| BASIS OF PRESENTATION, ORGANIZATION AND OPERATIONS OF THE COMPANY | 1. BASIS OF PRESENTATION, ORGANIZATION AND OPERATIONS OF THE COMPANY
Basis of Presentation
The accompanying unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) and pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and reflect all adjustments, which consist of only normal recurring adjustments, which are, in the opinion of management, necessary for a fair presentation of the consolidated results for the interim periods presented. Willdan Group, Inc. and its subsidiaries (the “Company”) operates and reports its quarterly financial results based on the 13-week period ending on the Friday closest to March 31, June 30 and September 30 and the 13 or 14-week period ending on the Friday closest to December 31, as applicable, with consideration of business days. Results for the interim periods are not necessarily indicative of results for the full year. Certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in annual consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP have been condensed or omitted pursuant to such rules and regulations. The condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 28, 2018.
The condensed consolidated statement of stockholders' equity includes repurchases of shares of our common stock from employees to satisfy tax withholding obligations incurred in connection with the vesting of restricted stock or performance stock units, which amount is presented as a reduction of additional paid-in capital and common stock.
Nature of Business
The Company is a provider of professional technical and consulting services to utilities, private industry, and public agencies at all levels of government. The Company enables its clients to realize cost and energy savings by providing a wide range of specialized services without having to incur and maintain the overhead necessary to develop staffing in-house. Such services include energy and sustainability, engineering, construction management and planning and economic and financial consulting. The Company operates its business through a nationwide network of offices spread across 24 states and the District of Columbia. Its clients primarily consist of public and governmental agencies, including cities, counties, public utilities, redevelopment agencies, water districts, school districts and universities, state agencies, federal agencies, a variety of other special districts and agencies, private utilities and industry and tribal governments. The Company’s business with public and private utilities is concentrated primarily in California, New York and North Carolina and its business with public agencies is concentrated in California, New York and Arizona.
Principles of Consolidation
The condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Willdan Group, Inc. (“WGI”) and its wholly-owned subsidiaries, Willdan Energy Solutions (“WES”), Willdan Engineering, Willdan Infrastructure, Public Agency Resources and Willdan Financial Services and their respective subsidiaries. All significant intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.
The Company accounts for variable interest entities in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 810, Consolidation. Under ASC 810, a variable interest entity (“VIE”) is created when any of the following criteria are present: (a) the equity investment at risk in the entity is not sufficient to permit the entity to finance its activities without additional subordinated financial support provided by other parties, including the equity holders; (b) the entity ’ s equity holders as a group either (i) lack the direct or indirect ability to make decisions about the entity, (ii) are not obligated to absorb expected losses of the entity or (iii) do not have the right to receive expected residual returns of the entity; or (c) the entity ’ s equity holders have voting rights that are not proportionate to their economic interests, and the activities of the entity involve or are conducted on behalf of the equity holder with disproportionately few voting
rights. If an entity is deemed to be a VIE pursuant to ASC 810, the enterprise that has both (i) the power to direct the activities of a VIE that most significantly impact the entity ’ s economic performance and (ii) the obligation to absorb the expected losses of the entity or right to receive benefits from the entity that could be potentially significant to the VIE is considered the primary beneficiary and must consolidate the VIE. In accordance with ASC 810, the Company performs ongoing reassessments of whether an enterprise is the primary beneficiary of a VIE.
As of September 27, 2019, the Company had one VIE—Genesys Engineering, P.C. (“Genesys”). Pursuant to New York law, the Company does not own capital stock of Genesys and does not have control over the professional decision making of Genesys’ engineering services. The Company, however, has entered into an administrative services agreement with Genesys pursuant to which WES, the Company’s wholly-owned subsidiary, will provide Genesys with ongoing administrative, operational and other non-professional support services. The Company manages Genesys and has the power to direct the activities that most significantly impact Genesys’ performance, in addition to being obligated to absorb expected losses from Genesys. Accordingly, the Company is the primary beneficiary of Genesys and consolidates Genesys as a VIE.
