Fee Revenue

9 Months Ended

Jan. 31, 2021

Revenue From Contract With Customer [Abstract]

Fee Revenue

7. Fee Revenue

Contract Balances

A contract asset (unbilled receivables) is recorded when the Company transfers control of products or services before there is an unconditional right to payment. A contract liability (deferred revenue) is recorded when cash is received in advance of performance of the obligation. Deferred revenue represents the future performance obligations to transfer control of products or services for which the Company has already received consideration. Deferred revenue is presented in other accrued liabilities on the consolidated balance sheets.

The following table outlines the Company’s contract asset and liability balances as of January 31, 2021 and April 30, 2020:

	January 31, 2021		April 30, 2020
	(in thousands)
Contract assets-unbilled receivables	$	80,859	$	65,370
Contract liabilities-deferred revenue	$	180,065	$	133,128

During the nine months ended January 31, 2021, the Company recognized revenue of $80.0 million that was included in the contract liabilities balance at the beginning of the period.

Performance Obligations

The Company has elected to apply the practical expedient to exclude the value of unsatisfied performance obligations for contracts with a duration of one year or less, which applies to all executive search and professional search fee revenue. As of January 31, 2021, the aggregate transaction price allocated to the performance obligations that are unsatisfied for contracts with an expected duration of greater than one year at inception was $717.1 million. Of the $717.1 million of remaining performance obligations, the Company expects to recognize approximately $132.6 million in the remainder of fiscal 2021, $337.0 million in fiscal 2022, $148.5 million in fiscal 2023 and the remaining $99.0 million in fiscal 2024 and thereafter. However, this amount should not be considered an indication of the Company’s future revenue as contracts with an initial term of one year or less are not included. Further, the Company’s contract terms and conditions allow for clients to increase or decrease the scope of services and such changes do not increase or decrease a performance obligation until the Company has an enforceable right to payment.

Disaggregation of Revenue

The Company disaggregates its revenue by line of business and further by region for Executive Search. This information is presented in Note 11—Segments.

The following table provides further disaggregation of fee revenue by industry:

	Three Months Ended January 31,
	2021					2020
	Dollars		%			Dollars		%
	(dollars in thousands)
Industrial	$	131,959		27.8	%	$	149,067		28.9	%
Financial Services		84,078		17.7			84,778		16.5
Life Sciences/Healthcare		92,588		19.5			89,217		17.3
Consumer Goods		63,325		13.3			78,600		15.3
Technology		74,774		15.7			79,870		15.5
Education/Non-Profit/General		28,636		6.0			33,793		6.5
Fee Revenue	$	475,360		100.0	%	$	515,325		100.0	%

	Nine Months Ended January 31,
	2021					2020
	Dollars		%			Dollars		%
	(dollars in thousands)
Industrial	$	346,650		27.6	%	$	428,445		28.7	%
Financial Services		232,723		18.5			256,178		17.2
Life Sciences/Healthcare		241,451		19.3			260,567		17.5
Consumer Goods		168,840		13.5			226,010		15.1
Technology		188,789		15.0			221,172		14.8
Education/Non-Profit/General		76,443		6.1			99,891		6.7
Fee Revenue	$	1,254,896		100.0	%	$	1,492,263		100.0	%