3. REVENUE RECOGNITION

MSCI adopted the new revenue standard set forth under Accounting Standards Codification Topic 606 “Revenue from Contracts with Customers,” or ASC 606, as of January 1, 2018 using the Modified Retrospective Approach and an adjustment was recorded within the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statement of Financial Condition as of January 1, 2018. The adoption resulted in more revenue being recognized upfront or earlier in the life of new client contracts for certain of the Company’s products and services, including fees related to the licensing of certain desktop applications, implementation services as it relates to the Company’s hosted applications and set-up fees as it relates to the Company’s custom indexes. The new revenue standard also has the impact of ratable revenue recognition as it relates to multi-year deals. The adoption of the standard also resulted in higher accounts receivable and deferred revenue balances. Under the old revenue standard, MSCI generally recorded the value of an invoice to accounts receivable and deferred revenue once the service period began. Under the new revenue standard, MSCI records accounts receivable and a corresponding offset to deferred revenue when an invoice is issued for a contract that is non-cancellable by the client and non-refundable because MSCI has an unconditional right to the consideration.

Products and Services

MSCI generally licenses annual, recurring subscriptions for the majority of its Index, Analytics and ESG products and services for a fee due in advance of the service period. MSCI’s contracts are typically non-cancellable by the client and non-refundable for the term of the agreement. Fees may vary based on a number of factors including by product or service, number of users and/or volume of services. MSCI’s client contracts do not have a financing component and the consideration received is typically not variable except as noted below.

MSCI also charges clients to use its indexes as the basis for index-linked investment products, such as ETFs, passively managed funds and separate accounts. These clients commonly pay MSCI a license fee, typically in arrears, primarily based on the assets under management (“AUM”) in their investment products. These fees are variable and fall within the sales-based and royalty-based exception.

Certain exchanges use MSCI’s indexes as the basis for futures and options contracts and pay MSCI a license fee, typically in arrears, primarily based on the volume of trades and/or number of instruments. These fees are variable, and fall within the sales-based and royalty-based exception.

Clients of MSCI’s Real Estate products subscribe to periodic benchmark reports, digests, market information and other publications. Fees are primarily paid in arrears after the product is delivered, with the exception of the market information product which is generally paid in advance.

MSCI also realizes one-time fees commonly related to customized reports, historical data sets, certain derivative financial products and certain implementation and consulting services, as well as from particular products and services that are purchased on a non-renewal basis.

Accounting policy

The following describes MSCI’s primary types of revenues and the applicable revenue recognition policies. The Company’s revenues are primarily derived from the licensing of products and services and revenue is recognized when control of the promised goods or services is transferred to MSCI’s customers, in an amount that reflects the consideration that the Company expects to be entitled to in exchange for those goods or services. Revenue is recognized when the parties to the contract have legally enforceable obligations and are committed to performing their respective obligations, the Company can identify each party’s rights regarding the goods or services to be provided, the Company can identify the payment terms for the goods or services to be provided, the contract has commercial substance and it is probable that the Company will collect substantially all of the consideration to which it will be entitled in exchange for the goods or services that will be provided to the customer. Revenue is recognized exclusive of any applicable sales or other indirect tax withholdings.

For products within MSCI’s Index segment, with respect to index data subscriptions, MSCI’s performance obligation to deliver the data is satisfied over time and, accordingly, revenue is recognized ratably over the term of the agreement. With respect to licenses to create index-linked investment products, MSCI’s performance obligation allows customers to use the Company’s intellectual property (i.e., the indexes) as the basis of the funds or other investment products the customers create over the term of the agreement. The fees earned for these rights are typically variable in which case they are accrued under the sales and usage based royalty exception pursuant to the level of performance achieved, which is measured based on AUM, volume of trades and/or other factors. The level of performance achieved is based on information obtained from independent third-party sources or best estimates from the most recently reported information from the client. Set-up fees associated with the creation of MSCI’s custom indexes are satisfied and revenue recognized at the point in time at which the setup is complete.

