UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
FORM | |
ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 | |
For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2019
OR
TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 | |
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter) |
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) | (I.R.S. employer identification no.) | |
(Address of principal executive offices) | (Zip code) | |
Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (972 ) 713-3700
__________________________________
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
Title of each class | Trading symbol | Name of each exchange on which registered |
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:
NONE |
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☐ No ☒
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐ No ☒
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐
Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filer pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of the registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of the Form 10-K or any amendment to the Form 10-K. Yes ☐ No ☒
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data file required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files). Yes ☒ No ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer," "accelerated filer,” "smaller reporting company," and "emerging growth company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):
☒ | Accelerated Filer | ☐ | ||||
Non-accelerated Filer (Do not check if smaller reporting company) | ☐ | Smaller Reporting Company | ||||
Emerging Growth Company | ||||||
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. | ☐ | |||||
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act.) Yes ☐ No ☒
The aggregate market value of the voting stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant was $8,172,267,000 based on the reported last sale price of common stock on June 30, 2019, which is the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter.
The number of shares of common stock of the registrant outstanding on February 18, 2020 was 39,396,000 .
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
TYLER TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
FORM 10-K
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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PART I
ITEM 1. | BUSINESS. |
DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS
Tyler Technologies, Inc. (“Tyler”) is a major provider of integrated information management solutions and services for the public sector, with a focus on local governments. We partner with clients to make government more accessible to the public, more responsive to the needs of citizens and more efficient in its operations. We have a broad line of software solutions and services to address the information technology (“IT”) needs of major areas of operations for cities, counties, schools and other government entities. A majority of our clients have our software installed in-house. For clients who prefer not to physically acquire the software and hardware, most of our software applications can be delivered as software as a service (“SaaS”), which primarily utilize the Tyler private cloud. We provide professional IT services to our clients, including software and hardware installation, data conversion, training and, at times, product modifications. In addition, we are the nation’s largest provider of outsourced property appraisal services for taxing jurisdictions. We also provide continuing client support services to ensure product performance and reliability, which provides us with long-term client relationships and a significant base of recurring maintenance revenue. In addition, we provide electronic document filing (“e-filing”) solutions, which simplify the filing and management of court documents.
MARKET OVERVIEW
The state and local government market is one of the largest and most decentralized IT markets in the country, consisting of all 50 states, approximately 3,000 counties, 36,000 cities and towns and 13,600 school districts. This market is also comprised of approximately 37,000 special districts and other agencies, each with specialized delegated responsibilities and unique information management requirements.
Traditionally, local government bodies and agencies performed state-mandated duties, including property assessment, record keeping, road maintenance, law enforcement, administration of election and judicial functions, and the provision of welfare assistance. Today, a host of emerging and urgent issues are confronting local governments, each of which demands a service response. These areas include criminal justice and corrections, administration and finance, public safety, health and human services, planning, regulatory and maintenance and records and document management. Transfers of responsibility from the federal and state governments to county and municipal governments and agencies in these and other areas also place additional service and financial requirements on these local government units. In addition, constituents of local governments are increasingly demanding improved service and better access to information from public entities. As a result, local governments recognize the increasing value of information management systems and services to, among other things, improve revenue collection, provide increased access to information, and streamline delivery of services to their constituents. Local government bodies are now recognizing that “e-government” is an additional responsibility for community development. From integrated tax systems to integrated civil and criminal justice information systems, many counties and cities have benefited significantly from the implementation of jurisdiction-wide systems that allow different agencies or government offices to share data and provide a more comprehensive approach to information management. Many city and county governmental agencies also have unique individual information management requirements, which must be tailored to the specific functions of each particular office.
Many local governments also have difficulties attracting and retaining the staff necessary to support their IT functions. As a result, they seek to establish long-term relationships with reliable providers of high quality IT products and services such as Tyler.
Although local governments often face budgetary constraints in their operations, their primary revenue sources are usually property taxes, and to a lesser extent, utility billings and other fees, which historically tend to be relatively stable. In addition, the acquisition of new technology typically enables local governments to operate more efficiently, and often provides a measurable return on investment that justifies the purchase of software and related services.
Gartner, Inc., a leading information technology research and advisory company, estimates that state and local government application and vertical specific software spending will grow from $17.9 billion in 2020 to $21.1 billion in 2023. The professional services and support segments of the market are expected to expand from $27.5 billion in 2020 to $29.9 billion in 2023. Application and vertical specific software sales in the primary and secondary education segments of the market is expected to expand from $3.0 billion in 2020 to $3.7 billion in 2023 while professional services and support are expected to grow from $2.5 billion in 2020 to $2.8 billion in 2023.
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PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
We provide a comprehensive and flexible suite of products and services that addresses the information technology needs of cities, counties, schools and other local government entities. We derive our revenues from five primary sources:
• | Sales of software licenses and royalties |
• | Subscription-based arrangements |
• | Software services |
• | Maintenance and support |
• | Appraisal services |
We design, develop, market and support a broad range of software solutions to serve mission-critical “back-office” functions of the public sector with focus on local governments. Many of our software applications include Internet-accessible solutions that allow for real-time public access to a variety of information or that allow the public to transact business with local governments via the Internet. Our software solutions and services are generally grouped in eight major areas:
• | Financial Management and Education |
• | Courts and Justice |
• | Public Safety |
• | Property Appraisal and Tax |
• | Planning, Regulatory and Maintenance |
• | Land and Vital Records Management |
• | Data and Insights |
• | Case Management and Business Process Management |
Each of our core software systems consists of several fully integrated applications. For clients who acquire software for use on premises, we generally license our systems under standard perpetual license agreements that provide the client with a fully paid, nonexclusive, nontransferable right to use the software. In some of the product areas, such as financial management and education and property appraisal and tax, we offer multiple solutions designed to meet the needs of different sized governments.
We also offer SaaS arrangements, which generally utilize the Tyler private cloud, for clients who do not wish to maintain, update and operate these systems or to make up-front capital expenditures to implement these advanced technologies. For these clients, the software and client data are hosted at our data centers or at third-party locations, and clients typically sign multi-year contracts for these subscription-based services.
Historically, we have had a greater proportion of our annual revenues in the second half of our fiscal year due to governmental budget and spending cycles and the timing of system implementations for clients desiring to “go live” at the beginning of the calendar year.
A description of our suites of products and services follows:
Software Licenses
Financial Management and Education
Our financial management and education solutions are enterprise resource planning systems for local governments, which integrate information across all facets of a client organization. Our financial management solutions include modular fund accounting systems that can be tailored to meet the needs of virtually any government agency or not-for-profit entity. Our financial management systems include modules for general ledger, budget preparation, fixed assets, requisitions, purchase orders, bid management, accounts payable, contract management, accounts receivable, investment management, inventory control, project and grant accounting, work orders, job
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costing, GASB reporting, payroll and human resources. All of our financial management systems are intended to conform to government auditing and financial reporting requirements and generally accepted accounting principles.
We sell utility billing systems that support the billing and collection of metered and non-metered services, along with multiple billing cycles. Our Web-enabled utility billing solutions allow clients to access information online such as average consumption and transaction history. In addition, our systems can accept secured Internet payments via credit cards and checks.
We also offer specialized products that automate numerous city and county functions, including municipal courts, parking tickets, equipment and project costing, animal licenses, business licenses, permits and inspections, code enforcement, citizen complaint tracking, ambulance billing, fleet maintenance, and cemetery records management.
In addition to providing financial management systems to K-12 schools, we sell student information systems for K-12 schools, which manage such activities as scheduling, grades and attendance. We also offer student transportation solutions to manage school bus routing optimization, fleet management, field trips and other related functions.
Tyler’s financial management and education solutions include Web components that enhance local governments’ service capabilities by facilitating online access to information for both employees and citizens and enabling online transactions.
Courts and Justice
We offer a complete, fully integrated suite of judicial solutions designed to handle complex, multi-jurisdictional county or statewide implementations as well as single county systems. Our solutions help eliminate duplicate data entry, promote more effective business procedures, and improve efficiency across the entire justice process.
Our unified court case management system is designed to automate the tracking and management of information involved in all case types, including criminal, traffic, civil, family, probate and juvenile courts. It also tracks the status of cases, processes fines and fees and generates the specialized judgment and sentencing documents, notices and forms required in the court process. Documents received by the court can be scanned into the electronic case file and easily retrieved for viewing. Documents generated by the court can be electronically signed and automatically attached to the electronic case file. Additional modules automate the management of court calendars, coordinate judges' schedules and generate court dockets. Our targeted courtroom technologies allow courts to rapidly review calendars, cases and view documents in the courtroom. Courts may also take advantage of our related jury management system. We also offer a solution for online dispute resolution that automates the flow and resolution of common and historically time-consuming disputes including debt, landlord, tenant, small claims, child custody and other case types.
Our court and law enforcement systems allow the public to access, via the Internet, a variety of information, including non-confidential criminal and civil court records, jail booking and release information, bond and bondsmen information, and court calendars and dockets. In addition, our systems allow cities and counties to accept payments for traffic and parking tickets over the Internet, with a seamless and automatic interface to back-office justice and financial systems.
Our prosecutor system enables state attorney offices to track and manage criminal cases, including detailed victim information and private case notes. Investigative reports and charging instrument documents can be generated and stored for later viewing. Prosecutors can schedule and record the outcome of grand jury hearings. When integrated with the court system, prosecutors can view the electronic case file and related documents, as well as manage witness lists and subpoenas needed for court hearings.
Our supervision system allows pre-trial and probation offices to manage offender caseloads. Supervision officers can track contact schedules, risk/needs assessments and reassessments, detailed drug test results, employment histories, compliance with conditions and payments of fees and restitution. Documents and forms, like pre-sentence investigations or revocation orders, can be generated and stored for easy viewing. When integrated with the jail and court systems, supervision officers obtain easy access and quick notification of offenders that have court hearings scheduled, are arrested locally, and have new warrants issued.
We also offer a court case management solution that automates and tracks all aspects of municipal courts and offices. It is a fully integrated, graphical application that provides effective case management, document processing and cash/bond management. This system complies with all state reporting and conviction reports and includes electronic reporting and also integrates with certain of our financial management solutions and public safety solutions.
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Public Safety
Our public safety software is a fully unified and comprehensive solution for law enforcement, fire and EMS, including 911 / computer aided dispatch (“CAD”), records management, mobile computing, corrections management, Web-based information sharing and decision support. The modules are fully integrated, utilizing a common database and providing full functionality between modules, reducing data entry. The software provides fast, efficient dispatching, and quick access to records, reports and actionable information from an agency’s database.
Our 911 / CAD solutions provide real-time, critical response dispatch functions in either single- or multi-jurisdictional environments. When integrated with our records management software, a vital link exists between dispatch and the most comprehensive records database available. Within seconds, the dispatch operator and the officer in the field can access critical information, such as prior incidents and outstanding warrants, increasing officer knowledge and safety. The solutions offer strong geographic information systems integration to help dispatchers quickly locate and send the best response during an emergency. Tyler’s 911 / CAD solutions dramatically improve performance, response time and unit safety.
Our records management solutions for law enforcement and fire track statistical, operational, investigative and management data for inquiry and reporting. The systems create an efficient case processing workflow and help solve crimes with an accessible database that maintains central files on people, places, property, vehicles and criminal activity. Tyler’s public safety records management solutions enable easy access to information and simplify reporting.
Our mobile computing solutions for law enforcement and fire provide instant access to local, state, regional and federal databases via mobile devices. Officers and firefighters can experience the benefits of obtaining critical, real-time information in the field, while saving time by preparing reports directly in their vehicles.
Our jail management systems document and manage information that meets the requirements of a modern jail facility. This includes the booking and housing of persons in custody, supervising defendants on a pre-trial release, maintaining offenders sentenced to local incarceration and billing other agencies for housing inmates. Searching, reporting and tracking features are integrated, allowing reliable, up-to-date access to current arrest and incarceration data, including digital mug shots. Our systems also provide warrant checks for visitors or book-ins, inmate classification and risk assessment, commissary, property and medical processing, automation of statistics, and state and federal reporting.
Our civil processing solutions manage civil process needs from document receipt through service, payment process and final closeout. We also have a mobile electronic citation solution through which law enforcement officers can easily enter citation information in a mobile device, which is automatically uploaded into the court or public safety records management systems, rather than hand-writing citations that must be re-entered into the systems.
Property Appraisal and Tax
We provide systems and software that automate the appraisal and assessment of real and personal property, including record keeping, mass appraisal, inquiry and protest tracking, appraisal and tax roll generation, tax statement processing, and electronic state-level reporting. These systems are image and video-enabled to facilitate the storage of and access to the many property-related documents and for the online storage of digital photographs of properties for use in defending values in protest situations. Other related tax applications are available for agencies that bill and collect taxes, including cities, counties, school tax offices, and special taxing and collection agencies. These systems support billing, collections, lock box operations, mortgage company electronic payments, and various reporting requirements.