Management also concluded there is no noncontrolling interest related to the consolidation of Genesys because management determined that (i) the shareholder of Genesys does not have more than a nominal amount of equity investment at risk, (ii) WES absorbs the expected losses of Genesys through its deferral of Genesys’ service fees owed to WES, and the Company has, since entering into the administrative services agreement, had to continuously defer the service fees for Genesys, and (iii) the Company believes Genesys will continue to have a shortfall on payment of its service fees for the foreseeable future, leaving no expected residual returns for the shareholder.
Segment Information
WGI is a holding company with five wholly-owned subsidiaries. The Company presents segment information externally consistent with the manner in which the Company ’ s chief operating decision maker reviews information to assess performance and allocate resources. WGI performs administrative functions on behalf of its subsidiaries, such as treasury, legal, accounting, information systems, human resources and certain business development activities, and earns revenue that is only incidental to the activities of the enterprise. As a result, WGI does not meet the definition of an operating segment. The Company’s two segments are Energy and Engineering and Consulting. The Company’s principal segment, Energy, consists of the business of its subsidiary, WES, which offers energy and sustainability consulting services to utilities, public agencies and private industry. The Company’s Engineering and Consulting segment includes the operation of the Company’s remaining direct subsidiaries, Willdan Engineering, Willdan Infrastructure, Public Agency Resources and Willdan Financial Services. Willdan Engineering provides civil engineering-related construction management, building and safety, city engineering, city planning, geotechnical, material testing and other engineering consulting services to its clients. Willdan Infrastructure, which was launched in fiscal year 2013, provides engineering services to larger rail, port, water, mining and other civil engineering projects. Public Agency Resources primarily provides staffing to Willdan Engineering. Willdan Financial Services provides economic and financial consulting to public agencies. See Note 11 “—Segment Information” for segment information for the current and prior period.
Contract Assets and Liabilities
Billing practices are governed by the contract terms of each project based upon costs incurred, achievement of milestones or pre-agreed schedules. Billings do not necessarily correlate with revenue recognized using the percentage-of-completion method of revenue recognition. Contract assets include unbilled amounts typically resulting from revenue under long-term contracts when the percentage-of-completion method of revenue recognition is utilized and revenue recognized exceeds the amount billed to the customer and right to payment is not unconditional. In addition, contract assets include retainage amounts withheld from billings to the Company’s clients pursuant to provisions in the contracts. Contract liabilities consist of advance payments and billings in excess of revenue recognized and deferred revenue.
The increase in contract assets and contract liabilities for the nine months ended September 27, 2019 were primarily attributable to our recent acquisitions and normal business operations.
Off‑Balance Sheet Arrangements
The Company does not have any off‑balance sheet financing arrangements or liabilities. In addition, the Company does not have any majority‑owned subsidiaries or any interests in, or relationships with, any special‑purpose entities that are not included in the condensed consolidated financial statements. The Company has, however, entered into an administrative services agreement with Genesys pursuant to which WES, the Company’s wholly-owned subsidiary, will provide Genesys with ongoing administrative, operational and other non-professional support services. The Company manages Genesys and has the power to direct the activities that most significantly impact Genesys’ performance, in addition to being obligated to absorb expected losses from Genesys. Accordingly, the Company is the primary beneficiary of Genesys and consolidates Genesys as a variable interest entity.
Contract Accounting
The Company enters into contracts with its clients that contain various types of pricing provisions, including fixed price, time-and-materials and unit-based provisions. The Company recognizes revenues in accordance with ASU 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customer, codified as ASC Topic 606 and the related amendments (collectively, “ASC 606”). As such, the Company identifies a contract with a customer, identifies the performance obligations in the contract, determines the transaction price, allocates the transaction price to each performance obligation in the contract and recognizes revenues when (or as) the Company satisfies a performance obligation.
