Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Significant Accounting Policies and Estimates

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Significant Accounting Policies and Estimates
9 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2015
Notes to Financial Statements  
2. Significant Accounting Policies and Estimates

The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements of the Company have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America for interim financial information and with the instructions to Article 8 of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America for complete consolidated financial statements. In the opinion of management, all adjustments considered necessary for a fair presentation have been included. Operating results for the three and nine month period ended June 30, 2015 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ending September 30, 2015. The unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and footnotes thereto included in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended September 30, 2014 as filed on December 22, 2014. 

 

Liquidity 

 

The Company has experienced significant losses and negative cash flows from operations in the past. Management has implemented a strategy which included cost reduction efforts, consolidation of certain back office activities to gain efficiencies as well as identifying strategic acquisitions, financed primarily through the issuance of preferred and common stock and convertible debt, to improve the overall profitability and cash flows of the Company.  

 

In 2013, the Company entered into a three year revolving credit agreement with ACF Finco I LP (formerly Keltic) to provide working capital financing. The agreement allows ACF Finco I LP to advance the Company funds based on a percentage of eligible invoices. Management believes with current cash flow from operations, the preferred offering below and the availability under the ACF Finco I LP loan agreement, the Company will have sufficient liquidity for the next 12 months. 

 

On January 8, 2015, the Company completed a Securities offering with 18 individuals who collectively have purchased a total of 200,000 shares of Preferred Stock from the Company for a total purchase price of $2,000,000. The Company netted approximately $1,960,000, with approximately $1,000,000 to be used as working capital and the remaining $1,000,000 for marketing, acquisitions, expansion and to further the operations of the Company. The Preferred Stock was designated by the Company on December 15, 2014 through the filing of a Certificate of Designation of Series A Convertible Preferred Stock with the Illinois Secretary of State. Each share of Preferred Stock is initially convertible, at the election of the holder, into 50 shares of the Company's Common Stock. The foregoing conversion ratio is subject to standard adjustment mechanisms, as set forth in the Designation. All of the series A Convertible Preferred Stock have been converted into common shares subsequent to June 30, 2015.

 

On August 7, 2014, the Company issued a Convertible Note (the "Note") with an original principal balance of $632,500 to Brio Capital Master Fund LTD ("Brio"), for a purchase price of $550,000. The Note matures on February 6, 2016, and is payable in thirteen monthly installments of $48,654, commencing in the sixth month post-closing. Brio had the right, however not the obligation, six months after closing, to convert all or any part of the outstanding Note into the Company's common stock at an initial conversion price of $0.20 per share. As of June 30, 2015, Brio has converted the entire note into 3,162,500 shares of common stock.  

 

Principles of Consolidation 

 

The unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts and transactions of the Company and its wholly-owned subsidiaries. All inter-company accounts and transactions are eliminated in consolidation. 

 

Estimates and Assumptions 

 

Management makes estimates and assumptions that can affect the amounts of assets and liabilities reported as of the date of the condensed consolidated financial statements, as well as the amounts of reported revenues and expenses during the periods presented. Those estimates and assumptions typically involve expectations about events to occur subsequent to the balance sheet date, and it is possible that actual results could ultimately differ from the estimates. If differences were to occur in a subsequent period, the Company would recognize those differences when they became known. Significant matters requiring the use of estimates and assumptions include, but may not be limited to, deferred income tax valuation allowances, accounts receivable allowances, accounting for acquisitions, accounting for derivatives and evaluation of impairment. Management believes that its estimates and assumptions are reasonable, based on information that is available at the time they are made. 

 

Revenue Recognition 

 

Direct hire placement service revenues are recognized when applicants accept offers of employment, less a provision for estimated losses due to applicants not remaining employed for the Company's guarantee period. Contract staffing service revenues are recognized when services are rendered. 

 

Falloffs and refunds during the period are reflected in the unaudited condensed consolidated statements of operations as a reduction of placement service revenues. Expected future falloffs and refunds are reflected in the unaudited condensed consolidated balance sheet as a reduction of accounts receivable and were approximately $130,000 and $113,000 as of June 30, 2015 and September 30, 2014 respectively.  

 

Cost of Contract Staffing Services 

 

The cost of contract services includes the wages and the related payroll taxes and employee benefits of the Company's employees while they work on contract assignments. 

