4. SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Basis of Presentation

The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of ECD and ECD Auto Design UK Ltd. The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“GAAP”), expressed in U.S. dollars. The accompanying consolidated financial statements reflect all adjustments including normal recurring adjustments, which, in the opinion of management, are necessary to present fairly the financial position, results of operations, and cash flows for the years presented. References to GAAP issued by the Financial Accounting Standard Boards (“FASB”) in these accompanying notes to the consolidated financial statements are to the FASB Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”). All significant intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

Emerging Growth Company Status

The Company is an emerging growth company, as defined in the JOBS Act. Under the JOBS Act, emerging growth companies can delay adopting new or revised accounting standards issued subsequent to the enactment of the JOBS Act, until such time as to those standards apply to private companies. The Company has elected to use this extended transition period for complying with new or revised accounting standards that have different effective dates for public and private companies until the earlier of the date that it (i) is no longer an emerging growth company or (ii) affirmatively and irrevocably opts out of the extended transition period provided in the JOBS Act. As a result, these financial statements may not be comparable to companies that comply with the new or revised accounting pronouncements as of public company effective dates.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of the consolidated financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reporting periods. Actual results could differ from those estimates. Significant estimates include assumptions used in revenue recognition, useful life of assets, and allowance for doubtful accounts.

Segment Information

Operating segments are defined as components of an enterprise for which separate discrete financial information is evaluated regularly by the Company’s Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”), who is the Chief Operating Decision Maker (“CODM”), in deciding how to allocate resources and assess performance. The CODM reviews financial information presented on a consolidated basis for the purposes of allocating resources and evaluating financial performance. Accordingly, the Company operates and manages its business as one operating segment and one reportable segment.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

The Company considers all highly liquid investments acquired with an original maturity of three months or less at the date of purchase to be cash equivalents. Cash equivalents are stated at cost, which approximates market value, because of the short maturity of these instruments.

Credit Risk

Financial instruments that potentially subject the Company to concentrations of credit risk consist of cash accounts in a financial institution, which, at times, may exceed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Coverage limit of $250,000. As of December 31, 2023 and 2022, the Company has not experienced losses on these accounts and management believes the Company is not exposed to significant risks on such accounts.

Revenue Recognition

Revenue is recognized when the Company transfers promised goods or services to the customer, in an amount that reflects the consideration that the Company expects to receive in exchange for those goods or services. In determining the appropriate amount of revenue to be recognized as the Company fulfills its obligations under the agreement, the Company performs the following steps: (i) identification of the promised goods or services in the contract; (ii) determination of whether the promised goods or services are performance obligations, including whether they are distinct in the context of the contract; (iii) measurement of 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 it will collect the consideration it is entitled to in exchange for the goods or services it transfers to the customer.

Product Revenue – Parts and Builds

The Company generates revenue through the sale of Land Rover vehicle directly to customers. The Company considers the build/sales contracts to be the contracts with the customer. There is a single performance obligation in all of the Company’s contracts, which is to build a vehicle based on customer specifications, transfer title and shipping terms in the arrangement. Product revenue is recognized when the product build is completed, and title has been transferred. The Company concluded that this was the appropriate time to record revenue based on the following criteria. (1) ECD has a right to full payment for the product. (2) The customer has legal title to the product and (3) The customer has the significant risks and rewards of ownership of the asset. There are certain build contacts, “owner donor vehicles” where title remains with the customer for the entire project. Under these contracts, revenue is recognized at a point in time when the truck is delivered back to the customer.

Upon execution of the contract, the Company bills its customers the total consideration of the contract. The Company receives approximately 50% of the total consideration of the contract from its customers as acceptance of contract, which is initially recorded as deferred revenue. Upon completion of the build the remaining 50% is billed and initially recorded as deferred revenue, and recognized as net revenue when the product build is completed, and title is legally transferred.

Service Revenue

The Company generates revenue through providing repair or upgrade services to its customers. The Company agrees with the customer on a budget and specific deliverable. This is typically evidenced by a quote which represents the customer arrangement. There is a single performance obligation, which is the Company’s promise to perform the repair or upgrade work on the vehicle. The entire transaction price is allocated to this single performance obligation. Service revenue is recognized when the repair or upgrade work is completed and the customer receives the vehicle.

Warranty Revenue

The Company generates revenue through the sale of extended warranty to customers. The customers agree to the terms and conditions at the time of purchase, which represents the customer arrangements. The period covered by the extended warranty is usually one year. The Company has elected to apply the optional exemption provided in ASC 606 and therefore, is not required to disclose the aggregate amount of the transaction price allocated to performance obligations that are unsatisfied or partially unsatisfied at the end of the reporting period.

