Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

v3.6.0.2
Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2016
Summary of Significant Accounting Policies  
Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

2.        Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

 

The Company follows accounting standards established by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) to ensure consistent reporting of financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. References to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“GAAP”) in these footnotes are to the FASB Accounting Standards CodificationTM, sometimes referred to as the codification or ASC.

 

Principles of Consolidation—The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Envestnet and its subsidiaries. All significant intercompany transactions and balances have been eliminated in consolidation.

 

Management Estimates—Management of the Company has made certain estimates and assumptions relating to the reporting of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities to prepare these consolidated financial statements in conformity with GAAP. Areas requiring the use of management estimates relate to estimating uncollectible receivables, revenue recognition, valuations and assumptions used for impairment testing of goodwill, intangible and other long-lived assets, fair value of restricted stock and stock options issued, fair value of contingent consideration, realization of deferred tax assets, uncertain tax positions, sales tax liabilities, fair value of the liability portion of the convertible debt and assumptions used to allocate purchase prices in business combinations. Actual results could differ materially from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions.

 

Revenue Recognition—The Company recognizes revenue from services related to asset management and administration, licensing and professional services fees. The Company recognizes revenue when all of the following conditions are satisfied: (i) there is persuasive evidence of an arrangement, (ii) the service or product has been provided to the customer and no uncertainties exist surrounding product acceptances (iii) the amount of fees to be paid by the customer is fixed or determinable; and (iv) the collection of fees is reasonably assured.

 

·

Asset management and administration fees — The Company derives revenues from fees charged as a percentage of the assets that are managed or administered on its technology platform by financial advisors, financial institutions, and their clients (collectively “customers”) and for services the Company provides to its customers. Such services include investment manager due diligence and research, portfolio diagnostics, proposal generation, investment model management, rebalancing and trading, portfolio performance reporting and monitoring solutions, billing, and back office and middle-office operations and administration. Investment decisions for assets under management or administration are made by our customers. The asset management and administration fees the Company earns are generally based upon a contractual percentage of assets managed or administered on our platform based on preceding quarter-end values. The contractual fee percentages vary based on the level and type of services the Company provides to its customers. Fees related to assets under management or administration increase or decrease based on values of existing customer accounts. The values are affected by inflows or outflows of customer funds and market fluctuations.

 

·

Subscription and licensing —

 

Subscription— Subscription revenue is primarily derived from customers accessing the SaaS technology platform and includes subscription, support, and usage-based fees. Subscription revenue is recognized ratably over the contracted term of each respective subscription agreement, commencing on the date the service is provisioned to the customer, provided the four revenue recognition criteria have been satisfied. Usage-based revenue is recognized as earned, provided the four revenue recognition criteria have been satisfied.

 

Licensing— The Company derives licensing fees from recurring contractual fixed fee contracts with larger financial institutions or enterprise clients. Licensing contracts allow the customer to provide a unique configuration of platform features and investment solutions for their advisors. The licensing fees vary based on the type of services provided and our revenues received under license agreements are recognized over the contractual term. The Company’s license agreements do not generally provide its customers the ability to take possession of the software or host the software on the customers’ own systems or through a hosting arrangement with an unrelated party.

 

·

Professional services and other —

 

The Company derives professional services fees from providing contractual customized service platform software development as well as implementation fees, which are recognized under a proportional performance model utilizing an output-based approach or are deferred and amortized over the estimated life of the customer relationship.  The Company’s contracts generally have fixed prices, and generally specify or quantify deliverables.

 

Cash received by the Company in advance of the performance of services is deferred and recognized as revenue when earned. Certain portions of the Company’s revenues require management’s consideration of the nature of the client relationship in determining whether to recognize as revenue the gross amount billed or net amount retained after payments are made to providers for certain services related to the product or service offering.

 

The Company uses the following factors to determine whether to record revenue on a gross or net basis:

 

·

the Company has a direct contract with the third party service provider;

 

·

the Company has discretion in establishing fees paid by the customer and fees due to the third party service provider; and

 

·

the Company has credit risk.

 

When customer fees include charges for third party service providers where the Company has a direct contract with such third party service providers, gross revenue recognized by the Company equals the fee paid by the customer. The cost of revenues recognized by the Company is the amount due to the third party service provider.

