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Summary of Operations and Significant Accounting Policies
6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2020
Accounting Policies [Abstract]  
Summary of Operations and Significant Accounting Policies Summary of Operations and Significant Accounting Policies
Summary of Operations
Shutterstock (the “Company” or “Shutterstock”) is a global technology company offering a creative platform, which provides high-quality content, tools and services to creative professionals. The content licensed by the Company’s customers includes:
Images - consisting of photographs, vectors and illustrations. Images are typically used in visual communications, such as websites, digital and print marketing materials, corporate communications, books, publications and other similar uses.
Footage - consisting of video clips, premium footage filmed by industry experts and cinema grade video effects, available in HD and 4K formats. Footage is often integrated into websites, social media, marketing campaigns and cinematic productions.
Music - consisting of high-quality music tracks and sound effects, which are often used to complement images and footage.
The Company licenses content to its customers. Contributors upload their content to the Company’s web properties in exchange for royalty payments based on customer download activity.
Basis of Presentation
The unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) for interim financial information and with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, these financial statements do not include all information and footnotes required by GAAP for complete financial statements.
The interim Consolidated Balance Sheet as of June 30, 2020, and the Consolidated Statements of Operations, Comprehensive Income and Stockholders’ Equity for the three and six months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019, and the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the six months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019, are unaudited. The Consolidated Balance Sheet as of December 31, 2019, included herein, was derived from the audited financial statements as of that date, but does not include all disclosures required by GAAP. These unaudited interim financial statements have been prepared on a basis consistent with the Company’s annual financial statements and, in the opinion of management, reflect all adjustments, which include all normal recurring adjustments necessary to fairly state the Company’s financial position as of June 30, 2020, and its consolidated results of operations, comprehensive income, stockholders’ equity for the three and six months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019, and its cash flows for the six months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019. The financial data and the other financial information disclosed in the notes to the financial statements related to these periods are also unaudited. The results of operations for the six months ended June 30, 2020 are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2020 or for any other future annual or interim period.
These financial statements should be read in conjunction with the Company’s audited consolidated financial statements and notes thereto as of and for the year ended December 31, 2019 included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, which was filed with the SEC on February 13, 2020. The unaudited consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and its wholly owned subsidiaries. All intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. Certain immaterial changes in presentation have been made to conform the prior period presentation to current period reporting.
Use of Estimates
The preparation of the consolidated financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported and disclosed in the financial statements. Actual results could differ from those estimates. Such estimates include, but are not limited to, the determination of the allowance for doubtful accounts, the volume of expected unused licenses for our subscription-based products, the assessment of recoverability of property and equipment, the fair value of acquired goodwill and intangible assets, the grant-date fair value of non-cash equity-based compensation, the assessment of recoverability of deferred tax assets, the measurement of income tax and contingent non-income tax liabilities and the determination of the incremental borrowing rate used to calculate the lease liability.
Cash, Cash Equivalents and Restricted Cash
The following represents the Company’s cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash balances as of June 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019 (in thousands):
 As of June 30, 2020As of December 31, 2019
Cash and cash equivalents$311,157  $303,261  
Restricted cash—  2,613  
Total cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash$311,157  $305,874  
The Company’s cash and cash equivalents consist of cash on hand and bank deposits. These assets are stated at cost, which approximates fair value.
As of March 31, 2020, the Company was no longer required to provide cash collateral for its letter of credit for its New York City headquarters, and, accordingly, these funds are no longer restricted.
Allowance for Doubtful Accounts
The Company’s accounts receivable consists of customer obligations due under normal trade terms, carried at their face value less an allowance for doubtful accounts, if required. The Company determines its allowance for doubtful accounts based on an evaluation of the aging of its accounts receivable and on a customer-by-customer basis where appropriate. The Company’s reserve analysis contemplates the Company’s historical loss rate on receivables, specific customer situations and the economic environments in which the Company operates.
Historically, the Company used an incurred loss model to calculate its allowance for doubtful accounts. Upon the adoption of ASU 2016-13, Financial Instruments - Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses of Financial Instruments (“ASU 2016-13”) on January 1, 2020, the Company shifted to a current expected credit loss model.
During the six months ended June 30, 2020, the Company recorded bad debt expense of $1.1 million. As of June 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019, the Company’s allowance for doubtful accounts was approximately $3.6 million. The allowance for doubtful accounts is included as a reduction of accounts receivable on the Consolidated Balance Sheets.
