1.	SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Description of Business—FARO Technologies, Inc. and its subsidiaries (collectively the “Company” or “FARO”) design, develop, manufacture, market and support software-based three-dimensional measurement and imaging systems for manufacturing, industrial, building construction and forensic applications. The Company’s principal products include the FaroArm, FARO Laser ScanArm and FARO Gage, all articulated electromechanical measuring devices, and the FARO Laser Tracker ION, FARO Focus^3D and FARO 3D Imager AMP, all laser-based measuring devices. Markets for the Company’s products include automobile, aerospace, heavy equipment, universities and law enforcement agencies. The Company sells the vast majority of its products through a direct sales force located in many of the world’s largest industrialized countries.

Principles of Consolidation—The consolidated financial statements of the Company include the accounts of FARO Technologies, Inc. and its subsidiaries, all of which are wholly owned. All intercompany transactions and balances have been eliminated. The financial statements of the Company’s foreign subsidiaries are translated into U.S. dollars using exchange rates in effect at period-end for assets and liabilities and average exchange rates during each reporting period for results of operations. Adjustments resulting from financial statement translations are reflected as a separate component of accumulated other comprehensive income.

Revenue Recognition, Product Warranty and Extended Warranty Contracts—Revenue related to the Company’s measurement systems (integrated combinations of a measurement device, a computer and software loaded on the computer and the measurement device) is generally recognized upon shipment, as the Company considers the earnings process complete as of the shipping date. The Company warrants its products against defects in design, materials and workmanship for one year. A provision for estimated future costs relating to warranty expense is recorded when products are shipped. The Company separately sells extended warranties. Extended warranty revenues are recognized on a straight-line basis over the term of the warranty. Costs relating to extended warranties are recognized as incurred. Revenue from sales of software only is recognized when no further significant production, modification or customization of the software is required and when the following criteria are met: persuasive evidence of a sales agreement exists, delivery has occurred, and the sales price is fixed or determinable and deemed collectible. Revenues resulting from sales of comprehensive support, training and technology consulting services are recognized as such services are performed and are deferred when billed in advance of the performance of services. Revenue from the licensing agreements for the use of the Company’s technology for medical applications is generally recognized as licensees use the technology. Amounts representing royalties for the current year and not received as of year-end are estimated as due based on historical data and recognized in the current year.

Cash and Cash Equivalents—The Company considers cash on hand and amounts on deposit with financial institutions with maturities of three months or less when purchased to be cash and cash equivalents. The Company had deposits with foreign banks totaling $66.9 million and $53.2 million as of December 31, 2013 and 2012, respectively. The Company does not presently intend to repatriate those funds. (See Note 12).

Accounts Receivable and Related Allowance for Doubtful Accounts—Credit is extended to customers based on an evaluation of a customer’s financial condition and, generally, collateral is not required. Accounts receivable are generally due within 30 to 90 days and are stated at amounts due from customers net of an allowance for doubtful accounts. Accounts outstanding longer than the contractual payment terms are considered past due. The Company makes judgments as to the collectability of accounts receivable based on historical trends and future expectations. Management estimates an allowance for doubtful accounts, which adjusts gross trade accounts receivable to its net realizable value. The allowance for doubtful accounts is based on an analysis of all receivables for possible impairment issues and historical write-off percentages. The Company writes off accounts receivable when they become uncollectible, and payments subsequently received on such receivables are credited to the allowance for doubtful accounts. The Company does not generally charge interest on past due receivables.

Inventories—Inventories are stated at the lower of cost or net realizable value using the first-in first-out method. Shipping and handling costs are classified as a component of cost of sales in the consolidated statements of operations. Sales demonstration inventory is comprised of measuring devices utilized by sales representatives to present the Company’s products to customers. These products remain in sales demonstration inventory for approximately 6 to 12 months and are subsequently sold at prices that produce slightly reduced gross margins. Service inventory is comprised of inventory that is not expected to be sold within twelve months, such as training and loaned equipment.

