SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (Policies) |
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Dec. 31, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Accounting Policies [Abstract] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Basis of Consolidation |
Basis of Consolidation
The consolidated financial statements of Starco Brands, Inc. include the accounts of STCB, our wholly owned subsidiary AOS, our wholly owned subsidiary Skylar, our wholly owned subsidiary Soylent, and our 85% owned subsidiary Whipshots and its wholly owned subsidiaries, which are comprised of voting interest entities in which we have a controlling financial interest in accordance with ASC 810, Consolidation. All significant intercompany profits, losses, transactions and balances have been eliminated in consolidation in the consolidated financial statements.
Our consolidated subsidiaries at December 31, 2023 include: AOS, Skylar, Soylent, Whipshots Holdings and its wholly owned subsidiary Whipshots LLC. Intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated upon consolidation.
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| Basis of Presentation |
Basis of Presentation
The Company’s consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”). The accompanying consolidated financial statements reflect all adjustments, consisting of only normal recurring items, which, in the opinion of management, are necessary for a fair statement of the results of operations for the periods shown. These consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the related notes.
The summary of significant accounting policies presented below is designed to assist in understanding the Company’s consolidated financial statements. Such consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes are the representation of the Company’s management, who is responsible for their integrity and objectivity.
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| Use of Estimates |
Use of Estimates
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and equity-based transactions at the date of the financial statements and the revenues and expenses during the reporting period. The Company bases its estimates and assumptions on current facts, historical experience, and various other factors that it believes to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities and the accrual of costs and expenses that are not readily apparent from other sources. The actual results experienced by the Company may differ materially and adversely from the Company’s estimates. To the extent there are material differences between the estimates and the actual results, future results of operations will be affected.
The Company believes the following critical accounting policies affect its more significant judgments and estimates used in the preparation of the consolidated financial statements. Significant estimates include the timing for revenue recognition, testing goodwill for impairment, recoverability of long-lived assets, income taxes, fair value of contributed services, and assumptions used in the Black-Scholes valuation methods, such as expected volatility, risk-free interest rate and expected dividend rate.
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| Concentrations of Credit Risk |
Concentrations of Credit Risk
We maintain our cash in bank deposit accounts, the balances of which at times may exceed federally insured limits. We continually monitor our banking relationships and consequently have not experienced any losses in our accounts. We believe we are not exposed to any significant credit risk on cash.
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| Cash Equivalents |
Cash Equivalents
The Company considers all highly liquid investments with a maturity of three months or less when purchased to be cash equivalents. There were no cash equivalents for the year ended December 31, 2023 or 2022.
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| Accounts Receivable |
Accounts Receivable
We measure accounts receivable at net realizable value. This value includes an appropriate allowance for credit losses to present the net amount expected to be collected on the financial asset. We calculate the allowance for credit losses based on available relevant information, in addition to historical loss information, the level of past-due accounts based on the contractual terms of the receivables, and our relationships with, and the economic status of, our partners and customers. The allowance for uncollectible amounts is evaluated quarterly, which is $350,112 and zero as of December 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022.
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| Fair Value of Financial Instruments |
Fair Value of Financial Instruments
The Company follows paragraph 825-10-50-10 of the FASB Accounting Standards Codification for disclosures about fair value of its financial instruments and paragraph 820-10-35-37 of the FASB Accounting Standards Codification (“Paragraph 820-10-35-37”) to measure the fair value of its financial instruments. Paragraph 820-10-35-37 establishes a framework for measuring fair value in accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (U.S. GAAP) and expands disclosures about fair value measurements. To increase consistency and comparability in fair value measurements and related disclosures, Paragraph 820-10-35-37 establishes a fair value hierarchy which prioritizes the inputs to valuation techniques used to measure fair value into three (3) broad levels. The fair value hierarchy gives the highest priority to quoted prices (unadjusted) in active markets for identical assets or liabilities and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs. The three (3) levels of fair value hierarchy defined by Paragraph 820-10-35-37 are described below:
The carrying amount of the Company’s consolidated financial assets and liabilities, such as cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable, accounts payable, prepaid expenses, and accrued expenses approximate their fair value because of the short maturity of those instruments. The Company’s notes payable approximate the fair value of such instruments based upon management’s best estimate of interest rates that would be available to the Company for similar financial arrangements at December 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022.
The following table summarized the financial instruments of the Company at fair value based on the valuation approach applied to each class of security as of December 31, 2023:
Pursuant to the Soylent acquisition, the Company may be required to issue the Share Adjustment (as defined in Note 5) to the former owners of Soylent based upon the stock price of the company on the Adjustment Date (as defined in Note 4). The Company engaged a third-party valuation firm to estimate the fair value of this contingent liability by performing a Monte Carlo simulation to forecast the value of the Company’s stock and the implied value of the Share Adjustment. See NOTE 5 – ACQUISITIONS for further discussion. The fair value of the share adjustment on the Soylent acquisition date was $.
