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ORGANIZATION AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
12 Months Ended
May 31, 2020
Organization Consolidation And Presentation Of Financial Statements [Abstract]  
ORGANIZATION AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

1.

ORGANIZATION AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Oracle Corporation provides products and services that substantially address all aspects of enterprise information technology (IT) environments, including applications and infrastructure. We deliver our products and services to customers worldwide through a variety of flexible and interoperable IT deployment models, including cloud-based, Cloud at Customer (an instance of Oracle Cloud in the customer’s own data center), on premise and hybrid models. Oracle Cloud Software-as-a-Service and Infrastructure-as-a-Service (SaaS and IaaS, respectively, and collectively, Oracle Cloud Services) offerings provide a comprehensive and integrated stack of applications and infrastructure services delivered via cloud-based deployment models that Oracle deploys, hosts, upgrades, supports and manages for the customer. Customers may also elect to purchase Oracle software and hardware products and related services to manage their own cloud-based or on-premise IT environments. Customers that purchase our software products may elect to purchase license support contracts, which provide our customers with rights to unspecified license upgrades and maintenance releases issued during the support period as well as technical support assistance. Customers that purchase our hardware products may elect to purchase hardware support contracts, which provide customers with software updates and can include product repairs, maintenance services, and technical support services. We also offer customers a broad set of services offerings that are designed to improve customer utilization of their investments in Oracle applications and infrastructure technologies.

Oracle Corporation conducts business globally and was incorporated in 2005 as a Delaware corporation and is the successor to operations originally begun in June 1977.

Basis of Financial Statements

The consolidated financial statements included our accounts and the accounts of our wholly- and majority-owned subsidiaries. Noncontrolling interest positions of certain of our consolidated entities are reported as a separate component of consolidated equity from the equity attributable to Oracle’s stockholders for all periods presented. The noncontrolling interests in our net income were not significant to our consolidated results for the periods presented and therefore have not been presented separately and instead are included as a component of non-operating income, net in our consolidated statements of operations. Intercompany transactions and balances have been eliminated.

In fiscal 2020, we adopted Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842) and subsequent amendments to the initial guidance: ASU 2017-13, ASU 2018-10, ASU 2018-11, ASU 2018-20 and ASU 2019-01 (collectively, Topic 842). Topic 842 requires companies to generally recognize on the balance sheet, operating and financing lease liabilities and corresponding right-of-use (ROU) assets. We adopted this new standard using the effective date of June 1, 2019 as our initial application date. Consequently, financial information for the comparative periods was not updated. We elected the package of practical expedients permitted under the transition guidance of the new standard, which allows us to carry forward our historical lease classification. The adoption of Topic 842 did not result in a cumulative catch-up adjustment to the opening of our accumulated deficit balance as of June 1, 2019. There was no material impact to our consolidated statements of operations and consolidated statements of cash flows for the year ended May 31, 2020 due to the adoption of Topic 842. Refer to the “Leases” section below for a description of our accounting policy that we have applied since our adoption of Topic 842.

Use of Estimates

Our consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) as set forth in the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s (FASB) Accounting Standards Codification (ASC), and we consider the various staff accounting bulletins and other applicable guidance issued by the SEC. These accounting principles require us to make certain estimates, judgments and assumptions. We believe that the estimates, judgments and assumptions upon which we rely are reasonable based upon

information available to us at the time that these estimates, judgments and assumptions are made. These estimates, judgments and assumptions can affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities as of the date of the financial statements as well as the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the periods presented. To the extent that there are differences between these estimates, judgments or assumptions and actual results, our consolidated financial statements will be affected. In many cases, the accounting treatment of a particular transaction is specifically dictated by GAAP and does not require management’s judgment in its application. There are also areas in which management’s judgment in selecting among available alternatives would not produce a materially different result.

Revenue Recognition

Our sources of revenues include:

 

cloud and license revenues, which include the sale of: cloud services and license support; and cloud licenses and on-premise licenses, which typically represent perpetual software licenses purchased by customers for use in both cloud and on-premise IT environments;

 

hardware revenues, which include the sale of hardware products, including Oracle Engineered Systems, servers, and storage products, and industry-specific hardware; and hardware support revenues; and

 

services revenues, which are earned from providing cloud-, license- and hardware-related services including consulting, advanced customer services and education services.

License support revenues are typically generated through the sale of license support contracts related to cloud license and on-premise licenses purchased by our customers at their option. License support contracts provide customers with rights to unspecified software product upgrades, maintenance releases and patches released during the term of the support period and include internet access to technical content, as well as internet and telephone access to technical support personnel. License support contracts are generally priced as a percentage of the net cloud license and on-premise license fees. Substantially all of our customers elect to renew their license support contracts annually.

