1. OVERVIEW	6 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2020
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]
OVERVIEW	NOTE 1 OVERVIEW Forward Industries, Inc. (“Forward” or the “Company”) is a fully integrated design, development and manufacturing solution provider for top tier medical and technology customers worldwide. Through its acquisition of Intelligent Product Solutions, Inc. (“IPS”), the Company has expanded its ability to design and develop solutions for our existing multinational client base and expand beyond the diabetic product line into a variety of industries with a full spectrum of hardware and software product design and engineering services. In addition to our existing design and distribution of carry and protective solutions, primarily for handheld electronic devices, the Company is now a one-stop shop for design, development and manufacturing solutions serving a wide range of clients in the industrial, commercial and consumer industries. The Company’s previous principal customer market has been original equipment manufacturers, or “OEMs” (or the contract manufacturing firms of these OEM customers), that either package our products as accessories “in box” together with their branded product offerings or sell them through their retail distribution channels. The Company’s OEM products include carrying cases and other accessories for medical monitoring and diagnostic kits and a variety of other portable electronic and non-electronic products (such as sporting and recreational products, bar code scanners, smartphones, GPS location devices, tablets, firearms). The Company’s OEM customers are located in: (i) the Asia-Pacific Region, which we refer to as the “APAC Region”; (ii) Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, which we refer to as the “EMEA Region”; and (iii) the Americas. The Company does not manufacture any of its OEM products and sources substantially all of its OEM products from independent suppliers in China, through Forward China. As a result of the expansion of the design development capabilities through its wholly owned subsidiary, IPS (acquired in January 2018), the Company is now able to introduce proprietary products to the market from concepts brought to it from a number of different sources, both inside and outside the Company. In the opinion of management, the accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements presented in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q reflect all normal recurring adjustments necessary to present fairly the financial position and results of operations and cash flows for the interim periods presented herein, but are not necessarily indicative of the results of operations for the year ending September 30, 2020. These condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the Company’s audited consolidated financial statements included in its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2019, and with the disclosures and risk factors presented therein. The September 30, 2019 condensed consolidated balance sheet has been derived from the audited consolidated financial statements. IMPACT OF COVID-19 While the COVID-19 pandemic has had a minimal impact on our financial results through March 31, 2020, the future impacts of the pandemic and any resulting economic impact are largely unknown and rapidly evolving and could be significant. It is possible that the COVID-19 pandemic, the measures taken by the governments of countries affected and the resulting economic impact may negatively impact our results of operations, cash flows and financial position as well as our customers, and their ability to make payment. As a result, the effects of COVID-19 may not be fully reflected in our financial results until future periods. Refer to “Part II, Item 1A — Risk Factors” in this Quarterly Report for a description of the material risks that the Company currently faces in connection with COVID-19. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic may also exacerbate other risks discussed in “Part I, Item 1A — Risk Factors” included in the Company’s Annual Report for the year ended September 30, 2019. As a result of revenue and earnings shortfall for the 2020 Quarter, due in part to the impact of COVID-19 and the related future uncertainty, the Company has revised the outlook for the remainder of the year and long-term outlook. This new outlook has impacted the Company’s carrying value of Goodwill (see Note 4). Looking ahead to the remainder of 2020, our visibility is limited due to the uncertainty surrounding the duration and ultimate impact of COVID-19 and the mitigation measures that are implemented by governmental authorities. We also expect business conditions to remain challenging. In response to these challenges, we will continue to focus on those factors that we can control: closely managing and controlling our expenses; aligning our design and development schedules with demand in a proactive manner as there are changes in market conditions to minimize our cash operating costs; and pursuing further improvements in the productivity and effectiveness of our development, selling and administrative activities.

1. OVERVIEW

6 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2020

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

NOTE 1 OVERVIEW

Forward Industries, Inc. (“Forward” or the “Company”) is a fully integrated design, development and manufacturing solution provider for top tier medical and technology customers worldwide. Through its acquisition of Intelligent Product Solutions, Inc. (“IPS”), the Company has expanded its ability to design and develop solutions for our existing multinational client base and expand beyond the diabetic product line into a variety of industries with a full spectrum of hardware and software product design and engineering services. In addition to our existing design and distribution of carry and protective solutions, primarily for handheld electronic devices, the Company is now a one-stop shop for design, development and manufacturing solutions serving a wide range of clients in the industrial, commercial and consumer industries. The Company’s previous principal customer market has been original equipment manufacturers, or “OEMs” (or the contract manufacturing firms of these OEM customers), that either package our products as accessories “in box” together with their branded product offerings or sell them through their retail distribution channels. The Company’s OEM products include carrying cases and other accessories for medical monitoring and diagnostic kits and a variety of other portable electronic and non-electronic products (such as sporting and recreational products, bar code scanners, smartphones, GPS location devices, tablets, firearms). The Company’s OEM customers are located in: (i) the Asia-Pacific Region, which we refer to as the “APAC Region”; (ii) Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, which we refer to as the “EMEA Region”; and (iii) the Americas. The Company does not manufacture any of its OEM products and sources substantially all of its OEM products from independent suppliers in China, through Forward China.

As a result of the expansion of the design development capabilities through its wholly owned subsidiary, IPS (acquired in January 2018), the Company is now able to introduce proprietary products to the market from concepts brought to it from a number of different sources, both inside and outside the Company.

In the opinion of management, the accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements presented in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q reflect all normal recurring adjustments necessary to present fairly the financial position and results of operations and cash flows for the interim periods presented herein, but are not necessarily indicative of the results of operations for the year ending September 30, 2020. These condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the Company’s audited consolidated financial statements included in its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2019, and with the disclosures and risk factors presented therein. The September 30, 2019 condensed consolidated balance sheet has been derived from the audited consolidated financial statements.

IMPACT OF COVID-19

While the COVID-19 pandemic has had a minimal impact on our financial results through March 31, 2020, the future impacts of the pandemic and any resulting economic impact are largely unknown and rapidly evolving and could be significant. It is possible that the COVID-19 pandemic, the measures taken by the governments of countries affected and the resulting economic impact may negatively impact our results of operations, cash flows and financial position as well as our customers, and their ability to make payment. As a result, the effects of COVID-19 may not be fully reflected in our financial results until future periods. Refer to “Part II, Item 1A — Risk Factors” in this Quarterly Report for a description of the material risks that the Company currently faces in connection with COVID-19. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic may also exacerbate other risks discussed in “Part I, Item 1A — Risk Factors” included in the Company’s Annual Report for the year ended September 30, 2019.

As a result of revenue and earnings shortfall for the 2020 Quarter, due in part to the impact of COVID-19 and the related future uncertainty, the Company has revised the outlook for the remainder of the year and long-term outlook. This new outlook has impacted the Company’s carrying value of Goodwill (see Note 4). Looking ahead to the remainder of 2020, our visibility is limited due to the uncertainty surrounding the duration and ultimate impact of COVID-19 and the mitigation measures that are implemented by governmental authorities. We also expect business conditions to remain challenging. In response to these challenges, we will continue to focus on those factors that we can control: closely managing and controlling our expenses; aligning our design and development schedules with demand in a proactive manner as there are changes in market conditions to minimize our cash operating costs; and pursuing further improvements in the productivity and effectiveness of our development, selling and administrative activities.