Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Organization and Basis of Presentation

v3.20.1
Organization and Basis of Presentation
6 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2020
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]  
Organization and Basis of Presentation Organization and Basis of Presentation
The accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States for interim financial information and the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X. As permitted by these instructions, they do not include all of the information and notes required by generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) for complete financial statements. In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring adjustments) considered necessary for a fair presentation have been included. All intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. The results of operations for the three and six months ended March 31, 2020, are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the full fiscal year. The balance sheet at September 30, 2019, has been derived from the audited financial statements at that date, but does not include all of the information and notes required by GAAP for complete financial statements.
These financial statements should be read in conjunction with the consolidated audited financial statements and the notes thereto at September 30, 2019 and 2018, and for each of the three years ended September 30, 2019, included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K which was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on November 26, 2019.
Estimates
The preparation of these financial statements requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, the disclosure of contingent liabilities and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses. At each reporting period end, we make estimates including those related to revenue recognition and cost estimation on certain contracts, the realizability of goodwill and amounts related to income taxes, certain accrued liabilities and contingencies and litigation.
We base our estimates on historical experience and expectations of the future that we believe to be reasonable. The economic and political impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic increases uncertainty, which has reduced our ability to use past results to estimate future performance. Accordingly, our estimates may be subject to greater volatility than has been the case in the past.
Our balance sheet includes goodwill valued at $585.8 million. This balance is allocated between reporting units, which are consistent with our three operating segments. Goodwill is not amortized but is tested for impairment when necessary and no less than once per year. We performed our last annual goodwill impairment test as of July 1, 2019. As of July 1, 2019, none of our reporting units showed any signs of impairment and all held a fair value estimated to be at least twice as high as their carrying value. We continue to monitor the fair value of our reporting units and, at this time, we do not believe any goodwill impairment has occurred. This is based upon a number of factors, including the long-term viability of our business and the creditworthiness of our customer base.
Our balance sheet includes a number of long-lived assets, including property and equipment, capitalized software, operating lease right-of-use assets, deferred contract costs and intangible assets. These assets are depreciated or amortized over their estimated useful economic lives but are subject to impairment if events indicate that the carrying amount may not be recoverable. At this time, there are no significant balances which we believe are not recoverable.
Our balance sheet includes $650.1 million of billed, billable and unbilled accounts receivable, net of reserves. We regularly evaluate this balance for recoverability and reserve those balances where we no longer believe that collection is probable. Bad debt expense has not historically been significant to our business due to the nature of our customers. During the three months ended March 31, 2020, we recorded bad debt expense of $7.8 million. We have reserved balances against customers who we believe are experiencing difficulties during the COVID-19 pandemic and may not be able to reimburse us for work performed.
As disclosed in "Note 4. Revenue Recognition", revenue for some our welfare-to-work contracts in the Outside the U.S. Segment is based upon achievement of future outcomes as defined in each contract. Specifically, we are paid as individuals attain employment goals, which may take many months to achieve. Revenue is recognized on these contracts over the period of performance. Employment markets worldwide
have suffered a significant shock during the three months ended March 31, 2020 and many employment opportunities have been terminated or are no longer available. While we expect the volume of new program participants to increase as a result of disruption to employment markets, we believe that our program outcomes for program participants as of March 31, 2020 have been disrupted. Accordingly, we have adjusted revenue and the related unbilled receivables recorded in prior periods. During the three months ended March 31, 2020, we recorded adjustments of approximately $24 million to revenue from changes in estimates to our welfare-to-work contracts. This reduced our net income and diluted earnings per share by approximately $18 million and $0.28, respectively.
Many of our contracts in the United States are cost-plus contracts, where we are reimbursed for costs that are allowable, allocable and reasonable. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are incurring incremental and unusual costs, including additional sick pay and idle labor for employees who are unable to perform services due to their health issues, child care issues or physical restrictions imposed on their workplace. Although the U.S. Federal Government, which provides the majority of our cost-plus contracts, has provided regular guidance, there is some uncertainty within other contracts as to recoverable costs.

Changes in financial reporting
Leases
Effective October 1, 2019, we adopted ASU No. 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842). The new standard requires that assets and liabilities arising under leases be recognized on the balance sheet, except for those with an initial term of less than 12 months. We adopted this standard using a modified retrospective approach. Accordingly, we did not recast prior period financial information. Certain elections were made in adopting the standard.
We elected to use the package of practical expedients which, among other things, allows us to not reassess historical lease classification.
We do not separate lease and non-lease components for all classes of leases, which allows us to account for a lease as a single component.
We used the optional transition method, which did not require us to recast our comparative periods.
We did not use the hindsight practical expedients, which would have allowed us to use hindsight in determining the reasonably certain lease term.
We did not adjust our accounting for leases with an initial term of twelve months or less.

Upon adopting Topic 842, we recognized a lease liability of $214.5 million, reflecting the present value of the future remaining minimum lease payments. Changes to our opening balance sheet are summarized below. There was no cumulative impact to our retained earnings and the changes did not cause any material changes in our statements of operations or our statements of cash flows. The adoption of Topic 842 does not affect our compliance with our existing contracts, including our credit facility.
(dollars in thousands) Balance at September 30, 2019 Adjustments due to adoption of new standard Opening balance at October 1, 2019
Assets
Prepaid expenses and other current assets $ 62,481    $ (6,131)   $ 56,350   
Operating lease right-of-use assets —    206,314    206,314   
Liabilities and shareholders' equity
Accounts payable and accrued expenses 177,786    (5,250)   172,536   
Operating lease liabilities —    88,276    88,276   
Other current liabilities 12,709    (648)   12,061   
Operating lease liabilities, net of current portion —    126,197    126,197   
Other long-term liabilities 20,082    (8,392)   11,690   

At the adoption of Topic 842, the Company recognized deferred tax assets and liabilities corresponding to the operating lease liabilities and operating right-of-use assets, respectively. These balances offset each other and no net effect resulted from this change.
Additional information and disclosures relating to this change are included within "Note 3. Leases."
Forthcoming changes
In August 2018, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued ASU No. 2018-15, Intangibles - Goodwill and Other - Internal-Use Software (Subtopic 350-40) - Customer’s Accounting for Implementation Costs Incurred in a Cloud Computing Arrangement That Is a Service Contract. This accounting guidance requires customers in cloud-computing arrangements to identify and defer certain implementation costs in a manner broadly consistent with that of existing guidance on the costs to develop or obtain internal-use software. We will adopt this guidance on October 1, 2020. We may adopt this guidance using either a prospective or retrospective methodology. We are currently assessing the future impact of this update on our consolidated financial statements and related disclosures.
In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-13, Financial Instruments - Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments. This update introduces a new model for recognizing credit losses on financial instruments, including losses on accounts receivable. We will adopt this guidance on October 1, 2020 and any changes will be recorded as a cumulative adjustment to retained earnings. We are currently assessing the future impact of this update on our consolidated financial statements and related disclosures.
In January 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-04, Simplifying the Test for Goodwill Impairment. This standard will not change the manner in which we would identify a goodwill impairment but would change any subsequent calculation of an impairment charge. We will adopt this guidance on October 1, 2020. The effect of this new standard will depend upon the outcome of future goodwill impairment tests.
Other recent accounting pronouncements are not expected to have a material effect on our financial statements.