NOTE 1 – Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Basis of Presentation and Description of Business

Copart, Inc. (the Company) provides vehicle sellers with a full range of services to process and sell vehicles over the Internet through the Company’s Virtual Bidding Third Generation (VB3) Internet auction-style sales technology. Sellers are primarily insurance companies but also include banks, finance companies, charities, fleet operators, dealers and vehicles sourced directly from individual owners. The Company sells principally to licensed vehicle dismantlers, rebuilders, repair licensees, used vehicle dealers, and exporters; however, at certain locations, the Company sells directly to the general public. The majority of vehicles sold on behalf of insurance companies are either damaged vehicles deemed a total loss or not economically repairable by the insurance companies or are recovered stolen vehicles for which an insurance settlement with the vehicle owner has already been made. The Company offers vehicle sellers a full range of services that expedite each stage of the vehicle sales process, minimize administrative and processing costs and maximize the ultimate sales price. In the United States (U.S.), Canada, the Republic of Ireland, Brazil, the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.), Oman, Bahrain, Germany, Finland, and Spain, the Company sells vehicles primarily as an agent and derives revenue primarily from fees paid by vehicle sellers and vehicle buyers as well as related fees for services, such as towing and storage. In the United Kingdom (U.K.), the Company operates both as an agent and on a principal basis, purchasing the salvage vehicles outright from the insurance company and reselling the vehicles for its own account. In Germany and Spain, the Company also derives revenue from sales listing fees for listing vehicles on behalf of insurance companies.

Principles of Consolidation

In the opinion of management, the accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements contain all adjustments of a normal recurring nature considered necessary for fair presentation of its financial position as of April 30, 2018 and July 31, 2017, its consolidated statements of income and comprehensive income for the three and nine months ended April 30, 2018 and 2017, and its cash flows for the nine months ended April 30, 2018 and 2017. Interim results for the three and nine months ended April 30, 2018 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for any future period, or for the entire year ending July 31, 2018. These consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the rules and regulations of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) have been condensed or omitted pursuant to such rules and regulations. The interim consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended July 31, 2017. Certain prior year amounts have been reclassified to conform to current year presentation.

The consolidated financial statements of the Company include the accounts of the parent company and its wholly-owned subsidiaries, including its foreign wholly-owned subsidiaries. The Company also has a 59.5% voting interest in a company, which was acquired as part of the Cycle Express, LLC acquisition (“majority-owned subsidiary”), which provides various repossession services for the powersports auction industry. The noncontrolling interest consists of a 40.5% outside voting interest in this majority-owned subsidiary. Net income or loss of the majority-owned subsidiary is allocated to the members’ interests in accordance with the operating agreement. The accounts and balances of the majority-owned subsidiary have been consolidated with those of the Company. Significant intercompany transactions and balances have been eliminated in consolidation.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Estimates include, but are not limited to, vehicle pooling costs; self-insured reserves; allowance for doubtful accounts; income taxes; revenue recognition; stock-based payment compensation; purchase price allocations; long-lived asset and goodwill impairment calculations; and contingencies. Actual results could differ from these estimates.

Revenue Recognition

The Company provides a portfolio of services to its buyers (“members”) and sellers that facilitate the sale and delivery of a vehicle from seller to buyer. These services include the ability to use the Company’s Internet sales technology and vehicle delivery, loading, title processing, preparation and storage. The Company evaluates multiple-element arrangements relative to its member and seller agreements.

The services provided to the seller of a vehicle involve disposing of a vehicle on the seller’s behalf and, under most of the Company’s current contracts, collecting the proceeds from the member. The Company applies Accounting Standard Update 2009-13, Revenue Recognition (Topic 605): Multiple-Deliverable Revenue Arrangements (ASU 2009-13) for revenue recognition. Pre-sale services, including towing, title processing, preparation and storage, as well as sale fees and other enhancement services meet the criteria for separate units of accounting. Revenue associated with each service is recognized upon completion of the respective service, net of applicable rebates or allowances. For certain sellers who are charged a proportionate fee based on the high bid of the vehicle, the revenue associated with the pre-sale services is recognized upon completion of the sale when the total arrangement is fixed and determinable. The estimated selling price of each service is determined based on management’s best estimate and allotted based on the relative selling price method.

Vehicle sales, where vehicles are purchased and remarketed on the Company’s own behalf, are recognized on the sale date, which is typically the point of high bid acceptance. Upon high bid acceptance, a legally binding contract is formed with the member, and the gross sales price is recorded as revenue.

