| Significant Accounting Policies [Text Block] | COMPANY AND SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES Nature of Business IZEA Worldwide, Inc. (together with its wholly-owned subsidiaries, “we,” “us,” “our,” “IZEA” or the “Company”) is a public company incorporated in the state of Nevada. In January 2015, IZEA purchased all of the outstanding shares of capital stock of Ebyline, Inc. (“Ebyline”). In July 2016, IZEA purchased all the outstanding shares of capital stock of ZenContent, Inc. (“ZenContent”). The legal entity of ZenContent was dissolved in December 2017 and the legal entity of Ebyline was dissolved in December 2019 after all assets and transactions were transferred to IZEA. In March 2016, the Company formed IZEA Canada, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary, incorporated in Ontario, Canada, to operate as a sales and support office for IZEA’s Canadian customers. On July 26, 2018, the Company merged with TapInfluence, Inc. (“TapInfluence”) pursuant to the terms of an Agreement and Plan of Merger dated as of July 11, 2018, as amended. The Company creates and operates online marketplaces that connect marketers with content creators. The creators are compensated by the Company for producing unique content such as long and short form text, videos, photos, status updates, and illustrations for marketers or distributing such content on behalf of marketers through their personal websites, blogs, and social media channels. Marketers receive influential consumer content and engaging, shareable stories that drive awareness. The Company’s primary technology platform, The IZEA Exchange (“ IZEAx ”), enables transactions to be completed at scale through the management of custom content workflow, creator search and targeting, bidding, analytics, and payment processing. IZEAx is designed to provide a unified ecosystem that enables the creation and publication of multiple types of custom content through a creator’s personal websites, blogs, or social media channels including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, among others. Until December 2019 when it was merged into IZEAx , the Company operated the Ebyline technology platform, which was originally designed as a self-service content marketplace to replace editorial newsrooms in news agencies with a “virtual newsroom” to handle their content workflow. In July 2016, the Company acquired the ZenContent technology platform to use as an in-house workflow tool that enables the Company to produce highly scalable, multi-part production of content for both e-commerce entities and brand customers. The TapInfluence technology platform, acquired in 2018, performed in a similar manner to IZEAx and was being utilized by the majority of the TapInfluence customers as a self-service platform via a licensing arrangement, allowing access to the platform and its creators for self-managed marketing campaigns. After the migration of the last customers to IZEAx from the Ebyline platform in December 2019 and from the TapInfluence platform in February 2020, all marketplace revenue is solely generated from the IZEAx platform. Impact of COVID-19 On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) as a global pandemic and recommended containment and mitigation measures worldwide. As the spread continued throughout the United States, the Company directed all of its staff to work from home effective March 16, 2020. All of the Company’s business operations and ability to support its customers is fully functional while its employees are working from remote locations. However, the Company has begun to see impacts on its operations due to changes in advertising decisions, timing and spending priorities from customers, which will result in a negative impact to Company bookings and future revenue. While the disruption is currently expected to be temporary, there is uncertainty around the duration and the total economic impact. Therefore, while the Company expects this matter to negatively impact its business, s uch events are generally outside of the Company’s control and could have a material adverse impact on the Company’s business, results of operations, and financial position in future periods. As a result, the Company is leveraging its balance sheet and has drawn on its secured credit facility to increase the Company’s cash position and help preserve its financial flexibility. In light of the adverse economic conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Company implemented average temporary salary and wage reductions of 20%, including a 21% reduction in base salary agreed to by the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer. These salary reductions were effective as of April 6, 2020 until the earlier of December 31, 2020 or the Company’s restoring normal payroll rates to the majority of its employees. Members of the Company’s Board of Directors also agreed to a similar temporary reduction to their fees. Additionally, the Company did not renew leases for its headquarters and temporary office spaces as additional means to reduce fixed costs during this time. The Company intends to have all employees to work from home for the foreseeable future to protect the health and safety of its workers. There can be no assurance that the Company will return to a typical office environment in the future, nor can the Company say what that office environment may look like. In addition to salary reductions, the Company has also temporarily reduced certain employee benefits, implemented a new employee hiring freeze, reduced and shifted marketing expense, and eliminated travel expense for the near term future. These measures may not be sustainable and could prove detrimental long term. Therefore, management will be reviewing these initial actions and other options in conjunction with the changing internal and external economic conditions on an ongoing basis. Liquidity and Going Concern The Company’s consolidated financial statements are prepared using GAAP applicable to a going concern, which contemplates the realization of assets and liquidation of liabilities in the normal course of business. The Company has incurred significant net losses and negative cash flow from operations for most periods since its inception, which has resulted in a total accumulated deficit of $66,548,230 as of March 31, 2020 . For the three months ended March 31, 2020 , the Company had a net loss of $6,163,461 . The