2. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

ACCOUNTING PRINCIPLES: The financial statements and accompanying notes are prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States.

PRINCIPLES OF CONSOLIDATION: The accompanying consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and its wholly owned subsidiaries. All intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated.

USE OF ESTIMATES: The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States 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. Estimates also affect the amounts of revenue and expenses during the reported periods. Significant estimates included in these consolidated financial statements include allowances for doubtful accounts receivable, income tax accruals, uncertain tax positions and tax valuation reserves, fair value of stock-based compensation, contract revenue, useful lives for depreciation and amortization, loss contingencies, valuation of goodwill and indefinite lived intangible assets, contingent consideration and deferred compensation. Actual results could differ from these estimates. Changes in estimates are recorded in the results of operations in the period that the changes occur.

REVENUE RECOGNITION: Revenue is derived principally from the licensing of computer software products and from related maintenance contracts. Revenue from perpetual licenses is classified as license revenue and is recognized upon delivery of the licensed product and the utility that enables the customer to access authorization keys, provided that acceptance has occurred and a signed contractual obligation has been received, the price is fixed and determinable, and collectibility of the receivable is probable. The Company determines the fair value of post-contract customer support ("PCS") sold together with perpetual licenses based on the rate charged for PCS when sold separately. Revenue from PCS contracts is classified as maintenance and service revenue and is recognized ratably over the term of the contract.

Revenue for software lease licenses is classified as license revenue and is recognized over the period of the lease contract. Typically, the Company's software leases include PCS which, due to the short term (principally one year or less) of the Company's software lease licenses, cannot be separated from lease revenue for accounting purposes. As a result, both the lease license and PCS are recognized ratably over the lease period. Due to the short-term nature of the software lease licenses and the frequency with which the Company provides major product upgrades (typically every 12–18 months), the Company does not believe that a significant portion of the fee paid under the arrangement is attributable to the PCS component of the arrangement and, as a result, includes the revenue for the entire arrangement within software license revenue in the consolidated statements of income.

Revenue from training, support and other services is recognized as the services are performed. The Company applies the specific performance method to contracts in which the service consists of a single act, such as providing a training class to a customer, and the proportional performance method to other service contracts that are longer in duration and often include multiple acts (for example, both training and consulting). In applying the proportional performance method, the Company typically utilizes output-based estimates for services with contractual billing arrangements that are not based on time and materials, and estimates output based on the total tasks completed as compared to the total tasks required for each work contract. Input-based estimates are utilized for services that involve general consultations with contractual billing arrangements based on time and materials, utilizing direct labor as the input measure.

The Company also executes arrangements through independent channel partners in which the channel partners are authorized to market and distribute the Company's software products to end users of the Company's products and services in specified territories. In sales facilitated by channel partners, the channel partner bears the risk of collection from the end user customer. The Company recognizes revenue from transactions with channel partners when the channel partner submits a written purchase commitment, collectibility from the channel partner is probable, a signed license agreement is received from the end user customer and delivery has occurred, provided that all other revenue recognition criteria are satisfied. Revenue from channel partner transactions is the amount remitted to the Company by the channel partners. This amount includes a fee for PCS that is compensation for providing technical enhancements and the second level of technical support to the end user, which is based on the rate charged for PCS when sold separately, and is recognized over the period that PCS is to be provided. The Company does not offer right of return, product rotation or price protection to any of its channel partners.

Non-income related taxes collected from customers and remitted to governmental authorities are recorded on the consolidated balance sheet as accounts receivable and accrued expenses. The collection and payment of these amounts are reported on a net basis in the consolidated statements of income and do not impact reported revenues or expenses.

The Company warrants to its customers that its software will substantially perform as specified in the Company's most current user manuals. The Company has not experienced significant claims related to software warranties beyond the scope of maintenance support, which the Company is already obligated to provide, and consequently the Company has not established reserves for warranty obligations.

CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS: Cash and cash equivalents consist primarily of highly liquid investments such as deposits held at major banks and money market mutual funds with original maturities of three months or less. Cash equivalents are carried at cost, which approximates fair value. The Company's cash and cash equivalents balances comprise the following:

December 31,

2011

2010

(in thousands, except percentages)

Amount

% of Total

Amount

% of Total

Cash accounts

289,298

61.3

170,765

36.1

Money market mutual funds

181,198

38.4

273,926

58.0

Time deposits

1,332

0.3

27,788

5.9

Total

471,828

472,479

The money market mutual fund balances reflected above are held in various funds of a single issuer. The time deposits balance at December 31, 2010 was primarily invested in pooled funds which held a mix of bank time deposits with varying durations of up to three months.

SHORT-TERM INVESTMENTS: Short-term investments consist primarily of deposits held by certain foreign subsidiaries of the Company with original maturities of three months to one year. The Company considers investments backed by government agencies or financial institutions with maturities of less than one year to be highly liquid and classifies such investments as short-term investments. Short-term investments are recorded at fair value. The Company uses the specific identification method to determine the realized gain or loss upon the sale of such securities.

The Company is averse to principal loss and seeks to preserve invested funds by limiting default risk, market risk and reinvestment risk by placing its investments with high-quality credit issuers.

PROPERTY AND EQUIPMENT: Property and equipment is stated at cost. Depreciation is computed on the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the various classes of assets, which range from one to 40 years. Repairs and maintenance are charged to expense as incurred. Gains or losses from the sale or retirement of property and equipment are included in operating income.

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT COSTS: Research and development costs, other than certain capitalized software development costs, are expensed as incurred.

CAPITALIZED SOFTWARE: Internally developed computer software costs and costs of product enhancements are capitalized subsequent to the determination of technological feasibility; such capitalization continues until the product becomes available for commercial release. Judgment is required in determining when technological feasibility of a product is established. The Company has determined that technological feasibility is reached after all high-risk development issues have been resolved through coding and testing. Generally, the time between the establishment of technological feasibility and commercial release of software is minimal, resulting in insignificant capitalization of internally developed software costs. Amortization of capitalized software costs, both for internally developed as well as for purchased software products, is computed on a product-by-product basis over the estimated economic life of the product, which is generally three years. Amortization is the greater of the amount computed using: (i) the ratio of the current year's gross revenue to the total current and anticipated future gross revenue for that product or (ii) the straight-line method over the estimated life of the product. Amortization expense related to capitalized and acquired software costs, including the related trademarks, was $33.7 million, $32.8 million and $36.0 million for the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009, respectively.

The Company periodically reviews the carrying value of capitalized software. Impairments are recognized in the results of operations when the expected future undiscounted operating cash flow derived from the capitalized costs of internally developed software is less than the carrying value. No impairment charges have been required to date.

GOODWILL AND OTHER INTANGIBLE ASSETS: Goodwill represents the excess of the consideration transferred over the fair value of net identifiable assets acquired. Intangible assets consist of trademarks, customer lists, contract backlog, and acquired software and technology.

The Company evaluates, at least annually, the realizability of the carrying value of goodwill and indefinite lived intangible assets by comparing the carrying value of the asset (or, in the case of goodwill, the Company's reporting units) to its estimated fair value. The Company performs its annual goodwill and indefinite lived intangible assets impairment test on January 1 of each year unless there is an indicator that would require a test during the year. No impairment charges have been required to date.

The Company periodically reviews the carrying value of other intangible assets and will recognize impairments when events or circumstances indicate that such assets may be impaired. No impairment charges have been required to date.

CONCENTRATIONS OF CREDIT RISK: The Company has a concentration of credit risk with respect to revenue and trade receivables due to the use of certain significant channel partners to market and sell the Company's products. The Company performs periodic credit evaluations of its customers' financial condition and generally does not require collateral. The following table outlines concentrations of risk with respect to the Company's revenue:


	Year Ended December 31,
*(as a % of revenue, except customer data)*	2011			2010			2009
Revenue from channel partners		26	%		27	%		26	%
1^st largest channel partner		4	%		4	%		5	%
2^nd largest channel partner		3	%		3	%		3	%
Direct sale customers exceeding 5% of revenue		0			0			0

