Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

12 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2018

Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

NOTE 1. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Nature of Business

The Company designs, assembles and markets video management and access control systems and system components for use in security, surveillance, safety and control purposes by end users. The Company markets its products worldwide primarily to installing dealers, systems integrators, government entities and distributors.

Basis of Presentation and Consolidation

The accompanying consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Vicon Industries, Inc. (the Company) and its wholly owned subsidiaries: IQinVision, Inc., Vicon Industries Limited and subsidiary (Vicon Deutschland GmbH) and TeleSite U.S.A., Inc. and subsidiary (Vicon Systems Ltd.). All significant intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. See Note 11.

Revenue Recognition

Revenue is generally recognized when products are sold and title is passed to the customer. Advance service billings are deferred and recognized as revenues on a pro rata basis over the term of the service agreement. Pursuant to Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) 605-25-05, the Company evaluates multiple-element revenue arrangements for separate units of accounting, and follows appropriate revenue recognition policies for each separate unit. Elements are considered separate units of accounting provided that (i) the delivered item has stand-alone value to the customer, (ii) there is objective and reliable evidence of the fair value of the delivered and undelivered items, and (iii) if a general right of return exists relative to the delivered item, delivery or performance of the undelivered item is considered probable and substantially within the control of the Company. As applied to the Company, under arrangements involving the sale of product and the provision of services, product sales are recognized as revenue when the products are sold and title is passed to the customer, and service revenue is recognized as services are performed.

For products that include software and for separate licenses of the Company’s software products, the Company recognizes revenue in accordance with the provisions of FASB Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2009-13, “Revenue Recognition (Topic 605) — Multiple-Deliverable Revenue Arrangements” (ASU 2009-13). ASU 2009-13 provides revenue recognition guidance for establishing separate units of accounting in a multiple element arrangement and requires the allocation of arrangement consideration to each deliverable in the arrangement based on the fair value of the elements. The fair value for each deliverable is based on vendor-specific objective evidence (“VSOE”) if available, third-party evidence (“TPE”) if VSOE is not available, or best estimate of selling price (“BESP”) if neither VSOE nor TPE is available. BESP must be determined in a manner that is consistent with that used to determine the price to sell the specific elements on a standalone basis.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

Cash and cash equivalents include cash on deposit and amounts invested in highly liquid money market funds.

Marketable Securities

At September 30, 2018, marketable securities consisted of mutual fund investments principally in federal, state and local government debt securities of $13,440. Such mutual fund investments are stated at market value based on quoted market prices (Level 1 inputs) and are classified as available-for-sale under ASC 320, with cumulative unrealized gains and losses reported in accumulated other comprehensive loss as a component of shareholders’ equity. The cost of such securities was $14,507 and $14,114 at September 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively, with $(1,067) and $(559) of cumulative unrealized losses, net of tax where applicable, included in the carrying amounts at September 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively.

Allowance for Doubtful Accounts

The Company maintains an allowance for doubtful accounts for estimated losses resulting from the inability of its customers to make required payments. If the financial condition of its customers were to deteriorate, resulting in an impairment of their ability to make payments, an additional allowance may be required.

Inventories

Inventories are valued at the lower of cost (on a moving average basis which approximates a first-in, first-out method) or net realizable value. When it is determined that a product or product line will be sold below carrying cost, affected on hand inventories are written down to their estimated net realizable values.

Long-Lived Assets and Intangible Assets

Long-lived assets include reported property, plant, and equipment. The Company reviews its long-lived assets for impairment whenever events or circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset may not be recoverable. If the sum of the expected cash flows, undiscounted and without interest, is less than the carrying amount of the asset, an impairment loss is recognized as the amount by which the carrying amount of the asset exceeds its fair value.

Property, plant, and equipment are recorded at cost and are being depreciated over periods ranging from 2 to 10 years. Depreciation and amortization expense of property, plant and equipment was $196,075 and $259,116 for the years ended September 30, 2018 and 2017.

In fiscal 2017, the Company recorded an $838,500 writeoff of remaining IQinVision merger intangible assets.

Engineering and Development

Product engineering and development costs are charged to expense as incurred, and amounted to $4,145,318 and $4,811,465 in fiscal 2018 and 2017, respectively. The Company evaluates the establishment of technological feasibility of its software in accordance with ASC 985 (“Accounting for the Costs of Computer Software to be Sold, Leased or Otherwise Marketed”). The Company has determined that technological feasibility for its new products is reached shortly before products are released for field testing. Costs incurred after technological feasibility has been established have not been material and are expensed as incurred.

Earnings Per Share

Basic EPS is computed based on the weighted average number of common shares outstanding. Diluted EPS reflects the maximum dilution that would have resulted from the exercise of stock options, warrants and incremental shares issuable under a deferred compensation agreement (see Note 6). In periods when losses are incurred, the effects of these securities are antidilutive and, therefore, are excluded from the computation of diluted EPS.

Foreign Currency Translation

The Company translates the financial statements of its foreign subsidiaries by applying the current rate method under which assets and liabilities are translated at the exchange rate on the balance sheet date, while revenues, costs, and expenses are translated at the average exchange rate for the reporting period. The resulting cumulative translation adjustment of $(222,685) and $(155,491) at September 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively, is recorded as a component of shareholders’ equity in accumulated other comprehensive loss.