Planning, Regulatory and Maintenance
Our planning, regulatory and maintenance software solutions are designed for public sector agencies such as community development, planning, building, code enforcement, tax and revenues, public works, transportation, land control, environmental, fire safety, storm water management, regulatory controls and engineering. These solutions help public sector agencies better manage their day-to-day business functions while streamlining and automating the many aspects of their land management, permitting and planning systems. Our mobile solutions extend automation to the field and Web access brings online services to citizens 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
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Land and Vital Records Management
We also offer a number of specialized software applications designed to help local governments enhance and automate operations involving records and document management. These systems record, scan and index information for the many documents maintained by local governments, such as deeds, mortgages, liens, UCC financing statements and vital records (birth, death and marriage certificates). These applications include fully integrated imaging systems with batch and scan processing capabilities and fully integrated receipting and cashiering systems, as well as Web-enabled public access.
Our content management solutions allow state and local governments and school districts to capture, deliver, manage and archive electronic information. These solutions streamline the flow of digital information throughout the organization to increase efficiency by transforming paper forms and documents into electronic images that drive key business processes.
Data and Insights
Our data and insights solutions make existing government data discoverable, usable, and actionable for government workers and the people they serve. The data and insights solution includes a data-as-a-service platform and cloud applications for open data and citizen engagement, exclusively for city, county, state, and federal government organizations. Our data and insights solutions allow government to analyze, visualize, and securely share data across multiple departments and programs. These solutions deliver data-driven innovation and cost-savings by bringing together disparate systems and leveraging the cloud to dramatically enhance the effectiveness of government programs, to improve quality of life for residents, to positively impact local economies, and to achieve excellence in government operations.
Case Management and Business Process Management
We offer a low-code application development platform solution for case management and business process management. Whether based on premises or in the cloud, its Data-First™ approach allows the application to be implemented immediately and configured continuously, enabling clients to get to work quickly while keeping costs low. Our low code application platform allows government agencies the ability to track, collaborate, and report on the data that drives activities forward.
Subscription-Based Services
Subscription-based revenue is primarily derived from our SaaS arrangements, which generally utilize the Tyler private cloud, as well as our transaction-based offerings such as e-filing solutions, online dispute resolution solutions, and online payment services.
We are able to provide the majority of our software products through our SaaS model. The clients who choose this model typically do not wish to maintain, update and operate these systems or make up-front capital expenditures to implement these advanced technologies. The contract terms for these arrangements range from one to 10 years but are typically contracted for initial periods of three to five years. The majority of our SaaS or hosting arrangements include additional professional services as well as maintenance and support services. In certain arrangements, the client may also acquire a license to the software.
As part of our subscription-based services, we provide e-filing solutions that simplify the filing and management of court related documents for courts and law offices. Revenues for e-filing are included in subscription-based revenues and are derived from transaction fees and in some cases, fixed fee arrangements. Other transaction-based fees primary relate to online payment services, which are offered with the assistance of third-party vendors.
Software Services
We provide a variety of professional IT services to clients who utilize our software products. Virtually all of our clients contract with us for installation, training, and data conversion services in connection with their implementation of Tyler’s software solutions. The complete implementation process for a typical system includes planning, design, data conversion, set-up and testing. At the culmination of the implementation process, a data implementation team is generally onsite at the client’s facility to ensure the smooth go-live with the new system. Implementation fees are charged separately to clients on either a fixed-fee or hourly charge basis, depending on the contract.
Both in connection with the installation of new systems and on an ongoing basis, we provide extensive training services and programs related to our products and services. Training can be provided in our training centers, onsite at clients’ locations, or at meetings and conferences and can be customized to meet clients’ requirements. The vast majority of our clients contract with us for training services, both to improve their employees’ proficiency and productivity and to fully utilize the functionality of our systems. Training services are generally billed on an hourly or daily basis, along with travel and other expenses.
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Maintenance and Support
Following the implementation of our software systems, we provide ongoing software support services to assist our clients in operating the systems and to periodically update the software. Support is provided to clients over the phone or via the Web through help desks staffed by our client support representatives. For more complicated issues, our staff, with the clients' permission, can log on to clients’ systems remotely. We maintain our clients’ software largely through releases that contain improvements and incremental additions of features and functionality, along with updates necessary because of legislative or regulatory changes.
Virtually all of our software clients contract with us for maintenance and support, which provides us with a significant source of recurring revenue. We generally provide maintenance and support for our on-premises clients under annual, or in some cases, multi-year contracts, with a typical fee based on a percentage of the software product’s license fee. These fees can generally be increased on renewal and may also increase as new license fees increase. Maintenance and support fees are generally paid annually in advance. Most maintenance contracts automatically renew unless the client or Tyler gives notice of termination prior to expiration. Similar support is provided to our SaaS clients and is included in their subscription fees, which are classified as subscription-based revenues.
Appraisal Services
We are the nation’s largest provider of property appraisal outsourcing services for local government taxing authorities. These services include
• | The physical inspection of commercial and residential properties |
• | Data collection and processing |
• | Sophisticated computer analyses for property valuation |
• | Preparation of tax rolls |
• | Community education regarding the assessment process |
• | Arbitration between taxpayers and the assessing jurisdiction |
Local government taxing authorities normally reappraise properties from time to time to update values for tax assessment purposes and to maintain equity in the taxing process. In some jurisdictions, law mandates reassessment cycles; in others, they are discretionary. While some taxing jurisdictions perform reappraisals in-house, many local governments outsource this function because of its cyclical nature and because of the specialized knowledge and expertise requirements associated with it. Our appraisal services business unit has operated in this business since 1938.
In some instances, we also provide property tax and/or appraisal software products in connection with appraisal outsourcing projects, while other clients may only engage us to provide appraisal services. Appraisal outsourcing services are somewhat seasonal in nature to the extent that winter weather conditions reduce the productivity of data collection activities in connection with those projects.
STRATEGY
Our objective is to grow our revenue and earnings organically, supplemented by focused strategic acquisitions. The key components of our business strategy are to:
•Provide high quality, value–added products and services to our clients. We compete on the basis of, among other things, delivering to clients our deep domain expertise in local government operations through the highest value products and services in the market. We believe we have achieved a reputation as a premium product and service provider to the local government market.
•Continue to expand our product and service offerings. While we already have what we believe to be the broadest line of software products for local governments, we continually upgrade our core software applications and expand our complementary product and service offerings to respond to technological advancements and the changing needs of our clients. In 2010, we began providing e-filing for courts and law offices, which simplifies the filing and management of court related documents. We believe revenue from e-filing solutions will continue to grow over time as more local and state governments mandate electronic document filings. We also offer solutions that allow the public to access data and conduct transactions with local governments, such as paying traffic tickets, property taxes and utility bills online. We believe that the addition of such features enhances the market appeal of our core products. We have also broadened our offerings of consulting and business process reengineering services.
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•Expand our client base. We seek to establish long-term relationships with new clients primarily through our sales and marketing efforts. While we currently have clients in all 50 states, Canada, the Caribbean, the United Kingdom, Australia, and other international locations, not all of our solutions have achieved nationwide geographic penetration. We intend to continue to expand into new geographic markets by adding sales staff and targeting marketing efforts by solutions in those areas. We also intend to continue to expand our customer base to include more large governments. While our traditional market focus has primarily been on small and mid-sized governments, our increased size and market presence, together with the technological advances and improved scalability of certain of our solutions, are allowing us to achieve increasing success in selling to larger clients. We also expect to expand our presence in international markets by leveraging our leadership position in the United States through the disciplined pursuit of selected opportunities in other countries.
•Expand our existing client relationships. Our existing customer base offers significant opportunities for additional sales of solutions and services that we currently offer, but that existing clients do not fully utilize. Add-on sales to existing clients typically involve lower sales and marketing expenses than sales to new clients.
•Grow recurring revenues. We have a large recurring revenue base from maintenance and support and subscription-based services, which generated revenues of $726.7 million, or 67% of total revenues, in 2019. We have historically experienced very low customer turnover (approximately 2% annually) and recurring revenues continue to grow as the installed customer base increases. Subscription-based revenues have been our fastest growing revenue category over the past five years, increasing from $111.9 million in 2015 to $296.4 million in 2019.
•Maximize economies of scale and take advantage of financial leverage in our business. We seek to build and maintain a larger client base to create economies of scale, enabling us to provide value-added products and services to our clients while expanding our operating margins. Because we sell primarily “off-the-shelf” software, increased sales of the same solutions result in incrementally higher gross margins. In addition, we believe that we have a marketing and administrative infrastructure in place that can be leveraged to accommodate significant long-term growth without proportionately increasing selling, general and administrative expenses.
•Attract and retain highly qualified employees. We believe that the depth and quality of our management and staff is one of our significant strengths, and that the ability to retain such employees is crucial to our continued growth and success. We believe that our stable management team, financial strength and growth opportunities, as well as our leadership position in the local government market, enhance our attractiveness as an employer for highly skilled employees.
•Pursue selected strategic acquisitions. While we expect to primarily grow internally, from time to time we selectively pursue strategic acquisitions that provide us with one or more of the following:
• | New products and services to complement our existing offerings |
• | Entry into new markets related to the public sector |
• | New clients and/or geographic expansion |
•Establish strategic alliances. In October 2019, we announced a strategic collaboration agreement with Amazon Web Services ("AWS") for cloud hosting services. This agreement brings together Tyler, the nation's largest software company exclusively focused on the public sector, and AWS, the broadest and deepest cloud platform. Specifically, the agreement with AWS provides the framework for development, training and collaboration in order to support next-generation applications that have the scalability, resiliency, and security AWS offers. It will assist Tyler in accelerating innovation and the development of strategic initiatives. These initiatives will bring the most advanced cloud-native services to Tyler clients, improving the flow of information and providing a better experience for state, local, and federal governments.
SALES, MARKETING, AND CLIENTS
We market our products and services through direct sales and marketing personnel located throughout the United States. Other in-house sales staff focus on add-on sales, professional services and support.
Sales of new systems are typically generated from referrals from other government offices or departments within a county or municipality, referrals from other local governments, relationships established between sales representatives and county or local officials, contacts at trade shows, direct mailings, and direct contact from prospects already familiar with us. We are active in numerous national, state, county, and local government associations, and participate in annual meetings, trade shows, and educational events.
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Clients consist primarily of federal, state, county and municipal agencies, school districts and other local government offices. In counties, clients include the auditor, treasurer, tax assessor/collector, county clerk, district clerk, county and district court judges, probation officers, sheriff, and county appraiser. At municipal government sites, clients include directors from various departments, including administration, finance, utilities, public works, code enforcement, personnel, purchasing, taxation, municipal court, and police. Contracts for software products and services are generally implemented over periods of three months to one year, although some complex implementations may span multiple years, with annually renewing maintenance and support update agreements thereafter. Although either the client or we can terminate these agreements, historically almost all support and maintenance agreements are automatically renewed annually. During 2019, approximately 40% of our revenue was attributable to ongoing support and maintenance agreements.
COMPETITION
We compete with numerous local, regional, and national firms that provide or offer some or many of the same solutions and services that we provide. Many of these competitors are smaller companies that may be able to offer less expensive solutions than ours. Many of these firms operate within a specific geographic area and/or in a narrow product or service niche. We also compete with national firms, some of which have greater financial and technical resources than we do, including Oracle Corporation, Infor, SAP AG, Workday, Inc., CentralSquare Technologies, Thomson Reuters Corporation, Motorola Solutions, Inc., Axon Enterprise, Inc., and Constellation Software, Inc. In addition, we sometimes compete with consulting and systems integration firms, which develop custom systems, primarily for larger governments. We also occasionally compete with central internal information service departments of local governments, which requires us to persuade the end-user department to discontinue service by its own personnel and outsource the service to us.
We compete on a variety of factors, including price, service, name recognition, reputation, technological capabilities, and the ability to modify existing products and services to accommodate the individual requirements of the client. Our ability to offer an integrated system of applications for several offices or departments is often a competitive advantage. Local governmental units often are required to seek competitive proposals through a request for proposal process and some prospective clients use consultants to assist them with the proposal and vendor selection process.
SUPPLIERS
Substantially all of the computers, peripherals, printers, scanners, operating system software, office automation software, and other equipment necessary for the implementation and provision of our software systems and services are presently available from several third-party sources. Hardware is purchased on original equipment manufacturer or distributor terms at discounts from retail. We have not experienced any significant supply problems.
