Basis of Presentation

General

The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of PTC Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiaries and have been prepared by management in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America and in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission regarding interim financial reporting. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by generally accepted accounting principles for complete financial statements. While we believe that the disclosures presented are adequate in order to make the information not misleading, these unaudited quarterly financial statements should be read in conjunction with our annual consolidated financial statements and related notes included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2014. In the opinion of management, the accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements contain all adjustments, consisting only of those of a normal recurring nature, necessary for a fair statement of our financial position, results of operations and cash flows at the dates and for the periods indicated. Unless otherwise indicated, all references to a year mean our fiscal year, which ends on September 30. The September 30, 2014 consolidated balance sheet included herein is derived from our audited consolidated financial statements.

The results of operations for the three months ended January 3, 2015 are not necessarily indicative of the results expected for the remainder of the fiscal year.

Reclassifications

Through 2014, we classified revenue in three categories: 1) license; 2) service; and 3) support. Effective with the beginning of the first quarter of 2015, we are reporting revenue as follows: 1) license and subscription solutions; 2) support; and 3) professional services. License and subscription solutions revenue includes perpetual license revenue, subscription revenue and cloud services revenue. Cloud service offerings were previously reflected in service revenue and cost of service revenue. As a result, in the Consolidated Statements of Operations for the three months ended December 28, 2013 revenue totaling $3.7 million was reclassified from service revenue to license and subscription solutions revenue, and costs totaling $2.8 million were reclassified from cost of service revenue to cost of license and subscription solutions revenue to conform to the current period presentation. Consulting and training service revenue and consulting and training cost of service revenue are now referred to as professional services revenue and cost of professional services revenue in the accompanying Consolidated Statements of Operations.

Revenue Recognition

Our sources of revenue include: (1) license and subscription solutions, (2) support and (3) professional services. We record revenues in accordance with the guidance provided by ASC 985-605, Software-Revenue Recognition when the following criteria are met: (1) persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists, (2) delivery has occurred (generally, FOB shipping point or electronic distribution), (3) the fee is fixed or determinable, and (4) collection is probable. We exercise judgment and use estimates in connection with determining the amounts of software license and services revenues to be recognized in each accounting period. Our primary judgments involve the following:


•	determining whether collection is probable;


•	assessing whether the fee is fixed or determinable;


•	determining whether service arrangements, including modifications and customization of the underlying software, are not essential to the functionality of the licensed software and thus would result in the revenue for license and service elements of an agreement being recorded separately; and


•	determining the fair value of services and support elements included in multiple-element arrangements, which is the basis for allocating and deferring revenue for such services and support.

Our software is distributed primarily through our direct sales force. In addition, we have an indirect distribution channel through alliances with resellers. Revenue arrangements with resellers are recognized on a sell-through basis; that is, when we deliver the product to the end-user customer. We record consideration given to a reseller as a reduction of revenue to the extent we have recorded revenue from the reseller. We do not offer contractual rights of return, stock balancing, or price protection to our resellers, and actual product returns from them have been insignificant to date. As a result, we do not maintain reserves for reseller product returns.

At the time of each sale transaction, we must make an assessment of the collectability of the amount due from the customer. Revenue is only recognized at that time if management deems that collection is probable. In making this assessment, we consider customer credit-worthiness and historical payment experience. At that same time, we assess whether fees are fixed or determinable and free of contingencies or significant uncertainties. In assessing whether the fee is fixed or determinable, we consider the payment terms of the transaction, including transactions with payment terms that extend beyond our customary payment terms, and our collection experience in similar transactions without making concessions, among other factors. We have periodically provided financing to credit-worthy customers with payment terms up to 24 months. If the fee is determined not to be fixed or determinable, revenue is recognized only as payments become due from the customer, provided that all other revenue recognition criteria are met. Our software license arrangements generally do not include customer acceptance provisions. However, if an arrangement includes an acceptance provision, we record revenue only upon the earlier of (1) receipt of written acceptance from the customer or (2) expiration of the acceptance period.

Generally, our contracts are accounted for individually. However, when contracts are closely interrelated and dependent on each other, it may be necessary to account for two or more contracts as one to reflect the substance of the group of contracts.

License and Subscription Solutions

License and subscription solutions revenue includes revenue from three primary sources: (1) sales of perpetual licenses, (2) subscription-based licenses, and (3) cloud services.

Under perpetual license arrangements, we generally recognize license revenue up front upon shipment to the customer. We use the residual method to recognize revenue from perpetual license software arrangements that include one or more elements to be delivered at a future date when evidence of the fair value of all undelivered elements exists, and the elements of the arrangement qualify for separate accounting as described below. Under the residual method, the fair value of the undelivered elements (i.e., support and services) based on our vendor-specific objective evidence (“VSOE”) of fair value is deferred and the remaining portion of the total arrangement fee is allocated to the delivered elements (i.e., perpetual software license). If evidence of the fair value of one or more of the undelivered elements does not exist, all revenues are deferred and recognized when delivery of all of those elements has occurred or when fair values can be established. We determine VSOE of the fair value of services and support revenue based upon our recent pricing for those elements when sold separately. For certain transactions, VSOE is determined based on a substantive renewal clause within a customer contract. Our current pricing practices are influenced primarily by product type, purchase volume, sales channel and customer location. We review services and support sold separately on a periodic basis and update, when appropriate, our VSOE of fair value for such elements to ensure that it reflects our recent pricing experience.