For products within MSCI’s Analytics segment, MSCI’s performance obligations include providing access to its proprietary models and/or hosted applications and, in some cases, delivery of managed services, which are all satisfied over time, and accordingly, revenue is recognized ratably over the term of the agreement. For implementation services, MSCI meets its performance obligation once the service is complete and is available for the client to use and revenue is recognized at the point in time in which the completion has occurred. With respect to software licenses for the Company’s energy and commodity analytics products, MSCI’s performance obligation is partially satisfied and revenue recognized at the point in time when the software’s code key is delivered to the customer, which based upon a fair value assessment, represents approximately 82.0% of the contract value. MSCI’s remaining performance obligations are the post contractual support services and revenue is recognized evenly over the course of the license term, which based on a fair value assessment, represents approximately 18.0% of the value of the software. As of April 9, 2018, MSCI divested Financial Engineering Associates, Inc. (“FEA”) and the related energy and commodity analytics product line. See Note 11, “Subsequent Events,” for further details.

For products within the All Other segment, MSCI’s performance obligations under the Company’s ESG products are satisfied over time for the majority of the data subscriptions as MSCI provides and updates the data to the customer throughout the term of the agreement and revenue is recognized ratably over the term of the agreement. For custom ESG research data, the performance obligation is complete, and revenue recognized, at the point in time that the data is updated and available to the customer. With respect to the Company’s Real Estate products, MSCI primarily satisfies its performance obligations, and revenue is recognized, at the point in time when the Company delivers reports or publications or events are completed. For certain sponsorships, the performance obligation is satisfied, and revenue is recognized, over the term of the agreements. For market information products, publications are delivered throughout the year, and the revenue is recognized over time.

The Company allocates the transaction price to each performance obligation based on the best estimate of the relative standalone selling price of each distinct good or service in the contract. The transaction price in the contract is allocated at contract inception to the distinct good or service underlying each performance obligation in proportion to the standalone selling prices. This standalone selling price may be the contract price, but is more often than not the best estimate of the price the Company would receive for selling the good or service to other similar customers. Discounts applied to the contract will be allocated based on the same proportion of standalone selling prices.

For services where the transaction price is variable based upon AUM, volume of trades and/or number of investments linked to MSCI’s indexes, the transaction price is based upon pricing models and is not allocated at the inception of the contract but rather falls within the sales and usage based royalty exception under which the price and associated revenue are based upon actual known performance or best estimates of actual performance during the performance period.

The majority of MSCI’s contracts have a duration of one year or less and, accordingly, revenue associated with these performance obligations will be recognized within 12 months. For those contracts where fees are based on AUM or trading volumes of financial products linked to the Company’s indexes, including ETFs and futures and options contracts, revenue associated with MSCI’s performance obligations is recognized over the course of the year.

Determining when control has transferred can sometimes require management judgement (e.g., implementation services), which could affect the timing of revenue recognition. The Company has determined that the above methods provide a faithful depiction of the transfer of control of goods or services to the customer.

MSCI has elected the Modified Retrospective Approach and as such would apply the new revenue standard only to contracts that are not completed at the adoption date and would not have adjusted prior reporting periods.

The cumulative impact of adoption on the Company’s Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statement of Financial Condition was as follows (in thousands):

Selected line items	As reported at December 31, 2017		Adjustments due to Adoption of ASC 606		Adjusted as of December 31, 2017
Statement of Financial Condition
Accounts receivable	$	327,597	$	145,803	$	473,400
Income taxes payable	$	14,828	$	4,314	$	19,142
Other accrued liabilities	$	85,710	$	5,128	$	90,838
Deferred revenue	$	374,365	$	120,226	$	494,591
Retained earnings	$	1,505,204	$	16,135	$	1,521,339

Included in the above adjustments is an increase of approximately $135.5 million primarily to accounts receivable and deferred revenue with no impact to retained earnings. In accordance with the new revenue standard, the Company now records an accounts receivable and an associated contract liability, reflected as “Deferred revenue” on MSCI’s Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statement of Financial Condition, when it bills the customer in advance of the start date of the subscription period because the Company has determined it has an unconditional right to receive cash because the contracts are non-cancellable by the client and non-refundable. Under the old revenue standard, these balances would not have been recorded as accounts receivable and deferred revenue as the contract service start date was subsequent to December 31, 2017.

