Accrued Expenses and Other Current Liabilities

The components of accrued expenses and other current liabilities consisted of the following:



	As of		As of
(in thousands)	September 30, 2014		September 30, 2013
Compensation	$	4,265	$	4,361
Warranty	3,087		4,030
Termination fee	2,775		2,775
Professional fees	2,204		676
Royalty	576		1,061
Customer deposits	631		730
Deferred revenue	702		2,565
Self insurance	1,470		1,352
Income and other taxes	1,529		1,345
Loss on sales contracts	119		415
Severance and restructuring accruals	1,317		601
Loss on inventory purchase commitments	306		—
Other	1,664		1,686
Accrued expenses and other current liabilities	$	20,645	$	21,597

Professional fees

The Company accrued legal and consulting fees of $1.1 million related to the sale of the Photovoltaics Business for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2014.

Severance and restructuring accruals: In August 2012, Mr. Reuben Richards, Jr. proposed to the Board to step-down from his position as the Company's Executive Chairman and all other positions he held as an officer or employee of the Company and its affiliates, effective as of September 30, 2012. Mr. Richards remained as Chairman of the Board and a member of the Board.

The Company and Mr. Richards entered into a separation agreement and general release, dated August 6, 2012 (Separation Agreement), which includes mutual releases by Mr. Richards and the Company of all claims related to Mr. Richards' employment and service relationship with, and termination of employment and service from, the Company. Under the terms of the Separation Agreement, Mr. Richards acknowledged and agreed that the restrictive covenants contained in his employment agreement would remain in full force and effect. The separation agreement provides for among other things, the continuation of his base salary for 88 weeks, benefits for 18 months, and immediate vesting of all his outstanding non-vested equity awards. These payments are not contingent upon any future service by Mr. Richards. In fiscal year 2012, we recorded a charge of $1.1 million related to Mr. Richards' separation agreement.

On November 15, 2013, Mr. Chris Larocca proposed to resign as the Company's Chief Operating Officer, effective as of November 30, 2013. The Company recorded a charge of $0.5 million for the fiscal year September 30, 2014 related to the separation agreement entered into as part of Mr. Larocca's resignation.

On September 17, 2014, Dr. Hong Q. Hou announced he will resign as the Company's Chief Executive Officer, effective as of January 2, 2015 or, if later, fifteen days following the date on which the Company hires a successor Chief Executive Officer (the “Separation Date”). The Company and Dr. Hou entered into a separation agreement and general release, dated September 17, 2014 (Separation Agreement), which includes mutual releases by Dr. Hou and the Company of all claims related to Dr. Hou's employment and service relationship with, and termination of employment and service from, the Company. The separation agreement provides for among other things, the continuation of his base salary for 86 weeks, benefits for 18 months, outplacement services for a period of not more than one year and with a value not in excess of $15,000 and immediate vesting of all his outstanding non-vested equity awards. These payments are not contingent upon any future service by Dr. Hou. The Company recorded a charge of approximately $0.8 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2014 related to Dr. Hou's separation agreement. See Note 18 - Subsequent Events for additional information on Dr. Hong Q. Hou's successor.

Our severance and restructuring-related accrual specifically relates to the Separation Agreements and non-cancelable obligations associated with an abandoned leased facility. Expense related to severance and restructuring accruals is included in selling, general, and administrative expense on our statement of operations and comprehensive (loss) income. The following table summarizes the changes in the severance and restructuring-related accrual accounts:



(in thousands)	Severance-related accruals			Restructuring-related accruals			Total
Balance as of September 30, 2012	$	1,105		$	416		$	1,521
Expense - charged to accrual	723			—			723
Payments and accrual adjustments	(1,305		)	(338		)	(1,643		)
Balance as of September 30, 2013	$	523		$	78		601
Expense - charged to accrual	2,229			—			2,229
Payments and accrual adjustments	(1,435		)	(78		)	(1,513		)
Balance as of September 30, 2014	$	1,317		$	—		$	1,317

Warranty: We generally provide product and other warranties on our solar cells, components, power systems, and fiber optic products, in addition to certain already divested product lines where we retained the warranty obligations. Certain parts and labor warranties from our vendors can be assigned to our customers. Our reported financial position or results of operations may be materially different under changed conditions or when using different estimates and assumptions. In the event that estimates or assumptions prove to differ from actual results, adjustments are made in subsequent periods to reflect more current information.

The following table summarizes the changes in our product warranty accrual accounts:



Product Warranty Accruals	For the Fiscal Years Ended September 30,
(in thousands)	2014			2013			2012
Balance at beginning of period	$	4,561		$	4,100		$	4,158
Provision for product warranty - expense	2,114			2,914			(49		)
Adjustments and utilization of warranty accrual	(3,057		)	(2,453		)	(9		)
Balance at end of period	$	3,618		$	4,561		$	4,100
Current portion	$	3,087		$	4,030		$	3,692
Non-current portion	531			531			408
Product warranty liability at end of period	$	3,618		$	4,561		$	4,100

The decrease in our provision for product warranty expense for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2014 compared to the same periods in 2013 was primarily due to specific customer warranty claims in 2013.