Business and Significant Accounting Policies (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2018

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Schedule of Property, Plant and Equipment

The Company's total fixed assets, less accumulated depreciation and amortization, consisted of the following (in thousands):

	Useful Life	December 31,
Category	(Years)	2018			2017
Computer equipment and software	2-7	$	210,955		$	189,015
Furniture and equipment	3-8	85,002			67,288
Leasehold improvements	2-15	218,405			175,716
		514,362			432,019
Less — accumulated depreciation and amortization		(246,697		)	(210,512		)
Property, equipment and leasehold improvements, net		$	267,665		$	221,507

Schedule of Changes in Intangible Assets Subject to Amortization

Changes in intangible assets subject to amortization during the two-year period ended December 31, 2018 were as follows (in thousands):

December 31, 2018	Customer Relationships			Software			Content			Other			Total
Gross cost at December 31, 2017 (1)	$	1,200,316		$	123,424		$	104,313		$	54,929		$	1,482,982
Divestitures (2)	(45,175		)	(321		)	(473		)	(160		)	(46,129		)
Write-off of fully amortized intangible assets	(303		)	(11,715		)	(669		)	(3,311		)	(15,998		)
Foreign currency translation impact and other (3)	(23,182		)	(687		)	(4,329		)	204			(27,994		)
Gross cost	1,131,656			110,701			98,842			51,662			1,392,861
Accumulated amortization (4)	(184,918		)	(38,901		)	(92,717		)	(33,760		)	(350,296		)
Balance at December 31, 2018	$	946,738		$	71,800		$	6,125		$	17,902		$	1,042,565

December 31, 2017	Customer Relationships			Software			Content			Other			Total
Gross cost at December 31, 2016	$	63,369		$	16,025		$	3,728		$	33,645		$	116,767
Additions due to acquisitions (5)	1,253,312			180,787			141,707			24,384			1,600,190
Write-off of fully amortized intangible assets	—			—			(4,227		)	—			(4,227		)
Reclassified as held-for-sale (6)	(140,156		)	(69,012		)	(38,593		)	(2,711		)	(250,472		)
Foreign currency translation impact	23,791			(4,376		)	1,698			(389		)	20,724
Gross cost (1)	1,200,316			123,424			104,313			54,929			1,482,982
Accumulated amortization (4)	(92,983		)	(26,344		)	(47,475		)	(24,158		)	(190,960		)
Balance at December 31, 2017 (1)	$	1,107,333		$	97,080		$	56,838		$	30,771		$	1,292,022

(1) Excludes certain amounts related to held-for-sale operations.

(2) Represents amounts related to divested businesses. See Note 2 — Acquisitions and Divestitures for additional information.

(3) Includes the foreign currency translation impact and certain other adjustments.

(4) Finite-lived intangible assets are amortized using the straight-line method over the following periods: Customer relationships—4 to 13 years; Software—3 to 7 years; Content—1.5 to 5 years; and Other —2 to 5 years.

(5) The additions were primarily due to the Company's acquisitions of CEB Inc. and L2, Inc. during April 2017 and March 2017, respectively. See Note 2 — Acquisitions and Divestitures for additional information.

(6) Represents amounts reclassified (net) as held-for-sale assets related to the CEB Talent Assessment business. See Note 2 — Acquisitions and Divestitures for additional information.

Schedule of Estimated Future Amortization Expense by Year From Amortizable Intangibles

The estimated future amortization expense by year for finite-lived intangible assets is as follows (in thousands):

2019	$	129,394
2020	122,756
2021	102,338
2022	92,801
2023 and thereafter	595,276
	$	1,042,565

Schedule of Changes to The Carrying Amount of Goodwill by Reporting Unit

The following table presents changes to the carrying amount of goodwill by segment, including the Company's Other segment, during the two-year period ended December 31, 2018 (in thousands):

	Research			Conferences			Consulting			Other			Total
Balance at December 31, 2016 (1)	$	595,450		$	46,523		$	96,480		$	—		$	738,453
Additions due to acquisitions (2)	2,042,514			140,914			—			274,363			2,457,791
Reclassified as held-for-sale (3)	—			—			—			(212,994		)	(212,994		)
Foreign currency translation impact	(18,287		)	483			1,318			20,530			4,044
Balance at December 31, 2017	2,619,677			187,920			97,798			81,899			2,987,294
Divestitures (4)	(2,500		)	—			—			(90,078		)	(92,578		)
Foreign currency translation impact and other (5)	21,241			(266		)	(734		)	8,179			28,420
Balance at December 31, 2018	$	2,638,418		$	187,654		$	97,064		$	—		$	2,923,136

(1) The Company does not have any accumulated goodwill impairment losses.

