Basis of Presentation

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2021

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Basis of Presentation

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements of Systemax Inc., with its subsidiaries, (the "Company") are unaudited and have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America for interim financial information and the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission.  Certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America are not required in these interim financial statements and have been condensed or omitted.  All significant intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

Systemax Inc., through its operating subsidiaries, is primarily a direct marketer of brand name and private label industrial and business equipment and supplies in North America going to market through a system of branded e-commerce websites and relationship marketers. Systemax operates and is internally managed in one reportable business segment. The Company sells a wide array of industrial and general hard goods and supplies and to a lesser extent products that would fall into the generally recognizable category of maintenance, repair and operations ("MRO"), markets the Company has served since 1949. Because of the large number of products and product categories the Company offers, providing information on the amount of revenue derived from transactions with external customers for each product or groupings of product is impractical.

Included in discontinued operations is the Company’s former North American Technology Group ("NATG") business, which was sold in December 2015 and has been winding down its operations since then. For the three month period ended March 31, 2021, net income from the NATG business totaled $9.7 million (see Note 4, Dispositions and Special (Gains) Charges) and for the three month period ended March 31, 2020, net loss from the NATG business totaled $0.1 million.

In the opinion of management, the accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements contain all normal and recurring adjustments necessary to present fairly the financial position of the Company as of March 31, 2021 and the results of operations for the three month periods ended March 31, 2021 and 2020, statements of comprehensive income (loss) for the three month periods ended March 31, 2021 and 2020, cash flows for the three month periods ended March 31, 2021 and 2020 and changes in shareholders’ equity for the three month periods ended March 31, 2021 and 2020.  The December 31, 2020 Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet has been derived from the audited consolidated financial statements included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020.

These condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the Company’s audited consolidated financial statements as of December 31, 2020 and for the year then ended included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020.  The results for the three month period ended March 31, 2021 are not necessarily indicative of the results for the entire year.

Systemax manages its business and reports using a 52-53 week fiscal year that ends at midnight on the Saturday closest to December 31.  For clarity of presentation herein, fiscal years and quarters are referred to as if they ended on the traditional calendar month.  The actual fiscal first quarter ended on April 3, 2021 and March 28, 2020.  The first quarters of both 2021 and 2020 included 13 weeks.

Related Party Transactions

In the first quarter of 2021, the Company recorded approximately $3.0 million in professional fee expense from a law firm which employs an immediate family member of one of the Company's Vice Chairmen. These fees were contingent fees paid upon receipt of $15.0 million in restitution received in the Company's discontinued operations. Amounts outstanding at March 31, 2021 were de minimis and are recorded in Accrued expenses and other current liabilities in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

Public companies in the United States are subject to the accounting and reporting requirements of various authorities, including the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).  These authorities issue numerous pronouncements, most of which are not applicable to the Company’s current or reasonably foreseeable operating structure.

On January 1, 2021 the Company adopted ASU 2019-12, Income Taxes (Topic 740): Simplifying the Accounting for Income Taxes. This ASU clarifies and simplifies accounting for income taxes by eliminating certain exceptions for intraperiod tax allocation principles and the methodology for calculating income tax rates in an interim period, among other updates. The adoption of this ASU did not have a material impact on the Company's financial position or results of operations.

On January 1, 2021, the Company adopted ASU 2020-10, Codification Improvements. This ASU amends a variety of topics in the Codification to improve consistency and clarify the guidance. The effective date of this ASU is for fiscal years and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2020. The adoption of this ASU did not have a material impact on the Company's financial position or results of operations.