2.REVENUE RECOGNTION

We account for revenue in accordance with ASC Topic 606, which was adopted on September 1, 2018 using the modified retrospective method (Note 1). We earn revenue from contracts with customers primarily through the delivery of our All Access Pass and the Leader in Me membership subscription offerings, through the delivery of training days and training course materials (whether digitally or in person), and through the licensing of rights to sell our content into geographic locations where the Company does not maintain a direct office. We also earn revenues from leasing arrangements that are not accounted for under Topic 606. Returns and refunds are generally immaterial, and we do not have any significant warranty obligations.

Under Topic 606, we recognize revenue upon the transfer of control of promised products and services to customers in an amount equal to the consideration we expect to receive in exchange for those products or services. Although rare, if the consideration promised in a contract includes variable amounts, we evaluate the estimate of variable consideration to determine whether the estimate needs to be constrained. We include the variable consideration in the transaction price only to the extent that it is probable a significant reversal of the amount of cumulative revenue recognized will not occur.

We determine the amount of revenue to be recognized through application of the following steps:

Identification of the contract 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 the Company satisfies the performance obligations

Taxes assessed by a government authority that are collected from a customer are excluded from net revenue.

Services and Products

We deliver Company-led training days from our offerings, such as The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, at a customer’s location or live-online based upon a daily consultant rate and a set price for training materials. These revenues are recognized as the training days occur and the services are performed. Customers also have the option to purchase training materials and present our offerings through internal facilitators and not through the use of a Franklin Covey consultant. Revenue is recognized from these product sales when the materials are shipped. Shipping revenues associated with product sales are recorded in revenue with the corresponding shipping cost being recorded as a component of cost of sales.

Subscription Revenues

Subscription revenues primarily relate to the Company’s All Access Pass and the Leader in Me membership offerings. We have determined that it is most appropriate to account for the AAP as a single performance obligation and recognize the associated transaction price ratably over the term of the underlying contract beginning on the commencement date of each contract, which is the date the Company’s platforms and resources are made available to the customer. This determination was reached after considering that our web-based functionality and content, in combination with our intellectual property, each represent inputs that transform into a combined output that represents the intended outcome of the AAP, which is to provide a continuously accessible, customized, and dynamic learning and development solution only accessible through the AAP platform.

We typically invoice our customers annually upon execution of the contract or subsequent renewals. Amounts that have been invoiced are recorded in accounts receivable and in unearned revenue or revenue, depending on whether transfer of control has occurred.

Our Leader in Me offering is bifurcated into a portal membership obligation and a coaching delivery obligation. We have determined that it is appropriate to recognize revenue related to the portal membership over the term of the underlying contract and to recognize revenue from coaching as those services are performed. The combined contract amount is recorded in deferred subscription revenue until the performance obligations are satisfied. Any additional coaching or training days which are contracted independent of the Leader in Me membership are recorded as revenue in accordance with our general policy for services and products as previously described.

Royalties

Our international strategy includes the use of licensees in countries where we do not have a wholly-owned direct office. Licensee companies are unrelated entities that have been granted a license to translate our content and offerings, adapt the content to the local culture, and sell our content in a specific country or region. Licensees are required to pay us royalties based upon a percentage of their sales to clients. We recognize royalty income each reporting period based upon the sales information reported to us from our licensees. When sales information is not received from a particular licensee at the end of a reporting period, the Company estimates the amount of royalties to be received for the period that is being reported based upon prior forecasts and historical performance. These estimated royalties are recorded as revenue and are adjusted in the subsequent period.

The primary impact of ASU No. 2014-09 on our financial statements is a change in the way we account for the initial license fee associated with licensing an international location. The Company previously recorded the non-refundable initial license fee from licensing an international location as revenue at the time the license period began if all other revenue requirements had been met. However, under Topic 606, we recognize revenue on the upfront fees over the term of the initial contract.

Contracts with Multiple Performance Obligations

We periodically enter into contracts that include multiple performance obligations. A performance obligation is a promise in a contract to transfer products or services that are distinct, or that are distinct within the context of the contract. A contract’s transaction price is allocated to each distinct performance obligation and recognized as revenue when the performance obligation is satisfied. Determining whether products and services meet the distinct criteria that should be accounted for separately or combined as one unit of accounting requires significant judgment.