In addition to the concentration of credit risk with respect to trade receivables, the Company's cash and cash equivalents are also exposed to concentration of credit risk. The Company maintains certain cash and cash equivalent accounts that are currently insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation ("FDIC") up to $250,000 per depositor or the Securities Investor Protection Corporation ("SIPC") up to $500,000 per customer. As of December 31, 2011, the Company had cash and cash equivalent balances of $297.7 million held in the U.S. which were uninsured by the FDIC or SIPC, and $153.4 million of uninsured cash and cash equivalent balances held outside of the U.S. The Company held cash and cash equivalent balances with one U.S. financial institution as of December 31, 2011 in the amount of $227.5 million.

ALLOWANCE FOR DOUBTFUL ACCOUNTS: The Company makes judgments as to its ability to collect outstanding receivables and provides allowances for a portion of receivables when collection becomes doubtful. Provisions are made based upon a specific review of all significant outstanding invoices from both value and delinquency perspectives. For those invoices not specifically reviewed, provisions are provided at differing rates based upon the age of the receivable and the geographic area of origin. In determining these percentages, the Company considers its historical collection experience and current economic trends in the customer's industry and geographic region. The Company recorded provisions for doubtful accounts of $400,000, $1.8 million and $1.6 million for the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009, respectively.

INCOME TAXES: The Company accounts for income taxes under the asset and liability method, which requires the recognition of deferred tax assets and liabilities for the expected future tax consequences of events that have been included in the financial statements. Under this method, deferred tax assets and liabilities are determined based on the differences between the financial statement and tax bases of assets and liabilities using enacted tax rates in effect for the year in which the differences are expected to reverse. The effect of a change in tax rates on deferred tax assets and liabilities is recognized in income in the period of the enactment date.

The Company records net deferred tax assets to the extent it believes these assets will more likely than not be realized. In making such determination, the Company considers all available positive and negative evidence, including scheduled reversals of deferred tax liabilities, projected future taxable income, tax planning strategies and recent financial operations. In the event the Company determines that it will be able to realize deferred income tax assets in the future in excess of their net recorded amount, an adjustment to the valuation allowance would be recorded that would reduce the provision for income taxes.

Tax benefits related to uncertain tax positions taken or expected to be taken on a tax return are recorded when such benefits meet a more likely than not threshold. Otherwise, these tax benefits are recorded when a tax position has been effectively settled, which means that the statute of limitation has expired or the appropriate taxing authority has completed their examination even though the statute of limitations remains open. The Company recognizes interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits within the income tax expense line in the accompanying consolidated statements of income. Accrued interest and penalties are included within the related tax liability line in the consolidated balance sheets.

FOREIGN CURRENCIES: Certain of the Company's sales and intercompany transactions are denominated in foreign currencies. These transactions are translated to the functional currency at the exchange rate on the transaction date. Accounts receivable and intercompany balances in foreign currencies at year end are translated at the effective exchange rate on the balance sheet date. Gains and losses resulting from foreign exchange transactions are included in other income. The Company recorded net foreign exchange losses of $430,000, $400,000 and $1.4 million for the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009, respectively.

The financial statements of the Company's foreign subsidiaries are translated from the functional (local) currency to U.S. Dollars. Assets and liabilities are translated at the exchange rates on the balance sheet date. Results of operations are translated at average exchange rates, which approximate rates in effect when the underlying transactions occur.

ACCUMULATED OTHER COMPREHENSIVE INCOME: Accumulated other comprehensive income is composed entirely of foreign currency translation adjustments.

EARNINGS PER SHARE: Basic earnings per share ("EPS") amounts are computed by dividing earnings by the average number of common shares outstanding during the period. Diluted EPS amounts assume the issuance of common stock for all potentially dilutive equivalents outstanding. To the extent stock options are anti-dilutive, they are excluded from the calculation of diluted EPS. The details of basic and diluted EPS are as follows:


	Year Ended December 31,
*(in thousands, except per share data)*	2011		2010		2009
Net income	$	180,675	$	153,132	$	116,391

