What is Southern Company's deferred contract costs?

Southern Company (SO) reported deferred contract costs of $1.28B in Q3 2023.

What does deferred contract costs mean?

Capitalized costs related to long-term service contracts that will be recognized as expenses in future periods.

Deferred contract costs

Southern Company Deferred contract costs decreased by 37.8% to $1.28B in Q3 2023 compared to the prior quarter.

Analysis

StatementBalance Sheet Statement

SectionNon-Current Assets

CategoryGrowth

SignalContext dependent

VolatilityModerate

First reportedQ3 2015

Last reportedQ1 2026

How to read this metric

An increase suggests high investment in new long-term client engagements, while a decrease may indicate lower new business activity or accelerated amortization.

Detailed definition

These represent costs incurred to fulfill a contract that are expected to be recovered over a period exceeding one year....

Peer comparison

Common in IT services and consulting firms; peers often report this as 'Contract Acquisition Costs' or 'Deferred Implementation Costs'.

Metric ID: non_current_assets_deferred_costs

Historical Data

2 periods

	Q4 '22	Q3 '23
Value	$2.06B	$1.28B
QoQ Change	—	-37.8%

Range$1.28B – $2.06B

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Southern Company's deferred contract costs?: Southern Company (SO) reported deferred contract costs of $1.28B in Q3 2023.
What does deferred contract costs mean?: Capitalized costs related to long-term service contracts that will be recognized as expenses in future periods.