Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Notes)

6 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2020

Revenue from Contracts with Customers [Abstract]

Revenue from Contract with Customer [Text Block]

Revenue from Contracts with Customers

We recognize revenue when control of promised products or services is transferred to our customers, in amounts that reflect the consideration to which we expect to be entitled in exchange for those products or services. We account for a contract when it has approval and commitment from both parties, the rights of the parties are identified, the payment terms are identified, the contract has commercial substance and collectability of consideration is probable. We determine the appropriate revenue recognition for our contracts with customers by analyzing the type, terms and conditions of each contract or arrangement with a customer.

Disaggregation of Revenue

We disaggregate our revenues from contracts with customers by reportable segment (Note 11.) and further by geographical region as we believe this best depicts how the nature, amount, timing and uncertainty of our revenue and cash flows are affected by economic factors. Geographical region represents the location of the customer.

Contract Asset and Liability Balances

The timing of revenue recognition, billings and cash collections results in customer receivables, advance payments and billings in excess of revenue recognized. Customer receivables include amounts billed and currently due from customers as well as unbilled amounts (contract assets). Amounts are billed in accordance with contractual terms and unbilled amounts arise when the timing of billing differs from the timing of revenue recognized.

Advance payments and billings in excess of revenue are recognized and recorded as deferred revenue, the majority of which is classified as current based on the timing when we expect to recognize revenue. We include current deferred revenue as part of our accrued expenses. Deferred revenues represent contract liabilities and are recorded when customers remit contractual cash payments in advance of us satisfying performance obligations under contractual arrangements. Contract liabilities are reversed when the performance obligation is satisfied and revenue is recognized.

The table below represents the balances of our customer receivables and deferred revenues.

	March 31,		September 30,
	2020		2019
	(in millions)
Billed receivables	$	178.8	$	171.0
Unbilled receivables	5.0		4.5
Total customer receivables	$	183.8	$	175.5
Deferred revenues	$	4.1	$	4.7

Performance Obligations

A performance obligation is a promise in a contract to transfer a distinct good or service to the customer. Our performance obligations are satisfied at a point in time as related to sales of equipment or over time as related to our software hosting and leak detection monitoring services. Performance obligations are supported by customer contracts, which provide frameworks for the nature of the distinct products or services. We allocate the transaction price of each contract to the performance obligations on the basis of standalone selling price and recognize revenue when, or as, control of the performance obligation transfers to the customers.

We have elected to use the practical expedient to not adjust the transaction price of a contract for the effects of a significant financing component if, at the inception of the contract, we expect that the period between when we transfer a product or service to a customer and when a customer remits payment will be one year or less.

Revenues from products and services transferred to customers at a point in time represented 99% of our revenues in the six months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019 respectively. The revenues recognized at a point in time related to the sale of our products was recognized when the obligations of the terms of our contract were satisfied, which generally occurs upon shipment, when control of the product transfers to the customer.

Revenues from products and services transferred to customers over time represented 1% of our revenues in the six months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019 respectively.

We offer warranties to our customers in the form of assurance-type warranties, which provide assurance that the products provided will function as intended and comply with any agreed-upon specifications. These cannot be purchased separately. There was no change to our warranty accounting as a result of the implementation of the new revenue standard and we continue to use our current cost accrual method.

Costs to Obtain or Fulfill a Contract

We incur certain incremental costs to obtain a contract, which primarily relate to incremental sales commissions. Our commissions are paid based on orders and shipments and we reserve the right to claw back any commissions in case of product returns or lost collections. As the expected benefit associated with these incremental costs is one year or less based on the nature of the product sold and benefits received, we have applied a practical expedient and therefore do not capitalize the related costs and expense them as incurred, consistent with our previous accounting treatment.