BACKLOG
At December 31, 2019, our revenue backlog was approximately $1.46 billion, compared to $1.25 billion at December 31, 2018. The backlog represents signed contracts under which the revenue has not been recognized as of year-end. Approximately $720.6 million, or 49%, of the backlog is expected to be recognized during 2020.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, PROPRIETARY RIGHTS, AND LICENSES
We regard certain features of our internal operations, software, and documentation as confidential and proprietary and rely on a combination of contractual restrictions, trade secret laws and other measures to protect our proprietary intellectual property. We generally do not rely on patents. We believe that, due to the rapid rate of technological change in the computer software industry, trade secrets and copyright protection are less significant than factors such as knowledge, ability and experience of our employees, frequent product enhancements, and timeliness and quality of support services. We typically license our software products under non-exclusive license agreements, which are generally non-transferable and have a perpetual term.
EMPLOYEES
At December 31, 2019, we had 5,368 employees. None of our employees are represented by a labor union or are subject to collective bargaining agreements. We consider our relations with our employees to be positive.
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INTERNET WEBSITE AND AVAILABILITY OF PUBLIC FILINGS
We file annual, quarterly, current and other reports, proxy statements and other information with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, pursuant to the Securities Exchange Act. You may read and copy any materials we file with the SEC at the SEC’s Public Reference Room by calling the SEC at 1-800-732-0330. The SEC maintains an Internet site that contains reports, proxy and other information statements, and other information regarding issuers, including us, that file electronically with the SEC. The address of this site is http://www.sec.gov.
We also maintain a website at www.tylertech.com. We make available free of charge through this site our Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Forms 4 and 5, Current Reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to the SEC. In addition, copies of our annual report will be made available, free of charge, upon written request.
Our “Code of Business Conduct and Ethics” is also available on our website. We intend to satisfy the disclosure requirements regarding amendments to, or waivers from, a provision of our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics by posting such information on our website.
ITEM 1A. | RISK FACTORS. |
An investment in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. Investors evaluating our company should carefully consider the factors described below and all other information contained in this Annual Report. Any of the following factors could materially harm our business, operating results, and financial condition. Additional factors and uncertainties not currently known to us or that we currently consider immaterial could also harm our business, operating results, and financial condition. This section should be read in conjunction with the Financial Statements and related Notes and Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations included in this Annual Report. We may make forward-looking statements from time to time, both written and oral. We undertake no obligation to revise or publicly release the results of any revisions to these forward-looking statements. Our actual results may differ materially from those projected in any such forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including those set forth below and elsewhere in this Annual Report.
Risks Associated with Our Software Products
Cyber-attacks and security vulnerabilities can disrupt our business and harm our competitive position.
Threats to IT security can take a variety of forms. Individuals and groups of hackers, and sophisticated organizations including state-sponsored organizations, may take steps that pose threats to our clients and our IT. They may, for example, develop and deploy malicious software to attack our products and services and/or gain access to our networks and data centers, or act in a coordinated manner to launch distributed denial of service or other coordinated attacks. Cyber threats are constantly evolving, thereby increasing the difficulty of detecting and successfully defending against them. Cyber threats can have cascading impacts that unfold with increasing speed across our internal networks and systems and those of our partners and clients. Breaches of our network or data security could disrupt the security of our internal systems and business applications, impair our ability to provide services to our clients and protect the privacy of their data, result in product development delays, compromise confidential or technical business information harming our competitive position, result in theft or misuse of our intellectual property or other assets, require us to allocate more resources to improve technologies, or otherwise adversely affect our business. Our business policies and internal security controls may not keep pace with these evolving threats.
Disclosure of personally identifiable information and/or other sensitive client data could result in liability and harm our reputation.
We store and process increasingly large amounts of personally identifiable information and other confidential information of our clients. The continued occurrence of high-profile data breaches provides evidence of an external environment increasingly hostile to information security. Despite our efforts to improve security controls, it is possible our security controls over personal data, our training of employees on data security, and other practices we follow may not prevent the improper disclosure of sensitive client data that we store and manage. Disclosure of personally identifiable information and/or other sensitive client data could result in liability and harm our reputation.
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Hosting services for some of our products are dependent upon the uninterrupted operation of data centers.
A material portion of our business is provided through software hosting services. These hosting services depend on the uninterrupted operation of data centers and the ability to protect computer equipment and information stored in these data centers against damage that may be caused by natural disaster, fire, power loss, telecommunications or Internet failure, acts of terrorism, unauthorized intrusion, computer viruses, and other similar damaging events. If any of our data centers were to become inoperable for an extended period, we might be unable to fulfill our contractual commitments. Although we take what we believe to be reasonable precautions against such occurrences, we can give no assurance that damaging events such as these will not result in a prolonged interruption of our services, which could result in client dissatisfaction, loss of revenue, and damage to our business.
We run the risk of errors or defects with new products or enhancements to existing products.
Our software products are complex and may contain errors or defects, especially when first introduced or when new versions or enhancements are released. Any such defects could result in a loss of revenues or delay market acceptance. Our license agreements typically contain provisions designed to limit our exposure to potential liability. However, it is possible we may not always successfully negotiate such provisions in our client contracts or the limitation of liability provisions may not be effective due to existing or future federal, state, or local laws, ordinances, or judicial decisions. Although we maintain errors and omissions and general liability insurance, and we try to structure contracts to limit liability, we cannot assure you that a successful claim could not be made or would not have a material adverse effect on our future operating results.
We must timely respond to technological changes to be competitive.
The market for our products is characterized by technological change, evolving industry standards in software technology, changes in client requirements, and frequent new product introductions and enhancements. The introduction of products embodying new technologies and the emergence of new industry standards can render existing products obsolete and unmarketable. As a result, our future success will depend, in part, upon our ability to enhance existing products and develop and introduce new products that keep pace with technological developments, satisfy increasingly sophisticated client requirements, and achieve market acceptance. We cannot assure you that we will successfully identify new product opportunities and develop and bring new products to market in a timely and cost-effective manner. The products, capabilities, or technologies developed by others could also render our products or technologies obsolete or noncompetitive. Our business may be adversely affected if we are unable to develop or acquire new software products or develop enhancements to existing products on a timely and cost-effective basis, or if such new products or enhancements do not achieve market acceptance.
We may be unable to protect our proprietary rights.
Many of our product and service offerings incorporate proprietary information, trade secrets, know-how, and other intellectual property rights. We rely on a combination of contracts, copyrights, and trade secret laws to establish and protect our proprietary rights in our technology. We cannot be certain that we have taken all appropriate steps to deter misappropriation of our intellectual property. There has also been an apparent evolution in the legal standards and regulations courts and the U.S. patent office may apply in favorably evaluating software patent rights. We are not currently involved in any material intellectual property litigation; however, we may be a party to such litigation in the future to protect our proprietary information, trade secrets, know-how, and other intellectual property rights. We cannot assure you that third parties will not assert infringement or misappropriation claims against us with respect to current or future products. Any claims or litigation, with or without merit, could be time-consuming, costly, and a diversion to management. Any such claims and litigation could also cause product shipment delays or require us to enter into royalty or licensing arrangements. Such royalty or licensing arrangements, if required, may not be available on terms acceptable to us, if at all. Therefore, litigation to defend and enforce our intellectual property rights could have a material adverse effect on our business, regardless of the final outcome of such litigation.
Clients may elect to terminate our maintenance contracts and manage operations internally.
It is possible that our clients may elect to not renew maintenance contracts for our software, trying instead to maintain and operate the software themselves using their perpetual license rights (excluding software applications that we provide on a hosted or cloud basis). Alternatively, clients may elect to drop maintenance on certain modules that they ultimately decide not to use. This could adversely affect our revenues and profits. Additionally, they may inadvertently allow our intellectual property or other information to fall into the hands of third parties, including our competitors, which could adversely affect our business.
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Material portions of our business require the Internet infrastructure to be reliable.
Part of our future success continues to depend on the use of the Internet as a means to access public information and perform transactions electronically, including, for example, electronic filing of court documents. This in part requires ongoing maintenance of the Internet infrastructure, especially to prevent interruptions in service, as well as additional development of that infrastructure. This requires a reliable network backbone with the necessary speed, data capacity, security, and timely development of complementary products for providing reliable Internet access and services. If this infrastructure fails to be sufficiently developed or be adequately maintained, our business would be harmed because users may not be able to access our government portals.
Risks Associated with Selling Products and Services into the Public Sector Marketplace
Selling products and services into the public sector poses unique challenges.
We derive substantially all of our revenues from sales of software and services to state, county, and city governments, other federal or municipal agencies, and other public entities. We expect that sales to public sector clients will continue to account for substantially all of our revenues in the future. We face many risks and challenges associated with contracting with governmental entities, including
• | Resource limitations caused by budgetary constraints, which may provide for a termination of executed contracts due to a lack of future funding |
• | Long and complex sales cycles |
• | Contract payments at times being subject to achieving implementation milestones, and we may have differences with clients as to whether milestones have been achieved |
• | Political resistance to the concept of contracting with third parties to provide IT solutions |
• | Legislative changes affecting a local government’s authority to contract with third parties |
• | Varying bid procedures and internal processes for bid acceptance |
• | Various other political factors, including changes in governmental administrations and personnel |
Each of these risks is outside our control. If we fail to adequately adapt to these risks and uncertainties, our financial performance could be adversely affected.
A prolonged economic slowdown could harm our operations.
A prolonged economic slowdown or recession could reduce demand for our software products and services. Governments may face financial pressures that could in turn affect our growth rate and profitability in the future. There is no assurance that government spending levels will be unaffected by declining or stagnant general economic conditions, and if budget shortfalls occur, they may negatively impact government IT spending and could adversely affect our business.
The open bidding process creates uncertainty in predicting future contract awards.
Many governmental agencies purchase products and services through an open bidding process. Generally, a governmental entity will publish an established list of requirements requesting potential vendors to propose solutions for the established requirements. To respond successfully to these requests for proposals, we must accurately estimate our cost structure for servicing a proposed contract, the time required to establish operations for the proposed client, and the likely terms of any other third-party proposals submitted. We cannot guarantee that we will win any bids in the future through the request for proposal process, or that any winning bids will ultimately result in contracts on favorable terms. Our failure to secure contracts through the open bidding process, or to secure such contracts on favorable terms, may adversely affect our revenue and gross margins.
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We face significant competition from other vendors and potential new entrants into our markets.
We believe we are a leading provider of integrated solutions for the public sector. However, we face competition from a variety of software vendors that offer products and services similar to those offered by us, as well as from companies offering to develop custom software. We compete based on a number of factors, including
• | The attractiveness of our “evergreen” business strategy |
• | The breadth, depth, and quality of our product and service offerings |
• | The ability to modify our offerings to accommodate particular clients’ needs |
• | Technological innovation |
• | Name recognition, reputation and references |
• | Price |
• | Our financial strength and stability |
We believe our market is highly fragmented with a large number of competitors that vary in size, product platform, and product scope. Our competitors include consulting firms, publicly held companies that focus on selected segments of the public sector market, and a significant number of smaller, privately held companies. Certain competitors have greater technical, marketing, and financial resources than we do. We cannot assure you that such competitors will not develop products or offer services that are superior to our products or services or that achieve greater market acceptance.
We also compete with internal, centralized IT departments of governmental entities, which requires us to persuade the end-user to stop the internal service and outsource to us. In addition, our clients and prospective clients could elect to provide information management services internally through new or existing departments, which could reduce the market for our services.
We could face additional competition as other established and emerging companies enter the public sector software application market and new products and technologies are introduced. Increased competition could result in pricing pressure, fewer client orders, reduced gross margins, and loss of market share. Current and potential competitors may make strategic acquisitions or establish cooperative relationships among themselves or with third parties, thereby increasing the ability of their products to address the needs of our prospective clients. It is possible that new competitors or alliances may emerge and rapidly gain significant market share. We cannot assure you that we will be able to compete successfully against current and future competitors, and the failure to do so would have a material adverse effect upon our business.
Fixed-price contracts may affect our profits.
Some of our contracts are structured on a fixed-price basis, which can lead to various risks, including
• | The failure to accurately estimate the resources and time required for an engagement |
• | The failure to effectively manage our clients’ expectations regarding the scope of services delivered for a fixed fee |
• | The failure to timely and satisfactorily complete fixed-price engagements within budget |
If we do not adequately assess and manage these and other risks, we may be subject to cost overruns and penalties, which may harm our financial performance.
Changes in the insurance markets may affect our business.