The Company also provides a number of services to the buyer of the vehicle, charging a separate fee for each service. Each of these services has been assessed to determine whether the requirements have been met to separate them into units of accounting within a multiple-element arrangement. The Company has concluded that the sale and the post-sale services are separate units of accounting. The fees for sale services are recognized upon completion of the sale, and the fees for the post-sale services are recognized upon successful completion of those services using the relative selling price method.

The Company also charges members an annual registration fee for the right to participate in its vehicle sales program, which is recognized ratably over the term of the arrangement, and relist and late-payment fees, which are recognized upon receipt of payment by the member. No provision for returns has been established, as all sales are final with no right of return, although the Company provides for bad debt expense in the case of non-performance by its members or sellers.

The Company allocates arrangement consideration based upon management’s best estimate of the selling price of the separate units of accounting contained within arrangements including multiple deliverables. Significant inputs in the Company’s estimates of the selling price of separate units of accounting include market and pricing trends, pricing customization and practices, and profit objectives for the services.

Vehicle Pooling Costs

The Company defers in vehicle pooling costs certain yard operation expenses associated with vehicles consigned to and received by the Company, but not sold as of the end of the period. The Company quantifies the deferred costs using a calculation that includes the number of vehicles at its facilities at the beginning and end of the period, the number of vehicles sold during the period and an allocation of certain yard operation costs of the period. The primary expenses allocated and deferred are certain facility costs, labor, transportation, and vehicle processing. If the allocation factors change, then yard operation expenses could increase or decrease correspondingly in the future. These costs are expensed as vehicles are sold in subsequent periods on an average cost basis. Given the fixed cost nature of the Company’s business, there are no direct correlations for increases in expenses or units processed on vehicle pooling costs.

The Company applies the provisions of accounting guidance for subsequent measurement of inventory to its vehicle pooling costs. The provision requires that items such as idle facility expenses, double freight and rehandling costs be recognized as current period charges regardless of whether they meet the criteria of “abnormal” as provided in the guidance. In addition, the guidance requires that the allocation of fixed production overhead to the costs of conversion be based on the normal capacity of production facilities.

In August 2017, Hurricane Harvey hit the Texas Gulf Coast. As a result of the extensive flooding that it caused, the Company expended $68.6 million in additional costs for the nine months ended April 30, 2018, for (i) temporary storage facilities, (ii) premiums for subhaulers, (iii) labor costs incurred for overtime, (iv) travel and lodging due to the reassignment of employees to the affected region, and (v) equipment lease expenses to handle the increased volume. These costs, which are characterized as "abnormal" under ASC 330, Inventory, were expensed as incurred and not included in vehicle pooling costs. As of April 30, 2018, substantially all of the incremental salvage vehicles received as a result of Hurricane Harvey have been sold.

Foreign Currency Translation

The Company records foreign currency translation adjustments from the process of translating the functional currency of the financial statements of its foreign subsidiaries into the U.S. dollar reporting currency. The Canadian dollar, British pound, U.A.E. dirham, Bahraini dinar, Omani rial, Brazilian real, Indian rupee, Chinese renminbi and European Union euro are the functional currencies of the Company’s foreign subsidiaries as they are the primary currencies within the economic environment in which each subsidiary operates. The original equity investment in the respective subsidiaries is translated at historical rates. Assets and liabilities of the respective subsidiary’s operations are translated into U.S. dollars at period-end exchange rates, and revenues and expenses are translated into U.S. dollars at average exchange rates in effect during each reporting period. Adjustments resulting from the translation of each subsidiary’s financial statements are reported in other comprehensive income.

The cumulative effects of foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations were as follows (in thousands):



Cumulative loss on foreign currency translation as of July 31, 2016	$	(109,194	)
Gain on foreign currency translation	8,518
Cumulative loss on foreign currency translation as of July 31, 2017	$	(100,676	)
Gain on foreign currency translation	10,264
Cumulative loss on foreign currency translation as of April 30, 2018	$	(90,412	)

Income Taxes and Deferred Taxes

Income taxes are accounted for under the asset and liability method. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the estimated future tax consequences attributable to differences between the financial statement carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities, their respective tax basis, and operating loss and tax credit carryforwards. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the years in which those temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. The effect on deferred tax assets and liabilities of a change in tax rates is recognized in income in the period that includes the enactment date. Excess tax benefits and deficiencies related to exercises of stock options are recognized as expense or benefit in the income statement as discrete items in the reporting period in which they occur.

