Note 4 - Fair Value Measurements

12 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2015

4. FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS

At September 30, 2015, for certain financial instruments, including accounts receivable, accounts payable and accrued expenses, the carrying amounts approximate fair value due to their relatively short maturities.

Our financial instruments consist principally of cash equivalents, short and long-term marketable securities, accounts receivable and accounts payable. The fair value of a financial instrument is the amount that would be received in an asset sale or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between unaffiliated market participants. Assets and liabilities measured at fair value are categorized based on whether or not the inputs are observable in the market and the degree that the inputs are observable. The categorization of financial instruments within the valuation hierarchy is based upon the lowest level of input that is significant to the fair value measurement. The hierarchy is prioritized into three levels (with Level 3 being the lowest) defined as follows:

Level 1: Inputs are based on quoted market prices for identical assets or liabilities in active markets at the measurement date.

Level 2: Inputs include quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities in active markets and/or quoted prices for identical or similar assets or liabilities in markets that are not active near the measurement date.

Level 3: Inputs include management’s best estimate of what market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability at the measurement date. The inputs are unobservable in the market and significant to the instrument’s valuation.

The fair value of our cash equivalents and marketable securities was determined based on Level 1 and Level 2 inputs. We do not have any marketable securities in the Level 3 category. We believe that the recorded values of all our other financial instruments approximate their current fair values because of their nature and respective relatively short maturity dates or durations.

vestments

Measured at Fair Value

The following table presents our cash equivalents and marketable securities’ costs, gross unrealized gains and losses, and fair value by major security type recorded as cash and cash equivalents or short-term or long-term marketable securities at September 30, 2015. At September 30, 2014, we did not have any investments that are required to be measured at fair value on a recurring basis.

			Unrealized			Fair		Cash and Cash		Short-term		Long-term
	Cost Basis		Gains/(Losses)			Value		Equivalents		Securities		Securities

Level 1:
Money Market Funds	$	301,193	$	-		$	301,193	$	301,193	$	-	$	-

Level 2:
Certificates of deposit		3,296,238		-			3,296,238		-		249,072		3,047,166
Municipal securities		654,205		293			654,498		160,058		494,440		-
Corporate bonds		509,029		(594	)		508,435		-		508,435		-
Subtotal		4,459,472		(301	)		4,459,171		160,058		1,251,947		3,047,166

Total	$	4,760,665	$	(301	)	$	4,760,364	$	461,251	$	1,251,947	$	3,047,166

- Definition

The entire disclosure for the fair value of financial instruments (as defined), including financial assets and financial liabilities (collectively, as defined), and the measurements of those instruments as well as disclosures related to the fair value of non-financial assets and liabilities. Such disclosures about the financial instruments, assets, and liabilities would include: (1) the fair value of the required items together with their carrying amounts (as appropriate); (2) for items for which it is not practicable to estimate fair value, disclosure would include: (a) information pertinent to estimating fair value (including, carrying amount, effective interest rate, and maturity, and (b) the reasons why it is not practicable to estimate fair value; (3) significant concentrations of credit risk including: (a) information about the activity, region, or economic characteristics identifying a concentration, (b) the maximum amount of loss the entity is exposed to based on the gross fair value of the related item, (c) policy for requiring collateral or other security and information as to accessing such collateral or security, and (d) the nature and brief description of such collateral or security; (4) quantitative information about market risks and how such risks are managed; (5) for items measured on both a recurring and nonrecurring basis information regarding the inputs used to develop the fair value measurement; and (6) for items presented in the financial statement for which fair value measurement is elected: (a) information necessary to understand the reasons for the election, (b) discussion of the effect of fair value changes on earnings, (c) a description of [similar groups] items for which the election is made and the relation thereof to the balance sheet, the aggregate carrying value of items included in the balance sheet that are not eligible for the election; (7) all other required (as defined) and desired information.

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