Some of our clients, primarily those for our property appraisal services, require that we secure performance bonds before they will select us as their vendor. In addition, we have in the past been required to provide letters of credit as security for the issuance of a performance bond. We cannot guarantee that we will be able to secure such performance bonds in the future on terms that are favorable to us, if at all. Our inability to obtain performance bonds on favorable terms or at all could impact our future ability to win some contract awards, particularly large property appraisal services contracts, which could negatively impact revenues. In addition, the general insurance markets may experience volatility, which may lead to future increases in our general and administrative expenses and negatively impact our operating results.
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Risks Associated with Our Periodic Results and Stock Price
Fluctuations in quarterly revenue could adversely impact our operating results and stock price.
Our revenues and operating results are difficult to predict and may fluctuate substantially from quarter to quarter for a variety of reasons, including
• | Prospective clients’ contracting decisions are often made in the last few weeks of a quarter |
• | The size of license transactions can vary significantly |
• | Clients may unexpectedly postpone or cancel procurement processes due to changes in strategic priorities, project objectives, budget, or personnel |
• | Client purchasing processes vary significantly and a client’s internal approval, expenditure authorization, and contract negotiation processes can be difficult and time consuming to complete, even after selection of a vendor |
• | The number, timing, and significance of software product enhancements and new software product announcements by us and our competitors may affect purchase decisions |
• | We may have to defer revenues under our revenue recognition policies and GAAP |
• | Clients may elect subscription-based arrangements, which result in lower software license revenues in the initial year as compared to traditional, on-premise software license arrangements, but generate higher overall subscription-based revenues over the term of the contract |
In each fiscal quarter, our expense levels, operating costs, and hiring plans are based to some extent on projections of future revenues and are relatively fixed. If our actual revenues fall below expectations, we could experience a reduction in operating results. Also, if actual revenues or earnings for any given quarter fall below expectations, it may lead to a decline in our stock price.
Increases in service revenue as a percentage of total revenues could decrease overall margins.
We realize lower margins on software and appraisal service revenues than on license revenue. The majority of our contracts include both software licenses and software services. Therefore, an increase in the percentage of software service and appraisal service revenue compared to license revenue could have a detrimental impact on our overall gross margins and could adversely affect operating results.
Increases in investment in research and development could decrease overall margins.
An important element of our corporate strategy is to continue to dedicate a significant amount of resources to research and development and related product and service opportunities both through internal investments and the acquisition of intellectual property from companies that we have acquired. We believe that we must continue to dedicate a significant amount of resources to our research and development efforts to maintain our competitive position. Because we expense the majority of our research and development costs, increased investment could adversely affect operating margins.
Our stock price may be volatile.
The market price of our common stock may be volatile. Examples of factors that may significantly impact our stock price include
• | Actual or anticipated fluctuations in our operating results |
• | Announcements of technological innovations, new products, or new contracts by us or our competitors |
• | Developments with respect to patents, copyrights, or other proprietary rights |
• | Conditions and trends in the software and other technology industries |
• | Adoption of new accounting standards |
• | Changes in financial estimates by securities analysts |
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• | General market conditions and other factors |
In addition, the stock market has from time to time experienced significant price and volume fluctuations that have particularly affected the market prices of technology company stocks and may in the future adversely affect the market price of our stock. Sometimes, securities class action litigation is filed following periods of volatility in the market price of a particular company’s securities. We cannot assure you that similar litigation will not occur in the future with respect to us. Such litigation could result in substantial costs and a diversion of management’s attention and resources, which could have a material adverse effect upon our financial performance.
Our financial outlook may not be realized.
From time to time, in press releases and otherwise, we may publish forecasts or other forward-looking statements regarding our results, including estimated revenues or earnings. Any forecast of our future performance reflects various assumptions. These assumptions are subject to significant uncertainties, and as a matter of course, any number of them may prove to be incorrect. Further, the achievement of any forecast depends on numerous risks and other factors (including those described in this discussion), many of which are beyond our control. As a result, we cannot be certain that our performance will be consistent with any management forecasts or that the variation from such forecasts will not be material and adverse. Current and potential stockholders are cautioned not to base their entire analysis of our business and prospects upon isolated predictions, but instead are encouraged to utilize our entire publicly available mix of historical and forward-looking information, as well as other available information regarding us, our products and services, and the software industry when evaluating our prospective results of operations.
Risks Associated with Our Growth Strategy and Other General Corporate Risks
We may experience difficulties in executing our acquisition strategy.
A material portion of our historical growth has resulted from strategic acquisitions. Although our focus is on internal growth, we will continue to identify and pursue strategic acquisitions with suitable candidates. These transactions involve significant challenges and risks, including risks that a transaction does not advance our business strategy; that we do not achieve the expected return on our investment; that we have difficulty integrating business systems and technology; that we have difficulty retaining or integrating new employees; that the transactions distract management from our other businesses; that we acquire unforeseen liabilities; and other unanticipated events. Our future success will depend, in part, on our ability to successfully integrate future acquisitions into our operations. It may take longer than expected to realize the full benefits of these transactions, such as increased revenue, enhanced efficiencies, or increased market share, or the benefits may be ultimately less than we expected. Although we conduct due diligence reviews of potential acquisition candidates, we may not identify all material liabilities or risks related to acquisition candidates. There can be no assurance that any such strategic acquisitions will be accomplished on favorable terms or will result in profitable operations.
Our failure to properly manage growth could adversely affect our business.
We continue to expand our operations by pursuing existing and potential market opportunities. This growth places significant demands on management and operational resources. In order to manage growth effectively, we must implement and improve our operational systems, procedures, and controls on a timely basis. If we fail to implement these systems, our business may be materially adversely affected.
We may be unable to hire, integrate, and retain qualified personnel.
Our continued success will depend upon the availability and performance of our key management, sales, marketing, client support, and product development personnel. The loss of key management or technical personnel could adversely affect us. We believe that our continued success will depend in large part upon our ability to attract, integrate, and retain such personnel. We have at times experienced and continue to experience challenges, in recruiting qualified personnel. Competition for qualified software development, sales, and other personnel is intense, and we cannot assure you that we will be successful in attracting and retaining such personnel.
Compliance with changing regulation of corporate governance may result in additional expenses.
Changing laws, regulations, and standards relating to corporate governance, compliance, and public disclosure can create uncertainty for public companies. The costs required to comply with such evolving laws are difficult to predict. To maintain high standards of corporate governance, compliance, and public disclosure, we intend to invest all reasonably necessary resources to comply with evolving standards. This investment may result in an unforeseen increase in general and administrative expenses and a diversion of management’s time and attention from revenue-generating activities, which may harm our operating results.
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We don’t foresee paying dividends on our common stock.
We have not declared nor paid a cash dividend since we entered the business of providing software solutions and services to the public sector in 1998. We intend to retain earnings for use in the operation and expansion of our business. We do not anticipate paying any cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future.
Provisions in our certificate of incorporation, bylaws, and Delaware law could deter takeover attempts.
Our board of directors may issue up to 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock and may determine the price, rights, preferences, privileges, and restrictions, including voting and conversion rights, of these preferred shares. These determinations may be made without any further vote or action by our stockholders. The rights of the holders of our common stock will be subject to, and may be adversely affected by, the rights of the holders of any preferred stock that may be issued in the future. The issuance of preferred stock may make it more difficult for a third-party to acquire a majority of our outstanding voting stock. In addition, some provisions of our Certificate of Incorporation, Bylaws, and the Delaware General Corporation Law could also delay, prevent, or make more difficult a merger, tender offer, or proxy contest involving us.
ITEM 1B. | UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS. |
Not applicable.
ITEM 2. | PROPERTIES. |
We occupy a total of approximately 1.2 million square feet of office space, of which approximately 746,000 square feet is in various office facilities we own. We own or lease offices for our major operations in the states of Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Georgia, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, Washington D.C., Wisconsin, Ontario and British Columbia, Canada and the Philippines.
ITEM 3. | LEGAL PROCEEDINGS. |
Other than routine litigation incidental to our business, there are no material legal proceedings pending to which we are party or to which any of our properties are subject.
ITEM 4. | SUBMISSION OF MATTERS TO A VOTE OF SECURITY HOLDERS. |
Not applicable.
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PART II
ITEM 5. | MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES. |
Our common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “TYL.” At December 31, 2019, we had approximately 1,215 stockholders of record. Most of our stockholders hold their shares in street name; therefore, there are substantially more than 1,215 beneficial owners of our common stock.
We did not pay any cash dividends in 2019 or 2018. Our bank credit agreement contains restrictions on the payment of cash dividends. We intend to retain earnings for use in the operation and expansion of our business and do not anticipate paying a cash dividend in the foreseeable future.
The following table summarizes certain information related to our stock incentive plan, restricted stock units and our employee stock purchase plan. There are no warrants or rights related to our equity compensation plans as of December 31, 2019.
Number of securities to be issued upon exercise of outstanding options, warrants, purchase rights and vesting of restricted stock units as of December 31, 2019 | Weighted average exercise price of outstanding options and unvested restricted stock units | Number of securities remaining available for future issuance under equity compensation plans (excluding securities reflected in initial column as of December 31, 2019) | |||||||
Plan Category | |||||||||
Equity compensation plans approved by security shareholders: | |||||||||
2018 Incentive Stock Plan | 4,052,461 | $ | 155.92 | 3,097,303 | |||||
Employee Stock Purchase Plan | 9,681 | 255.02 | 701,837 | ||||||
Equity compensation plans not approved by security shareholders | — | — | — | ||||||
4,062,142 | $ | 156.15 | 3,799,140 | ||||||
As of December 31, 2019, we had authorization to repurchase up to approximately 2.6 million additional shares of Tyler common stock. During 2019, we purchased approximately 72,000 shares of our common stock for an aggregate purchase price of $14.3 million.
A summary of the repurchase activity during 2019 is as follows:
Period | Total number of shares repurchased | Additional number of shares authorized that may be repurchased | Average price paid per share | Maximum number of shares that may be repurchased under current authorization | |||||||||
Three months ended March 31 | 71,793 | 1,500,000 | $ | 199.03 | 2,620,925 | ||||||||
Three months ended June 30 | — | — | — | 2,620,925 | |||||||||
Three months ended September 30 | — | — | — | 2,620,925 | |||||||||
October 1 through October 31 | — | — | — | 2,620,925 | |||||||||
November 1 through November 30 | — | — | — | 2,620,925 | |||||||||
December 1 through December 31 | — | — | — | 2,620,925 | |||||||||
71,793 | 1,500,000 | $ | 199.03 | ||||||||||
In February 2019, our board of directors authorized the repurchase of an additional 1.5 million of Tyler common stock. The repurchase program, which was approved by our board of directors, was announced in October 2002 and was amended at various times from 2003 through 2019. There is no expiration date specified for the authorization, and we intend to repurchase stock under the program from time to time.
As of February 19, 2020, we had remaining authorization to repurchase up to 2.6 million additional shares of our common stock.
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Performance Graph
The following Performance Graph and related information shall not be deemed “soliciting material” or to be “filed” with the Securities and Exchange Commission, nor shall such information be incorporated by reference into any future filing under the Securities Act of 1933 or Securities Exchange Act of 1934, each as amended, except to the extent that we specifically incorporate it by reference into such filing.
The following table compares total shareholder returns for Tyler over the last five years to the Standard and Poor’s 500 Stock Index and the Standard and Poor’s 600 Information Technology Index assuming a $100 investment made on December 31, 2014. Each of the three measures of cumulative total return assumes reinvestment of dividends. The stock performance shown on the graph below is not necessarily indicative of future price performance.