In accordance with the provisions of ASC 740, Income Taxes, a two-step approach is applied to the recognition and measurement of uncertain tax positions taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. The first step is to determine if the weight of available evidence indicates that it is more likely than not that the tax position will be sustained in an audit, including resolution of any related appeals or litigation processes. The second step is to measure the tax position as the largest amount that is more than 50% likely to be realized upon ultimate settlement. The Company recognizes interest and penalties related to uncertain tax positions in the provision for income taxes on its consolidated statements of income.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

The Company considers all highly liquid investments purchased with original maturities of three months or less at the time of purchase to be cash equivalents. Cash and cash equivalents include cash held in checking, domestic certificates of deposit, and money market accounts. The Company periodically invests its excess cash in money market funds and U.S. Treasury Bills. The Company’s cash and cash equivalents are placed with high credit quality financial institutions.

Other Assets

Other assets consist of long-term deposits, contracted prepayments, notes receivable, and investments in unconsolidated affiliates. In accordance with ASC 323, Investments-Equity Method and Joint Ventures, the Company uses the equity method to account for investments in joint ventures and other unconsolidated entities if the Company has the ability to exercise significant influence over the financial and operating policies of those investees. Under the equity method, the Company records the initial investment in an entity at cost and subsequently adjusts the investment for the Company’s share of the affiliate’s undistributed earnings (losses) and distributions recorded in other income. The Company reviews the carrying amount of the investments in unconsolidated affiliates annually, or whenever circumstances indicate that the value of these investments may have declined. If the Company determines an investment is impaired on an other-than-temporary basis, a loss equal to the difference between the fair value of the investment and its carrying amount is recorded.

Fair Value of Financial Instruments

The Company records its financial assets and liabilities at fair value in accordance with the framework for measuring fair value in U.S. GAAP. In accordance with ASC 820, Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures, as amended by Accounting Standards Update 2011-04, the Company considers fair value as an exit price, representing the amount that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants under current market conditions. This framework establishes a fair value hierarchy that prioritizes the inputs used to measure fair value:


Level I	Observable inputs that reflect unadjusted quoted prices for identical assets or liabilities traded in active markets.


Level II	Inputs other than quoted prices included within Level I that are observable for the asset or liability, either directly or indirectly.


Level III	Inputs that are generally unobservable. These inputs may be used with internally developed methodologies that result in management’s best estimate.

The amounts recorded for financial instruments in the Company’s consolidated financial statements, which included cash, accounts receivable, accounts payable, accrued liabilities and Revolving Loan Facility approximated their fair values as of April 30, 2018 and July 31, 2017, due to the short-term nature of those instruments, and are classified within Level II of the fair value hierarchy. Cash equivalents are classified within Level II of the fair value hierarchy because they are valued using quoted market prices of the underlying investments. See Note 2 – Long-Term Debt, and Note 4 – Fair Value Measures.

Capitalized Software Costs

The Company capitalizes system development costs and website development costs related to enterprise computing services during the application development stage. Costs related to preliminary project activities and post implementation activities are expensed as incurred. Internal-use software is amortized on a straight-line basis over its estimated useful life, generally three years. The Company evaluates the useful lives of these assets on an annual basis and tests for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances occur that impact the recoverability of these assets.

Total gross capitalized software as of April 30, 2018 and July 31, 2017 was $27.9 million and $38.5 million, respectively. Accumulated amortization expense related to software as of April 30, 2018 and July 31, 2017 totaled $14.7 million and $25.7 million, respectively. During the nine months ended April 30, 2018, the Company retired fully amortized capitalized software of $15.5 million, which were no longer being utilized.

Acquisitions

The Company recognizes and measures identifiable assets acquired and liabilities assumed in acquired entities in accordance with ASC 805, Business Combinations. The accounting for acquisitions involves significant judgments and estimates, including the fair value of certain forms of consideration, the fair value of acquired intangible assets, which involve projections of future revenues, cash flows and terminal value, which are then either discounted at an estimated discount rate or measured at an estimated royalty rate, and the fair value of other acquired assets and assumed liabilities, including potential contingencies and the useful lives of the assets. The projections are developed using internal forecasts, available industry and market data and estimates of long-term growth rates of the Company. Historical experience is additionally utilized, in which historical or current costs have approximated fair value for certain assets acquired.

Segments and Other Geographic Reporting

The Company’s U.S. and International regions are considered two separate operating segments and are disclosed as two reportable segments. The segments represent geographic areas and reflect how the chief operating decision maker allocates resources and measures results, including total revenues, operating income and income before income taxes. The segments continue to share similar business models, services and economic characteristics.