Note 2 – Revenue Recognition

Change in Accounting Policy

In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU 2014-09, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606) (Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) 606),” which is a comprehensive revenue recognition standard that supersedes nearly all existing revenue recognition guidance under GAAP. ASU 2014-09 provides a single principles-based, five-step model to be applied to all contracts with customers, which steps are to (1) identify the contact(s) with the customer, (2) identify the performance obligations in the contract, (3) determine the transaction price, (4) allocate the transaction price to the performance obligations in the contract and (5) recognize revenue when each performance obligation is satisfied. As amended, the new standard was effective for the Company on January 1, 2018, using either a retrospective basis or a modified retrospective basis with early adoption permitted.

We adopted ASU 2014-09 as of January 1, 2018 using the modified retrospective method for open contracts. Under this transition method, the accounting change is applied to the current period with a cumulative effect adjustment recorded to opening retained earnings. Previously reported results will not be restated under this transition method. Results for reporting periods beginning after January 1, 2018 are presented under ASC 606, while prior period amounts are not adjusted and continue to be reported in accordance with our historic accounting practices under ASC 605 (legacy GAAP). The adoption of ASU 2014-09 did not have a material impact to our systems, processes, internal controls or our financial position and results of operations. In addition, the Company did not have any material cumulative-effect adjustments that would have affected its January 1, 2018 assets, liabilities or retained earnings. The adoption of this new standard by the Company did result in additional disclosures around the nature and timing of the Company’s performance obligations, deferred revenue contract liabilities, deferred contract cost assets, as well as significant judgements and practical expedients used by the Company in applying the new five-step revenue model.

Our revenue contracts with customers may include a promise or promises to deliver services such as broadband, video or voice services. Promised services are considered distinct as the customer can benefit from the services either on their own or together with other resources that are readily available to the customer and the Company’s promise to transfer service to the customer is separately identifiable from other promises in the contract. The Company accounts for services as separate performance obligations. Each service is considered a single performance obligation as it is providing a series of distinct services that are substantially the same and have the same pattern of transfer.

The transaction price is determined at contract inception and reflects the amount of consideration to which we expect to be entitled in exchange for transferring service to the customer. This amount is generally equal to the market price of the services promised in the contract and may include promotional discounts. The transaction price excludes amounts collected on behalf of third parties such as sales taxes and regulatory fees. Conversely, nonrefundable up-front fees, such as service activation and set-up fees, which are immaterial to our overall revenues, are included in the transaction price. In determining the transaction price, we consider our enforceable rights and obligations within the contract. We do not consider the possibility of a contract being cancelled, renewed or modified, which is consistent with ASC 606-10-32-4.

The transaction price is allocated to each performance obligation based on the standalone selling price of the service, net of the related discount, as applicable.

Revenue is recognized when or as performance or as performance obligations are satisfied by transferring service to the customer as described below.

Significant Judgements

The Company often provides multiple services to a customer. Provision of customer premise equipment (CPE) and additional service tiers may have a significant level of integration and interdependency with the subscription voice, video, Internet, or connectivity services. Judgement is required to determine whether provision of CPE, installation services, and additional service tiers are considered distinct and accounted for separately, or not distinct and accounted for together with the subscription services.

Allocation of the transaction price to the distinct performance obligations in bundled service subscriptions requires judgement. The transaction price for a bundle of services is frequently less than the sum of standalone selling prices of each individual service. Standalone selling prices for the Company’s services are directly observable.

Disaggregation of Revenue

The following table summarizes revenue from contracts with customers for the quarters ended March 31, 2018 and 2017:

	Three Months Ended March 31,
	2018		2017
Voice Services¹	$	1,558,393	$	1,633,180
Network Access¹		1,723,215		1,791,842
Video ¹		2,455,167		2,367,124
Data ¹		2,745,131		2,555,194
Directory²		172,052		178,067
Cellular³		119,948		107,402
Other Contracted Revenue⁴		436,637		540,098
Other⁵		217,019		183,346

Revenue From Customers		9,427,562		9,356,253

Subsidy and Other Revenue
Outside the Scope of ASC 606⁶		2,185,624		2,272,876

Total revenue	$	11,613,186	$	11,629,129

¹ Month-to-month contracts billed and consumed in the same month.