 

In instances where the Company does not have a direct contract with the third party service provider, the Company cannot exercise discretion in establishing fees paid by the customer and fees due to the third party service provider, and the Company does not have credit risk, the Company records the revenue on a net basis.

 

Multiple Element Arrangements—When the Company enters into arrangements with multiple deliverables, exclusive of arrangements with software deliverables, it applies the FASB’s guidance for revenue arrangements with multiple deliverables and evaluates each deliverable to determine whether it represents a separate unit of accounting based on the following criteria: (i) whether the delivered item has value to the customer on a stand-alone basis, and (ii) if the contract 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. Revenue is allocated to each unit of accounting or element based on relative selling prices. The Company determines relative selling prices by using either (a) vendor-specific objective evidence (“VSOE”) if it exists; or (b) third-party evidence (“TPE”) of selling price. When neither VSOE nor TPE of selling price exists for a deliverable, the Company uses its best estimate of the selling price for that deliverable.

 

After determining which deliverables represent a separate unit of accounting, each unit is then accounted for under the applicable revenue recognition guidance. In cases where elements cannot be treated as separate units of accounting, the elements are combined into a single unit of accounting for revenue recognition purposes. If one of the elements that are combined into a single unit of accounting is fees from professional services, including implementation related services or customized service platform software development, the professional service fees are recognized over the course of the expected customer relationship. We have estimated the life of the customer relationship by considering both the historical retention rate of our customers while not exceeding the number of years over which we can accurately forecast future revenues. We currently estimate this term to be five years.

 

For revenues that are subject to sales and use tax, the Company’s records the tax net within the corresponding revenue category in the consolidated statements of operations. 

 

Deferred Revenue—Deferred revenue primarily consists of implementation and set up fees, professional services, and license fee payments received in advance from customers. For subscription agreements, the Company typically invoices its customers in monthly or annual fixed installments. Accordingly, the deferred revenue balance does not represent the total contract value of these multi-year subscription agreements. Deferred revenue also includes certain deferred professional services fees, which are recognized in accordance with the Company’s revenue recognition policy.

 

Cost of Revenues—Cost of revenues primarily includes expenses related to third party investment management and clearing, custody and brokerage services. Generally, these expenses are calculated based upon a contractual percentage of the market value of assets held in customer accounts measured as of the end of each quarter and are recognized ratably throughout the quarter based on the number of days in the quarter.

 

The following summarizes cost of revenues by revenue category for the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2016

 

2015

 

2014

Assets under management or administration

    

$

160,842

 

$

152,573

 

$

144,353

Subscription and licensing

 

 

16,113

 

 

7,785

 

 

4,551

Professional services and other

 

 

3,635

 

 

951

 

 

1,163

Total

 

$

180,590

 

$

161,309

 

$

150,067

 

Allowance for Doubtful Accounts—The Company evaluates the need for an allowance for doubtful accounts for potentially uncollectible fees receivable. In establishing the amount of the allowance, if any, customer-specific information is considered related to delinquent accounts, including historical loss experience and current economic conditions. As of December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014, the Company’s allowance for doubtful accounts was $242, $221 and $76, respectively.  The following table summarizes the changes to the allowance for doubtful accounts:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2016

 

2015

 

2014

Balance, beginning of year

$

221

 

$

76

 

$

203

Add: Provisions for doubtful accounts

 

1,122

 

 

176

 

 

15

Less: Write-offs

 

(1,101)

 

 

(31)

 

 

(142)

Balance, end of year

$

242

 

$

221

 

$

76

 

Segments—The Company’s chief operating decision maker is its chief executive officer, who reviews financial information of Envestnet and Envestnet | Yodlee on a segment and consolidated basis. The Company determined it has two segments as described below:

·

Envestnet – a leading provider of unified wealth management software and services to empower financial advisors and institutions.

·

Envestnet | Yodlee – a leading data aggregation and data intelligence platform powering dynamic, cloud-based innovation for digital financial services.

Financial information about each business segment is contained in Note 20 to the consolidated financial statements. 

Fair Value of Financial Instruments—The carrying amounts of financial instruments, net of any allowances, including cash equivalents, fees receivable, accounts payable and accrued expenses and other liabilities are considered to be reasonable estimates of their fair values due to their short-term nature.

