NOTE 2: SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES 

Accounting Methods

The Company’s financial statements are prepared using the accrual method in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles in the United State of America (“GAAP”).

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 on contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

Revenue Recognition

The Company applies the provisions of Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 605 Revenue Recognition (ASC 605) which provides guidance on the recognition, presentation, and disclosure of revenue in financial statements filed with the SEC. ASC 605 outlines the basic criteria that must be met to recognize revenue and provides guidance for disclosure related to revenue recognition policies. In general, the Company recognizes revenue when (i) persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists, (ii) delivery has occurred or services have been rendered, (iii) the fee is fixed or determinable, and (iv) collectability is reasonably assured.

The Company generated revenue in 2012 related to license fees received for the use of its technology. The license fee revenue requires no continuing performance on the Company’s part and is recognized upon receipt of the licensing fee and grant of the license.

During 2012, the Company granted a 25-year technology license agreement for a one-time license fee of $750,000. The first installment of the license fee of $375,000 has been collected pursuant to the signing of a coal testing plant construction contract and the balance of $375,000 will be due upon the successful testing of the coal testing plant, estimated to be in the third quarter of 2017. In addition, under the technology license agreement, the Company will receive an on-going royalty fee of $1 per metric ton on all coal processed using the technology, up to $4,000,000 per annum. No revenue has been earned in 2016 or 2015.

Net Loss per Common Share

Basic net loss per share is computed on the basis of the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during each year. Diluted net loss per share is computed similar to basic net loss per share except that the denominator is increased to include the number of additional common shares that would have been outstanding if the potential common shares had been issued and if the additional common shares were dilutive. The Company uses the "if-converted" method for calculating the earnings per share impact of outstanding convertible debentures, whereby the securities are assumed converted and an earnings per incremental share is computed. Options, warrants and their equivalents are included in EPS calculations through the treasury stock method. In periods where losses are reported, the weighted-average number of common stock outstanding excludes common stock equivalents, because their inclusion would be anti-dilutive.

The total number of potential additional dilutive instruments outstanding for the year ended December 31, 2015 was none since the Company had a net loss. As of December 31, 2016, the Company had 27,731,475 underlying shares related to unexercised warrants and 80,575,297 potential common shares under convertible debentures which were included in the calculation of diluted income per common share.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

Clean Coal considers all highly liquid investments with an original maturity of three months or less to be cash equivalents for purposes of preparing its Statements of Cash Flows.

Fair Value of Financial Instruments

The fair values of the Company’s financial instruments including cash, accounts payable, accrued expenses, convertible debt and notes payable approximate their carrying amounts because of the short maturities of these instruments.

Federal Income Tax

Clean Coal files income tax returns in the U.S. federal jurisdiction, and the state of Nevada. Clean Coal’s policy is to recognize interest accrued related to unrecognized tax benefits in interest expense and penalties in operating expenses. 

Deferred taxes are provided on a liability method whereby deferred tax assets are recognized for deductible temporary differences and operating loss and tax credit carry forwards and deferred tax liabilities are recognized for taxable temporary differences. Temporary differences are the differences between the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and their tax bases. Deferred tax assets are reduced by a valuation allowance when, in the opinion of management, it is more likely than not that some portion or all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are adjusted for the effects of changes in tax laws and rates on the date of enactment. 

Net deferred tax assets consist of the following components as of December 31, 2016 and 2015:

The federal income tax provision differs from the amount of income tax determined by applying the U.S. federal income tax rate of 35% to pretax income from continuing operations for the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2015 due to the following:

The Company had net operating losses of approximately $28,000,000 that begin to expire in 2026.  Due to the change in ownership provisions of the Tax Reform Act of 1986, net operating loss carryforwards for Federal income tax reporting purposes are subject to annual limitations. Should a change in ownership occur, net operating loss carryforwards may be limited as to use in future years. In accordance with the statute of limitations for federal tax returns, the Company’s federal tax returns for the years 2013 through 2016 are subject to examination.

Property and Equipment 

Property and equipment consists of furniture and fixtures and computer equipment, recorded at cost, depreciated upon placement in service over estimated useful lives ranging from three to five years on a straight-line basis. As of December 31, 2016 and 2015, Clean Coal had property and equipment with no net book value. Expenditures for normal repairs and maintenance are charged to expense as incurred.

Construction in Process

Construction in progress is stated at cost, which includes the costs of construction and other direct costs attributable to the construction. No provision for depreciation is made on construction in progress until such time as the relevant assets are completed and put into use. Interest on the borrowings related to construction is capitalized in accordance with ASC 835-20 Capitalization of Interest. During the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2015, $0 and $172,203 of interest was capitalized, respectively. The construction in progress asset was fully impaired during 2015 resulting in a loss of $5,970,319.

