DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS AND SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

12 Months Ended

Feb. 28, 2012

Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Business Description and Accounting Policies [Text Block]

NOTE 1 – DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS AND SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Description of Business

     CalAmp Corp. ("CalAmp" or the "Company") develops and markets wireless technology solutions that deliver data, voice and video for critical networked communication and other applications. The Company's two business segments are Wireless DataCom, which serves commercial, industrial and government customers, and Satellite, which focuses on the North American Direct Broadcast Satellite market.

Principles of Consolidation

The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company (a Delaware corporation) and its subsidiaries, all of which are wholly-owned. All significant intercompany transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States 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. Actual results could differ from those estimates. Areas where significant judgments are made include, but are not necessarily limited to: allowance for doubtful accounts; inventory valuation; product warranties; deferred income tax asset valuation allowances; valuation of purchased intangible assets and other long-lived assets; stock-based compensation; and revenue recognition.

Fiscal Year

The Company uses a 52-53 week fiscal year ending on the Saturday closest to February 28, which for fiscal years 2012, 2011 and 2010 fell on February 25, 2012, February 26, 2011, and February 27, 2010, respectively. In these consolidated financial statements, the fiscal year end for all years is shown as February 28 for clarity of presentation. Fiscal years 2012, 2011 and 2010 each consisted of 52 weeks.

Revenue Recognition

The Company recognizes revenue from product sales when persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists, delivery has occurred, the sales price is fixed or determinable and collection of the sales price is reasonably assured. Generally, these criteria are met at the time product is shipped, except for shipments made on the basis of "FOB Destination" terms, in which case title transfers to the customer and the revenue is recorded by the Company when the shipment reaches the customer. Customers do not have rights of return except for defective products returned during the warranty period.

The Company defers the recognition of revenues for products that are sold with data communication services because the services are essential to the functionality of the products, and accordingly, the associated product costs are recorded as deferred costs. The deferred product revenue and deferred product cost amounts are recognized on a straight-line basis over the minimum contractual service period of one year. Revenues from renewals of data communication services after the initial one year term are recognized as the services are provided. When customers prepay data communication service renewals, such amounts are recorded as deferred revenues and are recognized over the renewal term.

The Company also undertakes projects that include the design and development of communication systems used in the public safety and transportation sectors that are customized to customers' specifications or that involve fixed site construction. Sales under such contracts are recorded under the percentage-of-completion method. Costs and estimated revenues are recorded as work is performed based on the percentage that incurred costs bear to estimated total costs utilizing the most recent estimates of costs. If the current contract estimate indicates a loss, provision is made for the total anticipated loss in the current period. Costs and estimated earnings in excess of billings on uncompleted contracts arise when contract revenues have been recognized on the percentage-of-completion method in advance of when the amounts can be invoiced to the customers under the terms of the contracts. Such amounts are billable to the customers upon various measures of performance, including achievement of certain milestones, completion of specified units, or completion of a contract. Costs and estimated earnings in excess of billings on uncompleted contracts are included in prepaid expenses and other current assets in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

     The Company considers all highly liquid investments with remaining maturities at date of purchase of three months or less to be cash equivalents.

Concentrations of Risk

At February 28, 2012, the Company’s cash and cash equivalents were maintained in financial institutions that are insured up to the limit determined by the appropriate governmental agency. The amounts held in the United States are fully insured; however, cash and cash equivalents held in Canadian bank accounts at February 28, 2012 exceeded the insured limits by approximately US$560,000.

Financial instruments that potentially subject the Company to concentrations of credit risk consist principally of cash equivalents and trade receivables.

Because the Company sells into markets dominated by a few large service providers, a significant percentage of consolidated revenues and consolidated accounts receivable relate to a small number of customers. Customers that accounted for 10% or more of consolidated annual revenues in any one of the last three years are as follows:

	Year ended February 28,
Customer	2012	2011	2010
A	28.3%	31.0%	48.6%

Customers that accounted for 10% or more of consolidated net accounts receivable in any one of the last two years are as follows:

	February 28,
Customer	2012	2011
A	33.4%	27.6%
B	11.1%	4.8%
C	1.7%	12.4%

Customer A is a customer of the Company's Satellite segment. Customer B and C are customers of the Company’s Wireless DataCom segment.

A substantial portion of the Company’s inventory is purchased from one supplier, which functions as an independent foreign procurement agent and contract manufacturer. This supplier accounted for 50% and 49% of Company's total inventory purchases in fiscal 2012 and 2011, respectively. As of February 28, 2012, this supplier accounted for 57% of the Company's total accounts payable.

Some of the Company's components, assemblies and electronic manufacturing services are purchased from sole source suppliers.

Allowance for Doubtful Accounts

The Company establishes an allowance for estimated bad debts based upon a review and evaluation of specific customer accounts identified as having known or expected collection problems based on historical experience or due to insolvency, disputes or other collection issues.

Inventories

Inventories include costs of materials, labor and manufacturing overhead. Inventories are stated at the lower of cost or net realizable value, with cost determined principally by the use of the first-in, first-out method.

Property, equipment and improvements

     Property, equipment and improvements are stated at the lower of cost or fair value determined through periodic impairment analyses. The Company follows the policy of capitalizing expenditures that increase asset lives, and expensing ordinary maintenance and repairs as incurred. The Company has capitalized certain internal use software which is included in property and equipment.

Depreciation and amortization are based upon the estimated useful lives of the related assets using the straight-line method. Plant equipment and office equipment are depreciated over useful lives ranging from two to five years, while tooling is depreciated over 18 months. Leasehold improvements are amortized over the shorter of the lease term or the useful life of the improvements.

