Use of Estimates - The preparation of consolidated financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States requires the Company to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported and disclosed in the financial statements and the accompanying notes. Actual results could differ materially from these estimates. On an ongoing basis, the Company evaluates its estimates, including those related to the accounts receivable, inventory, fair values of investments, intangible assets and goodwill, useful lives of intangible assets and property and equipment, fair values of options and warrants to purchase the Company’s common stock, preferred stock, deferred revenue and income taxes, among others. The Company bases its estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that are believed to be reasonable, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities.

Cost and Equity Method Investments – In accordance with ASC 325-20, Cost Method Investments, the Company records its investment in common stock of BMI Capital International LLC, a Texas limited liability company, at cost as the fair market value of the investment is not readily determinable. As of June 30, 2020, the Company classified its approximate 17% investment in Sharing Services Global Corp. (“SHRG”), a publicly traded company, as marketable equity security and measured it at fair value with gains and losses recognized in other income. In July 2020, through continued acquisition of common stock, the Company obtain greater than 20% ownership of SHRG, and thus has the ability to exercise significant influence over it. The Company accounts for investments in which the Company owns more than 20% or has the ability to exercise significant influence of the investee, using the equity method in accordance with ASC Topic 323, Investments—Equity Method and Joint Ventures. The Company evaluates investment for indications of impairment at least annually. See Note 5 for further details on investments.

Fair Value of Financial Instruments

Fair Value of Financial Instruments - Fair value is defined as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. The Fair Value Measurement Topic of the FASB ASC establishes a three-tier fair value hierarchy which prioritizes the inputs used in measuring fair value. The hierarchy gives the highest priority to unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1 measurements) and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs (Level 3 measurements). These tiers include:

●	Level 1, defined as observable inputs such as quoted prices for identical instruments in active markets;

●	Level 2, defined as inputs other than quoted prices in active markets that are either directly or indirectly observable such as quoted prices for similar instruments in active markets or quoted prices for identical or similar instruments in markets that are not active; and

●	Level 3, defined as unobservable inputs in which little or no market data exists, therefore requiring an entity to develop its own assumptions, such as valuations derived from valuation techniques in which one or more significant inputs or significant value drivers are unobservable.

The carrying amounts reported in the balance sheet of cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable, prepaids, accounts payable and accrued expenses approximate fair value because of the immediate or short-term maturity of these financial instruments. Marketable securities classify as a Level 1 fair value financial instrument. The fair value of notes receivable approximates their carrying value as the stated or discounted rates of the notes do not reflect recent market conditions. The fair value of revolving credit lines notes payable and long-term debt approximates their carrying value as the stated or discounted rates of the debt reflect recent market conditions. The fair value of investments carried at cost less impairment; however, the fair value is not considered readily determinable based on the lack of liquidity for the shares owned.

Related Party Liabilities

Related Party Liabilities - The Company’s HWH World, Inc subsidiary has a service agreement pending with HWH Korea, a subsidiary of Alset International Limited (formally Singapore eDevelopment Limited), and thus a related party. This service agreement will allow HWH Korea to utilize the Company’s merchant account in connection with their direct marketing network with periodic remittance of the cash collected to them. As of September 30, 2020, the Company has collected approximately $774,000 on behalf of HWH Korea and will remit amounts during the fourth quarter. The related party liability is included in “Other current liabilities” on the accompanying consolidated balance sheets.

Business Combinations

Business Combinations - Business combinations and non-controlling interests are recorded in accordance with FASB ASC Business Combinations. Under the guidance, the assets and liabilities of the acquired business are recorded at their fair values at the date of acquisition. The excess of the purchase price over the estimated fair values is recorded as goodwill. If the fair value of the assets acquired exceeds the purchase price and the liabilities assumed, then a gain on acquisition is recorded. Under the guidance, all acquisition costs are expensed as incurred and in-process research and development costs are recorded at fair value as an indefinite-lived intangible asset. The application of business combination accounting requires the use of significant estimates and assumptions.