Weighted average shares outstanding—basic		92,120		90,684		88,486

Dilutive effect of stock plans		2,261		2,525		3,299

Weighted average shares outstanding—diluted		94,381		93,209		91,785

Basic earnings per share	$	1.96	$	1.69	$	1.32
Diluted earnings per share	$	1.91	$	1.64	$	1.27
Anti-dilutive options		1,421		1,867		2,612

STOCK-BASED COMPENSATION: The Company accounts for stock-based compensation in accordance with share-based payment accounting guidance. The guidance requires an entity to measure the cost of employee services received in exchange for an award of equity instruments based on the grant-date fair value of the award. The cost is recognized over the period during which an employee is required to provide service in exchange for the award, typically the vesting period.

FAIR VALUE OF FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS: The Company accounts for certain assets and liabilities at fair value in accordance with the accounting guidance applicable to fair value measurements and disclosures. The carrying values of cash, cash equivalents, accounts receivable, accounts payable, accrued expenses, other accrued liabilities and short-term obligations are deemed to be reasonable estimates of their fair values because of their short-term nature. The fair values of investments are based on quoted market prices for those or similar investments. The carrying value of long-term debt is considered a reasonable estimate of fair value due to the variable interest rate underlying the Company's credit facility.

DERIVATIVE FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS: As of December 31, 2009 and 2008 and through its maturity on June 30, 2010, the Company held a derivative financial instrument to manage interest rate risk. The Company accounted for this instrument as a cash flow hedge in accordance with derivative instruments and hedging activities accounting guidance, which requires that every derivative instrument be recorded on the balance sheet as either an asset or liability measured at its fair value as of the reporting date. This guidance also requires that changes in the Company's derivative fair value be recognized in earnings unless specific hedge accounting and documentation criteria are met. The Company recorded the effective portion of its derivative financial instrument in accumulated other comprehensive income on the consolidated balance sheets. Any ineffective portion or excluded portion of the designated cash flow hedge was recognized in earnings. The Company's cash flow hedge did not have an ineffective or excluded portion. The Company utilized the hypothetical derivative method to ensure the hedge was effective in offsetting variability in interest expense associated with its credit facility. The Company used the dollar offset method for calculating ineffectiveness by comparing the cumulative fair value of the swap to the cumulative fair value of the hypothetical derivative.

NEW ACCOUNTING GUIDANCE:

Fair Value Measurements: In May 2011, new accounting guidance was issued to provide a consistent definition of fair value and to ensure that the fair value measurement and disclosure requirements are similar between generally accepted accounting principles in the United States and International Financial Reporting Standards. The guidance changes certain fair value measurement principles and enhances the disclosure requirements, particularly for Level 3 fair value measurements. This guidance is effective for the Company beginning January 1, 2012. Management is in the process of evaluating the impact of adopting this guidance on the Company's consolidated financial statements.

Presentation of Comprehensive Income: In June 2011, new accounting guidance was issued regarding the presentation of comprehensive income in consolidated financial statements. This guidance requires that all non-owner changes in stockholders' equity be presented either in a single continuous statement of comprehensive income or in two separate but consecutive statements. The updated guidance eliminates the option to present components of other comprehensive income as part of the statement of changes in stockholders' equity. This guidance is effective for the Company beginning January 1, 2012. Management is in the process of evaluating the impact of adopting this guidance on the Company's consolidated financial statements.

Testing Goodwill for Impairment: In September 2011, new accounting guidance was issued regarding the requirement to test goodwill for impairment on at least an annual basis. Existing guidance requires that this test be performed by comparing the fair value of a reporting unit with its carrying amount, including goodwill (step one). If the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying amount, then the second step of the test must be performed to measure the amount of the impairment loss, if any. Under the new guidance, an entity has the option to first assess qualitative factors to determine whether the existence of events or circumstances leads to a determination that it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying amount. If, after assessing the totality of events or circumstances, an entity determines it is not more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying amount, then performing the two-step impairment test is unnecessary. However, if an entity concludes otherwise, then it is required to perform the first step of the two-step impairment test. This guidance is effective for the Company beginning January 1, 2012. Management is in the process of evaluating the impact of adopting this guidance on the Company's consolidated financial statements.