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Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2011
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Abstract]  
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies

2. SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Revenue Recognition

Revenue for the Company's products, consisting of both equipment and software, is recognized upon shipment, delivery, installation or customer acceptance of the product, as agreed in the customer order or contract. Sutron does sell its software products without the related equipment although software products are integral to systems. The Company's typical system requires no significant production, modification or customization of the software or hardware. For complex systems, revenue is deferred until customer acceptance. The Company does provide customer discounts and does allow for product returns. The Company does not do consignment sales or bill and hold arrangements. Revenue reflects reductions due to discounts and product returns. Product returns have historically been insignificant in amount.

The Company's sales arrangements for systems often include services in addition to equipment and software. These services could include equipment integration, software customization, installation, maintenance, training, and customer support. For sales arrangements that include bundled hardware, software and services, Sutron accounts for any undelivered service offering as a separate element of a multiple-element arrangement. Amounts allocated to each element are based on its objectively determined fair value, such as the sales price for the product or service when it is sold separately. Revenue for these services is typically recognized ratably over the period benefited or when the services are complete.

The Company uses the percentage of completion method for recognizing revenue and profits when it performs on fixed price contracts that extend over a number of years. Under the percentage of completion method, revenue and profits are recorded as costs are incurred based on estimates of total sales value and costs at completion where total profit can be estimated with reasonable accuracy and ultimate realization is reasonably assured. Profit estimates are revised periodically based upon changes and facts, and any losses on contracts are recognized immediately. Contracts may contain provisions to earn incentive and award fees if targets are achieved. Incentive and award fees that can be reasonably estimated are recorded over the performance period of the contract. Incentive and award fees that cannot be reasonably estimated are recorded when awarded. The Company recognizes revenue from time-and-materials contracts to the extent of billable rates, times hours delivered, plus direct materials costs incurred. Some of the contracts include provisions to withhold a portion of the contract value as retainage. The Company's policy is to take into revenue the full value of the contract, including any retainage, as it performs against the contract. Contract costs include allocated indirect costs. Anticipated losses on all contracts are recognized as soon as they become known. Costs on contracts in excess of related billings are reflected as unbilled receivables and are included in accounts receivable. Billings in excess of costs are reflected as a liability.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

For purposes of the consolidated statements of cash flows, cash equivalents include time deposits and all highly liquid debt instruments with original maturities of three months or less. Interest paid approximated $900, $26,000 and $0 for the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009. Income taxes paid approximated $706,000, $1,332,000 and $630,000 for the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009, respectively. Foreign income tax paid approximated $33,000, $336,000 and $144,000 for the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009, respectively.

Restricted Cash

For the years ended December 31, 2011 and 2010, the Company had submitted bid bonds or performance bonds on both official tenders or awarded contracts. At December 31, 2011 and 2010, cash in the amount of $760,037 and $796,189, respectively, was restricted for bid or performance bonds.

Accounts Receivable

Based on management's evaluation of uncollected accounts receivable at the end of each year, bad debts are provided for utilizing the allowance method. At December 31, 2011 and 2010, the Company's investment in accounts 90 days or more past due was $1,398,668 and $584,832, respectively, net of contract retainages. Bad debt expense for the years ending December 31, 2011, 2010, and 2009 was $44,000, $0 and $34,539, respectively.

Inventory

Inventory is stated at the lower of cost or market. Electronic components costs, work in process and finished goods costs consist of materials, labor and overhead and are recorded at a standard cost that approximates the average cost method. The Company provides allowances on inventories for any material that has become obsolete or may become unsellable based on estimates of future demand and sale price in the market.

Property and Equipment

Property and equipment is recorded at cost and depreciated over their estimated useful lives, ranging from three to ten years, using the straight-line method for financial statement purposes, and the straight-line and accelerated methods for income tax purposes. Expenditures for maintenance, repairs, and improvements that do not materially extend the useful lives of the assets are charged to earnings as incurred. When items of property and equipment are disposed of, the cost of the asset and the related accumulated depreciation are removed from the accounts. Any gain or loss resulting from the removal from service is taken into the current period earnings.

Acquisition and Goodwill

On December 31, 2009, the Company purchased the assets of Ilex Engineering, Inc., a provider of DOMSAT systems, custom software and engineering services, located in Columbia, Maryland. The acquisition has strengthened the Company's position in the GOES data collection services market and global satellite market. The purchase price of approximately $575,000 was allocated among tangible assets based on the relative fair market value of assets. The excess of the purchase price over the fair value of assets in the amount of approximately $570,000 was recorded as goodwill and the entire amount is expected to be deductible for tax purposes.

Goodwill represents the excess of cost of the acquired net assets over the net amounts assigned to assets acquired and liabilities assumed. Goodwill is not amortized, but rather evaluated for impairment each year. Impairment exists when the carrying amount of goodwill exceeds its implied fair value. The Company performs impairment testing in the last quarter of each year. No impairment of goodwill was deemed to exist as of the balance sheet date.

