Description of Business and Basis of Presentation (Policies)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2019

The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements as of March 31, 2019 and for the three months ended March 31, 2019 and 2018 are unaudited. In the opinion of management, the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared on the same basis as the annual financial statements and reflect all adjustments, which include only normal recurring adjustments, necessary to present fairly the consolidated financial position of LivePerson as of March 31, 2019, and the consolidated results of operations, comprehensive loss and cash flows for the interim periods ended March 31, 2019 and 2018. The financial data and other information disclosed in these notes to the condensed consolidated financial statements related to these periods are unaudited. The results of operations for any interim period are not necessarily indicative of the results of operations for any other future interim period or for a full fiscal year. The condensed consolidated balance sheet at December 31, 2018 has been derived from audited consolidated financial statements at that date.

Certain information and note disclosures normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (“GAAP”) have been condensed or omitted pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). These unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the Company’s audited consolidated financial statements and notes thereto for the year ended December 31, 2018 included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on February 25, 2019.

Principles of Consolidation

The condensed consolidated financial statements include the Company and its wholly-owned subsidiaries. All intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of the Company’s condensed consolidated financial statements in conformity with GAAP 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 condensed consolidated financial statements and the reported amounts of income and expenses during the reporting period. These estimates are based on information available as of the date of the condensed consolidated financial statements; therefore, actual results could differ from management’s estimates.

Recently Issued Accounting Standards

In August 2018, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update ("ASU") No. 2018-15 "Customer’s Accounting for Implementation Costs Incurred in a Cloud Computing Arrangement That Is a Service Contract; Disclosures for Implementation Costs Incurred for Internal-Use Software and Cloud Computing Arrangements" (“ASU 2018-15”). This standard aligns the accounting for implementation costs incurred in a hosting arrangement that is a service contract with the accounting for implementation costs incurred to develop or obtain internal-use software under Accounting Standards Codification ("ASC") 350-40, in order to determine which costs to capitalize and recognize as an asset. ASU 2018-15 is effective for annual reporting periods, and interim periods within those years, beginning after December 15, 2019, and can be applied either prospectively to implementation costs incurred after the date of adoption or retrospectively to all arrangements. The Company is currently in the process of evaluating the impact of the adoption of ASU 2018-230 on its consolidated financial statements.

In January 2017, FASB issued ASU No. 2017-04, "Intangibles -Goodwill and Other (Topic 350): Simplifying the Test for Goodwill Impairment" (“ASU 2017-04”). This update addresses concerns over the cost and complexity of the two-step goodwill impairment test. The amendments in this update remove the second step of the test. An entity will apply a one-step quantitative test and record the amount of goodwill impairment as the excess of a reporting unit's carrying amount over its fair value, not to exceed the total amount of goodwill allocated to the reporting unit. The new guidance does not amend the optional qualitative assessment of goodwill impairment. ASU 2017-04 is effective for financial statements issued for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2019, and interim periods within those annual periods. The Company does not expect the adoption of ASU 2017-04 will have a material effect on its financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements

In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-02, “Leases” (“ASU 2016-02”). ASU 2016-02 requires lessees to recognize the following for all leases (with the exception of short-term leases) at the commencement date: a lease liability, which is a lessee‘s obligation to make lease payments arising from a lease, measured on a discounted basis; and a right-of-use asset, which is an asset that represents the lessee’s right to use, or control the use of, a specified asset for the lease term. Under the new guidance, lessor accounting is largely unchanged. Lessees (for capital and operating leases) and lessors (for sales-type, direct financing, and operating leases) may apply a modified retrospective transition approach for leases existing at, or entered into after, the beginning of the earliest comparative period presented in the financial statements. The modified retrospective approach would not require any transition accounting for leases that expired before the earliest comparative period presented.

The Company adopted ASU No. 2016-02-Leases (Topic 842), as of January 1, 2019 using the modified transition approach. The modified transition approach provides a method for recording existing leases at adoption. As a result, the Company was not required to adjust its comparative period financial information for effects of the standard or make the new required lease disclosures for periods before the date of adoption (i.e. January 1, 2019). For its long-term operating lease, the Company recognized a right-of-use asset and a lease liability on its balance sheet. The lease liability is determined as the present value of future lease payments using an estimated rate of interest that the Company would have to pay to borrow equivalent funds on a collateralized basis at the lease commencement date. The right-of-use asset is based on the liability adjusted for any prepaid or deferred rent. The lease term at the commencement date is determined by considering whether renewal options and termination options are reasonably assured of exercise. Rent expense for the operating lease is recognized on a straight-line basis over the lease term and is included in operating expenses on the statements of operations. Variable lease payments include lease operating expenses. Adoption of the new standard resulted in the recording of additional net lease assets and lease liabilities of approximately $14.8 million and $18.8 million, respectively, as of March 31, 2019. The standard did not materially impact the Company's consolidated net earnings and had no impact on cash flows.