 

Cash and Cash Equivalents—The Company considers all highly liquid investments purchased with an original maturity of three months or less to be cash equivalents. Cash and cash equivalents are recorded at cost, which approximates fair value. The Company’s financial instruments that are exposed to concentrations of credit risk consist primarily of cash and cash equivalents. The Company maintains its cash accounts at financial institutions in excess of amounts insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”). The Company monitors such credit risk and has not experienced any losses related to such risk.

 

Restricted Cash—As required by the lease agreement for the Company’s facilities in Redwood City, California, the Company provided a certificate of deposit as collateral for a letter of credit issued for the benefit of the landlord in lieu of a security deposit. The letter of credit expires on July 31, 2022. The restricted certificate of deposit of $148 is included in other non-current assets in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets. The Company has restrictions as to the withdrawal or usage of its restricted cash until the completion of the contract term. The Company has $2,000 held in escrow related to the FinaConnect contingent consideration liability. The current amount of $429 and long term amount of $1,571 are included in prepaids and other current assets and other non-current assets, respectively, on the consolidated balance sheets.

 

Investments—The Company has an investment that is recorded at cost and reviewed for impairment. Investments are included in “Other non-current assets” on the consolidated balance sheets and consist of non-marketable investments in privately held companies. The Company reviews these investments on a regular basis to evaluate the carrying amount and economic  viability of these investments. This policy includes, but is not limited to, reviewing each of the investee’s cash position, financing needs, earnings/revenue outlook, operational performance, management/ownership changes and competition. The evaluation process is based on information that the Company requests from these investees. This information is not subject to the same disclosure regulations as U.S. publicly traded companies, and as such, the basis for these evaluations is subject to the timing and accuracy of the data received from these investees.

 

The Company has investments in which it uses the equity method of accounting to record its portion of investments in these privately held companies’ net income or loss on a one quarter lag from the actual results of operations. The Company uses the equity method of accounting because of its less than 50 percent ownership. The Company’s interest in the earnings or losses of the privately held companies will be reflected in other income (expense), net on the consolidated statements of operations.

 

The Company’s investments are assessed for impairment when a review of the investee’s operations indicates that there is a decline in value of the investment and the decline is other than temporary. Such indicators include, but are not limited to, limited capital resources, limited prospects of receiving additional financing, and prospects for liquidity of the related securities. Impaired investments are written down to estimated fair value. The Company estimates fair value using a variety of valuation methodologies, including comparing the investee with publicly traded companies in similar lines of business, applying valuation multiples to estimated future operating results and estimated discounted future cash flows. There were $734,  $0 and $0 in impairments to investments during the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014, respectively. See Note 8 to the notes to consolidated financial statements.

 

Property and Equipment—Property and equipment are stated at cost less accumulated depreciation and amortization. Depreciation of furniture and equipment is computed using the straight-line method based on estimated useful lives of the depreciable assets. Leasehold improvements are amortized on a straight-line basis over their estimated economic useful lives or the remaining lease term, whichever is shorter. Improvements are capitalized, while repairs and maintenance costs are charged to operations as incurred. Assets are reviewed for recoverability whenever events or circumstances indicate the carrying value may not be recoverable.

 

Internally Developed Software for Internal Use—Costs incurred in the preliminary stages of development are expensed as incurred. Once an application has reached the development stage, internal and external costs, if direct and incremental, are capitalized until the software is substantially complete and ready for its intended use. Capitalization ceases upon completion of all substantial testing. The Company also capitalizes costs related to specific upgrades and enhancements when it is probable the expenditures will result in additional functionality. Maintenance and training costs are expensed as incurred. Internally developed software is amortized on a straight-line basis over its estimated useful life. Management evaluates the useful lives of these assets on an annual basis and tests for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances occur that could impact the recoverability of these assets. There were no impairments of internally developed software for internal use during the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014.

 

Internally Developed Software for External Use While most customer arrangements that are delivered to customers on SaaS technology platforms, whereby the customers do not have the ability to take possession of the software, customers could, and on occasion have, negotiated to purchase licenses to products that would not involve hosting by the Company. Accordingly, when determining which software development costs to capitalize, the Company follows the guidance for cost of software to be sold, leased, or otherwise marketed. The Company begins to capitalize software development costs upon the establishment of technological feasibility, which is generally the completion of a working prototype that has been certified as having no critical bugs and is available to be purchased by the customers. To date, software development costs incurred between completion of a working prototype and general availability of the related product have not been material and are expensed as incurred.

