Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2016

Revenue Recognition, Policy [Policy Text Block]

(a) Revenue recognition

The Company’s revenues are derived from domain name registration fees on both a wholesale and retail basis, the sale of domain names, the provisioning of other Internet services and advertising and other revenue. Amounts received in advance of meeting the revenue recognition criteria described below are recorded as deferred revenue.

The Company earns registration fees in connection with each new, renewed and transferred-in registration and from providing provisioning of other Internet services to resellers and registrars on a monthly basis. Service has been provided in connection with registration fees once the Company has confirmed that the requested domain name has been appropriately recorded in the registry under contractual performance standards.

Domain names are generally purchased for terms of one to ten years. Registration fees charged for domain name registration and provisioning services are recognized on a straight-line basis over the life of the contracted term. Other Internet services that are provisioned for annual periods or longer, are recognized on a straight-line basis over the life of the contracted term. Other Internet services that are provisioned on a monthly basis are recognized as services are provided.

For arrangements with multiple deliverables, the Company allocates revenue to each deliverable if the delivered item(s) has value to the customer on a standalone basis and, if the arrangement includes a general right of return relative to the delivered item, delivery or performance of the undelivered item(s) is considered probable and substantially in the control of the Company. The fair value of the selling price for a deliverable is determined using a hierarchy of (1) Company specific objective and reliable evidence, then (2) third-party evidence, then (3) best estimate of selling price. The Company allocates any arrangement fee to each of the elements based on their relative selling prices.

Revenue generated from the sale of domain names, earned from transferring the rights to domain names under the Company’s control, are recognized once the rights have been transferred and payment has been received in full.

The Company derives revenues from the provisioning of mobile phone and fixed Internet access services primarily through its Ting website. These revenues are recognized once services have been provided. Revenues for wireless services are billed based on the actual amount of monthly services utilized by each customer during their billing cycle on a postpaid basis. The Company’s billing cycle for each customer is computed based on the customer’s activation date. As a result, the Company estimates the amount of revenues earned but not billed from the end of each billing cycle to the end of each reporting period. In addition, revenues associated with the sale of wireless devices and accessories to subscribers is recognized when title and risk of loss is transferred to the subscriber and shipment has occurred. Incentive marketing credits given to customers are recorded as a reduction of revenue.

The Company also generates advertising and other revenue through its online libraries of shareware, freeware and online services presented on its website. Advertising revenue includes revenue derived from cost per action advertising links we display on third party websites who provide syndicated pay-per-click advertising on OpenSRS Domain Expiry Stream domains and the Company’s Portfolio Domains. In addition, the Company uses third party partners to derive pay-per-click advertising on the Tucows.com website. Advertising revenue is recognized on a monthly basis based on the number of cost-per-action services that were provided in the month.

Impression based advertising revenue and other revenues are recognized ratably over the period in which it is presented. To the extent that minimum guaranteed impressions are not met, the Company defers recognition of the corresponding revenues until the guaranteed impressions are achieved.

In those cases where payment is not received at the time of sale, additional conditions for recognition of revenue are that the collection of the related accounts receivable is reasonably assured and the Company has no further performance obligations. The Company records costs that reflect expected refunds, rebates and credit card charge-backs as a reduction of revenues at the time of the sale based on historical experiences and current expectations.

The Company establishes provisions for possible uncollectible accounts receivable and other contingent liabilities which may arise in the normal course of business. Historically, credit losses have been within the Company’s expectations and the provisions the Company has established have been appropriate. However, the Company has, on occasion, experienced issues which have led to accounts receivable not being fully collected. Should these issues occur more frequently, additional provisions may be required.

