Revenue and Allowances

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2022

Revenue from Contract with Customer [Abstract]

Revenue and Allowances

Revenues and Allowances

The contracts CRA enters into and operates under specify whether the projects are billed on a time-and-materials or a fixed-price basis. Time-and-materials contracts are typically used for litigation, regulatory, and financial consulting projects while fixed-price contracts are principally used for management consulting projects. In general, project costs are classified in costs of services and are based on the direct salary of CRA's employee consultants on the engagement, plus all direct expenses incurred to complete the project, including any amounts billed to CRA by its non-employee experts.

Disaggregation of Revenue

The following tables disaggregate CRA's revenue by type of contract and geographic location (in thousands):

	Year Ended		Year Ended		Year Ended
Type of Contract	December 31, 2022 (52 weeks)		January 1, 2022 (52 weeks)		January 2, 2021 (53 weeks)
Consulting services revenues:
Fixed-price	$	110,129	$	136,276	$	124,383
Time-and-materials	480,772		429,657		383,990
Total	$	590,901	$	565,933	$	508,373

	Year Ended		Year Ended		Year Ended
Geographic Breakdown	December 31, 2022 (52 weeks)		January 1, 2022 (52 weeks)		January 2, 2021 (53 weeks)
Consulting services revenues:
United States	$	470,233	$	451,436	$	405,808
United Kingdom	89,235		86,191		79,922
Other	31,433		28,306		22,643
Total	$	590,901	$	565,933	$	508,373

Reserves for Variable Consideration and Credit Risk

Revenues from CRA's consulting services are recorded at the net transaction price, which includes estimates of variable consideration for which reserves are established. Variable consideration reserves are based on specific price concessions and those expected to be extended to CRA customers estimated by CRA's historical realization rates. Reserves for variable consideration are recorded as a component of the allowances for accounts receivable and unbilled services on the consolidated balance sheets. Adjustments to the reserves for variable consideration are included in revenues on the consolidated statements of operations.

CRA also maintains allowances for accounts receivable and unbilled services for estimated losses resulting from clients’ failure to make required payments. CRA adopted ASC 326 on the first day of fiscal 2020, which changed the method CRA utilizes to estimate reserves related to credit risk. Under ASC 326, CRA estimates allowances based on historical charge-off rates, adjusted for days of sales outstanding and expected changes to clients’ financial conditions during the anticipated collection period. Bad debt expense, net of recoveries of previously written off allowances, is recorded as a component of selling, general and administrative expenses on the consolidated statements of operations.

A rollforward of the variable consideration and doubtful accounts reserves for accounts receivable, which includes allowances for doubtful accounts of $0.1 million and $0.5 million as of December 31, 2022 and January 1, 2022, respectively, is as follows (in thousands):

	Fiscal Year		Fiscal Year
	2022		2021
Balance at beginning of fiscal year	$	3,256	$	3,595
Increases to reserves, net of recoveries	1,808		2,612
Amounts written off and foreign currency translation	(2,424)		(2,951)
Balance at end of fiscal year	$	2,640	$	3,256

A rollforward of the variable consideration and doubtful accounts reserves for unbilled services is as follows (in thousands):

	Fiscal Year		Fiscal Year
	2022		2021
Balance at beginning of fiscal year	$	1,364	$	1,000
Increases to reserves, net of recoveries	9,176		7,574
Amounts written off and foreign currency translation	(9,420)		(7,210)
Balance at end of fiscal year	$	1,120	$	1,364

The following table presents CRA's bad debt expense, net of recoveries of previously written off allowances (in thousands):

	Year Ended		Year Ended		Year Ended
	December 31, 2022 (52 weeks)		January 1, 2022 (52 weeks)		January 2, 2021 (53 weeks)
Bad debt expense, net	$	(345)	$	27	$	227

Reimbursable Expenses

Revenues also include reimbursements for costs incurred by CRA in fulfilling its performance obligations, including travel and other out-of-pocket expenses, fees for outside consultants, and other reimbursable expenses. CRA recovers substantially all of these costs. The following expenses are subject to reimbursement (in thousands):

	Year Ended		Year Ended		Year Ended
	December 31, 2022 (52 weeks)		January 1, 2022 (52 weeks)		January 2, 2021 (53 weeks)
Reimbursable expenses	$	63,318	$	64,532	$	61,661

Contract Balances from Contracts with Customers

CRA defines contract assets as assets for which it has recorded revenue because it determines that it is probable that it will earn a performance-based or contingent fee, but is not yet entitled to receive a fee because certain events, such as completion of the measurement period or client approval, must occur. The contract assets balance was immaterial as of December 31, 2022 and January 1, 2022.

When consideration is received, or such consideration is unconditionally due from a customer prior to transferring consulting services to the customer under the terms of a contract, a contract liability is recorded. Contract liabilities are recognized as revenue after performance obligations have been satisfied and all revenue recognition criteria have been met. The following table presents the closing balances of CRA's contract liabilities (in thousands):

	December 31, 2022		January 1, 2022		January 2, 2021
Contract liabilities	$	6,977	$	8,811	$	5,527

CRA recognized the following revenue that was included in the contract liabilities balance as of the opening of the respective period or for performance obligations satisfied in previous periods (in thousands):

	Year Ended		Year Ended		Year Ended
	December 31, 2022 (52 weeks)		January 1, 2022 (52 weeks)		January 2, 2021 (53 weeks)
Amounts included in contract liabilities at the beginning of the fiscal year	$	8,325	$	5,185	$	3,533
Performance obligations satisfied in previous fiscal years	$	2,207	$	2,827	$	4,503