Cloud services revenues include revenues from Oracle Cloud Services offerings, which deliver applications and infrastructure technologies via cloud-based deployment models that we develop functionality for, provide unspecified updates and enhancements for, host, manage, upgrade and support and that customers access by entering into a subscription agreement with us for a stated period. Our IaaS offerings also include Oracle Managed Cloud Services, which are designed to provide comprehensive software and hardware management, maintenance and security services for customer cloud-based, on-premise or other IT infrastructure for a fee for a stated term.

Cloud license and on-premise license revenues primarily represent amounts earned from granting customers perpetual licenses to use our database, middleware, application and industry-specific software products, which our customers use for cloud-based, on-premise and other IT environments. The vast majority of our cloud license and on-premise license arrangements include license support contracts, which are entered into at the customer’s option.

Revenues from the sale of hardware products represent amounts earned primarily from the sale of our Oracle Engineered Systems, computer servers, storage, and industry-specific hardware. Our hardware support offerings generally provide customers with software updates for the software components that are essential to the functionality of the hardware products purchased and can also include product repairs, maintenance services and technical support services. Hardware support contracts are generally priced as a percentage of the net hardware products fees.

Our services are offered to customers as standalone arrangements or as a part of arrangements to customers buying other products and services. Our consulting services are designed to help our customers to, among others, deploy, architect, integrate, upgrade and secure their investments in Oracle applications and infrastructure

technologies. Our advanced customer services are offered as standalone arrangements or as a part of arrangements to customers buying other products and services. We offer these advanced customer services to Oracle customers to enable increased performance and higher availability of Oracle products and services. Education services include instructor-led, media-based and internet-based training in the use of our cloud, software and hardware products.

We apply the provisions of ASC 606, Revenue From Contracts with Customers (ASC 606) as a single standard for revenue recognition that applies to all of our cloud, license, hardware and services arrangements and generally requires revenues to be recognized upon the transfer of control of promised goods or services provided to our customers, reflecting the amount of consideration we expect to receive for those goods or services. Pursuant to ASC 606, revenues are recognized upon the application of the following steps:

 

identification of the contract, or contracts, with a customer;

 

 

identification of the performance obligations in the contract;

 

 

determination of the transaction price;

 

 

allocation of the transaction price to the performance obligations in the contract; and

 

 

recognition of revenues when, or as, the contractual performance obligations are satisfied.

 

Our customers that we contract with for the provision of cloud services, software, hardware or other services include businesses of many sizes, government agencies, educational institutions and our channel partners, which include resellers and system integrators.

The timing of revenue recognition may differ from the timing of invoicing to our customers. We record an unbilled receivable, which is included within accounts receivable on our consolidated balance sheets, when revenue is recognized prior to invoicing. We record deferred revenues on our consolidated balance sheets when revenues are recognized subsequent to cash collection for an invoice. Our standard payment terms are generally net 30 days but may vary. Invoices for cloud license and on-premise licenses and hardware products are generally issued when the license is made available for customer use or upon delivery to the customer of the hardware product. Invoices for license support and hardware support contracts are generally invoiced annually in advance. Cloud SaaS and IaaS contracts are generally invoiced annually, quarterly or monthly in advance. Services are generally invoiced in advance or as the services are performed. Most contracts that contain a financing component are contracts financed through our Oracle financing division. The transaction price for a contract that is financed through our Oracle financing division is adjusted to reflect the time value of money and interest revenue is recorded as a component of non-operating income, net within our consolidated statements of operations based on market rates in the country in which the transaction is being financed.  

Our revenue arrangements generally include standard warranty or service level provisions that our arrangements will perform and operate in all material respects as defined in the respective agreements, the financial impacts of which have historically been and are expected to continue to be insignificant. Our arrangements generally do not include a general right of return relative to the delivered products or services. We recognize revenues net of any taxes collected from customers, which are subsequently remitted to governmental authorities.

Revenue Recognition for Cloud Services

Revenues from cloud services provided on a subscription basis are generally recognized ratably over the contractual period that the services are delivered, beginning on the date our service is made available to our customers. We recognize revenue ratably because the customer receives and consumes the benefits of the cloud services throughout the contract period. Revenues from cloud services that are provided on a consumption basis, such as metered services, are generally recognized based on the utilization of the services by the customer.