Property, Plant and Equipment, Policy [Policy Text Block]

(b) Property and equipment

Property and equipment are stated at cost, net of accumulated depreciation. Depreciation is provided on a straight-line basis so as to depreciate the cost of depreciable assets over their estimated useful lives at the following rates:

Asset	Rate
Computer equipment		30	%
Computer software		100	%
Furniture and equipment		20	%
Vehicles and tools		20	%
Fiber network (years)		15
Customer equipment and installations (years)		3
Leasehold improvements	Over term of lease

The Company reviews the carrying values of its property and equipment for potential impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset may not be recoverable. If the estimated undiscounted future cash flows expected to result from the use of the group of assets and its eventual disposition is less than its carrying amount, it is considered to be impaired. The amount of the impairment loss recognized is measured as the amount by which the carrying value of the asset exceeds the fair value of the asset, with fair value being determined based upon discounted cash flows or appraised values, depending on the nature of the assets.

Additions to the fiber network are recorded at cost, including all material, labor, vehicle and installation and construction costs and certain indirect costs associated with the construction of cable transmission and distribution facilities. While the Company’s capitalization is based on specific activities, once capitalized, costs are tracked by fixed asset category at the fiber network level and not on a specific asset basis. For assets that are retired, the estimated historical cost and related accumulated depreciation is removed.

Derivatives, Policy [Policy Text Block]

During the three months ended March 31, 2016 and the year ended December 31, 2015 ("Fiscal 2015"), the Company used derivative financial instruments to manage foreign currency exchange risk. The Company accounts for these instruments in accordance with Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") Accounting Standards Codification ("ASC") Topic 815, “Derivatives and Hedging” ("Topic 815"), which requires that every derivative instrument be recorded on the balance sheet as either an asset or liability measured at its fair value as of the reporting date. Topic 815 also requires that changes in the derivative financial instruments’ fair values be recognized in earnings, unless specific hedge accounting and documentation criteria are met (i.e. the instruments are accounted for as hedges). The Company recorded the effective portions of the gain or loss on derivative financial instruments that were designated as cash flow hedges in accumulated other comprehensive income in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets. Any ineffective or excluded portion of a designated cash flow hedge, if applicable, is recognized in net income.

For certain contracts, the Company has not complied with the documentation standards required for its forward foreign exchange contracts to be accounted for as hedges and has, therefore, accounted for such forward foreign exchange contracts at their fair values with the changes in fair value recorded in net income.

The fair value of the forward exchange contracts is determined using an estimated credit adjusted mark-to-market valuation which takes into consideration the Company's and the counterparty's credit risk. The valuation technique used to measure the fair values of the derivative instruments is a discounted cash flow technique, with all significant inputs derived from or corroborated by observable market data, as no quoted market prices exist for the derivative instruments. The discounted cash flow techniques use observable market inputs, such as foreign currency spot and forward rates.

New Accounting Pronouncements, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Recent Accounting Pronouncements Adopted

On January 1, 2016, the Company adopted Accounting Standards Updates ("ASU"

)

No. 2015-16,

Business Combinations (Topic 805)

, No. 2015-05,

Customer’s Accounting for Fees Paid in a Cloud Computing Arrangement

and Nos. 2015-03 and 2015-15,

Interest

Imputation of Interest

(

Subtopic 835-30

). The adoption of these Accounting Standards Updates did not have a significant impact on the consolidated financial statements.

On January 1, 2016, the Company elected to early adopt Accounting Standard Update No. 2015-17,

Income Taxes (Topic 740)

, which simplifies the presentation of deferred income taxes, such that deferred tax liabilities and assets be classified as non-current on a balance sheet. The impact of the change on the consolidated balance sheet at December 31, 2015 is the reclassification of $3,243,718 from the deferred tax asset, current portion to deferred tax asset long-term portion.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements Not Yet Adopted

In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-09,

Compensation – Stock Compensation

(Topic 718) (“ASU 2016-09”). The areas for modification under ASU No. 2016-9 involve several aspects of the accounting for share-based payment transactions, including the income tax consequences, classification of awards as either equity or liabilities, and classification on the statement of cash flows. This guidance is effective for annual and interim reporting periods of public entities beginning after December 15, 2016 (January 1, 2017 for the Company). Early adoption of the standard is permitted as of the beginning of an interim or annual reporting period. Dependent upon the specific amendment, the implementation of the amendments in ASU 2016-05 are to be made on a prospective, retrospective or modified retrospective basis after the date of adoption. The Company is currently in the process of evaluating the impact that the adoption of ASU 2016-09 will have on its consolidated financial statements.