Income Taxes

The Company utilizes an asset and liability approach to accounting for income taxes. The objective is to recognize the amount of income taxes payable or refundable in the current year based on the Company's income tax return and the deferred tax liabilities and assets for the expected future tax consequences of events that have been recognized in the Company's financial statements or tax returns. The asset and liability method accounts for deferred income taxes by applying enacted statutory rates to temporary differences, the difference between financial statement amounts and tax basis of assets and liabilities. The resulting deferred tax liabilities or assets are classified as current or noncurrent based on the classification of the related asset or liability. Deferred income tax liabilities or assets are adjusted to reflect changes in tax laws or rates in the year of enactment.

Management has evaluated the Company's tax positions and concluded that the Company had taken no uncertain tax positions that require adjustment to the financial statements to comply with the provisions of this guidance. With few exceptions, the Company is no longer subject to income tax examinations by the U.S. federal, state or local tax authorities for years before 2008.

Capital

The Company has 12,000,000, $.01 par value, shares of authorized common stock. There were 4,704,632 shares issued and outstanding at December 31, 2011 and 4,575,632 shares issued and outstanding at December 31, 2010.

Foreign Currency Translation

Results of operations for the Company's foreign branch office and foreign wholly-owned subsidiary are translated from the designated functional currency to the U.S. dollar using average exchange rates during the period, while assets and liabilities of the foreign branch office are translated at the exchange rate in effect at the reporting date. Resulting gains or losses from translating foreign currency financial statements are included in accumulated other comprehensive loss, net of any related tax effect.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could vary from the estimates that were used.

Earnings per Share

The Company has adopted the provision of FASB ASC 260 that establishes standards for computing and presenting earnings per share (EPS) for entities with publicly held common stock. The standard requires presentation of two categories of earnings per share, basic EPS and diluted EPS. Basic EPS excludes dilution and is computed by dividing income available to common stockholders by the weighted-average number of common shares outstanding for the year. Diluted EPS reflects the potential dilution that could occur if securities or other contracts to issue common stock were exercised or converted into common stock or resulted in the issuance of common stock that then shared in the earnings of the Company.

Stock Compensation Plans

Effective January 1, 2006, the Company adopted the provisions of FASB ASC 718 Compensation – Stock Compensation, which requires the measurement and recognition of compensation expense for all share-based payment awards to employees and directors based on estimated fair values. Additionally, the Company follows the Securities and Exchange Commission's Staff Accounting Bulletin Share-Based Payment which provides supplemental application guidance based on the views of the SEC.

Fair Value Measurement

Accounting standards establish a framework for measuring fair value. That framework provides a fair value hierarchy that prioritizes the inputs to valuation techniques used to measure fair value. The hierarchy gives the highest priority to unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (level 1) and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs (level 3). The three levels of the fair value hierarchy under the standards are described as follows:

Level 1 – Valuations for assets and liabilities traded in active exchange markets. Valuations are obtained from readily available pricing sources for market transactions involving identical assets or liabilities.

Level 2 – Valuations for assets and liabilities traded in less active dealer or broker markets. Valuations are obtained from third party pricing services for identical or similar assets or liabilities or other inputs observable for the asset or liability, either directly or indirectly through corroboration with observable market data. If the asset or liability has a specified (contractual) term, a Level 2 input must be observable for substantially the full term of the asset or liability.

Level 3 – Valuations for assets and liabilities that are derived from other valuation methodologies, including option pricing models, discounted cash flow models and similar techniques, and not based on market exchange, dealer, or broker traded transactions. Level 3 valuations incorporate certain assumptions and projections in determining the fair value assigned to such assets or liabilities.

The asset or liability's fair value measurement level within the fair value hierarchy is based on the lowest level of any input that is significant to the fair value measurement. Valuation techniques used need to maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs.

For the fiscal years ended December 31, 2011 and 2010, the application of valuation techniques applied to similar assets and liabilities has been consistent. The following is a description of the valuation methodologies used for instruments measured at fair value:

Certificates of Deposit

Certificates of deposit are carried at cost, which approximates fair value based upon observable market prices of similar instruments. If observable market prices are not available, fair values are estimated by discounting expected future cash flows applying interest rates currently being offered. For the fiscal years ended December 31, 2011, and 2010, all certificates of deposit are valued using Level 2 inputs and are valued at $924,294 and $919,130, respectively.

The carrying amounts of the Company's financial instruments not described above arise in the ordinary course of business and approximate fair value.

The preceding methods described may produce a fair value calculation that may not be indicative of net realizable value or reflective of future fair values. Furthermore, although the Company believes its valuation methods are appropriate and consistent with other market participants, the use of different methodologies or assumptions to determine the fair value of certain financial instruments could result in a different fair value measurement at the reporting date.

