Business segment information

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Business segment information [Abstract]

Business segment information

Note 16: Business segment information

We operate three reportable business segments: Small Business Services, Financial Services and Direct Checks. Our business segments are generally organized by type of customer and reflect the way we manage the company. Small Business Services provides products and services to small businesses via mail and the internet, referrals from financial institutions and telecommunications clients, a network of distributors and dealers, and a direct sales force which focuses on major accounts. These efforts are supplemented by the account development efforts of an outbound telemarketing group. Financial Services' products and services are sold through multiple channels, including a direct sales force, to financial institution clients nationwide, including banks, credit unions and financial services companies. Direct Checks sells products and services directly to consumers using direct response marketing and the internet. All three segments operate primarily in the United States. Small Business Services also has operations in Canada and portions of Europe. No single customer accounted for more than 10% of revenue in 2011, 2010 or 2009. Our product and service offerings are comprised of the following:

Checks – We remain one of the largest providers of checks in the United States, both in terms of revenue and the number of checks produced. Checks account for the majority of the revenue in our Financial Services and Direct Checks segments and represented 47.2%, 48.3% and 47.7% of our Small Business Services segment's revenue in 2011, 2010 and 2009, respectively.

Forms – Our Small Business Services segment provides printed forms to small businesses including, billing forms, work orders, job proposals, purchase orders, invoices and personnel forms. This segment also offers computer forms compatible with accounting software packages commonly used by small businesses. Forms produced by our Financial Services and Direct Checks segments include deposit tickets and check registers.

Accessories and other products – Small Business Services produces products which are designed to provide small business owners with the customized documents necessary to efficiently manage their business including envelopes, office supplies, stamps and labels, as well as retail packaging supplies. Our Financial Services and Direct Checks segments offer checkbook covers and stamps.

Marketing solutions – All three of our segments offer products and services that help small businesses and financial institutions promote their businesses and acquire customers. Our Small Business Services segment offers services such as web design, hosting and other web services, logo design, search engine marketing, and digital printing services designed to fulfill the sales and marketing needs of small businesses, as well as products such as business cards, greeting cards, brochures and apparel. Financial Services offers various customer acquisition programs and marketing communications services, while Direct Checks provides package insert programs under which companies' marketing materials are included in our check packages.

Other services – All three of our segments provide fraud protection services. In addition, our Small Business Services segment offers payroll services, and Financial Services provides financial institution profitability, regulatory and compliance programs.

The accounting policies of the segments are the same as those described in Note 1. We allocate corporate costs for our shared services functions to our business segments, including costs of our executive management, human resources, supply chain, finance, information technology and legal functions. Generally, where costs incurred are directly attributable to a business segment, primarily within the areas of information technology, supply chain and finance, those costs are charged directly to that segment. Because we use a shared services approach for many of our functions, certain costs are not directly attributable to a business segment. These costs are allocated to our business segments based on segment revenue, as revenue is a measure of the relative size and magnitude of each segment and indicates the level of corporate shared services consumed by each segment. Corporate assets are not allocated to the segments and consist of property, plant and equipment, internal-use software, inventories and supplies related to our corporate shared services functions of manufacturing, information technology and real estate, as well as long-term investments. Depreciation and amortization expense related to corporate assets which was allocated to the segments was $42,211 in 2011, $38,808 in 2010 and $37,056 in 2009.

We are an integrated enterprise, characterized by substantial intersegment cooperation, cost allocations and the sharing of assets. Therefore, we do not represent that these segments, if operated independently, would report the operating income and other financial information shown.

The following is our segment information as of and for the years ended December 31:

		Reportable business segments
		Small Business Services		Financial Services		Direct Checks		Corporate		Consolidated
Revenue from external customers:	2011	$	846,449	$	342,382	$	228,765	$	-	$	1,417,596
	2010		796,254		390,331		215,652		-		1,402,237
	2009		785,109		396,353		162,733		-		1,344,195
Operating income:	2011		145,219		59,804		66,035		-		271,058
	2010		137,534		84,158		59,852		-		281,544
	2009		60,804		75,091		54,694		-		190,589
Depreciation and amortization expense:	2011		44,706		13,009		15,628		-		73,343
	2010		45,163		11,788		16,964		-		73,915
	2009		52,507		10,946		4,312		-		67,765
Asset impairment charges:	2011		1,196		-		-		-		1,196
	2010		-		-		-		-		-
	2009		24,900		-		-		-		24,900
Total assets:	2011		836,918		99,803		173,435		278,653		1,388,809
	2010		772,799		66,065		178,880		290,947		1,308,691
	2009		778,191		57,716		96,288		279,015		1,211,210
Capital asset purchases:	2011		-		-		-		35,506		35,506
	2010		-		-		-		43,932		43,932
	2009		-		-		-		44,266		44,266

Revenue by product and service category for each year was as follows:

	2011		2010		2009
Checks, including contract settlements	$	871,731	$	896,563	$	853,729
Forms		195,905		194,724		198,855
Accessories and other products		126,949		123,264		129,323
Marketing solutions, including services		150,973		126,211		112,848
Other services		72,038		61,475		49,440
Total revenue	$	1,417,596	$	1,402,237	$	1,344,195

During 2011, we modified the manner in which we determine revenue by product and service. We added the marketing solutions category to add more clarity to our products and services, as our marketing solutions and other services categories reflect a growing part of our business. Amounts for 2010 and 2009 have been reclassified to conform to the 2011 presentation. These changes had no impact on the amounts reported in previous years for checks.

The following information is based on the geographic locations of our subsidiaries:

	2011		2010		2009
Revenue from external customers:
United States	$	1,334,540	$	1,325,163	$	1,275,885
Foreign, primarily Canada		83,056		77,074		68,310
Total revenue	$	1,417,596	$	1,402,237	$	1,344,195
Long-lived assets:
United States	$	1,139,678	$	1,086,685	$	996,505
Foreign, primarily Canada		11,409		13,359		16,006
Total long-lived assets	$	1,151,087	$	1,100,044	$	1,012,511