle and each reported measure of segment profit or loss),
(3) provide all annual disclosures about a reportable segment’s profit or loss and assets currently required by Topic
280 in interim periods,
(4) clarify that if the CODM uses more than
one measure of a segment’s profit or loss in assessing segment performance and deciding how to allocate resources, a public entity may report
one or more of those additional measures of segment profit. However, at least
one of the reported segment profit or loss measures (or the single reported measure, if only
one is disclosed) should be the measure that is most consistent with the measurement principles used in measuring the corresponding amounts in the public entity’s consolidated financial statements,
(5) the title and position of the CODM and an explanation of how the CODM uses the reported measure(s) of segment
profit or loss in assessing segment performance and deciding how
The Company adopted this accounting standard update for the year ended December 31, 2024.
In December 2023, accounting guidance was issued to enhance the transparency and decision usefulness of income tax disclosures. The amendments in this update change disclosure requirements related to the rate reconciliation, income taxes paid and other disclosures. For the rate reconciliation the amendments require that public business entities on an annual basis (1) disclose specific categories in the rate reconciliation and (2) provide additional information for reconciling items that meet a quantitative threshold. For income taxes paid the amendments require that all entities disclose on an annual basis the following information; (1) the amount of income taxes paid (net of refunds received) disaggregated by federal (national), state, and foreign taxes, (2) the amount of income taxes paid (net of refunds received) disaggregated by individual jurisdictions in which income taxes paid (net of refunds received) is equal to or greater than 5 percent of total income taxes paid (net of refunds received). Finally, for other disclosures the amendments require that all entities disclose the following information: (1) income (or loss) from continuing operations before income tax expense (or benefit) disaggregated between domestic and foreign, and (2) income tax expense (or benefit) from continuing operations disaggregated by federal (national), state, and foreign. This update also eliminates the requirement for all entities to (1) disclose the nature and estimate of the range of the reasonably possible change in the unrecognized tax benefits balance in the next 12 months or (2) make a statement that an estimate of the range cannot be made. As well as removing the requirement to disclose the cumulative amount of each type of temporary difference when a deferred tax liability is not recognized because of the exceptions to comprehensive recognition of deferred taxes related to subsidiaries and corporate joint ventures. The amendments in this update are effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2024.
Early adoption is permitted for annual financial statements that have not yet been issued or made available for issuance. The amendments in this update should be applied on a prospective basis and retrospective application is permitted. The Company has adopted this accounting standard update on a prospective basis and included the disclosures in Note
9 “Income Taxes”. Recently Issued Accounting Standards
In November 2024, accounting guidance was issued to improve disclosures of expenses and address requests from investors for more detailed information about the types of expenses (including purchases of inventory,
employee compensation, depreciation, amortization, and deplet
ion)
in commonly presented expense captions (such as cost of sales, SG&A, and research and development). This incremental information will allow investors to better understand the components of an entity’s expenses, make their own judgements about the entity’s performance, and more accurately forecast expenses which will allow investors to better assess an entity’s prospects for future cash flows. The amendments in this update require disclosure, in the notes to the financial statements, of specified information about certain costs and expenses. The amendments require that at each interim and annual reporting period an entity (1) disclose the amounts of (a) purchases of inventory, (b) employee compensation, (c) depreciation, (d) intangible asset amortization included in each relevant expense caption. A relevant expense caption is an expense caption presented on the face of the income statement within continuing operations that contains any of the expense categories listed in (a)–(d), (2) include certain amounts that are already required to be disclosed under current generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) in the same disclosure as the other disaggregation requirements, (3) disclose a qualitative description of the amounts remaining in relevant expense captions that are not separately disaggregated quantitatively, (4) disclose the total amount of selling expenses and, in annual reporting periods, an entity’s definition of selling expenses. The amendments in this update are effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2026, and interim reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2027. Early adoption is permitted. The amendments in this update should be applied either (1) prospectively to financial statements issued for reporting periods after the effective date of this update or (2) retrospectively to any or all prior periods presented in the financial statements. The Company does not believe this accounting standard update will have a material impact on the Company’s financial position, results of operations and cash flows. The Company is currently evaluating the impact the adoption of this accounting standard update will have on our footnote disclosures. In September 2025, accounting guidance was issued to amend the existing guidance for accounting for software costs to reflect current software development practices, including iterative and agile methodologies, by removing references to development stages. Under the new standard, entities will begin to capitalize eligible software costs when (i) management has authorized and committed to funding the software project, and (ii) it is probable that the project will be completed and the software will be used to perform the function intended. The amendments in this standard are effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2027, including interim periods within those annual reporting periods. Early adoption is permitted. The amendments may be applied either prospectively, retrospectively, or utilizing a modified transition approach. The Company is currently evaluating the impact the adoption of this accounting standard update will have on our consolidated financial statements and footnote disclosures.
In November 2025, accounting guidance was issued, which includes amendments to more closely align hedge accounting with the economics of an entity’s risk management activities. The amendment enables entities to apply hedge accounting to a greater number of highly effective economic hedges in the following five areas: (1) similar risk assessment for cash flow hedges, (2) hedging forecasted interest payments on choose-your-rate debt instruments, (3) cash flow hedges of nonfinancial forecasted transactions, (4) net written options as hedging instruments, and (5) foreign-currency-denominated debt instrument as hedging instrument and hedged item (dual hedge). The amendments are effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2027, including interim periods within those annual reporting periods. Early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact the adoption of this accounting standard update will have on our consolidated financial statements and footnote disclosures.
Historical Timeline
| Fiscal Year | Filed | |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Feb 23, 2026 | Showing above |
| 2024 | Feb 25, 2025 | |
| 2023 | Feb 27, 2024 | |
| 2022 | Feb 27, 2023 | |
| 2021 | Feb 24, 2022 | |
| 2020 | Feb 24, 2021 | |
| 2019 | Feb 25, 2020 | |
| 2018 | Feb 26, 2019 | |
| 2017 | Feb 27, 2018 | |
| 2016 | Feb 24, 2017 | |
| 2015 | Feb 26, 2016 | |
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.