Revenue Recognition

The majority of the Company’s revenue is generated from monthly service revenues and related professional services from the sale of the LivePerson services. Revenues are recognized when control of these services is transferred to the Company's customers, in an amount that reflects the consideration the Company expects to be entitled to in exchange for those services.

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.

Total revenue of $66.4 million and $58.2 million recognized during the three months ended March 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively, under Topic 606, was not materially different from what would have been recognized under Topic 605.

Hosted Services- Business Revenue

Hosted Services Business revenue is reported at the amount that reflects the ultimate consideration expected to be received and primarily consist of fees that provide customers access to LiveEngage, the Company’s enterprise-class, cloud-based platform. The Company has determined such access represents a stand-ready service provided continually throughout the contract term. As such, control and satisfaction of this stand-ready performance obligation is deemed to occur over time. The Company recognizes this revenue over time on a ratable basis over the contract term, beginning on the date that access to the LiveEngage platform is made available to the customer. The passage of time is deemed to be the most faithful depiction of the transfer of control of the services as the customer simultaneously receives and consumes the benefit provided by the Company’s performance. Subscription contracts are generally one year or longer in length, billed, monthly, quarterly or annually in advance. There is no significant variable consideration related to these arrangements. Additionally, for certain of the Company's larger customers, the Company may provide call center labor through an arrangement with one or more of several qualified vendors. For most of these customers, the Company passes the fee it incurs with the labor provider and its fee for the hosted services through to its customers in the form of a fixed fee for each order placed via the Company's online engagement solutions. For these Gainshare (formerly Pay for Performance) arrangements in accordance with ASC-606, "Principal Agent Considerations", the Company acts as a principal in a transaction if it controls the specified goods or services before they are transferred to the customer.

Professional Services Revenues

Professional services revenue primarily consists of fees for deployment and optimization services, as well as training delivered on an on-demand basis which is deemed to represent a distinct stand-ready performance obligation. Professional Services Revenues are reported at the amount that reflects the ultimate consideration the Company expects to receive in exchange for such services. Control for the majority of the Company's Professional Services contracts passes over time to the customer and is recognized ratably over the contracted period, as the passage of time is deemed to be the most faithful depiction of the transfer of control. For certain deployment services, which are not deemed to represent a distinct performance obligation, revenue will be recognized in the same manner as the fee for access to the LiveEngage platform, and as such will be recognized on a straight-line basis over the contract term. For services billed on a fixed price basis, revenue is recognized over time based on the proportion performed using inputs as the measure of progress toward complete satisfaction of the performance obligation. Professional service contracts are generally one year or longer in length, billed, monthly, quarterly or annually in advance. There is no significant variable consideration related to these arrangements.

Contracts with Multiple Performance Obligations

Some of the Company's contracts with customers contain multiple performance obligations. For these contracts, the Company accounts for individual performance obligations separately if they are distinct. The transaction price is allocated to the separate performance obligations on a relative standalone selling price basis. The Company determines the standalone selling prices based on its overall pricing objectives, taking into consideration market conditions and other factors, including the value of its contracts, the cloud applications sold, and the number and types of users within its contracts.

Hosted Services- Consumer Revenue

For revenue from the Company's Consumer segment generated from online transactions between Experts and Users, revenue is recognized at an amount net of Expert fees in accordance with ASC 606, “Principal Agent Considerations,” due primarily to the fact that the Expert is the primary obligor. Additionally, the Company performs as an agent without any risk of loss for collection, and is not involved in selecting the Expert or establishing the Expert’s fee. The Company collects a fee from the consumer and retains a portion of the fee, and then remits the balance to the Expert. Revenue from these transactions is recognized at the point in time when the transaction is complete and no significant performance obligations remain.

Deferred Revenues

The Company records deferred revenues when cash payments are received or due in advance of its performance. The increase in the deferred revenue balance for the three months ended March 31, 2019 is primarily driven by cash payments received or due in advance of satisfying its performance obligations, partially offset by $16.9 million of revenues recognized that were included in the deferred revenue balance as of December 31, 2018.

The following table presents deferred revenue by revenue source (amounts in thousands):



	Deferred Revenue
	As of March 31, 2019		December 31, 2018
Hosted services – Business	$	61,463	$	52,232
Professional services – Business	4,747		2,783
Total deferred revenue - short term	$	66,210	$	55,015

Hosted services – Business	$	4	$	19
Professional services – Business	173		203
Total deferred revenue - long term	$	177	$	222

Disaggregated Revenue

The following table presents the Company's revenues disaggregated by revenue source (amounts in thousands):



	Three Months Ended
	March 31,
	2019		2018		(1)
Revenue:
Hosted services – Business	$	51,537	$	47,427
Hosted services – Consumer	5,407		4,680
Professional services	9,458		6,134
Total revenue	$	66,402	$	58,241
⁽¹⁾As noted above, prior period amounts have not been adjusted under the modified retrospective method.