Revenue Recognition for License Support and Hardware Support

Oracle’s primary performance obligations with respect to license support contracts and hardware support contracts are to provide customers with technical support as needed and unspecified software product upgrades, maintenance releases and patches during the term of the support period, if and when they are available. Oracle is obligated to make the license and hardware support services available continuously throughout the contract period. Therefore, revenues for license support contracts and hardware support contracts are generally recognized ratably over the contractual periods that the support services are provided.  

Revenue Recognition for Cloud License and On-Premise License

Revenues from distinct cloud license and on-premise license performance obligations are generally recognized upfront at the point in time when the software is made available to the customer to download and use. Revenues from usage-based royalty arrangements for distinct cloud licenses and on-premise licenses are recognized at the point in time when the software end user usage occurs. For usage-based royalty arrangements with a fixed minimum guarantee amount, the minimum amount is generally recognized upfront when the software is made available to the royalty customer.

Revenue Recognition for Hardware Products

The hardware product and related software, such as an operating system or firmware, are highly interdependent and interrelated and are accounted for as a combined performance obligation. The revenues for this combined performance obligation are generally recognized at the point in time that the hardware product is delivered to the customer and ownership is transferred to the customer.

Revenue Recognition for Services

Services revenues are generally recognized over time as the services are performed. Revenues for fixed price services are generally recognized over time applying input methods to estimate progress to completion. Revenues for consumption-based services are generally recognized as the services are performed.

Allocation of the Transaction Price for Contracts that have Multiple Performance Obligations

Many of our contracts include multiple performance obligations. Judgment is required in determining whether each performance obligation is distinct. Oracle products and services generally do not require a significant amount of integration or interdependency; therefore, our products and services are generally not combined. We allocate the transaction price for each contract to each performance obligation based on the relative standalone selling price (SSP) for each performance obligation within each contract.

We use judgment in determining the SSP for products and services. For substantially all performance obligations except cloud licenses and on-premise licenses, we are able to establish the SSP based on the observable prices of products or services sold separately in comparable circumstances to similar customers. We typically establish an SSP range for our products and services which is reassessed on a periodic basis or when facts and circumstances change. Our cloud licenses and on-premise licenses have not historically been sold on a standalone basis, as the vast majority of all customers elect to purchase license support contracts at the time of a cloud license and on-premise license purchase. License support contracts are generally priced as a percentage of the net fees paid by the customer to access the license. We are unable to establish the SSP for our cloud licenses and on-premise licenses based on observable prices given the same products are sold for a broad range of amounts (that is, the selling price is highly variable) and a representative SSP is not discernible from past transactions or other observable evidence. As a result, the SSP for a cloud license and an on-premise license included in a contract with multiple performance obligations is determined by applying a residual approach whereby all other performance

obligations within a contract are first allocated a portion of the transaction price based upon their respective SSPs, with any residual amount of transaction price allocated to cloud license and on-premise license revenues.

Remaining Performance Obligations from Customer Contracts

Trade receivables, net of allowance for doubtful accounts, and deferred revenues are reported net of related uncollected deferred revenues in our consolidated balance sheets as of May 31, 2020 and 2019. The amount of revenues recognized during the year ended May 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively, that were included in the opening deferred revenues balance as of May 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively, was approximately $8.4 billion and $8.3 billion, respectively. Revenues recognized from performance obligations satisfied in prior periods and impairment losses recognized on our receivables were immaterial during each year ended May 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018.  

Remaining performance obligations represent contracted revenues that had not yet been recognized, and include deferred revenues; invoices that have been issued to customers but were uncollected and have not been recognized as revenues; and amounts that will be invoiced and recognized as revenues in future periods. The volumes and amounts of customer contracts that we book and total revenues that we recognize are impacted by a variety of seasonal factors. In each fiscal year, the amounts and volumes of contracting activity and our total revenues are typically highest in our fourth fiscal quarter and lowest in our first fiscal quarter. These seasonal impacts influence how our remaining performance obligations change over time and, combined with foreign exchange rate fluctuations and other factors, influence the amount of remaining performance obligations that we report at a point in time. As of May 31, 2020, our remaining performance obligations were $37.0 billion, approximately 62% of which we expect to recognize as revenues over the next twelve months and the remainder thereafter.

Sales of Financing Receivables

We offer certain of our customers the option to acquire our software products, hardware products and services offerings through separate long-term payment contracts. We generally sell these contracts that we have financed for our customers on a non-recourse basis to financial institutions within 90 days of the contracts’ dates of execution. We record the transfers of amounts due from customers to financial institutions as sales of financing receivables because we are considered to have surrendered control of these financing receivables. During fiscal 2020, 2019 and 2018, $1.5 billion, $1.8 billion and $1.7 billion, respectively, of our financing receivables were sold to financial institutions.