Chargeback and Sales Refund Allowance
The Company establishes a chargeback allowance and sales refund reserve allowance based on factors surrounding historical credit card chargeback trends, historical sales refund trends and other information. As of June 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019, the Company’s combined allowance for chargebacks and sales refunds was $0.4 million, which was included as a component of other current liabilities on the Consolidated Balance Sheets.
Revenue Recognition
The majority of the Company’s revenue is earned from the license of content. Content licenses are generally purchased on a monthly or annual basis, whereby a customer pays for a predetermined quantity of content that may be downloaded over a specific period of time, or, on a transactional basis, whereby a customer pays for individual content licenses at the time of download. 
The Company recognizes revenue upon the satisfaction of performance obligations, which generally occurs when content is downloaded by a customer. The Company recognizes revenue on both its subscription-based and transaction-based products when content is downloaded, at which time the license is provided. In addition, management estimates expected unused licenses for subscription-based products and recognizes the estimated revenue associated with the unused licenses as digital content is downloaded and licenses are obtained for such content by the customer during the subscription period. The estimate of unused licenses is based on historical download activity and future changes in the estimate could impact the timing of revenue recognition of the Company’s subscription products. The Company expenses contract acquisition costs as incurred, to the extent that the amortization period would otherwise be one year or less.
Collectability is reasonably assured at the time the electronic order or contract is entered. The majority of the Company’s customers purchase products by making an electronic payment with a credit card at the time of a transaction. Customer payments received in advance of revenue recognition are contract liabilities and are recorded as deferred revenue. Customers that do not pay in advance are invoiced and are required to make payments under standard credit terms. Collectability for
customers who pay on credit terms allowing for payment beyond the date at which service commences is based on a credit evaluation for certain new customers and transaction history with existing customers. 
The Company recognizes revenue gross of contributor royalties because the Company is the principal in the transaction as it is the party responsible for the performance obligation and it controls the product or service before transferring it to the customer. The Company also licenses content to customers through third-party resellers. Third-party resellers sell the Company’s products directly to customers as the principal in those transactions. Accordingly, the Company recognizes revenue net of costs paid to resellers.
Recently Adopted Accounting Standard Updates
In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-13, which as amended, replaces the current incurred loss impairment methodology with a methodology that reflects expected credit losses. The ASU is intended to provide financial statement users with more decision-useful information about the expected credit losses on financial instruments and other commitments to extend credit held by a reporting entity at each reporting date. Adoption of this guidance was required, prospectively, for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2019, with early adoption permitted for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2018. The Company adopted ASU 2016-13, as amended, effective January 1, 2020 using the modified retrospective method and recorded a cumulative-effect adjustment of $0.2 million, net of tax, in retained earnings as of January 1, 2020.
In August 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-13, Disclosure Framework - Changes to the Disclosure Requirements for Fair Value Measurements (“ASU 2018-13”), which eliminates, adds and modifies certain disclosure requirements for fair value measurements as part of the FASB’s disclosure framework project. Adoption of this guidance was required for fiscal years and interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2019. The Company adopted ASU 2018-13, effective January 1, 2020. The impact of adoption of this standard on the consolidated financial statements, including accounting policies, processes and systems, was not material.
In August 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-15, Customer’s Accounting For Implementation Costs Incurred in a Cloud Computing Arrangement That Is a Service Contract (“ASU 2018-15”), which aligns the requirements for capitalizing implementation costs in a cloud computing arrangement with the requirements for capitalizing implementation costs incurred for an internal-use software license. Adoption of this guidance was required for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019 and interim periods within those fiscal years and early adoption is permitted. Entities are permitted to choose to adopt the new guidance (1) prospectively for eligible costs incurred on or after the date this guidance is first applied or (2) retrospectively. The Company adopted ASU 2018-15 on a prospective basis, effective January 1, 2020. The adoption of this standard is not expected to have a significant impact on our consolidated financial statements.
Recently Issued Accounting Standard Updates
In December 2019, the FASB issued ASU 2019-12, Income Taxes (Topic 740), Simplifying the Accounting for Income Taxes (“ASU-2019-12”). ASU 2019-12 eliminates certain exceptions to the guidance in Topic 740 related to the approach for intra-period tax allocation, the methodology for calculating income taxes in an interim period and the recognition of deferred tax liabilities for outside basis differences. The new guidance also simplifies aspects of the accounting for franchise taxes, enacted changes in tax laws or rates and clarifies the accounting transactions that result in a step-up in the tax basis of goodwill. The guidance is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2020 and interim periods within those fiscal years. We are currently in the process of evaluating the effect that ASU 2019-12 will have on the Company's Consolidated Financial Statements.