Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2021

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Nature of Operations. Robert Half International Inc. (the “Company”) provides specialized staffing and risk consulting services through such divisions as Accountemps®, Robert Half® Finance & Accounting, OfficeTeam®, Robert Half® Technology, Robert Half® Management Resources, Robert Half® Legal, The Creative Group®, and Protiviti®. The Company, through its Accountemps, Robert Half Finance & Accounting, and Robert Half Management Resources divisions, is a specialized provider of contract, full-time, and senior-level project professionals in the fields of accounting and finance. OfficeTeam specializes in highly skilled contract, administrative support professionals. Robert Half Technology provides project and full-time technology professionals. Robert Half Legal provides contract, project, and full-time staffing of lawyers, paralegals and legal support personnel. The Creative Group provides creative, digital, marketing, advertising and public relations professionals. Protiviti is a global consulting firm that helps companies solve problems in finance, technology, operations, data, analytics, governance, risk and internal audit, and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company. Revenues are predominantly derived from specialized staffing services. The Company operates in North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Australia. The Company is a Delaware corporation.

Basis of Presentation. The unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements (“Financial Statements”) of the Company are prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) and the rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). The comparative year-end Condensed Consolidated Statement of Financial Position data presented was derived from audited financial statements. In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting of only normal recurring adjustments) necessary for a fair statement of the financial position and results of operations for the periods presented have been included. These Financial Statements should be read in conjunction with the audited Consolidated Financial Statements of the Company for the year ended December 31, 2020, included in its Annual Report on Form 10-K. The results of operations for any interim period are not necessarily indicative of, nor comparable to, the results of operations for a full year. Certain reclassifications have been made to prior year’s Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements to conform to the 2021 presentation.

Principles of Consolidation. The Financial Statements include the accounts of the Company and its subsidiaries, all of which are wholly-owned. All intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

Use of Estimates. The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. As of September 30, 2021, such estimates include allowances for credit losses, variable consideration, workers’ compensation losses, income and other taxes, and assumptions used in the Company’s goodwill impairment assessment and in the valuation of stock grants subject to market conditions. We continue to monitor the global economic uncertainty as a result of coronavirus (“COVID-19”) to assess the impact on the Company’s results of operations, financial condition, and liquidity. Actual results and outcomes may differ from management’s estimates and assumptions.

Service Revenues. The Company derives its revenues from three segments: temporary and consultant staffing, permanent placement staffing, and risk consulting and internal audit services. Revenues are recognized when promised goods or services are delivered to customers, in an amount that reflects the consideration the Company expects to be entitled to in exchange for those goods or services. See Note C for further discussion of the revenue recognition accounting policy.

Costs of Services. Direct costs of temporary and consultant staffing consist of payroll, payroll taxes and benefit costs for the Company’s engagement professionals, as well as reimbursable expenses. Direct costs of permanent placement staffing services consist of reimbursable expenses. Risk consulting and internal audit direct costs of services include professional staff payroll, contract labor payroll, payroll taxes and benefit costs, as well as reimbursable expenses.

Advertising Costs. The Company expenses all advertising costs as incurred. Advertising costs were $13.9 million and $34.1 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021, respectively, and $7.7 million and $28.9 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020, respectively.

(Income) Loss from Investments Held in Employee Deferred Compensation Trusts. Under the Company’s employee deferred compensation plans, employees direct the investment of their account balances, and the Company invests amounts held in the associated investment trusts consistent with these directions. As realized and unrealized investment gains and losses occur, the Company’s deferred compensation obligation to employees changes accordingly. Changes in the Company’s deferred compensation obligations remain in selling, general and administrative expenses or, in the case of risk consulting and internal audit services, costs of services. The value of the related investment trust assets also changes by an equal and offsetting amount, leaving no net cost to the Company. The Company’s income from investments held in employee deferred compensation trusts consists primarily of unrealized and realized gains and losses and dividend income from trust investments.

