Note 2 - Revenue

6 Months Ended

Jul. 31, 2021

Notes to Financial Statements

Revenue from Contract with Customer [Text Block]

2. REVENUE

QAD offers its software using the same underlying technology via two models: a cloud-based subscription model and a traditional on-premises licensing model. Under the cloud-based subscription delivery model, QAD provides access to its software on a hosted basis as a service and customers generally do not have the contractual right to take possession of the software. The on-premises model involves the sale or license of software on a perpetual basis to customers who take possession of the software and install and maintain the software on their own hardware.

The Company generates revenue through subscriptions of its cloud-based software and through sales of licenses and maintenance provided to its on-premises customers. QAD offers professional services to both its cloud and on-premises customers to assist them with the design, testing and implementation of its software.

The Company determines revenue recognition through the following steps:

- Identification of the contract, or contracts, with a customer;

- Identification of the performance obligations in the contract;

- Determination of the transaction price;

- Allocation of the transaction price to the performance obligations in the contract; and

- Recognition of revenue when, or as, the Company satisfies a performance obligation.

Revenue is presented net of sales, value-added and other taxes collected from customers and remitted to government authorities. 

Performance Obligations

A performance obligation is a promise in a contract to transfer a distinct good or service to the customer and is the unit of account under Topic 606. The transaction price is allocated to each distinct performance obligation and recognized as revenue when, or as, the performance obligation is satisfied by transferring the promised good or service to the customer. The Company identifies and tracks the performance obligations at contract inception so that the Company can monitor and account for the performance obligations over the life of the contract.

The Company’s contracts which contain multiple performance obligations generally consist of the initial purchase of subscription or licenses and a professional services engagement.  License purchases generally have multiple performance obligations as customers purchase maintenance in addition to the licenses.  The Company’s single performance obligation arrangements are typically maintenance renewals, subscription renewals and services engagements. 

For contracts with multiple performance obligations where the contracted price differs from the standalone selling price (SSP) for any distinct good or service, the Company may be required to allocate the contract’s transaction price to each performance obligation using its best estimate for the SSP. SSP is assessed annually using a historical analysis of contracts with customers executed in the most recently completed fiscal year to determine the range of selling prices applicable to a distinct good or service.

Judgment is required to determine the SSP for each distinct performance obligation. In instances where SSP is not directly observable because the Company does not sell the license, product or service separately, the Company determines the SSP using information that may include market conditions and other observable inputs. In making these judgments, the Company analyzes various factors, including its pricing methodology and consistency, size of the arrangement, length of term, customer demographics and overall market and economic conditions. Based on these results, the estimated SSP is set for each distinct product or service delivered to customers. The Company rarely sells licenses on a stand-alone basis, as the majority of its license sales to customers include first year maintenance with the license purchase. The Company frequently sells subscription, maintenance and services on a stand-alone basis. 

Subscription

Subscription revenue is recognized ratably over the initial subscription period committed to by the customer commencing when the cloud environment is made available to the customer. The initial subscription period is typically 24 to 60 months. The Company generally invoices its customers in advance in quarterly or annual installments and typical payment terms provide that customers make payment within 30 days of invoice. In addition, a majority of customers renew their subscription contracts annually and typical payment terms provide that customers make payment within 30 days of invoice.

License

Transfer of control for software is considered to have occurred upon electronic delivery of the license key that provides immediate availability of the product to the customer. The Company’s typical payment terms tend to vary by region but its standard payment terms are within 30-90 days of invoice.

Maintenance

Revenue from support services and product updates, referred to as maintenance revenue, is recognized ratably over the term of the maintenance period, which in most instances is one year. Software license updates provide customers with rights to unspecified software product updates, maintenance releases and patches released during the term of the support period on a when-and-if available basis. Product support includes Internet access to technical content, as well as Internet and telephone access to technical support personnel. The Company’s customers purchase both product support and license updates via the Company’s maintenance offering when they acquire new software licenses. In addition, a majority of customers renew their maintenance contracts annually and typical payment terms provide that customers make payment within 30 days of invoice.

Professional Services

Revenue from professional services is typically comprised of implementation, development, training or other consulting services. Consulting services are generally sold on a time-and-materials or fixed fee basis and can include services ranging from software installation to data conversion and building non-complex interfaces to allow the software to operate in integrated environments. The Company recognizes revenue for time-and-materials arrangements as the services are performed.  In fixed fee arrangements, revenue is recognized as services are performed as measured by costs incurred to date, compared to total estimated costs to complete the services project.  Management applies judgment when estimating project status and the costs necessary to complete the services projects.  A number of internal and external factors can affect these estimates, including labor rates, utilization and efficiency variances, and specification and testing requirement changes.  Services are generally invoiced upon milestones in the contract or upon consumption of the hourly resources and payments are typically due 30 days after invoice. 

