Fee Revenue

12 Months Ended

Apr. 30, 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 we have already received consideration. Deferred revenue is presented in other accrued liabilities on the consolidated balance sheet.

The following table outlines our contract asset and liability balances as of April 30, 2021 and 2020:

	April 30,
	2021		2020
	(in thousands)
Contract assets-unbilled receivables	$	82,842	$	65,370
Contract liabilities-deferred revenue	$	184,610	$	133,128

During fiscal 2021, 2020 and 2019 we recognized revenue of $92.4 million, $94.1 million and $97.0 million, respectively, that were 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 April 30, 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 $739.5 million. Of the $739.5 million of remaining performance obligations, we expect to recognize approximately $415.8 million in fiscal 2022, $197.3 million in fiscal 2023, $92.4 million in fiscal 2024 and the remaining $34.0 million in fiscal 2025 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, our 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 12—Segments.

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

	Year Ended April 30,
	2021					2020					2019
	Dollars		%			Dollars		%			Dollars		%
	(dollars in thousands)
Industrial	$	490,863		27.1	%	$	556,189		28.8	%	$	557,284		28.9	%
Life Sciences/Healthcare		355,668		19.7			343,955		17.8			322,574		16.7
Financial Services		331,976		18.3			334,433		17.3			348,460		18.1
Consumer Goods		239,457		13.2			285,927		14.8			295,900		15.4
Technology		275,510		15.2			285,562		14.8			261,176		13.6
Education/Non–Profit/General		116,573		6.5			126,666		6.5			140,639		7.3
Fee Revenue	$	1,810,047		100.0	%	$	1,932,732		100.0	%	$	1,926,033		100.0	%