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 human resources (“HR”), payroll, benefits, and insurance for small- to medium-sized businesses in the United States (“U.S.”) and parts of Europe. The Company also has operations in India. Paychex, a Delaware corporation formed in 1979, reports as one segment.

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 and Article 10 of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, they do not include all 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. Certain disclosures are reported as zero balances due to rounding. In the opinion of management, the information furnished herein reflects all adjustments (consisting of items of a normal recurring nature) 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, 2023 (“fiscal 2023”). Operating results and cash flows for the three months ended August 31, 2023 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for other interim periods or for the fiscal year ending May 31, 2024 (“fiscal 2024”).

Reclassifications: Certain prior year amounts have been reclassified to conform to the current period presentation. These reclassifications had no effect on reported consolidated earnings.

Restricted cash and restricted cash equivalents: Restricted cash and restricted cash equivalents are recorded at fair value, and consist of cash and cash equivalents, primarily money market securities, included in funds held for clients and cash that is restricted in use to secure commitments for certain workers’ compensation insurance policies.

Accounts receivable, net of allowance for credit losses: Accounts receivable balances are shown on the Consolidated Balance Sheets net of the allowance for credit losses of $20.8 million and $20.5 million as of August 31, 2023 and May 31, 2023, respectively. These balances include trade receivables for services provided to clients and receivables purchased from the Company's clients under non-recourse arrangements. Trade receivables were $200.8 million and $287.0 million as of August 31, 2023 and May 31, 2023, respectively. Purchased receivables, at gross, were $835.8 million and $606.8 million as of August 31, 2023 and May 31, 2023, respectively.

The Company is exposed to credit losses through the sale of services, payment of client obligations, and collection of purchased receivables. To mitigate this credit risk, the Company has multiple programs in place to assess and continuously monitor each client’s ability to pay for these solutions and support. Credit monitoring programs include, but are not limited to, new client credit reviews, establishing appropriate credit limits, monitoring of credit distressed clients, and early electronic wire and collection procedures. The Company also considers contract terms and conditions, client business type or strategy and may require collateralized asset support or prepayment to mitigate credit risk.

Accounts receivable are written off and charged against the allowance for credit losses when the Company has exhausted all collection efforts without success. The Company estimates its credit losses based on historical loss activity adjusted for current economic conditions and reasonable and supportable forecast factors, when applicable. The provision for the allowance for credit losses and accounts written off were not material for the three months ended August 31, 2023 and August 31, 2022. No single client had a material impact on total accounts receivable as of August 31, 2023 and May 31, 2023 or service revenue and results of operations for the three months ended August 31, 2023 and August 31, 2022.

Professional Employer Organization (“PEO”) unbilled receivables, net of advance collections: PEO unbilled receivables, including estimated revenues, offset by advance collections from clients, are recorded as PEO unbilled receivables, net of advance collections on the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheets. As of August 31, 2023 and May 31, 2023, advance collections were $28.2 million and $12.5 million, respectively.

PEO insurance reserves: As part of its PEO solution, the Company offers workers’ compensation insurance and health insurance coverage to clients for the benefit of client employees. Workers’ compensation insurance is primarily provided under fully insured high deductible workers’ compensation insurance policies. Workers’ compensation insurance reserves are established to provide for the estimated costs of paying claims up to per occurrence liability limits. These reserves include estimates of certain expenses associated with processing and settling claims. For fiscal 2024, the Company has an aggregate maximum liability of $1.0 million for claims exceeding $1.0 million, and once met, the maximum individual claims liability is $1.0 million. For fiscal 2023, the Company had an aggregate maximum liability of $2.0 million for claims exceeding $1.0 million, and once met, the maximum individual claims liability is $1.0 million.

With respect to PEO health insurance coverage, the Company offers various health insurance plans that take the form of either fully insured guaranteed cost plans or fully insured insurance arrangements where the Company retains risk. A reserve for insurance arrangements where the Company retains risk is established to provide for the payment of claims in accordance with the Company’s service contract with the carrier. The claims liability includes estimates for reported losses, plus amounts for those claims incurred but not reported, and estimates of certain expenses associated with processing and settling the claims. The Company’s maximum individual claims liability is $0.5 million under its policies covering both fiscal 2024 and fiscal 2023.

In establishing the PEO workers' compensation insurance reserves, the Company uses an independent actuarial estimate of undiscounted future cash payments that would be made to settle claims. Estimating the ultimate cost of future claims is an uncertain and complex process based upon historical loss experience and accepted actuarial methods and assumptions. These reserves are 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 reserves are reflected in the results of operations for the period in which the adjustment is 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 members of its Board of Directors (the “Board”) consisting of stock options, restricted stock units, and restricted stock awards. The Company accounts for all stock-based awards to employees and members of the Board 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 $16.0 million and $14.4 million for the three months ended August 31, 2023 and August 31, 2022, respectively. 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 Form 10-K for fiscal 2023.

Recently adopted accounting pronouncements: Effective June 1, 2023, the Company adopted Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2021-08 “Business Combinations (Topic 805): Accounting for Contract Assets and Contract Liabilities from Contracts with Customers,” which did not have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.

Recently issued accounting pronouncements: Recent authoritative guidance issued by the FASB (including technical corrections to the FASB Accounting Standards Codification), the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) did not or is not expected to have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.