The following table reflects the Company’s two reportable segments and the types of contracts that each most commonly enters into for revenue generating activities.
Segment
Contract Type
Revenue Recognition Method
Time-and-materials
Time-and-materials
Energy
Unit-based
Unit-based
Software license
Unit-based
Fixed price
Percentage-of-completion
Time-and-materials
Time-and-materials
Engineering and Consulting
Unit-based
Unit-based
Fixed price
Percentage-of-completion
Revenue on the vast majority of the Company’s contracts is recognized over time because of the continuous transfer of control to the customer. Revenue on fixed price contracts is recognized on the percentage-of-completion method based generally on the ratio of direct costs incurred-to-date to estimated total direct costs at completion. The Company uses the percentage-of-completion method to better match the level of work performed at a certain point in time in relation to the effort that will be required to complete a project. In addition, the percentage-of-completion method is a common method of revenue recognition in the Company’s industry.
Many of the Company’s fixed price contracts involve a high degree of subcontracted fixed price effort and are relatively short in duration, thereby lowering the risks of not properly estimating the percent complete. Revenue on time-and-materials and unit-based contracts is recognized as the work is performed in accordance with the specific rates and terms of the contract. The Company recognizes revenues for time-and-materials contracts based upon the actual hours incurred during a reporting period at contractually agreed upon rates per hour and also includes in revenue all reimbursable costs incurred during a reporting period. Certain of the Company’s time-and-materials contracts are subject to maximum contract values and, accordingly, when revenue is expected to meet the maximum contract value, these contracts are generally recognized under the percentage-of-completion method, consistent with fixed price contracts. For unit-based contracts, the Company recognizes the contract price of units of a basic production product as revenue when the production product is delivered during a period. Revenue recognition for software licenses issued by the Energy segment is generally recognized at a point in time, utilizing the unit-based revenue recognition method, upon acceptance of the software by the customer and in recognition of the fulfillment of the performance obligation. Certain additional performance obligations beyond the base software license may be separated from the gross license fee and recognized on a straight-line basis over time. Revenue for amounts that have been billed but not earned is deferred, and such deferred revenue is referred to as contract liabilities in the accompanying condensed consolidated balance sheets.
To determine the proper revenue recognition method for contracts, the Company evaluates whether two or more contracts should be combined and accounted for as one single contract and whether the combined contract should be accounted for as one performance obligation. With respect to the Company’s contracts, it is rare that multiple contracts should be combined into a single performance obligation. This evaluation requires significant judgment and the decision to combine a group of contracts or separate a single contract into multiple performance obligations could change the amount of revenue and profit recorded in a given period. Contracts are considered to have a single performance obligation if the promise to transfer the individual goods or services is not separately identifiable from other promises in the contracts, which is mainly because the Company provides a significant service of integrating a complex set of tasks and components into a single project or capability.
The Company may enter into contracts that include separate phases or elements. If each phase or element is negotiated separately based on the technical resources required and/or the supply and demand for the services being provided, the Company evaluates if the contracts should be segmented. If certain criteria are met, the contracts would be segmented which could result in revenues being assigned to the different elements or phases with different rates of profitability based on the relative value of each element or phase to the estimated total contract revenue.
Contracts that cover multiple phases or elements of the project or service lifecycle (development, construction and maintenance and support) may be considered to have multiple performance obligations even when they are part of a single contract. For contracts with multiple performance obligations, the Company allocates the transaction price to each performance obligation using the best estimate of the standalone selling price of each distinct good or service in the contract. For the periods presented, the value of the separate performance obligations under contracts with multiple performance obligations (generally measurement and verification tasks under certain energy performance contracts) were not material. In cases where the Company does not provide the distinct good or service on a standalone basis, the primary method used to estimate standalone selling price is the expected cost plus a margin approach, under which the Company forecasts the Company’s expected costs of satisfying a performance obligation and then adds an appropriate margin for the distinct good or service.