(2) The 2017 goodwill additions are due to the acquisitions of CEB Inc. and L2, Inc. during April 2017 and March 2017, respectively. See Note 2 – Acquisitions and Divestitures for additional information.

(3) Represents amounts reclassified as held-for-sale assets related to the CEB Talent Assessment business. See Note 2 – Acquisitions and Divestitures for additional information.

(4) Represents amounts related to divested businesses. See Note 2 – Acquisitions and Divestitures for additional information.

(5) Includes the foreign currency translation impact and certain measurement period adjustments related to the acquisition of CEB Inc.

Schedule of Cash and Cash Equivalents

Below is a table presenting the beginning-of-period and end-of-period cash amounts from the Company's Consolidated Balance Sheets and the total cash amounts presented in the accompanying Consolidated Cash Flow Statements (in thousands).

	December 31,
	2018		2017		2016		2015
Cash and cash equivalents	$	156,368	$	538,908	$	474,233	$	372,976
Restricted cash classified in (1), (2):
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	2,295		15,148		25,121		13,505
Other assets	—		3,002		—		25,626
Cash classified as held-for-sale (3)	—		10,000		—		—
Cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash per the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows	$	158,663	$	567,058	$	499,354	$	412,107

(1) Restricted cash consists of escrow accounts established in connection with certain of the Company's business acquisitions. Generally, such cash is restricted to use due to provisions contained in the underlying asset purchase agreement. The Company will disburse the restricted cash to the sellers of the businesses upon satisfaction of any contingencies described in such agreements (e.g., potential indemnification claims, etc.).

(2) Restricted cash is recorded in Prepaid expenses and other current assets and Other assets in the Company's consolidated balance sheets with the short-term or long-term classification dependent on the projected timing of disbursements to the sellers.

(3) Represents cash classified as a held-for-sale asset for the CEB Talent Assessment business that was acquired as part of the CEB Inc. acquisition. See Note 2 — Acquisitions and Divestitures for additional information.

Schedule of Restricted Cash

Below is a table presenting the beginning-of-period and end-of-period cash amounts from the Company's Consolidated Balance Sheets and the total cash amounts presented in the accompanying Consolidated Cash Flow Statements (in thousands).

	December 31,
	2018		2017		2016		2015
Cash and cash equivalents	$	156,368	$	538,908	$	474,233	$	372,976
Restricted cash classified in (1), (2):
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	2,295		15,148		25,121		13,505
Other assets	—		3,002		—		25,626
Cash classified as held-for-sale (3)	—		10,000		—		—
Cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash per the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows	$	158,663	$	567,058	$	499,354	$	412,107

(1) Restricted cash consists of escrow accounts established in connection with certain of the Company's business acquisitions. Generally, such cash is restricted to use due to provisions contained in the underlying asset purchase agreement. The Company will disburse the restricted cash to the sellers of the businesses upon satisfaction of any contingencies described in such agreements (e.g., potential indemnification claims, etc.).

(2) Restricted cash is recorded in Prepaid expenses and other current assets and Other assets in the Company's consolidated balance sheets with the short-term or long-term classification dependent on the projected timing of disbursements to the sellers.

(3) Represents cash classified as a held-for-sale asset for the CEB Talent Assessment business that was acquired as part of the CEB Inc. acquisition. See Note 2 — Acquisitions and Divestitures for additional information.

Schedule of Disaggregation of Revenue by Reportable Segment

Our disaggregated revenue information by reportable segment, including our Other segment, is presented for the years indicated in the tables below (in thousands).

