Organization and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies | Organization and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies Axon Enterprise, Inc. (“Axon” or the “Company”) is a developer and manufacturer of advanced conducted electrical weapons (“CEWs”) designed for use by law enforcement, military, corrections, private security personnel, and by private individuals for personal defense. In addition, the Company has developed full technology solutions for the capture, secure storage and management of video/audio evidence as well as other tactical capabilities for use in law enforcement. The Company sells its products worldwide through its direct sales force, distribution partners, online store and third-party resellers. The Company was incorporated in Arizona in September 1993, and reincorporated in Delaware in January 2001. The Company’s corporate headquarters and manufacturing facilities are located in Scottsdale, Arizona. The Company’s software development division is located in Seattle, Washington. Axon Public Safety BV, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, supports the Company's international sales and marketing efforts, and is located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Axon Public Safety BV wholly owns two subsidiaries, Axon Public Safety U.K. LTD and Axon Public Safety AU, that serve as direct sales operations in the United Kingdom (“U.K.”) and Australia, respectively. The Company also sells to certain international markets through a wholly owned subsidiary, Axon Public Safety Germany SE. In 2015, the Company formed Axon Public Safety Canada, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary, to facilitate transactions for its products and services with new and existing customers located in Canada. The accompanying consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and its subsidiaries. All material intercompany accounts, transactions, and profits have been eliminated. Basis of Presentation and Use of Estimates The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”). The preparation of these consolidated financial statements 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 consolidated financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Significant estimates and assumptions in these consolidated financial statements include: • product warranty reserves, • inventory valuation, • revenue recognition allocated in multiple-deliverable contracts or arrangements, • valuation of goodwill, intangible and long-lived assets, • recognition, measurement and valuation of current and deferred income taxes, • fair value of stock awards issued and the estimated vesting period for performance-based stock awards, and • recognition and measurement of contingencies and accrued litigation expense. Actual results could differ materially from those estimates. Cash, Cash Equivalents and Investments Cash, cash equivalents and investments include cash, money market funds, certificates of deposit, state and municipal obligations and corporate bonds. The Company places its cash and cash equivalents with high quality financial institutions. Although the Company deposits its cash with multiple financial institutions, its deposits, at times, do exceed federally insured limits. Cash and cash equivalents include funds on hand and highly liquid investments purchased with initial maturity of three months or less. Short-term investments include securities with an expected maturity date within one year of the balance sheet date that do not meet the definition of a cash equivalent, and long-term investments are securities with an expected maturity date greater than one year. Based on management’s intent and ability, the Company’s investments are classified as held to maturity investments and are recorded at amortized cost. Held-to-maturity investments are reviewed quarterly for impairment to determine if other-than-temporary declines in the fair value have occurred for any individual investment that may affect the Company's intent and ability to hold the investment until recovery. Other-than-temporary declines in the value of held-to-maturity investments are recorded as expense in the period the determination is made. Inventory Inventories are stated at the lower of cost and net realizable value. Cost is determined using the weighted average cost of raw materials, which approximates the first-in, first-out (“FIFO”) method and includes allocations of manufacturing labor and overhead. Provisions are made to reduce potentially excess, obsolete or slow-moving inventories, as well as trial and evaluation inventories to their net realizable value. These provisions are based on management’s best estimate after considering historical demand, projected future demand, inventory purchase commitments, industry and market trends and conditions among other factors. Management evaluates inventory costs for abnormal costs due to excess production capacity and treats such costs as period costs. Property and Equipment Property and equipment are stated at cost, net of accumulated depreciation and amortization. Additions and improvements are capitalized, while ordinary maintenance and repair expenditures are charged to expense as incurred. Depreciation is calculated using the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the assets. Software Development Costs The Company expenses