Reserve for Excess and Obsolete Inventory— Since the value of inventory that will ultimately be realized cannot be known with exact certainty, the Company relies upon both past sales history and future sales forecasts to provide a basis for the determination of the reserve. Inventory is considered potentially obsolete if the Company has withdrawn those products from the market or had no sales of the product for the past 12 months and has no sales forecasted for the next 12 months. Inventory is considered potentially excess if the quantity on hand exceeds 12 months of expected remaining usage. The resulting obsolete and excess parts are then reviewed to determine if a substitute usage or a future need exists. Items without an identified current or future usage are reserved in an amount equal to 100% of the FIFO cost of such inventory. The Company’s products are subject to changes in technologies that may make certain of its products or their components obsolete or less competitive, which may increase its historical provisions to the reserve.

Property and Equipment—Property and equipment purchases exceeding a thousand dollars are capitalized and recorded at cost. Depreciation is computed using the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the various classes of assets as follows:


Machinery and equipment		2 to 5 years
Furniture and fixtures		3 to 10 years

Leasehold improvements are amortized on a straight-line basis over the lesser of the life of the asset or the remaining term of the lease, not to exceed 7 years.

Depreciation expense was $5,825, $5,769 and $5,394 in 2013, 2012 and 2011, respectively. Accelerated methods of depreciation are used for income tax purposes in contrast to book purposes, and as a result, appropriate provisions are made for the related deferred income taxes.

Goodwill and Intangibles—Goodwill represents the excess cost of a business acquisition over the fair value of the net assets acquired. Indefinite-life identifiable intangible assets and goodwill are not amortized but are tested for impairment at least annually. The Company performs its annual review in the fourth quarter of each year, or more frequently if indicators of potential impairment exist, to determine if the carrying value of the recorded goodwill or indefinite lived intangible assets is impaired. If an asset is impaired, the difference between the value of the asset reflected on the financial statements and its current fair value is recognized as an expense in the period in which the impairment occurs.

Each period, and for any of its reporting units, the Company can elect to initially perform a qualitative assessment to determine whether it is necessary to perform the two-step quantitative goodwill impairment test. If the Company believes, as a result of its qualitative assessment, that it is not more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit containing goodwill is less than its carrying amount, then the first and second steps of the quantitative goodwill impairment test are unnecessary. If the Company elects to bypass the qualitative assessment option, or if the qualitative assessment was performed and resulted in the Company being unable to conclude that it is not more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit containing goodwill is less than its carrying amount, the Company will perform the two-step quantitative goodwill impairment test. The Company performs the first step of the two-step quantitative goodwill impairment test by calculating the fair value of the reporting unit using a discounted cash flow method, and then comparing the fair value with the carrying amount of the reporting unit. If the carrying amount of the reporting unit exceeds its fair value, the Company performs the second step of the quantitative goodwill impairment test to measure the amount of the impairment loss, if any. Management has concluded there was no goodwill impairment for the years ended December 31, 2013, 2012, and 2011.

Other intangible assets principally include patents, existing product technology and customer relationships that arose in connection with the Company’s acquisitions of iQvolution AG and Dimensional Photonics International. Other intangible assets are recorded at fair value at the date of acquisition and are amortized over their estimated useful lives of 3 to 20 years.

Product technology and patents are recorded at cost. Amortization is computed using the straight-line method over the lives of the patents.

Long-Lived Assets—Long-lived assets, other than goodwill and indefinite lived intangible assets, are evaluated for impairment when events or changes in business circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of the assets may not be fully recoverable. Management has concluded that there were no indications of impairment of these assets for the years ended December 31, 2013, 2012 and 2011.

Research and Development—Research and development costs incurred in the discovery of new knowledge and the resulting translation of this new knowledge into plans and designs for new products, prior to the attainment of the related products’ technological feasibility, are recorded as expenses in the period incurred.

