UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549 

_________________________________________

FORM 10-K

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x ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the fiscal year ended May 31, 2020

OR

¨ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the Transition Period From __________to __________

Commission file number 0-11330

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Paychex, Inc.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (585) 385-6666

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.    Yes     No 

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.    Yes     No 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.   Yes     No 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files).    Yes     No 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act).    Yes     No 

As of November 30, 2019, the last business day of the most recently completed second fiscal quarter, shares held by non-affiliates of the registrant had an aggregate market value of $27,530,894,822 based on the closing price reported for such date on the Nasdaq Global Select Market.

As of June 30, 2020, 358,769,682 shares of the registrant’s common stock, $.01 par value, were outstanding.

Documents Incorporated by Reference

Portions of the registrant’s definitive proxy statement to be issued in connection with its Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be held on or about October 15, 2020, to the extent not set forth herein, are incorporated by reference into Part III, Items 10 through 14, inclusive.

PAYCHEX, INC.

INDEX TO FORM 10-K

For the fiscal year ended May 31, 2020

PART I

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS PURSUANT TO THE UNITED STATES PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995

Certain written and oral statements made by management of Paychex, Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiaries (“we,” “our,” “us,” “Paychex,” or the “Company”) may constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the United States (“U.S.”) Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements can be identified by such words and phrases as “we expect,” “expected to,” “estimates,” “estimated,” “intend,” “overview,” “outlook,” “guidance,” “we look forward to,” “would equate to,” “projects,” “projections,” “projected,” “projected to be,” “anticipates,” “anticipated,” “we believe,” “believes,” “could be,” “targeting,” and other similar words or phrases. Examples of forward-looking statements include, among others, statements we make regarding operating performance, events, or developments that we expect or anticipate will occur in the future, including statements relating to our outlook, revenue growth, earnings, earnings-per-share growth, or similar projections.

Forward-looking statements are neither historical facts nor assurances of future performance. Instead, they are based only on our current beliefs, expectations, and assumptions regarding the future of our business, future plans and strategies, projections, anticipated events and trends, the economy, and other future conditions. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks, and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict, many of which are outside our control. Our actual results and financial conditions may differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. Therefore, you should not place undue reliance upon any of these forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause our actual results and financial condition to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements include, among others, the following:

·the impact of the outbreak of COVID-19 on the U.S. and global economy and on our ability to provide services to our clients;

·changes in governmental regulations and policies;

·our ability to comply with U.S. and foreign laws and regulations;

·our ability to keep pace with changes in technology and to provide timely enhancements to our products and services;

·our compliance with data privacy laws and regulations;

·the possibility of cyberattacks, security vulnerabilities and Internet disruptions, including breaches of data security and privacy leaks, data loss and business interruptions;

·the possibility of failure of our operating facilities, computer systems, or communication systems during a catastrophic event, including the outbreak of COVID-19;

·the failure of third-party service providers to perform their functions;

·the possibility that we may be subject to additional risks related to our co-employment relationship with our professional employer organization (“PEO”);

·changes in health insurance and workers’ compensation insurance rates and underlying claim trends;

·our clients’ failure to reimburse us for payments made by us on their behalf;

·the effect of changes in government regulations mandating the amount of tax withheld or the timing of remittances;

·volatility in the political and economic environment;

·risks related to acquisitions and the integration of the businesses we acquire, including integrating Oasis Outsourcing Group Holdings, L.P.’s (“Oasis”) business with ours; 

·our failure to comply with covenants in our debt agreements;

·changes in the availability of qualified people, including management, technical, compliance and sales personnel;

·our failure to protect our intellectual property rights;

·the possible effects of negative publicity on our reputation and the value of our brand; and

·potential outcomes related to pending or future litigation matters.

Any of these factors, as well as such other factors as discussed in Part I, Item 1A, “Risk Factors” and throughout Part II, Item 7, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” of this Annual Report on Form 10-K (“Form 10-K”), as well as in our periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), could cause our actual results to differ materially from our anticipated results. The information provided in this Form 10-K is based upon the facts and circumstances known as of the date of this report, and any forward-looking statements made by us in this Form 10-K speak only as of the date on which they are made. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update these forward-looking statements after the date of filing this Form 10-K with the SEC to reflect events or circumstances after such date, or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

Our investor presentation regarding the financial results for the fiscal year ended May 31, 2020 is available and accessible at Paychex's Investor Relations page at https://www.paychex.com/investors. Information available on our website is not a part of, and is not incorporated into, this Form 10-K. We intend to make future investor presentations available exclusively through our Investor Relations page.

Item 1. Business

Unless we state otherwise or the context otherwise requires, the terms “Paychex,” “we,” “us,” “our” and the “Company” refer to Paychex, Inc., a Delaware corporation, and its consolidated subsidiaries.

Overview

We are a leading provider of integrated human capital management (“HCM”) solutions for human resources (“HR”), payroll, benefits, and insurance services for small- to medium-sized businesses. Our purpose is to allow our customers the freedom to succeed. The workplace is evolving, and we lead the way by making complex HR, payroll, and benefits simple for our clients.

Paychex incorporated in Delaware in 1979 and has a fiscal year that ends May 31st. We maintain our corporate headquarters in Rochester, New York, and serve clients throughout the U.S. and parts of Europe. As of May 31, 2020, we served greater than 680,000 payroll and PEO clients.

For any organization, a key function is the effective management of human capital which requires both resources and expertise. Organizations are faced with complex and ever-changing requirements, including diverse federal, state and local regulations across multiple jurisdictions. In addition, the workplace is rapidly changing as employees increasingly become mobile, work remotely, and expect a user experience similar to consumer-oriented Internet applications. We focus on helping small- to medium-sized businesses who do not have the resources or expertise to adapt to the constantly evolving environment. The COVID-19 environment has further accelerated certain trends and increased regulatory complexity.

Paychex offers a wide range of services – including a fully outsourced HR solution, payroll processing, retirement services, and insurance – allowing us to customize our offering to the client's business, whether it is small or large, simple or complex. We believe that we have the breadth of solutions to cover the spectrum of the employee life cycle, but we also allow integration with some of the most popular HR, accounting, point-of-sale, and productivity applications on the market today.

Our comprehensive solutions allow our clients to manage their workforces effectively from hire to retire. We provide leading-edge HCM technology solutions, coupled with human expertise, to make complex HR, payroll, and benefits issues simple for our clients. The key features of our solutions are:

·Comprehensive cloud-based platform optimized to meet the payroll and HCM needs of small and medium-sized organizations;

·Streamlined workforce management that combines technology with flexible service options;

·Modern, mobile, and intuitive user experience and self-service capabilities that significantly increase employee engagement;

·Scalable and customizable platform that allows clients the ability to add services as they grow;

·Software as a service, or “SaaS”, delivery model that reduces total cost of ownership for our clients; and

·Over 45 years of expertise in HR and payroll with our technology backed by over 200 compliance experts and 600 HR business partners.

We market our solutions through our direct and virtual sales forces which are supported by various corporate lead generation and marketing initiatives. Over 50% of our revenues are gained from our services beyond payroll processing. We focus on providing an industry-leading client experience, and continue to see improving client satisfaction scores and retention.

Company Strategy

Our mission is to be the leading provider of HR, payroll, benefits, and insurance solutions by being an essential partner to small and medium-sized businesses across the U.S. and parts of Europe. We believe that success in this mission will lead to strong, long-term financial performance. We intend to strengthen and extend our position as a leading provider through continued investments in both our technology and service offerings. Key elements of our strategy include:

·Providing industry-leading, integrated technology. We continue to invest significantly in our award-winning Paychex Flex^® platform and mobility applications to increase efficiency and functionality for our clients and their employees.