software development costs, including costs to develop software products or the software component of products and services to be marketed to external users, before technological feasibility of such products is reached. The Company has determined that technological feasibility is reached shortly before the release of those products and as a result, the development costs incurred after the establishment of technological feasibility and before the release of those products are not material. Software development costs also include costs to develop software programs to be used solely to meet the Company's internal needs and applications used to deliver its services. The Company capitalizes development costs related to these software applications once the preliminary project stage is complete and it is probable that the project will be completed and the software will be used to perform the intended function. Additionally, the Company capitalizes qualifying costs incurred for upgrades and enhancements to existing software that result in additional functionality. Costs related to preliminary project planning activities, post-implementation activities, maintenance and minor modifications are expensed as incurred. Internal-use software is amortized on a straight line basis over its estimated useful life. Management evaluates the useful lives of these assets on an annual basis and tests for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances occur that could impact the recoverability of these assets. Valuation of Goodwill, Intangible and Long-lived Assets The Company does not amortize goodwill and intangible assets with indefinite useful lives, rather such assets are required to be tested for impairment at least annually, or sooner whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the assets may be impaired. The Company performs its annual impairment assessment in the fourth quarter of each year. Finite-lived intangible assets and other long-lived assets are amortized over their estimated useful lives. Management evaluates whether events and circumstances have occurred that indicate the remaining estimated useful life of long-lived assets and intangible assets may warrant revision or that the remaining balance of these assets, including intangible assets with indefinite lives, may not be recoverable. Circumstances that might indicate long-lived assets might not be recoverable could include, but are not limited to, a change in the product mix, a change in the way products are created, produced or delivered, or a significant change in the way the Company's products are branded and marketed. When performing a review for recoverability, management estimates the future undiscounted cash flows expected to result from the use of the assets and their eventual disposition. The amount of the impairment loss, if impairment exists, is calculated based on the excess of the carrying amounts of the assets over their estimated fair value computed using discounted cash flows. During the year ended December 31, 2017 , the Company abandoned certain developed technology acquired in a business combination resulting in an impairment charge of $1.0 million . The impairment charge was recorded within the Software and Sensors Segment. No impairment losses were recorded during the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2015 . Customer Deposits The Company requires deposits in advance of shipment for certain customer sales orders. Additionally, customers may elect to make deposits with the Company related to contracts for the Company's products and services that were not executed as of the end of a reporting period. Customer deposits are recorded as a current liability in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets. Revenue Recognition, Deferred Revenue and Accounts and Notes Receivable The Company derives revenue from two primary sources: (1) the sale of physical products, including CEWs, Axon cameras, corresponding hardware extended warranties, and related accessories such as Axon docks, cartridges and batteries, among others, and (2) subscription to the Company's Evidence.com digital evidence management software as a service ("SaaS") (including data storage fees and other ancillary services), which includes varying levels of support. To a lesser extent, the Company also recognizes training, professional services and revenue related to other software and SaaS services. Revenue is recognized when persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists, delivery has occurred or services have been rendered, title has transferred, the price is fixed and collectability is reasonably assured. Contractual arrangements may contain explicit customer acceptance provisions, and under such arrangements, the Company defers recognition of revenue until formal customer acceptance is received. Extended warranty revenue, SaaS revenue and related data storage revenue are recognized ratably over the term of the contract commencing on a pre-determined date subsequent to the delivery of the hardware. Training and professional service revenues are generally recorded once the services are completed. Revenue arrangements with multiple deliverables are divided into separate units and revenue is allocated using the relative selling price method based upon vendor-specific objective evidence ("VSOE") of selling price or third-party evidence of the