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BASIS OF PRESENTATION (Policies)
9 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2017
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]  
Basis of Presentation
The accompanying unaudited interim consolidated financial statements have been prepared by NetScout Systems, Inc., or NetScout or the Company. Certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in financial statements prepared under United States generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) have been condensed or omitted pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In the opinion of management, the unaudited interim consolidated financial statements include all adjustments, consisting of normal recurring adjustments, necessary for a fair statement of the Company's financial position, results of operations and cash flows. The year-end consolidated balance sheet data was derived from audited financial statements, but does not include all disclosures required by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. The results reported in these unaudited interim consolidated financial statements are not necessarily indicative of results that may be expected for the entire year. All significant intercompany accounts and transactions are eliminated in consolidation.
These unaudited interim consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements, including the notes thereto, included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2017 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 24, 2017.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
In August 2017, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2017-12, Derivatives and Hedging (Topic 815), Targeted Improvements to Accounting for Hedging Activities (ASU 2017-12). ASU 2017-12 intends to better align an entity's risk management activities and financial reporting for hedging relationships through changes to both the designation and measurement guidance for qualifying hedging relationships and the presentation of hedge results. The amendments expand and refine hedge accounting for both non-financial and financial risk components and align the recognition and presentation of the effects of the hedging instrument and the hedged item in the financial statements. This standard is effective for financial statements issued for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, with early adoption permitted. ASU 2017-12 is effective for the Company beginning April 1, 2019. The Company is currently assessing the potential impact of the adoption of ASU 2017-12 on its consolidated financial statements.
In March 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-07, Improving the Presentation of Net Periodic Pension Cost and Net Periodic Post-Retirement Benefit Cost (ASU 2017-07) which requires that an employer report the service cost component in the same line item or items as other compensation costs arising from services rendered by the pertinent employees during the period. The other components of net benefit cost are required to be presented in the income statement separately from the service cost component and outside a subtotal of income from operations. This standard is effective for financial statements issued for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017 and should be applied retrospectively to all periods presented. ASU 2017-07 is effective for the Company beginning April 1, 2018. The Company does not believe the adoption of ASU 2017-07 will have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.
In January 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-01, Business Combinations (Topic 805), Clarifying the Definition of a Business (ASU 2017-01). ASU 2017-01 clarifies the definition of a business with the objective of addressing whether transactions involving in-substance nonfinancial assets, held directly or in a subsidiary, should be accounted for as acquisitions or disposals of nonfinancial assets or of businesses. ASU 2017-01 is effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2017. ASU 2017-01 is effective for the Company beginning April 1, 2018. Early adoption is permitted for transactions, including acquisitions or dispositions, which occurred before the issuance date or effective date of the standard if the transactions were not reported in financial statements that have been issued or made available for issuance. The Company does not believe the adoption of ASU 2017-01 will have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.
In November 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-18, Statement of Cash Flows (Topic 230): Restricted Cash (ASU 2016-18) related to the presentation of restricted cash in the statement of cash flows. The pronouncement requires entities to show the changes in the total of cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and restricted cash equivalents in the statement of cash flows. As a result, entities will no longer present transfers between cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash and restricted cash equivalents in the statement of cash flows. When cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and restricted cash equivalents are presented in more than one line item on the balance sheet, the new guidance requires a reconciliation of the totals in the statement of cash flows to the related captions in the balance sheet. Entities will also have to disclose the nature of restricted cash and restricted cash equivalent balances. The pronouncement is effective for fiscal years, and for interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2017, with early adoption permitted. The Company adopted this guidance retrospectively on April 1, 2017. The Company does not have a material amount of restricted cash. Adoption of this ASU did not have a material impact on the Company's consolidated financial statements.
In October 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-16, Income Taxes (Topic 740): Intra-Entity Transfers of Assets Other Than Inventory (ASU 2016-16). ASU 2016-16 requires that entities recognize the income tax effects of intra-entity transfers of assets other than inventory when the transfer occurs. Current GAAP prohibits the recognition of those tax effects until the asset has been sold to an outside party. The pronouncement is effective for fiscal years, and for interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2017, with early adoption permitted. ASU 2016-16 is effective for the Company beginning April 1, 2018. The Company is evaluating the new guidance and does not believe the adoption of ASU 2016-16 will have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.