Business Combinations

We apply the provisions of ASC 805, Business Combinations (ASC 805), in accounting for our acquisitions. ASC 805 requires that we evaluate whether a transaction pertains to an acquisition of assets, or to an acquisition of a business. A business is defined as an integrated set of assets and activities that is capable of being conducted and managed for the purpose of providing a return to investors. Asset acquisitions are accounted for by allocating the cost of the acquisition to the individual assets and liabilities assumed on a relative fair value basis; whereas the acquisition of a business requires us to recognize separately from goodwill the assets acquired and the liabilities assumed at the acquisition date fair values. Goodwill as of the business acquisition date is measured as the excess of consideration transferred over the net of the acquisition date fair values of the assets acquired and the liabilities assumed. While we use our best estimates and assumptions to accurately value assets acquired and liabilities assumed at the business acquisition date as well as any contingent consideration, where applicable, our estimates are inherently uncertain and subject to refinement. As a result, during the measurement period, which may be up to one year from the business acquisition date, we record adjustments to the assets acquired and liabilities assumed with the corresponding offset to goodwill. Upon the conclusion of a business acquisition’s measurement period or final determination of the values of assets acquired or liabilities assumed, whichever comes first, any

subsequent adjustments are recorded to our consolidated statements of operations. Costs to exit or restructure certain activities of an acquired company or our internal operations are accounted for as termination and exit costs pursuant to ASC 420, Exit or Disposal Cost Obligations (ASC 420), and are accounted for separately from the business combination. A liability for costs associated with an exit or disposal activity is recognized and measured at its fair value in our consolidated statement of operations in the period in which the liability is incurred. Prior to June 1, 2019, we accounted for operating lease abandonment pursuant to the provisions of ASC 420. Effective June 1, 2019, abandoned operating leases related to an acquired company or our internal operations are accounted for as ROU asset impairment charges pursuant to Topic 842 and are accounted for separately from the business combination. In all periods presented, when estimating the asset impairment charges, assumptions were applied regarding estimated sub-lease payments to be received, which can differ from actual results. This may require us to revise our initial estimates which may affect our results of operations and financial position in the period the revision is made.

For a given business acquisition, we may identify certain pre-acquisition contingencies as of the acquisition date and may extend our review and evaluation of these pre-acquisition contingencies throughout the measurement period in order to obtain sufficient information to assess whether we include these contingencies as a part of the fair value estimates of assets acquired and liabilities assumed and, if so, to determine their estimated amounts. If we cannot reasonably determine the fair value of a non-income tax related pre-acquisition contingency by the end of the measurement period, which is generally the case given the nature of such matters, we will recognize an asset or a liability for such pre-acquisition contingency if: (1) it is probable that an asset existed or a liability had been incurred at the business acquisition date and (2) the amount of the asset or liability can be reasonably estimated. Subsequent to the measurement period or final determination of the net asset values for the business combination, changes in our estimates of such contingencies will affect earnings and could have a material effect on our results of operations and financial position.

In addition, uncertain tax positions and tax related valuation allowances assumed in a business combination are initially estimated as of the acquisition date. We reevaluate these items quarterly based upon facts and circumstances that existed as of the business acquisition date with any adjustments to our preliminary estimates being recorded to goodwill if identified within the measurement period. Subsequent to the measurement period or our final determination of the tax allowance’s or contingency’s estimated value, whichever comes first, changes to these uncertain tax positions and tax related valuation allowances will affect our provision for income taxes in our consolidated statement of operations and could have a material impact on our results of operations and financial position.

Marketable and Non-Marketable Securities

In accordance with ASC 320, Investments—Debt and Equity Securities, and based on our intentions regarding these instruments, we classify substantially all of our marketable debt securities as available-for-sale. We carry these securities at fair value, and report the unrealized gains and losses, net of taxes, as a component of stockholders’ equity, except for unrealized losses determined to be other-than-temporary, which we record within non-operating income, net in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations. We periodically evaluate our investments to determine if impairment charges are required. Substantially all of our marketable debt investments are classified as current based on the nature of the investments and their availability for use in current operations.