Subscription-based licenses include the right for a customer to use our licenses and receive related support for a specified term and revenue is recognized ratably over the term of the arrangement. When sold in arrangements with other elements, VSOE of fair value is established for the subscription-based licenses through the use of a substantive renewal clause within the customer contract for a combined annual fee that includes the term-based license and related support.

Cloud services reflect recurring revenues that include fees for hosting and application management of customers’ perpetual or subscription-based licenses. Generally, customers have the right to terminate the cloud services contract and take possession of the licenses without a significant penalty. When cloud services are sold as part of a multi-element transaction, revenue is allocated to cloud services based on VSOE, and recognized ratably over the contractual term beginning on the commencement dates of each contract, which is the date the services are made available to the customer. VSOE is established for cloud services either through a substantive stated renewal option or stated contractual overage rates, as these rates represent the value the customer is willing to pay on a standalone basis. In addition, cloud services include set-up fees, which are recognized ratably over the contract term or the expected customer life, whichever is longer.

Support

Support contracts generally include rights to unspecified upgrades (when and if available), telephone and internet-based support, updates and bug fixes. Support revenue is recognized ratably over the term of the support contract on a straight-line basis.

Professional Services

Our software arrangements often include implementation, consulting and training services that are sold under consulting engagement contracts or as part of the software license arrangement. When we determine that such services are not essential to the functionality of the licensed software, we record revenue separately for the license and service elements of these arrangements, provided that appropriate evidence of fair value exists for the undelivered services (i.e. VSOE of fair value). We consider various factors in assessing whether a service is not essential to the functionality of the software, including if the services may be provided by independent third parties experienced in providing such services (i.e. consulting and implementation) in coordination with dedicated customer personnel, and whether the services result in significant modification or customization of the software’s functionality. When professional services qualify for separate accounting, professional services revenues under time and materials billing arrangements are recognized as the services are performed. Professional services revenues under fixed-priced contracts are generally recognized as the services are performed using a proportionate performance model with hours or costs as the input method of attribution.

When we provide professional services that are considered essential to the functionality of the software, the arrangement does not qualify for separate accounting of the license and service elements, and the license revenue is recognized together with the consulting services using the percentage-of-completion method of contract accounting. Under such arrangements, consideration is recognized as the services are performed as measured by an observable input. In these circumstances, we separate license revenue from service revenue for income statement presentation by allocating VSOE of fair value of the consulting services as service revenue, and the residual portion as license revenue. Under the percentage-of-completion method, we estimate the stage of completion of contracts with fixed or “not to exceed” fees based on hours or costs incurred to date as compared with estimated total project hours or costs at completion. Adjustments to estimates to complete are made in the periods in which facts resulting in a change become known. When total cost estimates exceed revenues, we accrue for the estimated losses when identified. The use of the proportionate performance and percentage-of-completion methods of accounting require significant judgment relative to estimating total contract costs or hours (hours being a proxy for costs), including assumptions relative to the length of time to complete the project, the nature and complexity of the work to be performed and anticipated changes in salaries and other costs.

Reimbursements of out-of-pocket expenditures incurred in connection with providing consulting services are included in service revenue, with the offsetting expense recorded in cost of service revenue.

Training services include on-site and classroom training. Training revenues are recognized as the related training services are provided.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

Revenue Recognition

In May 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued Accounting Standards Update (ASU) No. 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers: Topic 606 (ASU 2014-09), to supersede nearly all existing revenue recognition guidance under U.S. GAAP. The core principle of ASU 2014-09 is to recognize revenues when promised goods or services are transferred to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration that is expected to be received for those goods or services. ASU 2014-09 defines a five step process to achieve this core principle and, in doing so, it is possible more judgment and estimates may be required within the revenue recognition process than required under existing U.S. GAAP including identifying performance obligations in the contract, estimating the amount of variable consideration to include in the transaction price and allocating the transaction price to each separate performance obligation. ASU 2014-09 is effective for us in our first quarter of fiscal 2018 using either of two methods: (i) retrospective to each prior reporting period presented with the option to elect certain practical expedients as defined within ASU 2014-09; or (ii) retrospective with the cumulative effect of initially applying ASU 2014-09 recognized at the date of initial application and providing certain additional disclosures as defined per ASU 2014-09. We are currently evaluating the impact of our pending adoption of ASU 2014-09 on our consolidated financial statements.