Company's cash balance as of March 31, 2020 was $5,634,441 and the Company's operating activities used cash of $1,348,991 for the three months ended March 31, 2020 . Given the Company’s small market cap, extreme volatility and uncertainty in the financial markets, along with a line of credit that is only available on eligible accounts receivable invoices, coupled with expected reductions in future orders and receivables upon which to access funding, the Company applied for and on April 23, 2020 received a loan from Western Alliance Bank in the principal amount of $1,905,100 (the “SBA Loan”), under the Paycheck Protection Program, which was established under the recently enacted Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”), in order to retain its employees during this time of uncertainty. With the cash on hand as of March 31, 2020 , in addition to the SBA Loan (see Note 10), along with expected future draws on our credit line with Western Alliance Bank using future receivables, as available, we expect to have sufficient cash reserves and financing sources available to cover expenses at least one year from the issuance of this Quarterly Report b ased on our current estimates of revenue and expenses for 2020. Basis of Presentation The accompanying consolidated balance sheet as of March 31, 2020 , the consolidated statements of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019 , the consolidated statements of stockholders' equity for the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019 , and the consolidated statements of cash flows for the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019 are unaudited but include all adjustments that are, in the opinion of management, necessary for a fair presentation of its financial position at such dates and its results of operations and cash flows for the periods then ended in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States ("GAAP"). The consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2019 has been derived from the audited consolidated financial statements at that date but, in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), does not include all of the information and notes required by GAAP for complete financial statements. Operating results for the three months ended March 31, 2020 are not necessarily indicative of results that may be expected for the entire fiscal year. These unaudited consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019 included in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 30, 2020. Principles of Consolidation The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of IZEA Worldwide, Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiaries, subsequent to the subsidiaries’ individual acquisition, merger or formation dates, as applicable. All significant intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. The consolidated financial statements were prepared using the acquisition method of accounting with IZEA considered the accounting acquirer of Ebyline, ZenContent and TapInfluence. Under the acquisition method of accounting, the purchase price is allocated to the underlying tangible and intangible assets acquired and liabilities assumed based on their respective fair market values with any excess purchase price allocated to goodwill. Use of Estimates The preparation of 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 financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates. The Company has considered the effect of COVID-19 on the assumptions and estimates used in the preparation of the March 31, 2020 financial statements and determined that there were no other material adverse effects on the Company’s results of operations and financial position as of March 31, 2020 other than the goodwill impairment disclosed in Note 3. Cash and Cash Equivalents The Company considers all highly liquid investments purchased with an original maturity of three months or less from the date of purchase to be cash equivalents. Accounts Receivable and Concentration of Credit Risk The Company’s accounts receivable balance consists of net trade receivables and unbilled receivables. Trade receivables are customer obligations due under normal trade terms. Unbilled receivables represent amounts owed for work that has been performed, but not yet billed. The Company had trade receivables of $3,706,756 and unbilled receivables of $270,815 at March 31, 2020 . The Company had trade receivables of $5,106,314 and unbilled receivables of $490,405 at December 31, 2019 . Management considers an account to be delinquent when the customer has not paid an amount due by its associated due date. Uncollectibility of accounts receivable is not significant since most customers are bound by contract and are required to fund the Company for all the costs of an “opportunity,” defined as an order created by a marketer for a creator to develop or share content on behalf of a marketer. If a portion of the account balance is deemed uncollectible, the Company will either write-off the amount owed or provide a reserve based on its best estimate of the uncollectible portion of the account. Management determines the collectibility of accounts by regularly evaluating individual customer receivables and considering a customer’s financial condition, credit history and current economic conditions. The Company had a reserve of $175,000 and $145,000 , for doubtful accounts as of March 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019 , respectively. Management believes that this estimate is reasonable, but there can be no assurance that the estimate will not change as a result of a change in economic conditions or business conditions within the industry, the individual customers or the Company. Any adjustments to this account are reflected in the consolidated statements of operations as a general and administrative expense. Bad debt expense was less than 1% of revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019 . Concentrations of credit risk with respect to accounts receivable have been typically limited because a large number of geographically diverse customers make up the Company’s customer base, thus spreading the trade credit risk. However, with the Company’s acquisition of TapInfluence, it has increased credit exposure on certain customers who carry significant credit balances related to their marketplace spend. The Company controls credit risk through