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| Property and Equipment |
Property and Equipment
Property and equipment is recorded at historical cost, net of depreciation. All Property and equipment with a cost of $2,000 or greater are capitalized. Depreciation is computed using straight-line over the estimated useful lives of the related assets. Expenditures that enhance the useful lives of the assets are capitalized and depreciated. Maintenance and repairs are expensed as incurred. When assets are sold or otherwise disposed of, the cost and accumulated depreciation are removed from the accounts and any resulting gain or loss is recognized in operations.
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| Updatenition |
Updatenition
STCB, excluding its subsidiaries, earns a majority of its revenues through the sale of food products, primarily through Winona. Revenue from retail sales is recognized at shipment to the retailer.
AOS, one of STCB’s wholly owned subsidiaries, earns its revenues through the sale of premium body and skincare products. Revenue from retail sales is recognized at shipment to the retailer. Revenue from eCommerce sales, including Amazon Fulfillment by Amazon (“Amazon FBA”), is recognized upon shipment of merchandise.
Skylar, one of STCB’s wholly owned subsidiaries, earns its revenues through the sale of fragrances. Revenue from retail sales is recognized at shipment to the retailer. Revenue from eCommerce sales, including Amazon FBA, is recognized upon shipment of merchandise or FOB destination.
Soylent, one of STCB’s wholly owned subsidiaries, earns its revenues through the sale of nutritional drinks. Revenue from retail sales is recognized at shipment to the retailer. Revenue from eCommerce sales, is recognized upon shipment of merchandise or FOB destination.
Whipshots, an 85% owned subsidiary, earns its revenues as royalties from the licensing agreements it has with Temperance, a related entity. STCB licenses the right for Temperance to manufacture and sell vodka infused whipped cream. The amount of the licensing revenue received varies depending upon the product and the royalty percentage is based on contractual terms. The Company recognizes its revenue under these licensing agreements only when sales are made by Temperance to a third party.
The Company applies the following five-step model in order to determine this amount: (i) Identify the contract with a customer; (ii) Identify the performance obligation in the contract; (iii) determine the transaction price, including the constraint on variable consideration; (iv) allocation of the transaction price to the performance obligations; and (v) recognition of revenue when (or as) the Company satisfies each performance obligation.
The Company only applies the five-step model to contracts when it is probable that the entity will collect the consideration it is entitled to in exchange for the licensee transferring goods or services to the customer. Once a contract is determined to be within the scope of ASC 606 at contract inception, the Company reviews the contract to determine which performance obligations the Company’s licensee must deliver and which of these performance obligations are distinct. The Company recognizes as revenues the amount of the transaction price that is allocated to the respective performance obligation when the performance obligation is satisfied or as it is satisfied. Generally, the Company’s licensee’s performance obligations are transferred to customers at a point in time, typically upon delivery.
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| Income Taxes |
Income Taxes
The Company follows Section 740-10-30 of the FASB Accounting Standards Codification, which requires recognition of deferred tax assets and liabilities for the expected future tax consequences of events that have been included in the consolidated financial statements or tax returns. Under this method, deferred tax assets and liabilities are based on the differences between the financial statement and tax bases of assets and liabilities using enacted tax rates in effect for the fiscal year in which the differences are expected to reverse. Deferred tax assets are reduced by a valuation allowance to the extent management concludes it is more likely than not that the assets will not be realized. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the fiscal years in which those temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. The effect on deferred tax assets and liabilities of a change in tax rates is recognized in the Statements of Income in the period that includes the enactment date.
The Company adopted section 740-10-25 of the FASB Accounting Standards Codification (“Section 740-10-25”) with regards to uncertainty income taxes. Section 740-10-25 addresses the determination of whether tax benefits claimed or expected to be claimed on a tax return should be recorded in the consolidated financial statements. Under Section 740-10-25, the Company may recognize the tax benefit from an uncertain tax position only if it is more likely than not that the tax position will be sustained on examination by the taxing authorities, based on the technical merits of the position. The tax benefits recognized in the consolidated financial statements from such a position should be measured based on the largest benefit that has a greater than fifty percent (50%) likelihood of being realized upon ultimate settlement. Section 740-10-25 also provides guidance on de-recognition, classification, interest and penalties on income taxes, accounting in interim periods and requires increased disclosures. The Company had no material adjustments to its liabilities for unrecognized income tax benefits according to the provisions of Section 740-10-25.
