ACCOUNTING POLICIES (Policies)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2019

OVERVIEW AND BASIS OF PRESENTATION [Abstract]

Summary of Business

TTEC Holdings, Inc. (“TTEC”, “the Company”) is a leading global customer experience technology and services company focused on the design, implementation and delivery of transformative solutions for many of the world’s most iconic and disruptive brands. The Company helps large global companies increase revenue and reduce costs by delivering personalized customer experiences across every interactional channel and phase of the customer lifecycle as an end-to-end provider of customer engagement services, technologies, insights and innovations. TTEC’s 48,500 employees serve clients in the automotive, communication, financial services, government, healthcare, logistics, media and entertainment, retail, technology, transportation and travel industries via operations in the United States, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Costa Rica, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, the Philippines, Poland, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom.

Through the first quarter of 2019, the Company was reporting on four segments known as Customer Strategy Services (CSS), Customer Technology Services (CTS), Customer Growth Services (CGS) and Customer Management Services (CMS).

Starting in the second quarter of 2019, the Company changed its strategy, how the Company goes to market, how its clients and potential clients evaluate and consume its services and how it assesses its performance. Based on these changes, the Company now reports its financial information based on the following two segments: TTEC Digital and TTEC Engage.

TTEC Digital designs, builds and delivers tech-enabled, insight-based and outcome-driven customer experience solutions through our professional services and suite of technology offerings. These solutions are critical to enabling and accelerating digital transformation for our clients. These services were previously included in the CSS and CTS segments.

TTEC Engage provides the essential technologies, human resources, infrastructure and processes to operate customer care, acquisition, and fraud detection and prevention services. These services were previously included in the CGS and CMS segments.

TTEC Digital and TTEC Engage come together under our unified offering, HumanifyTM Customer Experience as a Service, which drives measurable results for clients through delivery of personalized omnichannel interactions that are seamless and relevant. This unified offering is value-oriented, outcome-based, and delivered on a global scale across both business segments.

Basis Of Presentation

Basis of Presentation

The Consolidated Financial Statements are comprised of the accounts of TTEC, its wholly owned subsidiaries, and its 55% equity owned subsidiary Percepta, LLC. All intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

The unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements do not include all of the disclosures required by accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S. (“GAAP”), pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). The unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements reflect all adjustments which, in the opinion of management, are necessary to state fairly the consolidated financial position of the Company and the consolidated results of operations and comprehensive income (loss) and the consolidated cash flows of the Company. Operating results for the periods presented are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ending December 31, 2019.

These unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements should be read in conjunction with the Company’s audited Consolidated Financial Statements and footnotes thereto included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018.

Reclassifications

Reclassifications [Text Block]

Reclassifications

Certain prior year amounts have been reclassified to conform to the current year presentation.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of the Consolidated Financial Statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions in determining the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, disclosure of contingent liabilities at the date of the Consolidated Financial Statements and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reporting period. On an ongoing basis, the Company evaluates its estimates including those related to derivatives and hedging activities, income taxes including the valuation allowance for deferred tax assets, self-insurance reserves, litigation reserves, restructuring reserves, allowance for doubtful accounts, contingent consideration, and valuation of goodwill, long-lived and intangible assets. The Company bases its estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that are believed to be reasonable, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities. Actual results may differ materially from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions.

Cash and Cash Equivalents, Restricted Cash and Cash Equivalents, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Cash, Cash Equivalents and Restricted Cash

Cash and cash equivalents consist of cash and highly liquid short-term investments, primarily held in interest-bearing investments which have original maturities of less than 90 days. Restricted cash includes cash whereby the Company’s ability to use the funds at any time is contractually limited or is generally designated for specific purposes arising out of certain contractual or other obligations.

The following table provides a reconciliation of cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash reported in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets that sum to the amounts reported in the Condensed Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows (in thousands):


	September 30, 2019		December 31, 2018

Cash and cash equivalents	$	85,480	$	78,237
Restricted cash included in "Prepaid and other current assets"		10,305		—
Restricted cash included in "Other noncurrent assets"		12		—
Total	$	95,797	$	78,237

Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements

In February 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2016-02, “Leases”, which amends the existing accounting standards for lease accounting, including requiring lessees to recognize most leases on their balance sheets related to the rights and obligations created by those leases, and making targeted changes to lessor accounting. The FASB also issued ASU 2018-10, Codification Improvements to Topic 842 Leases, and ASU 2018-11, Targeted Improvements to Topic 842 Leases, which allows the new lease standard to be applied as of the adoption date with a cumulative-effect adjustment to the opening balance of retained earnings rather than a retroactive restatement of all periods presented.