Year Ended December 31, 2018

	Research		Conferences		Consulting		Other (1)		Total
Primary Geographic Markets: (2)
United States and Canada	$	1,994,016	$	256,219	$	205,874	$	58,843	$	2,514,952
Europe, Middle East and Africa	737,129		105,909		119,258		38,194		1,000,490
Other International	374,619		48,333		28,535		8,525		460,012
Total revenues	$	3,105,764	$	410,461	$	353,667	$	105,562	$	3,975,454

Year Ended December 31, 2017

	Research		Conferences		Consulting		Other (1)		Total
Primary Geographic Markets: (2)
United States and Canada	$	1,600,847	$	210,698	$	188,022	$	92,799	$	2,092,366
Europe, Middle East and Africa	597,943		86,567		111,792		59,119		855,421
Other International	272,490		40,638		27,847		22,732		363,707
Total revenues	$	2,471,280	$	337,903	$	327,661	$	174,650	$	3,311,494

Year Ended December 31, 2016

	Research		Conferences		Consulting		Other		Total
Primary Geographic Markets: (2)
United States and Canada	$	1,178,575	$	162,162	$	179,011	$	—	$	1,519,748
Europe, Middle East and Africa	434,753		72,926		109,042		—		616,721
Other International	243,673		33,517		30,881		—		308,071
Total revenues	$	1,857,001	$	268,605	$	318,934	$	—	$	2,444,540

(1) The decline in Other segment revenues in 2018 compared to 2017 was due to divestitures. Information regarding the divestitures is included in Note 2 – Acquisitions and Divestitures.

(2) Revenues are reported based on where the sale is fulfilled.

Schedule of Disaggregation of Revenue

Year Ended December 31, 2018

	Research		Conferences		Consulting		Other		Total
Timing of Revenue Recognition:
Transferred over time (1)	$	2,851,176	$	—	$	294,397	$	86,667	$	3,232,240
Transferred at a point in time (2)	254,588		410,461		59,270		18,895		743,214
Total revenues	$	3,105,764	$	410,461	$	353,667	$	105,562	$	3,975,454

Year Ended December 31, 2017

	Research		Conferences		Consulting		Other		Total
Timing of Revenue Recognition:
Transferred over time (1)	$	2,275,377	$	—	$	269,720	$	141,331	$	2,686,428
Transferred at a point in time (2)	195,903		337,903		57,941		33,319		625,066
Total revenues	$	2,471,280	$	337,903	$	327,661	$	174,650	$	3,311,494

Year Ended December 31, 2016

	Research		Conferences		Consulting		Other		Total
Timing of Revenue Recognition:
Transferred over time (1)	$	1,710,786	$	—	$	267,809	$	—	$	1,978,595
Transferred at a point in time (2)	146,215		268,605		51,125		—		465,945
Total revenues	$	1,857,001	$	268,605	$	318,934	$	—	$	2,444,540

(1) These Research revenues were recognized in connection with performance obligations that were satisfied over time using a time-elapsed output method to measure progress. The corresponding Consulting revenues were recognized over time using labor hours as an input measurement basis. Other revenues in this category were recognized using either a time-elapsed output method, performance-based milestone approach or labor hours, depending on the nature of the underlying customer contract.

(2) The revenues in this category were recognized in connection with performance obligations that were satisfied at the point in time the contractual deliverables were provided to the customer.

Schedule for Contract with Customer, Asset and Liability

The table below provides information regarding certain of the Company’s balance sheet accounts that pertain to its contracts with customers, excluding held-for-sale businesses (in thousands):

	December 31,
	2018		2017
Assets:
Fees receivable, gross (1)	$	1,262,818	$	1,162,871
Contract assets (2)	$	26,119	$	26,672
Contract liabilities:
Deferred revenues (current liability) (3)	$	1,745,244	$	1,630,198
Non-current deferred revenues (3)	21,194		16,205
Total contract liabilities	$	1,766,438	$	1,646,403

(1) Fees receivable represent the unconditional right of payment from our customers and include both billed and unbilled amounts.

(2) Contract assets represent recognized revenue for which we do not have an unconditional right to payment as of the balance sheet date because the project may be subject to a progress billing milestone or some other billing restriction. In the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets, contract assets are recorded in Prepaid expenses and other current assets as of December 31, 2018 and Fees receivable, net as of December 31, 2017.

(3) Deferred revenues represent amounts (i) for which the Company has received an upfront customer payment or (ii) that pertain to recognized fees receivable. Both situations occur before the completion of our performance obligation(s).