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| Stock-based Compensation |
The Company accounts for stock-based compensation per the provisions of ASC 718, Share-based Compensation (“ASC 718”), which requires the use of the fair-value based method to determine compensation for all arrangements under which employees and others receive shares of stock or equity instruments (warrants, options, and restricted stock units). The fair value of each warrant and option is estimated on the date of grant using the Black-Scholes option pricing model that uses assumptions for expected volatility, expected dividends, expected term, and the risk-free interest rate. The Company has not paid dividends historically and does not expect to pay them in the future. Expected volatilities are based on the volatility of comparable companies’ common stock. The expected term of awards granted is derived using estimates based on the specific terms of each award. The risk-free rate is based on the U.S. Treasury yield curve in effect at the time of grant for the period of the expected term. The grant date fair value of a restricted stock unit equals the closing price of our common stock on the trading day of the grant date.
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| Net Income (Loss) Per Common Share |
Net income (loss) per share of common stock is computed by dividing the net loss by the weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding during the year. All outstanding options are considered potential common stock. The dilutive effect, if any, of stock payable and warrants are calculated using the treasury stock method. All outstanding convertible notes are considered common stock at the beginning of the period or at the time of issuance, if later, pursuant to the if-converted method. Since the effect of common stock equivalents is anti-dilutive with respect to losses, outstanding warrants have been excluded from the Company’s computation of net loss per share of common stock for the year ended December 31, 2023. The Company did not exclude the warrants from the Company’s computation of net income per share for the year ended December 31, 2022 as the Company had net income in the year ended December 31, 2023.
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| Intangible Assets |
Intangible Assets
Definite-lived intangible assets consist of certain domain names. Definite-lived intangible assets are amortized utilizing the straight-line method over the assets’ estimated useful lives, which approximate 10-16 years.
Indefinite-lived intangible assets consist of certain trademarks and formula lists. These intangible assets are not amortized but are tested for impairment annually or whenever impairment indicators exist.
The Company assesses potential impairment of its long-lived assets whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that an asset or asset group’s carrying value may not be recoverable. Factors that are considered important that could trigger an impairment review include a current period operating or cash flow loss combined with a history of operating or cash flow losses and a projection or forecast that demonstrates continuing losses or insufficient income associated with the use of a long-lived asset or asset group. Other factors include a significant change in the manner of the use of the asset or a significant negative industry or economic trend. This evaluation is performed based on estimated undiscounted future cash flows from operating activities compared with the carrying value of the related assets. If the undiscounted future cash flows are less than the carrying value, an impairment loss is recognized, measured by the difference between the carrying value, and the estimated fair value of the assets, with such estimated fair values determined using the best information available and in accordance with FASB ASC Topic 820, Fair Value Measurements. During the years ended December 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022, the Company did not record asset impairment charges related to its intangible assets.
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| Royalties and Licenses |
Royalties and Licenses
Royalty-based obligations with content licensors are either paid in advance and capitalized as prepaid royalties or are accrued as incurred and subsequently paid. These royalty-based obligations are generally expensed to cost of revenue generally at the greater of the contractual rate or an effective royalty rate based on the total projected net revenue for contracts with guaranteed minimums. Prepayments made are generally made in connection with the development of a particular product, and therefore, we are generally subject to risk during the product phase. Payments earned after completion of the product (primarily royalty-based in nature) are generally expensed as cost of revenue.
Our contracts with some licensors include minimum guaranteed royalty payments, which are initially recorded as an asset and as a liability at the contractual amount when no performance remains with the licensor. When performance remains with the licensor, we record guarantee payments as an asset when actually paid and as a liability when incurred, rather than recording the asset and liability upon execution of the contract.
Each quarter, we also evaluate the expected future realization of our royalty-based assets, as well as any unrecognized minimum commitments not yet paid to determine amounts we deem unlikely to be realized through future revenue. Impairments or losses determined post-launch are charged to cost of revenue. We evaluate long-lived royalty-based assets for impairment using undiscounted cash flows when impairment indicators exist. If an impairment exists, then the related assets are written down to fair value. Unrecognized minimum royalty-based commitments are accounted for as executory contracts, and therefore, any losses on these commitments are recognized when the underlying intellectual property is abandoned (i.e., cease use) or the contractual rights to use the intellectual property are terminated.
Our minimum contractual royalty-based obligations remaining as of December 31, 2023 are approximately $1,670,000 and $20,000 for the years ending December 31, 2024, and 2025, respectively, and $1,610,000 thereafter.