² Directory revenue is contracted annually, however, this revenue is recognized monthly over the contract period as the advertising is used.

³ Approximately 88% of the revenue in this category is earned through a monthly commission from the network provider for a billing and collecting arrangement with the network provider. We do not receive revenue from the end-user customer, but instead receive a monthly commission from the provider. Other revenue in this category includes phone and equipment sales and represents approximately 1% of our total revenue.

⁴This includes long-term contracts where the revenue is recognized monthly over the term of the contract.

⁵This includes CPE and other equipment sales.

⁶This includes governmental subsidies and lease revenues outside the scope of ASC 606.

Approximately 79% of our total revenue is from month-to-month and other contracted revenue from customers. Approximately 19% of our total revenue is from revenue sources outside of the scope of ASC 606. The remaining 2% of total revenue is from other sources including CPE and equipment sales and installation.

A significant portion of our revenue is derived from customers who may generally cancel their subscriptions at any time without penalty. As such, the amount of revenue related to unsatisfied performance obligations is not necessarily indicative of the future revenue to be recognized from our existing customer base. Revenue from customers with a contractually specified term and non-cancelable service period will be recognized over the term of such contracts, which is generally 3 to 10 years for these types of contracts.

Nature of Services

Revenues are earned from our customers primarily through the connection to our networks, digital and commercial television (TV) programming, Internet services (high-speed broadband), and hosted and managed services. Revenues for these services are billed based on set rates for monthly service or based on the amount of time the customer is utilizing our facilities. The revenue for these services is recognized when the service is rendered.

Revenues earned from interexchange carriers (IXCs) accessing our network are based on the utilization of our network by these carriers as measured by minutes of use on the network or special access to the network by the individual carriers. Revenues are billed at tariffed access rates for both interstate and intrastate calls. Revenues for these services are recognized based on the period the access is provided.

Voice Services – We receive recurring revenue for basic local services that enable end-user customers to make and receive telephone calls within a defined local calling area for a flat monthly fee. In addition to subscribing to basic local telephone services, our customers may choose from a variety of custom calling features such as call waiting, call forwarding, caller identification and voicemail. Customers may generally cancel their subscriptions at any time without penalty. Each subscription service provided is accounted for as a distinct performance obligation and revenue is recognized over a one month service period as the subscription services are delivered. Other optional services purchased by the customer are generally accounted for as a distinct performance obligation when purchased and revenue is recognized when the service is provided.

Network Access – We provide access services to other telecommunication carriers for the use of our facilities to terminate or originate long distance calls on our network. Additionally, we bill monthly subscriber line charges (SLCs) to substantially all of our customers for access to the public switched network. These SLCs are regulated and approved by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). In addition, network access revenue is derived from several federally administered pooling arrangements designed to provide support and distribute funding to us.

Revenues earned from other telecommunication carriers accessing our network are based on the utilization of our network by these carriers as measured by minutes of use on the network or special access to the network by the individual carriers on monthly basis. Revenues are billed at tariffed access rates for both interstate and intrastate calls and are recognized into revenue monthly based on the period the access was provided.

National Exchange Carriers Association (NECA) pools and redistributes the SLCs to various telecommunication providers through the Connect America Fund (CAF). These revenues are earned and recognized into revenue on a monthly basis. Any adjustments to these amounts received by NECA are adjusted for in revenue upon receipt of the adjustment.

Video – We provide a variety of enhanced video services on a monthly recurring basis to our customers. We also receive monthly recurring revenue from our subscribers for providing commercial TV programming. Customers may generally cancel their subscriptions at any time without penalty. Each subscription service provided is accounted for as a distinct performance obligation and revenue is recognized over a one month service period as the subscription services are delivered. Other optional services purchased by the customer are generally accounted for as a distinct performance obligation when purchased and revenue is recognized when the service is provided.

