Key Accounting Policies

9 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2011

Key Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Key Accounting Policies

(2) Key Accounting Policies

     Revenue recognition

     Revenue is recognized when all of the following criteria are met: (1) persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists; (2) shipment has occurred or delivery has occurred if the terms specify destination; (3) the sales price is fixed or determinable; and (4) collectability is reasonably assured. When there are additional performance requirements, revenue is recognized when all such requirements have been satisfied. Under revenue arrangements with multiple deliverables, the Company recognizes each separable deliverable as it is earned.

     The Company’s revenue is derived from three primary sources: (1) royalties and license fees from licensing its proprietary drug delivery and surface modification technologies to customers; (2) the sale of polymers and reagent chemicals, stabilization products, antigens, substrates and microarray slides to the diagnostics and biomedical research industries; and (3) research and development fees generated on customer projects.

     Royalties and licenses fees. The Company licenses technology to third parties and collects royalties. Royalty revenue is generated when a customer sells products incorporating the Company’s licensed technologies. Royalty revenue is recognized as licensees’ report it to the Company, and payment is typically submitted concurrently with the report. For stand-alone license agreements, up-front license fees are recognized over the term of the related licensing agreement. Minimum royalty fees are recognized in the period earned.

     Revenue related to a performance milestone is recognized upon the achievement of the milestone, as defined in the respective agreements and provided the following conditions have been met:

• The milestone payment is non-refundable;

• The milestone involved a significant degree of risk, and was not reasonably assured at the inception of the arrangement;

• Accomplishment of the milestone involved substantial effort;

• The amount of the milestone payment is commensurate with the related effort and risk; and

• A reasonable amount of time passed between the initial license payment and the first and subsequent milestone payments.

     If these conditions have not been met, the milestone payment is deferred and recognized over the term of the agreement.

     Product sales. Product sales to third parties are recognized at the time of shipment, provided that an order has been received, the price is fixed or determinable, collectability of the resulting receivable is reasonably assured and returns can be reasonably estimated. The Company’s sales terms provide no right of return outside of the standard warranty policy. Payment terms are generally set at 30- 45 days.

     Research and development. The Company performs third party research and development activities, which are typically provided on a time and materials basis. Generally, revenue for research and development is recorded as performance progresses under the applicable contract.

     Arrangements with multiple deliverables. In October 2009, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) amended the accounting standards for multiple deliverable revenue arrangements to:

(i).	provide updated guidance on whether multiple deliverables exist, how the deliverables in an arrangement should be separated, and how the consideration should be allocated;
(ii).	require an entity to allocate revenue in an arrangement using estimated selling prices (ESP) of deliverables if a vendor does not have vendor-specific objective evidence of selling price (VSOE) or third-party evidence of selling price (TPE); and
(iii).	eliminate the use of the residual method and require an entity to allocate revenue using the relative selling price method.

     The Company enters into license and development arrangements that may consist of multiple deliverables that could include license to SurModics technology, research and development activities, manufacturing services, and product sales based on the needs of its customers. For example, a customer may enter into an arrangement to obtain a license to SurModics intellectual property which would also include research and development activities, and supply of products manufactured by SurModics. For these services provided, SurModics could receive upfront license fees upon signing of a contract and granting the license, fees for research and development activities as such activities are performed, milestone payments contingent upon advancement of the product through development and clinical stages to successful commercialization, fees for manufacturing services and supply of product, and royalty payments based on customer sales of product incorporating SurModics’ technology.

     Under the accounting guidance, the Company is still required to evaluate each deliverable in a multiple element arrangement for separability. The Company is then required to allocate revenue to each separate deliverable using a hierarchy of VSOE, TPE, or ESP. In many instances, the Company is not able to establish VSOE for all deliverables in an arrangement with multiple elements. This may be a result of the Company infrequently selling each element separately or having a limited history with multiple element arrangements. When VSOE cannot be established, the Company attempts to establish selling price of each element based on TPE. TPE is determined based on competitor prices for similar deliverables when sold separately.

     When the Company is unable to establish selling price using VSOE or TPE, the Company uses ESP in its allocation of arrangement consideration. The objective of ESP is to determine the price at which the Company would transact a sale if the product or service were sold on a stand-alone basis. ESP is generally used for highly customized offerings.

     The Company determines ESP for undelivered elements by considering multiple factors including, but not limited to, market conditions, competitive landscape and past pricing arrangements with similar features. The determination of ESP is made through consultation with the Company’s management, taking into consideration the marketing strategies for each business unit.

     Valuation of long-lived assets

     Accounting guidance requires the Company to periodically evaluate whether events and circumstances have occurred that may affect the estimated useful life or the recoverability of the remaining balance of long-lived assets, such as property and equipment and intangibles with finite lives. If such events or circumstances were to indicate that the carrying amount of these assets may not be recoverable, the Company would estimate the future cash flows expected to result from the use of the assets and their eventual disposition. If the sum of the expected future cash flows (undiscounted and without interest charges) were less than the carrying amount of the assets, the Company would recognize an impairment charge to reduce such assets to their fair value.

     New accounting pronouncements

     In May 2011, the FASB issued changes to conform existing guidance regarding fair value measurement and disclosure between GAAP and International Financial Reporting Standards. These changes both clarify the FASB’s intent about the application of existing fair value measurement and disclosure requirements and amend certain principles or requirements for measuring fair value or for disclosing information about fair value measurements. The clarifying changes relate to the application of the highest and best use and valuation premise concepts, measuring the fair value of an instrument classified in a reporting entity’s shareholders’ equity, and disclosure of quantitative information about unobservable inputs used for Level 3 fair value measurements. The amendments relate to measuring the fair value of financial instruments that are managed within a portfolio; application of premiums and discounts in a fair value measurement; and additional disclosures concerning the valuation processes used and sensitivity of the fair value measurement to changes in unobservable inputs for those items categorized as Level 3, a reporting entity’s use of a nonfinancial asset in a way that differs from the asset’s highest and best use, and the categorization by level in the fair value hierarchy for items required to be measured at fair value for disclosure purposes only. These changes become effective for SurModics on January 1, 2012. Management is currently evaluating the potential impact of these changes on the condensed consolidated financial statements.

     In June 2011, the FASB issued changes to the presentation of comprehensive income. These changes give an entity the option to present the total of comprehensive income, the components of net income, and the components of other comprehensive income either in a single continuous statement of comprehensive income or in two separate but consecutive statements; the option to present components of other comprehensive income as part of the statement of changes in stockholders’ equity was eliminated. The items that must be reported in other comprehensive income or when an item of other comprehensive income must be reclassified to net income were not changed. Additionally, no changes were made to the calculation and presentation of earnings per share. These changes become effective for SurModics on October 1, 2012. Management is currently evaluating these changes to determine which option will be chosen for the presentation of comprehensive income. Other than the change in presentation, management has determined these changes will not have an impact on the condensed consolidated financial statements.

     No other new accounting pronouncement issued or effective has had, or is expected to have, a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.