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Description of Business and Basis of Presentation
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2015
Accounting Policies [Abstract]  
Description of Business and Basis of Presentation
Description of Business and Basis of Presentation
LivePerson, Inc. (the “Company” or “LivePerson”) was incorporated in the State of Delaware in November 1995 and the LivePerson service was introduced in November 1998. In April 2000, the Company completed an initial public offering and is currently traded on the Nasdaq Global Select Market and the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. LivePerson is headquartered in New York City with offices in Amsterdam, Atlanta, Berlin, London, Mannheim, Melbourne, Milan, Ra'anana, Reading (UK), San Francisco and Tokyo.
LivePerson provides online engagement solutions offering a cloud-based platform which enables businesses to proactively connect with consumers through chat, voice and content delivery, across multiple channels and screens, including websites, social media, tablets and mobile devices. The Company’s engagements are driven by insights derived from a broad set of consumer and business data, including historical, behavioral, operational, and third party data. Each engagement is based on proprietary analytics and a real-time understanding of consumer needs and business objectives. The Company’s products, coupled with its domain knowledge and industry expertise, have been proven to maximize the effectiveness of the online channel — by increasing sales, as well as consumer satisfaction and loyalty ratings for its customers, while also enabling its customers to reduce consumer service costs.
LivePerson monitors and analyzes valuable online consumer behavioral data on behalf of its customers. Spanning the breadth of an online visitor session, starting from an initial keyword search through actions on their customer’s website, and even into a shopping cart and an executed sale, this data enables the Company to develop unique insights into consumer behavior during specific transactions within a customer’s user base.
The Company’s primary revenue source is from the sale of LivePerson services to businesses of all sizes. The Company also offers an online marketplace that connects independent service providers (“Experts”) who provide information and knowledge for a fee via real-time chat with individual consumers (“Users”).
Basis of Presentation
The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements as of March 31, 2015 and for the three months ended March 31, 2015 and 2014 are unaudited. In the opinion of management, the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared on the same basis as the annual financial statements and reflect all adjustments, which include only normal recurring adjustments, necessary to present fairly the consolidated financial position of LivePerson as of March 31, 2015, and the consolidated results of operations, comprehensive loss and cash flows for the interim periods ended March 31, 2015 and 2014. The financial data and other information disclosed in these notes to the condensed consolidated financial statements related to these periods are unaudited. The results of operations for any interim period are not necessarily indicative of the results of operations for any other future interim period or for a full fiscal year. The condensed consolidated balance sheet at December 31, 2014 has been derived from audited consolidated financial statements at that date.
Certain information and note disclosures normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (“GAAP”) have been condensed or omitted pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). These unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the Company’s audited consolidated financial statements and notes thereto for the year ended December 31, 2014, included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 12, 2015.
Principles of Consolidation
The condensed consolidated financial statements include the Company and its wholly-owned subsidiaries. All intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated.
Use of Estimates
The preparation of the Company’s condensed consolidated financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the condensed consolidated financial statements and the reported amounts of income and expenses during the reporting period. These estimates are based on information available as of the date of the condensed consolidated financial statements; therefore, actual results could differ from management’s estimates.
Recently Issued Accounting Standards
On February 18, 2015, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2015-02, Consolidation: Amendments to the Consolidation Analysis (“ASU 2015-02”), which affects reporting entities that are required to evaluate whether they should consolidate certain legal entities. All legal entities are subject to reevaluation under the revised consolidation model. The standard amends the consolidation requirements in ASC 810. ASU 2015-02 is effective for fiscal periods beginning after December 15, 2015 for public companies, and early adoption is permitted. The Company does not expect to early adopt ASU 2015-02, which will be effective for its fiscal year ending December 31, 2016. The Company does not believe the standard will have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.
In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (“ASU 2014-09”), which supersedes most existing revenue recognition guidance under 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 to which an entity expects to be entitled for those goods or services. ASU 2014-09 defines a five step process to achieve this core principle and, in doing so, more judgment and estimates may be required within the revenue recognition process than are required under existing GAAP. The standard is effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2016, and interim periods therein, using either of the following transition methods: (i) a full retrospective approach reflecting the application of the standard in each prior reporting period with the option to elect certain practical expedients, or (ii) a retrospective approach with the cumulative effect of initially adopting ASU 2014-09 recognized at the date of adoption (which includes additional footnote disclosures).