·Increasing client satisfaction. Our flexible service model and technology-enabled service allows us to provide a personalized service experience for our clients and their employees. We continue to invest in artificial intelligence and machine learning and self-service capabilities to allow clients and their employees easy, intuitive, and flexible service how, when, and where they want it.

·Expanding our leadership in HR. We have a comprehensive suite of value-added HR Solutions for our clients and their employees. Greater than half of our revenues are from HR and benefits solutions beyond payroll. After several strategic PEO acquisitions over the past several years, we are now the second largest provider of PEO services in the nation. With over 600 HR business partners, we have extensive expertise that we believe sets us apart in the industry.

·Growing our client base. We believe there is significant potential to grow within our current target markets. We have invested significantly in new demand generation and sales tools and expanding certain areas of our sales force. We continue to focus on sales productivity with the intent of expanding our market share across all our product lines.

·Engaging in strategic acquisitions. In the past, we utilized acquisitions as a mean to expand our portfolio, enter new markets or increase our scale. We continue to evaluate and monitor potential acquisitions and will utilize this when the acquisitions are in alignment with our overall strategy.

Our Solutions

Our solutions bring together payroll and HCM software with flexible, personalized technology-enabled service capabilities. Clients have the option of doing payroll online using our SaaS technology, outsourcing to our payroll specialists or using a combination of those solutions. Payroll is then integrated with HCM software modules for clients who have more complex HR needs. We also provide comprehensive HR outsourcing through our administrative services organization (“ASO”) and PEO solutions. The integration of leading-edge technology and flexible service options allows us to meet our clients’ needs how, when, and where they want.

HCM Technology: Paychex Flex is our proprietary HCM SaaS platform that unites HR, payroll, time and attendance, and benefits processes to maximize efficiency and savings. Paychex Flex helps clients manage the employee life cycle from recruiting and hiring to retirement, providing an integrated suite of solutions including recruiting, onboarding, HR, time and attendance and employee benefits. It utilizes a single cloud-based platform, with single client and employee records. Clients can select the modules they need and easily add on additional services as they grow. In addition, Paychex Flex presents function-focused analytics throughout the platform, assisting HR leaders with making more informed business decisions. Paychex Flex uses a mobile-first design throughout our HCM suite, which allows full functionality of all application components, regardless of device or screen size. We believe our Paychex mobile applications add greater value and convenience for our clients and their employees by allowing them instant access on their mobile device.

We continue to invest in Paychex Flex, making significant enhancements designed to simplify the complexity of HR. The latest enhancements include expansion of our integration capabilities to connect users with some of the world’s leading business tools, a Help Center that gives users access to training and how-to tutorials, a pay-on-demand solution to grant employees access to earned wages before their scheduled pay day, a custom dashboard, and a newly enhanced grid entry view which offers more flexibility, customization, and visibility into employee pay data. We also expanded into wearable technology where Paychex Flex Time users can also use our smartwatch solution, which enables users to track time worked via their smartwatch, making the time and attendance tracking process easier for an increasingly remote workforce.

HR and Compliance Expertise: Paychex supports its HCM software solutions with over 45 years of experience. We have over 600 HR professionals who are dedicated to our clients and have the experience and training to provide HR best practices and advice. Our HR business partners are available to provide our ASO and PEO clients with specific guidance on HR issues. In addition, we have over 200 compliance professionals who are in real-time contact with tax agencies and regulators to understand upcoming or newly enacted laws and regulations, and advocate for our clients’ interests. The contributions of these compliance experts are intended to ensure that our HCM solutions are updated timely to adhere to regulations and to help our clients stay in compliance.

Technology-Enabled Client Service: Paychex Flex also provides technology-enabled service with options that include self-service, a 24/7 dedicated service center, an individual payroll specialist, and integrated service via a multi-product service center. In addition, mid-market clients can utilize a relationship manager for more personalized service. This flexible platform services our small- to medium-sized clients, and a portion of our PEO business.

Within Paychex Flex there is embedded technology to assist clients. The Paychex Flex Intelligence Engine includes the Flex Assistant, a customer service chatbot who can answer over 200 commonly asked questions. Our Flex Intelligence Engine allows clients to elect their preference for learning – via written how-to-documents, tutorial-style video vignettes, or a guided interactive tour. At any time, a live Paychex agent is just a click away, with the entire chat conversation available real-time to provide a better, more personalized service experience.

The platform embeds self-service capabilities that empower client employees to manage their HR and benefits information from any location, on any device. These self-service capabilities allow for greater access and convenience for client employees and greater productivity for clients.

Our Clients

Paychex has HR solutions to fit the needs of any small- to medium-sized business, from do-it-yourself payroll to comprehensive HR outsourcing. The target market for our integrated HCM solutions is small- to medium-sized businesses. Within this space, we serve a diverse base of clients operating in a broad range of industries throughout the U.S. and parts of Europe. The flexibility and scalability of our solutions allow our clients to define the solution that best meets their needs and to grow within the Flex platform. We utilize service agreements and arrangements with clients that generally do not contain specified contract periods, and may be terminated by either party with 30-days’ notice of termination. For the fiscal year ended May 31, 2020 (“fiscal 2020”), client retention was at record levels of over 83% of our beginning client base for the fiscal year.

We support our small-business clients, reducing the complexity and risk of running their own payroll, while ensuring greater accuracy with up-to-date tax rates and regulatory information. We simplify their payroll with a combination of our products and customer service options for a quick and easy payday. Clients may choose to have our service team handle everything for them, or process payroll themselves utilizing our proprietary, robust SaaS Paychex Flex platform and our SurePayroll® SaaS-based products. Both products allow users to process payroll when they want, how they want, and on any device (desktop, tablet, and mobile phone).

Our mid-market clients generally have more complex payroll and employee benefit needs, though with the environment of increasing regulations, we believe the need for HR outsourcing services has been moving down-market. Any of our clients on Paychex Flex can opt for the integrated suite of HCM solutions, which allows clients to choose the services and software that will meet the needs of their business.

While Paychex Flex is our primary SaaS-based platform utilized by the majority of our clients for their HCM needs, there are some clients that use other platforms, including SurePayroll clients, certain PEO clients, and some smaller tenured clients.

Both our small and mid-market clients can choose one of our comprehensive HR outsourcing services, which include ASO and PEO solutions, and participate in our benefits offerings, which include our insurance and retirement services. Our insurance services simplify the insurance process to make it easy to find plans with the features and affordability to meet the client’s needs. Our retirement services product line offers many plan design options to meet the client’s requirements, as well as investment options.

Description of Services

Within our HCM solutions we offer a comprehensive portfolio of services and products that allow our clients to meet their diverse HR and payroll needs. Clients can select services on an á la carte basis or as part of various product bundles. Our offerings often leverage the information gathered in our base payroll processing service, allowing us to provide comprehensive outsourcing services covering the HCM spectrum.

Our portfolio of services is comprised of the following:

Management Solutions:

·Payroll processing services: Our payroll processing services include the calculation, preparation, and delivery of employee payroll checks; production of internal accounting records and management reports; preparation of federal, state, and local payroll tax returns; and collection and remittance of clients’ payroll obligations.

·Payroll tax administration services: Payroll tax administration services provide for accurate preparation and timely filing of quarterly and year-end tax returns, as well as the electronic transfer of funds to the applicable federal, state, and local tax or regulatory agencies. In connection with these services, we electronically collect payroll taxes from clients’ bank accounts, typically on payday, prepare and file the applicable tax returns, and remit taxes to the applicable tax or regulatory agencies on the respective due dates. These taxes are typically paid between one and 30 days after receipt of collections from clients, with some items extending up to 90 days. We handle regulatory correspondence, amendments, and penalty and interest disputes.