 

Goodwill and Intangible Assets—Goodwill consists of the excess of the purchase price over the fair value of identifiable net assets of businesses acquired. Goodwill is reviewed for impairment each year using a two-step process that is performed at least annually or whenever events or circumstances indicate that impairment may have occurred. In 2015, the Company changed the date of the annual impairment analysis from December 31 to October 31 in order to provide management time to complete the analysis prior to year-end. The Company has concluded that it has two reporting units.

 

Prior to performing the two step evaluation, an assessment of qualitative factors may be performed to determine whether it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit exceeds the carrying value. If it is determined that it is unlikely that the carrying value exceeds the fair value, the Company is not required to complete the two step goodwill impairment evaluation. If it is determined that the carrying value may exceed fair value when considering qualitative factors, the first of the two step goodwill impairment evaluation is performed.

 

The first step reviews whether or not the fair value of the reporting unit exceeds its carrying value, and if not, goodwill is not impaired and no further testing is performed. If the carrying value of the reporting unit exceeds its fair value, then a second step must be performed, and the implied fair value of the reporting unit’s goodwill must be determined and compared to the carrying value of the reporting unit’s goodwill. If the carrying value of a reporting unit’s goodwill exceeds its implied fair value, then an impairment loss equal to the difference will be recorded.

 

No goodwill impairment charges have been recorded for the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014.

 

Intangible assets are recorded at cost less accumulated amortization. Intangible assets are reviewed for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances may affect the recoverability of the net assets. Such reviews include an analysis of current results and take into consideration the undiscounted value of projected operating cash flows. No intangible asset impairment charges have been recorded for the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014.

 

Operating Leases—In certain circumstances, the Company enters into leases with free rent periods, rent escalations or lease incentives over the term of the lease. In such cases, the Company calculates the total payments over the term of the lease and records them ratably as rent expense over that term.

 

Income Taxes—The Company uses the asset and liability method to account for income taxes. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the future tax consequences attributable to differences between the financial statement carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases and net operating loss carryforwards. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the years in which those temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. The effect on deferred tax assets and liabilities of a change in tax rates is recognized in income in the period that includes the enactment date. The Company records a valuation allowance to reduce deferred tax assets to an amount that is more likely than not to be realized.

 

The Company follows authoritative guidance related to how uncertain tax positions should be recognized, measured, disclosed and presented in the consolidated financial statements. This requires the evaluation of tax positions taken or expected to be taken in the course of preparing the Company’s tax returns to determine whether the tax positions are “more-likely-than-not” of being sustained “when challenged” or “when examined” by the applicable tax authority.  The tax benefits recognized in the consolidated financial statements from tax positions are measured based on the largest benefit that has a greater than 50% likelihood of being realized upon ultimate settlement.

 

Non-income Tax Liabilities—Certain of the Company’s revenues are subject to sales and use taxes in certain jurisdictions where it conducts business in the United States. During 2016, the Company determined that net sales and use taxes of $6,229, including interest of approximately $914, were probable of being assessed related to multiple jurisdictions with respect to revenues in the year ended December 31, 2016 and prior years. The sales and use tax adjustment was recorded in general and administration on the consolidated statements of operations.

 

During 2016, the Company estimated a sales and use tax liability of $10,108. This amount is included in accrued expenses and other liabilities on the consolidated balance sheets. The Company also estimated a sales and use tax receivable of $3,879 related to estimated recoverability of amounts due from customers. This amount is included in prepaid expenses and other current assets on the consolidated balance sheets. Additional future information obtained from the applicable jurisdictions may affect the Company’s estimate of its sales and use tax liability.

 

Advertising Costs—The Company expenses all advertising costs as incurred and they are classified within general and administration expenses in the consolidated statements of operations. Advertising costs totaled approximately $704,  $645 and $675 for the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014, respectively.

 

Research and Development—The Company intends to continue to invest in its technology platforms and software and service offerings to provide financial advisors with access to investment solutions and services that address the widest range of financial advisors’ front-, middle-and back-office needs. In the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014, our technology development expenses, which is comprised of salaries and benefits, totaled approximately $29,500,  $10,300, and $8,200, respectively, exclusive of capitalization of internally developed software and related amortization.