credit approvals, credit limits and monitoring procedures. The Company performs credit evaluations of its customers, but generally does not require collateral to support accounts receivable. The Company had one customer that accounted for more than 12% of total accounts receivable at March 31, 2020 and no customers that accounted for an aggregate of more than 10% of total accounts receivable at December 31, 2019 . The Company had no customers that accounted for more than 10% of its revenue during the three months ended March 31, 2020 or 2019 . Property and Equipment Property and equipment are recorded at cost, or if acquired in a business combination, at the acquisition date fair value. Depreciation and amortization are computed using the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the assets as follows: Computer Equipment 3 years Office Equipment 3 - 10 years Furniture and Fixtures 5 - 10 years Leasehold improvements are amortized over the shorter of the term of the lease or the estimated useful lives of the improvements. Expenditures for repairs and maintenance are charged to expense as incurred. Expenditures for betterments and major improvements are capitalized and depreciated over the remaining useful lives of the assets. The carrying amounts of assets sold or retired and the related accumulated depreciation are eliminated in the year of disposal, with resulting gains or losses included in general and administrative expense in the consolidated statements of operations. There were no material impairment charges associated with the Company’s long-lived tangible assets during the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019 . Goodwill Goodwill represents the excess of the purchase consideration of an acquired business over the fair value of the underlying net tangible and intangible assets. The Company has goodwill in connection with its acquisitions of Ebyline, ZenContent and TapInfluence. Goodwill is not amortized but instead it is tested for impairment at least annually. In the event that management determines that the value of goodwill has become impaired, the Company will record a charge for the amount of impairment during the fiscal quarter in which the determination is made. The Company performs its annual impairment tests of goodwill as of October 1 of each year, or more frequently, if certain indicators are present. For instance, in March 2020, the Company identified triggering events, including the reduction in its projected revenue related to COVID-19 and the continuation of a market capitalization below the Company’s carrying value and uncertainty for recovery given the volatility of the capital markets surrounding COVID-19, and performed an interim assessment of goodwill, as described in Note 3. Goodwill is required to be tested for impairment at the reporting unit level. A reporting unit is an operating segment or one level below the operating segment level, which is referred to as a component. Management identifies its reporting units by assessing whether components (i) have discrete financial information available; (ii) engage in business activities; and (iii) whether a segment manager regularly reviews the component’s operating results. Net assets and goodwill of acquired businesses are allocated to the reporting unit associated with the acquired business based on the anticipated organizational structure of the combined entities. If two or more components are deemed economically similar, those components are aggregated into one reporting unit when performing the annual goodwill impairment review. The Company has one reporting unit as of March 31, 2020 . In January 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-04, Intangibles—Goodwill and Other (Topic 350): Simplifying the Test for Goodwill Impairment (“ASU 2017-04”) . To address concerns over the cost and complexity of the two-step goodwill impairment test, the new standard removes the requirement for the second step of the goodwill impairment test for certain entities. An entity may apply a one-step quantitative test and record the amount of goodwill impairment as the excess of a reporting unit's carrying amount over its fair value, not to exceed the total amount of goodwill allocated to the reporting unit. The Company adopted this method in the third quarter of 2019 and there were no changes to its financial statements as a result of the adoption. Intangible Assets The Company acquired the majority of its intangible assets through its acquisitions of Ebyline, ZenContent and TapInfluence. The Company is amortizing the identifiable intangible assets over periods of 12 to 60 months. See Note 3 for further details. Management reviews long-lived assets, including property and equipment, software development costs and other intangible assets, for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that their carrying amounts may not be recoverable. If an evaluation is required, the estimated future undiscounted cash flows associated with the asset are compared with the asset's carrying amount to determine if there has been an impairment, which is calculated as the difference between the fair value of the asset and the carrying value. Estimates of future undiscounted cash flows are based on expected growth rates for the business, anticipated future economic conditions and estimates of residual values. Fair values take into consideration management estimates of risk-adjusted discount rates, which are believed to be consistent with assumptions that marketplace participants would use in their estimates of fair value. Software Development Costs In accordance with Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 350-40, Internal Use Software, the Company capitalizes certain internal use software development costs associated with creating and enhancing internally developed software related to its platforms. Software development activities generally consist of three stages (i) the research and planning stage, (ii) the application and development stage, and (iii) the post-implementation stage. Costs incurred in the research and planning stage and in the post-implementation stage of software development, or other maintenance and development expenses that do not meet the qualification for capitalization, are expensed as incurred. Costs incurred in the application and infrastructure development stage, including significant enhancements and upgrades, are capitalized. These costs