·Employee payment services: Our employee payment services provide an employer the option of paying their employees by direct deposit, payroll debit card, a check drawn on a Paychex account (Readychex®), or a check drawn on the employer’s account and electronically signed by us. For each of the first three methods, we electronically collect net payroll from the clients’ bank accounts, typically one business day before payday, and provide payment to the employees on payday. Our Readychex service provides a cost-effective solution that offers the benefit of convenient, one-step payroll account reconciliation for employers.

We also allow employers to opt for more flexible pay options. Same day ACH functionality is also available for clients using direct deposit, allowing employers the flexibility to pay employees via direct deposit on the same day they initiate payroll. In addition, we are giving business owners the ability to leverage real-time payments to process payroll and deliver net pay to their employees immediately for time worked. Pay-on-demand functionality enables an employee to request access to a portion of earned pay before the scheduled pay date, which is deposited into a traditional bank account or a third-party account.

·Regulatory compliance services: We offer new-hire reporting services, which enable clients to comply with federal and state requirements to report information on newly hired employees. This information aids the government in enforcing child support orders and minimizes fraudulent unemployment and workers’ compensation insurance claims. Our garnishment processing service provides deductions from employees’ pay, forwards payments to third-party agencies, including those that require electronic payments, and tracks the obligations to fulfillment. These services enable employers to comply with legal requirements and reduce the risk of penalties. We also offer comprehensive solutions to help employers and employees with certain mandates under the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”), which sets forth specific coverage and reporting requirements that employers must meet.

·HR Solutions (ASO): Our ASO offers businesses a combined package that includes payroll, employer compliance, HR and employee benefits administration, risk management outsourcing, and the on-site availability of a professionally trained HR representative, among other services. Paychex HR Essentials is an ASO product that provides support to our clients over the phone or online to help manage employee-related topics.

·Retirement services administration: Our retirement services product line offers a variety of options to clients, including 401(k) plans, 401(k) SIMPLE plans, SIMPLE IRAs, 401(k) plans with safe harbor provisions, owner-only 401(k) plans, profit sharing plans, and money purchase plans. These services provide plan implementation, ongoing compliance with government regulations, employee and employer reporting, participant and employer online access, electronic funds transfer, and other administrative services. Auto enrollment is an optional plan feature that allows employers to automatically enroll employees in their company’s 401(k) plan and increase overall plan participation. Clients may choose from a group of pre-defined fund selections or customize their investment options within their plan. We are the largest 401(k) recordkeeper for small businesses in the U.S. Our large-market retirement services clients include relationships with financial advisors.  

·HR administration services: We offer cloud-based HR administration software for employee benefits management and administration, time and attendance solutions, recruiting, and onboarding.

oPaychex HR Online offers powerful tools for managing employee personnel information, performance management, HR compliance and reporting. Our Learning Management solution compliments our performance management. When combined with our workflow and approval engine, we offer clients the flexibility to capture ongoing performance feedback, recommend and enroll employees in specific training courses, and leverage automated workflows to track progress and approve compensation changes tied to performance.

oBenefits administration software manages the employee-benefit enrollment process for both open-enrollment and life events.

oTime and attendance products, including our integrated Flex Time software, provide timekeeping, scheduling, and workforce analytics. The InVision^TM IRIS Time Clock, a biometric clock that scans the iris, provides fast and accurate time capture. Paychex Flex Time also works with wearable technology to allow for employees to clock in and out using their smartwatch.

oApplicant tracking suite provides technology that streamlines, simplifies, and drives the applicant workflow and onboarding process for companies of all sizes.

·Other HR services and products: We offer the outsourcing of plan administration under section 125 of the Internal Revenue Code, allowing employees to use pre-tax dollars to pay for certain health insurance benefits and health and dependent care expenses not covered by insurance. All required implementation, administration, compliance, claims processing and reimbursement, and coverage tests are provided with these services. We offer state unemployment insurance services, which provide clients with prompt processing for all claims, appeals, determinations, change statements, and requests for separation documents.

·Business services: We offer various business services to small- to medium-sized businesses. Our wholly owned subsidiary, Paychex Advance, LLC, provides a portfolio of services to the temporary staffing industry, including payroll funding (via the purchase of accounts receivable) and outsourcing services, which include payroll processing, invoicing, and tax preparation. Paychex Promise, a subscription-based service, offers protection against payroll interruptions and solutions to address routine challenges of running a successful business. The primary offering is payroll protection, which extends the collection of payroll funds from a client’s bank account by seven days without interruption of service or charges for insufficient funds. In addition, through partnerships with third-party providers, we provide clients opportunities for services such as payment processing services, financial fitness programs, and a small-business loan resource center.

PEO and Insurance Solutions:

·PEO solutions: Our licensed subsidiaries, Paychex Business Solutions, LLC, HR Outsourcing Holdings, Inc. (“HROi”), and Oasis offer businesses a combined package that includes payroll, employer compliance, HR and employee benefits administration, risk management outsourcing, and the on-site availability of a professionally trained HR representative, among other services. What differentiates our PEO solutions from our ASO solutions is that we serve as a co-employer of our clients’ employees, offer health care coverage to PEO client employees, and assume the risks and rewards of workers’ compensation insurance and certain benefit insurance offerings. We are certified under the Small Business Efficiency Act to provide PEO solutions.

·Insurance solutions: Our licensed insurance agency, Paychex Insurance Agency, Inc., provides insurance through a variety of carriers, allowing employers to expand their employee benefit and corporate offerings at an affordable cost. Insurance offerings include property and casualty coverage such as workers’ compensation, business-owner policies, cyber security protection, commercial auto, and health and benefits coverage, including health, dental, vision, and life. Our insurance services simplify the insurance process to make it easy to find plans with the features and affordability to meet the client’s needs. With access to numerous top national and regional insurance carriers, our professional insurance agents have access to a wide selection of plans from which they can best match the insurance needs of small businesses. Additionally, clients have the option to integrate their insurance plans with Paychex payroll processing for easy, accurate plan administration.

Sales and Marketing

We market and sell our services primarily through our direct sales force based in the markets we serve. Our direct sales force includes sales representatives who have defined geographical territories and specialize within our portfolio of services. Our sales representatives are also supported by marketing, advertising, public relations, trade shows, and telemarketing programs. Our virtual sales force manages inbound sales leads for the under 10 employee space, sales in areas without a direct sales force presence, and sales of various ancillary services.

In addition to our direct selling and marketing efforts, we utilize other indirect sales channels such as our relationships with existing clients, certified public accountants (“CPAs”), and banks for new client referrals. Approximately 50% of our new small-market payroll clients (excluding business acquisitions) come from these referral sources. Our dedicated business development group drives sales through banking, national associations, and franchise channels. We also utilize digital marketing as a means to market our services.

We have a long-standing partnership with the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (“AICPA”) as the preferred payroll provider for its AICPA Business Solutions^TM Program. Our current partnership agreement with the AICPA is in place through September 2021. We also partner with numerous state CPA society organizations.

Our website is available at www.paychex.com. It is a cost-efficient channel that serves as a source of leads and new sales, while complementing the efforts of our direct and virtual sales forces. The website allows us to market to existing and prospective clients that want to learn more about our products and services and offers information about our core lines of business: human resources (www.paychex.com/human-resources), payroll (www.paychex.com/payroll), benefits (www.paychex.com/employee-benefits), and insurance (www.paychex.com/business-insurance).

Paychex also builds on its reputation as an expert in the HCM industry by providing education and assistance primarily to clients and the CPA community. We provide free webinars, white papers, and other information on our website to aid existing and prospective clients with the impact of regulatory change as well as HR and business best practices. Paychex WORX, available at www.paychex.com/worx, is a digital destination for insightful resources useful for businesses at every stage, from entrepreneur to enterprise. Paychex WORX highlights our expertise, and ability to help businesses of all sizes with a wide range of HR and financial information for current clients and prospects alike.