Product Limited Warranty

Consistent with industry practice, the Company generally offers customers a limited warranty for work performed on the vehicle under the builds/sales contract. The customers do not have a contractual right of return. The Company only offers a limited warranty for the work performed on the vehicle under the contract. If a customer disputes any work performed, the Company will attempt to remedy the work however, it shall not be required to discount the transaction price. The Company considered this an assurance-type warranty and not a separate performance obligation.

Warranty Reserve

The Company provides for the estimated cost of product warranties at the time revenue is recognized. While the Company engages in product quality programs and processes, including quality control test driving vehicles, the warranty obligation is affected by historical warranty costs per vehicle. Should actual costs differ from the Company’s estimates, revisions to increase or decrease the estimated warranty liability may be required.

Other Revenue Policies

Sales, value add, and other taxes collected on behalf of third parties are excluded from revenue.

Applying the practical expedient in paragraph ASC 606-10-32-18, the Company does not assess whether a contract has a significant financing component if the expectation at contract inception is that the period between payment by the customer and the transfer of the promised products to the customer will be one year or less, which is the case with substantially all customers.

Applying the practical expedient in ASC 606-10-25-18B, the Company accounts for shipping and handling activities related to contracts with customers as costs to fulfill the promise to transfer the associated products. The Company records the related costs as part of the cost of goods good.

Disaggregation of Revenue

The following table summarizes the Company’s net revenues disaggregated by product category:

Contract Liability and remaining performance obligations

As of December 31, 2023 and 2022, in addition to the customer deposits noted above, the company has $12,253,253 and $11,072,060 respectively of contract consideration allocated to a performance obligation not yet completed. The customer deposits, performance obligations not yet completed, and deferred revenue are typically recognized in revenue at a point in time within the next twelve months as the custom build vehicles are delivered and title has been transferred to customers.

Other Receivable

Other receivable represents the Employee Retention Tax Credit receivable (“ERTC receivable”) of $0 and $209,810 as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively.

The Employee Retention Credit (ERC) is a refundable tax credit for businesses that continued to pay employees while shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic or had significant declines in gross receipts from March 13, 2020 to December 31, 2021. Eligible employers can claim the ERC on an original or adjusted employment tax return for a period within those dates.

For 2021, the employee retention credit (ERC) is a quarterly tax credit against the employer’s share of certain payroll taxes. The tax credit is 70% of the first $10,000 in wages per employee in each quarter of 2021, capped at $7,000 per employee per calendar quarter. The Company calculated the 2021 ERC based on the criteria above. Qualifying wages were reduced by the funds received from Payroll Protection Program.

The Internal Revenue Service approved all ERC filings as submitted and the final payment was received in January of 2023.

Inventories

Work in progress, work in progress – shipping and consumables, and work in progress – labor costs reported in inventories are carried at the lower of cost or net realizable value. Cost is determined on the basis of the direct and indirect costs that are directly attributable. The measurement of work in progress inventories is generally based on the weighted average method. Finished goods inventory is comprised of vehicles for which the build is completed but title has not been legally transferred, or in some cases, the vehicle has not been delivered. The measurement of finished goods inventories is the total cost of the materials, shipping and consumables, and labor attributed to the build of each specific completed vehicle. Overhead costs are allocated to inventory based on the rate of inventory turned for the period.

Property and Equipment

Property and equipment are stated at cost, less accumulated depreciation. Depreciation is calculated using the straight-line method over the asset’s estimated useful life of 5 to 15 years. Expenditures for maintenance and repairs are expensed as incurred. When retired or otherwise disposed, the related carrying value and accumulated depreciation are removed from the respective accounts and the net difference less any amount realized from disposition is reflected in earnings.

Long-Lived Assets

The Company follows a “primary asset” approach to determine the cash flow estimation period for a group of assets and liabilities that represents the unit of accounting for a long-lived asset to be held and used. Long-lived assets to be held and used are reviewed for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset may not be recoverable. The carrying amount of a long-lived asset is not recoverable if it exceeds the sum of the undiscounted cash flows expected to result from the use and eventual disposition of the asset. Long-lived assets to be disposed of are reported at the lower of carrying amount or fair value less cost to sell.

The Company evaluates the recoverability of long-lived assets based upon forecasted undiscounted cash flows. Should impairment in value be indicated, the carrying value of the assets will be adjusted, based on estimates of future discounted cash flows resulting from the use and ultimate disposition of the asset. No impairments were recognized for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022.

