Fee Revenue

9 Months Ended

Jan. 31, 2022

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, 2022 and April 30, 2021:

	January 31, 2022		April 30, 2021
	(in thousands)
Contract assets-unbilled receivables	$	94,794	$	82,842
Contract liabilities-deferred revenue	$	241,426	$	184,610

During the nine months ended January 31, 2022, the Company recognized revenue of $119.6 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, 2022, 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 $958.7 million. Of the $958.7 million of remaining performance obligations, the Company expects to recognize approximately $184.5 million in the remainder of fiscal 2022, $442.6 million in fiscal 2023, $213.4 million in fiscal 2024 and the remaining $118.2 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, 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,
	2022					2021
	Dollars		%			Dollars		%
	(dollars in thousands)
Industrial	$	181,016		26.6	%	$	131,959		27.8	%
Life Sciences/Healthcare		126,840		18.6			92,588		19.5
Financial Services		121,459		17.8			84,078		17.7
Technology		124,903		18.4			74,774		15.7
Consumer Goods		97,210		14.3			63,325		13.3
Education/Non-Profit/General		29,313		4.3			28,636		6.0
Fee Revenue	$	680,741		100.0	%	$	475,360		100.0	%

	Nine Months Ended January 31,
	2022					2021
	Dollars		%			Dollars		%
	(dollars in thousands)
Industrial	$	500,078		26.2	%	$	346,650		27.6	%
Life Sciences/Healthcare		370,009		19.4			241,451		19.3
Financial Services		341,099		17.9			232,723		18.5
Technology		323,504		17.0			188,789		15.0
Consumer Goods		271,233		14.2			168,840		13.5
Education/Non-Profit		99,656		5.3			76,443		6.1
Fee Revenue	$	1,905,579		100.0	%	$	1,254,896		100.0	%