We also track current regulatory issues that impact the business community and provide regulatory updates. We issue small business trend reports through our Paychex | IHS Markit Small Business Employment Watch. Our Paychex Accountant Knowledge Center is a free online resource available through our website that brings valuable information and time-saving online tools to accounting professionals. Through Paychex Flex, AccountantHQ offers access to authorized client payroll and HR data and key account contacts, along with an extensive accountant resource library. AccountantHQ drives efficiency by putting accountants in the best position possible to easily access critical client payroll and HR data, as well as powerful reporting tools, including our Paychex Protection Program (“PPP”) loan forgiveness estimator.

Markets and Competition

We remain focused on servicing small- to medium-sized businesses based upon the growth potential that we believe exists in the markets we serve. Our internal database source indicates that there are approximately 8 million employer firms in the target markets that we currently serve in the U.S.

The market for HCM services is highly competitive and fragmented. We have one primary national competitor and we also compete with other national, international, regional, local, and online service providers. In addition to traditional payroll processing and HR service providers, we compete with in-house payroll and HR systems and departments. Payroll and HR systems and software are sold by many vendors. Our products also compete with a variety of providers of HR services, such as retirement services companies, insurance companies, HR and benefits consulting firms, and national and regional PEOs.

Competition in the payroll processing and HR services industry is primarily based on service responsiveness, product quality and reputation, including ease of use and accessibility of technology, breadth of service and product offerings, and price. We believe we are competitive in each of these areas. We believe that our leading-edge technology and mobility applications, combined with personalized service provided by industry professionals and our technology-enabled service capabilities, distinguishes us from our competitors.

Software Maintenance and Development

The ever-changing mandates of federal, state, and local tax and regulatory agencies require us to regularly update our proprietary software to provide payroll and HR services to our clients. We are continually engaged in developing enhancements to and maintaining our various software platforms to meet the changing requirements of our clients and the marketplace. We continue to enhance our SaaS solutions and mobility applications to offer our users an integrated and unified experience. Continued enhancement of the client and client employee experience is important to our future success.

Employees

We believe our ability to attract and retain qualified employees in all areas of our business is important to our future success and growth. As of May 31, 2020, we employed approximately 15,800 people, of which approximately 15,600 people were employed on a full-time basis.

Intellectual Property

We own or license and use a number of trademarks, trade names, copyrights, service marks, trade secrets, computer programs and software, and other intellectual property rights. Collectively, our intellectual property rights are material to the conduct of our business. Where it is determined to be appropriate, we take measures to protect our intellectual property rights, including, but not limited to, confidentiality/non-disclosure agreements or policies with employees, vendors, and others; license agreements with licensees and licensors of intellectual property; and registration of certain trademarks. We believe that the “Paychex” name, trademark, and logo are of material importance to us.

Seasonality

There is no significant seasonality to our business. However, during our third fiscal quarter, which ends in February, the number of new payroll clients, new retirement services clients, and new worksite employees associated with our HR Solutions ASO and PEO businesses tends to be higher than during the rest of the fiscal year, primarily because many new clients prefer to start using our services at the beginning of a calendar year. In addition, calendar year-end transaction processing and client funds activity are traditionally higher during our third fiscal quarter due to clients paying year-end bonuses, clients requesting additional year-end services, and the preparation and delivery of end-of year reporting requirements.

Available Information

We are subject to the informational and reporting requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). Therefore, we file periodic reports, proxy statements, and other information with the SEC. The SEC maintains a website (www.sec.gov) that includes our reports, proxy statements, and other information.

Our corporate website, www.paychex.com, provides materials for investors and information about our services. Our Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, and other SEC filings, as well as any amendments to such reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act, are made available, free of charge, on our website as soon as reasonably practicable after such reports have been filed with or furnished to the SEC. The information on our website is not incorporated by reference into our Form 10-K. Also, copies of our Annual Report to Stockholders and Proxy Statement, to be issued in connection with our 2020 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, will be made available, free of charge, upon written request submitted to Paychex, Inc., c/o Corporate Secretary, 911 Panorama Trail South, Rochester, New York 14625-2396.

Item 1A. Risk Factors

Our future results of operations are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from historical and current results, and from our projections. The following risk factors represent our current view of some of the most important risks facing our business and are important to understanding our business. These are not the only risks we face. Additional factors not presently known to us or that we currently deem to be immaterial also may adversely affect, possibly to a material extent, our business, cash flows, financial condition, or results of operations in future periods. In addition, refer to the cautionary note regarding forward-looking statements at the beginning of Part I of this Form 10-K.

Our business and results of operations have been, and our financial condition may be, impacted by the outbreak of COVID-19 and such impact could be materially adverse. The global spread of COVID-19 created significant volatility, uncertainty and economic disruption. In the United States and globally, governmental authorities instituted certain preventative measures, including border closures, travel restrictions, operational restrictions on certain businesses, shelter-in-place orders, quarantines and recommendations to practice social distancing. These restrictions disrupted and may continue to disrupt economic activity, resulting in reduced commercial and consumer confidence and spending, increased unemployment, closure or restricted operating conditions for businesses, volatility in the global capital markets, instability in the credit and financial markets, labor shortages, regulatory recommendations to provide relief for impacted consumers, disruption in supply chains, and restrictions on many hospitality and travel industry operations.

The extent to which the coronavirus pandemic impacts our business, operations, and financial results is uncertain and will depend on future developments, including the duration or recurrence, of the pandemic, the related length and severity of its impact on the U.S. and global economy, and the continued governmental, business and individual actions taken in response to the pandemic and economic disruption. Impacts related to the COVID-19 pandemic are expected to continue to pose risks to our business for the foreseeable future, heightened many of the risks and uncertainties identified below, and could have a materially adverse impact on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Our business is substantially dependent on our clients continued use of our solutions and services, and our results of operations will decline if our clients are no longer willing or able to use them. Our clients are sensitive to negative changes in economic conditions. If they cease operations or file for bankruptcy protection, we may not be paid for services we already provided, and our client base will shrink, which will lower our revenue. If under financial pressure, our clients may determine that they are no longer willing to pay for the services and solutions we provide, which would reduce our revenue. Our clients may decrease their workforce, which would decrease their demand for our services. Because of spending constraints on our clients and competition in the industry, we may face pricing pressure on our services and face challenges in onboarding new clients, which would reduce revenue and ultimately impact our results of operations. If the third-party service providers we rely on are unable to perform their services for us and our clients, our operations could be materially disrupted and we could face significant penalties or liabilities.

Our operational risk, including data security risk, has increased during the pandemic as a majority of our employees are working remotely and cybercriminal activity increases in an attempt to profit from the disruption to typical operations.

There has been and may continue to be a significant number of new laws and regulations promulgated by federal, state, local, and foreign governments following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. We have expended additional resources and incurred additional costs in addressing regulatory requirements applicable to us and our clients. These regulations may be unclear, difficult to interpret or in conflict with other applicable regulations. The failure to comply with these new laws and regulations could result in financial penalties, legal proceedings, and reputational harm.

Our business, services, and financial condition may be adversely impacted by changes in government regulations and policies. Many of our services, particularly payroll tax administration services and employee benefit plan administration services, are designed according to government regulations that often change. Changes in regulations could affect the extent and type of benefits employers are required, or may choose, to provide employees or the amount and type of taxes employers and employees are required to pay. Such changes could reduce or eliminate the need for some of our services and substantially decrease our revenue. Added requirements could also increase our cost of doing business.