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| Leases |
Leases
With the adoption of ASC 842, operating lease agreements are required to be recognized on the balance sheet as Right-of-Use (“ROU”) assets and corresponding lease liabilities. ROU assets include any prepaid lease payments and exclude any lease incentives and initial direct costs incurred. Lease expense for minimum lease payments is recognized on a straight-line basis over the lease term. The lease terms may include options to extend or terminate the lease if it is reasonably certain that the Company will exercise that option.
AOS, the Company’s wholly owned subsidiary leased its corporate office (“AOS Lease”). The AOS Lease was classified as an operating lease and had a term of 2 years, for approximately 1,372 square feet of office space located in West Hollywood, California. The lease expired in September 2023 and had a monthly base rental of $7,546 which increased 4% each year. At the end of the lease term in September 2023, the Company did not renew the lease. In March 2022, AOS entered into a sublease, whereby, the sublessor took over the entire AOS Lease office space and the lease payment until the completion of the original AOS Lease term.
In accordance with ASC 842, Leases, the Company recognized a ROU asset and corresponding lease liability on the consolidated balance sheet for long-term office leases. See Note 11 – Leases for further discussion, including the impact on the consolidated financial statements and related disclosures.
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| Inventory |
Inventory
Inventory consists of premium body and skincare products, fragrances and nutritional products. Inventory is measured using the first-in, first-out method and stated at average cost as of December 31, 2023. The value of inventories is reduced for excess and obsolete inventories. We monitor inventory to identify events that would require impairment due to obsolete inventory and adjust the value of inventory when required. We did not record any inventory impairment losses for the years ended December 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022.
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| Acquisitions, Intangible Assets and Goodwill |
Acquisitions, Intangible Assets and Goodwill
The consolidated financial statements reflect the operations of an acquired business beginning as of the date of acquisition. Assets acquired and liabilities assumed are recorded at their fair values at the date of acquisition; goodwill is recorded for any excess of the purchase price over the fair values of the net assets acquired. Significant judgment is required to determine the fair value of certain tangible and intangible assets and in assigning their respective useful lives. Accordingly, we typically obtain the assistance of third-party valuation specialists for significant tangible and intangible assets. The fair values are based on available historical information and on future expectations and assumptions deemed reasonable by management but are inherently uncertain. The Company typically employs an income method to measure the fair value of intangible assets, which is based on forecasts of the expected future cash flows attributable to the respective assets. Significant estimates and assumptions inherent in the valuations reflect a consideration of other marketplace participants and include the amount and timing of future cash flows (including expected growth rates and profitability), the underlying product or technology life cycles, economic barriers to entry and the discount rate applied to the cash flows. Unanticipated market or macroeconomic events and circumstances could affect the accuracy or validity of the estimates and assumptions. Determining the useful life of an intangible asset also requires judgment. Intangible assets are amortized over their estimated lives. Any intangible assets associated with acquired in-process research and development activities (“IPR&D”) are not amortized until a product is available for sale.
Goodwill as of the acquisition date is measured as the excess of consideration transferred over the net of the acquisition date fair values of the assets acquired and the liabilities assumed. While we use our best estimates and assumptions to accurately value assets acquired and liabilities assumed at the acquisition date, our estimates are inherently uncertain and subject to refinement.
We review goodwill for impairment at least annually or more frequently if indicators of impairment exist. Our goodwill impairment test may require the use of qualitative judgements and fair-value techniques, which are inherently subjective. Impairment loss, if any, is recorded when a reporting units’ fair value of goodwill is less than its carrying value.
The Company experienced triggering events in 2023 due to lower-than-expected revenue for each segment, prompting impairment assessments of goodwill as of November 30, 2023.
The Company engaged a third-party valuation firm to determine the fair value of the reporting units under ASC 350. The Company recorded total goodwill impairment losses in the amount of $29,612,700 for the year ended December 31, 2023. The goodwill impairment losses are attributable as follows to the following segments: $9,145,000 to the Starco Brands segment and $20,467,700 to the Soylent segment. impairment losses related to goodwill were recognized for the year ended December 31, 2022. As of December 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022 goodwill was $26,689,391 and $32,836,563, respectively.
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| Segments |
Segments
Operating segments are defined as components of an enterprise about which separate discrete information is available for evaluation by the chief operating decision maker, or decision-making group, in deciding how to allocate resources and in assessing performance. The Company’s Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) is the Company’s chief operating decision maker (“CODM”) and views the Company’s operations and manages its business in three reportable operating segments: (i) Starco Brands, which includes AOS, Whipshots Holdings and Whipshots LLC, (ii) Skylar, and (iii) Soylent. The CODM assesses performance of operating segments and determines the allocation of resources based primarily on gross profit as a whole.
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| Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements |
Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements
All newly issued but not yet effective accounting pronouncements have been deemed to be not applicable or immaterial to the Company. |
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