 

Cash and Cash Equivalents 

 

Highly liquid investments with a maturity of three months or less when purchased are considered to be cash equivalents. At June 30, 2015 and September 30, 2014, there were no cash equivalents. The Company maintains deposits in financial institutions in excess of amounts guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Cash and cash equivalents are maintained at financial institutions and, at times, balances may exceed federally insured limits. We have never experienced any losses related to these balances. Beginning in 2013, insurance coverage reverted to $250,000 per depositor at each financial institution, and our non-interest bearing cash balances may from time to time exceed federally insured limits. 

 

Accounts Receivable 

 

The Company extends credit to its various customers based on evaluation of the customer's financial condition and ability to pay the Company in accordance with the payment terms. An allowance for placement fall-offs is recorded, as a reduction of revenues, for estimated losses due to applicants not remaining employed for the Company's guarantee period. An allowance for doubtful accounts is recorded, as a charge to bad debt expense, where collection is considered to be doubtful due to credit issues. These allowances together reflect management's estimate of the potential losses inherent in the accounts receivable balances, based on historical loss statistics and known factors impacting its customers. The nature of the contract service business, where companies are dependent on employees for the production cycle allows for a small accounts receivable allowance. Based on management's review of accounts receivable, an allowance for doubtful accounts of approximately $435,000 and $395,000 is considered necessary as of June 30, 2015 and September 30, 2014, respectively. The Company charges uncollectible accounts against the allowance once the invoices are deemed unlikely to be collectible.

 

Property and Equipment 

 

Property and equipment are recorded at cost. Depreciation expense is calculated on a straight-line basis over estimated useful lives of five years for computer equipment and two to ten years for office equipment, furniture and fixtures. The Company capitalizes computer software purchased or developed for internal use and amortizes it over an estimated useful life of five years. The carrying value of property and equipment is reviewed for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that it may not be recoverable. If the carrying amount of an asset group is greater than its estimated future undiscounted cash flows, the carrying value is written down to the estimated fair value. There was no impairment of property and equipment for the nine month periods ended June 30, 2015 and 2014.

 

Goodwill 

 

Goodwill represents the excess of cost over the fair value of the net assets acquired in the various acquisitions. The Company assesses goodwill for impairment at least annually. Testing goodwill for impairment allows the Company to first assess qualitative factors to determine whether the existence of events or circumstances leads to a determination that it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying amount. If the entity determines that this threshold is not met, then performing the two-step impairment test is unnecessary. An impairment loss would be recognized to the extent the carrying value of goodwill exceeds its implied fair value. 

 

Fair Value Measurement 

 

The Company follows the provisions of the accounting standard which defines fair value, establishes a framework for measuring fair value and enhances fair value measurement disclosure. Under these provisions, fair value is defined as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability (i.e., the "exit price") in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. 

 

The standard establishes a hierarchy for inputs used in measuring fair value that maximizes the use of observable inputs and minimizes the use on unobservable inputs by requiring that the most observable inputs be used when available. Observable inputs are inputs that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability developed based on market data obtained from sources independent of the Company. Unobservable inputs are inputs that reflect the Company's assumptions about the assumptions market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability developed based on the best information available in the circumstances. The hierarchy is described below: 

 

Level 1: Quoted prices (unadjusted) in active markets that are accessible at the measurement date for assets or liabilities. The fair value hierarchy gives the highest priority to Level 1 inputs. 

 

Level 2: Observable prices that are based on inputs not quoted on active markets, but corroborated by market data. 

 

Level 3: Unobservable inputs are used when little or no market data is available. The fair value hierarchy gives the lowest priority to Level 3 inputs. 

 

The fair value of the Company's current assets and current liabilities, excluding the derivative liability, approximate their carrying values due to their short term nature. The carrying value of the Company's derivative liability is measured at fair value on a recurring basis based on level 3 inputs, as further discussed in note 8. The Company's goodwill and other intangible assets are measured at fair value on a non-recurring basis using level 3 inputs.

 

Derivative Financial Instruments

 

The Company does not use derivative instruments to hedge exposure to cash flow, market or foreign currency risk. Terms of convertible promissory note instruments are reviewed to determine whether or not they contain embedded derivative instruments that are required under ASC 815 "Derivative and Hedging" (ASC 815) to be accounted for separately from the host contract, and recorded on the balance sheet at fair value. The fair value of derivative liabilities is required to be revalued at each reporting date, with corresponding changes in fair value recorded in current period operating results. 

 

Freestanding warrants issued by the Company in connection with the issuance or sale of debt and equity instruments are considered to be derivative instruments and are evaluated and accounted for in accordance with the provisions of ASC 815. Pursuant to ASC 815, an evaluation of specifically identified conditions is made to determine whether fair value of warrants issued is required to be classified as equity or as a derivative liability. 