Company / Index | 12/31/14 | 12/31/15 | 12/31/16 | 12/31/17 | 12/31/18 | 12/31/19 | |||||||||||
Tyler Technologies, Inc. | 100 | 159.28 | 130.46 | 161.78 | 169.79 | 274.14 | |||||||||||
S&P 500 Stock Index | 100 | 101.38 | 113.51 | 138.29 | 132.23 | 173.86 | |||||||||||
S&P 600 Information Technology Index | 100 | 104.65 | 140.08 | 154.48 | 140.68 | 196.38 | |||||||||||
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ITEM 6. | SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA. |
FOR THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, | |||||||||||||||||||
2019 (a) | 2018 | 2017 (b),(c) | 2016 (b) | 2015 | |||||||||||||||
STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS DATA: | |||||||||||||||||||
Revenues | $ | 1,086,427 | $ | 935,282 | $ | 840,899 | $ | 759,880 | $ | 591,022 | |||||||||
Cost and expenses: | |||||||||||||||||||
Cost of revenues | 569,527 | 495,704 | 441,522 | 400,692 | 313,835 | ||||||||||||||
Selling, general and administrative expenses | 257,746 | 207,605 | 175,914 | 165,176 | 133,317 | ||||||||||||||
Research and development expense | 81,342 | 63,264 | 47,324 | 43,154 | 29,922 | ||||||||||||||
Amortization of customer and trade name intangibles | 21,445 | 16,217 | 13,381 | 13,202 | 5,905 | ||||||||||||||
Operating income | 156,367 | 152,492 | 162,758 | 137,656 | 108,043 | ||||||||||||||
Other income, net | 3,471 | 3,378 | 698 | (1,998 | ) | 381 | |||||||||||||
Income before income taxes | 159,838 | 155,870 | 163,456 | 135,658 | 108,424 | ||||||||||||||
Income tax (benefit) provision (c) | 13,311 | 8,408 | (6,115 | ) | 21,957 | 43,555 | |||||||||||||
Net income | 146,527 | 147,462 | 169,571 | 113,701 | 64,869 | ||||||||||||||
Net earnings per diluted share | $ | 3.65 | $ | 3.68 | $ | 4.32 | $ | 2.92 | $ | 1.77 | |||||||||
Weighted average diluted shares | 40,105 | 40,123 | 39,246 | 38,961 | 36,552 | ||||||||||||||
STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS DATA: | |||||||||||||||||||
Cash flows provided by operating activities | $ | 254,720 | $ | 250,203 | $ | 195,755 | $ | 191,859 | $ | 134,327 | |||||||||
Cash flows used by investing activities | (245,015 | ) | (238,255 | ) | (85,395 | ) | (50,720 | ) | (398,459 | ) | |||||||||
Cash flows (used) provided by financing activities | 88,698 | (63,595 | ) | 39,415 | 138,075 | 91,052 | |||||||||||||
BALANCE SHEET DATA: | |||||||||||||||||||
Total assets | $ | 2,191,614 | $ | 1,790,963 | $ | 1,611,351 | $ | 1,378,502 | $ | 1,356,570 | |||||||||
Revolving line of credit | — | — | — | 10,000 | 66,000 | ||||||||||||||
Shareholders' equity | 1,617,058 | 1,324,846 | 1,191,736 | 934,540 | 858,857 | ||||||||||||||
(a) Reflects the impact of the adoption of Accounting Standards Update ("ASU") ASU No. 2016-02, Leases ("Topic 842") in fiscal year 2019. Refer to Note - 1 "Summary of Significant Accounting Policies" for further discussion.
(b) Reflects the impact of the adoption of ASU No. 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers in fiscal year 2018.
(c) 2017 includes the significant impact of the enactment of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ("Tax Act"). The most significant impact of the Tax Act to us is the reduction in the U.S. federal corporate income tax rate from 35% to 21%. The impact of the rate reduction on our 2017 income tax provision is a $26.0 million tax benefit due to the remeasurement of deferred tax assets and liabilities.
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ITEM 7. | MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS. |
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This document contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that are not historical in nature and typically address future or anticipated events, trends, expectations or beliefs with respect to our financial condition, results of operations or business. Forward-looking statements often contain words such as “believes,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “foresees,” “forecasts,” “estimates,” “plans,” “intends,” “continues,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “projects,” “might,” “could” or other similar words or phrases. Similarly, statements that describe our business strategy, outlook, objectives, plans, intentions or goals also are forward-looking statements. We believe there is a reasonable basis for our forward-looking statements, but they are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties and actual results could differ materially from the expectations and beliefs reflected in the forward-looking statements. We presently consider the following to be among the important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations and beliefs: (1) changes in the budgets or regulatory environments of our clients, primarily local and state governments, that could negatively impact information technology spending; (2) our ability to protect client information from security breaches and provide uninterrupted operations of data centers; (3) our ability to achieve growth or operational synergies through the integration of acquired businesses, while avoiding unanticipated costs and disruptions to existing operations; (4) material portions of our business require the Internet infrastructure to be adequately maintained; (5) our ability to achieve our financial forecasts due to various factors, including project delays by our clients, reductions in transaction size, fewer transactions, delays in delivery of new products or releases or a decline in our renewal rates for service agreements; (6) general economic, political and market conditions; (7) technological and market risks associated with the development of new products or services or of new versions of existing or acquired products or services; (8) competition in the industry in which we conduct business and the impact of competition on pricing, client retention and pressure for new products or services; (9) the ability to attract and retain qualified personnel and dealing with the loss or retirement of key members of management or other key personnel; and (10) costs of compliance and any failure to comply with government and stock exchange regulations. A detailed discussion of these factors and other risks that affect our business are described in Item 1A, “Risk Factors.” We expressly disclaim any obligation to publicly update or revise our forward-looking statements.
OVERVIEW
General
We provide integrated information management solutions and services for the public sector, with a focus on local governments. We develop and market a broad line of software products and services to address the IT needs of cities, counties, schools and other local government entities. In addition, we provide professional IT services to our clients, including software and hardware installation, data conversion, training and for certain clients, product modifications, along with continuing maintenance and support for clients using our systems. We also provide subscription-based services such as software as a service (“SaaS”), which primarily utilize the Tyler private cloud, and electronic document filing solutions (“e-filing”), which simplify the filing and management of court related documents. Revenues for e-filing are derived from transaction fees and, in some cases, fixed fee arrangements. Other transaction based fees primary relate to online payment services. We also provide property appraisal outsourcing services for taxing jurisdictions.
Our products generally automate eight major functional areas: (1) financial management and education, (2) courts and justice, (3) public safety, (4) property appraisal and tax, (5) planning, regulatory and maintenance, (6) land and vital records management, (7) data and insights and (8) case management and business process management. We report our results in two segments. The Enterprise Software ("ES") segment provides public sector entities with software systems and services to meet their information technology and automation needs for mission-critical “back-office” functions such as: financial management and education, courts and justice, public safety, planning, regulatory and maintenance, land and vital records management, data and insights and case management and business management processes. The Appraisal and Tax (“A&T”) segment provides systems and software that automate the appraisal and assessment of real and personal property as well as property appraisal outsourcing services for local governments and taxing authorities. Property appraisal outsourcing services include: the physical inspection of commercial and residential properties; data collection and processing; computer analysis for property valuation; preparation of tax rolls; community education; and arbitration between taxpayers and the assessing jurisdiction.
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Our total employee count increased to 5,368 at December 31, 2019, from 4,525 at December 31, 2018.
For the twelve months ended December 31, 2019, total revenues increased 16% compared to the prior year. Excluding the impact of acquisitions, total revenues increased 8% compared to prior year. Revenues from acquisitions contributed 8% of growth for the twelve months ended December 31, 2019.
Subscriptions revenue grew 34% for the twelve months ended December 31, 2019, due to a gradual shift toward cloud-based, software as a service business, as well as continued strong growth in our e-filing revenues from courts and other transaction-based revenues. Excluding the impact of acquisitions, subscriptions revenue increased 26% for the twelve months ended December 31, 2019.
Our backlog at December 31, 2019 was $1.46 billion, a 17% increase from last year.
Recent Acquisitions
On October 30, 2019, we acquired certain assets of Courthouse Technologies, Ltd ("CHT"), an industry-leading provider of jury management systems that offers a fully integrated, end-to-end software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution to manage all facets of juror management, from source list generation to juror processing and payment. The total purchase price was approximately $20.5 million of which $19.1 million was paid in cash and approximately $1.4 million was accrued for working capital and indemnity holdbacks, subject to certain post-closing adjustments.
On February 28, 2019, we acquired all of the capital stock of MP Holdings Parent, Inc. dba MicroPact ("MicroPact"), a leading provider of commercial off-the-shelf ("COTS") solutions, including entellitrak®, a low-code application development platform for case management and business process management used extensively in the public sector. The total purchase price, net of cash acquired of $2.0 million, was approximately $202.2 million consisting of $198.2 million paid in cash and accrued contingent consideration of $6.0 million, subject to the achievement of certain financial performance objectives.
On February 1, 2019, we acquired all the assets of Civic, LLC ("MyCivic"), a company that provides software solutions to connect communities. The total purchase price was $3.7 million in cash.
As of December 31, 2019, the purchase price allocations for MicroPact and MyCivic are complete. As of December 31, 2019, the purchase price allocation for CHT is not yet complete, therefore the preliminary valuation estimates of fair value assumed at the acquisition date including intangible assets, receivables and deferred revenue are subject to change as the valuation is finalized.
The operating results of all 2019 acquisitions are included with the operating results of the Enterprise Software segment since their date of acquisition. Revenues from MicroPact included in Tyler's results of operations totaled approximately $63.0 million and the net loss was approximately $98,000 for the twelve months ended December 31, 2019. The impact of the MyCivic and CHT acquisitions, individually and in the aggregate, on our operating results, assets and liabilities is not material.
Our balance sheet as of December 31, 2019, reflects the allocation of the purchase price to the assets acquired based on their fair value at the date of each acquisition. The fair value of the assets and liabilities acquired are based on valuations using Level III, unobservable inputs that are supported by little or no market activity and that are significant to the fair value of the assets or liabilities.
We monitor and analyze several key performance indicators in order to manage our business and evaluate our financial and operating performance. These indicators include the following:
Revenues – We derive our revenues from five primary sources: sale of software licenses and royalties; subscription-based arrangements; software services; maintenance; and appraisal services. Subscriptions and maintenance are considered recurring revenue sources and comprised approximately 67% of our revenue in 2019. The number of new SaaS clients and the number of existing clients who convert from our traditional software arrangements to our SaaS model are a significant driver to our business, together with new software license sales and maintenance rate increases. In addition, we also monitor our customer base and churn as we historically have experienced very low customer turnover. During 2019, based on our number of customers, turnover was approximately 2%.
Cost of Revenues and Gross Margins – Our primary cost component is personnel expenses in connection with providing software implementation, subscription-based services, maintenance and support, and appraisal services to our clients. We can improve gross margins by controlling headcount and related costs and by expanding our revenue base, especially from those products and services that produce incremental revenue with minimal incremental cost, such as software licenses and royalties, subscription-based services, and maintenance and support. Our appraisal projects are cyclical in nature, and we often employ appraisal personnel on a short-term basis to coincide with the life of a project. As of December 31, 2019, our total employee count increased to 5,368 from 4,525 at December 31, 2018.
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Selling, General and Administrative (“SG&A”) Expenses – The primary components of SG&A expenses are administrative and sales personnel salaries and commissions, share-based compensation expense, marketing expense, rent and professional fees. Sales commissions typically fluctuate with revenues and share-based compensation expense generally increases as the market price of our stock increases. Other administrative expenses tend to grow at a slower rate than revenues.
Liquidity and Cash Flows – The primary driver of our cash flows is net income. Uses of cash include acquisitions, capital investments in property and equipment and discretionary purchases of treasury stock. Our working capital needs are fairly stable throughout the year with the significant components of cash outflows being payment of personnel expenses offset by cash inflows representing collection of accounts receivable and cash receipts from clients in advance of revenue being earned. In recent years, we have also received significant amounts of cash from employees exercising stock options and contributing to our Employee Stock Purchase Plan.
Balance Sheet – Cash, accounts receivable and days sales outstanding and deferred revenue balances are important indicators of our business.
Adoption of New Lease Accounting Standard
We adopted Topic 842 using the transition method that allows us to initially apply the guidance at the adoption date of January 1, 2019, and recognized a cumulative-effect adjustment to the opening balance of retained earnings in the period of adoption. We used the package of practical expedients that allows us to not reassess: (1) lease classification for any expired or existing leases and (2) initial direct costs for any expired or existing leases. We did not elect to use the hindsight application for evaluating the life of lease arrangements. The impact of adoption is reflected in the financial information herein. For additional details, see Note 1 - Summary of Significant Accounting Policies" to our consolidated financial statements in this report.
The impact of Topic 842 on our consolidated balance sheet beginning January 1, 2019, included the recognition of right-of-use ("ROU") assets and lease liabilities for operating leases, while our accounting for finance leases remained substantially unchanged. We had no finance leases prior to the adoption of Topic 842 and currently do not have any.
Recent Accounting Guidance not yet Adopted
In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-13, Financial Instruments - Credit Losses, (“ASU 2016-13”). ASU 2016-13 changes the impairment model for most financial assets and certain other instruments, including trade and other receivables, held-to-maturity debt securities and loans, and requires entities to use a new forward-looking expected loss model that will result in the earlier recognition of allowance for losses. This update is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019, including interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted for a fiscal year beginning after December 15, 2018, including interim periods within that fiscal year. Entities will apply the standard’s provisions as a cumulative-effect adjustment to retained earnings as of the beginning of the first reporting period in which the guidance is adopted. We will adopt the new standard in the first quarter of 2020 and believe the impact on our consolidated financial statements and results of operations will not be material.