Indirect Sales Channels

The Company executes arrangements through indirect sales channels via sales agents and distributors who are authorized to market its software products to end users. In arrangements with sales agents, QAD contracts directly with the customer and sales agents are compensated on a commission basis. Distributor arrangements are those in which the resellers are authorized to market and distribute the Company’s software products to end users in specified territories and the distributor bears the risk of collection from the end user customer. The Company recognizes revenue from transactions with distributors when the distributor submits a signed agreement and transfer of control has occurred to the distributor in accordance with the five revenue recognition steps noted above. Revenue from distributor transactions is recorded on a net basis (the amount actually received by the Company from the distributor). QAD does not offer rights of return, product rotation or price protection to any of its distributors.

Disaggregated Revenue

The Company disaggregates revenue from contracts with customers by geography and by the customers’ industry within manufacturing, as it believes it best depicts how the nature, amount, timing and uncertainty of revenue and cash flows are affected by economic factors.

The Company’s revenue by geography is as follows:

	Three Months Ended July 31,				Six Months Ended July 31,
	2021		2020		2021		2020
	(in thousands)				(in thousands)
North America	$	41,506	$	38,998	$	80,746	$	76,000
EMEA		27,342		21,379		56,055		43,947
Asia Pacific		10,908		9,571		21,176		19,213
Latin America		5,083		4,133		9,833		9,068
Total revenue	$	84,839	$	74,081	$	167,810	$	148,228

The Company’s revenue by industry is as follows:

	Three Months Ended July 31,				Six Months Ended July 31,
	2021		2020		2021		2020
	(in thousands)				(in thousands)
Automotive	$	25,485	$	22,275	$	49,053	$	46,412
Consumer products and food and beverage		13,684		13,476		27,088		25,290
High technology and industrial products		31,390		26,644		61,459		53,468
Life sciences and other		14,280		11,686		30,210		23,058
Total revenue	$	84,839	$	74,081	$	167,810	$	148,228

Management Judgments

Due to the complexity of certain contracts, the actual revenue recognition treatment required under Topic 606 for the Company’s arrangements may be dependent on contract-specific terms and may vary in some instances.

Revenue is recognized over time for the Company’s subscription, maintenance and fixed fee professional services that are separate performance obligations.  For the Company’s professional services, revenue is recognized over time, generally using costs incurred or hours expended to measure progress. Judgment is required in estimating project status and the costs necessary to complete projects. A number of internal and external factors can affect these estimates, including labor rates, utilization, specification variances and testing requirement changes. 

If multiple agreements are entered into at or near the same time and so closely related that the agreements are, in effect, part of a single arrangement, such agreements are deemed to be combined as a single arrangement for revenue recognition purposes. The Company exercises judgment to evaluate the relevant facts and circumstances in determining whether multiple agreements should be accounted for separately or as a single arrangement. The Company’s judgments about whether multiple agreements comprise a single arrangement can affect the allocation of consideration to the distinct performance obligations, which could have an effect on results of operations for the periods involved.

Contract Balances  

The timing of revenue recognition may differ from the timing of invoicing to customers and these timing differences result in receivables, contract assets, or contract liabilities (deferred revenue) on the Company’s Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. QAD records a contract asset when the Company has transferred goods or services but does not yet have the right to consideration. QAD records deferred revenue when the Company has received or has the right to receive consideration but has not yet transferred goods or services to the customer. The Company presents the contract asset and liability balance on a net basis at the contract level.

The contract assets indicated below are presented as other current and non-current assets in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. These assets primarily relate to professional services and subscription and consist of the Company’s rights to consideration for goods or services transferred but not billed as of July 31, 2021 and January 31, 2021. The contract assets are transferred to receivables when the rights to consideration become unconditional, usually upon completion of a milestone.

The Company’s contract balances are as follows: 

	July 31, 2021		January 31, 2021
	(in thousands)
Contract assets, short-term (in “Prepaid expenses and other current assets, net”)	$	4,659	$	2,117
Deferred revenue, short-term	$	110,394	$	125,724
Deferred revenue, long-term (in “Other liabilities”)		2,222		2,705
Total deferred revenue	$	112,616	$	128,429

During the six months ended July 31, 2021, the Company recognized $88.3 million of revenue that was included in the gross deferred revenue balance at the beginning of the period. All other activity in deferred revenue is due to the timing of invoicing in relation to the timing of revenue recognition.