selling prices if VSOE of selling prices does not exist. If neither VSOE nor third-party evidence exists, management uses its best estimate of selling price. The majority of the Company’s allocations of arrangement consideration under multiple element arrangements are performed utilizing prices charged to customers for deliverables when sold separately. The Company’s multiple element arrangements may include rights to future CEWs and/or Axon devices to be delivered at defined points within a multi-year contract, and in those arrangements, the Company allocates total arrangement consideration over the life of the multi-year contract to future deliverables using management’s best estimate of selling price. The Company has not utilized third-party evidence of selling price. The Company offers the opportunity to purchase extended warranties that include additional services and coverage beyond the standard limited warranty for certain products. Revenue for extended warranty purchases is deferred at the time of sale and recognized over the warranty period commencing on the date of sale. Extended warranties range from one to five years. Evidence.com and Axon cameras and related accessories have stand-alone value to the customer and are sometimes sold separately, but in most instances are sold together. In these instances, customers typically purchase and pay for the equipment and one year of Evidence.com in advance. Additional years of service are generally billed annually over a specified service term, which has typically ranged from one to five years. Generally, the Company recognizes revenue for the Axon equipment at the time of the sale consistent with the discussion of multiple deliverable arrangements above. Revenue for Evidence.com is deferred at the time of the sale and recognized over the service period. At times, the Company discounts the price of Axon devices provided to customers to secure long-term Evidence.com service contracts. In such circumstances, revenue related to the Axon devices recognized at the time of delivery is limited to the amount allocated to the Axon device deliverable that the Company is contractually entitled to that is not contingent upon the delivery of future Evidence.com services. The Company recognizes the remaining allocated contingent revenue related to discounted Axon devices over the remaining period it provides the contracted Evidence.com services. In 2012, the Company introduced a program, the TASER Assurance Program (“TAP”) whereby a customer purchasing a product and joining the program will have the right to trade-in the original product for a new product of the same or like model in the future. Upon joining TAP, customers also receive an extended warranty for the initial products purchased. Under this program the customer generally pays additional annual installments over the contract period, generally three to five years. The Company records consideration received related to the right to the future hardware product as deferred revenue until all revenue recognition criteria are met, which is generally when the new product is delivered. Consideration related to the right to the future hardware product is determined at the inception of the arrangement using management’s best estimate of selling price. Management’s estimate is principally based on the current selling price for such products, with evaluation of the impact of any expected product and pricing changes, which have historically had an immaterial influence on management’s best estimate of selling price. In 2015, the Company introduced the Officer Safety Plan (“OSP”), whereby a customer typically enters into a five year Evidence.com subscription that includes all of its standard advanced features along with unlimited storage. The OSP also includes a service plan that includes upgrades of (i) the Axon devices every 2.5 years and (ii) a CEW at any point within the contract period. Upon entering into the OSP, customers also receive extended warranties on the Axon and CEW devices upon delivery to cover the contract periods. Under this program the customer generally makes an initial purchase of Axon cameras and related accessories, and CEWs at inception along with annual installments for services and future hardware deliverables over the contract period. The Company records consideration received related to the right to future hardware product as deferred revenue until all revenue recognition criteria are met, which is generally when the new product is delivered. In 2016, the Company introduced the TASER 60 Plan ("TASER 60") whereby a customer typically enters into a five year CEW installment purchase arrangement. TASER 60 also includes extended warranties on the CEW devices upon delivery covering the contract periods as well as holsters, cartridges and on-site spares. Generally, the Company allocates revenue to the deliverables using the relative selling price method and recognizes revenue at the time of sale for the amount allocated to the CEW devices, net of imputed interest, and the amount allocated to the extended warranty is recognized over five years. The Company performs an initial credit evaluation prior to execution of TASER 60 arrangements and subsequently performs quarterly credit evaluations by monitoring public municipal bond ratings, as applicable, and any subsequent credit upgrades or downgrades, to monitor for each