Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2014

As a result of these policies, we have deferred revenue and costs at December 31, 2014 and 2013 consisting of the following (in thousands):



	2014		2013
Deferred equipment revenue⁽¹⁾	$	883	$	811
Deferred fixed-priced support or maintenance contract revenue	4,265		3,854
Other deferred revenue⁽²⁾	9,190		6,578
Total deferred revenue	14,338		11,243
Less current portion included in other accrued liabilities	14,304		11,190
Long-term portion of deferred revenue included in other liabilities	$	34	$	53
Current portion of deferred costs included in prepaid expenses and other	$	866	$	502
Long-term portion of deferred costs included in other assets	1,126		698
Total deferred costs⁽³⁾	$	1,992	$	1,200

____________________________


⁽¹⁾	Represents amounts received for sales arrangements that include equipment, hardware, software and services.


⁽²⁾	Represents amounts received in advance for services.


⁽³⁾	Represents costs related to warranties, equipment and hardware included in deferred equipment revenue.

Maturity Period Of Cash Equivalents

less than 90 days

Property and equipment estimated useful lives

Depreciation and amortization are recognized on the straight-line method over the following estimated useful lives:



Buildings and improvements	5 to 40 years
Leasehold improvements	Lesser of lease term or 15 years
Furniture and equipment	3 to 10 years
Software	3 to 10 years
Equipment held under capital leases	5 to 10 years

Property and Equipment

Property and equipment at December 31, 2014 and 2013 consisted of (in thousands):



	2014			2013
Land	$	64,495		$	58,545
Building and improvements	152,812			142,099
Leasehold improvements	193,274			176,487
Furniture and equipment	296,789			272,820
Software	39,987			42,524
Buildings held under capital leases	59,555			59,555
Equipment held under capital leases	875			835
Construction in progress	12,466			9,999
Total property and equipment	820,253			762,864
Less — accumulated depreciation and amortization	(352,212		)	(314,498		)
Total property and equipment, net	$	468,041		$	448,366

Other Intangible Assets

In addition to goodwill, we have amortizable intangible assets at December 31, 2014 and 2013, as follows (in thousands):



	2014							2013
	Gross Carrying Amount		Accumulated Amortization			Net Carrying Amount		Gross Carrying Amount		Accumulated Amortization			Net Carrying Amount
Non-contractual customer relationships	$	101,056	$	(45,295	)	$	55,761	$	109,842	$	(41,895	)	$	67,947
Covenants not-to-compete	10,093		(4,422		)	5,671		8,843		(4,661		)	4,182
Favorable lease asset	9,576		(4,962		)	4,614		7,458		(4,373		)	3,085
Technology	1,627		(414		)	1,213		5,240		(3,015		)	2,225
Trademarks	13,503		(4,015		)	9,488		13,115		(4,194		)	8,921
Contracts	100		(11		)	89		608		(305		)	303
Client lists	—		—			—		50		(42		)	8
Franchise rights	11,730		(391		)	11,339		—		—			—
Total	$	147,685	$	(59,510	)	$	88,175	$	145,156	$	(58,485	)	$	86,671

Amortization of intangible assets estimated useful lives

Amortization is recognized on the straight-line method over the following estimated useful lives:



Non-contractual hospital customer relationships		5 years
Non-contractual laboratory customer relationships		5 to 25 years
All other non-contractual customer relationships		5 to 10 years
Covenants not-to-compete		3 to 25 years
Favorable lease asset		4 to 27 years
Technology		4 to 10 years
Trademarks		2 to 10 years
Contracts		6 years
Client lists		3 years

Aggregate amortization expense

The following table summarizes our aggregate amortization expense related to other intangible assets (in thousands):



	For the Years Ended December 31,
	2014		2013		2012
Aggregate amortization expense	$	21,039	$	20,934	$	22,731

Estimated amortization expense related to intangible assets

The estimated amortization expense related to intangible assets for each of the five succeeding years and thereafter at December 31, 2014 is as follows (in thousands):



Definite-lived intangible assets:
2015	$	21,909
2016	18,996
2017	12,891
2018	9,507
2019	6,412
Thereafter	17,420
Total	$	87,135
Indefinite-lived intangible assets:
Trademarks	1,040
Total intangible assets	$	88,175

Calculation of Basic and Diluted Earnings per Share

Basic and diluted earnings per share were calculated as follows (in thousands, except per share amounts):



	For Years Ended December 31,
	2014		2013		2012
Net income attributable to VCA Inc.	$	135,438	$	137,511	$	45,551
Weighted average common shares outstanding:
Basic	86,656		88,621		87,681
Effect of dilutive potential common stock:
Stock options	302		305		479
Non-vested shares and units	867		737		511
Diluted	87,825		89,663		88,671
Basic earnings per common share	$	1.56	$	1.55	$	0.52
Diluted earnings per common share	$	1.54	$	1.53	$	0.51