Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

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Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2021
Accounting Policies [Abstract]  
Summary of Significant Accounting Policies Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
 
Basis of Presentation
 
The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of COPT, the Operating Partnership, their subsidiaries and other entities in which COPT has a majority voting interest and control.  We also consolidate certain entities when control of such entities can be achieved through means other than voting rights (“variable interest entities” or “VIEs”) if we are deemed to be the primary beneficiary of such entities.  We eliminate all intercompany balances and transactions in consolidation.

We use the equity method of accounting when we own an interest in an entity and can exert significant influence over but cannot control the entity’s operations. We discontinue equity method accounting if our investment in an entity (and net advances) is reduced to zero unless we have guaranteed obligations of the entity or are otherwise committed to provide further financial support for the entity.
 
When we own an equity investment in an entity and cannot exert significant influence over its operations, we measure the investment at fair value, with changes recognized through net income. For an investment without a readily determinable fair value, we measure the investment at cost, less any impairments, plus or minus changes resulting from observable price changes for an identical or similar investment of the same issuer.

These interim financial statements should be read together with the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto as
of and for the year ended December 31, 2020 included in the Company’s and Operating Partnership’s 2020 Annual Report on Form 10-K.  The unaudited consolidated financial statements include all adjustments that are necessary, in the opinion of management, to fairly state our financial position and results of operations.  All adjustments are of a normal recurring nature.  The consolidated financial statements have been prepared using the accounting policies described in the Company’s and Operating Partnership’s 2020 Annual Report on Form 10-K as updated for our adoption of recent accounting pronouncements discussed below.
Reclassification

We reclassified certain amounts from the prior period to conform to the current period presentation of our consolidated financial statements with no effect on previously reported net income or equity.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements
In March 2020, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued guidance containing practical expedients for reference rate reform related activities pertaining to debt, leases, derivatives and other contracts. The guidance is optional and may be elected over time as reference rate reform activities occur. In 2020, we elected to apply an expedient to treat any changes in loans resulting from reference rate reform as debt modifications (as opposed to extinguishments) and hedge accounting expedients related to probability and the assessments of effectiveness for future LIBOR-indexed cash flows to assume that the index upon which future hedged transactions will be based matches the index on the corresponding derivatives. Application of the hedge accounting expedients preserves the presentation of derivatives consistent with past presentation. We will continue to evaluate the impact of this guidance and may apply other elections as applicable as additional changes in the market occur.