Our business and reputation may be adversely impacted if we fail to comply with U.S. and foreign laws and regulations. Our services are subject to various laws and regulations, including, but not limited to, the ACA and anti-money laundering rules. The growth of our international operations via acquisition also subjects us to additional risks, such as compliance with foreign laws and regulations. The enactment of new laws and regulations, modifications of existing laws and regulations, or the adverse application or interpretation of new or existing laws or regulations can adversely affect our business. Failure to update our services to comply with modified or new legislation in the area of health care reform as well as failure to educate and assist our clients regarding this legislation could adversely impact our business reputation and negatively impact our client base. Failure to comply with laws and regulations could result in the imposition of consent orders or civil and criminal penalties, including fines, which could damage our reputation and have an adverse effect on our results of operations or financial condition. In addition, as a U.S. company, we are required to comply with the economic sanctions and embargo programs administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control and similar multi-national bodies and governmental agencies worldwide, and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”). A violation of a sanction or embargo program, or of the FCPA, or similar laws prohibiting certain payments to governmental officials, could subject us, and individual employees, to a regulatory enforcement action as well as significant civil and criminal penalties which could adversely impact our business and operations.

We may not be able to keep pace with changes in technology or provide timely enhancements to our products and services.  The market for our products is characterized by rapid technological advancements, changes in customer requirements, frequent new product introductions, and enhancements and changing industry standards. To maintain our growth strategy, we must adapt and respond to technological advances and technological requirements of our clients. Our future success will depend on our ability to: enhance our current products and introduce new products in order to keep pace with products offered by our competitors; enhance capabilities and increase the performance of our internal systems, particularly our systems that meet our clients’ requirements; and adapt to technological advancements and changing industry standards. We continue to make significant investments related to the development of new technology. If our systems become outdated, it may negatively impact our ability to meet performance expectations related to quality, time to market, cost and innovation relative to our competitors. The failure to provide more efficient and user-friendly customer-facing digital experience across internet and mobile platforms as well as in physical locations may adversely impact our business and operating results. There can be no assurance that our efforts to update and integrate systems will be successful. If we do not integrate and update our systems in a timely manner, or if our investments in technology fail to provide the expected results, there could be a material adverse effect to our business and results of operations. The failure to continually develop enhancements and use of technologies such as robotics and other workflow automation tools, natural language processing, and artificial intelligence/machine learning may impact our ability to increase the efficiency of and reduce costs associated with operational risk management and compliance activities.

We could be subject to reduced revenues, increased costs, liability claims, or harm to our competitive position as a result of cyberattacks, security vulnerabilities or Internet disruptions. We rely upon information technology (“IT”) networks, cloud-based platforms, and systems to process, transmit, and store electronic information, and to support a variety of business processes, some of which are provided by third-party vendors. Cyberattacks and security threats are a risk to our business and reputation. A cyberattack, unauthorized intrusion, malicious software infiltration, network disruption or outage, corruption of data, or theft of personal or other sensitive information, could have a material adverse effect on our business operations or that of our clients, result in liability or regulatory sanction, or cause harm to our business and reputation and result in a loss in confidence in our ability to serve clients all of which could have a material adverse effect on our business. The rapid speed of disruptive innovations involving cyberattacks, security vulnerabilities and Internet disruptions enabled by new and emerging technologies may outpace our organization's ability to compete and/or manage the risk appropriately. In addition, cybercriminals may seek to exploit the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic by attempting to engage in payment-related fraud or by more frequently attempting to gain access to our systems through phishing or other means that may be more successful when most of our employees are working remotely.

Data Security and Privacy Leaks: We collect, use, and retain increasingly large amounts of personal information about our clients, employees of our clients, and our employees, including: bank account numbers, credit card numbers, social security numbers, tax return information, health care information, retirement account information, payroll information, system and network passwords, and other sensitive personal and business information. At the same time, the continued occurrence of high-profile cyber-attacks and data breaches provides evidence of an external environment increasingly hostile to information security. We may be particularly targeted for cyber-attack because of the amount and type of personal and business information that we collect, use, and retain. Vulnerabilities, threats, and more sophisticated and targeted computer crimes pose a risk to the security of our systems and networks, and the confidentiality, availability, and integrity of our data.

Our service platforms enable our clients to store and process personal data on premise or, increasingly, in a cloud-based environment that we host. The security of our IT infrastructure is an important consideration in our customers’ purchasing decisions. Because the techniques used to obtain unauthorized access, disable or degrade service or sabotage systems change frequently, are increasingly more complex and sophisticated and may be difficult to detect for long periods of time, we may be unable or fail to anticipate these techniques or implement adequate or timely preventative or responsive measures. As cyber threats continue to evolve, we are focused on ensuring that our operating environments safeguard and protect personal and business information. We may be required to invest significant additional resources to comply with evolving cybersecurity regulations and to modify and enhance our information security and controls, and to investigate and remediate any security vulnerabilities. While we have security systems and IT infrastructure in place designed to detect and protect against unauthorized access to such information, if our security measures are breached, our business could be substantially harmed, and we could incur significant liabilities. Any such breach or unauthorized access could negatively affect our ability to attract new clients, cause existing clients to terminate their agreements with us, result in reputational damage, and subject us to lawsuits, regulatory fines, or other actions or liabilities which could materially and adversely affect our business and operating results. Third-parties, including vendors that provide services for our operations, could also be a source of security risk to us in the event of a failure of their own security systems and infrastructure.

Data Loss and Business Interruption: If our systems are disrupted or fail for any reason, including Internet or systems failure, or if our systems are infiltrated by unauthorized persons, both the Company and our clients could experience data loss, financial loss, harm to reputation, or significant business interruption. Hardware, applications and services, including cloud-based services, that we develop or procure from third-party vendors may contain defects in design or other problems that could compromise the integrity and availability of our services. Any delays or failures caused by network outages, software or hardware failures, or other data processing disruptions, could result in our inability to provide services in a timely fashion or at all. We may be required to incur significant costs to protect against damage caused by disruptions or security breaches in the future. Such events may expose us to unexpected liability, litigation, regulatory investigation and penalties, loss of clients’ business, unfavorable impact to business reputation, and there could be a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

Our reputation, results of operations, or financial condition may be adversely impacted if we fail to comply with data privacy laws and regulations. Our services require the storage and transmission of proprietary and confidential information of our clients and their employees, including personal or identifying information, as well as their financial and payroll data. Our applications are subject to various complex government laws and regulations on the federal, state, and local levels, including those governing personal privacy. In the U.S., we are subject to rules and regulations promulgated under the authority of the Federal Trade Commission, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, the Family Medical Leave Act of 1993, the ACA, federal and state labor and employment laws, and state data breach notification and data privacy laws, such as the California Consumer Protection Act, which became effective on January 1, 2020. In addition, the European Union’s General Data Privacy Regulation became fully effective in May 2018. Failure to comply with such laws and regulations could result in the imposition of consent orders or civil and criminal penalties, including fines, which could damage our reputation and have an adverse effect on our results of operations or financial condition. The regulatory framework for privacy issues is rapidly evolving and future enactment of more restrictive laws, rules, or regulations and/or future enforcement actions or investigations could have a materially adverse impact on us through increased costs or restrictions on our business and noncompliance could result in regulatory penalties and significant legal liability.

In the event of a catastrophe, our business continuity plan may fail, which could result in the loss of client data and adversely interrupt operations.    Our operations are dependent on our ability to protect our infrastructure against damage from catastrophe or natural disaster, severe weather including events resulting from climate change, unauthorized security breach, power loss, telecommunications failure, terrorist attack, public health emergency, or other events that could have a significant disruptive effect on our operations. We have a business continuity plan in place in the event of system failure due to any of these events. Our business continuity plan has been tested in the past by circumstances of severe weather, including hurricanes, floods, and snowstorms, and has been successful. However, these past successes are not an indicator of success in the future. If the business continuity plan is unsuccessful in a disaster recovery scenario, we could potentially lose client data or experience material adverse interruptions to our operations or delivery of services to our clients.