Investments in equity securities, other than any equity method investments, are recorded at fair value, if fair value is readily determinable. We hold investments in certain non-marketable equity securities with no readily determinable fair values in which we do not have a controlling interest or significant influence. We measure these equity securities at cost, less any impairment, adjusted for observable price changes from orderly transactions for identical or similar investments of the same issuer. Our non-marketable equity securities are included in other non-current assets in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets and are subject to periodic impairment reviews.

Fair Values of Financial Instruments

We apply the provisions of ASC 820, Fair Value Measurement (ASC 820), to our assets and liabilities that we are required to measure at fair value pursuant to other accounting standards, including our investments in marketable debt and equity securities and our derivative financial instruments.

The additional disclosures regarding our fair value measurements are included in Note 4.

Allowances for Doubtful Accounts

We record allowances for doubtful accounts based upon a specific review of all significant outstanding invoices. For those invoices not specifically reviewed, provisions are provided at differing rates, based upon the age of the receivable, the collection history associated with the geographic region that the receivable was recorded in and current economic trends. We write-off a receivable and charge it against its recorded allowance when we have exhausted our collection efforts without success.

Concentrations of Credit Risk

Financial instruments that are potentially subject to concentrations of credit risk consist primarily of cash and cash equivalents, marketable securities, derivatives and trade receivables. Our cash and cash equivalents are generally held with large, diverse financial institutions worldwide to reduce the amount of exposure to any single financial institution. Investment policies have been implemented that limit purchases of marketable debt securities to investment-grade securities. Our derivative contracts are transacted with various financial institutions with high credit standings and any exposure to counterparty credit-related losses in these contracts is largely mitigated with collateral security agreements that provide for collateral to be received or posted when the net fair values of these contracts fluctuate from contractually established thresholds. We generally do not require collateral to secure accounts receivable. The risk with respect to trade receivables is mitigated by credit evaluations we perform on our customers, the short duration of our payment terms for the significant majority of our customer contracts and by the diversification of our customer base. No single customer accounted for 10% or more of our total revenues in fiscal 2020, 2019 or 2018.

We outsource the manufacturing, assembly and delivery of certain of our hardware products to a variety of companies, many of which are located outside the U.S. Further, we have simplified our supply chain processes by reducing the number of third-party manufacturing partners and the number of locations where these third-party manufacturers build our hardware products. Any inability of these third-party manufacturing partners to deliver the contracted services for our hardware products could adversely impact future operating results of our hardware business.

Inventories

Inventories are stated at the lower of cost or net realizable value. Cost is computed using standard cost, which approximates actual cost, on a first-in, first-out basis. We evaluate our ending inventories for estimated excess quantities and obsolescence. This evaluation includes analysis of sales levels by product and projections of future demand within specific time horizons (generally six to nine months). Inventories in excess of future demand are written down and charged to hardware expenses. In addition, we assess the impact of changing technology to our inventories and we write down inventories that are considered obsolete. At the point of loss recognition, a new, lower-cost basis for that inventory is established, and subsequent changes in facts and circumstances do not result in the restoration or increase in that newly established cost basis. Inventories are included in prepaid expenses and other current assets in our consolidated balance sheets and totaled $211 million and $320 million at May 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively.

Other Receivables

Other receivables represent value-added tax and sales tax receivables associated with the sale of our products and services to third parties. Other receivables are included in prepaid expenses and other current assets in our consolidated balance sheets and totaled $778 million and $776 million at May 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively.

Deferred Sales Commissions

We defer sales commissions earned by our sales force that are considered to be incremental and recoverable costs of obtaining a cloud, license support and hardware support contract. Initial sales commissions for the majority of these aforementioned contracts are generally deferred and amortized on a straight-line basis over a period of benefit that we estimate to be four to five years. We determine the period of benefit by taking into consideration the historical and expected durations of our customer contracts, the expected useful lives of our technologies, and other factors. Sales commissions for renewal contracts relating to our cloud-based arrangements are generally deferred and then amortized on a straight-line basis over the related contractual renewal period, which is generally one to three years. Amortization of deferred sales commissions is included as a component of sales and marketing expenses in our consolidated statements of operations.

Property, Plant and Equipment

Property, plant and equipment are stated at the lower of cost or realizable value, net of accumulated depreciation. Depreciation is computed using the straight-line method based on estimated useful lives of the assets, which range from one to 40 years. Leasehold improvements are amortized over the lesser of the estimated useful lives of the improvements or the lease terms, as appropriate. Property, plant and equipment are periodically reviewed for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset may not be recoverable. We did not recognize any significant property impairment charges in fiscal 2020, 2019 or 2018.

