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, 2016
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, 2016 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ending September 30, 2016. 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, 2015 as filed on December 29, 2015.

 

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 equity offerings below and the availability under the ACF Finco I LP loan agreement, the Company will have sufficient liquidity for the next 12 months. Management expects to renew or replace this credit facility with the same or better terms, prior to its expiration in September of 2016.

 

On January 8, 2015, the Company completed a securities offering with 18 individuals who collectively 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 $960,000 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 was 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 shares of Common Stock.

   

On July 22, 2015, the Company entered into an underwriting agreement (the "Underwriting Agreement") with Roth Capital Partners, LLC (the "Representative"), as the representative of the several underwriters identified therein (collectively, the "Underwriters"), pursuant to which the Company agreed to offer and sell up to 1,120,000 shares of the Company's common stock, no par value (the "Common Stock"), at a price of $7.00 per share. Under the terms of the Underwriting Agreement, the Company granted the Representative an option, exercisable for 30 days, to purchase up to an additional 168,000 shares of Common Stock to cover over-allotments, if any.

 

The Company received net proceeds from this offering, after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and offering expenses payable by the Company of approximately $7,800,000 and issued 1,246,000 shares of Common Stock, this includes the Respresentative's exercise of the over-allotment option.

 

The offering was made pursuant to the Company's effective Registration Statement on Form S-3 (File No. 333- 204080), as amended and supplemented filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC").

 

The Company also issued warrants (the "Underwriter's Warrant") to the Underwriters to purchase up to a total of approximately 125,000 shares of Common Stock, at a price of $8.40 per share that are exercisable for five years. The Underwriter's Warrant has a seven-year piggyback registration right with respect to shares of common stock underlying the Underwriter's Warrant from the date of the Underwriting Agreement.

 

On October 2, 2015, the Company issued and sold a subordinated note in the aggregate principal amount of $4,185,000 (the "Subordinated Note") to JAX Legacy – Investment 1, LLC (the "Investor") pursuant to a Subscription Agreement dated October 2, 2015 between the Company and the Investor (the "Subscription Agreement"). The Subordinated Note is due on October 2, 2018 (the "Maturity Date"). Interest on the Subordinated Note is payable as follows: (i) 10% interest per annum on the outstanding principal balance of the Subordinated Note shall be payable quarterly in arrears, in cash, on each December 30th, March 30th, June 30th, and September 30th, until the Maturity Date and (ii) 4% interest per annum until the Maturity Date on the original principal balance of the Subordinated Note ($566,000), was paid in advance on the issuance date of the Subordinated Note through the issuance to the Investor of approximately 91,000 shares of the Company's common stock (the "Interest Shares"). The Company may prepay the principal and interest under the Subordinated Note at any time, without penalty, provided, however, the Interest Shares shall be deemed paid in full and earned upon the issuance of the Subordinated Note. The Subordinated Note is subordinated in payment to the obligations of the Company to ACF FINCO I LLP pursuant to the terms and provisions of a Subordination and Intercreditor Agreement dated October 2, 2015 between, ACF FINCO I LLP and the Investor. In connection with the issuance of the Subordinated Note the Company and the Investor entered into a Registration Rights Agreement dated October 2, 2015 (the "Registration Rights Agreement") whereby the Company granted to the Investor certain piggyback registration rights with respect to the shares of Company common stock issued or issuable as interest payments under the Subordinated Note, and any shares of Company common stock issued as a dividend or other distribution with respect to, or in exchange for or in replacement of, shares of common stock of the Company issued or issuable as interest payments under the Subordinated Note.

 

On October 4, 2015, the Company issued to the Sellers of Access Data Consulting Corporation a Sellers' Promissory Note for $3,000,000 (see note 10). Interest on the outstanding principal balance of the Sellers' Promissory Note is payable at the rate of 5.5% per annum. The principal and interest amount of the Sellers' Promissory Note is payable as follows: (i) for the first twelve months commencing on November 4, 2015 and ending on October 4, 2016, a monthly payment of approximately $57,000 in principal and interest, (ii) on October 4, 2016 a balloon payment of principal of $1,000,000, (iii) for the next twelve months commencing on November 4, 2016 and ending on October 4, 2017, a monthly payment of approximately $28,000 in principal and interest, (iv) on October 4, 2017 a balloon payment of principal of approximately $1,202,000 and (v) on October 4, 2017 any and all amounts of previously unpaid principal and accrued interest. The Sellers' Promissory Note is subordinated in payment to the obligations of the Company to ACF FINCO I LLP pursuant to the terms and provisions of a Subordination and Intercreditor Agreement dated October 5, 2015 between ACF FINCO I LLP and the Sellers.

   

Principles of Consolidation

 

The condensed unaudited 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.

 

Reverse Stock Split

 

On October 9, 2015, the Company filed a certificate of change to its amended and restated articles of incorporation with the Secretary of the State of Illinois in order to effectuate a reverse stock split of its issued and outstanding common stock on a 1-for-10 basis (the "Reverse Stock Split"); and increased the total number of authorized shares of Common Stock of the Company from 20,000,000 post Reverse Stock Split, to 200,000,000.

 

The Reverse Stock Split became effective with the FINRA as of the open of business on October 9, 2015. As a result of the Reverse Stock Split, every 10 shares of the Company's pre-Reverse Split common stock was combined and reclassified into one share of the Company's common stock. No fractional shares of common stock were issued as a result of the Reverse Split.

 

Throughout the condensed consolidated financial statements, each instance that refers to a number of shares of the Company's common stock, refers to the number of shares of common stock after giving effect to the Reverse Stock Split, unless otherwise indicated.

 

Estimates and Assumptions

 

Management makes estimates and assumptions that can affect the amounts of assets and liabilities reported as of the date of the 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, 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 and were approximately $374,000 and $664,000 as of June 30, 2016 and 2015 respectively. Expected future falloffs and refunds are reflected in the consolidated balance sheet as a reduction of accounts receivable and were approximately $76,000 and $86,000 as of June 30, 2016 and September 30, 2015 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, 2016 and September 30, 2015, 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.

 

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 $600,000 and $524,000 is considered necessary as of June 30, 2016 and September 30, 2015, 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, 2016 and 2015.

 

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 approximate their carrying values due to their short term nature. The carrying value of the Company's long-term liabilities represents their fair value 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.

 

Intangible Assets

 

Customer lists, non-compete agreements, customer relationships, management agreements 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 208,000 and 525,000 of common stock equivalents excluded for the nine months and three months ended June 30, 2015, respectively, because their effect is anti-dilutive. Common share equivalents of approximately 575,000 and 484,000 was included in the computation of diluted earnings per share for the nine months and three months ended June 30, 2016. There were approximately 392,000 and 428,000 of common stock equivalents excluded for the three and nine months ended June 30, 2016, respectively because their effect is anti-dilutive.

   

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, 2016 and 2015, included in selling, general and administrative expenses was advertising expense totaling approximately $233,000 and $781,000, and approximately $164,000 and $514,000, 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, 2016 and 2015.

 

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.

 

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, 2015 to conform to the current year presentation.

 

Segment Data

 

The Company has two operating business segments a) Contract staffing services, 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.