Income Taxes

The Company accounts for income taxes under the provisions of ASC 740 (“Accounting for Income Taxes”), which requires recognition of deferred tax liabilities and assets for the expected future tax consequences of events that have been included in the financial statements or tax returns. Under this method, deferred tax assets and liabilities are determined based on the difference between the financial statement and tax bases of assets and liabilities using enacted tax rates in effect for the year in which the differences are expected to reverse. Deferred U.S. income taxes are not provided on undistributed earnings of foreign subsidiaries as the Company presently intends to reinvest such earnings indefinitely, and any plan to repatriate any of such earnings in the future is not expected to result in a material incremental tax liability to the Company. The Company provides for a valuation allowance against its entire net deferred tax asset balance due to the uncertainty of future realization (see Note 2 for further discussion).

On December 22, 2017, new tax legislation came into effect. The provisions are generally effective for years beginning on or after January 1, 2018. The most impactful item to the Company in the new law is the change in tax rate from 34% to 21%. This reduced the gross US deferred tax assets prior to existing full valuation allowance from an effective rate of 38% to an effective rate of 25.75%. Given the full valuation allowance, the change did not have a significant impact on the financial statements. In addition, the new legislation requires the payment of transition tax regarding prior earnings of foreign subsidiaries. Due to losses of the Company’s foreign subsidiaries, there is no transition tax due.

The Company accrues liabilities for identified tax contingencies that result from positions that are being challenged or could be challenged by tax authorities. The Company believes that its accrual for tax liabilities is adequate for all open years, based on Management’s assessment of many factors, including its interpretations of the tax law and judgments about potential actions by tax authorities. However, it is possible that the ultimate resolution of any tax audit may be materially greater or lower than the amount accrued.

Product Warranties

The Company provides for the estimated cost of product warranties at the time revenue is recognized. While the Company engages in product quality programs and processes, including monitoring and evaluating the quality of its component suppliers, its warranty obligation is affected by product failure rates, material usage and service delivery costs incurred in correcting a product failure. Should actual product failure rates, material usage or service delivery costs differ from its estimates, revisions to the estimated warranty liability may be required.

Changes in the Company’s warranty liability (included in accrued expenses) for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2018 and 2017 were as follows:

	2018			2017
Balance at beginning of year	$	431,000		$	681,000
Provision for warranties		139,000			124,000
Expenses incurred		(216,000	)		(374,000	)
Balance at end of year	$	354,000		$	431,000

Fair Value of Financial Instruments

The majority of the Company’s non-financial assets and liabilities are not required to be carried at fair value on a recurring basis, but the Company is required on a non-recurring basis to use fair value measurements when analyzing asset impairment as it relates to long-lived assets. The carrying amounts for trade accounts receivable, other receivables, accounts payable and revolving credit borrowings approximate fair value due to either the short-term maturity of these instruments or the fact that the interest rate of the revolving credit borrowings is based upon current market rates.

Fair value estimates are made at a specific point in time based on relevant market information about the financial instrument. These estimates are subjective in nature and involve uncertainties and matters of significant judgment and, therefore, cannot be determined with precision. Changes in assumptions could significantly affect the estimates.

Accounting for Stock-Based Compensation

The Company follows ASC 718 (“Share-Based Payment”), which requires that all share based payments to employees, including stock options, stock appreciation rights (SARs) and common stock share awards, be recognized as compensation expense in the consolidated financial statements based on their fair values and over the requisite service period. For the years ended September 30, 2018 and 2017, the Company recorded non-cash compensation expense of $23,053 ($.00 per basic and diluted share) and $42,071 ($.00 per basic and diluted share), respectively, relating to stock-based compensation.

No options were granted during the fiscal years ended September 30, 2018 and 2017. The fair value for options granted was determined at the date of grant using a Black-Scholes valuation model and the straight-line attribution approach using the following weighted average assumptions:

The risk-free interest rate used in the Black-Scholes valuation method is based on the implied yield currently available in U.S. Treasury securities at maturity with an equivalent term. Other than a one-time special dividend paid in connection with the IQinVision merger, the Company never declared or paid any cash dividends and does not currently expect to do so in the future. Expected volatility is based on the annualized daily historical volatility of the Company’s stock over a representative period. The weighted-average expected life represents the period over which stock-based awards are expected to be outstanding and was determined based on a number of factors, including historical weighted average and projected holding periods for the remaining unexercised shares, the contractual terms of the Company’s stock-based awards, vesting schedules and expectations of future employee behavior.

The Black-Scholes option valuation model was developed for use in estimating the fair value of traded options which have no vesting restrictions and are fully transferable. In addition, option valuation models require the input of highly subjective assumptions including the expected stock price volatility. Because the Company’s employee stock options and SARs have characteristics significantly different from traded options, and because changes in the subjective input assumptions can materially affect the fair value estimate, in management’s opinion, the existing models do not necessarily provide a reliable single measure of the fair value of its employee stock options and SARs.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles 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 financial statements, and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Such estimates include, but are not limited to, provisions for doubtful accounts receivable, net realizable value of inventory, warranty obligations, income tax accruals, deferred tax valuation and assessments of the recoverability of the Company’s long-lived assets. Actual results could differ from those estimates.