Reverse Stock Split

Reverse Stock Split - On May 4, 2020, Document Security Systems, Inc. (the “Company”) held a Special Meeting of Stockholders (the “Special Meeting”) at which the Company’s stockholders approved amendment to the Company’s certificate of incorporation to effect a reverse split of common stock of the Company by a ratio of 1-for-30 (the “Reverse Split”) with the effectiveness of such amendment to be determined by the Board of Directors of the Company (the “Board”). The form of the certificate of amendment to effect the Reverse Split was subsequently approved by the Board on May 4, 2020. On May 7, 2020, the Company filed a Certificate of Amendment of Certificate of Incorporation (the “Amendment”) with the Secretary of State of the State of New York to effect a 1-for-30 reverse stock split of the Company’s outstanding common stock. The Amendment was effective at 5:01 p.m. Eastern Time on May 7, 2020 (the “Effective Time”). The reverse stock split has been retroactively applied to all financial statements presented.

Concentration of Credit Risk

Concentration of Credit Risk - The Company maintains its cash in bank and brokerage deposit accounts, which at times may exceed federally insured limits. To address this potential risk, the Company (i) periodically evaluates the financial soundness of the banks and brokerage agencies with which it holds deposit and (ii) has spread its cash holdings over multiple banks and brokerage companies to diversify the risk. As a result, management does not believe that it is materially exposed to any significant credit risk as a result of any potential insolvency of any financial institution(s).

During the nine months ended September 30, 2020, two customers accounted for approximately 21% and 16%, respectively, of the Company’s consolidated revenue and accounted for 36% and 12%, respectively, of the Company’s accounts receivable balance as of September 30, 2020. The risk with respect to accounts receivables is mitigated by credit evaluations the Company performs on its customers, the short duration of its payment terms for most of its customer contracts and by the diversification of its customer base.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

Recent Accounting Pronouncements - In June 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2016-13, “Financial Instruments-Credit Losses (Topic 326)”, which requires entities to measure all expected credit losses for financial assets held at the reporting date based on historical experience, current conditions, and reasonable and supportable forecasts. This replaces the existing incurred loss model and is applicable to the measurement of credit losses on financial assets measured at amortized cost. This guidance is effective for the Company for fiscal years, and interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2022. The Company is currently assessing the impact that adopting this new accounting standard will have on our consolidated financial statements.

In January 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-04, “Intangibles – Goodwill and Other (Topic 350) – Simplifying the Test for Goodwill Impairment”, which eliminates the two-step process that required identification of potential impairment and a separate measure of the actual impairment. The annual assessment of goodwill impairment will be determined by using the difference between the carrying amount and the fair value of the reporting unit. The standards update is effective for goodwill impairment tests in fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019 and has been adopted by the Company effective January 1, 2020.

Continuing Operations and Going Concern

Continuing Operations and Going Concern – The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern. This basis of accounting contemplates the recovery of our assets and the satisfaction of liabilities in the normal course of business. These consolidated financial statements do not include any adjustments to the specific amounts and classifications of assets and liabilities, which might be necessary should we be unable to continue as a going concern. While the Company has approximately $11.6 million in cash, and a positive working capital position of approximately $13.3 million as of September 30, 2020, the Company has incurred operating losses as well as negative cash flows from operating and investing activities over the past two years.

To continue as a going concern, during the nine months ended September 30, 2020, the Company through multiple underwriting agreements with Aegis Capital Corp., acting as representative of the several underwriters, provided the issuance and sale by the Company in an underwritten public offering (the “Offering”) shares of the Company’s common stock. The net offering proceeds to the Company approximated $20.1 million.

The Company’s management intends to take actions necessary to continue as a going concern. Management’s plans concerning these matters includes, among other things, continued growth among our operating segments, and tightly controlling operating costs and reducing spending growth rates wherever possible to return to profitability. In addition, the Company has taken steps, and will continue to take measures, to materially reduce the expenses and cash burn at all corporate and business line levels. During the nine months ended September 30, 2020, material steps were taken to materially reduce or eliminate cash burns in the IP Monetization program, the DSS Digital Group and the DSS Plastics group.

At the Company’s current operating levels and capital usage, we believe that without any further acquisition or investments, our $11.6 million in aggregate cash and equivalents as of September 30, 2020, would allow us to fund our eight business lines current and planned operations through October 2021. Based on this, the Company has concluded that substantial doubt of its ability to continue as a going concern has been alleviated.