The Company adopted Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 842 as of January 1, 2019 using the effective date as the date of initial application. The election allowed the Company to recognize the effects of the implementation of ASC 842 as a cumulative effect adjustment to the opening balance of retained earnings in the period of adoption. The Company also made certain assumptions in judgements when applying ASC 842. The most significant judgements are as follows:

The Company elected the package of practical expedients that allowed the Company not to reassess (a) whether any expired or existing contracts are leases or contain leases, (b) the lease classification for any expired or existing leases, and (c) initial direct costs.

The Company did not use hindsight during transition in determining the lease term and assessing impairment of the entity’s right-of-use assets.

The Company elected to not separate non-lease components (which include common area maintenance, taxes, and insurance) from the lease components for gross payment real estate leases. For net payment real estate leases and IT equipment leases, the non-lease components are not included in the lease right of use asset and lease liability and instead are reflected as an expense in the period incurred.

The Company did not apply the recognition requirements in ASC 842 for leases with a term of 12 months or less for all asset classes.

The Company determines if an arrangement is a lease at contract inception. The key specifics in determining if a leasing arrangement exists are as follows:

Does the arrangement convey the right to control the use of an identified asset in exchange for consideration over a period of time.

Does the Company obtain the right to substantially all of the asset’s economic benefits.

The Company predominantly acts as a lessee and is required under the new standard to apply a dual approach, classifying leases as either finance or operating leases based on whether or not the lease is effectively a financed purchase. The determination of the lease type is largely similar to the process the Company utilized under ASC 840. This classification determines whether lease expense is recognized based on an effective interest method or on a straight-line basis over the term of the lease. ASC 842 also requires lessees to record a right of use asset and a lease liability for all leases with a term of greater than one year regardless of classification.

The adoption of the new standard resulted in the recording of additional net lease assets and lease liabilities of $129.9 million and $148.3 million, respectively, as of January 1, 2019. The operating lease assets are lower than the operating lease liabilities primarily due to deferred rent balances at the transition date being reclassed into the right of use operating assets. On January 1, 2019 the Company recognized a reduction of $0.8 million, net of tax, in its retained earnings as a result of recognizing previously impaired right of use assets recorded at transition. The standard did not impact our consolidated net earnings or cash flows. See Note 11 for additional lease disclosures.

Other Accounting Pronouncements

In August 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-12, “Derivatives and Hedging (Topic 815): Targeted Improvements to Accounting for Hedging Activities”. ASU 2017-12 amends and simplifies existing guidance for derivatives and hedges including aligning accounting with companies’ risk management strategies and increasing disclosure transparency regarding both the scope and results of hedging programs. The changes include designation and measurement guidance for qualifying hedging relationships and the presentation of hedge results. The ASU is effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2018 and early adoption was permitted. The Company adopted the new guidance effective January 1, 2019 and the adoption did not have a material effect on the financial statements or related disclosures.

The Company adopted ASC 606, “Revenue From Contracts With Customers”, effective January 1, 2018, using the modified retrospective method. The adoption of ASC 606 resulted in the Company deferring recognition of certain fees, which are classified as deferred revenue on the balance sheet. Revenue recognized in the nine months ended September 30, 2019 that was included in the deferred revenue balance as of January 1, 2019 was $48.0 million.

In January 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-13, “Financial Instruments – Credit Losses” (ASC 326), which amends the methodology of how and when companies measure credit losses on financial instruments. The objective of the ASU is to provide financial statement users more useful information regarding expected credit losses on financial instruments and other commitments. In November 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-19, “Codification Improvements to Topic 326, Financial Instruments - Credit Losses” which clarifies the scope of guidance in ASU 2016-13. In May 2019, the FASB issued ASU No. 2019-05, “Financial Instruments—Credit Losses (Topic 326), Targeted Transition Relief” which amended the transition guidance for the new credit losses standard (ASC 326). The ASU is effective for interim and annual periods beginning on or after December 15, 2019 with early adoption permitted, using a modified retrospective approach. The Company is currently evaluating the potential effects of adoption on its consolidated financial statements and related disclosures.