include personnel and related employee benefits expenses for employees or consultants who are directly associated with and who devote time to software projects, and external direct costs of materials obtained in developing the software. These software development and acquired technology costs are amortized on a straight-line basis over the estimated useful life of five years upon initial release of the software or additional features. See Note 4 for further details. Leases Effective January 1, 2019, the Company adopted Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842) . As permitted under the standard, the Company elected the package of practical expedients which permit the Company to carryforward its prior conclusions about lease identification, lease classification and initial direct costs. Additionally, the Company adopted the practical expedient that allows comparative periods to be reported under the lease accounting guidance in effect at the time prior period financial statements were previously issued. Effectively, the Company elected to apply the guidance as of the adoption date whereas financial information for prior periods has not been updated, and the disclosures required under the new standard herein have not been provided for dates and periods before January 1, 2019. This ASU establishes a right-of-use model that requires a lessee to record a right-of-use asset and a right-of-use liability on the balance sheet for all leases with terms longer than 12 months. Leases will be classified as either finance or operating, with classification affecting the pattern of expense recognition in the income statement. The Company has not recorded leases on the balance sheet that at the commencement date have a lease term of 12 months or less. Upon the January 1, 2019 adoption of this standard, the Company had one material lease greater than 12 months in duration which is associated with its Corporate headquarters in Winter Park, Florida. The adoption of this standard resulted in the Company recording a right-of-use asset of $410,852 and an associated right-of-use liability of $399,892 . The right-of-use asset is being amortized to rent expense over the remaining term of the lease. The right-of-use liability was determined by discounting the Company’s remaining obligations under the lease using its average incremental borrowing rate and will be increased through the recording of rent expense and reduced by payments made under the lease. Revenue Recognition The Company historically generated revenue from five primary sources: (1) revenue from its managed services when a marketer (typically a brand, agency or partner) pays the Company to provide custom content, influencer marketing, amplification or other campaign management services (“Managed Services”); (2) revenue from fees charged to software customers on their marketplace spend within the Company's IZEAx and TapInfluence platforms (“Marketplace Spend Fees”); (3) revenue from fees charged to access the IZEAx, Ebyline, and TapInfluence platforms (“License Fees”) (4) revenue from transactions generated by the self-service use of the Company's Ebyline platform for professional custom content workflow (“Legacy Workflow Fees”); and (5) revenue derived from other fees such as inactivity fees, early cash-out fees, and plan fees charged to users of the Company's platforms (“Other”). After the migration of the last customers from the Ebyline platform to IZEAx in December 2019, there is no longer any revenue generated from Legacy Workflow Fees and all such revenue is reported as Marketplace Spend Fees under the IZEAx platform. The Company recognizes revenue in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification Topic 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (“ASC 606”). Under ASC 606, revenue is recognized based on a five-step model which are as follows: (i) identify the contract with the customer; (ii) identify the performance obligations in the contract; (iii) determine the transaction price; (iv) allocate the transaction price to the performance obligations in the contract; and (v) recognize revenue when (or as) performance obligations are satisfied. The core principle of ASC 606 is that revenue is recognized when the transfer of promised goods or services to customers is made in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. The Company applies the five-step model to contracts when it is probable that it will collect the consideration it is entitled to in exchange for the goods or services it transfers to the customer. At contract inception, once the contract is determined to be within the scope of ASC 606, the Company assesses the goods or services promised within each contract and determines those that are distinct performance obligations. The Company also determines whether it acts as an agent or a principal for each identified performance obligation. The determination of whether the Company acts as the principal or the agent is highly subjective and requires the Company to evaluate a number of indicators individually and as a whole in order to make its determination . For transactions in which the Company acts as a principal, revenue is reported on a gross basis as the amount paid by the marketer for the purchase of content or sponsorship, promotion and other related services and the Company records the amounts it pays to third-party creators as cost of revenue. For transactions in which the Company acts as an agent, revenue is reported on a net basis as the amount the Company charged to the self-service marketer using the Company’s platforms, less the amounts paid to the third-party creators providing the service. The Company maintains separate arrangements with each marketer and content creator either in the form of a master agreement or terms of service, which specify the terms of the relationship and access to its platforms, or by statement of work, which specifies the price and the services to be performed, along with other terms. The transaction price is determined based on the fixed fee stated in the statement of work and does not contain variable consideration. Marketers who contract with the Company to manage their advertising campaigns or custom content requests may prepay for services or request credit terms. Payment terms are typically 30 days from the invoice date. The agreement typically provides for either a non-refundable deposit, or a cancellation fee if the agreement