Reclassifications

Certain items on the Balance Sheet as of December 31, 2010 have been reclassified with no effect on net income or earnings per share to be consistent with the classifications adopted as of December 31, 2011.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

The FASB issued ASU No. 2009-13, Revenue Recognition (Topic 605) – Multiple-Deliverable Revenue Arrangements – a consensus of the FASB Emerging Issues Task Force. This ASU addresses the accounting for multiple-deliverable arrangements to enable vendors to account for products or services (deliverables) separately rather than as a combined unit. The ASU is effective prospectively for revenue arrangements entered into or materially modified in fiscal years beginning on or after September 15, 2010. The adoption of the new guidance did not have a material impact on the Company's consolidated financial statements.

The FASB issued ASU No. 2009-14, Software (Topic 985) – Certain Revenue Arrangements That Include Software Elements – a consensus of the FASB Emerging Issues Task Force. The amendments in this ASU change the accounting model for revenue arrangements that include both tangible products and software elements. The ASU is effective prospectively for revenue arrangements entered into or materially modified in fiscal years beginning on or after September 15, 2010. The adoption of the new guidance did not have a material impact on the Company's consolidated financial statements.

In January 2010, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2010-06, "Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures (Topic 820): Improving Disclosures about Fair Value Measurements." ASU 2010-06 amends Subtopic 820-10 to clarify existing disclosures, require new disclosures, and includes conforming amendments to guidance on employers' disclosures about postretirement benefit plan assets. ASU 2010-06 is effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2009, except for disclosures about purchases, sales, issuances, and settlements in the roll forward of activity in Level 3 fair value measurements. Those disclosures are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2010 and for interim periods within those fiscal years. The adoption of the new guidance did not have a material impact on the Company's consolidated financial statements.

In December 2010, the FASB issued ASU 2010-28, "Intangible – Goodwill and Other (Topic 350) – When to Perform Step 2 of the Goodwill Impairment Test for Reporting Units with Zero or Negative Carrying Amounts." The amendments in this ASU modify Step 1 of the goodwill impairment test for reporting units with zero or negative carrying amounts. For those reporting units, an entity is required to perform Step 2 of the goodwill impairment test if it is more likely than not that a goodwill impairment exists. The amendments in this ASU are effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those years, beginning after December 15, 2010. Early adoption is not permitted. The adoption of the new guidance did not have a material impact on the Company's consolidated financial statements.

In December 2010, the FASB issued ASU 2010-29, "Business Combinations (Topic 805) – Disclosure of Supplementary Pro Forma Information for Business Combinations." The guidance requires pro forma disclosure for business combinations that occurred in the current reporting period as though the acquisition date for all business combinations that occurred during the year had been as of the beginning of the annual reporting period. If comparative financial statements are presented, the pro forma information should be reported as though the acquisition date for all business combinations that occurred during the current year had been as of the beginning of the comparable prior annual reporting period. ASU 2010-29 is effective for business combinations for which the acquisition date is on or after the beginning of the first annual reporting period beginning on or after December 15, 2010. Early adoption is permitted. The adoption of the new guidance did not have a material impact on the Company's consolidated financial statements.

The Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) issued Final Rule No. 33-9002, "Interactive Data to Improve Financial Reporting." The rule requires companies to submit financial statements in extensible business reporting language (XBRL) format with their SEC filings on a phased-in schedule. Large accelerated filers and foreign large accelerated filers using U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) were required to provide interactive data reports starting with their first quarterly report for fiscal periods ending on or after June 15, 2010. All remaining filers were required to provide interactive data reports starting with their first quarterly report for fiscal periods ending on or after June 15, 2011. The Company has submitted financial statements in extensible business reporting language (XBRL) format with their SEC filings in accordance with the phased-in schedule.

In March 2011, the SEC issued Staff Accounting Bulletin (SAB) 114. This SAB revises or rescinds portions of the interpretive guidance included in the codification of the Staff Accounting Bulletin Series. This update is intended to make the relevant interpretive guidance consistent with current authoritative accounting guidance issued as a part of the FASB's Codification. The principal changes involve revision or removal of accounting guidance references and other conforming changes to ensure consistency of referencing through the SAB Series. The effective date for SAB 114 is March 28, 2011. The adoption of the new guidance did not have a material impact on the Company's consolidated financial statements.

In May 2011, the FASB issued ASU 2011-04, "Fair Value Measurement (Topic 820) – Amendments to Achieve Common Fair Value Measurement and Disclosure Requirements in U.S. GAAP and IFRSs." This ASU is the result of joint efforts by the FASB and International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) to develop a single, converged fair value framework on how (not when) to measure fair value and what disclosures to provide about fair value measurements. The ASU is largely consistent with existing fair value measurement principles in U.S. GAAP (Topic 820), with many of the amendments made to eliminate unnecessary wording differences between U.S. GAAP and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The amendments are effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2011 with prospective application. Early application is not permitted. The Company is currently assessing the impact that ASU 2011-04 will have on its consolidated financial statements.

