Note A: Description of Business, Basis of Presentation, and Significant Accounting Policies



Description of business: Paychex, Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiaries (collectively, the “Company” or “Paychex”) is a leading provider of integrated human capital management (“HCM”) solutions for payroll, benefits, human resource (“HR”), and insurance services for small- to medium-sized businesses in the United States (“U.S.”). The Company also has operations in Europe. 

Paychex, a Delaware corporation formed in 1979, reports as one segment.  Substantially all of the Company’s revenue is generated within the U.S.  The Company also generates revenue within Europe, which represented approximately one percent of the Company’s total revenue for both the three and six months ended November 30, 2018 and was less than one percent of the Company's total revenue for both the three and six months ended November 30, 2017.  Long-lived assets in Europe were approximately 10% of total long-lived assets of the Company as of November 30, 2018 and May 31, 2018. 



Basis of presentation: The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) for interim financial information and with the instructions to the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q (“Form 10-Q”) and Article 10 of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by GAAP for complete financial statement presentation. The consolidated financial statements include the consolidated accounts of the Company with all intercompany transactions eliminated. In the opinion of management, the information furnished herein reflects all adjustments (consisting of items of a normal recurring nature), which are necessary for a fair statement of the results for the interim period. These consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the Company’s consolidated financial statements and related Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements presented in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K (“Form 10-K”) for the fiscal year ended May 31, 2018 (“fiscal 2018”).  Operating results and cash flows for the six months ended November 30, 2018 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for other interim periods or for the fiscal year ending May 31, 2019 (“fiscal 2019”).



Effective June 1, 2018, the Company adopted the requirements of Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2014-09, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606),” as discussed in “Recently adopted accounting pronouncements.”  All amounts and disclosures set forth in this Form 10-Q have been updated to comply with the new standard, as indicated by the “As Adjusted” footnote.



Reclassifications:  Certain prior period amounts have been reclassified to conform to the current period presentation in connection with the adoption of ASU No. 2014-09 and had no material effect on reported consolidated earnings.



PEO insurance reserves: As part of the professional employer organization (“PEO”) service, the Company offers workers' compensation insurance and health insurance to client companies for the benefit of client employees. For workers' compensation insurance, reserves are established to provide for the estimated costs of paying claims up to per occurrence liability limits. The Company’s maximum individual claims liability, excluding HR Outsourcing Holdings, Inc. (“HROI”), was $1.0 million and $1.3 million under its fiscal 2019 and fiscal 2018 workers' compensation insurance policies, respectively. HROI’s maximum individual claims liability was $0.5 million and $0.8 million under its workers’ compensation insurance policies for the annual periods ended September 30, 2018 and ending September 30, 2019, respectively.



Under the minimum premium insurance plan offering within the PEO, the Company's health benefits insurance reserves are established to provide for the payment of claims liability charges in accordance with its service contract with the insurance carrier. The Company's maximum individual claims liability, excluding HROI, was $0.3 million under both its calendar 2018 and 2017 minimum premium insurance plan policies. HROI’s maximum individual claims liability was $0.3 million under its minimum premium insurance plan policies for the annual periods ended June 30, 2018 and ending June 30, 2019.  In addition, the Company also provides self-insured dental and vision plans.



Estimating the ultimate cost of future claims is an uncertain and complex process based upon historical loss experience and actuarial loss projections, and is subject to change due to multiple factors, including economic trends, changes in legal liability law, and damage awards, all of which could materially impact the reserves as reported in the consolidated financial statements. Accordingly, final claim settlements may vary from the present estimates, particularly with workers' compensation insurance where those payments may not occur until well into the future. The Company regularly reviews the adequacy of its estimated insurance reserves. Adjustments to previously established insurance reserves are reflected in the results of operations for the period in which such adjustments are identified. Such adjustments could be significant, reflecting any combination of new and adverse or favorable trends.



Stock-based compensation costs: The Company has issued stock-based awards to employees and directors consisting of stock options, restricted stock awards, restricted stock units, performance shares, performance-based restricted stock, and performance-based stock options. The Company accounts for all stock-based awards to employees and directors as compensation costs in the consolidated financial statements based on their fair values measured as of the date of grant. These costs are recognized over the requisite service period. Stock-based compensation costs recognized were $11.9 million and $22.8 million for the three and six months ended November 30, 2018, respectively, as compared with $10.4 million and $19.1 million for the three and six months ended November 30, 2017. The methods and assumptions used in the determination of the fair value of stock-based awards are consistent with those described in the Company’s fiscal 2018 Form 10-K.



Recently adopted accounting pronouncements: In May 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued ASU No. 2014-09, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606).”  This guidance, as amended by subsequent ASUs on the topic, outlines a single comprehensive model for determining revenue recognition for contracts with customers, and supersedes guidance on revenue recognition in ASC Topic 605, “Revenue Recognition.”  The Company adopted the new standard on June 1, 2018, utilizing the full retrospective method, which required the Company to recast each prior reporting period presented and included a cumulative adjustment to increase stockholder’s equity by $262.9 million as of June 1, 2016.  The Company has updated its control framework for new internal controls and made changes to existing controls related to the new standard.



