Term Receivable and Trade Accounts Receivable Balances Term Receivable and Trade Accounts Receivable (Policies)

12 Months Ended

Jan. 31, 2017

Receivables [Abstract]

Receivables policy

Balances for term agreements that are due within one year of the balance sheet date are included in trade accounts receivable, net and balances that are due more than one year from the balance sheet date are included in term receivables, long-term. We discount the total product portion of the agreements to reflect the interest component of the transaction. We amortize the interest component of the transaction to system and software revenues over the period in which payments are made and balances are outstanding, using the effective interest method. We determine the discount rate at the outset of the arrangement based upon the current credit rating of the customer. We reset the discount rate periodically considering changes in prevailing interest rates but do not adjust previously discounted balances.

Trade and unbilled receivables

Trade accounts receivable include billed amounts whereas term receivables, short-term are comprised of unbilled amounts. Term receivables, short term represent the portion of long-term installment agreements that are due within one year of the balance sheet date. Billings for term agreements typically occur thirty days prior to the contractual due date, in accordance with individual contract installment terms. Term receivables, long-term represent unbilled amounts which are scheduled to be billed beyond one year from the balance sheet date.

Financing receivable credit quality determination

We perform a credit risk assessment of all customers using the Standard & Poor’s (S&P) credit rating as our primary credit-quality indicator. The S&P credit ratings are based on the most recent S&P score available at the time of assessment. For customers that do not have an S&P credit rating, we base our credit risk assessment on results provided in the customer's most recent financial statements at the time of assessment. We determine whether or not to extend credit to these customers based on the results of our internal credit assessment, thus mitigating our risk of loss.