Fair Value of Financial Instruments

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2019

The Company records its financial assets and liabilities at fair value. The accounting standard for fair value (i) defines fair value as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability (an exit price) in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date, (ii) establishes a framework for measuring fair value, (iii) establishes a hierarchy of fair value measurements based upon the ability to observe inputs used to value assets and liabilities, (iv) requires consideration of nonperformance risk, and (v) requires disclosures about the methods used to measure fair value. The accounting standard establishes a three-level hierarchy of measurements based upon the reliability of observable and unobservable inputs used to arrive at fair value. Observable inputs are independent market data, while unobservable inputs reflect the Company’s assumptions about valuation. The three levels of the hierarchy are defined as follows:


•	Level 1: Observable inputs such as quoted prices in active markets for identical assets and liabilities;

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Level 2: Inputs other than quoted prices that are observable for the asset or liability, either directly or indirectly. These include quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities in active markets and quoted prices for identical or similar assets or liabilities in markets that are not active, and model-derived valuations in which all significant inputs and significant value drivers are observable in active markets; and


•	Level 3: Valuations derived from valuation techniques in which one or more significant inputs or significant value drivers are unobservable.

The carrying amounts of the Company’s financial instruments, which include financial assets such as cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash equivalents, accounts receivable, net, and certain other current assets, as well as financial liabilities such as accounts payable, accrued service costs, accrued compensation and benefits and certain other accrued expenses, approximate their fair values, due to the short-term nature of these instruments. See Note 21, Derivative Financial Instruments, for a discussion of the fair value of the Company's forward currency derivative contracts.

The Company believes the carrying value of the senior term loan entered into in 2019 (see Note 11, Debt) approximates fair value as it is variable rate bank debt. The fair value of the Company's senior term loan entered into in 2018 was estimated based on the quoted market prices for the same or similar issue, and was considered a Level 2 measurement. The fair value of the Company's subordinated notes issued in 2018 was estimated based on market indications compared to the inputs of the existing agreement and was considered a Level 2 measurement.

- 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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