The Company provides quality of workmanship warranties to customers that are included in the sale and are not priced or sold separately or do not provide customers with a service in addition to assurance of compliance with agreed-upon specifications and industry standards. The Company does not consider these types of warranties to be separate performance obligations.
In some cases, the Company has a master service or blanket agreement with a customer under which each task order releases the Company to perform specific portions of the overall scope in the service contract. Each task order is typically accounted for as a separate contract because the task order establishes the enforceable rights and obligations, and payment terms.
Under ASC 606, variable consideration should be considered when determining the transaction price and estimates should be made for the variable consideration component of the transaction price, as well as assessing whether an estimate of variable consideration is constrained. For certain of the Company’s contracts, variable consideration can arise from modifications to the scope of services resulting from unapproved change orders or customer claims. Variable consideration is included in the transaction price to the extent it is probable that a significant reversal of cumulative revenue recognized will not occur when the uncertainty associated with the variable consideration is resolved. The Company’s estimates of variable consideration and determination of whether to include estimated amounts in the transaction price are based largely on assessments of legal enforceability, the Company’s performance, and all information (historical, current and forecasted) that is reasonably available to the Company.
Due to the nature of the work required to be performed on many of the Company’s performance obligations, the estimation of total revenue and cost at completion is complex, subject to many variables and requires significant judgment. As a significant change in one or more of these estimates could affect the profitability of the Company’s contracts, the Company reviews and updates the Company’s contract-related estimates regularly through a company-wide disciplined project review process in which management reviews the progress and execution of the Company’s performance obligations and the estimate at completion (EAC). As part of this process, management reviews information including, but not limited to, any outstanding key contract matters, progress towards completion and the related program schedule and the related changes in estimates of revenues and costs. Management must make assumptions and estimates regarding labor productivity and availability, the complexity of the work to be performed, the cost and availability of materials, the performance of subcontractors, and the availability and timing of funding from the customer, among other variables.
The Company recognizes adjustments in estimated profit on contracts under the cumulative catch-up method. Under this method, the impact of the adjustment on profit recorded to date is recognized in the period the adjustment is identified. Revenue and profit in future periods of contract performance is recognized using the adjusted estimate. If at any time the estimate of contract profitability indicates an anticipated loss on the contract, the Company recognizes the full amount of estimated loss in the period it is identified.
Contracts are often modified to account for changes in contract specifications and requirements. The Company considers contract modifications to exist when the modification either creates new rights or obligations or changes the existing enforceable rights or obligations. Most of the Company’s contract modifications are for goods or services that are not distinct from existing contracts due to the significant integration provided in the context of the contract and are accounted for as if they were part of the original contract. The effect of a contract modification that is not distinct from the existing contract on the transaction price and the Company’s measure of progress for the performance obligation to which it relates is recognized as an adjustment to revenue (either as an increase in or a reduction of revenue) on a cumulative catch-up basis.
For contract modifications that result in the promise to deliver goods or services that are distinct from the existing contract and the increase in price of the contract is for the same amount as the standalone selling price of the additional goods or services included in the modification, the Company accounts for such contract modifications as a separate contract.
The Company includes claims to vendors, subcontractors and others as a receivable and a reduction in recognized costs when enforceability of the claim is established by the contract and the amounts are reasonably estimable and probable of being recovered. The amounts are recorded up to the extent of the lesser of the amounts management expects to recover or to costs incurred.
Billing practices are governed by the contract terms of each project based upon costs incurred, achievement of milestones or pre-agreed schedules. Billings do not necessarily correlate with revenue recognized using the percentage-of-completion method of revenue recognition.
Direct costs of contract revenue consist primarily of that portion of technical and nontechnical salaries and wages that has been incurred in connection with revenue producing projects. Direct costs of contract revenue also include production expenses, subcontractor services and other expenses that are incurred in connection with revenue producing projects.