 

Intangible Assets 

 

Customer relationships and trade names were recorded at their estimated fair value at the date of acquisition and are amortized over their estimated useful lives ranging from two to ten years using both accelerated and straight-line methods. 

 

Loss per Share 

 

Basic loss per share is computed by dividing net loss attributable to common stockholders by the weighted average common shares outstanding for the period. Diluted loss per share is computed giving effect to all potentially dilutive common shares. Potentially dilutive common shares may consist of incremental shares issuable upon the exercise of stock options and warrants and the conversion of notes payable to common stock. In periods in which a net loss has been incurred, all potentially dilutive common shares are considered anti-dilutive and thus are excluded from the calculation. There were approximately 52,522,000 and 20,820,000 of common stock equivalents for three and nine months ended June 30, 2015, respectively. There were no common stock equivalents for the three and nine months ended June 30, 2014, respectively. 

 

Advertising Expenses 

 

The majority of the Company's advertising expense budget is used to support the Company's business. Most of the advertisements are in print or internet media, with expenses recorded as they are incurred. For the three and nine months ended June 30, 2015 and 2014, included in selling, general and administrative expenses was advertising expense totaling approximately $164,000 and $514,000, and approximately $177,000 and $549,000, respectively.

 

Impairment of Long-lived Assets 

 

The Company records an impairment of long-lived assets used in operations, other than goodwill, when events or circumstances indicate that the asset might be impaired and the estimated undiscounted cash flows to be generated by those assets over their remaining lives are less than the carrying amount of those items. The net carrying value of assets not recoverable is reduced to fair value, which is typically calculated using the discounted cash flow method. The Company did not record any impairment during the nine months ended June 30, 2015 and 2014. 

 

Stock-Based Compensation 

 

The Company accounts for stock-based awards to employees in accordance with applicable accounting principles, which requires compensation expense related to share-based transactions, including employee stock options, to be measured and recognized in the financial statements based on a determination of the fair value of the stock options. The grant date fair value is determined using the Black-Scholes-Merton ("Black-Scholes") pricing model. For all employee stock options, we recognize expense over the requisite service period on an accelerated basis over the employee's requisite service period (generally the vesting period of the equity grant). The Company's option pricing model requires the input of highly subjective assumptions, including the expected stock price volatility, expected term, and forfeiture rate. Any changes in these highly subjective assumptions significantly impact stock-based compensation expense.

 

Options awarded to purchase shares of common stock issued to non-employees in exchange for services are accounted for as variable awards in accordance with applicable accounting principles. Such options are valued using the Black-Scholes option pricing model. There were no stock options granted during the nine month period ended June 30, 2015. 

 

Income Taxes 

 

We record a provision for income taxes for the anticipated tax consequences of the reported results of operations using the asset and liability method. Under this method, we recognize deferred tax assets and liabilities for the expected future tax consequences of temporary differences between the financial reporting and tax basis of assets and liabilities, as well as for operating loss and tax credit carryforwards. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using the tax rates that are expected to apply to taxable income for the years in which those tax assets and liabilities are expected to be realized or settled. We record a valuation allowance to reduce our deferred tax assets to the net amount that we believe is more likely than not to be realized. 

 

Due to the private sale of shares of common stock to LEED HR during fiscal 2012 and the resulting change in control, the Company may be limited by Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code as to the amount of net operating losses that may be used in future years. 

 

We recognize tax benefits from uncertain tax positions only if we believe that it is more likely than not that the tax position will be sustained on examination by the taxing authorities based on the technical merits of the position. Although we believe that we have adequately reserved for our uncertain tax positions, we can provide no assurance that the final tax outcome of these matters will not be materially different. We make adjustments to these reserves when facts and circumstances change, such as the closing of a tax audit or the refinement of an estimate. To the extent that the final tax outcome of these matters is different than the amounts recorded, such differences will affect the provision for income taxes in the period in which such determination is made and could have a material impact on our financial condition and operating results. 

 

Reclassification 

 

Certain reclassifications have been made to the financial statements as of and for the three and nine months ended June 30, 2014 to conform to the current year presentation.

 

Segment Data 

 

The Company has two operating business segments a) Contract staffing services (including our newly acquired Scribe Solutions, Inc. business, see note 10), and b) Direct hire placement. These operating segments were determined based primarily on how the chief operating decision maker views and evaluates our operations. Operating results are regularly reviewed by the chief operating decision maker to make decisions about resources to be allocated to the segment and to assess its performance. Other factors, including type of business, type of employee, length of employment and revenue recognition are considered in determining these operating segments.