is canceled by the customer prior to completion of services. Billings in advance of completed services are recorded as a contract liability until earned. The Company assesses collectibility based on a number of factors, including the creditworthiness of the customer and payment and transaction history. The allocation of the transaction price to the performance obligations in the contract is based on a cost-plus methodology. Managed Services Revenue For Managed Services Revenue, the Company enters into an agreement to provide services that may include multiple distinct performance obligations in the form of: (i) an integrated marketing campaign to provide influencer marketing services, which may include the provision of blogs, tweets, photos or videos shared through social network offerings and content promotion, such as click-through advertisements appearing in websites and social media channels; and (ii) custom content items, such as a research or news article, informational material or videos. Marketers typically purchase influencer marketing services for the purpose of providing public awareness or advertising buzz regarding the marketer’s brand and they purchase custom content for internal and external use. The Company may provide one type or a combination of all types of these performance obligations on a statement of work for a lump sum fee. The Company allocates revenue to each performance obligation in the contract at inception based on its relative standalone selling price. These performance obligations are to be provided over a stated period that generally ranges from one day to one year. Revenue is accounted for when the performance obligation has been satisfied depending on the type of service provided. The Company views its obligation to deliver influencer marketing services, including management services, as a single performance obligation that is satisfied over time as the customer receives the benefits from the services. Revenue is recognized using an input method of costs incurred compared to total expected costs to measure the progress towards satisfying the overall performance obligation of the marketing campaign. The delivery of custom content represents a distinct performance obligation that is satisfied over time as the Company has no alternative for the custom content and the Company has an enforceable right to payment for performance completed to date under the contracts. The Company considers custom content to be a series of distinct services that are substantially the same and that have the same pattern of transfer to the customer, and revenue is recognized over time using an output method based on when each individual piece of content is delivered to the customer. Based on the Company’s evaluations, revenue from Managed Services is reported on a gross basis because the Company has the primary obligation to fulfill the performance obligations and it creates, reviews and controls the services. The Company takes on the risk of payment to any third-party creators and it establishes the contract price directly with its customers based on the services requested in the statement of work. Marketplace Spend Fees and Legacy Workflow Fees Revenue For Marketplace Spend Fees and Legacy Workflow Fees Revenue, the self-service customer instructs creators found through the Company’s platforms to provide and/or distribute custom content for an agreed upon transaction price. The Company’s platforms control the contracting, description of services, acceptance of and payment for the requested content. This service is used primarily by news agencies or marketers to control the outsourcing of their content and advertising needs. The Company charges the self-service customer the transaction price plus a fee based on the contract. Revenue is recognized when the transaction is completed by the creator and accepted by the marketer or verified as posted by the system. Based on the Company’s evaluations, this revenue is reported on a net basis since the Company is acting as an agent solely arranging for the third-party creator or influencer to provide the services directly to the self-service customer through the platform or by posting the requested content. License Fees Revenue License Fees Revenue is generated through the granting of limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable licenses to customers for the use of the IZEAx and TapInfluence technology platforms for an agreed-upon subscription period. Customers license the platforms to manage their own influencer marketing campaigns. Fees for subscription or licensing services are recognized straight-line over the term of the service. Other Revenue Other Revenue is generated when fees are charged to customers primarily related to monthly plan fees, inactivity fees, and early cash-out fees. Plan fees are recognized within the month they relate to, inactivity fees are recognized at a point in time when the account is deemed inactive, and early cash-out fees are recognized when a cash-out either below certain minimum thresholds or with accelerated timing is requested. The Company does not typically engage in contracts that are longer than one year. Therefore, the Company does not capitalize costs to obtain its customer contracts as these amounts generally would be recognized over a period of less than one year and are not material. Advertising Costs Advertising costs are charged to expense as they are incurred, including payments to content creators to promote the Company. Advertising costs charged to operations for the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019 were approximately $168,000 and $78,000 , respectively. Advertising costs are included in sales and marketing expense in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations. Income Taxes The Company has not recorded federal income tax expense due to the generation of net operating losses. Deferred income taxes are accounted for using the balance sheet approach, which requires recognition of deferred tax assets and liabilities for the expected future consequences of temporary differences between the financial reporting basis and the tax basis of assets and liabilities. A valuation allowance is provided when it is more likely than not that a deferred tax asset will not be realized. The Company incurs minimal state franchise tax in four states, which is included in general and administrative expense in the consolidated |