 

Business Combinations—The Company accounts for business combinations under the acquisition method. The cost of an acquired company is assigned to the tangible and intangible assets acquired and the liabilities assumed on the basis of their fair values at the date of acquisition. The determination of fair values of assets acquired and liabilities assumed requires management to make estimates and use valuation techniques when market values are not readily available. Any excess of purchase price over the fair value of net tangible and intangible assets acquired is allocated to goodwill. Transaction costs associated with business combinations are expensed as incurred.  The Company determines the fair value of contingent acquisition consideration payable on the acquisition date using a discounted cash flow approach utilizing an appropriate discount rate. Each reporting period thereafter, the Company revalues these obligations and records increases or decreases in their fair value as adjustments to fair market value adjustment on contingent consideration in the Company’s consolidated statements of operations. Changes in the fair value of the contingent acquisition consideration payable can result from adjustments to the estimated revenue forecasts included in the contingent payment calculations.

 

Stock-Based Compensation—Compensation cost relating to stock-based awards made to employees and directors is recognized in the consolidated financial statements using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model in the case of non-qualified stock option awards, and intrinsic value in the case of restricted stock awards. The Company measures the cost of such awards based on the estimated fair value of the award measured at the grant date and recognizes the expense on a straight-line basis over the requisite service period, which is the vesting period.

 

Determining the fair value of stock options requires the Company to make several estimates, including the volatility of its stock price, the expected life of the option, forfeiture rate, dividend yield and interest rates. Prior to July 28, 2010, the Company was not a publicly traded company. Accordingly, the Company had limited historical information on the price of its stock as well as employees’ stock option exercise behavior. Because of this limitation, the Company cannot rely solely on its historical experience alone to develop assumptions for stock-price volatility and the expected life of its options. The Company estimates the expected life of its options using the “Simplified Method.” The Company estimates stock-price volatility with reference to a peer group of publicly traded companies. Determining the companies to include in this peer group involves judgment. The Company utilizes a risk-free interest rate, which is based on the yield of U.S. zero coupon securities with a maturity equal to the expected life of the options. The Company has not and does not expect to pay dividends on its common shares.

 

The Company is required to estimate expected forfeitures of stock-based awards at the grant date and recognize compensation cost only for those awards expected to vest. The forfeiture assumption is ultimately adjusted to the actual forfeiture rate. Therefore, changes in the forfeiture assumptions may impact the total amount of expense ultimately recognized over the vesting period. Estimated forfeitures will be reassessed in subsequent periods and may change based on new facts and circumstances.

 

The Company entered into employment agreements with certain executive officers, three of whom received a total of 205,000 performance-based restricted stock unit awards in May 2016 which vest upon the achievement of certain “Target Performance Measures” as defined in the employment agreements, for the periods ending December 31, 2016, December 31, 2017 and December 31, 2018 and four of whom received a total of 125,000 restricted stock units awards in August 2016 which vest quarterly thereafter.

 

Convertible Notes—On December 15, 2014, the Company issued $172,500 of 1.75% convertible notes due December 2019 (the “Convertible Notes”).  The Convertible Notes are accounted for in accordance with ASC 470-20. The Company has determined that the embedded conversion options in the Convertible Notes are not required to be separately accounted for as a derivative under GAAP. The Company separately accounts for the liability and equity components of Convertible Notes that can be settled in cash by allocating the proceeds from issuance between the liability component and the embedded conversion option, or equity component, in accordance with accounting for convertible debt instruments that may be settled in cash (including partial cash settlement) upon conversion. The value of the equity component is calculated by first measuring the fair value of the liability component, using the interest rate of a similar liability that does not have a conversion feature, as of the issuance date. The difference between the proceeds from the convertible debt issuance and the amount measured as the liability component is recorded as the equity component with a corresponding discount recorded on the debt. The Company recognizes the accretion of the resulting discount using the effective interest method as part of interest expense in its consolidated statements of operations.