Outlook
The local government software market continues to be active, and our backlog at December 31, 2019 reached $1.46 billion, a 17% increase from last year. We expect to continue to achieve solid growth in revenue and earnings. With our strong financial position and cash flow, we plan to continue to make significant investments in product development to better position us to continue to expand our addressable market and strengthen our competitive position in the public sector software market over the long term.
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CRITICAL ACCOUNTING POLICIES AND ESTIMATES
Our discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations is based upon our financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”). The preparation of these financial statements requires us to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, the reported amounts of revenues, cost of revenues and expenses during the reporting period, and related disclosure of contingencies. The Notes to the Financial Statements included as part of this Annual Report describe our significant accounting policies used in the preparation of the financial statements. Significant items subject to such estimates and assumptions include the application of the progress toward completion methods of revenue recognition, estimated standalone selling price ("SSP") for distinct performance obligations, the carrying amount and estimated useful lives of intangible assets, determination of share-based compensation expense and valuation allowance for receivables. We base our estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions.
We believe the following critical accounting policies require significant judgments and estimates used in the preparation of our financial statements.
Revenue Recognition. We earn revenue from software licenses, royalties, subscription-based services, software services, post-contract customer support (“PCS” or “maintenance”), hardware, and appraisal services. Revenue is recognized upon transfer of control of promised products or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration we expect to receive in exchange for those products or services. We determine revenue recognition through the following steps:
• | Identification of the contract, or contracts, with a customer |
• | Identification of the performance obligations in the contract |
• | Determination of the transaction price |
• | Allocation of the transaction price to the performance obligations in the contract |
• | Recognition of revenue when, or as, we satisfy a performance obligation |
Most of our software arrangements with customers contain multiple performance obligations that range from software licenses, installation, training, and consulting to software modification and customization to meet specific customer needs (services), hosting, and PCS. For these contracts, we account for individual performance obligations separately when they are distinct. We evaluate whether separate performance obligations can be distinct or should be accounted for as one performance obligation. Arrangements that include software services, such as training or installation, are evaluated to determine whether the customer can benefit from the services either on their own or together with other resources readily available to the customer and whether the services are separately identifiable from other promises in the contract. Many of our software arrangements involve “off-the-shelf” software. We recognize the revenue allocable to "off-the-shelf" software licenses and specified upgrades at a point in time when control of the software license transfers to the customer, unless the software is not considered distinct. We consider off-the-shelf software to be distinct when it can be added to an arrangement with minor changes in the underlying code, it can be used by the customer for the customer’s purpose upon installation, and remaining services such as training are not considered highly interdependent or highly interrelated to the product's functionality.
For arrangements that involve significant production, modification or customization of the software, or where software services are otherwise not considered distinct, we recognize revenue over time by measuring progress-to-completion. We measure progress-to-completion primarily using labor hours incurred as it best depicts the transfer of control to the customer which occurs as we incur costs on our contracts. These arrangements are often implemented over an extended period and occasionally require us to revise total cost estimates. Amounts recognized in revenue are calculated using the progress-to-completion measurement after giving effect to any changes in our cost estimates. Changes to total estimated contract costs, if any, are recorded in the period they are determined. Estimated losses on uncompleted contracts are recorded in the period in which we first determine that a loss is apparent. When software services are distinct, the fee allocable to the service element is recognized over the time we perform the services and is billed on a time and material or milestones basis.
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Subscription-based services consist of revenues derived from SaaS arrangements, which primarily utilize the Tyler private cloud, and electronic filing transactions. Revenue from subscription-based services is generally recognized over time on a ratable basis over the contract term, beginning on the date that our service is made available to the customer. For SaaS arrangements, we evaluate whether the customer has the contractual right to take possession of our software at any time during the hosting period without significant penalty and whether the customer can feasibly maintain the software on the customer’s hardware or enter into another arrangement with a third-party to host the software. We allocate contract value to each performance obligation of the arrangement that qualifies for treatment as a distinct element based on estimated SSP. We recognize SaaS arrangements ratably over the term of the arrangement, which range from one to ten but are typically for a period of three to five years. For software services associated with certain SaaS arrangements, we have concluded that the services are not distinct, and we recognize the revenue ratably over the remaining contractual period once we have provided the customer access to the software. We record amounts that have been invoiced in accounts receivable and in deferred revenue or revenues, depending on whether the revenue recognition criteria have been met.
The transaction price is allocated to the separate performance obligations on a relative SSP basis. We determine the SSP based on our overall pricing objectives, taking into consideration market conditions and other factors, including the value of our contracts, the applications sold, customer demographics, and the number and types of users within our contracts. We use a range of amounts to estimate SSP when we sell each of the products and services separately and need to determine whether there is a discount to be allocated based on the relative SSP of the various products and services. In instances where SSP is not directly observable, such as when we do not sell the product or service separately, we determine SSP using the expected cost-plus margin approach. Revenue is recognized net of allowances for sales adjustments and any taxes collected from customers, which are subsequently remitted to governmental authorities.
Typically, the structure of our arrangements does not give rise to variable consideration. However, in those instances whereby variable consideration exists, we include in our estimates additional revenue for variable consideration when we believe we have an enforceable right, the amount can be estimated reliably and its realization is probable.
We maintain allowances for doubtful accounts, which are provided at the time the revenue is recognized. Since most of our customers are domestic governmental entities, we rarely incur a loss resulting from credit risk associated with the inability of a customer to make required payments. Events or changes in circumstances that indicate that the carrying amount for the allowances for doubtful accounts may require revision include, but are not limited to, deterioration of a customer’s financial condition, failure to manage our customer’s expectations regarding the scope of the services to be delivered, and defects or errors in new versions or enhancements of our software products. The allowance for doubtful accounts reflects our best estimate of probable losses inherent in the accounts receivable balance. We determine the allowance based on known troubled accounts, historical experience, and other currently available evidence.
In connection with certain of our contracts, we have recorded retentions receivable or unbilled receivables consisting of costs and estimated profit in excess of billings as of the balance sheet date. Many of the contracts which give rise to unbilled receivables at a given balance sheet date are subject to billings in the subsequent accounting period. We review unbilled receivables and related contract provisions to ensure we are justified in recognizing revenue prior to billing the customer and that we have objective evidence which allows us to recognize such revenue. In addition, we have a sizable amount of deferred revenue, which represents billings in excess of revenue earned. The majority of this liability consists of maintenance billings for which payments are made in advance and the revenue is ratably earned over the maintenance period, generally one year. We also have deferred revenue for those contracts in which we receive a deposit and the conditions in which to record revenue for the service or product have not been met. On a periodic basis, we review by customer the detail components of our deferred revenue to ensure our accounting remains appropriate.
Intangible Assets and Goodwill. Our business acquisitions typically result in the creation of goodwill and other intangible asset balances, and these balances affect the amount and timing of future period amortization expense, as well as expense we could possibly incur as a result of an impairment charge. The cost of acquired companies is allocated to identifiable tangible and intangible assets based on estimated fair value, with the excess allocated to goodwill. Accordingly, we have a significant balance of acquisition date intangible assets, including software, customer related intangibles, trade name, leases and goodwill. These intangible assets (other than goodwill) are amortized over their estimated useful lives. We currently have no intangible assets with indefinite lives other than goodwill.
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We assess goodwill for impairment annually as of April 1st, or more frequently whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate its carrying value may not be recoverable. We begin with the qualitative assessment of whether it is more likely than not that a reporting unit's fair value is less than its carrying value before applying the quantitative assessment described below. When testing goodwill for impairment quantitatively, we first compare the fair value of each reporting unit with its carrying amount. If the carrying amount of a reporting unit exceeds its fair value, a second step is performed to measure the amount of potential impairment. In the second step, we compare the implied fair value of reporting unit goodwill with the carrying amount of the reporting unit’s goodwill. If the carrying amount of reporting unit goodwill exceeds the implied fair value of that goodwill, an impairment loss is recognized. The fair values calculated in our impairment tests are determined using discounted cash flow models involving several assumptions. The assumptions that are used are based upon what we believe a hypothetical marketplace participant would use in estimating fair value. We base our fair value estimates on assumptions we believe to be reasonable but that are unpredictable and inherently uncertain. We evaluate the reasonableness of the fair value calculations of our reporting units by comparing the total of the fair value of all of our reporting units to our total market capitalization. Our annual goodwill impairment analysis, which we performed qualitatively during the second quarter of 2019, did not result in an impairment charge. During 2019, we did not identify any triggering events that would require an update to our annual impairment review.
All intangible assets (other than goodwill) are reviewed for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset may not be recoverable. Recoverability of other intangible assets is measured by comparison of the carrying amount to estimated undiscounted future cash flows. The assessment of recoverability or of the estimated useful life for amortization purposes will be affected if the timing or the amount of estimated future operating cash flows is not achieved. Such indicators may include, among others: a significant decline in expected future cash flows; a sustained, significant decline in stock price and market capitalization; a significant adverse change in legal factors or in the business climate; unanticipated competition; and reductions in growth rates. In addition, products, capabilities, or technologies developed by others may render our software products obsolete or non-competitive. Any adverse change in these factors could have a significant impact on the recoverability of goodwill or other intangible assets. During 2019, we did not identify any triggering events that would indicate that the carrying amount of our intangible assets may not be recoverable.
Share-Based Compensation. We have a stock incentive plan that provides for the grant of stock options, restricted stock units and performance stock units to key employees, directors and non-employee consultants. We estimate the fair value of share-based awards on the date of grant. Share-based compensation expense includes the estimated effects of forfeitures, which will be adjusted over the requisite service period to the extent actual forfeitures differ or are expected to differ from such estimates. Changes in estimated forfeitures are recognized in the period of change and will also impact the amount of expense to be recognized in future periods. Forfeiture rate assumptions are derived from historical data.
We estimate stock price volatility at the date of grant based on the historical volatility of our common stock. Estimated option life is determined using the weighted-average period the stock options are expected to be outstanding based primarily on the options’ vesting terms, remaining contractual life and the employees’ expected exercise based on historical patterns. Determining the appropriate fair-value model and calculating the fair value of share-based awards at the grant date requires considerable judgment, including estimating stock price volatility, expected option life and forfeiture rates.
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ANALYSIS OF RESULTS OF OPERATIONS AND OTHER
The following discussion compares the historical results of operations on a basis consistent with GAAP for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017.
Percentage of Total Revenues Years Ended December 31, | ||||||||
2019 | 2018 | 2017 | ||||||
Revenues: | ||||||||
Software licenses and royalties | 9.2 | % | 10.0 | % | 10.3 | % | ||
Subscriptions | 27.3 | 23.6 | 20.5 | |||||
Software services | 19.6 | 20.5 | 21.5 | |||||
Maintenance | 39.6 | 41.1 | 42.6 | |||||
Appraisal services | 2.2 | 2.3 | 3.0 | |||||
Hardware and other | 2.1 | 2.5 | 2.1 | |||||
Total revenues | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | |||||
Operating expenses: | ||||||||
Cost of software licenses, royalties and acquired software | 3.2 | 2.9 | 3.0 | |||||
Cost of software services, maintenance and subscriptions | 46.2 | 46.9 | 46.1 | |||||
Cost of appraisal services | 1.4 | 1.5 | 1.9 | |||||
Cost of hardware and other | 1.6 | 1.7 | 1.5 | |||||
Selling, general and administrative expenses | 23.7 | 22.2 | 20.9 | |||||
Research and development expense | 7.5 | 6.8 | 5.6 | |||||
Amortization of customer and trade name intangibles | 2.0 | 1.7 | 1.6 | |||||
Operating income | 14.4 | 16.3 | 19.4 | |||||
Other income, net | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.1 | |||||
Income before income taxes | 14.7 | 16.7 | 19.5 | |||||
Income tax (benefit) provision | 1.2 | 0.9 | (0.7 | ) | ||||
Net income | 13.5 | % | 15.8 | % | 20.2 | % | ||
2019 Compared to 2018
Revenues
On February 28, 2019, we acquired all of the capital stock of MicroPact, a leading provider of COTS solutions, including entellitrak®, a low-code application development platform for case management and business process management used extensively in the public sector. The following table details revenue for MicroPact for the period presented as of December 31, 2019, which is included in our consolidated statements of income from the date of acquisition:
2019 | ||||
Revenues: | ||||
Software licenses and royalties | $ | 8,737 | ||
Subscriptions | 7,472 | |||
Software services | 18,143 | |||
Maintenance | 28,642 | |||
Appraisal services | — | |||
Hardware and other | 24 | |||
Total revenues | $ | 63,018 | ||
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On October 30, 2019, we acquired certain assets of CHT, an industry-leading provider of jury management systems that offers a fully integrated, end-to-end SaaS solution to manage all facets of juror management, from source list generation to juror processing and payment. On February 1, 2019, we acquired all the assets of MyCivic, a company that provides software solutions to connect communities. The impact of the CHT and MyCivic acquisitions on our operating results is not considered material, individually and in the aggregate, and is not included in the table above. The results of the MicroPact, CHT and MyCivic acquisitions are included with the operating results of the ES segment from their dates of acquisition. For comparative purposes, we have provided explanations for changes in operations to exclude results of operations for these acquisitions noting the exclusion.
