Description of Business and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2014

Basis of Presentation— The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Ebix and its wholly owned subsidiaries. The effect of inter-company balances and transactions has been eliminated.

Use of Estimates

Use of Estimates—The preparation of consolidated financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America ("GAAP") 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 dates of the financial statements and reported amounts of revenue and expenses during those reporting periods. Management has made material estimates primarily with respect to revenue recognition and deferred revenue, accounts receivable, acquired intangible assets, annual impairment reviews of goodwill, indefinite-lived intangible assets, and investments. contingent earnout liabilities in connection with business acquisitions, and the provision for income taxes. Actual results may be materially different from those estimates.

Reclassification

Reclassification—Certain of the reported balances and results for prior year or prior quarters, including the notes thereto, have been reclassified to conform to the current year presentation. The change in reserve for potential uncertain income tax return positions had been previously netted against the provision for deferred taxes line in the consolidated statements of cash flows, it is now shown separately. Also, beginning in 2014 the Company has applied the new provisions under Financial Accounting Standard ("FAS") update No. 2013-11, Presentation of an Unrecognized Tax Benefit When a Net Operating Loss Carryforward, A Similar Tax Loss, or a Tax Credit Carryforward Exists and as more fully described in Note 8 "Income Taxes". A portion of potential uncertain income tax return positions previously reported in "Other Liabilities" on the consolidated balance sheets are now netted against the "Deferred tax asset, net" line in the long term asset section of the consolidated balance sheets. Finally the excess tax benefits from share-based compensation is now reported as a component of financing cash flows rather than being netted against the provision for deferred taxes as a component of operating cash flows in the consolidated statements of cash flows.

Segment Reporting

Segment Reporting—Since the Company, from the perspective of its chief operating decision maker, allocates resources and evaluates business performance as a single entity that provides software and related services to a single industry on a worldwide basis, the Company reports as a single segment.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

Cash and Cash Equivalents—The Company considers all highly liquid investments with an original maturity of three months or less at the time of purchase to be cash equivalents. Such investments are stated at cost, which approximates fair value. The Company does maintain cash balances in banking institutions in excess of federally insured amounts and therefore is exposed to the related potential credit risk associated with such cash deposits.

Short-term Investments

Short-term Investments—The Company’s short-term investments consist of certificates of deposits with established commercial banking institutions with readily determinable fair values. Ebix accounts for investments that are reasonably expected to be realized in cash, sold or consumed during the year as short-term investments that are available-for-sale. The carrying amount of investments in marketable securities approximates their fair value.

Fair Value of Financial Instruments

Fair Value of Financial Instruments—The Company follows the relevant GAAP guidance regarding the determination and measurement of the fair value of financial instruments in which fair value is defined as the exchange price that would be received for an asset or paid to transfer a liability (an exit price) in the principal or most advantageous market for the asset or liability in an orderly transaction valuation hierarchy which requires an entity to maximize the use of observable inputs when measuring fair value. The guidance describes the following three levels of inputs that may be used in the methodology to measure fair value:


•	Level 1 — Quoted prices available in active markets for identical investments as of the reporting date;


•	Level 2 — Inputs other than quoted prices in active markets, which are either directly or indirectly observable as of the reporting date; and,


•	Level 3 — Unobservable inputs, which are to be used in situations where there is little or no market activity for the asset or liability and wherein the reporting entity makes estimates and assumptions related to the pricing of the asset or liability including assumptions regarding risk.

A financial instrument’s level within the fair value hierarchy is based on the lowest level of any input that is significant to the fair value measurement.

As of December 31, 2014 and 2013 the Company has the following financial instruments to which it had to consider fair values and had to make fair assessments:


•	Common share-based put option for which the fair value was measured as Level 2 instrument.


•	Short-term investments for which the fair values are measured as a Level 1 instrument.

