Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)

12 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2016

The accompanying financial statements present the consolidated financial position, results of operations and cash flows of the Company in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. All intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated.

Reclassifications

Certain amounts previously presented in the consolidated financial statements have been reclassified to conform to the current year presentation. During the three months ended December 31, 2015, the Company elected to early adopt Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2015-17-Income Taxes (Topic 740) requiring all deferred tax assets and liabilities to be classified as non-current on the balance sheet. The purpose of this adoption was to simplify the presentation of deferred income taxes. The accompanying balance sheet as of September 30, 2015 has been retrospectively adjusted to reflect the adoption of this standard. The effect of the adjustment at September 30, 2015 was a $6.4 million decrease in current assets, a $10,000 decrease in current liabilities, a $3.0 million increase in non-current deferred tax assets and a $3.4 million decrease in non-current deferred tax liabilities. Such reclassification had no effect on our previously reported net loss, stockholders’ equity or cash flows.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America requires the use of estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the financial statements and accompanying notes. The Company considers many factors in selecting appropriate operational and financial accounting policies and controls, and in developing the estimates and assumptions that are used in the preparation of these financial statements. The Company continually evaluates its estimates, including those related to bad debt reserves, inventory obsolescence reserves, percentage-of-completion revenue recognition, self-insurance reserves, product warranty reserves, long-lived assets, goodwill and deferred income tax assets. The Company bases its estimates on historical experience and various other factors that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different conditions or assumptions.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

The Company considers all highly liquid investments purchased with an original or remaining maturity at the time of purchase of three months or less to be cash equivalents.

Short-term Investments

The Company classifies its short-term investments consisting of corporate bonds, government bonds and other such similar investments as available-for-sale securities. Available-for-sale securities are carried at fair market value with net unrealized holding gains and losses reported each period as a component of accumulated other comprehensive loss in stockholders’ equity. See Note 2 for additional information.

Concentrations of Credit Risk

The Company maintains its cash in bank deposit accounts that, at times, exceed federally insured limits. Management of the Company believes that the financial strength of the financial institutions holding such deposits minimizes the credit risk of such deposits.

The Company sells products to customers throughout the United States and various foreign countries. The Company’s normal credit terms for trade receivables are 30 days. In certain situations, credit terms may be extended to 60 days or longer. The Company performs ongoing credit evaluations of its customers and generally does not require collateral for its trade receivables. Additionally, the Company provides long-term financing in the form of promissory notes when competitive conditions require such financing. In such cases, the Company may require collateral. Allowances are recognized for potential credit losses. One customer comprised 18.5% of the Company’s revenue during fiscal year 2016. At September 30, 2016, the Company had an account receivable from this customer of $9.1 million. No customers comprised 10% of the Company’s revenue during fiscal year 2015. One customer comprised 26.4% of the Company’s revenue during fiscal year 2014.

Inventories

The Company records a write-down of its inventories when the cost basis of any manufactured product, including any estimated future costs to complete the manufacturing process, exceeds its net realizable value. Inventories are stated at the lower of cost or market value. Cost is determined on the first-in, first-out method, except that certain of the Company’s foreign subsidiaries use an average cost method to value their inventories.

The Company periodically reviews the composition of its inventories to determine if market demand, product modifications, technology changes, excessive quantities on-hand and other factors hinder our ability to recover its investment in such inventories. The Company’s assessment is based upon historical product demand, estimated future product demand and various other judgments and estimates. Inventory obsolescence reserves are recorded when such assessments reveal that portions or components of the Company’s inventory investment will not be realized in its operating activities.

Property, Plant and Equipment and Rental Equipment

Property, plant and equipment and rental equipment are stated at cost. Depreciation expense is calculated using the straight-line method over the following estimated useful lives:

		Years
Rental Equipment		2-5
Property, plant and equipment:
Machinery and equipment		3-15
Buildings and building improvements		10-50
Other		5-10

Expenditures for renewals and betterments are capitalized. Repairs and maintenance expenditures are charged to expense as incurred. The cost and accumulated depreciation of assets sold or otherwise disposed of are removed from the accounts and any gain or loss thereon is reflected in the statements of operations.