Revenue by Geographic Location

The following table presents the Company’s revenues attributable to domestic and foreign operations for the periods presented (amounts in thousands):



	Three Months Ended
	March 31,
	2019		2018
United States	$	38,589	$	34,071
Other Americas ⁽¹⁾	2,769		1,259
Total Americas	41,358		35,330
EMEA ^{(2) (4)}	18,113		16,919
APAC ⁽³⁾	6,931		5,992
Total revenue	$	66,402	$	58,241

⁽¹⁾ Canada, Latin America and South America

⁽²⁾ Europe, the Middle East and Africa (“EMEA”)

⁽³⁾ Asia-Pacific (“APAC”)

⁽⁴⁾ Includes revenues from the United Kingdom of $11.7 million for the three months ended March 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively, and from the Netherlands of $2.5 million and $1.9 million for the three months ended March 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively.

Information about Contract Balances

Amounts collected in advance of services being provided are accounted for as deferred revenue. Nearly all of the Company's deferred revenue balance is related to Hosted Services- Business Revenue.

In some arrangements, the Company allows customers to pay for access to LiveEngage over the term of the software license. The Company refers to these as subscription transactions. Amounts recognized as revenue in excess of amounts billed are recorded as unbilled receivables. Unbilled receivables, anticipated to be invoiced in the next twelve months, are included in accounts receivable on the consolidated balance sheet. The opening and closing balances of the Company's accounts receivable, unbilled receivables, and deferred revenues are as follows (amounts in thousands):



	Accounts Receivable		Unbilled Receivable			Prepaid Commissions		Deferred Revenue (current)		Deferred Revenue (long term)
Opening Balance as of December 31, 2018	$	34,211	$	11,812		$	13,361	$	55,015	$	222
Increase (decrease), net	6,607		(1,345		)	2,825		11,195		(45		)
Ending Balance as of March 31, 2019	$	40,818	$	10,467		$	16,186	$	66,210	$	177

As of March 31, 2019, the Company expects to recognize the long term performance obligations in 2020.

Net Loss Per Share

The Company calculates earnings per share (“EPS”) in accordance with the provisions of ASC 260-10 and the guidance of SEC Staff Accounting Bulletin (“SAB”) No. 98. Under ASC 260-10, basic EPS excludes dilution for common stock equivalents and is computed by dividing net income or loss attributable to common shareholders by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding for the period. All options, warrants or other potentially dilutive instruments issued for nominal consideration are required to be included in the calculation of basic and diluted net income attributable to common stockholders. Diluted EPS is calculated using the treasury stock method and reflects the potential dilution that could occur if securities or other contracts to issue common stock were exercised or converted into common stock and resulted in the issuance of common stock.

Segment Information

The Company accounts for its segment information in accordance with the provisions of ASC 280-10, “Segment Reporting.” ASC 280-10 establishes annual and interim reporting standards for operating segments of a company. ASC 280-10 requires disclosures of selected segment-related financial information about products, major customers, and geographic areas based on the Company’s internal accounting methods. The Company is organized into two operating segments for purposes of making operating decisions and assessing performance. The Business segment enables brands to leverage LiveEngage’s sophisticated intelligence engine to connect with consumers through an integrated suite of mobile and online business messaging technologies. The Consumer segment facilitates online transactions between independent service providers (“Experts”) and individual consumers (“Users”) seeking information and knowledge for a fee via mobile and online messaging. Both segments currently generate their revenue primarily in the United States. The chief operating decision maker, who is the chief executive officer, evaluates performance, makes operating decisions, and allocates resources based on the operating income of each segment. The reporting segments follow the same accounting polices used in the preparation of the Company’s condensed consolidated financial statements which are described in the summary of significant accounting policies. The Company allocates cost of revenue, sales and marketing and amortization of purchased intangibles to the segments, but it does not allocate product development expenses, general and administrative expenses, restructuring costs and income tax expense because management does not use this information to measure performance of the operating segments. There are currently no inter-segment sales.

Goodwill and Intangible Assets

Amortization expense is calculated over the estimated useful life of the asset.

Stock-Based Compensation

The Company follows FASB ASC 718-10, “Stock Compensation,” which addresses the accounting for transactions in which an entity exchanges its equity instruments for goods or services, with a primary focus on transactions in which an entity obtains employee services in share-based payment transactions. ASC 718-10 requires measurement of the cost of employee services received in exchange for an award of equity instruments based on the grant-date fair value of the award. Incremental compensation costs arising from subsequent modifications of awards after the grant date must be recognized.