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Contingent accrued earn-out business acquisition consideration liabilities for which fair values are measured as Level 3 instruments. These contingent consideration liabilities were recorded at fair value on the acquisition date and are remeasured periodically based on the then assessed fair value and adjusted if necessary. The increases or decreases in the fair value of contingent consideration payable can result from changes in anticipated revenue levels and changes in assumed discount periods and rates. As the fair value measure is based on significant inputs that are not observable in the market, they are categorized as Level 3.

Other financial instruments not measured at fair value on the Company's consolidated balance sheets at December 31, 2014 and 2013 but which require disclosure of their fair values include: cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable, accounts payable and accrued expenses, accrued payroll and related benefits, capital lease obligations, debt under the former revolving line of credit and term loans with Citibank, and debt under the existing revolving line of credit with Regions Bank . The estimated fair value of such instruments at December 31, 2014 and 2013 reasonably approximates their carrying value as reported on the consolidated balance sheets.

Revenue Recognition and Deferred Revenue

Revenue Recognition and Deferred Revenue—The Company derives its revenues primarily from professional and support services, which includes revenue generated from subscription and transaction fees pertaining to services delivered over our exchanges or from our application service provider (“ASP”) platforms, software development projects and associated fees for consulting, implementation, training, and project management provided to customers using our systems, and risk compliance solutions ("RCS"). Sales and value-added taxes are not included in revenues, but rather are recorded as a liability until the taxes assessed are remitted to the respective taxing authorities.

The Company follows the relevant technical accounting guidance regarding revenue recognition as issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") and the Securities and Exchange Commission's ("SEC"). The Company considers revenue earned and realizable when: (a) persuasive evidence of the sales arrangement exists, (b) the arrangement fee is fixed or determinable, (c) service delivery or performance has occurred, (d) customer acceptance has been received or is reasonably assured, if contractually required, and (e) collectability of the arrangement fee is probable. The Company typically uses signed contractual agreements as persuasive evidence of a sales arrangement. We apply the provisions of the relevant FASB accounting pronouncements related to all transactions involving the license of software where the software deliverables are considered more than inconsequential to the other elements in the arrangement. For contracts that contain multiple deliverables, we analyze the revenue arrangements in accordance with the appropriate authoritative guidance, which provides criteria governing how to determine whether goods or services that are delivered separately in a bundled sales arrangement should be considered as separate units of accounting for the purpose of revenue recognition. Deliverables are accounted for separately if they meet all of the following criteria: a) the delivered item has value to the customer on a stand-alone basis; b) there is objective and reliable evidence of the fair value for all arrangement deliverables; and c) if the arrangement includes a general right of return relative to the delivered items, the delivery or performance of the undelivered items is probable and substantially controlled by the Company. Under the relevant accounting guidance, when multiple-deliverables included in an arrangement are to be separated into different units of accounting, the arrangement consideration is allocated to the identified separate units of accounting based on their relative fair values. We determine the relative selling price for a deliverable based on vendor-specific objective evidence of selling price (“VSOE”), if available, or third-party evidence ("TPE") in the alternative if available, or finally our best estimate of selling price (“BESP”), if VSOE or TPE is not available.

The Company begins to recognize revenue from license fees for its exchange (SAAS) and ASP products upon granting customer access to the respective processing platform. Transaction services fee revenue for this use of our exchanges or ASP platforms is recognized as the transactions occur and are generally billed in arrears. Revenues from RCS arrangements, which include data entry and call center services, and insurance certificate creation and tracking services, are recognized as the services are performed. Service fees for hosting arrangements are recognized over the requisite service period. Revenue derived from the licensing of third party software products in connection with sales of the Company’s software licenses is recognized upon delivery together with the Company’s licensed software products. Fees for training, data conversion, installation, and consulting services fees are recognized as revenue when the services are performed. Revenue for maintenance and support services are recognized ratably over the term of the support agreement.

Software development arrangements involving significant customization, modification or production are accounted for in accordance with the appropriate technical accounting guidance issued by the FASB using the percentage-of-completion method. The Company recognizes revenue using periodic reported actual hours worked as a percentage of total expected hours required to complete the project arrangement and applies the percentage to the total arrangement fee.

