Fair Value of Financial Instruments

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

The carrying amounts of certain of the Company’s financial instruments, including cash equivalents, accounts receivable and accounts payable, are shown at cost which approximates fair value due to the short term nature of these instruments. The fair value of the Company’s term and revolving loans with Pacific Western Bank, also described in Note 14, approximates the carrying value due to the variable market rate used to calculate interest payments.

The Company does not have any other significant financial assets or liabilities that are measured at fair value.

Fair value is defined as the exchange price that would be received for an asset or paid to transfer a liability (an exit price) in the principal or most advantageous market for the asset or liability in an orderly transaction between market participants on the measurement date. Valuation techniques used to measure fair value must maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs. The standard describes a fair value hierarchy based on three levels of inputs, of which the first two are considered observable and the last unobservable, that may be used to measure fair value which are the following:


•	Level 1 Inputs: Observable inputs, such as quoted prices (unadjusted) in active markets for identical assets or liabilities at the measurement date.


•	Level 2 Inputs: Observable inputs, other than Level 1 prices, such as quoted prices in active markets for similar assets and liabilities, quoted prices in markets that are not active, or other inputs that are observable or can be corroborated by observable market data for substantially the full term of the assets or liabilities.


•	Level 3 Inputs: Unobservable inputs that are supported by little or no market activity and that are significant to the fair value of the assets or liabilities.

The Company’s financial instruments that are carried at fair value consist of Level 1 assets which include highly liquid investments and bank drafts classified as cash equivalents. The Company's fair value hierarchy for its financial instruments consists of cash equivalents as follows (in thousands):



	December 31, 2019
	Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Total
Money market securities	$	94,260	$	—	$	—	$	94,260
Commercial paper	2,401		—		—		2,401
Total	$	96,661	$	—	$	—	$	96,661



	December 31, 2018
	Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Total
Money market securities	$	123,121	$	—	$	—	$	123,121
Commercial paper	299		—		—		299
Total	$	123,420	$	—	$	—	$	123,420

- 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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