Summary of major accounting policies (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Aug. 31, 2024

Schedule of reconciliation of cash and cash equivalents

The following represents a reconciliation of cash and cash equivalents in the Consolidated Balance Sheets to total cash, cash equivalents, marketable securities and restricted cash in the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for fiscal 2024, 2023 and 2022 (in millions):


	August 31, 2024		August 31, 2023		August 31, 2022
Cash and cash equivalents	$	1,319	$	728	$	1,358
Marketable securities	1,790		11		1,114
Cash and cash equivalents - assets held for sale (included in other current assets)	—		24		—
Restricted cash (included in other current and non-current assets)	110		93		86
Cash, cash equivalents, marketable securities and restricted cash	$	3,218	$	856	$	2,558

Schedule of property, plant and equipment

The following table summarizes the Company’s property, plant and equipment (in millions) and estimated useful lives (in years):


	Estimated useful life	2024		2023
Land and land improvements 1	20	$	1,455	$	1,778
Buildings and building improvements	3 to 50	6,117		6,683
Fixtures and equipment	3 to 20	9,720		9,782
Capitalized system development costs and software	3 to 10	3,528		3,821
Assets under construction		673		1,400
Finance lease properties		1,143		1,075
		$	22,636	$	24,540
Less: accumulated depreciation and amortization		12,863		12,953
Balance at end of year		$	9,772	$	11,587

1.Land is not depreciated.

Schedule of variable interest entities

The following table summarizes the Entities’ assets and liabilities (in millions) as of August 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively.


	August 31, 2024		August 31, 2023
Total assets	$	928	$	881
Total liabilities	540		486

Temporary Equity

The following is a roll forward of the redeemable non-controlling interests in the Consolidated Balance Sheets (in millions):


	2024		2023		2022
Opening balance	$	167	$	1,042	$	319
Recognition upon acquisition of subsidiary 1	—		—		2,684
Acquisition of non-controlling interests 2	—		—		(2,047)
Net income (loss) attributable to Redeemable non-controlling interests	1		(21)		(73)
Redemption price adjustments and other 3	6		460		159
Reclassifications to Accrued expenses and other liabilities 4	—		(1,314)		—
Ending balance	$	174	$	167	$	1,042

1.Fiscal 2022 includes $1.9 billion of redeemable non-controlling interests, representing the maximum purchase price to redeem non-controlling units in VillageMD for cash, and redeemable non-controlling interests in Shields Health Solutions Parent, LLC (“Shields”) and CCX Next, LLC (“CareCentrix”). On November 24, 2021, VillageMD commenced a tender offer to purchase up to $1.9 billion of units in VillageMD for cash. The tender offer was fully subscribed and settled on December 28, 2021. The tender offer was funded by cash proceeds provided to VillageMD pursuant to the Unit Purchase Agreement.

2.Fiscal 2022 includes $1.9 billion paid to existing shareholders of VillageMD as part of the fully subscribed tender offer and the acquisition of the remaining 30% non-controlling equity interests in the pharmaceutical wholesale business in Germany.

3.Remeasurement of non-controlling interests, probable of redemption but not currently redeemable, to their redemption value, is recorded to Paid-in capital in the Consolidated Balance Sheets. In fiscal 2023, Shields and CareCentrix redeemable non-controlling interests were recorded to redemption value.

4.Represents the reclassification of the Shields and CareCentrix redeemable non-controlling interests to Accrued expenses and other liabilities in the Consolidated Balance Sheets resulting from the Company’s full acquisition of Shields and CareCentrix.

Cash Dividends

Cash dividends per common share declared were as follows:


Quarter ended	2024		2023
November	$	0.4800	$	0.4800
February	$	0.2500	$	0.4800
May	$	0.2500	$	0.4800
August	$	0.2500	$	0.4800
Total	$	1.2300	$	1.9200

- Definition

Tabular disclosure of the significant judgments and assumptions made in determining whether a variable interest (as defined) held by the entity requires the variable interest entity (VIE) (as defined) to be consolidated and (or) disclose information about its involvement with the VIE, individually or in aggregate (as applicable); the nature of restrictions, if any, on the consolidated VIE's assets and on the settlement of its liabilities reported by an entity in its statement of financial position, including the carrying amounts of such assets and liabilities; the nature of, and changes in, the risks associated with involvement in the VIE; how involvement with the VIE affects the entity's financial position, financial performance, and cash flows; the lack of recourse if creditors (or beneficial interest holders) of the consolidated VIE have no recourse to the general credit of the primary beneficiary (if applicable); the terms of arrangements, giving consideration to both explicit arrangements and implicit variable interests, if any, that could require the entity to provide financial support to the VIE, including events or circumstances that could expose the entity to a loss; the methodology used by the entity for determining whether or not it is the primary beneficiary of the variable interest entity; the significant factors considered and judgments made in determining that the power to direct the activities of a VIE that most significantly impact the VIE's economic performance are shared (as defined); the carrying amounts and classification of assets and liabilities of the VIE included in the statement of financial position; the entity's maximum exposure to loss, if any, as a result of its involvement with the VIE, including how the maximum exposure is determined and significant sources of the entity's exposure to the VIE; a comparison of the carrying amounts of the assets and liabilities and the entity's maximum exposure to loss; information about any liquidity arrangements, guarantees, and (or) other commitments by third parties that may affect the fair value or risk of the entity's variable interest in the VIE; whether or not the entity has provided financial support or other support (explicitly or implicitly) to the VIE that it was not previously contractually required to provide or whether the entity intends to provide that support, including the type and amount of the support and the primary reasons for providing the support; and supplemental information the entity determines necessary to provide.

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