period beginning after June 15, 2003. While we do not believe the adoption of this Statement will have a material impact on our financial statements, we continue to assess the impact this Statement will have on certain of our share repurchase programs. 

 

APPLICATION OF CRITICAL ACCOUNTING POLICIES 

 

Our financial statements and accompanying notes are prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Preparing financial statements requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenue, and expenses. These estimates and assumptions are affected by management’s application of accounting policies. Critical accounting policies for us include revenue recognition, impairment of investment securities, impairment of goodwill, accounting for research and development costs, accounting for legal contingencies, and accounting for income taxes. 

We account for the licensing of software in accordance with American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Statement of Position (SOP) 97-2, Software Revenue Recognition. The application of SOP 97-2 requires judgment, including whether a software arrangement includes multiple elements, and if so, whether vendor-specific objective evidence (VSOE) of fair value exists for those elements. End users receive certain elements of our products over a period of time. These elements include free post-delivery telephone support and the right to receive unspecified upgrades/enhancements of Microsoft Internet Explorer on a when-and-if-available basis, the fair value of which is recognized over the product’s estimated life cycle. Changes to the elements in a software arrangement, the ability to identify VSOE for those elements, the fair value of the respective elements, and changes to a product’s estimated life cycle could materially impact the amount of earned and unearned revenue. Judgment is also required to assess whether future releases of certain software represent new products or upgrades and enhancements to existing products. 

SFAS 115, Accounting for Certain Investments in Debt and Equity Securities, and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Staff Accounting Bulletin (SAB) 59, Accounting for Noncurrent Marketable Equity Securities, provide guidance on determining when an investment is other-than-temporarily impaired. This determination requires significant judgment. In making this judgment, we evaluate, among other factors, the duration and extent to which the fair value of an investment is less than its cost; the financial health of and near-term business outlook for the investee, including factors such as industry and sector performance, changes in technology, and operational and financing cash flow; and our intent and ability to hold the investment. 

SFAS 142, Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets, requires that goodwill be tested for impairment at the reporting unit level (operating segment or one level below an operating segment) on an annual basis (July 1st for Microsoft) and between annual tests in certain circumstances. Application of the goodwill impairment test requires judgment, including the identification of reporting units,