Impairment of Long-lived Assets

The Company’s long-lived assets are reviewed for impairment whenever an event or change in circumstances indicates the carrying amount of an asset or group of assets may not be recoverable. The impairment review, if necessary, includes a comparison of expected future cash flows (undiscounted and without interest charges) to be generated by an asset group with the associated carrying value of the related assets. If the carrying value of the asset group exceeds the expected future cash flows, an impairment loss is recognized to the extent that the carrying value of the asset group exceeds its fair value. Management reviewed the recoverability of the carrying value of the Company’s long-lived assets based on future undiscounted cash flows at the end of each fiscal quarter in 2016 and determined that the carrying value of certain rental assets exceeded the expected future cash flows. As a result, the Company compared the fair value of these assets to their carrying value and determined that the fair value was less than their carrying value. As such, impairment charges of $1.8 million were recorded in the Company’s consolidated statements of operations for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2016. No additional impairments were deemed necessary since the expected future cash flows exceed the carrying value of the assets.

Revenue Recognition

The Company primarily derives revenue from the sale of its manufactured products. In addition, the Company generates revenue from the short-term rental under operating leases of its manufactured products. Except for revenue recognized using the percentage-of-completion method discussed below, the Company recognizes revenue from product sales, including occasional sales of used rental equipment, when (i) title passes to the customer, (ii) the customer assumes risks and rewards of ownership, (iii) the product sales price has been determined, (iv) collectability of the sales price is reasonably assured and (v) product delivery occurs as directed by the customer. Except for certain of the Company’s permanent reservoir monitoring products, the Company’s products are generally sold without any customer acceptance provisions and the Company’s standard terms of sale do not allow customers to return products for credit. The Company recognizes rental revenue as earned over the rental period on a straight-line basis. Rentals of the Company’s equipment generally range from daily rentals to rental periods of up to six months or longer. Revenue from engineering services are recognized as services are rendered over the duration of a project, or as billed on a per hour basis. Field service revenue is recognized when services are rendered and are generally priced on a per day rate.

Revenue Recognition – Percentage of Completion

The Company utilizes the percentage-of-completion method (the “POC Method”) to recognize revenue and costs on contracts having the following characteristics:

•

the order/contract requires significant custom designs for customer specific applications;

•

the product design requires significant engineering efforts;

•

the order/contract requires the customer to make progress payments during the contract term; and

•

the order/contract requires at least 90 days of engineering and manufacturing effort.

The POC Method requires the Company’s senior management to make estimates, at least quarterly, of the (i) total expected costs of the contract, (ii) manufacturing progress against the contract and (iii) the estimated cost to complete the contract. These estimates impact the amount of revenue and gross profit the Company recognizes for each reporting period. Significant estimates that may affect the future cost to complete a contract include the cost and availability of raw materials and component parts, engineering services, manufacturing equipment, labor, manufacturing capacity, factory productivity, contract penalties and disputes, product warranties and other contingent factors. Change orders are included in the total estimated contract revenue when it is probable that the change order will result in additional value that can be reliably estimated and realized. The Company defers recognition of the entire amount of revenue or portion thereof associated with unapproved change orders if there is substantial uncertainty as to amounts involved or ultimate realization. The cumulative impact of periodic revisions to the future cost to complete a contract will be reflected in the period in which these changes become known, including, to the extent required, the recognition of losses at the time such losses are known and estimable. Due to the various estimates inherent in the POC Method, actual final results at the conclusion of a contract could differ from management’s previous estimates.

The Company analyzes a variety of indicators to determine manufacturing progress, including actual costs incurred to date compared to total estimated costs and actual quantities produced to date compared to total contract quantities.

The Company had no contracts accounted for under the POC Method at September 30, 2016 and September 30, 2015.

Deferred Revenue

The Company records deferred revenue when customer funds are received prior to the recognition of the associated revenue.

Research and Development Costs

The Company expenses research and development costs as incurred. Research and development costs include salaries, employee benefit costs, department supplies, direct project costs and other related costs.