Deferred revenue includes payments or billings that have been received or made prior to performance and, in certain cases, cash collections and primarily pertain to maintenance and support fees, initial setup or registration fees under hosting agreements, software license fees received in advance of delivery and acceptance, and software development fees paid in advance of completion and delivery.

Accounts Receivable and the Allowance for Doubtful Accounts Receivable

of unbilled receivables. The unbilled receivables pertain to certain professional service engagements and system development projects for which the timing of billing is tied to contractual milestones. The Company adheres to such contractually stated performance milestones and accordingly issues invoices to customers as per contract billing schedules. Accounts receivable are written off against the allowance for doubtful accounts receivable when the Company has exhausted all reasonable collection efforts. Management specifically analyzes the aging of accounts receivable and historical bad debts, write-offs, customer concentrations, customer credit-worthiness, current economic trends, and changes in our customer payment patterns when evaluating the adequacy of the allowance for doubtful accounts receivable.

Accounts Receivable and the Allowance for Doubtful Accounts Receivable—

Costs of Services Provided

Costs of Services Provided—Costs of services provided consist of data processing costs, customer support costs including personnel costs to maintain our proprietary databases, costs to provide customer call center support, hardware and software expense associated with transaction processing systems and exchanges, telecommunication and computer network expense, and occupancy costs associated with facilities where these functions are performed. Depreciation expense is not included in costs of services provided.

Goodwill and Indefinite-lived Intangible Assets

The Company’s indefinite-lived assets are associated with the estimated fair value of the contractual customer relationships existing with the property and casualty insurance carriers in Australia using our property and casualty ("P&C") data exchange and with certain large corporate customers using our client relationship management (“CRM”) platform in the United States. Prior to these underlying business acquisitions Ebix had pre-existing contractual relationships with these carriers and corporate clients. The contracts are renewable at little or no cost, and Ebix intends to continue to renew these contracts indefinitely and has the ability to do so. The proprietary technology supporting the P&C data exchange and CRM platform that is used to deliver services to these carriers and corporate clients, cannot feasibly be effectively replaced in the foreseeable future, and accordingly the cash flows forthcoming from these customers are expected to continue indefinitely. With respect to the determination of the indefinite life, the Company considered the expected use of these intangible assets, historical experience in renewing or extending similar arrangements, and the effects of competition, and concluded that there were no indications from these factors to suggest that the expected useful life of these customer relationships would be finite. The Company concluded that no legal, regulatory, contractual, or competitive factors limited the useful life of these intangible assets and therefore their life was considered to be indefinite, and accordingly the Company expects these customer relationships to remain the same for the foreseeable future. The fair values of these indefinite-lived intangible assets were based on the analysis of discounted cash flow (“DCF”) models extended out fifteen to twenty years. In that indefinite-lived does not imply an infinite life, but rather means that the subject customer relationships are expected to extend beyond the foreseeable time horizon, we utilized fifteen to twenty year DCF projections, as the valuation models that were applied consider a fifteen to twenty year time frame to be an indefinite period. Indefinite-lived intangible assets are not amortized, but rather are tested for impairment annually. We perform our annual impairment testing of indefinite-lived intangible assets as of September 30th of each year. During the years ended December 31, 2014, 2013, and 2012, we had no impairments to the recorded balances of our indefinite-lived intangible assets. We perform the impairment test for our indefinite-lived intangible assets by comparing the asset’s fair value to its carrying value. An impairment charge is recognized if the asset’s estimated fair value is less than its carrying value.