customer's credit risk. Additionally, the Company tracks payment activity for amounts currently due to assess the credit quality of its notes receivable portfolio. As the Company’s customers generally have investment-grade municipal bond ratings, the Company considers collectability of the contracted amounts in such installment purchase arrangements to be reasonably assured, unless other factors or payment history indicate otherwise. For customers where municipal bond information is not available, the Company considers factors such as payment history, customer-specific information and broader market and economic trends and conditions to determine whether collectability is reasonably assured. The Company considers this information when establishing its allowance for doubtful accounts. For the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, the Company recorded revenue of $40.7 million and $17.9 million , respectively, under the Company's TASER 60 Plan. No such amounts were recorded during the year ended December 31, 2015. In 2017, the Company introduced new subscription programs that allow for agencies to purchase the Company's training and duty cartridges over a five-year term whereby the customer makes five equal annual installments at the beginning of each contract year. The Company offers two tiers under this program: the basic and unlimited plan. The Basic Cartridge Plan entitles customers to a fixed number of training and duty cartridges per year as well as a fixed number of battery replacements over the contractual term. For the Basic Cartridge Plan, the Company allocates the contractual consideration to all identified deliverables using the relative selling price method. Generally, the Company recognizes revenue for the amounts allocated to the cartridges and batteries when they are delivered to the customer. The Unlimited Cartridge Plan entitles customers to a fixed number of training cartridges per year and an unlimited amount of duty cartridges and replacement batteries. Due to the unlimited nature of the arrangement whereby the Company is obligated to deliver unlimited products at the customer’s request, the Company accounts for these arrangements as stand-ready obligations, and recognizes revenue ratably over the contract period. Cost of product sales is recognized as the products are delivered to the customer. Sales tax collected on sales is netted against government remittances and thus, recorded on a net basis. Deferred revenue consists of payments received in advance related to products and services for which the criteria for revenue recognition have not yet been met. Deferred revenue that will be recognized during the subsequent twelve month period from the balance sheet date is recorded as current deferred revenue and the remaining portion is recorded as long-term. Generally, customers are billed in annual installments. See Note 7 for further disclosures about the Company’s deferred revenue. The Company records reductions to net sales for expected future product returns based on the Company’s historical experience. Sales are typically made on credit, and the Company generally does not require collateral. Management performs ongoing credit evaluations of its customers’ financial condition, and maintains an allowance for doubtful accounts. Uncollectible accounts are charged to expense when deemed uncollectible, and accounts and notes receivable are presented net of an allowance for doubtful accounts. This allowance represents management’s best estimate and application of judgment considering a number of factors, including third-party credit reports, actual payment history, cash discounts, customer-specific financial information and broader market and economic trends and conditions. Cost of Product and Service Sales Cost of product sales represents manufacturing costs, consisting of materials, labor and overhead related to finished goods and components. Shipping costs incurred related to product delivery are also included in cost of products sold. Cost of service sales includes third-party cloud services, and software maintenance and support costs, including personnel costs, associated with supporting Evidence.com and other software related services. Advertising Costs The Company expenses advertising costs in the period in which they are incurred. The Company incurred advertising costs of $0.5 million , $0.4 million and $0.6 million in the years ended December 31, 2017 , 2016 and 2015 , respectively. Advertising costs are included in sales, general and administrative expenses in the accompanying statements of operations. Standard Warranties The Company warranties its CEWs, Axon cameras and certain related accessories from manufacturing defects on a limited basis for a period of one year after purchase and, thereafter, will replace any defective unit for a fee. Estimated costs for the standard warranty are charged to cost of products sold when revenue is recorded for the related product. Future warranty costs are estimated based on historical data related to warranty claims on a quarterly basis and this rate is applied to current product sales. Historically, reserve amounts have been increased if management becomes aware of a component failure or other issue that could result in larger than anticipated warranty claims from customers. The warranty reserve is reviewed quarterly to verify that it sufficiently