Product Warranties

Most of the Company’s products do not require installation assistance or sophisticated instructions. The Company offers a standard product warranty obligating it to repair or replace equipment with manufacturing defects. The Company maintains a reserve for future warranty costs based on historical experience or, in the absence of historical product experience, management’s estimates. Reserves for future warranty costs are included within accrued expenses and other current liabilities on the consolidated balance sheets.

Changes in the product warranty reserve are reflected in the following table (in thousands):

Balance at October 1, 2013	$	1,952
Accruals for warranties issued during the year		324
Settlements made (in cash or in kind) during the year		(1,325	)
Balance at September 30, 2014		951
Accruals for warranties issued during the year		4,984
Settlements made (in cash or in kind) during the year		(3,609	)
Balance at September 30, 2015		2,326
Accruals for warranties issued during the year		595
Settlements made (in cash or in kind) during the year		(2,529	)
Balance at September 30, 2016	$	392

Stock-Based Compensation

The Company accounts for stock-based compensation, including grants of restricted awards and unqualified stock options in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification Topic 718, which requires that all share-based payments (to the extent that they are compensatory) be recognized as an expense in the Company’s consolidated statements of operations based on their fair values on the award date and the estimated number of shares it ultimately expects to vest.

The Company recognizes stock-based compensation expense on a straight-line basis over the requisite service period of the award, which is no greater than 4 years. The Company’s stock-based compensation plan and awards are more fully described in Note 14.

Foreign Currency Gains and Losses

The assets and liabilities of the Company’s foreign subsidiaries that have a foreign currency as their functional currency have been translated into U.S. dollars using the exchange rates in effect at the balance sheet date. Results of operations have been translated using the average exchange rates during the year. Resulting translation adjustments have been recorded as a component of accumulated other comprehensive loss in stockholders’ equity. Foreign currency transaction gains and losses are included in the statements of operations as they occur. Transaction gains and losses on intra-entity foreign currency transactions and balances including advances and demand notes payable, on which settlement is not planned or anticipated in the foreseeable future, are recorded in “accumulated other comprehensive loss” on our consolidated balance sheets.

Shipping and Handling Costs

Amounts billed to a customer in a sales transaction related to reimbursable shipping and handling costs are included in revenue and the associated costs incurred by the Company for reimbursable shipping and handling expenses are reported in cost of sales. The Company had shipping and handling expenses of $0.4 million, $0.6 million and $0.9 million for each of the fiscal years ended September 30, 2016, 2015 and 2014, respectively.

Fair Value

Fair value is the price that would be received to sell an asset or the amount paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants (an exit price) at the measurement date. The Company has established a fair value hierarchy which prioritizes the inputs to the valuation techniques used to measure fair value into three levels. These levels are determined based on the lowest level input that is significant to the fair value measurement. Level 1 represents unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets and liabilities. Level 2 represents quoted prices for similar assets and liabilities in active markets (other than those included in Level 1) which are observable, either directly or indirectly. Level 3 represents valuations derived from valuation techniques in which one or more significant inputs or significant value drivers are unobservable.

Income Taxes

Income taxes are presented in accordance with the Accounting Standards Codification Topic 740 (“Topic 740”) guidance for accounting for income taxes. The estimated future tax effects of temporary differences between the tax basis of assets and liabilities and amounts reported in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets, as well as operating loss and tax credit carrybacks and carryforwards are recorded. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are determined based on differences between financial reporting and tax basis of assets and liabilities (temporary differences) and are measured using the enacted tax rates and laws that will be in effect when the differences are expected to reverse. The Company periodically reviews the recoverability of tax assets recorded on the balance sheet and provides valuation allowances if it is more likely than not that such assets will not be realized.

The Company follows the guidance of Topic 740 to analyze all tax positions that are less than certain. Topic 740 prescribes a recognition threshold and measurement attribute for the financial statement recognition and measurement of a tax position taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. In accordance with Topic 740, the Company recognizes in its financial statements the impact of a tax position if that position is “more likely than not” to be sustained on audit, based on the technical merits of the position. The Company’s estimate of the potential outcome of any uncertain tax issue is subject to management’s assessment of relevant risks, facts, and circumstances existing at that time.

The Company classifies interest and penalties associated with the payment of income taxes in the Other Income (Expense) section of its consolidated statements of operations.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

In June 2016, the FASB issued guidance surrounding credit losses for financial instruments that replaces the incurred loss impairment methodology in current U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”). The new impairment model requires immediate recognition of estimated credit losses expected to occur for most financial assets and certain other instruments. For available-for-sale debt securities with unrealized losses, the losses will be recognized as allowances rather than reductions in the amortized cost of the securities. The standard is effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2019 and interim periods within those annual periods. Early adoption for fiscal year beginning after December 15, 2018 is permitted. Entities will apply the standard’s provisions as a cumulative-effect adjustment to retained earnings as of the beginning of the first effective reporting period. The Company expects to adopt this standard in its fiscal year ending September 30, 2021 and does not expect the adoption of this standard to have a material effect upon its consolidated financial statements.

In March 2016, the FASB issued guidance to simplify key components of employee share-based payment accounting. The guidance is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2016, including interim periods within that reporting period. Several aspects of the accounting for share-based payment award transactions are simplified, including: (a) income tax consequences; (b) classification of awards as either equity or liabilities; and (c) classification on the statement of cash flows. The Company expects to adopt this standard in its fiscal year ending September 30, 2018 and does not expect the adoption of this guidance to have a material effect upon its consolidated financial statements.

In February 2016, the FASB issued guidance requiring a lessee to recognize assets and liabilities for leases with lease terms of more than 12 months. Consistent with current GAAP, the recognition, measurement and presentation of expense and cash flows arising from a lease by a lessee primarily will depend on its classification as a finance or operating lease. However, unlike current GAAP, which requires only capital leases to be recognized on the balance sheet, this new guidance will require both types of leases to be recognized on the balance sheet. The guidance also requires disclosures to help investors and other financial statement users to better understand the amount, timing and uncertainty of cash flows arising from leases. These disclosures include qualitative and quantitative requirements, providing additional information about the amounts recorded in the financial statements. The guidance is effective for fiscal years, and interim reporting periods therein, beginning after December 15, 2018 and is to be applied using the modified retrospective approach. The Company expects to adopt this standard in its fiscal year ending September 30, 2020 and does not expect the adoption of this guidance to have a material effect upon its consolidated financial statements.

In July 2015, the FASB issued guidance requiring management to measure inventory at the lower of cost or net realizable value. Net realizable value is the estimated selling prices in the ordinary course of business, less reasonably predictable costs of completion, disposal, and transportation. The pronouncement is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2016, including interim periods within that reporting period and should be applied retrospectively, with early application permitted. The Company expects to adopt this standard in its fiscal year ending September 30, 2018 and does not expect the adoption of this guidance to have a material effect upon its consolidated financial statements.

In August 2014, the FASB issued guidance requiring management to evaluate whether there are conditions and events that raise substantial doubt about the entity's ability to continue as a going concern and to provide disclosures in certain circumstances. The new guidance was issued to reduce diversity in the timing and content of footnote disclosures. This guidance is effective for fiscal years, and interim reporting periods therein, beginning after December 15, 2016. The Company expects to adopt this standard in its fiscal year ending September 30, 2018 and does not expect the adoption of this guidance to have a material effect upon its consolidated financial statements.

In May 2014, the FASB issued guidance requiring entities to recognize revenue from contracts with customers by applying a five-step model in accordance with the core principle to depict the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. In addition, this guidance specifies the accounting for some costs to obtain or fulfill a contract with a customer and expands disclosure requirements for revenue recognition. In August 2015, the FASB issued guidance deferring the effective date of this guidance to annual periods beginning after December 15, 2017, including interim reporting periods therein. Entities have the option to adopt this guidance either retrospectively or through a modified retrospective transition method. This new standard will supersede existing revenue guidance and affect the Company's revenue recognition process and the presentations or disclosures of the Company's consolidated financial statements and footnotes. The Company expects to adopt this standard in its fiscal year ending September 30, 2019 and is currently evaluating this guidance including the method of adoption to determine the impact on its consolidated financial statements.