We may be adversely impacted by any failure of third-party service providers to perform their functions.    As part of providing services to clients, we rely on a number of third-party service providers. These service providers include, but are not limited to, couriers used to deliver client payroll checks and banks used to electronically transfer funds from clients to their employees. Failure by these service providers, for any reason, to deliver their services in a timely manner and in compliance with applicable laws and regulations could result in material interruptions to our operations, impact client relations, and result in significant penalties or liabilities to us.

We may be exposed to additional risks related to our co-employment relationship within our PEO business.    Many federal and state laws that apply to the employer-employee relationship do not specifically address the obligations and responsibilities of the “co-employment” relationship within our PEO business. State and federal positions regarding co-employment relationships are in a constant state of flux and changed with varying degrees of impact on our operations. We cannot predict when changes will occur or forecast whether any future changes will be favorable or unfavorable to our operations. There is a possibility that we may be subject to liability for violations of employment or discrimination laws by our clients and acts or omissions of client employees, who may be deemed to be our agents, even if we do not participate in any such acts or violations. Although our agreements with clients provide that they will indemnify us for any liability attributable to their own or their employees’ conduct, we may not be able to effectively enforce or collect such contractual obligations. In addition, we could be subject to liabilities with respect to our employee benefit plans if it were determined that we are not the “employer” under any applicable state or federal laws. Incurring additional liabilities related to our PEO business may adversely affect our results of operations.

We may be adversely impacted by changes in health insurance and workers’ compensation rates and underlying claims trends.    Within our PEO business, we maintain health and workers’ compensation insurance covering worksite employees. The insurance costs are impacted by claims experience and are a significant portion of our PEO costs. If we experience a sudden or unexpected increase in claims activity, our costs could increase. In addition, in the event of expiration or cancellation of existing contracts, we may not be able to secure replacement contracts on competitive terms. Also, as a co-employer in the PEO, we assume or share many of the employer-related responsibilities associated with health care reform, which may result in increased costs. Increases in costs not incorporated into service fees timely or fully could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations. Incorporating cost increases into service fees could also impact our ability to attract and retain clients.

Our clients could have insufficient funds to cover payments we made on their behalf, resulting in financial loss to us. As part of our payroll processing service, we are authorized by our clients to transfer money from their accounts to fund amounts owed to their employees and various taxing authorities. It is possible that we could be held liable for such amounts in the event the client has insufficient funds to cover them. We have in the past, and may in the future, make payments on our clients’ behalf for which we may not be reimbursed, resulting in loss to us. If a significant number of our clients are unable to cover payments we make on their behalf, our results of operations will be materially adversely impacted.

Our interest earned on funds held for clients may be impacted by changes in government regulations mandating the amount of tax withheld or timing of remittance.    We receive interest income from investing client funds collected but not yet remitted to applicable tax or regulatory agencies or to client employees. A change in regulations either decreasing the amount of taxes to be withheld or allowing less time to remit taxes to applicable tax or regulatory agencies could adversely impact interest income.

We may be adversely impacted by volatility in the political and economic environment.    Trade, monetary and fiscal policies, and political and economic conditions may substantially change, and credit markets may experience periods of constriction and variability. These conditions may impact our business due to lower transaction volumes or an increase in the number of clients going out of business. Current or potential clients may decide to reduce their spending on payroll and other outsourcing services. In addition, new business formation may be affected by an inability to obtain credit.

We invest our funds held for clients in high quality, investment-grade marketable securities, money markets, and other cash equivalents. However, these funds held for clients are subject to general market, interest rate, credit, and liquidity risks. These risks may be exacerbated during periods of unusual financial market volatility. The interest we earn on funds held for clients may decrease as a result of a decline in funds available to invest and lower interest rates. In addition, during periods of volatility in the credit markets, certain types of investments may not be available to us or may become too risky for us to invest in, further reducing the interest we may earn on client funds. If we sell available-for-sale securities to satisfy short-term funding requirements, we may recognize losses, which would reduce the interest income earned on funds held for clients.

Constriction in the credit markets may impact the availability of financing, even to borrowers with the highest credit ratings. Historically, we have periodically borrowed against available credit arrangements to meet short-term liquidity needs. However, should we require additional short-term liquidity during days of large outflows of client funds, a credit constriction may limit our ability to access those funds or the flexibility to obtain them at interest rates that would be acceptable to us. Growth in services for funding payrolls of our clients in the temporary staffing industry may be constricted if access to financing becomes limited. In addition, our ability to grow through significant acquisitions may be limited. See also “Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk.” If all of these financial and economic circumstances were to remain in effect for an extended period of time, there could be a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.

We made and may continue to make acquisitions that involve numerous risks and uncertainties. Acquisitions subject us to risks, including increased debt, assumption of unforeseen liabilities, and difficulties in integrating operations. Successful integration involves many challenges, including the difficulty of developing and marketing new products and services, our exposure to unforeseen liabilities of acquired companies, and the loss of key employees of an acquired business. The integration and conversion of our acquired operations or other future acquisitions, if any, could result in increased operating costs if the anticipated synergies of operating these businesses as one are not achieved, a loss of strategic opportunities if management is distracted by the integration process, and a loss of customers if our service levels drop during or following the integration process. In addition, an acquisition could adversely impact cash flows and/or operating results, and dilute stockholder interests, for many reasons, including charges to our income to reflect the impairment of acquired intangible assets including goodwill, interest costs and debt service requirements for any debt incurred in connection with an acquisition, and any issuance of securities in connection with an acquisition or new business venture that dilutes or lessens the rights of our current stockholders. If the integration of any or all of our acquisitions or future acquisitions is not successful, it could have a material adverse impact on our operating results and stock price.

Certain of our debt agreements contain covenants that may constrain the operation of our business, and our failure to comply with these covenants could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition. The Note Purchase and Guarantee Agreement (the “Agreement”) that we entered into in January 2019 in connection with our acquisition of Oasis, contains covenants which may restrict our flexibility to operate our business. These covenants include restrictions regarding the incurrence of liens and indebtedness, substantial changes in the general nature of our business and our subsidiaries (taken as a whole), certain merger transactions, certain sales of assets and other matters, all subject to certain exceptions. The Agreement also contains financial covenants, which are reviewed for compliance on a quarterly basis, that require us not to exceed a maximum leverage ratio of 3.50:1.00 and a minimum interest coverage ratio of 2.00:1.00. In addition, certain of our indebtedness may not exceed 20% of our consolidated stockholders’ equity. If we do not comply with these covenants, it could result in material adverse effects on our operating results and our financial condition.

We may not be able to attract and retain qualified people, which could impact the quality of our services and customer satisfaction. Our success, growth, and financial results depend in part on our continuing ability to attract, retain, and motivate highly qualified people at all levels, including management, technical, compliance, and sales personnel. Competition for these individuals can be intense, and we may not be able to retain our key people, or attract, assimilate, or retain other highly-qualified individuals in the future, which could harm our future success.

Failure to protect our intellectual property rights may harm our competitive position and litigation to protect our intellectual property rights or defend against third-party allegations of infringement may be costly. Despite our efforts to protect our intellectual property and proprietary information, we may be unable to do so effectively in all cases. Our intellectual property could be wrongfully acquired as a result of a cyberattack or other wrongful conduct by employees or third-parties. To the extent that our intellectual property is not protected effectively by trademarks, copyrights, patents, or other means, other parties with knowledge of our intellectual property, including former employees, may seek to exploit our intellectual property for their own and others’ advantage. Competitors may also misappropriate our trademarks, copyrights or other intellectual property rights or duplicate our technology and products. Any significant impairment or misappropriation of our intellectual property or proprietary information could harm our business and our brand and may adversely affect our ability to compete. Third-parties may claim that we are infringing their intellectual property rights. To the extent we seek to enforce or must defend our intellectual property rights with litigation, we could incur significant expenses and/or be required to pay substantial damages. We may also be obligated to indemnify our customers or vendors in connection with claims or litigation. The litigation to enforce or defend our intellectual property rights could be costly and time-consuming.