 

Term Notes—On November 19, 2015, the Company borrowed $160,000 of term notes (“Term Notes”) under the Amended and Restated Credit Agreement in connection with the completion of the acquisition of Yodlee.  As of December 31, 2016, the Company has repaid $18,000 of the Term Notes.  The Term Notes are payable in quarterly installments of $2,000 per installment, with the final payment of all remaining Term Note principal due and payable on the scheduled maturity date of November 19, 2018. Within 90 days of each year end, an excess cash flow prepayment, as defined in the Amended and Restated Credit Agreement, may also be required if the company’s total leverage ratio is greater than 2.0 to 1.0 as of the end of the most recently completed two consecutive fiscal quarters of the Company. As of December 31, 2016, the Company has calculated this prepayment to be approximately $31,862.

Foreign Currency—The assets and liabilities of the foreign subsidiary, where the local currency is the functional currency, are translated into U.S. dollars at the exchange rate in effect at the consolidated balance sheet date. Income and expense amounts are translated at average rates during the period. The resulting foreign currency translation adjustment is recorded in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) in stockholders’ equity in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets. The Company is also subject to gains and losses from foreign currency denominated transactions and the remeasurement of foreign currency denominated balance sheet accounts, both of which are included in other income (expense), net in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations.

Derivative Financial Instruments—The Company historically used and may use foreign currency forward contracts to reduce its exposure to foreign currency exchange rate changes of the Indian Rupee on certain forecasted operating expenses and on certain existing assets and liabilities.

 

The contracts typically mature within 12 months, and they are not held for trading purposes. The Company may designate certain of its foreign currency forward contracts as hedging instruments subject to hedge accounting treatment. The Company records all of its derivative instruments at their gross fair value on the consolidated balance sheet, at each balance sheet date.

   

The accounting for changes in the fair value of a derivative instrument depends on whether the instrument has been designated and qualifies as a cash flow hedge for accounting purposes. For foreign currency forward contracts that are designated and qualify as hedging instruments, the effective portion of the gain or loss on the derivative instrument is reported as a component of accumulated other comprehensive loss in stockholders’ equity/(deficit) and reclassified into operating expenses and cost of revenue in the same period during which the hedged transaction affects earnings. The ineffective portion of the gain or loss on the derivative instrument, if any, is recognized in other income (expense), net in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations. To receive hedge accounting treatment, cash flow hedges must be highly effective in offsetting changes to expected future cash flows on hedged transactions. The changes in the time value are excluded from the assessment of hedge effectiveness and are recognized in other income (expense), net in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations.

 

Gains and losses related to derivative instruments that do not qualify for hedge accounting treatment are recognized in other income (expense), net in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations.

 

As of December 31, 2016 the Company had no outstanding derivative contracts.

 

Non-controlling Interest—Effective February 1, 2014, the Company formed ERS with various third parties. ERS offers advisory and technology enabled services to financial advisors and retirement plans. In exchange for a 64.5% ownership interest in ERS, the Company contributed certain assets and has agreed to fund a certain amount of the operating expenses of ERS. As described in Note 3, primarily due to the issuance of units related to the contributions of FinaConnect, Inc. (“FinaConnect”) and Castle Rock Innovations, Inc. (“Castle Rock”) and the purchase of additional ERS units acquired from the former owners of Klein Decisions, Inc. (“Klein”), the Company’s ownership in ERS has increased to 80.8% as of December 31, 2016.

 

The allocation of gains and losses to the members of ERS is based on a hypothetical liquidation book value method in accordance with the ERS operating agreement. There were no losses for the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2015, reflected as non-controlling interest in the consolidated statements of operations.  

 

Reclassifications—Certain prior year balances have been reclassified to conform to current year presentation. Such reclassifications did not impact total revenues, operating income, net income, the consolidated statements of other comprehensive income, or consolidated statements of stockholders’ equity.

 

For the year ended December 31, 2015, the consolidated statements of operations include a reclassification of $673 of restructuring charges to general and administration. Restructuring charges included within general and administration for the year ended December 31, 2016 were $596.

 

As of December 31, 2016, deferred rent and lease incentives have been presented on the consolidated balance sheets as a single line item, and therefore the prior year balances have been consolidated. 

 

Recent Accounting Pronouncements—In April 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-03, “Simplifying the Presentation of Debt Issuance Costs,” which requires debt issuance costs related to a recognized debt liability be presented as a reduction to the carrying amount of that debt liability, not as an asset. The Company adopted the guidance for the Company’s fiscal year beginning January 1, 2016 and resulted in a decrease in current assets and current liabilities of $1,936 and decreases in non-current assets and non-current liabilities of $7,380 in the prior year.

