Revenue Recognition

6 Months Ended

Jul. 02, 2011

NOTE 3. REVENUE RECOGNITION

Cadence adopted new revenue recognition accounting standards on the first day of fiscal 2011 for revenue arrangements that include both hardware and software elements. These new standards require companies to account for product or service deliverables separately rather than as one combined unit in a multiple element arrangement, or MEA. Under these new standards, hardware products containing software components and nonsoftware components that function together to deliver the hardware product’s essential functionality are excluded from the pre-existing software revenue standards. In addition, hardware components of a tangible product containing software components are always excluded from the pre-existing software revenue standards. The residual method is no longer allowed when allocating consideration for arrangements under these new accounting standards.

An MEA is any arrangement that includes or contemplates rights to a combination of software or hardware products, software license types, services, training or maintenance in a single arrangement. From time to time, Cadence may include individual deliverables in separately priced and separately executed contracts with the same customer. Cadence evaluates all relevant facts and circumstances in determining whether the separate contracts should be accounted for individually as distinct arrangements or whether the separate contracts are, in substance, an MEA. Significant judgment can be involved in determining whether a group of contracts might be so closely related that they are, in effect, part of a single arrangement.

For a single transaction or MEA that includes software and nonsoftware elements, Cadence allocates consideration to all deliverables based on their relative standalone selling prices. In these circumstances, the new accounting standards establish a hierarchy to determine the standalone selling price to be used for allocating consideration to deliverables as follows:

	•		Vendor-specific objective evidence of fair value, or VSOE;

	•		Third-party evidence of selling price, or TPE; and

	•		Best estimate of the selling price, or ESP.

The new accounting standards do not generally change the separate elements identified in Cadence’s revenue transactions. For MEAs that contain software and nonsoftware elements, Cadence allocates the consideration to software or software-related elements as a group, and to any nonsoftware element separately based on the standalone selling price hierarchy. The consideration allocated to each element is then recognized as revenue when the basic revenue recognition criteria are met for each element. Once the consideration is allocated to the group of software and software-related elements, it then follows the recognition principles of pre-existing software accounting guidance.

The most significant impact of the adoption of the new revenue recognition accounting standards is the timing of revenue recognition for Cadence’s hardware products when sold with other hardware products or with software licenses for which revenue is recognized ratably. Using the residual method under the pre-existing accounting standards, revenue was recognized when all undelivered elements had vendor-specific objective evidence of fair value, or VSOE. In an arrangement that included multiple hardware products, revenue for the delivered hardware products was required to be deferred until the final hardware product was delivered. In these arrangements, the time period between shipment of the first hardware product and the last hardware product can vary, generally ranging from one to four quarters. Under the newly adopted accounting standards, the consideration allocated to each hardware product will be recognized as revenue upon the respective delivery of each hardware product. In addition, if a hardware product is sold with nonessential software licenses, hardware revenue will no longer be required to be recognized ratably over the software license term.

Cadence adopted these new accounting standards on a prospective basis. Therefore, revenue will continue to be recognized in future periods under the pre-existing accounting standards for arrangements that were entered into on or prior to January 1, 2011. Cadence began applying the new accounting standards for arrangements entered into or materially modified on or after January 2, 2011. If Cadence had accounted for arrangements entered into on or after January 2, 2011 under the pre-existing accounting standards, revenue for the three months ended July 2, 2011 would have been $3.1 million more than reported and revenue for the six months ended July 2, 2011 would have been $2.1 million less than reported. Changes in assumptions or judgments or changes to the elements in an arrangement could cause a material increase or decrease in the amount of revenue that Cadence reports in a particular period.

Cadence has established VSOE for certain service offerings based upon the pricing of these elements when sold separately. VSOE for maintenance is based upon the customer’s stated annual renewal rate. Cadence has not established VSOE for any of its products, for annual maintenance that is not cancellable by the customer, or for maintenance of less than 12 months.

TPE is determined based on competitor prices for similar deliverables when sold separately. Generally, Cadence’s offerings contain significant differentiation such that comparable pricing of products with similar functionality cannot be obtained. Furthermore, Cadence is unable to reliably determine what similar competitor products’ selling prices are when those products are sold on a stand-alone basis. Therefore, Cadence typically is not able to obtain TPE and TPE is not used to determine any standalone selling prices.

Cadence calculates the ESP of its hardware products based on its pricing practices, including the historical average prices charged for comparable hardware products. Cadence’s process for determining ESP for its software deliverables without VSOE or TPE takes into account multiple factors that vary depending upon the unique facts and circumstances related to each deliverable. Key external and internal factors considered in developing the ESPs include, but are not limited to, prices charged by Cadence for similar arrangements, historical pricing practices and the nature of the product. In addition, when developing ESPs, Cadence may consider other factors as appropriate including the pricing of competitive alternatives if they exist, and product-specific business objectives.

Cadence generally has a minimum of two deliverables contained in arrangements involving the sale of its hardware. The first deliverable is the hardware product and software essential to the functionality of the hardware product delivered at the time of sale, and the second deliverable is the right to receive maintenance on the hardware product and the hardware product’s essential software. Cadence allocates consideration between these deliverables based on the relative standalone selling price for each deliverable. Consideration allocated to the hardware product and the related essential software is recognized as revenue at the time of delivery provided all other conditions for revenue recognition have been met. Consideration allocated to the maintenance is deferred and recognized as revenue on a straight-line basis over the respective maintenance terms.

Cadence accounts for MEAs that consist only of software or software-related products in accordance with industry-specific accounting guidance for software and software-related transactions. If VSOE exists for all undelivered elements, the consideration is allocated using the residual method. Under the residual method, the VSOE of the undelivered elements is deferred and the remaining portion of the arrangement fee is recognized up-front as the software products are delivered. If VSOE does not exist for all elements to support the allocation of the total fee among all elements of the arrangement, or if VSOE does not exist for all undelivered elements to apply the residual method, revenue is recognized ratably over the term of the undelivered elements.