The impact of adopting the new revenue standard on the Company’s Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statement of Income through the date of March 31, 2018 is as follows (in thousands):

	For the period ended March 31, 2018
Selected line items	As reported		Impact of Change			Without Adoption of ASC 606
Statement of Income
Operating revenues	$	351,316	$	(2,286	)	$	349,030
Operating income	$	167,166	$	(2,286	)	$	164,880
Income before provision for income taxes	$	139,438	$	(2,286	)	$	137,152
Provision for income taxes	$	24,346	$	457		$	24,803
Net income	$	115,092	$	(1,829	)	$	113,263
Earnings per basic common share	$	1.28	$	(0.02	)	$	1.26
Earnings per diluted common share	$	1.24	$	(0.02	)	$	1.22

The impact of adopting the new revenue standard on the Company’s Unaudited Statement of Financial Condition through the date of March 31, 2018 is as follows (in thousands):

	March 31, 2018
Selected line items	As reported at March 31, 2018		Impact of Change			Without Adoption of ASC 606
Statement of Financial Condition
Accounts receivable	$	462,577	$	(91,945	)	$	370,632
Income taxes payable	$	22,144	$	(4,771	)	$	17,373
Other accrued liabilities	$	83,106	$	(3,456	)	$	79,650
Deferred revenue	$	503,298	$	(65,818	)	$	437,480
Retained earnings	$	1,601,583	$	(17,900	)	$	1,583,683

The table that follows presents the disaggregated revenues for the periods indicated (in thousands):

	For the Three Months Ended March 31, 2018
	Segments
	Index		Analytics		All Other		Total
Product Types
Recurring subscriptions	$	113,205	$	118,244	$	29,367	$	260,815
Asset-based fees		85,483		—		—		85,483
Non-recurring		3,226		744		1,048		5,018
Total	$	201,913	$	118,987	$	30,415	$	351,316

MSCI’s policy for the majority of its subscription services is to bill in advance of services being provided and before the service period has begun. Under ASC 606, both the cash received and/or the amount billed in advance of the service period or the services being provided is presented as deferred revenue. Contract assets are services provided in advance of the payment due and are typically recorded as unbilled revenue. Since MSCI’s contracts are non-refundable and non-cancellable by the client, MSCI has an unconditional right to receive the cash for service and products provided in advance of billing and therefore are classified as “Accounts receivable” on the Company’s Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statement of Financial Condition. This represents a change from past practice as a receivable was not recorded until the subscription period began and, as such, the adoption of ASC 606 resulted in a significant increase to both “Accounts receivable” and “Deferred revenue” with no change to net assets.

	March 31, 2018
	Accounts receivable			Deferred revenue
Opening (1/1/2018)	$	473,400		$	494,591
Closing (03/31/2018)		462,577			503,298
Increase/(decrease)	$	(10,823	)	$	8,707

The amount of revenue recognized in the period that was included in the opening current deferred revenue, which reflects the contract liability amounts, was $221.5 million. The difference between the opening and closing balances of the Company’s deferred revenue represents the increase in the balance as a result of billings offset by the amortization of deferred revenue to operating revenues. MSCI had an insignificant long-term deferred revenue balance as of March 31, 2018 reflected as a part of “Other non-current liabilities” on its Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statement of Financial Condition.

For contracts that have a duration of one year or less, the Company has chosen to use the practical expedient available under the new revenue standard and, as such, has not disclosed either the remaining performance obligation as of the end of the reporting period or when the Company expects to recognize the revenue. The remaining performance obligations for contracts that have a duration of greater than one year is $397.4 million, which is expected to be recognized as follows:

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Approximately $218.4 million of the remaining performance obligations over the next 12 month period;

•

Approximately $118.7 million of the remaining performance obligations over the second 12 month period;

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Approximately $42.5 million of the remaining performance obligations over the third 12 month period; and

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The remaining $17.8 million recognized in the periods thereafter.