Goodwill, Intangible Assets and Impairment Assessments

Goodwill represents the excess of the purchase price in a business combination over the fair value of net tangible and intangible assets acquired. Intangible assets that are not considered to have an indefinite useful life are amortized over their useful lives, which generally range from one to 10 years. Each period we evaluate the estimated remaining useful lives of purchased intangible assets and whether events or changes in circumstances warrant a revision to the remaining periods of amortization.

The carrying amounts of our goodwill and intangible assets are periodically reviewed for impairment (at least annually for goodwill and indefinite lived intangible assets) and whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value of these assets may not be recoverable. When goodwill is assessed for impairment, we have the option to perform an assessment of qualitative factors of impairment (optional assessment) prior to necessitating a quantitative impairment test. Should the optional assessment be used for any given fiscal year, qualitative factors to consider for a reporting unit include: cost factors; financial performance; legal, regulatory, contractual, political, business, or other factors; entity specific factors; industry and market considerations; macroeconomic conditions; and other relevant events and factors affecting the reporting unit. If we determine in the qualitative assessment that it is more likely than not that the fair value of the reporting unit is less than its carrying value, a quantitative test is then performed. Otherwise, no further testing is required. For those reporting units tested using a quantitative approach, we compare the fair value of each reporting unit with the carrying amount of the reporting unit, including goodwill. To determine the fair value of each reporting unit we utilize estimates, judgments and assumptions including estimated future cash flows the reporting unit is expected to generate on a discounted basis; the discount rate used as a part of the discounted cash flow analysis; future economic and market conditions; and market comparables of peer companies, among others. If, as per the quantitative test, the estimated fair value of the reporting unit is less than the carrying amount of the reporting unit, impairment is recognized for the difference, limited to the amount of goodwill recognized for the reporting

unit. Our most recent goodwill impairment analysis was performed on March 1, 2020 and did not result in a goodwill impairment charge. We did not recognize impairment charges in fiscal 2019 or 2018.

Recoverability of finite lived intangible assets is measured by comparison of the carrying amount of the asset to the future undiscounted cash flows the asset is expected to generate. Recoverability of indefinite lived intangible assets is measured by comparison of the carrying amount of the asset to its fair value. If the asset is considered to be impaired, the amount of any impairment is measured as the difference between the carrying value and the fair value of the impaired asset. We did not recognize any intangible asset impairment charges in fiscal 2020, 2019 or 2018. At least annually, we assess the useful lives of our finite lived intangible assets and may adjust the period over which these assets are amortized whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that a shorter amortization period is more reflective of the period in which these assets contribute to our cash flows.

Derivative Financial Instruments

During fiscal 2020, 2019 and 2018, we used derivative financial instruments to manage foreign currency and interest rate risks (see Note 10 below for additional information). We do not use derivative financial instruments for trading purposes. We account for these instruments in accordance with ASC 815, Derivatives and Hedging (ASC 815), which requires that every derivative instrument be recorded on the balance sheet as either an asset or liability measured at its fair value as of each reporting date. ASC 815 also requires that changes in our derivatives’ fair values be recognized in earnings, unless specific hedge accounting and documentation criteria are met (i.e., the instruments are accounted for as hedges).

The accounting for changes in the fair value of a derivative depends on the intended use of the derivative and the resulting designation. For a derivative instrument designated as a fair value hedge, loss or gain attributable to the risk being hedged is recognized in earnings in the period of change with a corresponding earnings offset recorded to the item for which the risk is being hedged.

For a derivative instrument designated as a cash flow hedge, each reporting period we record the change in fair value of the derivative to accumulated other comprehensive loss (AOCL) in our consolidated balance sheets, and the change is reclassified to earnings in the period the hedged item affects earnings.

Leases

As referenced above, our accounting policy for leases under ASC 842 was prospectively effective for us as of June 1, 2019. We determine if an arrangement is a lease at its inception. Operating lease liabilities are recognized at the lease commencement date based on the present value of lease payments over the lease term. We generally use our incremental borrowing rate based on the information available at the lease commencement date in determining the present value of future payments, because the implicit rate of the lease is generally not known. Right of Use (ROU) assets related to our operating lease liabilities are measured at lease inception based on the initial measurement of the lease liability, plus any prepaid lease payments and less any lease incentives. Our lease terms that are used in determining our operating lease liabilities at lease inception may include options to extend or terminate the leases when it is reasonably certain that we will exercise such options. We amortize our ROU assets as operating lease expense generally on a straight-line basis over the lease term and classify both the lease amortization and imputed interest as operating expenses. We have lease agreements with lease and non-lease components, and in such cases, we generally account for the components as a single lease component. We do not recognize lease assets and lease liabilities for any lease with an original lease term of less than one year.