In the event we receive negative publicity, our reputation and the value of our brand could be harmed, and clients may not use our products and services, which may have a material adverse effect on our business. Negative publicity relating to events or activities attributed to us, our corporate employees, or others associated with us, whether or not justified, may tarnish our reputation and reduce the value of our brand. If we are unable to maintain quality HCM and employee benefit-related solutions and PEO and insurance solutions, our reputation with our clients may be harmed and the value of our brand may diminish. In addition, if our brand is negatively impacted, it may have a material adverse effect on our business, including challenges retaining clients or attracting new clients and recruiting talent and retaining employees.

We are involved in litigation from time to time arising from the operation of our business and, as such, we could incur substantial judgments, fines, legal fees, or other costs. We are sometimes the subject of complaints or litigation from customers, employees, or other third-parties for various actions. From time to time, we are involved in litigation involving claims related to, among other things, breach of contract, tortious conduct, and employment and labor law matters. The damages sought against us in some of these litigation proceedings could be substantial. Although we maintain liability insurance for some litigation claims, if one or more of the claims were to greatly exceed our insurance coverage limits or if our insurance policies do not cover a claim, this could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.

Quantitative and qualitative disclosures about market risk: Refer to the “Market Risk Factors” section contained in Item 7A of this Form 10-K for a discussion on this type of risk, which could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments

None.

Item 2. Properties

We owned and leased the following properties as of May 31, 2020:

Our facilities in Rochester, New York house various distribution, processing, and technology functions, certain ancillary functions, a telemarketing unit, and other back-office functions. Facilities outside of Rochester, New York are in various locations throughout the U.S. and house our service centers, fulfillment centers and sales functions. Our international locations primarily house our European operations in Denmark and Germany and a location in India houses information technology, service, and sales support functions. We believe that adequate, suitable lease space will continue to be available to meet our needs.

Item 3. Legal Proceedings

We are subject to various claims and legal matters that arise in the normal course of our business. These include disputes or potential disputes related to breach of contract, tort, employment-related claims, tax claims, patent, statutory, and other matters.

Our management currently believes that resolution of outstanding legal matters will not have a material adverse effect on our financial position or results of operations. However, legal matters are subject to inherent uncertainties and there exists the possibility that the ultimate resolution of these matters could have a material adverse impact on the Company’s financial position and the results of operations in the period in which any such effect is recorded.

Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures

Not applicable.

PART II

Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

Our common stock trades on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “PAYX”. Dividends have historically been paid on our common stock in August, November, February, and May. The level and continuation of future dividends are dependent on our future earnings and cash flows and are subject to the discretion of our Board of Directors (the “Board”).

As of June 30, 2020, there were 10,075 holders of record of our common stock, which includes registered holders and participants in the Paychex, Inc. Dividend Reinvestment and Stock Purchase Plan. There were also 4,031 participants in the Paychex, Inc. Qualified Employee Stock Purchase Plan and 4,393 participants in the Paychex, Inc. Employee Stock Ownership Plan.

In May 2019, our Board approved a program to repurchase up to $400.0 million of our common stock with authorization expiring in May 2022. All shares repurchased during fiscal 2020 were retired and were as follows:

The following graph shows a five-year comparison of the total cumulative returns of investing $100 on May 31, 2015, in Paychex common stock, the S&P 500 Index, and a Peer Group Index. All comparisons of stock price performance shown assume reinvestment of dividends. We are a participant in the S&P 500 Index, a market group of companies with a larger than average market capitalization. Our Peer Group is a group of companies with comparable revenue and net income, who are in a comparable industry, or who are direct competitors of Paychex (as detailed below).

There can be no assurance that our stock performance will continue with the same or similar trends depicted in the graph above. We neither make nor endorse any predictions as to future stock performance.

The Governance & Compensation Committee of our Board annually reviews and approves the selection of Peer Group companies, adjusting the group from year to year based upon our business and changes in the Peer Group companies’ business or the comparability of their metrics. The Peer Group may also be adjusted in the event of mergers, acquisitions, or other significant economic changes. The Peer Group was adjusted for fiscal 2020. DST Systems, Inc. and Robert Half International, Inc. were removed and replaced with IHS Markit Ltd. and Worldpay, Inc., as they are more closely aligned with the Paychex business. Both the old and new peer groups are presented for this year of transition.

Our new Peer Group for fiscal 2020 is comprised of the following companies:

Item 6. Selected Financial Data

(1)In fiscal 2017, we early-adopted new accounting guidance related to employee stock-based compensation payments. As a result, a discrete tax benefit was recognized upon exercise or lapse of stock-based awards. This discrete tax benefit increased diluted earnings per share by approximately $0.04 per diluted share, $0.02 per diluted share, $0.04 per diluted share, and $0.05 per diluted share for fiscal 2020, fiscal 2019, fiscal 2018, and fiscal 2017, respectively.

(2)In fiscal 2018, the enactment of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “Tax Act”) significantly impacted our net income, basic and diluted earnings per share, and return on stockholders’ equity. Refer to Item 7, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” and Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data,” of this Form 10-K for additional discussion of the impact of the Tax Act.

(3)In fiscal 2018, an additional expense and corresponding tax benefit was recognized as a result of the termination of certain license agreements. Refer to Item 7, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” of this Form 10-K for additional discussion of the impact of the termination of certain license agreements.

(4)In the fiscal year ended May 31, 2016 (“fiscal 2016”), a net tax benefit was recorded for income derived in prior tax years from customer-facing software we produced. This net tax benefit increased diluted earnings per share by approximately $0.06 per diluted share.

Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations reviews the operating results of Paychex, Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiaries (“Paychex,” the “Company,” “we,” “our,” or “us”) for each of the three fiscal years ended May 31, 2020 (“fiscal 2020” or the “fiscal year”), May 31, 2019 (“fiscal 2019”), and May 31, 2018 (“fiscal 2018”), and our financial condition as of May 31, 2020. This review should be read in conjunction with the accompanying consolidated financial statements and the related Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements contained in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K (“Form 10-K”) and the “Risk Factors” discussed in Item 1A of this Form 10-K. Forward-looking statements in this review are qualified by the cautionary statement under the heading “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements Pursuant to the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995” contained at the beginning of Part I of this Form 10-K.

Overview

We are a leading provider of integrated human capital management (“HCM”) solutions for human resources (“HR”), payroll, benefits, and insurance services for small- to medium-sized businesses. Within our HCM solutions, we offer a comprehensive portfolio of services and products that allow our clients to meet their diverse HR and payroll needs.

We support our small-business clients, reducing the complexity and risk of running their own payroll, while ensuring greater accuracy with up-to-date tax rates and regulatory information. Clients may choose to have our service team handle everything for them, or process payroll themselves utilizing our proprietary, robust, software-as-a-service (“SaaS”) Paychex Flex^® platform and our SurePayroll^® SaaS-based products. Our mid-market clients generally have more complex payroll and employee benefit needs. However, in the current environment of increasing regulations, we believe the needs for HR outsourcing solutions have been moving down-market. Any of our clients using Paychex Flex can opt for the integrated suite of HCM solutions, which allows clients to choose the services and software that will meet the needs of their business.

Our portfolio of HCM and employee benefit-related services is disaggregated into two categories, Management Solutions and Professional Employer Organization (“PEO”) and Insurance Solutions, as discussed in Part 1, Item 1 of this Form 10-K.