In June 2011, the FASB issued ASU 2011-05, "Comprehensive Income (Topic 220) – Presentation of Comprehensive Income." The objective of this ASU is to improve the comparability, consistency and transparency of financial reporting and to increase the prominence of items reported in other comprehensive income by eliminating the option to present components of other comprehensive income as part of the statement of changes in stockholders' equity. The amendments require that all non-owner changes in stockholders' equity be presented either in a single continuous statement of comprehensive income or in two separate but consecutive statements. The single statement of comprehensive income should include the components of net income, a total for net income, the components of other comprehensive income, a total for other comprehensive income, and a total for comprehensive income. In the two-statement approach, the first statement should present total net income and its components followed consecutively by a second statement that should present all the components of other comprehensive income, a total for other comprehensive income, and a total for comprehensive income. The amendments do not change the items that must be reported in other comprehensive income, the option for an entity to present components of other comprehensive income either net of related tax effects or before related tax effects, or the calculation or reporting of earnings per share. The amendments in this ASU should be applied retrospectively. The amendments are effective for fiscal years and interim periods within those years beginning after December 15, 2011. Early adoption is permitted because compliance with the amendments is already permitted. The amendments do not require transition disclosures. The Company is currently assessing the impact that ASU 2011-05 will have on its consolidated financial statements.

In August 2011, the SEC issued Final Rule No. 33-9250, "Technical Amendments to Commission Rules and Forms related to the FASB's Accounting Standards Codification." The SEC has adopted technical amendments to various rules and forms under the Securities Act of 1933, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and the Investment Company Act of 1940. These revisions were necessary to conform those rules and forms to the FASB Accounting Standards Codification. The technical amendments include revision of certain rules in Regulation S-X, certain items in Regulation S-K, and various rules and forms prescribed under the Securities Act, Exchange Act and Investment Company Act. The Release was effective as of August 12, 2011. The adoption of the new guidance did not have a material impact on the Company's consolidated financial statements.

In September 2011, the FASB issued ASU 2011-08, "Intangible – Goodwill and Other (Topic 350) – Testing Goodwill for Impairment." The amendments in this ASU permit an entity to first assess qualitative factors related to goodwill to determine whether it is more likely than not that the fair value of the reporting unit is less than its carrying amount as a basis for determining whether it is necessary to perform the two-step goodwill test described in Topic 350. The more-likely-than-not threshold is defined as having a likelihood of more than 50 percent. Under the amendments in this ASU, an entity is not required to calculate the fair value of a reporting unit unless the entity determines that it is more likely than not that its fair value is less than its carrying amount. The amendments in this ASU are effective for annual and interim goodwill impairment tests performed for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2011. Early adoption is permitted, including for annual and interim goodwill impairment tests performed as of a date before September 15, 2011, if an entity's financial statements for the most recent annual or interim period have not yet been issued. The Company is currently assessing the impact that ASU 2011-08 will have on its consolidated financial statements.

In December 2011, the FASB issued ASU 2011-11, "Balance Sheet (Topic 210) – Disclosures about Offsetting Assets and Liabilities." This ASU requires entities to disclose both gross information and net information about both instruments and transactions eligible for offset in the balance sheet and instruments and transactions subject to an agreement similar to a master netting arrangement. An entity is required to apply the amendments for annual reporting periods beginning on or after January 1, 2013, and interim periods within those annual periods. An entity should provide the disclosures required by those amendments retrospectively for all comparative periods presented. The Company is currently assessing the impact that ASU 2011-11 will have on its consolidated financial statements.

In December 2011, the FASB issued ASU 2011-12, "Comprehensive Income (Topic 220) – Deferral of the Effective Date for Amendments to the Presentation of Reclassifications of Items Out of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income in Accounting Standards Update No. 2011-05." The amendments are being made to allow the Board time to redeliberate whether to present on the face of the financial statements the effects of reclassifications out of accumulated other comprehensive income on the components of net income and other comprehensive income for all periods presented. While the Board is considering the operational concerns about the presentation requirements for reclassification adjustments and the needs of financial statement users for additional information about reclassification adjustments, entities should continue to report reclassifications out of accumulated other comprehensive income consistent with the presentation requirements in effect before ASU 2011-05. All other requirements in ASU 2011-05 are not affected by ASU 2011-12, including the requirement to report comprehensive income either in a single continuous financial statement or in two separate but consecutive financial statements. Public entities should apply these requirements for fiscal years, and interim periods within those years, beginning after December 15, 2011. The Company is currently assessing the impact that ASU 2011-12 will have on its consolidated financial statements.