reflects the remaining warranty obligations based on the anticipated expenditures over the balance of the warranty obligation period, and adjustments are made when actual warranty claim experience differs from estimates. The warranty reserve is included in accrued liabilities on the accompanying consolidated balance sheets. Changes in the Company’s estimated warranty reserve were as follows (in thousands): 2017 2016 2015 Balance, January 1 $ 780 $ 314 $ 675 Utilization of reserve (245 ) (155 ) (299 ) Warranty expense (recoveries) 109 621 (62 ) Balance, December 31 $ 644 $ 780 $ 314 Research and Development Expenses The Company expenses as incurred research and development costs that do not meet the qualifications to be capitalized. The Company incurred research and development expense of $55.4 million , $30.6 million and $23.6 million in 2017 , 2016 and 2015 , respectively. Income Taxes Income taxes are accounted for under the asset and liability method. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the future tax consequences attributable to differences between the financial statement amounts of assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases and operating loss and tax credit carry forwards. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in future 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 rate is recognized in income in the period that includes the enactment date. Deferred tax assets are reduced through the establishment of a valuation allowance if, based upon available evidence, it is determined that it is more likely than not that the deferred tax assets will not be realized. The Company recognizes the tax benefit from an uncertain tax position only if it is more likely than not that the tax position will be sustained on examination by the taxing authorities, based on the technical merits of the position. The tax benefits recognized in the consolidated financial statements from such a position are measured based on the largest benefit that has a greater than 50% likelihood of being realized upon ultimate resolution. Management also assesses whether uncertain tax positions, as filed, could result in the recognition of a liability for possible interest and penalties. The Company’s policy is to include interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits as a component of income tax expense. Refer to Note 10 for additional information regarding the change in unrecognized tax benefits. Concentration of Credit Risk and Major Customers / Suppliers Financial instruments that potentially subject the Company to concentrations of credit risk consist of accounts and notes receivable and cash. Sales are typically made on credit and the Company generally does not require collateral. Management performs ongoing credit evaluations of its customers’ financial condition and maintains an allowance for estimated losses. Uncollectible accounts are written off when deemed uncollectible, and accounts receivable are presented net of an allowance for doubtful accounts, which totaled $0.8 million and $0.4 million as of December 31, 2017 and 2016 , respectively. Historically, the Company has experienced a low level of write-offs related to doubtful accounts. The Company maintains the majority of its cash at four depository institutions. As of December 31, 2017 , the aggregate balances in such accounts were $53.4 million . The Company’s balances with these institutions regularly exceed Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) insured limits for domestic deposits and various deposit insurance programs covering our deposits in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Germany and Australia. To manage the related credit exposure, management continually monitors the creditworthiness of the financial institutions where the Company has deposits. The Company sells some of its products through a network of unaffiliated distributors. The Company also reserves the right to sell directly to the end user to secure the customer’s account. No customer represented more than 10% of total net sales for the years ended December 31, 2017 , 2016 or 2015 . At December 31, 2017 , no customer represented more than 10% of total accounts and notes receivable. As of December 31, 2016 , the Company had a trade receivable from one unaffiliated customer comprising 14.5% of the aggregate accounts and notes receivable balance. The Company currently purchases finished circuit boards and injection-molded plastic components from suppliers located in the U.S., Mexico and Taiwan. Although the Company currently obtains many of these components from single source suppliers, the Company owns the injection molded component tooling used in their production. As a result, management believes it could obtain alternative suppliers in most cases without incurring significant production delays. The Company also purchases small, machined parts from a vendor in Taiwan, custom cartridge assemblies from a proprietary vendor in the U.S., and electronic components from a variety of foreign and domestic distributors. Management believes that there are readily available alternative suppliers in most cases who could consistently meet the Company's needs for these components. The Company acquires most of its components on a purchase order basis and does not have any significant long-term contracts with suppliers. Fair Value of