Advertising

The Company follows the policy of charging the costs of advertising to expense as incurred. The Company charged to operations $487,586 and $298,388 as advertising costs for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively.

Income taxes

Prior to the Business Combination on December 13, 2023, the Company was an S corporation. As an S corporation, the Company was not directly liable for federal income taxes. As of the date of the Business Combination, the operations of the Company ceased to be taxed as a S corporation resulting in a change in tax status for federal and state income tax purposes.

Management has evaluated the Company’s tax positions, including its previous status as a pass-through entity for federal and state tax purposes, and has determined that the Company has taken no uncertain tax positions that require adjustment to the consolidated financial statements. The Company’s reserve related to uncertain tax positions was zero as of December 31, 2023 and 2022.

Loss Per Share

The Company accounts for net loss per share in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification subtopic 260-10, Earnings Per Share (“ASC 260-10”), which requires presentation of basic and diluted earnings per share (“EPS”) on the face of the statement of operations for all entities with complex capital structures and requires a reconciliation of the numerator and denominator of the basic EPS computation to the numerator and denominator of the diluted EPS. Basic net loss per share is computed by dividing net loss by the weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding during each period. It excludes the dilutive effects of any potentially issuable common shares. Diluted net loss per share is calculated by including any potentially dilutive share issuances in the denominator. For the year ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, all potentially dilutive securities were not included in the calculation of diluted net income (loss) per share as their effect would be anti-dilutive.

Leases

The Company determines if an arrangement is a lease at inception. Operating lease right-of-use asset (“ROU asset”) and short-term and long-term lease liability are included on the face of the consolidated balance sheets.

ROU asset represents the right to use an underlying asset for the lease term and lease liability represents the Company’s obligation to make lease payments arising from the lease. Operating lease ROU asset and liability are recognized at commencement date based on the present value of lease payments over the lease term. As the Company’s lease does not provide an implicit rate, the Company uses an incremental borrowing rate based on the information available at commencement date over the respective lease term in determining the present value of lease payments. The Company’s lease terms may include options to extend or terminate the lease when it is reasonably certain that the Company will exercise that option. Lease expense for lease payments is recognized on a straight-line basis over the lease term. For lease agreements with terms less than 12 months, the Company has elected the short-term lease measurement and recognition exemption, and it recognizes such lease payments on a straight-line basis over the lease term.

Fair Value of Financial Instruments

The Company calculates the fair value of its assets and liabilities which qualify as financial instruments and includes this additional information in the notes to the consolidated financial statements when the fair value is different than the carrying value of these financial instruments. The estimated fair value of cash, accounts receivable, accounts payable and accrued expenses, and loan payable approximate their carrying amounts due to the relatively short maturity of these instruments. The carrying value of lease liability also approximates fair value since the instrument bears market rates of interest. None of these instruments are held for trading purposes.

Fair Value Measurements

Fair value is defined as the price that would be received for sale of an asset or paid for transfer of a liability, in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. GAAP establishes a three-tier fair value hierarchy, which prioritizes the inputs used in measuring fair value. The hierarchy gives the highest priority to unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1 measurements) and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs (Level 3 measurements). These tiers include:

In some circumstances, the inputs used to measure fair value might be categorized within different levels of the fair value hierarchy. In those instances, the fair value measurement is categorized in its entirety in the fair value hierarchy based on the lowest level input that is significant to the fair value measurement.

Warrants

The Company determines the accounting classification of warrants it issues as either liability or equity classified by first assessing whether the warrants meet liability classification in accordance with ASC 480-10, Accounting for Certain Financial Instruments with Characteristics of both Liabilities and Equity (“ASC 480”), then in accordance with ASC 815-40 (“ASC 815”), Accounting for Derivative Financial Instruments Indexed to, and Potentially Settled in, a Company’s Own Stock. Under ASC 480, warrants are considered liability classified if the warrants are mandatorily redeemable, obligate the Company to settle the warrants or the underlying shares by paying cash or other assets, or warrants that must or may require settlement by issuing variable number of shares. If warrants do not meet liability classification under ASC 480, the Company assesses the requirements under ASC 815, which states that contracts that require or may require the issuer to settle the contract for cash are liabilities recorded at fair value, irrespective of the likelihood of the transaction occurring that triggers the net cash settlement feature. If the warrants do not require liability classification under ASC 815, and in order to conclude equity classification, the Company also assesses whether the warrants are indexed to its Common Stock and whether the warrants are classified as equity under ASC 815 or other applicable GAAP. After all relevant assessments, the Company concludes whether the warrants are classified as liability or equity. Liability classified warrants require fair value accounting at issuance and subsequent to initial issuance with all changes in fair value after the issuance date recorded in the statements of operations. Equity classified warrants only require fair value accounting at issuance with no changes recognized subsequent to the issuance date.