Data – We provide high speed Internet to business and residential customers. Our revenue is earned based on the offering of various flat packages based on the level of service, data speeds and features. We also provide e-mail, web hosting and design, on-line file back up and on-line file storage. Data customers may generally cancel their subscriptions at any time without penalty. Each subscription service provided is accounted for as a distinct performance obligation and revenue is recognized over a one month service period as the subscription services are delivered. Other optional services purchased by the customer are generally accounted for as a distinct performance obligation when purchased and revenue is recognized when the service is provided.

Directory – Our directory publishing revenue in our telephone directories recurs monthly and is recognized into revenue on a monthly basis.

Cellular – We provide retail sales and service of cellular phones and accessories through Telespire, a national wireless provider. We resell these wireless services as TechTrends Wireless, our branded product. We receive both recurring revenue for our wireless services, as well as revenue collected for the sale of wireless phones and accessories. The majority of the revenue in this category is earned through a monthly commission from Telespire for a billing and collecting arrangement with Telespire. We do not receive revenue from the end-user customer, but instead receive a monthly commission from the Telespire. Other revenue in this category is immaterial to our overall revenues.

Other Contracted Revenue - Managed services and certain other data customers include fiber-delivered communications and managed information technology solutions to mainly business customers, as well as high-capacity last-mile data connectivity services to wireless and wireline carriers. Services are primarily offered on a subscription basis with a contractually specified and non-cancelable service period. The non-cancelable contract terms for these customers generally range from 3 to 10 years. Each subscription service provided is accounted for as a distinct performance obligation and revenue is recognized ratably over the contract period as the subscription services are delivered. These services are billed as monthly recurring charges to customers.

Other – We also generate revenue from the sales, service and installation of CPE and other services. Sales and service of CPE are billed and recognized into revenue once the sale or service is complete or delivered. These sales and services are generally short-term in nature and are completed within one month. Other revenues are immaterial to our total revenues.

Subsidy and Other Revenue outside the Scope of ASC 606 – We receive subsidies from governmental entities to operate and expand our networks. In addition, we have revenue from leasing arrangements. Both of these revenue streams are outside of the scope of ASC 606.

Interstate access rates are established by a nationwide pooling of companies known as the NECA. The FCC established NECA in 1983 to develop and administer interstate access service rates, terms and conditions. Revenues are pooled and redistributed on the basis of a company's actual or average costs. There has been a change in the composition of interstate access charges in recent years, shifting more of the charges to the end user and reducing the amount of access charges paid by IXC’s. We believe this trend will continue.

New Ulm Telecom’s and Sleepy Eye Telephone Company’s (SETC) settlements from the pools were based on their actual costs to provide service, while the settlements for NU Telecom subsidiaries – Western Telephone Company, Peoples Telephone Company and Hutchinson Telephone Company (HTC) were based on nationwide average schedules. Access revenues for New Ulm Telecom and SETC include an estimate of a cost study each year that is trued-up subsequent to the end of any given year. Our management believes the estimates included in our preliminary cost study were reasonable. We cannot predict the future impact that industry or regulatory changes will have on interstate access revenues.

Intrastate access rates are filed with state regulatory commissions in Minnesota and Iowa.

Effective January 1, 2017 we no longer receive funding from the Federal Universal Service Fund (FUSF) based on the pooling and redistribution of revenues based on a company's actual or average costs as described above, but has instead, elected to receive funding based on the Alternative Connect America Cost Model (A-CAM) as described below.