ROU assets related to our operating leases are included in other non-current assets, short-term operating lease liabilities are included in other current liabilities, and long-term operating lease liabilities are included in other non-current liabilities in our consolidated balance sheets. Cash flow movements related to our lease activities are included in prepaid expenses and other assets and accounts payable and other liabilities as presented in net cash provided by operating activities in our consolidated statement of cash flows for the year ended May 31, 2020.

Legal and Other Contingencies

We are currently involved in various claims and legal proceedings. Quarterly, we review the status of each significant matter and assess our potential financial exposure. Descriptions of our accounting policies associated with contingencies assumed as a part of a business combination are provided under “Business Combinations” above. For legal and other contingencies that are not a part of a business combination or related to income taxes, we accrue a liability for an estimated loss if the potential loss from any claim or legal proceeding is considered probable, and the amount can be reasonably estimated. Note 17 below provides additional information regarding certain of our legal contingencies.

Shipping and Handling Costs

Our shipping and handling costs for hardware products sales are included in hardware expenses for all periods presented.

Foreign Currency

We transact business in various foreign currencies. In general, the functional currency of a foreign operation is the local country’s currency. Consequently, revenues and expenses of operations outside the U.S. are translated into U.S. Dollars using weighted-average exchange rates while assets and liabilities of operations outside the U.S. are translated into U.S. Dollars using exchange rates at the balance sheet dates. The effects of foreign currency translation adjustments are included in stockholders’ equity as a component of AOCL in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets and related periodic movements are summarized as a line item in our consolidated statements of comprehensive income. Net foreign exchange transaction losses included in non-operating income, net in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations were $185 million, $111 million and $74 million in fiscal 2020, 2019 and 2018, respectively.

Stock-Based Compensation

We account for share-based payments to employees, including grants of service-based restricted stock unit awards, performance-based restricted stock unit awards (PSUs), service-based employee stock options, performance-based stock options (PSOs), and purchases under employee stock purchase plans in accordance with ASC 718, CompensationStock Compensation, which requires that share-based payments (to the extent they are compensatory) be recognized in our consolidated statements of operations based on their fair values. We account for forfeitures of stock-based awards as they occur.

For our service-based stock awards, we recognize stock-based compensation expense on a straight-line basis over the service period of the award, which is generally four years.

For our PSUs and PSOs, we recognize stock-based compensation expense on a straight-line basis over the longer of the derived, explicit or implicit service period (which is the period of time expected for the performance condition to be satisfied). During our interim and annual reporting periods, stock-based compensation expense is recorded based on expected attainment of performance targets. Changes in our estimates of the expected attainment of performance targets that result in a change in the number of shares that are expected to vest, or changes in our estimates of implicit service periods, may cause the amount of stock-based compensation expense that we record for each interim reporting period to vary. Any changes in estimates that impact our expectation of the number of shares that are expected to vest are reflected in the amount of stock-based compensation expense that we recognize for each PSU or PSO tranche on a cumulative catch up basis during each interim reporting period in which such estimates are altered. Changes in estimates of the implicit service periods are recognized prospectively.

We record deferred tax assets for stock-based compensation awards that result in deductions on certain of our income tax returns based on the amount of stock-based compensation recognized in each reporting period and the fair values attributable to the vested portion of stock awards assumed in connection with a business combination

at the statutory tax rates in the jurisdictions that we are able to recognize such tax deductions. The impacts of the actual tax deductions for stock-based awards that are realized in these jurisdictions are generally recognized in the reporting period that a restricted stock-based award vests or a stock option is exercised with any shortfall/windfall relative to the deferred tax asset established recorded as a discrete detriment/benefit to our provision for income taxes in such period.

Advertising

All advertising costs are expensed as incurred. Advertising expenses, which were included within sales and marketing expenses, were $178 million, $169 million and $138 million in fiscal 2020, 2019 and 2018, respectively.

Research and Development Costs and Software Development Costs

All research and development costs are expensed as incurred in accordance with ASC 730, Research and Development. Software development costs required to be capitalized under ASC 985-20, Costs of Software to be Sold, Leased or Marketed, and under ASC 350-40, Internal-Use Software, were not material to our consolidated financial statements in fiscal 2020, 2019 and 2018.

Acquisition Related and Other Expenses

Acquisition related and other expenses consist of personnel related costs and stock-based compensation for transitional and certain other employees, certain business combination adjustments including certain adjustments after the measurement period has ended and certain other operating items, net.