Revenue allocated to remaining performance obligations represents the transaction price allocated to the performance obligations that are unsatisfied, or partially unsatisfied, which includes unearned revenue and amounts that will be invoiced and recognized as revenue in future periods. Contracted but unsatisfied performance obligations were approximately $302.3 million as of July 31, 2021, of which the Company expects to recognize approximately $188.4 million as revenue over the next twelve months and the remainder thereafter. In instances where the timing of revenue recognition differs from the timing of invoicing, QAD has determined that its contracts generally do not include a significant financing component. The primary purpose of invoicing terms is to provide customers with simplified and predictable ways of purchasing the Company’s products and services, and not to facilitate financing arrangements.

Deferred Revenue

The Company typically invoices its customers for subscription and support fees in advance on a quarterly or annual basis, with payment due at the start of the subscription or support term. Unpaid invoice amounts for non-cancelable services starting in future periods are included in accounts receivable and deferred revenue. The portion of deferred revenue that QAD anticipates will be recognized after the succeeding twelve-month period is recorded as non-current deferred revenue, and the remaining portion is recorded as current deferred revenue.  

Deferred revenues consisted of the following:

	July 31, 2021		January 31, 2021
	(in thousands)
Deferred maintenance	$	52,626	$	66,833
Deferred subscription		54,836		55,873
Deferred professional services		2,864		2,649
Deferred license and other revenue		68		369
Deferred revenues, current		110,394		125,724
Deferred revenues, non-current (in “Other liabilities”)		2,222		2,705
Total deferred revenues	$	112,616	$	128,429

Practical Expedients and Exemptions

There are several practical expedients and exemptions allowed under Topic 606 that impact timing of revenue recognition and the Company’s disclosures. Below is a list of the practical expedients applied by the Company:

● The Company does not evaluate a contract for a significant financing component if payment is expected within one year or less from the transfer of the promised items to the customer.

● The Company generally expenses sales commissions and sales agent fees when incurred when the amortization period would have been one year or less. These costs are recorded within sales and marketing expense in the Condensed Consolidated Statement of Operations and Comprehensive (Loss) Income.

● The Company does not disclose the value of unsatisfied performance obligations for contracts for which the Company recognizes revenue at the amount to which it has the right to invoice for services performed (applies to time-and-material engagements).

Costs to Obtain and Fulfill a Contract

The Company’s incremental direct costs of obtaining a contract consist of sales commissions and sales agent fees which are deferred and amortized ratably over the term of economic benefit which the Company has determined to be five years. These deferred costs are classified as current or non-current based on the timing of when the Company expects to recognize the expense. Incremental costs related to renewals are expensed as incurred because the term of economic benefit is one year or less. The current and non-current portions of deferred commissions and sales agent fees are included in “Prepaid expenses and other current assets, net” and “Other assets, net”, respectively, in the Company’s Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. At July 31, 2021 and January 31, 2021, the Company had $13.5 million and $13.1 million, respectively, of deferred commissions and sales agent fees. Amortization expense related to deferred commissions and sales agent fees is recorded in “Sales and marketing” expense in the Company’s Condensed Consolidated Statement of Operations and Comprehensive (Loss) Income. For the three and six months ended July 31, 2021 amortization expense related to deferred commissions and sales agent fees was $1.2 million and $2.4 million, respectively, compared to $1.1 million and $2.1 million for the three and six months ended July 31, 2020, respectively.

Costs to fulfill a contract, which are incurred upon initiation of certain services contracts and are related to initial customer setup, are deferred and amortized over the term of economic benefit which the Company has determined to be five years. The current and non-current portions of deferred setup costs are included in “Prepaid expenses and other current assets, net” and “Other assets, net”, respectively, in the Company’s Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. At July 31, 2021 and January 31, 2021, the Company had deferred setup costs of $1.3 million. Amortization expense related to deferred setup costs is recorded in “Cost of subscription” in the Company’s Condensed Consolidated Statement of Operations and Comprehensive (Loss) Income. Amortization expense related to deferred setup costs was $0.1 million and $0.3 million for the three and six months ended July 31, 2021, respectively; compared to $0.2 million and $0.3 million for the three and six months ended July 31, 2020, respectively.

Recoverability of these costs is subject to various business risks. Quarterly, the Company compares the carrying value of these assets with the undiscounted future cash flows expected to be generated by them to determine if there is impairment. If impaired, these assets are reduced to an estimated fair value on a discounted cash flow basis. No impairment losses were recognized during the six months ended July 31, 2021 and 2020.