Purchased Intangible Assets

Purchased Intangible Assets—Purchased intangible assets represent the estimated fair value of acquired intangible assets from the businesses that we acquire in the U.S. and foreign countries in which we operate. These purchased intangible assets include customer relationships, developed technology, informational databases, and trademarks. We amortize these intangible assets on a straight-line basis over their estimated useful lives, as follows:



	Life
Category	(yrs)
Customer relationships	7-20
Developed technology	3-12
Trademarks	3-15
Non-compete agreements	5
Database	10

Income Taxes

Income Taxes— The Company follows the asset and liability method of accounting for income taxes pursuant to the pertinent guidance issued by the FASB. Deferred income taxes are recorded to reflect the tax consequences on future years of differences between the tax basis of assets and liabilities, and operating loss and tax credit carry forwards, and their financial reporting amounts at each period end using enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the years in which those temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. In assessing the realizability of the deferred tax assets, management considers whether it is more likely than not that some portion or all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. A valuation allowance is recorded, if necessary, for the portion of the deferred tax assets that are not expected to be realized based on the levels of historical taxable income and projections for future taxable income over the periods in which the temporary differences will be deductible.

The Company follows the provisions of FASB accounting guidance on accounting for uncertain income tax positions. The guidance utilizes a two-step approach for evaluating tax positions. Recognition (“Step 1”) occurs when an enterprise concludes that a tax position, based solely on its technical merits is more likely than not to be sustained upon examination. Measurement (“Step 2”) is only addressed if Step 1 has been satisfied. Under Step 2, the tax benefit is measured at the largest amount of benefit, determined on a cumulative probability basis that is more likely than not to be realized upon final settlement. As used in this context, the term “more likely than not” is interpreted to mean that the likelihood of occurrence is greater than 50%.

Foreign Currency Translation

Foreign Currency Translation—The functional currency for the Company's foreign subsidiaries in India and Singapore is the U.S. dollar because the intellectual property research and development activities provided by its Singapore subsidiary, and the product development and information technology enabled services activities for the insurance industry provided by its India subsidiary, both in support of Ebix's operating divisions across the world, are transacted in U.S. dollars.

The functional currency of the Company's other foreign subsidiaries is the local currency of the country in which the subsidiary operates. The assets and liabilities of these foreign subsidiaries are translated into U.S. dollars at the rates of exchange at the balance sheet dates. Income and expense accounts are translated at the average exchange rates in effect during the period. Gains and losses resulting from translation adjustments are included as a component of accumulated other comprehensive loss in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets. Foreign exchange transaction gains and losses that are derived from transactions denominated in a currency other than the subsidiary's functional currency are included in the determination of net income.

Advertising

Advertising—Advertising costs are expensed as incurred. Advertising costs amounted to $1.7 million, $1.0 million, and $1.4 million in 2014, 2013, and 2012, respectively, and are included in sales and marketing expenses in the accompanying Consolidated Statements of Income.

Sales Commissions

Sales Commissions —Certain sales commission paid with respect to subscription-based revenues are deferred and subsequently amortized into operating expenses ratably over the term of the related customer subscription contracts. As of December 31, 2014 and 2013, $398 thousand and $434 thousand, respectively, of sales commissions were deferred and included in other current assets on the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets. During the years ended December 31, 2014 and 2013 the Company amortized $913 thousand and $915 thousand, respectively, of previously deferred sales commissions and included this expense in sales and marketing costs on the accompanying Consolidated Statements of Income.

Property and Equipment

Property and Equipment—Property and equipment is stated at cost less accumulated depreciation and amortization. Depreciation and amortization are computed using the straight-line method over the assets estimated useful lives. Leasehold improvements are amortized over the shorter of the expected life of the improvements or the remaining lease term. Repairs and maintenance are charged to expense as incurred and major improvements that extend the life of the asset are capitalized and depreciated over the expected remaining life of the related asset. Gains and losses resulting from sales or retirements are recorded as incurred, at which time related costs and accumulated depreciation are removed from the Company’s accounts. Fixed assets acquired in acquisitions are recorded at fair value. The estimated useful lives applied by the Company for property and equipment are as follows:



	Life
Asset Category	(yrs)
Computer equipment	5
Furniture, fixtures and other	7
Buildings	30
Leasehold improvements	Life of the lease