 

In May 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued ASU 2014-09, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers,” which amends the existing accounting standards for revenue recognition. ASU 2014-09 is based on principles that govern the recognition of revenue at an amount an entity expects to be entitled when products are transferred to customers.

 

The original effective date for ASU 2014-09 would have required the Company to adopt beginning in its first quarter of 2017. However, in July 2015, the FASB voted to amend ASU 2014-09 by approving a one-year deferral of the effective date as well as providing the option to early adopt the standard on the original effective date. Accordingly, the Company will adopt the standard in its first quarter of 2018.

 

In 2016, the Company began evaluating the impact of the adoption of the new revenue standard on its consolidated financial statements, including enhanced disclosures, as well as assessing the impact on systems, processes, controls. The Company expects the new revenue standard to have an impact on the estimation of variable transaction considerations, the allocation of variable considerations across distinct services, and the tracking and amortization of contract costs.  We expect to begin capitalizing certain costs to obtain and fulfill a contract upon adoption of the new standard and are currently in the process of evaluating the period over which to amortize these capitalized costs. The Company has not yet quantified these amounts.

 

The new revenue standard may be applied retrospectively to each prior period presented or retrospectively with the cumulative effect recognized as of the date of adoption. Although the Company has not finalized the adoption disclosure approach, the Company currently anticipates applying the standard retrospectively with the cumulative effect recognized as of the date of adoption. 

 

In September 2015, the FASB issued ASU No. 2015-16, “Simplifying the Accounting for Measurement-Period Adjustments”. This standard requires that an acquirer recognize adjustments to provisional amounts that are identified during the measurement period in the reporting period in which the adjustment amounts are determined. Entities were required to retrospectively apply adjustments made to provisional amounts recognized in a business combination. This standard is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2015, including interim periods within those fiscal years.  These changes became effective for the Company’s fiscal year beginning January 1, 2016 and have been reflected in these financial statements.

 

In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02, “Leases”. This update amends the requirements for assets and liabilities recognized for all leases longer than twelve months. Lessees will be required to recognize a lease liability measured on a discounted basis, which is the lessee’s obligation to make lease payments arising from the lease, and a right-of-use asset, which is an asset that represents the lessee’s right to use, or control the use of, a specified asset for the lease term. This standard will be effective for financial statements issued by public companies for the annual and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2018. Early adoption of the standard is permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the potential impact of this guidance on our consolidated financial statements.

 

In March 2016, The FASB issued ASU 2016-09, “Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting”. This update is intended to reduce the cost and complexity of accounting for share-based payments; however, some changes may also increase volatility in reported earnings. Under the new guidance, all excess tax benefits and deficiencies will be recorded as an income tax benefit or expense in the income statement and excess tax benefits will be recorded as an operating activity in the statements of cash flows. The new guidance also allows withholding up to the maximum individual statutory tax rate without classifying the awards as a liability. The cash paid to satisfy the statutory income tax withholding obligation will be classified as a financing activity in the statements of cash flows. Lastly, the update allows forfeitures to be estimated or recognized when they occur. The requirements for the excess tax effects related to share-based payments at settlement must be applied on a prospective basis, and the other requirements under this standard are to be applied on a retrospective basis. This standard will be effective for financial statements issued by public companies for annual and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2016. We will adopt the standard effective January 1, 2017. Due to our valuation allowance, the Company does not expect the updated standard to have a material impact on the Consolidated Financial Statements and disclosures. We will not elect an accounting policy change to record forfeitures as they occur and will continue to estimate forfeitures at each period.

 

In August 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-15, “Statement of Cash Flows (Topic 230) - Classification of Certain Cash Receipts and Cash Payments,” which clarifies eight specific cash flow issues in an effort to reduce diversity in practice in how certain transactions are classified within the statements of cash flows. This ASU is effective for the Company January 1, 2018 with early adoption permitted. Upon adoption, the ASU requires a retrospective application unless it is determined that it is impractical to do so for which it must be retrospectively applied at the earliest date practical. Upon adoption, the Company does not anticipate significant changes to the Company's existing accounting policies or presentation of the consolidated statements of cash flows.