Note 1 - Basis of Presentation

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2012

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements Disclosure [Text Block]

1. BASIS OF PRESENTATION

Basis of Presentation

The interim unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements included herein have been prepared by PDF Solutions, Inc. (“the Company”) pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including the instructions to the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X. Certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in annual financial statements prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America have been condensed or omitted. The interim unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements reflect, in the opinion of management, all adjustments necessary (consisting only of normal recurring adjustments), to present a fair statement of results for the interim periods presented. The operating results for any interim period are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for other interim periods or the full fiscal year. The accompanying interim unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements and notes thereto in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011.

The condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and its wholly-owned subsidiaries after the elimination of all significant intercompany balances and transactions.

The condensed consolidated balance sheet at December 31, 2011 has been derived from the audited consolidated financial statements but does not include all disclosures required by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

Use of Estimates  —  The preparation of financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (“U.S. GAAP”) requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Significant estimates in these financial statements include stock-based compensation expense, allowances for doubtful accounts receivable, estimates for useful lives associated with long-lived assets, restructuring charges, fair value of investment and income taxes and tax valuation allowances. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

Revision of prior period financial statements—As previously described in the Company’s quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the period ended September 30, 2011 and in the Company’s annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011, the quarterly results for the three months ended March 31, 2011 have been revised as a result of errors that affected the prior period,  primarily relating to the Company's accounting for stock compensation under its employee stock purchase plan which was identified during fiscal year of 2011.  Although the effect of those errors was not material to any previously issued financial statements, the cumulative effect of correcting the identified errors in the current year would have been material for the fiscal year 2011 financial statements. Consequently, the Company concluded that it needed to revise its prior period financial statements. As part of this revision, the Company also reversed other previously disclosed out-of-period adjustments, which were immaterial, and recorded them instead in the periods in which the errors originated.  For the three months ended March 31, 2011, net loss increased $181,000 and basic and diluted net loss per share increased $0.01, as a result of these revisions. These revisions have no net impact on the Company’s net cash amounts provided by (used in) operating, financing or investing activities for the any of the periods previously reported.

Revenue Recognition  — The Company derives revenue from two sources: Design-to-Silicon-Yield Solutions and gainshare performance incentives.

Design-to-Silicon-Yield Solutions — Revenues that are derived from Design-to-Silicon-Yield solutions come from services and software licenses. The Company recognizes revenue for each element of Design-to-Silicon-Yield solutions as follows:

The Company generates a significant portion of its Design-to-Silicon-Yield solutions revenues from fixed-price solution implementation service contracts delivered over a specific period of time. These contracts require reliable estimation of costs to perform obligations and the overall scope of each engagement. Revenues under project–based contracts for solution implementation services are recognized as services are performed using the cost-to-cost percentage of completion method of contract accounting. Revenues under time-based contracts for solution implementation services are recognized under the proportional performance method. Losses on solution implementation contracts are recognized in the period when they become probable. Revisions in profit estimates are reflected in the period in which the conditions that require the revisions become known and can be estimated. On occasion, the Company licenses its software products as a component of its fixed-price service contracts. In such instances, the software products are licensed to customers over a specified term of the agreement with support and maintenance to be provided at each customer's option over the license term. The amount of product and service revenue recognized in a given period is affected by the Company’s judgment as to whether an arrangement includes multiple deliverables and, if so, the Company’s determination of the fair value of each deliverable. In general, vendor-specific objective evidence of selling price (“VSOE”) does not exist for the Company’s solution implementation services and software products and because the Company’s services and products include our unique technology, the Company is not able to determine third-party evidence of selling price (“TPE”). Therefore, the Company will use best estimated selling prices (“BESP”) in the allocation of arrangement consideration. In determining BESP, the Company applies significant judgment as the Company’s weighs a variety of factors, based on the facts and circumstances of the arrangement. The Company typically arrives at BESP for a product or service that is not sold separately by considering company-specific factors such as geographies, internal costs, gross margin objectives, pricing practices used to establish bundled pricing, and existing portfolio pricing and discounting. After fair value is established for each deliverable, the total transaction amount is allocated to each deliverable based upon its relative fair value. Fees allocated to solution implementation services are recognized using the cost-to-cost percentage of completion method of contract accounting. Fees allocated to software and related support and maintenance are recognized under software revenue recognition guidance.

The Company also licenses its software products separately from its solution implementations. For software license arrangements that do not require significant modification or customization of the underlying software, software license revenue is recognized under the residual method when (1) persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists, (2) delivery has occurred, (3) the fee is fixed or determinable, (4) collectability is probable, and (5) the arrangement does not require services that are essential to the functionality of the software. When arrangements include multiple elements such as support and maintenance, consulting (other than for its fixed price solution implementations), installation, and training, revenue is allocated to each element of a transaction based upon its fair value as determined by the Company’s VSOE and such services are recorded as services revenue. VSOE for maintenance is generally established based upon negotiated renewal rates while VSOE for consulting, installation, and training services is established based upon the Company’s customary pricing for such services when sold separately. Revenue for software licenses with extended payment terms is not recognized in excess of amounts due. For software license arrangements that require significant modification or customization of the underlying software, the software license revenue is recognized as services are performed using the cost-to-cost percentage of completion method of contract accounting, and such revenue is recorded as services revenue.

Gainshare Performance Incentives  — When the Company enters into a contract to provide yield improvement services, the contract usually includes two components: (1) a fixed fee for performance by the Company of services delivered over a specific period of time; and (2) a gainshare performance incentives component where the customer may pay a variable fee, usually after the fixed fee period has ended. Revenue derived from gainshare performance incentives represents profit sharing and performance incentives earned based upon the Company’s customers reaching certain defined operational levels established in related solution implementation service contracts. Gainshare performance incentives periods are usually subsequent to the delivery of all contractual services and therefore have no cost to the Company. Due to the uncertainties surrounding attainment of such operational levels, the Company recognizes gainshare performance incentives revenue (to the extent of completion of the related solution implementation contract) upon receipt of performance reports or other related information from the customer supporting the determination of amounts and probability of collection.