Reclassification

Certain prior period amounts have been reclassified to conform to the current period presentation in the consolidated financial statements and these accompanying notes. The reclassifications did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements and related disclosures. The impact on any prior period disclosures was immaterial.

Redeemable Preferred Stock

Accounting for convertible or redeemable equity instruments in the Company’s own equity requires an evaluation of the hybrid security to determine if liability classification is required under ASC 480-10. Liability classification is required for freestanding financial instruments that are not debt in legal form and are: (1) subject to an unconditional obligation requiring the issuer to redeem the instrument by transferring assets (i.e. mandatorily redeemable), (2) instruments other than equity shares that embody an obligation of the issuer to repurchase its equity shares, or (3) certain types of instruments that obligate the issuer to issue a variable number of equity shares. Securities that do not meet the scoping criteria to be classified as a liability under ASC 480 are subject to redeemable equity guidance, which prescribes securities that may be subject to redemption upon an event not solely within the control of the issuer to be classified outside permanent equity (i.e., classified in temporary equity). Securities classified in temporary equity are initially measured at the proceeds received, net of issuance costs and excluding the fair value of bifurcated embedded derivatives (if any). Subsequent measurement of the carrying value is not required unless the instrument is probable of becoming redeemable or is currently redeemable. When the instruments are currently redeemable or probable of becoming redeemable, the Company will recognize changes in the redemption value immediately as they occur and adjust the carrying value of the security to equal the then current maximum redemption value at the end of each reporting period.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

In September 2022, the FASB issued ASU No. 2022-04, “Liabilities—Supplier Finance Programs (Subtopic 405-50): Disclosure of Supplier Finance Program Obligations,” which is intended to enhance the transparency surrounding the use of supplier finance programs. The guidance requires companies that use supplier finance programs to make annual disclosures about the program’s key terms, the balance sheet presentation of related amounts, the confirmed amount outstanding at the end of the period and associated roll forward information. Only the amount outstanding at the end of the period must be disclosed in interim periods. The guidance does not affect the recognition, measurement or financial statement presentation of supplier finance program obligations. The Company adopted the guidance when it became effective on January 1, 2023, except for the roll forward information, which is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2023. The Company does not have any supplier finance programs and accordingly, the adoption did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements, and the Company does not believe the impact of adopting the roll-forward requirement in this accounting standard update will be material to the consolidated financial statements.

In October 2021, the FASB issued ASU No. 2021-08, “Accounting for Contract Assets and Contract Liabilities from Contracts with Customers” (Topic 805). This ASU requires an acquirer in a business combination to recognize and measure contract assets and contract liabilities (deferred revenue) from acquired contracts using the revenue recognition guidance in Topic 606. At the acquisition date, the acquirer applies the revenue model as if it had originated the acquired contracts. For the Company, the new guidance is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2023, including interim periods within those fiscal years. Adoption of the ASU should be applied prospectively. Early adoption is also permitted, including adoption in an interim period. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of this accounting standard update on its consolidated financial statements.

In June 2022, the FASB issued ASU 2022-03, “Fair Value Measurement (Topic 820): Fair Value Measurement of Equity Securities Subject to Contractual Sale Restrictions,” which clarifies that contractual sale restrictions are not considered in measuring fair value of equity securities and requires additional disclosures for equity securities subject to contractual sale restrictions. The standard is effective for public companies for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2023. The adoption of this standard is not expected to have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements and related disclosures.

In November 2023, the FASB issued ASU 2023-07, “Segment Reporting (Topic 280): Improvements to Reportable Segment Disclosures,” which will add required disclosures of significant expenses for each reportable segment, as well as certain other disclosures to help investors understand how the CODM evaluates segment expenses and operating results. The new standard will also allow disclosure of multiple measures of segment profitability, if those measures are used to allocate resources and assess performance. The amendments will be effective for public companies for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2023. The adoption of this standard is not expected to have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements and related disclosures.

In December 2023, the FASB issued ASU 2023-09, “Income Taxes (Topic 740): Improvements to Income Tax Disclosures,” which requires disaggregated information about a reporting entity’s effective tax rate reconciliation as well as information on income taxes paid. The standard is intended to benefit investors by providing more detailed income tax disclosures that would be useful in making capital allocation decisions. The standard will be effective for public companies for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2024. Early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of this accounting standard update on its consolidated financial statements.