Fee Revenue

12 Months Ended

Apr. 30, 2023

Revenue from Contract with Customer [Abstract]

Fee Revenue

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 sheets.

The following table outlines the Company’s contract asset and liability balances as of April 30, 2023 and 2022:

	April 30,
	2023		2022
	(in thousands)
Contract assets-unbilled receivables	$	99,442	$	100,652
Contract liabilities-deferred revenue	$	257,067	$	244,149

During fiscal 2023, 2022, and 2021 we recognized revenue of $181.7 million, $131.3 million and $92.4 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, professional search and to most of the fee revenue from the interim business. As of April 30, 2023, 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 $1,118.0 million. Of the $1,118.0 million of remaining performance obligations, the Company expects to recognize approximately $600.7 million in fiscal 2024, $325.4 million in fiscal 2025, $138.5 million in fiscal 2026 and the remaining $53.4 million in fiscal 2027 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,
	2023				2022				2021
	Dollars		%		Dollars		%		Dollars		%
	(dollars in thousands)
Industrial	$	805,241	28.4	%	$	688,902	26.2	%	$	490,863	27.1	%
Life Sciences/Healthcare	522,372		18.4		501,463		19.1		355,668		19.7
Financial Services	494,299		17.4		475,326		18.1		331,976		18.3
Technology	483,787		17.1		456,498		17.4		275,510		15.2
Consumer Goods	386,409		13.6		372,720		14.2		239,457		13.2
Education/Non–Profit/General	143,300		5.1		131,809		5.0		116,573		6.5
Fee Revenue	$	2,835,408	100.0	%	$	2,626,718	100.0	%	$	1,810,047	100.0	%