In August 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-15, Classification of Certain Cash Receipts and Cash Payments (ASU 2016-15). ASU 2016-15 is intended to add or clarify guidance on the classification of certain cash receipts and payments in the statement of cash flows and to eliminate the diversity in practice related to such classifications. The guidance in ASU 2016-15 is required for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2017, with early adoption permitted. ASU 2016-15 is effective for the Company beginning April 1, 2018. The Company is currently assessing the potential impact of the adoption of ASU 2016-15 and does not expect a material impact on its consolidated statement of cash flows.
In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-09, Compensation - Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting (ASU 2016-09), which simplifies several aspects of the accounting for employee share-based payment transactions, including the accounting for income taxes, forfeitures and statutory tax withholding requirements, as well as classification in the statement of cash flows. The Company adopted this guidance on April 1, 2017, which had the following impact on the consolidated financial statements:
On a prospective basis, as required, the Company recorded an excess tax shortfall of $0.4 million and an excess tax benefit of $0.8 million to the provision for income taxes in the consolidated statement of operations for the three and nine months ended December 31, 2017, respectively, instead of additional paid-in capital in the consolidated balance sheets. As a result, net income decreased $0.4 million and increased $0.8 million, for the three and nine months ended December 31, 2017, respectively. Basic and diluted earnings per share decreased $0.01 for the three months ended December 31, 2017, while basic and diluted earnings per share increased $0.01 for the nine months ended December 31, 2017.
Excess tax benefits are presented as operating cash activity instead of financing cash activity in the consolidated statements of cash flows, which the Company elected    to apply on a retrospective basis. As a result, the Company classified $0.8 million and $1.4 million of excess tax benefits for the nine months ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively, as operating cash outflows included within the change in income taxes payable in the consolidated statements of cash flows. The retrospective classification resulted in decreases in cash provided by operating activities and cash used in financing activities of $1.4 million for the nine months ended December 31, 2016.
The Company prospectively excluded the excess tax benefits from the assumed proceeds available to repurchase shares in the computation of diluted earnings per share under the treasury stock method, which did not have a material impact on diluted earnings per share for the three and nine months ended December 31, 2017.
In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842) Section A - Leases: Amendments to the FASB Accounting Standards Codification (ASU 2016-02), its new standard on accounting for leases. This update requires the recognition of leased assets and lease obligations by lessees for those leases currently classified as operating leases under existing lease guidance. Short term leases with a term of 12 months or less are not required to be recognized. The update also requires disclosure of key information about leasing arrangements to increase transparency and comparability among organizations. ASU 2016-02 is effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 31, 2018 and interim periods within those fiscal years, and early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently assessing the potential impact of the adoption of ASU 2016-02 on its consolidated financial statements.    
In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU No. 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers: Topic 606 (ASU 2014-09) and issued subsequent amendments to the initial guidance in August 2015, March 2016, April 2016, May 2016, December 2016 and September 2017, within ASU 2015-04, 2016-08, ASU 2016-10, ASU 2016-12, ASU 2016-20, ASU 2017-13 and ASU 2017-14, respectively (collectively, Topic 606). Topic 606 supersedes nearly all existing revenue recognition guidance under GAAP. The core principle of Topic 606 is to recognize revenues when promised goods or services are transferred to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration that is expected to be received for those goods or services. Topic 606 defines a five-step process to achieve this core principle and, in applying this process, it is possible that more judgments and estimates may be required within the revenue recognition process than are required under existing GAAP, including identifying performance obligations in the contract, estimating the amount of variable consideration to include in the transaction price and allocating the transaction price to each separate performance obligation, among others. Topic 606 will be effective for the Company on April 1, 2018. Entities have the option of using either a full retrospective or a modified retrospective approach to adopt this standard. The Company believes it will elect the modified retrospective transition approach. However, the Company is still quantifying the impact of this new accounting standard. The adoption will most likely result in a reduction in deferred revenue as of April 1, 2018 for performance obligations that are deferred under current guidance that may not be deferred under Topic 606. Upon adoption of Topic 606, the Company expects to recognize a greater proportion of revenue upon delivery of its products, whereas some of its current product sales are initially recorded in deferred revenue and recognized over a period of time. Since the Company is currently expensing sales commissions as incurred, the requirement in the new standard to capitalize certain in-scope sales commissions is being evaluated to determine its potential impact on the consolidated financial statements in the year of adoption. The Company does not foresee any material impact on its cash flows. The Company will continue to assess all potential impacts of the guidance and given normal ongoing business dynamics, preliminary conclusions are subject to change.