When determining whether goods and services meet the distinct criteria, we consider various factors for each agreement including the availability of the services and the nature of the offerings and services. We allocate the transaction price to each performance obligation on a relative standalone selling price (SSP) basis. Judgment is required to determine the SSP for each distinct performance obligation. The SSP is the price which the Company would sell a promised product or service separately to a customer. In determining the SSP, we consider the size and volume of transactions, price lists, historical sales, and contract prices. We may modify our pricing from time-to-time in the future, which could result in changes to the SSP.

Contract Balances

As described above, subscription revenue is generally recognized ratably over the term of the underlying contract beginning on the commencement date of each agreement. The timing of when these contracts are invoiced, cash is collected, and revenue is recognized impacts our accounts receivable and deferred revenue accounts. We generally bill our clients in advance for subscription offerings or within the month that the training and products are delivered. As such, consideration due to the Company for work performed is included in accounts receivable and we do not have a significant amount of contract assets. Our receivables are generally collected within 30 to 120 days but typically no longer than 12 months. Deferred revenue primarily consists of billings or payments received in advance of revenue being recognized from our subscription offerings. Furthermore, our clients, to expend funds in a particular budget cycle, may prepay for services or products which are also a component of our consolidated deferred revenue. Our deferred revenue totaled $68.9 million at August 31, 2020 and $65.8 million at August 31, 2019, of which $2.2 million and $3.6 million were classified as components of other long-term liabilities at August 31, 2020 and August 31, 2019, respectively. The amount of deferred revenue that was generated from subscription offerings totaled $60.6 million at August 31, 2020 and $58.2 million at August 31, 2019. During the fiscal years ended August 31, 2020 and 2019, we recognized $86.5 million and $74.7 million of previously deferred subscription revenue.

Remaining Performance Obligations

When possible, we enter into multi-year non-cancellable contracts which are invoiced either upon execution of the contract or at the beginning of each annual contract period. Topic 606 introduced the concept of remaining transaction price which represents contracted revenue that has not yet been recognized, including unearned revenue and unbilled amounts that will be recognized as revenue in future periods. Transaction price is influenced by factors such as seasonality, the average length of the contract term, and the ability of the Company to continue to enter multi-year non-cancellable contracts. At August 31, 2020 we had $100.2 million of remaining performance obligations, including $60.6 million of deferred revenue related to our subscription offerings. The remaining performance obligation does not include other deferred revenue as amounts included in other deferred revenue include items such as deposits that are generally refundable at the client’s request prior to the satisfaction of the obligation.

Costs Capitalized to Obtain Contracts

We capitalize the incremental costs of obtaining non-cancellable subscription revenue, primarily from the All Access Pass and the Leader in Me membership offerings. These incremental costs consist of sales commissions paid to our sales force and include the associated payroll taxes and fringe benefits. As the same commission rates are paid annually when the customer renews their contract, the capitalized commission costs are generally amortized ratably on an annual basis consistent with the recognition of the corresponding subscription revenue. At August 31, 2020, we have capitalized $9.7 million of direct commissions, of which $8.9 million is included in other current assets and $0.8 million is in other long-term assets based on the expected recognition of the commission expense. At August 31, 2019, we had $9.0 million of capitalized direct sales commissions with $8.3 million included in other current assets and $0.7 million included in other long-term liabilities. During the fiscal year ended August 31, 2020, we capitalized $13.7 million of commission costs to obtain revenue contracts and amortized $13.0 million of deferred commissions to selling, general, and administrative expense.

During fiscal 2020, we recorded $3.2 million of consideration paid for an amendment to the license agreement with FC Organizational Products (Note 17) as a capitalized cost of the license and will reduce our royalty revenue from this license agreement by amortizing this amount over the remainder of the initial term of the license agreement, which ends in approximately 30 years.

Refer to Note 16 (Segment Information) to these consolidated financial statements for our disaggregated revenue information.