Impairment of Long Lived Assets 

In the event facts and circumstances indicate the carrying value of a long-lived asset, including associated intangibles, may be impaired, an evaluation of recoverability is performed by comparing the estimated future undiscounted cash flows associated with the asset to the asset’s carrying amount to determine if a write-down to market value or discounted cash flow is required.

During the year ended December 31, 2015, the Company recognized a full impairment expense of $5,970,319 on the development of its test facility due to the lack of revenue generation and uncertainty as to future revenue generation.

Research and Development Costs

Research and development expenses include salaries, related employee expenses, research expenses and consulting fees. All costs for research and development activities are expensed as incurred. Clean Coal expenses the costs of licenses of patents and the prosecution of patents until the issuance of such patents and the commercialization of related products is reasonably assured. During the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2015, the Company recognized $1,674,823 and $0 of research and development costs, respectively.

Stock-based Compensation

FASB ASC 718 established financial accounting and reporting standards for stock-based employee compensation plans. It defines a fair value based method of accounting for an employee stock option or similar equity instrument. Clean Coal accounts for stock-based compensation to employees in accordance with FASB ASC 718. Clean Coal accounts for share based payments to non-employees in accordance with FASB ASC 505-50.

Fair Value of Financial Instruments  

ASC 820, Fair Value Measurements (ASC 820) and ASC 825, Financial Instruments (ASC 825), requires an entity to maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs when measuring fair value. It establishes a fair value hierarchy based on the level of independent, objective evidence surrounding the inputs used to measure fair value. A financial instrument’s categorization within the fair value hierarchy is based upon the lowest level of input that is significant to the fair value measurement. It prioritizes the inputs into three levels that may be used to measure fair value:

Level 1 - Level 1 applies to assets or liabilities for which there are quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities.

Level 2 - Level 2 applies to assets or liabilities for which there are inputs other than quoted prices that are observable for the asset or liability such as quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities in active markets; quoted prices for identical assets or liabilities in markets with insufficient volume or infrequent transactions (less active markets); or model-derived valuations in which significant inputs are observable or can be derived principally from, or corroborated by, observable market data.

Level 3 - Level 3 applies to assets or liabilities for which there are unobservable inputs to the valuation methodology that are significant to the measurement of the fair value of the assets or liabilities.

The carrying values of cash, accounts payable, and accrued liabilities approximate fair value. Pursuant to ASC 820 and 825, the fair value of cash is determined based on “Level 1” inputs, which consist of quoted prices in active markets for identical assets. The recorded values of all other financial instruments approximate their current fair values because of their nature and respective maturity dates or durations.

The following table sets forth by level within the fair value hierarchy the Company’s financial assets and liabilities that are measured at fair value on a recurring basis at December 31, 2016 and 2015:

Derivative Instruments

The Company accounts for derivative instruments in accordance with ASC Topic 815, Derivatives and Hedging (ASC 815) and all derivative instruments are reflected as either assets or liabilities at fair value in the consolidated balance sheet.

The Company uses estimates of fair value to value its derivative instruments. Fair value is defined as the price to sell an asset or transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between willing and able market participants. In general, The Company’s policy in estimating fair values is to first look at observable market prices for identical assets and liabilities in active markets, where available. When these are not available, other inputs are used to model fair value such as prices of similar instruments, yield curves, volatilities, prepayment speeds, default rates and credit spreads (including for The Company’s liabilities), relying first on observable data from active markets. Additional adjustments may be made for factors including liquidity, credit, bid/offer spreads, etc., depending on current market conditions. Transaction costs are not included in the determination of fair value. When possible, The Company seeks to validate the model’s output to market transactions. Depending on the availability of observable inputs and prices, different valuation models could produce materially different fair value estimates. The values presented may not represent future fair values and may not be realizable. The Company categorizes its fair value estimates in accordance with ASC 820 based on the hierarchical framework associated with the three levels of price transparency utilized in measuring financial instruments at fair value as discussed above. As of December 31, 2016 and 2015, the Company had $18,028,611 and $70,004,318 in derivative liabilities, respectively.

Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements

The Company has implemented all new accounting pronouncements that are in effect and that may impact its financial statements. During the year ended December 31, 2016, the Company adopted FASB Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2015-03 “Interest – Imputation of Interest (Subtopic 835-30)”, which was issued April 2015 and adopted by the Company for the year ended December 31, 2015. In accordance with ASU 2015-03, the Company presents debt issuance costs related to a recognized debt liability in the balance sheet as a direct deduction from the carrying amount of that debt liability.