A-CAM

The FUSF was established as part of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and provides subsidies to telecommunications providers as means of increasing the availability and affordability of advanced telecommunications services. In 2011, significant reform was introduced, including the creation of the CAF, to help modernize the FUSF and promote support of these telecom services in the nation’s high cost areas. In 2016, the FCC announced additional reform to further transition the CAF from supporting the provision of voice services to the provision of broadband services. On March 30, 2016, the FCC issued a Report and Order (2016 Order) that adopts the following changes to the FUSF for rate-of-return carriers:

● Establishes a voluntary cost model;

● Creates specific broadband deployment obligations;

● Provides a mechanism for support of broadband-only deployment;

● Gradually reduces the authorized rate-of-return from 11.25 percent to 9.75 percent;

● Eliminates support in those local areas served by unsubsidized competitors;

● Establishes “glide-path” transition periods for all the new changes; and

While the 2011 FUSF Transformation Order established CAF Phase I and CAF Phase II as high cost support mechanisms for the price cap carriers (i.e., the larger, national local exchange carriers (LECs) such as Verizon and AT&T), it was not as specific about how subsidies would change for the rate-of-return carriers (i.e., the smaller LECs, including all rural LECs). In contrast, the 2016 Order focused on the rate-of-return carriers, announced specific changes to existing funding mechanisms as well as a new funding mechanism, and provided rural telecommunications providers with greater certainty about future support.

One of the major changes introduced by the 2016 Order was the creation of the A-CAM, a new CAF support mechanism for rate-of-return carriers. Utilization of the A-CAM was voluntary; and rate-of-return carriers may have instead chose to continue relying on the legacy support mechanism known as interstate common line support (ICLS), but then modified and renamed CAF Broadband Loop Support. Each carrier needed to decide which support mechanism to elect, and then choose one or the other, per state.

In our Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2016, NU Telecom disclosed that we had elected the A-CAM for our Minnesota and Iowa operations, replacing our former ICLS. NU Telecom will receive A-CAM support for a period of ten years in exchange for meeting defined broadband build-out requirements. At the time of NU Telecom’s election, the FCC had not yet determined the final award numbers.

Consistent with the stated disclosure in our Form 10-Q, NU Telecom notified the FCC that we would continue to elect the A-CAM program. Under the report that accompanied the FCC December 20, 2016 Public Notice, NU Telecom would annually receive (i) $391,896 for our Iowa operations and (ii) $6,118,567 for our Minnesota operations. The Company will use the annual $6.5 million that we receive through the A-CAM program to meet our defined broadband build-out obligations. The A-CAM payments will replace the Company’s former ICLS payments.

The following table provides information about our receivables, contracts assets and contract liabilities from revenue contracts with our customers:

	January 1, 2018		March 31, 2018		Increase/(Decrease)

Contract Assets:

Short-term contract assets	$	-	$	-	$	-

Lont-term contract assets	$	-	$	-	$	-

Contract Liabilities:

Short-term contract liabilities	$	93,656	$	354,399	$	260,743	¹

Long-term contract liabilities	$	194,458	$	185,619	$	(8,839)

Receivables:

Receivables accounted for under ASC 606	$	1,431,558	$	1,096,607	$	(334,951)	²

Subsidy Receivables not accounted for under ASC 606	$	542,539	$	542,539	$	-

¹ The difference is due to the timing of the contract billings.

² The reduction in accounts receivable is due to the timing of receipts.

Contract Assets

Contract assets arise from costs that are incremental to the acquisition of a contract. Incremental costs are those that result directly from obtaining a contract or costs that would not have been incurred if the contract had not been obtained, which primarily relates to sales commissions. Overall commissions paid to our sales representatives are immaterial based on our current commission structure. Due to the immaterial amount of commissions paid and the fact that most of our customers are billed under month-to-month service agreements that generally have no penalties associated with them if canceled by the customer, the Company has applied the practical expedient that allow customer acquisition costs to be expensed as incurred.

Contract Liabilities

Short-term contract liabilities include deferred revenues for advanced payments for managed services and other long-term contracts. This includes the current portion of the deferred revenues that will be recognized monthly within one year. Long-term contract liabilities include deferred revenues for advanced payments for managed services and other long-term contracts. This includes the portion longer than one year and the corresponding deferred revenues are recognized into revenue on a monthly basis based of the term of the contract.

Receivables

A receivable is recognized in the period the Company provides goods and services when the Company’s right to consideration is unconditional. Payment terms on invoiced amounts are generally 30-60 days.