Revenue Recognition and Related Costs

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2019

Revenue from Contract with Customer [Abstract]

Revenue Recognition and Related Costs

Revenue Recognition and Related Costs

Contract Balances

The timing of our recognition of revenue may differ from the timing of invoicing our customers. We record a trade receivable when we have transferred goods or services to a customer but have not yet received payment. Our trade receivables are reported net of an allowance for doubtful accounts. Such allowance aggregated $47.4 million and $45.8 million at March 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018, respectively.

If we transfer goods or services to a customer but do not have an unconditional right to payment, we record a contract asset. Contract assets typically arise from the uniform recognition of introductory promotional discounts over the contract period and accrued revenue for handset sales. Our contract assets were $47.1 million and $44.3 million as of March 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018, respectively. The current and long-term portions of our contract asset balances are included within other current assets and other assets, net, respectively, on our condensed consolidated balance sheets.

We record deferred revenue when we receive payment prior to transferring goods or services to a customer. We primarily defer revenue for (i) installation and other upfront services and (ii) other services that are invoiced prior to when services are provided. Our deferred revenue balances were $829.8 million and $877.9 million as of March 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018, respectively. The decrease in deferred revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2019 is primarily due to $697.5 million of revenue recognized that was included in our deferred revenue balance at December 31, 2018, partially offset by advanced billings in certain markets. The current and long-term portions of our deferred revenue balances are included within deferred revenue and other long-term liabilities, respectively, on our condensed consolidated balance sheets.

Contract Costs

Our aggregate assets associated with incremental costs to obtain and fulfill our contracts were $73.4 million and $73.0 million at March 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018, respectively. The current and long-term portions of our assets related to contract costs are included within other current assets and other assets, net, respectively, on our condensed consolidated balance sheets. We amortized $24.4 million to operating costs and expenses during the three months ended March 31, 2019 related to these assets.

Unsatisfied Performance Obligations

A large portion of our revenue is derived from customers who are not subject to contracts. Revenue from customers who are subject to contracts is generally recognized over the term of such contracts, which is typically 12 months for our residential service contracts, one to three years for our mobile service contracts and one to five years for our B2B service contracts.