Financial Instruments The Company uses the fair value framework that prioritizes the inputs to valuation techniques for measuring financial assets and liabilities measured on a recurring basis and for non-financial assets and liabilities when these items are re-measured. Fair value is considered to be the exchange price in an orderly transaction between market participants, to sell an asset or transfer a liability at the measurement date. The hierarchy below lists three levels of fair value based on the extent to which inputs used in measuring fair value are observable in the market. The Company categorizes each of its fair value measurements in one of these three levels based on the lowest level input that is significant to the fair value measurement in its entirety. These levels are: • Level 1 – Valuation techniques in which all significant inputs are unadjusted quoted prices from active markets for assets or liabilities that are identical to the assets or liabilities being measured. • Level 2 – Valuation techniques in which significant inputs include quoted prices from active markets for assets or liabilities that are similar to the assets or liabilities being measured and/or quoted prices for assets or liabilities that are identical or similar to the assets or liabilities being measured from markets that are not active. Also, model-derived valuations in which all significant inputs and significant value drivers are observable in active markets are Level 2 valuation techniques. • Level 3 – Valuation techniques in which one or more significant inputs or significant value drivers are unobservable. Unobservable inputs are valuation technique inputs that reflect the Company's own assumptions about inputs that market participants would use in pricing an asset or liability. The Company has cash equivalents and investments, which at December 31, 2017 and 2016 , were comprised of money market funds, state and municipal obligations, corporate bonds, and certificates of deposits. See additional disclosure regarding the fair value of the Company’s cash equivalents and investments in Note 2. Included in the balance of other assets as of December 31, 2017 and 2016 was $3.8 million and $3.2 million , respectively, related to corporate-owned life insurance policies which are used to fund the Company’s deferred compensation plan. The Company determines the fair value of its insurance contracts by obtaining the cash surrender value of the contracts from the issuer, a Level 2 valuation technique. The Company’s financial instruments also include accounts and notes receivable, accounts payable and accrued liabilities. Due to the short-term nature of these instruments, their fair values approximate their carrying values on the balance sheet. Segment and Geographic Information The Company is comprised of two reportable segments: the sale of CEWs, accessories and other related products and services (the “TASER Weapons” segment); and the software and sensors business, focused on devices, wearables, applications, cloud and mobile products (the "Software and Sensors" segment). Reportable segments are determined based on discrete financial information reviewed by the Company’s Chief Executive Officer who is the chief operating decision maker ("CODM") for the Company. The Company organizes and reviews operations based on products and services, and currently there are no operating segments that are aggregated. The Company performs an annual analysis of its reportable segments. Additional information related to the Company’s business segments is summarized in Note 16. For the years ended December 31, 2017 , 2016 and 2015 , net sales by geographic area as well as the percentage relationship to total net sales included in the accompanying statements of operations were as follows (in thousands): Year Ended December 31, 2017 2016 2015 United States $ 282,810 82.3 % $ 218,757 81.6 % $ 161,803 81.8 % Other Countries 60,988 17.7 49,488 18.4 36,089 18.2 Total $ 343,798 100.0 % $ 268,245 100.0 % $ 197,892 100.0 % Sales to customers outside of the U.S. are typically denominated in U.S. dollars and are attributed to each country based on the shipping address of the distributor or customer. For the years ended December 31, 2017 , 2016 and 2015 , no individual country outside the U.S. represented more than 10% of net sales. Substantially all of the Company’s assets are located in the U.S. Stock-Based Compensation The Company recognizes expense related to stock-based compensation transactions in which it receives employee services in exchange for equity instruments of the Company. Stock-based compensation expense for RSUs is measured based on the closing fair market value of the Company’s common stock on the date of grant. The Company recognizes stock-based compensation expense over the award’s requisite service period on a straight-line basis for time-based RSUs and on a graded basis for RSUs that are contingent on the achievement of performance conditions. The Company recognizes forfeitures as they occur as a reduction to stock-based compensation expense and to additional paid-in-capital. The Company calculates the fair value of stock options using the Black-Scholes-Merton option pricing valuation model, which incorporates various assumptions including expected volatility, expected life, expected dividends and risk-free interest rates. No options were awarded du |