Direct costs of contract revenue exclude that portion of technical and nontechnical salaries and wages related to marketing efforts, vacations, holidays and other time not spent directly generating revenue under existing contracts. Such costs are included in general and administrative expenses in the accompanying condensed consolidated statements of comprehensive income. Additionally, payroll taxes, bonuses and employee benefit costs for all Company personnel are included in general and administrative expenses in the accompanying condensed consolidated statements of comprehensive income since no allocation of these costs is made to direct costs of contract revenue. No allocation of facilities costs is made to direct costs of contract revenue. Other companies may classify as direct costs of contract revenue some of the costs that the Company classifies as general and administrative costs. The Company expenses direct costs of contract revenue when incurred.
Included in revenue and costs are all reimbursable costs for which the Company has the risk or on which the fee was based at the time of bid or negotiation. No revenue or cost is recorded for costs in which the Company acts solely in the capacity of an agent and has no risks associated with such costs.
Accounts receivable are carried at original invoice amount less an estimate made for doubtful accounts based upon a review of all outstanding amounts on a quarterly basis. Management determines allowances for doubtful accounts through specific identification of amounts considered to be uncollectible and potential write-offs, plus a non-specific allowance for other amounts for which some potential loss has been determined to be probable based on current and past experience. The Company’s historical credit losses have been minimal with governmental entities and large public utilities, but disputes may arise related to these receivable amounts. Accounts receivable are written off when deemed uncollectible. Recoveries of accounts receivable previously written off are recorded when received.
Retainage, included in contract assets, represents amounts withheld from billings to the Company’s clients pursuant to provisions in the contracts and may not be paid to the Company until specific tasks are completed or the project is completed and, in some instances, for even longer periods. At September 27, 2019 and December 28, 2018, contract assets included retainage of $5.2 million and $6.7 million, respectively.
Disaggregation of Revenue
The following tables provides information about disaggregated revenue of the Company’s two segments Energy and Engineering and Consulting, by contract type, client type and geographical region for the nine months ended September 27, 2019:
Energy
Engineering and
Total
(in thousands)
Contract Type
Time-and-materials
$
$
$
Unit-based
Fixed price
Total
$
$
$
Client Type
Commercial
$
$
$
Government
Utilities
Total
$
$
$
Geography
Domestic
$
257,962
$
55,721
$
313,683
Goodwill
Goodwill represents the excess of costs over fair value of the assets acquired. The Company completes its annual testing of goodwill as of the last day of the first month of its fourth fiscal quarter each year to determine whether there is impairment. Goodwill, which has an indefinite useful life, is not amortized, but instead tested for impairment at least annually or more frequently if events and circumstances indicate that the asset might be impaired. Impairment losses for reporting units are recognized to the extent that a reporting unit’s carrying amount exceeds its fair value. The reporting units for purposes of testing goodwill impairment coincide with the Company’s reportable segments used for segment reporting purposes.
Fair Value of Financial Instruments
The Company uses the three-tier hierarchy of fair value measurement, which prioritizes the inputs. These tiers include: Level 1 (the highest priority), defined as observable inputs, such as quoted prices in active markets, Level 2, defined as inputs other than quoted prices in active markets that are either directly or indirectly observable; and Level 3 (the lowest priority), defined as unobservable inputs in which little or no market data exists, therefore requiring an entity to develop its own assumptions.
The Company’s financial instruments consist primarily of cash, cash equivalents, accounts receivable, contract assets, other receivables, prepaid expenses and other current assets, accounts payable, accrued liabilities and contract liabilities, and approximate their fair values because of the relatively short period of time between the origination of these instruments and their expected realization or payment.
The carrying amounts of certain other assets and contingent consideration are discounted to their present value because the time between the origination of these instruments and their expected realization or payment is greater than one year.
The carrying amounts of the derivative financial instrument is valued based on Level 2 inputs.
The carrying amounts of debt obligations approximate their fair values since the terms are comparable to terms currently offered by local lending institutions for loans of similar terms to companies with comparable credit risk.