Software licenses and royalties.
The following table sets forth a comparison of our software licenses and royalties revenue for the years ended December 31:
Change | |||||||||||||||
($ in thousands) | 2019 | 2018 | $ | % | |||||||||||
ES | $ | 92,567 | $ | 83,735 | $ | 8,832 | 11 | % | |||||||
A&T | 7,638 | 9,706 | (2,068 | ) | (21 | ) | |||||||||
Total software licenses and royalties revenue | $ | 100,205 | $ | 93,441 | $ | 6,764 | 7 | % | |||||||
Excluding the impact of acquisitions, software licenses and royalties revenue decreased 2% compared to prior year. The decline was primarily due to a shift in the mix of new software contracts toward more subscription agreements compared to the prior year. Our total new contract value mix in 2019, was approximately 37% perpetual software license arrangements and approximately 63% subscription-based arrangements compared to total new contract value mix in 2018, of approximately 59% perpetual software license arrangements and approximately 41% subscription-based arrangements.
Although the mix of new contracts between subscription-based and perpetual license arrangements may vary from quarter to quarter and year to year, we expect our longer-term software license growth rate to be negatively impacted by a growing number of customers choosing our subscription-based options, rather than purchasing the software under a traditional perpetual software license arrangement. Subscription-based arrangements result in lower software license revenue in the initial year as compared to perpetual software license arrangements but generate higher overall revenue over the term of the contract.
Subscriptions.
The following table sets forth a comparison of our subscriptions revenue for the years ended December 31:
Change | |||||||||||||||
($ in thousands) | 2019 | 2018 | $ | % | |||||||||||
ES | $ | 285,092 | $ | 210,740 | $ | 74,352 | 35 | % | |||||||
A&T | 11,260 | 9,807 | 1,453 | 15 | |||||||||||
Total subscriptions revenue | $ | 296,352 | $ | 220,547 | $ | 75,805 | 34 | % | |||||||
Subscription-based revenue primarily consists of revenue derived from our SaaS arrangements, which generally utilize the Tyler private cloud. As part of our subscription-based services, we also provide electronic document filing solutions (“e-filing”) that simplify the filing and management of court related documents for courts and law offices. E-filing revenue is derived from transaction fees and fixed fee arrangements.
Excluding the results of acquisitions, subscription-based revenue increased 26% compared to 2018. New SaaS clients as well as existing clients who converted to our SaaS model provided the majority of the subscription revenue increase. In 2019, we added 596 new SaaS clients and 78 existing clients elected to convert to our SaaS model. Also, e-filing services contributed approximately $7.0 million of the subscription revenue increase in 2019. The increase in e-filing revenue is attributed to new e-filing clients, as well as increased volumes as the result of several existing clients mandating e-filing.
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Software services.
The following table sets forth a comparison of our software services revenue for the years ended December 31:
Change | |||||||||||||||
($ in thousands) | 2019 | 2018 | $ | % | |||||||||||
ES | $ | 185,892 | $ | 166,921 | $ | 18,971 | 11 | % | |||||||
A&T | 27,169 | 24,348 | 2,821 | 12 | |||||||||||
Total software services revenue | $ | 213,061 | $ | 191,269 | $ | 21,792 | 11 | % | |||||||
Software services revenue primarily consists of professional services billed in connection with implementing our software, converting client data, training client personnel, custom development activities and consulting. New clients who purchase our proprietary software licenses or subscriptions generally also contract with us to provide for the related software services. Existing clients also periodically purchase additional training, consulting and minor programming services. Excluding the results of acquisitions, software services revenue grew 0.4% compared to the prior year period. The slight increase is due to higher new contract volume and the addition of professional services staff to grow our capacity to deliver backlog. Excluding employees added with acquisitions, our implementation and support staff has grown by 232 employees since December 31, 2018.
Maintenance.
The following table sets forth a comparison of our maintenance revenue for the years ended December 31:
Change | |||||||||||||||
($ in thousands) | 2019 | 2018 | $ | % | |||||||||||
ES | $ | 405,063 | $ | 359,904 | $ | 45,159 | 13 | % | |||||||
A&T | 25,255 | 24,617 | 638 | 3 | |||||||||||
Total maintenance revenue | $ | 430,318 | $ | 384,521 | $ | 45,797 | 12 | % | |||||||
We provide maintenance and support services for our software products and certain third-party software. Excluding the results of acquisitions, maintenance revenue grew 4% compared to the prior year. Maintenance and support revenue increased mainly due to growth in our installed customer base from new software license sales as well as annual maintenance rate increases, partially offset by clients converting from on-premises license arrangements to SaaS.
Appraisal services.
The following table sets forth a comparison of our appraisal services revenue for the years ended December 31:
Change | |||||||||||||||
($ in thousands) | 2019 | 2018 | $ | % | |||||||||||
ES | $ | — | $ | — | $ | — | — | % | |||||||
A&T | 23,479 | 21,846 | 1,633 | 7 | |||||||||||
Total appraisal services revenue | $ | 23,479 | $ | 21,846 | $ | 1,633 | 7 | % | |||||||
In 2019, appraisal services revenue increased 7% compared to the prior year primarily due to the addition of several new revaluation contracts started during the second quarter of 2019. The appraisal services business is somewhat cyclical and driven in part by statutory revaluation cycles in various states.
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Cost of Revenues and Gross Margins
The following table sets forth a comparison of the key components of our cost of revenues for the years ended December 31:
Change | |||||||||||||||
($ in thousands) | 2019 | 2018 | $ | % | |||||||||||
Software licenses and royalties | $ | 3,938 | $ | 3,802 | $ | 136 | 4 | % | |||||||
Acquired software | 30,642 | 22,972 | 7,670 | 33 | |||||||||||
Software services, maintenance and subscriptions | 502,138 | 438,923 | 63,215 | 14 | |||||||||||
Appraisal services | 15,337 | 14,299 | 1,038 | 7 | |||||||||||
Hardware and other | 17,472 | 15,708 | 1,764 | 11 | |||||||||||
Total cost of revenues | $ | 569,527 | $ | 495,704 | $ | 73,823 | 15 | % | |||||||
The following table sets forth a comparison of gross margin percentage by revenue type for the years ended December 31:
Gross margin percentage | 2019 | 2018 | Change | ||||||
Software licenses, royalties and acquired software | 65.5 | % | 71.3 | % | (5.8 | )% | |||
Software services, maintenance and subscriptions | 46.6 | 44.9 | 1.7 | ||||||
Appraisal services | 34.7 | 34.5 | 0.2 | ||||||
Hardware and other | 24.1 | 33.6 | (9.5 | ) | |||||
Overall gross margin | 47.6 | % | 47.0 | % | 0.6 | % | |||
Software licenses, royalties and acquired software. Cost of software licenses, royalties and acquired software is primarily comprised of amortization expense for acquired software and third-party software costs. We do not have any direct costs associated with royalties. The gross margin decrease of 5.8% is due to an increase in amortization expense for acquired software resulting from acquisitions completed in the last half of 2018 and in 2019.
Software services, maintenance and subscriptions. Cost of software services, maintenance and subscriptions primarily consists of personnel costs related to installation of our software, conversion of client data, training client personnel and support activities and various other services such as custom client development and on-going operation of SaaS and e-filing arrangements. In 2019, the software services, maintenance and subscriptions gross margin increased 1.7% compared to the prior year. Excluding employees added through acquisitions, our implementation and support staff has grown by 232 employees since December 31, 2018 as we accelerated hiring to ensure that we are well-positioned to deliver our current backlog and anticipated new business. Costs related to maintenance and various other services such as SaaS and e-filing typically grow at a slower rate than related revenue due to leverage in the utilization of support and maintenance staff and economies of scale.
Appraisal services. Appraisal services revenue comprised approximately 2.2% of total revenue. The appraisal services gross margin increased 0.2% compared to 2018 due to ramp up of several new revaluation projects during second quarter 2019.
Our 2019 blended gross margin slightly increased 0.6% compared to 2018. Our overall gross margin increase is attributed to a higher revenue mix for subscription revenues compared to the prior year period resulting in an increase in incremental margin related to software services, maintenance and subscriptions. Costs related to maintenance and various other services such as SaaS and e-filing typically grow at a slower rate than related revenue due to leverage in the utilization of support and maintenance staff and economies of scale. The increase in overall margins are partially offset by lower margins from software licenses, in part due to lower software license revenue and higher amortization expense for acquired software resulting from acquisitions.
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Selling, General and Administrative Expenses
Selling, general and administrative (“SG&A”) expenses consist primarily of salaries, employee benefits, travel, share-based compensation expense, commissions and related overhead costs for administrative and sales and marketing employees, as well as, professional fees, trade show activities, advertising costs and other marketing related costs. The following table sets forth a comparison of our SG&A expenses for the years ended December 31:
Change | |||||||||||||||
($ in thousands) | 2019 | 2018 | $ | % | |||||||||||
Selling, general and administrative expenses | $ | 257,746 | $ | 207,605 | $ | 50,141 | 24 | % | |||||||
SG&A as a percentage of revenue was 23.7% in 2019 compared to 22.2% in 2018. SG&A expense increased approximately 24% compared to the prior year period. In 2019, our operating results include $19.9 million of SG&A expenses for MicroPact from the date of acquisition. The remaining SG&A expense increase is mainly due to compensation cost related to increased staff levels, higher stock compensation expense and increased commission expense as a result of higher sales. Excluding employees added with acquisitions, we added 81 employees mainly to our sales and finance teams since December 31, 2018. In addition, our 2019 stock compensation expense rose $5.8 million, mainly due to increases in our stock price over recent years.
Research and Development Expense
Research and development expense consists primarily of salaries, employee benefits and related overhead costs associated with new product development. The following table sets forth a comparison of our research and development expense for the years ended December 31:
Change | |||||||||||||||
($ in thousands) | 2019 | 2018 | $ | % | |||||||||||
Research and development expense | $ | 81,342 | $ | 63,264 | $ | 18,078 | 29 | % | |||||||
Research and development expense increased 29% in 2019 compared to the prior year period, mainly due to a number of new Tyler product development initiatives across our product suites, including increased investments in research and development at recently acquired businesses. To support these initiatives, our research and development staff has grown by 153 since December 31, 2018.
Amortization of Customer and Trade Name Intangibles
Acquisition intangibles are comprised of the excess of the purchase price over the fair value of net tangible assets acquired that is allocated to acquired software, leases and customer and trade name intangibles. The remaining excess purchase price is allocated to goodwill that is not subject to amortization. Amortization expense related to acquired software is included with cost of revenues, while amortization expense of customer and trade name intangibles is recorded as operating expense. The estimated useful lives of both customer and trade name intangibles range from five to 25 years. The following table sets forth a comparison of amortization of customer and trade name intangibles for the years ended December 31:
Change | |||||||||||||||
($ in thousands) | 2019 | 2018 | $ | % | |||||||||||
Amortization of customer and trade name intangibles | $ | 21,445 | $ | 16,217 | $ | 5,228 | 32 | % | |||||||
Amortization of customer and trade name intangibles increased due to the impact of intangibles added with several acquisitions completed in 2018 and 2019.
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Estimated annual amortization expense relating to customer and trade name acquisition intangibles, excluding acquired software for which the amortization expense is recorded as cost of revenues, for the next five years and thereafter is as follows (in thousands):
2020 | $ | 21,357 | |
2021 | 21,237 | ||
2022 | 20,747 | ||
2023 | 20,673 | ||
2024 | 20,121 | ||
Thereafter | 135,264 | ||
Amortization expense relating to acquired leases will be recorded as a reduction to hardware and other revenue and is expected to be $525,000 in 2020, $525,000 in 2021, $525,000 in 2022, $525,000 in 2023, $525,000 in 2024 and $512,000 thereafter.
Other
The following table sets forth a comparison of other income, net for the years ended December 31:
Change | ||||||||||||||
($ in thousands) | 2019 | 2018 | $ | % | ||||||||||
Other income, net | $ | 3,471 | $ | 3,378 | $ | 93 | 3% | |||||||
Other income is comprised of interest income from invested cash net of interest expense and non-usage and other fees associated with our revolving credit agreement. Other income, net, increased compared to the prior period due to increased interest income from higher levels of cash and investments resulting from cash generated in the current year offset by increased interest expense from new debt outstanding during the current year under our credit agreement.