The following table presents the Company’s (income) loss from investments held in employee deferred compensation trusts (in thousands):


	Three Months Ended September 30,	Nine Months Ended September 30,
		2021		2020		2021		2020
Dividend income		$	(4,565)	$	(443)	$	(7,414)	$	(1,887)
Realized and unrealized (gains) losses		6,324		(25,652)		(30,625)		(32,743)
(Income) loss from investments held in employee deferred compensation trusts		$	1,759	$	(26,095)	$	(38,039)	$	(34,630)

Comprehensive Income (Loss). Comprehensive income (loss) includes net income and certain other items that are recorded directly to stockholders’ equity. The Company’s only sources of other comprehensive income (loss) are foreign currency translation and foreign defined benefit plan adjustments.

Fair Value of Financial Instruments. Assets and liabilities recorded at fair value are measured and classified in accordance with a three-tier fair value hierarchy based on the observability of the inputs available in the market to measure fair value, summarized as follows:

Level 1: observable inputs for identical assets or liabilities, such as quoted prices in active markets

Level 2: inputs other than the quoted prices in active markets that are observable either directly or indirectly

Level 3: unobservable inputs in which there is little or no market data, which requires management’s best

estimates and assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability

The carrying value of cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable, accounts payable and accrued expenses approximates fair value because of their short-term nature. The Company holds mutual funds and money market funds to satisfy its obligations under its employee deferred compensation plans, which are carried at fair value based on quoted market prices in active markets for identical assets (level 1).

The following table sets forth the composition of the underlying assets which comprise the Company’s deferred compensation trust assets (in thousands):


	Fair Value Measurements Using
	Balance at September 30, 2021		Quoted Prices in Active Markets for Identical Assets (Level 1)		Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2)	Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3)
Assets
Money market funds	$	65,681	$	65,681	—	—
Mutual funds - bond	29,720		29,720		—	—
Mutual funds - stock	278,816		278,816		—	—
Mutual funds - blend	88,043		88,043		—	—
	$	462,260	$	462,260	—	—

	Fair Value Measurements Using
	Balance at December 31, 2020		Quoted Prices in Active Markets for Identical Assets (Level 1)		Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2)	Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3)
Assets
Money market funds	$	69,681	$	69,681	—	—
Mutual funds - bond	27,282		27,282		—	—
Mutual funds - stock	234,667		234,667		—	—
Mutual funds - blend	75,004		75,004		—	—
	$	406,634	$	406,634	—	—

Certain items such as goodwill and other intangible assets are recognized or disclosed at fair value on a non-recurring basis. The Company determines the fair value of these items using level 3 inputs. There are inherent limitations when estimating the fair value of financial instruments, and the fair values reported are not necessarily indicative of the amounts that would be realized in current market transactions.

Allowance for Credit Losses. The Company is exposed to credit losses resulting from the inability of its customers to make required payments. The Company establishes an allowance for these potential credit losses based on its review of customers’ credit profiles, historical loss statistics, prepayments, recoveries, current business conditions and macro-economic trends. The Company considers risk characteristics of trade receivables based on asset type, size, term, and geographical locations to evaluate trade receivables on a collective basis. The Company applies credit loss estimates to these pooled receivables to determine expected credit losses.

The following table sets forth the activity in the allowance for credit losses from January 1, 2020, through September 30, 2021 (in thousands):


	Allowance for Credit Losses
Balance as of January 1, 2020	$	23,443
Charges to expense	4,200
Deductions	(7,906)
Other, including translation adjustments	(120)
Balance as of December 31, 2020	$	19,617
Charges to expense	7,262
Deductions	(5,541)
Other, including translation adjustments	(695)
Balance as of September 30, 2021	$	20,643

Internal-use Software. The Company capitalizes direct costs incurred in the development of internal-use software. Cloud computing implementation costs incurred in hosting arrangements are capitalized and reported as a component of other current assets. All other internal-use software development costs are capitalized and reported as a component of computer software within property and equipment on the unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Financial Position. Capitalized internal-use software development costs were $9.5 million and $29.0 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021, respectively, and $8.8 million and $31.7 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020, respectively.

Goodwill and Intangible Assets. Goodwill and intangible assets primarily consist of the cost of acquired companies in excess of the fair market value of their net tangible assets at the date of acquisition. Identifiable intangible assets are amortized over their lives, typically ranging from two to five years. Goodwill is not amortized, but is assessed at least annually for impairment, or on an as needed interim basis.