Impact on Previously Reported Results

The provisions of ASU No. 2014-09 do not materially impact the timing or the amount of revenue the Company recognizes on an annual basis in its Consolidated Statements of Income and Comprehensive Income. However, it does have an impact on the timing and amount of revenue the Company recognizes on a quarterly basis due to changes in the way it accounts for certain revenues where performance obligations are satisfied at a point in time. The provisions of the new standard have a material impact on the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheets. The primary impact of adopting the new standard is on the Company’s treatment of certain costs to obtain and fulfill contracts.  In relation to those items, the new standard resulted in the Company deferring additional costs on its Consolidated Balance Sheets and amortizing them to the Consolidated Statements of Income and Comprehensive Income over the estimated average life of the client.  Refer to Note B for further details. 



The following table presents a recast of selected unaudited Consolidated Statements of Income and Comprehensive Income line items after giving effect to the adoption of ASU No. 2014-09: 









The following table presents a recast of selected unaudited Consolidated Balance Sheet line items after giving effect to the adoption of ASU No. 2014-09:





(1) Amounts were previously reported as a component of other long-term assets on the Consolidated Balance Sheets included in the Company’s fiscal 2018 Form 10-K.  Long-term deferred costs are separately presented on the Consolidated Balance Sheets contained in this Form 10-Q.



The following table presents a recast of selected unaudited Consolidated Statement of Cash Flow line items after giving effect to the adoption of ASU No. 2014-09:





In June 2018, the Company also adopted the following ASUs, none of which had a material impact on its consolidated financial statements:













Recently issued accounting pronouncements: In November 2018, the FASB issued ASU No. 2018-18, “Collaborative Arrangements (Topic 808): Clarifying the Interaction between Topic 808 and Topic 606.”  ASU No. 2018-18 was issued to resolve the diversity in practice concerning the manner in which entities account for transactions based on their assessment of the economics of a collaborative arrangement.  This guidance is effective for public entities for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019, and for interim periods within those fiscal years, with early adoption permitted.  This guidance is applicable to the Company’s fiscal year beginning June 1, 2020. The Company is currently evaluating the potential effects of this guidance on its consolidated financial statements.



In August 2018, the FASB issued ASU No. 2018-15, “Intangibles – Goodwill and Other – Internal-Use Software (Subtopic 350-40): Customer’s Accounting for Implementation Costs Incurred in a Cloud Computing Arrangement That Is a Service Contract (a consensus of the FASB Emerging Issues Task Force).” ASU No. 2018-15 aligns the requirements for capitalizing implementation costs incurred in a hosting arrangement that is a service contract with the requirements for capitalizing implementation costs incurred to develop or obtain internal-use software (and hosting arrangements that include an internal-use software license).  This guidance is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019, and for interim periods within those fiscal years, with early adoption permitted. This guidance is applicable to the Company’s fiscal year beginning June 1, 2020. The Company is currently evaluating the potential effects of this guidance on its consolidated financial statements.



In August 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-13, “Fair Value Measurement (Topic 820): Disclosure Framework – Changes to the Disclosure Requirements for Fair Value Measurement.”  ASU No. 2018-13 modified the disclosure requirements in Topic 820, “Fair Value Measurement,” based on the FASB Concepts Statement, “Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting – Chapter 8: Notes to Financial Statements,” including consideration of costs and benefits.  This guidance is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019, and for interim periods within those fiscal years, with early adoption permitted. This guidance is applicable to the Company’s fiscal year beginning June 1, 2020. The Company is currently evaluating the potential effects of this guidance on its consolidated financial statements.



In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-02, “Leases (Topic 842).” This guidance, as amended by subsequent ASUs on the topic, improves transparency and comparability among companies by recognizing lease assets and lease liabilities on the balance sheet and by disclosing key information about leasing arrangements. ASU No. 2016-02 is effective for public business entities for annual periods, including interim periods within those annual periods, beginning after December 15, 2018, with early adoption permitted.  The Company will adopt ASU No. 2016-02 in its fiscal year beginning June 1, 2019, and currently anticipates using the alternative transition method provided by the FASB in ASU No. 2018-11, “Leases (Topic 842): Targeted Improvements.”  Under this transition method, the Company will initially apply the new standard at adoption date and recognize a cumulative-effect adjustment to the opening balance of retained earnings on June 1, 2019.



The Company is gathering data and assessing the impact of the new lease accounting standard and the Company anticipates that the adoption of the new lease accounting standard will result in the Company recording additional assets and liabilities on its Consolidated Balance Sheets.  The Company is still in the process of quantifying the impact the new standard will have on its Consolidated Balance Sheets.  However, the Company does not anticipate that the new standard will have a material impact on its Consolidated Statements of Income and Comprehensive Income.  In addition, the Company is in the process of completing its evaluation of available practical expedients and the impact of the new guidance on its business processes, systems, and controls.



Other recent authoritative guidance issued by the FASB (including technical corrections to the ASC), the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and the Securities Exchange Commission (“SEC”) during the six months ended November 30, 2018 did not, or are not expected to, have a material effect on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.