Our mission is to be the leading provider of HR, payroll, benefits, and insurance solutions by being an essential partner to small and medium-sized businesses across the U.S. and parts of Europe. We believe that success in this mission will lead to strong, long-term financial performance. Our strategy focuses on providing industry-leading, integrated technology; increasing client satisfaction; expanding our leadership in HR; growing our client base; and engaging in strategic acquisitions.

We continue to focus on driving growth in the number of clients, revenue per client, total revenue and profits, while providing industry-leading service and technology solutions to our clients and their employees. We maintain industry-leading margins by managing our personnel costs and expenses while continuing to invest in our business, particularly in leading-edge technology. We believe these investments are critical to our success. Looking to the future, we believe that investing in our products, people, and service capabilities will position us to capitalize on opportunities for long-term growth.

Effective December 20, 2018, the Company acquired Oasis Outsourcing Group Holdings, L.P. (“Oasis”). Upon closing, Oasis became a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company. Oasis is an industry leader in providing HR outsourcing services. The purchase price was $992.2 million, net of $262.3 million in cash acquired, including $132.1 million of restricted cash. The acquisition was financed through a combination of cash on hand and the issuance of long-term private placement debt totaling $800.0 million.

Fiscal 2020 Financial Highlights

Financial highlights for fiscal 2020, compared to fiscal 2019, are as follows:

·Total revenue increased 7% to $4.0 billion. Oasis contributed approximately 4% to the growth in total revenue.

·Operating income increased 7% to $1.5 billion.

·Net income increased 6% to $1.1 billion. Adjusted net income⁽¹⁾ increased 5% to $1.1 billion.

·Diluted earnings per share and adjusted diluted earnings per share⁽¹⁾ both increased 6% to $3.04 per share and $3.00 per share, respectively.

·Dividends of $889.4 million were paid to stockholders, representing approximately 81% of net income.

⁽¹⁾Adjusted net income and adjusted diluted earnings per share are not U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) measures. Refer to the “Non-GAAP Financial Measures” section of this Item 7 for a discussion of these non-GAAP measures and a reconciliation to the most comparable U.S. GAAP measures of net income and diluted earnings per share.

For further analysis of our results of operations for fiscal years 2020, 2019, and 2018, and our financial position as of May 31, 2020, refer to the tables and analysis in the “Results of Operations” and “Liquidity and Capital Resources” sections of this Item 7.

In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of COVID-19 as a pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic affected our business, our customers’ businesses, and the markets we serve during the three months ended May 31, 2020 (the “fourth quarter”). See the “COVID-19 Response” section of this Item 7 for further discussion on the impact of COVID-19 on our results of operations along with our response to the pandemic.

Business Outlook

Our payroll and PEO client base, including all acquisitions, was greater than 680,000 and approximately 670,000 clients as of May 31, 2020 and May 31, 2019, respectively, and greater than 650,000 clients as of May 31, 2018. Client retention was at record levels of over 83% of the beginning client base for fiscal 2020. Client retention was over 82% for fiscal 2019 and approximately 81% of the beginning client base for fiscal 2018. 

While our HR product offerings provide services to employers and employees beyond payroll, they effectively leverage payroll processing data. These services are included as part of the integrated HCM solution within Paychex Flex or provided through the Prism HR PEO platform. The following table illustrates the growth in selected HR product offerings:

(1)Percentage changes are calculated based on unrounded numbers.

(2)Oasis is included in the total number of worksite employees and clients for both fiscal 2020 and fiscal 2019.

Concentrated effort remains on the continued enhancements of Paychex Flex, our robust, cloud-based HCM software solutions platform, which allows direct client access to HR, payroll, and benefits information in a streamlined and integrated approach to workplace management. In fiscal 2020, we continued to focus on enhancing the value to clients, including new offerings and enhancements to Paychex Flex as follows:

·Paychex Integrations enabling users to connect Paychex Flex with some of the world’s leading HR, accounting, point-of-sale, and productivity applications on the market;

·Smartwatch Solution, which enables users to track time worked via their smartwatch;

·Pay-on-Demand, which provides participating customer employees the option to request access to a portion of earned pay before the scheduled pay date;

·Real-Time Payments, which provides employers an efficient way to instantly pay their employees for time worked;

·Help Center, which provides users access to training resources and how-to tutorials in written, video, and tour-like deliverables;

·Enhancements to Flex Assistant, that provides a user with an in-app learning journey that aligns with their preferences as a verbal, visual, or physical learner and offers written how-to documents, tutorial-style video vignettes, or a guided interactive tour from in-app step-by-step messaging;

·Document Management was enhanced to add electronic signature capabilities and the ability for customers to run on-demand reports that show the entire process, from initial log-in through signature event;

·HR Conversations, a new tool that enables managers, employees, and HR staff to collaborate and capture day-to-day interactions; and

·Other enhancements including, grid entry view capabilities and the ability for employees and administrative users to create a custom dashboard.

We continue to strengthen our position in the industry by serving as a source of education and information to clients, businesses of all sizes, and other interested parties. We provide free webinars, white papers, and other information on our website to aid existing and prospective clients with the impact of regulatory changes. The Paychex Insurance Agency, Inc. website, www.paychex.com/group-health-insurance, helps small-business owners navigate the area of insurance coverage. Both this website and www.paychex.com/worx have sections dedicated to the topic of health care reform.

COVID-19 Response

In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of COVID-19 as a pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic began affecting our operations and employees, our customers’ businesses, and the markets we serve in the three months ended May 31, 2020 (the “fourth quarter”). The health and safety of our employees remains our top priority. We were expedient with the implementation of our business continuity plan, which included moving 95% of our workforce to work remotely and restricting unnecessary travel. Results of operations for the fourth quarter were adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic as businesses suspended operations. Management Solutions revenue was impacted by a decline in check volumes, partially offset by increased penetration of retirement services and time and attendance services. The decline in check volumes was due to a reduction in the number of clients processing payrolls as well as the number of employees paid due to state and regional shutdowns. PEO and Insurance Solutions revenue was impacted by a decline in the number of worksite employees serviced by our existing clients. Insurance Solutions revenue was impacted by a decrease in the number of health and benefit applicants and a decline in workers’ compensation premiums. Since the end of April, we have seen sequential improvement in our key business metrics across our lines of business.

As our clients continue to manage through the COVID-19 pandemic, our priority remains helping them keep their businesses open and return to more normal operations. Our blend of technology and service provides valuable tools and resources to assist our clients and their employees during this critical time. The technology investments we made to our Paychex Flex payroll and human resources suite of products positioned us to service our clients and support them in managing a remote workforce.

We created a COVID-19 Help Center on our website to assist our clients and provide them with the support and resources they need, including:

Webinars and white papers with information on the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, including the historic PPP, and Families First Coronavirus Response Act;

Guidance on the Small Business Administration (“SBA”) loan and debt relief process,

Interactive PPP loan estimation tool for businesses who are considering or have received funding through the SBA program; and

State-by-state resources to help our clients understand specific directives that may impact their business.

The COVID-19 Help Center also provides resources to our key business partners, including accountants, financial institutions, financial advisors, and national associations. The COVID-19 Help Center has been translated into Spanish to serve our Spanish-speaking clients.

Our strong balance sheet and operational flexibility allowed us to successfully manage through the initial impact of COVID-19 while protecting our cash flow and liquidity. We will continue to evaluate the nature and extent of future changes to market and economic conditions related to COVID-19 and will assess the potential impact to our business and financial position. We expect to take a cautious approach to modifying our office and travel restrictions and will wait until we have a clearer vision on how the pandemic unfolds and utilizing guidance provided by the federal, state, and local governments.

For further information on the risks posed to our business from the COVID-19 pandemic, refer to Item 1A of this Form 10-K.

Results of Operations

Summary of Results of Operations for Fiscal Years: