Revenue Recognition

12 Months Ended

Jul. 31, 2021

Revenue from Contract with Customer [Abstract]

Revenue Recognition

Note 3—Revenue Recognition

Contracts with Customers

The Company earns revenue from contracts with customers, primarily through the provision of retail telecommunications and payment offerings as well as wholesale international voice and SMS termination. BOSS Revolution Money Transfer, NRS, and net2phone-UCaaS are technology-driven, synergistic businesses that leverage the Company’s core assets, and revenue is primarily recognized at a point in time, and in some cases (mainly net2phone-UCaaS) is recognized over time. Traditional Communications are mostly minute-based, paid-voice communications services, and revenue is primarily recognized at a point in time. The Company’s most significant revenue streams are from Mobile Top-Up, BOSS Revolution Calling, and Carrier Services. Mobile Top-Up and BOSS Revolution Calling are sold direct-to-consumers and through distributors and retailers.

Mobile Top-Up

Mobile Top-Up is sold direct-to-consumers and through distributors and retailers in the same manner as BOSS Revolution Calling. The Company does not terminate the minutes in its Mobile Top-Up transactions. The Company’s performance obligation is to recharge (top-up) the airtime balance of a mobile account on behalf of the Company’s customer. The Company has contracts with various mobile operators or aggregators to provide the Mobile Top-Up service. The Company determined that it is the principal in primarily all its Mobile Top-Up transactions as the Company controls the service to top-up a mobile account on behalf of the Company’s customer. However, for the portion of its Mobile Top-Up business where the Company has no customer service responsibilities, no inventory risk, and does not establish the price, the Company determined that, as the Company is not considered to control the arrangement, it acts as an agent of the mobile operators. The Company records gross revenues based on the amount billed to the customer when it is the principal in the arrangement and records revenue net of the associated costs incurred when it acts as an agent in the arrangement. The performance obligation is satisfied, and revenue is recognized when the recharge of the mobile account occurs. Accordingly, transfer of control happens at the point in time that the airtime is recharged, which is when the Company has a right to payment and the customer has accepted the service.

IDT CORPORATION

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS—(Continued)

BOSS Revolution Calling direct-to-consumers

BOSS Revolution Calling direct-to-consumers is offered on a pay-as-you-go basis or in unlimited plans. The customer prepays for service in both cases, which results in a contract liability (deferred revenue). The contract term for pay-as-you-go plans is minute-to-minute that includes separate performance obligations for the series of material rights to renew the contract. The performance obligation is satisfied immediately after it arises, and the amount of consideration is known when the obligation is satisfied. Since the Company’s satisfaction of its performance obligation and the customer’s use of the service occur simultaneously, the Company recognizes revenue at the point in time when minutes are utilized, since the customer obtained control and the Company has a present right to payment. For unlimited plans, the Company has a stand ready obligation to provide service over time for an agreed upon term. Unlimited plans include fixed consideration over the term. Plan fees for unlimited plans are generally refundable up to three days after payment if there was no usage. Since the Company’s satisfaction of its performance obligation and the customer’s use of the service occur over the term, the Company recognizes revenue over a period of time as the service is rendered. The Company uses an output method as time elapses because it reflects the pattern by which the Company satisfies its performance obligation through the transfer of service to the customer. The fixed upfront consideration is recognized evenly over the service period, which is generally 24 hours, 7 days, or one month.

BOSS Revolution Calling sold through distributors and retailers

BOSS Revolution Calling sold through distributors and retailers is the same service as BOSS Revolution Calling direct-to-consumers. The Company sells capacity to international calling minutes to retailers, or to distributors who resell to retailers. The retailer or distributor is the Company’s customer in these transactions. The Company’s sales price to retailers and distributors, net of discounts, is less than the end user rate for BOSS Revolution Calling minutes. The customer or the Company may terminate their agreement at any time upon thirty days written notice without penalty. Retailers may sell BOSS Revolution Calling on a pay-as-you-go basis or in unlimited plans. As described above, for pay-as-you-go, the Company recognizes revenue at the point in time when minutes are utilized, and for unlimited plans, the Company recognizes revenue over a period of time as the service is rendered. Retailers and distributors also receive initial commissions upon sale to end users, and renewal commissions when certain end users subsequently purchase minutes directly from the Company. Initial and renewal commission payments are accounted for as a reduction of the transaction price over time as the end user uses the service.

Carrier Services

Carrier Services are offered to both postpaid and prepaid customers. Postpaid customers are billed in arrears and typically consist of credit-worthy companies such as Tier 1 carriers and mobile network operators. Prepaid customers are typically smaller communications companies and independent call aggregators. There is no performance obligation until the transport and termination of international long-distance calls commences. The initial contract durations range from six months to one year with successive extensions. During the initial term, the contract can only be terminated in certain instances (such as bankruptcy of either party, damage to the other party’s network, fraud, or breach of contract). However, no penalties are applied if the agreement is terminated in the initial term. After the initial term has expired, either party may terminate the agreement with notice of 30 days to 60 days depending on the agreement. The term of the contract is essentially minute-to-minute as there is no penalty for an early termination and no obligation to send traffic.

Each iteration is a separate optional purchase that is occurring over the contract duration (that is, minute-by-minute). The satisfaction of the performance obligation is occurring at a point in time (as the minutes are transferred) because the provision of the service and the satisfaction of the performance obligation are essentially occurring simultaneously. Revenue is recognized at the point in time upon delivery of the service.

The Company has not generally entered into contracts that have retroactive pricing features. Additionally, as the performance obligations are considered minute-by-minute obligations in the original contract, any modification of the original contract that leads to a conclusion that there is a new contract would not result in any adjustment related to the original contract’s consideration.

The Company provides discounts to its larger customers based on the expectation of a significant volume of minutes that are consistent with that class of customer in the wholesale carrier market. The discounts do not provide a material right to the customer because the customer receives the same pricing for all usage under the contract.

Carrier Services’ contracts may include tiered pricing based on minute volumes. The Company determined that its retroactive tiered pricing should be accounted for as variable consideration because the final transaction price is unknown until the customer completes or fails to complete the specified threshold. Currently, contracts with retroactive tiered pricing are not material. The Company estimates the amount of variable consideration to include in the transaction price only to the extent that it is probable that a subsequent change in the estimate would not result in a significant revenue reversal.

IDT CORPORATION

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS—(Continued)

The Company enters into Notification of Reciprocal Transmission (“NORT”) transactions, in which the Company commits to purchase a specific number of wholesale carrier minutes to other specific destinations at specified rates, and the counterparty commits to purchase from the Company a specific number of minutes to specific destinations at specified rates. The number of minutes purchased and sold is not necessarily the same. The rates in these reciprocal transactions are generally not at prevailing market rates, and the amounts paid to the counterparty in excess of market rates are reflected as a reduction in revenue received from the customer. In addition, the Company enters into transactions in which it swaps minutes with another carrier. The Company recognizes revenue and the related direct cost of revenue for these reciprocal and swap transactions based on the fair value of the minutes.

Carrier Services’ NORT contracts include the promise of minimum guaranteed amounts of traffic. The performance obligation represents a stand ready obligation to provide the specified number of minutes over the contractual term. The initial terms of NORT contracts generally range from one month to six months. Since the Company’s satisfaction of its performance obligation of routing calls to their destination includes a minimum guaranteed amount of traffic, the Company recognizes revenue over a period of time as the service is rendered. The customer simultaneously receives and consumes the benefits provided by the Company’s performance as the Company performs. The Company uses an output method as the usage of minutes occur because it reflects the pattern by which the Company satisfies its performance obligation through the transfer of service to the customer.

Disaggregated Revenues

The following table shows the Company’s revenues disaggregated by business segment and service offered to customers:

Year ended July 31 (in thousands)	2021		2020
BOSS Revolution Money Transfer	$	49,595	$	47,944
National Retail Solutions		24,748		11,980
Total Fintech		74,343		59,924
net2phone-UCaaS		43,897		31,781
Mobile Top-Up		461,603		334,424
BOSS Revolution Calling		455,244		468,255
Carrier Services		360,997		394,334
Other		50,906		57,051
Total Traditional Communications		1,328,750		1,254,064
TOTAL	$	1,446,990	$	1,345,769

The following table shows the Company’s revenues disaggregated by geographic region, which is determined based on selling location. On July 31, 2020, the Company restructured certain operations for tax purposes resulting in the change of geographic sourcing of revenues from the Netherlands to the United States, and on February 1, 2021, geographic sourcing was changed from the United States to the United Kingdom.

IDT CORPORATION

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS—(Continued)

(in thousands)	Fintech		net2phone-UCaaS		Traditional Communications		Total
Year ended July 31, 2021
United States	$	74,343	$	23,071	$	1,030,963	$	1,128,377
Outside the United States:
United Kingdom		—		—		244,626		244,626
Netherlands		—		—		28		28
Other		—		20,826		53,133		73,959
Total outside the United States		—		20,826		297,787		318,613
TOTAL	$	74,343	$	43,897	$	1,328,750	$	1,446,990
Year ended July 31, 2020
United States	$	59,924	$	15,490	$	847,450	$	922,864
Outside the United States:
United Kingdom		—		12		134,339		134,351
Netherlands		—		—		210,743		210,743
Other		—		16,279		61,532		77,811
Total outside the United States		—		16,291		406,614		422,905
TOTAL	$	59,924	$	31,781	$	1,254,064	$	1,345,769

Remaining Performance Obligations

The Company does not have any significant revenue from performance obligations satisfied or partially satisfied in previous reporting periods. The Company’s remaining performance obligations at July 31, 2021 and 2020 had an original expected duration of one year or less.

Accounts Receivable and Contract Balances

The timing of revenue recognition may differ from the time of billing to the Company’s customers. Trade accounts receivable in the Company’s consolidated balance sheets represent unconditional rights to consideration. An entity records a contract asset when revenue is recognized in advance of the entity’s right to bill and receive consideration. The Company has not identified any contract assets.

Contract liabilities arise when the Company receives consideration or bills its customers prior to providing the goods or services promised in the contract. The Company’s contract liability balance is primarily payments received for prepaid BOSS Revolution Calling. Contract liabilities are recognized as revenue when services are provided to the customer. The Company estimates its expected breakage revenue by revenue stream recorded each month, based on inputs and assumptions about usage of the deferred revenue balances. The Company used its historical deferred revenue usage data by revenue stream to calculate the percentage of deferred revenue by month that will become breakage. The historical data indicated that customers utilize a very high percentage of minutes purchased in the first three months. The Company reviews its estimates quarterly based on updated data and adjusts the monthly estimates accordingly.

The contract liability balances are presented in the Company’s consolidated balance sheets as “Deferred revenue”. The Company’s revenue recognized in fiscal 2021 and fiscal 2020 from amounts included in the contract liability balance at the beginning of the period was $28.7 million and $32.3 million, respectively.

Deferred Customer Contract Acquisition and Fulfillment Costs

The Company recognizes as an asset its incremental costs of obtaining a contract with a customer that it expects to recover. The Company charges its direct costs to fulfill contracts to expense as incurred. The Company’s incremental costs of obtaining a contract with a customer are sales commissions paid to acquire customers. The Company applies the practical expedient whereby the Company primarily charges these costs to expense when incurred because the amortization period would be one year or less for the asset that would have been recognized from deferring these costs. For net2phone-UCaaS sales, employees and third parties receive commissions on sales to end users. The Company amortizes the deferred costs over the expected customer relationship period when it is expected to exceed one year.

IDT CORPORATION

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS—(Continued)

The Company’s deferred customer contract acquisition costs were as follows:

July 31  (in thousands)	2021		2020
Deferred customer contract acquisition costs included in “Other current assets”	$	3,460	$	2,350
Deferred customer contract acquisition costs included in “Other assets”		3,151		2,384
TOTAL	$	6,611	$	4,734

In fiscal 2021 and fiscal 2020, the Company’s amortization of deferred customer contract acquisition costs was $3.6 million and $2.4 million, respectively.