Operating Leases

Rent expense under operating leases is recognized on a straight-line basis over the lease term. The difference between the rent expense and the rent payment is recorded as an increase or decrease in deferred rent liability.

The Company accounts for tenant allowances in lease agreements as a deferred rent credit. The deferred credit is then amortized on a straight-line basis over the lease term as a reduction of rent expense.

Intangible Assets

The cost of definite-lived identified intangible assets is amortized over the assets' estimated useful lives ranging from one to seven years on a straight-line basis as no other discernable pattern of usage is more readily determinable.

Accounting for Long-Lived Assets

The Company reviews property and equipment and other long-lived assets for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amounts of an asset may not be recoverable. Recoverability is measured by comparison of the asset's carrying amount to the undiscounted future net cash flows an asset is expected to generate. If a long-lived asset or group of assets is considered to be impaired, the impairment to be recognized is measured as the amount by which the carrying amount of the asset or asset group exceeds the discounted future cash flows that are projected to be generated by the asset or asset group.

Disclosures About Fair Value of Financial Instruments

The following methods and assumptions were used to estimate the fair value of each class of financial instrument for which it is practicable to estimate:

Cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable and accounts payable - The carrying amount is a reasonable estimate of fair value given the short maturity of these instruments.

Debt - The estimated fair value of the Company's bank debt approximates the carrying value of such debt because the interest rate is variable and is market-based.

Warranty

The Company generally warrants its products against defects over periods ranging from 3 to 24 months. An accrual for estimated future costs relating to products returned under warranty is recorded as an expense when products are shipped. At the end of each quarter, the Company adjusts its liability for warranty claims based on its actual warranty claims experience as a percentage of revenues for the preceding one to two years and also considers the impact of the known operational issues that may have a greater impact than historical trends. The warranty reserve is included in Other Current Liabilities in the balance sheets. See Note 9 for a table of annual increases in and reductions of the warranty reserve for the last three years.

Deferred Income Taxes

Deferred income taxes reflect the net tax effects of temporary differences between the carrying amount of assets and liabilities for financial reporting purposes and for income tax purposes. The Company evaluates the realizability of its deferred income tax assets and a valuation allowance is provided, as necessary. In assessing this valuation allowance, the Company reviews historical and future expected operating results and other factors, including its recent cumulative earnings experience, expectations of future taxable income by taxing jurisdiction and the carryforward periods available for tax reporting purposes, to determine whether it is more likely than not that deferred tax assets are realizable.

Foreign Currency Translation and Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss) Account

     The Company's French subsidiary uses the U.S. dollar as its functional currency. As a result of changing the functional currency of the Company's French subsidiary from the French franc to the U.S. dollar in 2002, the foreign currency translation loss of $801,000 was included in accumulated other comprehensive loss in the stockholders’ equity section of the balance sheet. During fiscal 2012, the Company wrote off the $801,000 foreign currency translation loss as a result of the decision to shut down this French subsidiary.

The Company's Canadian subsidiary changed its functional currency from the Canadian dollar to the U.S. dollar effective at the end of fiscal 2010. The cumulative foreign currency translation loss of $65,000 that is included in accumulated other comprehensive loss will remain unchanged for such time that the Canadian subsidiary continues to be part of the Company's consolidated financial statements.

The aggregate foreign transaction exchange gains (losses) included in determining income (loss) before income taxes were $(45,000), $40,000 and $(288,000) in fiscal 2012, 2011 and 2010, respectively.

Earnings Per Share

Basic earnings (loss) per share is computed by dividing net income (loss) available to common stockholders by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during the period. Diluted earnings per share reflects the potential dilution, using the treasury stock method, that could occur if stock options and stock purchase warrants were exercised. In computing diluted earnings per share, the treasury stock method assumes that outstanding options and warrants are exercised and the proceeds are used to purchase common stock at the average market price during the period. Options and warrants will have a dilutive effect under the treasury stock method only when the Company reports net income and the average market price of the common stock during the period exceeds the exercise price of the derivative securities.

Stock-Based Compensation

The Company measures stock-based compensation expense at the grant date, based on the fair value of the equity award, and recognizes the expense over the employee's requisite service (vesting) period using the straight-line method. The measurement of stock-based compensation expense is based on several criteria including, but not limited to, the type of equity award, the valuation model used and associated input factors, such as expected term of the award, stock price volatility, risk free interest rate and forfeiture rate. Certain of these inputs are subjective to some degree and are determined based in part on management's judgment. The Company recognizes the compensation expense on a straight-line basis for its graded-vesting awards. Forfeitures are estimated at the time of grant and revised, if necessary, in subsequent periods if actual forfeitures differ from those estimates. However, the cumulative compensation expense recognized at any point in time must at least equal the portion of the grant-date fair value of the award that is vested at that date. As used in this context, the term "forfeitures" is distinct from "cancellations" or "expirations", and refers only to the unvested portion of the surrendered equity awards.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

In June 2011, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2011-05, Comprehensive Income (Topic 220): Presentation of Comprehensive Income. This guidance is effective for interim and annual periods beginning December 15, 2011 and will require companies to present the components of net income and other comprehensive income either as one continuous statement or as two consecutive statements. It eliminates the option to present components of other comprehensive income as part of the statement of changes in stockholders' equity. The standard does not change the items which must be reported in other comprehensive income, how such items are measured or when they must be reclassified to net income. In addition, in December 2011, the FASB issued an amendment which defers the requirement to present components of reclassifications of other comprehensive income on the face of the income statement. The Company plans to adopt this pronouncement in the first quarter of fiscal 2013.