On January 31, 2019, the Company entered into an interest rate swap agreement that the Company designated as cash flow hedge to fix the variable interest rate on a portion of the Company’s 2018 Term Loan Facility (as defined in Note 7 “—Debt Obligations”). The interest rate swap agreement has a total notional amount of $35.0 million, a fixed annual interest rate of 2.47% and expires on January 31, 2022. For further discussion of this derivative contract, see Note 13 “—Derivative Financial Instruments” below.
Use of Estimates
The preparation of condensed consolidated financial statements in conformity with 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 condensed consolidated financial statements. Estimates also affect the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates.
Liquidity
The Company’s primary source of liquidity is cash generated from operations. As of September 27, 2019, as a result of the timing of payments where checks outstanding were in excess of the Company’s cash balance, the Company had $0.0 of cash and cash equivalents. In addition, as of September 27, 2019, the Company had $97.5 million outstanding on its Term A Loan (as defined in Note 7 “—Debt Obligations”), a $50.0 million Revolving Credit Facility (as defined in Note 7 “—Debt Obligations”) with $5.0 million outstanding and $2.7 million in letters of credit issued, and a $50.0 million Delayed Draw Term Loan (as defined in Note 7 “—Debt Obligations”) with no amounts outstanding, each with a syndicate of financial institutions as lenders and BMO Harris Bank, N.A. (“BMO”), as administrative agent, and scheduled to mature on June 26, 2024 (see Note 7 “—Debt Obligations” below). Subsequent to September 27, 2019, the Company borrowed $27.0 million under its Delayed Draw Term Loan to finance the purchase of its acquisition of
Reclassifications
Certain prior year amounts have been reclassified in the condensed consolidated balance sheets to conform to the current year presentation.
Adoption of New Accounting Standards
Stock Compensation
In June 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-07, Compensation – Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Improvements to Nonemployee Share-Based Payment Accounting, which expands the scope of current stock compensation recognition standards to include share-based payment transactions for acquiring goods and services from nonemployees. ASU 2018-07 became effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, including interim periods within that fiscal year. Effective December 29, 2018, the Company adopted ASU 2018-07 and the impact did not have a material effect on the Company’s condensed consolidated financial statements.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
Intangibles-Goodwill and Other
In January 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-04, Intangibles-Goodwill and Other (Topic 350), which eliminates the requirement to compare the implied fair value of reporting unit goodwill with the carrying amount of that goodwill (commonly referred to as Step 2) from the goodwill impairment test. The new standard does not change how a goodwill impairment is identified. The Company will continue to perform its quantitative and qualitative goodwill impairment test by comparing the fair value of each reporting unit to its carrying amount, but if the Company were required to recognize a goodwill impairment charge, under the new standard the amount of the charge would be calculated by subtracting the reporting unit’s fair value from its carrying amount. Under the prior standard, if the Company were required to recognize a goodwill impairment charge, Step 2 required us to calculate the implied value of goodwill by assigning the fair value of a reporting unit to all of its assets and liabilities as if that reporting unit had been acquired in a business combination and the amount of the charge was calculated by subtracting the reporting unit’s implied fair value of goodwill from its actual goodwill balance. The new standard is effective for interim and annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2019, with early adoption permitted, and should be applied prospectively from the date of adoption. The Company adopted the new standard for future goodwill impairment tests at the beginning of the fourth quarter of 2019 because it significantly simplifies the evaluation of goodwill for impairment. The adoption of ASU 2017-04 did not have a material impact on the Company’s condensed consolidated financial statements.
Proposed Accounting Standards
A variety of proposed or otherwise potential accounting standards are currently being studied by standard-setting organizations and certain regulatory agencies. Because of the tentative and preliminary nature of such proposed standards, the Company has not yet determined the effect, if any, that the implementation of such proposed standards would have on its condensed consolidated financial statements. |