Income Tax Provision
The following table sets forth a comparison of our income tax provision for the years ended December 31:
Change | |||||||||||||||
($ in thousands) | 2019 | 2018 | $ | % | |||||||||||
Income tax provision | $ | 13,311 | $ | 8,408 | $ | 4,903 | 58 | % | |||||||
Effective income tax rate | 8.3 | % | 5.4 | % | |||||||||||
The increase in the income tax provision and the effective income tax rate in 2019 compared to the prior year is primarily due to lower excess tax benefits from stock option exercises in 2019. Stock option exercise activity in 2019 generated excess tax benefits of $29.8 million, while stock option exercise activity in 2018 generated $32.5 million excess tax benefits. In addition, the 2018 income tax provision contains a tax benefit of $1.8 million resulting from the remeasurement of deferred tax assets and liabilities associated with the enactment of the 2017 Tax Act which reduced the statutory U.S. federal corporate income tax rate from 35% to 21%. Excluding the impact of the excess tax benefits and the Tax Act, our income tax provision and effective tax rate in 2019 would have been $43.1 million and 27.0% and in 2018, would have been $42.6 million and 27.4%, respectively.
The effective income tax rates in both 2019 and 2018 differed from the United States federal statutory corporate income tax rate of 21% due to state income taxes, the research tax credit, non-deductible share-based compensation expense, disqualifying incentive stock option dispositions, and other non-deductible business expenses.
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2018 Compared to 2017
Revenues
Software licenses and royalties.
The following table sets forth a comparison of our software licenses and royalties revenue for the years ended December 31:
Change | |||||||||||||||
($ in thousands) | 2018 | 2017 | $ | % | |||||||||||
ES | $ | 83,735 | $ | 78,388 | $ | 5,347 | 7 | % | |||||||
A&T | 9,706 | 7,854 | 1,852 | 24 | |||||||||||
Total software licenses and royalties revenue | $ | 93,441 | $ | 86,242 | $ | 7,199 | 8 | % | |||||||
Software license and royalties revenue increased 8% compared to the prior year. The majority of this growth was due to an active marketplace as the result of generally positive local government economic conditions, as well as our increasingly strong competitive position, which we attribute in part to our investment in product development in recent years. An increase in the number of larger contracts related to our planning, regulatory and maintenance solutions and public safety solutions also contributed to the growth in license revenue.
Although the mix of new contracts between subscription-based and perpetual license arrangements may vary from quarter to quarter and year to year, we expect our longer-term software license growth rate to be negatively impacted by a growing number of customers choosing our subscription-based options, rather than purchasing the software under a traditional perpetual software license arrangement. Subscription-based arrangements result in lower software license revenue in the initial year as compared to perpetual software license arrangements but generate higher overall revenue over the term of the contract. Our new client mix in 2018 was approximately 47% selecting perpetual software license arrangements and approximately 53% selecting subscription-based arrangements compared to a client mix in 2017 of approximately 53% selecting perpetual software license arrangements and approximately 47% selecting subscription-based arrangements.
Subscriptions.
The following table sets forth a comparison of our subscriptions revenue for the years ended December 31:
Change | |||||||||||||||
($ in thousands) | 2018 | 2017 | $ | % | |||||||||||
ES | $ | 210,740 | $ | 164,317 | $ | 46,423 | 28 | % | |||||||
A&T | 9,807 | 7,859 | 1,948 | 25 | |||||||||||
Total subscriptions revenue | $ | 220,547 | $ | 172,176 | $ | 48,371 | 28 | % | |||||||
Subscription-based revenue primarily consists of revenue derived from our SaaS arrangements, which generally utilize the Tyler private cloud. As part of our subscription-based services, we also provide electronic document filing solutions (“e-filing”) that simplify the filing and management of court related documents for courts and law offices. E-filing revenue is derived from transaction fees and fixed fee arrangements. Excluding the results of acquisitions, subscription-based revenue increased 21% compared to 2017.
New SaaS clients as well as existing clients who converted to our SaaS model provided the majority of the subscription revenue increase. In 2018, we added 410 new SaaS clients and 97 existing clients elected to convert to our SaaS model. Also, e-filing services contributed approximately $6.2 million of the subscription revenue increase in 2018. The increase in e-filing revenue is attributed to new e-filing clients, as well as increased volumes as the result of several existing clients mandating e-filing. The acquisition of Socrata, which primarily has a subscription revenue model, also contributed to the increase in subscription revenues.
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Software services.
The following table sets forth a comparison of our software services revenue for the years ended December 31:
Change | |||||||||||||||
($ in thousands) | 2018 | 2017 | $ | % | |||||||||||
ES | $ | 166,921 | $ | 161,245 | $ | 5,676 | 4 | % | |||||||
A&T | 24,348 | 19,215 | 5,133 | 27 | |||||||||||
Total software services revenue | $ | 191,269 | $ | 180,460 | $ | 10,809 | 6 | % | |||||||
Software services revenue primarily consists of professional services billed in connection with implementing our software, converting client data, training client personnel, custom development activities and consulting. New clients who purchase our proprietary software licenses generally also contract with us to provide for the related software services. Existing clients also periodically purchase additional training, consulting and minor programming services. Excluding the results of acquisitions, software services revenue grew 3% compared to the prior year period. This growth is due to a higher level of new software sales, through both our license and subscription models.
Maintenance.
The following table sets forth a comparison of our maintenance revenue for the years ended December 31:
Change | |||||||||||||||
($ in thousands) | 2018 | 2017 | $ | % | |||||||||||
ES | $ | 359,904 | $ | 337,701 | $ | 22,203 | 7 | % | |||||||
A&T | 24,617 | 21,618 | 2,999 | 14 | |||||||||||
Total maintenance revenue | $ | 384,521 | $ | 359,319 | $ | 25,202 | 7 | % | |||||||
We provide maintenance and support services for our software products and certain third-party software. Maintenance revenue grew 7% compared to the prior year. Maintenance and support revenue increased mainly due to growth in our installed customer base from new software license sales as well as annual maintenance rate increases.
Appraisal services.
The following table sets forth a comparison of our appraisal services revenue for the years ended December 31:
Change | |||||||||||||||
($ in thousands) | 2018 | 2017 | $ | % | |||||||||||
ES | $ | — | $ | — | $ | — | — | % | |||||||
A&T | 21,846 | 25,023 | (3,177 | ) | (13 | ) | |||||||||
Total appraisal services revenue | $ | 21,846 | $ | 25,023 | $ | (3,177 | ) | (13 | )% | ||||||
In 2018, appraisal services revenue decreased 13% compared to the prior year primarily due to the successful completion of several large revaluation projects in mid-2017. The appraisal services business is somewhat cyclical and driven in part by statutory revaluation cycles in various states.
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Cost of Revenues and Gross Margins
The following table sets forth a comparison of the key components of our cost of revenues for the years ended December 31:
Change | |||||||||||||||
($ in thousands) | 2018 | 2017 | $ | % | |||||||||||
Software licenses and royalties | $ | 3,802 | $ | 3,321 | $ | 481 | 14 | % | |||||||
Acquired software | 22,972 | 21,686 | 1,286 | 6 | % | ||||||||||
Software services, maintenance and subscriptions | 438,923 | 387,634 | 51,289 | 13 | |||||||||||
Appraisal services | 14,299 | 16,286 | (1,987 | ) | (12 | ) | |||||||||
Hardware and other | 15,708 | 12,595 | 3,113 | 25 | |||||||||||
Total cost of revenues | $ | 495,704 | $ | 441,522 | $ | 54,182 | 12 | % | |||||||
The following table sets forth a comparison of gross margin percentage by revenue type for the years ended December 31:
Gross margin percentage | 2018 | 2017 | Change | ||||||
Software licenses, royalties and acquired software | 71.3 | % | 71.0 | % | 0.3 | % | |||
Software services, maintenance and subscriptions | 44.9 | 45.6 | (0.7 | ) | |||||
Appraisal services | 34.5 | 34.9 | (0.4 | ) | |||||
Hardware and other | 33.6 | 28.8 | 4.8 | ||||||
Overall gross margin | 47.0 | % | 47.5 | % | (0.5 | )% | |||
Software licenses, royalties and acquired software. Cost of software licenses, royalties and acquired software is primarily comprised of amortization expense for acquired software and third-party software costs. We do not have any direct costs associated with royalties. The gross margin increase of 0.3% is due to higher software license revenues offset by an increase in amortization expense for acquired software attributed to new acquisitions completed in 2018.
Software services, maintenance and subscriptions. Cost of software services, maintenance and subscriptions primarily consists of personnel costs related to installation of our software, conversion of client data, training client personnel and support activities and various other services such as custom client development and on-going operation of SaaS and e-filing arrangements. In 2018, the software services, maintenance and subscriptions gross margin decreased 0.7% compared to the prior year. Excluding employees added through acquisitions, our implementation and support staff grew by 57 employees in 2018 as we accelerated hiring to ensure that we are well-positioned to deliver our current backlog and anticipated new business. Recognition of acquisition-related deferred revenue associated with subscriptions and maintenance also resulted in lower gross margins.
Appraisal services. Appraisal services revenue comprised approximately 2.3% of total revenue. The appraisal services gross margin decreased 0.4% compared to 2017 due to the reduction in higher margin projects substantially complete by early 2017 and lower volume of revenues in the current period to cover relatively fixed costs.
Our 2018 blended gross margin slightly decreased by 0.5% compared to 2017. Our overall gross margin decrease is mainly attributed to additions to our implementation staff and lower margin revenues from appraisal services, offset by improved margin on revenues from software licenses.
Selling, General and Administrative Expenses
The following table sets forth a comparison of selling, general and administrative expenses for the years ended December 31:
Change | |||||||||||||||
($ in thousands) | 2018 | 2017 | $ | % | |||||||||||
Selling, general and administrative expenses | $ | 207,605 | $ | 175,914 | $ | 31,691 | 18 | % | |||||||
SG&A as a percentage of revenue was 22.2% in 2018 compared to 20.9% in 2017. SG&A expense increased approximately 18% compared to the prior year period. In 2018, our operating results include $9.1 million of SG&A expenses for Socrata from the date of acquisition. The remaining SG&A expense increase is mainly due to compensation cost related to increased staff levels, higher stock compensation expense and increased commission expense as a result of higher sales. Excluding
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employees added with acquisitions, we added 47 employees mainly to our sales and finance teams since in 2018. In addition, our 2018 stock compensation expense rose $11.2 million, mainly due to increases in our stock price over the last few years.
Research and Development Expense
The following table sets forth a comparison of our research and development expense for the years ended December 31:
Change | |||||||||||||||
($ in thousands) | 2018 | 2017 | $ | % | |||||||||||
Research and development expense | $ | 63,264 | $ | 47,324 | $ | 15,940 | 34 | % | |||||||
Research and development expense increased 34% in 2018 compared to the prior year period, mainly due to a number of new Tyler product development initiatives across our product suites, including increased investments in research and development at recently acquired businesses. To support these initiatives, our research and development staff grew by 159 in 2018.
Amortization of Customer and Trade Name Intangibles
The following table sets forth a comparison of amortization of customer and trade name intangibles for the years ended December 31:
Change | |||||||||||||||
($ in thousands) | 2018 | 2017 | $ | % | |||||||||||
Amortization of customer and trade name intangibles | $ | 16,217 | $ | 13,381 | $ | 2,836 | 21 | % | |||||||
Amortization of customer and trade name intangibles increased due to the impact of intangibles added with several acquisitions completed in 2017 and 2018.
Other
The following table sets forth a comparison of other income, net for the years ended December 31:
Change | |||||||||||||||
($ in thousands) | 2018 | 2017 | $ | % | |||||||||||
Other income, net | $ | 3,378 | $ | 698 | $ | 2,680 | 384 | % | |||||||
Other income is comprised of interest income from invested cash net of interest expense and non-usage and other fees associated with our revolving credit agreement. Other income, net, increased compared to the prior period due to increased interest income from significantly higher levels of cash and investments resulting from cash generated in the last year. We had no debt in 2018, as we repaid all borrowings under the revolving line of credit in January 2017.
Income Tax Provision (Benefit)
The following table sets forth a comparison of our income tax provision for the years ended December 31:
Change | |||||||||||||||
($ in thousands) | 2018 | 2017 | $ | % | |||||||||||
Income tax provision (benefit) | $ | 8,408 | $ | (6,115 | ) | $ | 14,523 | (237 | )% | ||||||