An enterprise looks to its internal financial reporting system as the starting point for identifying those items that can be directly attributed, or reasonably allocated, to segments. There is thus a presumption that amounts that have been identified with segments for internal financial reporting purposes are directly attributable or reasonably allocable to segments for the purpose of measuring the segment revenue, segment expense, segment assets, and segment liabilities of reportable segments.
In some cases, however, a revenue, expense, asset or liability may have been allocated to segments for internal financial reporting purposes on a basis that is understood by enterprise management but that could be deemed arbitrary in the perception of external users of financial statements. On the contrary, an enterprise may decide not to allocate some entry of revenue, expense, asset or liability for internal financial reporting purposes, even though a reasonable basis for doing so exists. Such an item is allocated pursuant to the definitions of segment revenue, segment expense, segment assets, and segment liabilities in this Statement. Segment revenue, segment expense, segment assets and segment liabilities are determined before intra-enterprise balances and intra-enterprise transactions are eliminated as part of the process of preparation of enterprise financial statements, except to the extent that such intra-enterprise balances and transactions are within a single segment. While the accounting policies used in preparing and presenting the financial statements of the enterprise as a whole are also the fundamental segment accounting policies, segment accounting policies include, in addition, policies that relate specifically to segment reporting, such as identification of segments, method of pricing inter-segment transfers, and basis for allocating revenues and expenses to segments.