 

 

 

Year Ended May 31,

 

(in millions)

 

2020

 

 

2019

 

 

2018

 

Transitional and other employee related costs

 

$

12

 

 

$

49

 

 

$

48

 

Stock-based compensation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

 

Business combination adjustments, net

 

 

(7

)

 

 

(21

)

 

 

 

Other, net

 

 

51

 

 

 

16

 

 

 

3

 

Total acquisition related and other expenses

 

$

56

 

 

$

44

 

 

$

52

 

Non-Operating Income, net

Non-operating income, net consists primarily of interest income, net foreign currency exchange losses, the noncontrolling interests in the net profits of our majority-owned subsidiaries (primarily Oracle Financial Services Software Limited and Oracle Corporation Japan) and net other income, including net realized gains and losses related to all of our investments, net unrealized gains and losses related to the small portion of our investment portfolio related to our deferred compensation plan, net unrealized gains and losses related to certain equity securities and non-service net periodic pension income (losses).

 

 

 

Year Ended May 31,

 

(in millions)

 

2020

 

 

2019

 

 

2018

 

Interest income

 

$

527

 

 

$

1,092

 

 

$

1,203

 

Foreign currency losses, net

 

 

(185

)

 

 

(111

)

 

 

(74

)

Noncontrolling interests in income

 

 

(164

)

 

 

(152

)

 

 

(135

)

Other income (loss), net

 

 

(16

)

 

 

(14

)

 

 

191

 

Total non-operating income, net

 

$

162

 

 

$

815

 

 

$

1,185

 

 

Income Taxes

We account for income taxes in accordance with ASC 740, Income Taxes (ASC 740). Deferred income taxes are recorded for the expected tax consequences of temporary differences between the tax bases of assets and liabilities for financial reporting purposes and amounts recognized for income tax purposes. We record a valuation allowance to reduce our deferred tax assets to the amount of future tax benefit that is more likely than not to be realized.

A two-step approach is applied pursuant to ASC 740 in the recognition and measurement of uncertain tax positions taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. The first step is to determine if the weight of available evidence indicates that it is more likely than not that the tax position will be sustained in an audit, including resolution of any related appeals or litigation processes. The second step is to measure the tax benefit as the largest amount that is more than 50% likely to be realized upon ultimate settlement. We recognize interest and penalties related to uncertain tax positions in our provision for income taxes line of our consolidated statements of operations.

A description of our accounting policies associated with tax related contingencies and valuation allowances assumed as a part of a business combination is provided under “Business Combinations” above.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

Financial Instruments: In March 2020, the FASB issued ASU 2020-04, Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848): Facilitation of the Effects of Reference Rate Reform on Financial Reporting (ASU 2020-04). ASU 2020-04 provides optional guidance for contract modifications and certain hedging relationships associated with the transition from reference rates that are expected to be discontinued. ASU 2020-04 is effective for all entities upon issuance through December 31, 2022. We are still evaluating the impact, but do not expect the standard to have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.

In January 2020, the FASB issued ASU 2020-01, Investments—Equity Securities (Topic 321), Investments—Equity Method and Joint Ventures (Topic 323), and Derivatives and Hedging (Topic 815) (ASU 2020-01). ASU 2020-01 clarifies the interaction of the accounting for equity securities under Topic 321, the accounting for equity method investments in Topic 323, and the accounting for certain forward contracts and purchased options in Topic 815. ASU 2020-01 is effective for us in the first quarter of fiscal 2022, and earlier adoption is permitted. We are currently evaluating the impact of our pending adoption of ASU 2020-01 on our consolidated financial statements.

In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-13, Financial Instruments—Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments (ASU 2016-13) and also issued subsequent amendments to the initial guidance (collectively, Topic 326). Topic 326 requires measurement and recognition of expected credit losses for financial assets held. We will adopt Topic 326 effective June 1, 2020 with the cumulative effect of adoption recorded as an adjustment to accumulated deficit. We currently do not expect that our pending adoption of Topic 326 will have a material effect on our consolidated financial statements.

Income Taxes:  In December 2019, the FASB issued ASU 2019-12, Income Taxes (Topic 740): Simplifying the Accounting for Income Taxes (ASU 2019-12), which is intended to simplify various areas related to the accounting for income taxes and improve consistent application of Topic 740. ASU 2019-12 is effective for us beginning in fiscal 2022, and earlier adoption is permitted. We are currently evaluating the impact of our pending adoption of ASU 2019-12 on our consolidated financial statements.