In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-05,

Derivatives and Hedging

(Topic 815) (“ASU 2016-05”). The amendments in ASU 2016-05 clarifies the effect of derivative contract novations on existing hedge accounting relationships whereby a change in the counterparty to a derivative instrument that has been designated as the hedging instrument under Topic 815 does not, in and of itself, require dedesignation of that hedging relationship provided that all other hedge accounting criteria continue to be met. This guidance is effective for annual and interim reporting periods of public entities beginning after December 15, 2016 (January 1, 2017 for the Company). Early adoption of the standard is permitted as of the beginning of an interim or annual reporting period. The implementation of the amendments in ASU 2016-05 are to be made on a prospective or modified retrospective basis after the date of adoption. The Company is currently in the process of evaluating the impact that the adoption of ASU 2016-05 will have on its consolidated financial statements.

In February 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2016-02,

Leases (Topic 842)

. The standard requires lessees to recognize the assets and liabilities that arise from leases on the balance sheet. ASU 2016-02 requires the recognition on the balance sheet of a lease liability to make lease payments by lessees and a right-of-use asset representing its right to use the underlying asset for the lease term. The new guidance will also require significant additional disclosure about the amount, timing and uncertainty of cash flows from leases. The new guidance is effective for annual and interim reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2018 (January 1, 2019 for the Company). The amendments should be applied at the beginning of the earliest period presented using a modified retrospective approach with earlier application permitted as of the beginning of an interim or annual reporting period. The Company will adopt this guidance in the first quarter of fiscal 2019 and is in the process of evaluating the impact of the adoption of ASU 2016-02 will have on its consolidated financial statements.

In January 2016, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2016-01,

Financial Instruments – Overall (Subtopic 825-10)

which relates to the recognition and measurement of financial assets and financial liabilities. ASU 2016-01 requires that all equity investments (except those accounted for under the equity method of accounting or those that result in consolidation of the investee) be measured at fair value with changes in fair value recognized in net income. The new guidance requires the performance of a qualitative assessment for equity investments without readily determinable fair values. The update also requires an entity to present separately in other comprehensive income, the portion of the total change in the fair value of a liability resulting from a change in the instrument-specific credit risk when the entity has elected to measure the liability at fair value in accordance with the fair value option for financial instruments. The guidance is effective for annual and interim reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2017 (January 1, 2018 for the Company). Earlier adoption is not permitted. The Company is in the process of evaluating the impact that the adoption of ASU 2016-1 will have on its consolidated financial statements.

In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU No. 2014-09,

Revenue from Contracts with Customers

(Topic 606)

("ASU 2014-09"), which is a comprehensive revenue recognition standard that will supersede nearly all existing revenue recognition guidance under U.S. GAAP. The new standard provides a single principles-based, five-step model to be applied to all contracts with customers, which steps are to (1) identify the contract(s) with the customer, (2) identify the performance obligations in the contracts, (3) determine the transaction price, (4) allocate the transaction price to the performance obligations in the contracts and (5) recognize revenue when each performance obligation is satisfied. More specifically, revenue will be recognized when promised goods or services are transferred to the customer in an amount that reflects the consideration expected in exchange for those goods or services. ASU 2014-09 was set to be effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2016. On July 9, 2015, the FASB voted to defer the effective date by one year, such that the new standard will be effective for the Company for the interim and annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2017 (January 1, 2018 for the Company). In March 2016, FASB issued ASU No. 2016-08 clarifying the implementation guidance on principal versus agent considerations. In April 2016, FASB issued ASU. No 2016-10 providing further guidance on identifying performance obligations and licensing. Early adoption of these standards is permitted but not before the original effective date. Companies can transition to the standards either retrospectively or as a cumulative-effect adjustment as of the date of adoption. The Company does not intend to adopt the standards early and is currently in the process of evaluating the impact that the adoption of ASU 2014-09, ASU 2016-08 and ASU 2016-10 will have on its consolidated financial statements and the selected method of transition to the new standard.