Reserve for Warranties— The Company establishes at the time of sale a liability for the one year warranty included with the initial purchase price of equipment, based upon an estimate of the repair expenses likely to be incurred for the warranty period. The warranty period is measured in installation-months for each major product group. The warranty reserve is included in accrued liabilities in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets. The warranty expense is estimated by applying the actual total repair expenses for each product group in the prior period and determining a rate of repair expense per installation-month. This repair rate is multiplied by the number of installation-months of warranty for each product group to determine the provision for warranty expenses for the period. The Company evaluates its exposure to warranty costs at the end of each period using the estimated expense per installation-month for each major product group, the number of units remaining under warranty and the remaining number of months each unit will be under warranty. The Company has a history of new product introductions and enhancements to existing products, which may result in unforeseen issues that increase its warranty costs. While such expenses have historically been within expectations, the Company cannot guarantee this will continue in the future.

Income Taxes—The Company reviews its deferred tax assets on a regular basis to evaluate their recoverability based upon expected future reversals of deferred tax liabilities, projections of future taxable income, and tax planning strategies that the Company might employ to utilize such assets, including net operating loss carryforwards. Based on the positive and negative evidence for recoverability, the Company establishes a valuation allowance against the net deferred tax assets of a taxing jurisdiction in which the Company operates unless it is “more likely than not” that the Company will recover such assets through the above means. In the future, the Company’s evaluation of the need for the valuation allowance will be significantly influenced by the Company’s ability to achieve profitability and the Company’s ability to predict and achieve future projections of taxable income over a two-year period.

The Company recognizes tax benefits related to uncertain tax positions only if it is more likely than not the tax position will be sustained upon examination by taxing authorities. For those positions where it is more-likely than not that a tax benefit will be sustained, no tax benefit has been recognized in the financial statements. In the ordinary course of business, the Company and its subsidiaries are examined by various federal, state, and foreign tax authorities. The Company regularly assesses the potential outcomes of these examinations and any future examinations for the current or prior years in determining the adequacy of its provision for income taxes.

Fair Value of Financial Instruments—The Company’s financial instruments include cash and cash equivalents, short-term investments, accounts receivable and accounts payable and accrued liabilities. Due to their short-term nature, the carrying amounts of such financial instruments approximate their fair value.

Earnings Per Share—Basic earnings per share (“EPS”) is computed by dividing earnings available to common shareholders by the weighted-average number of common shares outstanding for the period. Diluted EPS includes the effect of all potentially dilutive common shares. A reconciliation of the number of common shares used in calculation of basic and diluted EPS is presented in Note 15 - Earnings Per Share.

Concentration of Credit Risk—Financial instruments that expose the Company to concentrations of credit risk consist principally of short-term investments and operating demand deposit accounts. The Company’s policy is to place its operating demand deposit accounts with high credit quality financial institutions.

Estimates—The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”) requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and 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. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

Impact of Recently Issued Accounting Standards

In June 2011, the Financial Accounting Standards Board, (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2011-05, Comprehensive Income (Topic 220): Presentation of Comprehensive Income (“ASU 2011-05”). ASU 2011-05 requires companies to present the components of net income and other comprehensive income either as one continuous statement or as two consecutive statements. It eliminates the option to present components of other comprehensive income as part of the changes in shareholders’ equity. The standard does not change the items which must be reported in other comprehensive income, how such items are measured or when they must be reclassified to net income. The Company has elected to present the components of net income and other comprehensive income as two consecutive statements. ASU 2011-05 was effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2011. The adoption of ASU 2011-05 during the quarter ended March 31, 2012 and for subsequent periods only impacted presentation and did not have any effect on the Company’s consolidated financial statements or on its financial condition.

In December 2011, the FASB issued ASU No. 2011-12, Comprehensive Income (Topic 220): Deferral of the Effective Date for Amendments to the Presentation of Reclassifications of Items Out of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income in Accounting Standards Update No. 2011-05 (“ASU 2011-12”). ASU 2011-12 defers the specific requirement to present items that are reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive income to net income separately with their respective components of net income and other comprehensive income. As part of this update, the FASB did not defer the requirement to report comprehensive income either in a single continuous statement or in two separate but consecutive financial statements. In February 2013, the FASB issued ASU 2013-02, Comprehensive Income (Topic 220): Reporting of Amounts Reclassified Out of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (“ASU 2012-03”), which is effective for reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2012. The specific requirements of ASU 2013-02 did not have any impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.