SECURITIES
AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON,
D.C. 20549
FORM
10-K
[X]
ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF
THE
SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For
the fiscal year ended March 31, 2009
Commission
file number: 000-49724
ACIES
CORPORATION
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NEVADA
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91-2079553
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(State
or other jurisdiction of
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(I.R.S.
Employer Identification No.)
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incorporation
or organization)
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132 West 36th Street, 3rd
Floor
New York, New York
10018
(Address
of principal executive offices) (Zip
Code)
(786)
923-0523
Registrant's
telephone number, including area code
Securities
registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act: NONE
Securities
registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:
Title
of each Class
-------------------
Common
Stock, $.001 par value
Indicate
by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in
Rule 405 of the Securities Act. £
Yes x
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 x 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, and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for
the past 90 days. x Yes £
No
Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on
its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be
submitted and posted 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 and post such
files). Yes ¨ No ¨
Indicate
by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of
Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best
of registrant's knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements
incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this
Form 10-K. £
Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an
accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting
company. See the definitions of "large accelerated
filer”, “accelerated filer"
and “smaller reporting
company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Act. (Check one):
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Large
accelerated filer ¨
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Accelerated
filer ¨
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Non-accelerated
filer ¨
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Smaller
reporting company x
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Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule
12b-2 of the Act).
£
Yes x
No
State the
aggregate market value of the voting and non-voting common equity held by
non-affiliates computed by reference to the price at which the common equity was
last sold, or the average bid and asked price of such common equity, as of the
last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal
quarter: $750,828 as of September 30, 2008.
As of
June 29, 2009, the registrant had 73,984,095 shares of common stock, $0.001 par
value per share, outstanding.
DOCUMENTS
INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
NONE.
FORM
10-K
FOR
THE FISCAL YEAR ENDED MARCH 31, 2009
INDEX
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Page
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PART
I
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Item
1.
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Description
of Business
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4
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Item
1A.
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Risk
Factors
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10
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Item
2.
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Description
of Property
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16
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Item
3.
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Legal
Proceedings
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17
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Item
4.
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Submission
of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders
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17
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PART
II
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Item
5.
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Market
for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer
Purchases of Equity Securities
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18
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Item
6
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Selected
Financial Data
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19
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Item
7.
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Management's
Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of
Operations
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19
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Item
8.
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Financial
Statements
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F-1
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Item
9.
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Changes
in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial
Disclosure
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25
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Item
9A(T).
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Controls
and Procedures
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25
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Item
9B.
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Other
Information
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26
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PART
III
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Item
10.
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Directors,
Executive Officers, and Corporate Governance
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27
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Item
11.
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Executive
Compensation
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29
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Item
12.
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Security
Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related
Stockholder Matters
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31
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Item
13.
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Certain
Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director
Independence
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32
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Item
14.
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Principal
Accountant Fees and Services
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34
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PART
IV
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Item
15.
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Exhibits
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34
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FORWARD
LOOKING STATEMENTS
Some of
the statements contained in this Form 10-K that are not historical facts are
"forward-looking
statements" which can be identified by the use of terminology such as
"estimates,"
"projects,"
"plans," "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "intends," or the
negative or other variations, or by discussions of strategy that involve risks
and uncertainties. We urge you to be cautious of such forward-looking
statements, in that such statements reflect our current beliefs with respect to
future events and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other
factors affecting our operations, market growth, services, products and
licenses. No assurances can be given regarding the achievement of future
results, as actual results may differ materially as a result of the risks we
face, and actual events may differ from the assumptions underlying the
statements that have been made regarding anticipated events. Factors
that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or industry
results, to differ materially from those contemplated by such forward-looking
statements include without limitation:
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1.
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Our
ability to attract and retain management and to integrate and maintain
technical information and management information
systems;
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2.
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Our
ability to generate customer demand for our services;
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3.
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The
intensity of competition; and
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4.
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General
economic conditions affecting our
industry.
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The
foregoing is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all factors that could
cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in
forward-looking statements made by Acies Corporation. Investors are encouraged
to review the risk factors set forth below in Item 1A.
All
written and oral forward-looking statements made in connection with this Form
10-K that are attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf are expressly
qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements. Given the
uncertainties that surround such statements, you are cautioned not to place
undue reliance on such forward-looking statements.
CERTAIN
STATEMENTS IN THIS REPORT ON FORM 10-K (THIS "FORM 10-K"),
CONSTITUTE "FORWARD-LOOKING
STATEMENTS" WITHIN THE MEANING OF SECTION 27A OF THE SECURITIES ACT OF
1934, AS AMENDED, AND THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995
(COLLECTIVELY, THE "REFORM ACT").
CERTAIN, BUT NOT NECESSARILY ALL, OF SUCH FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS CAN BE
IDENTIFIED BY THE USE OF FORWARD-LOOKING TERMINOLOGY SUCH AS "BELIEVES", "EXPECTS", "MAY", "SHOULD", OR "ANTICIPATES", OR THE
NEGATIVE THEREOF OR OTHER VARIATIONS THEREON OR COMPARABLE TERMINOLOGY, OR BY
DISCUSSIONS OF STRATEGY THAT INVOLVE RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES. SUCH
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS INVOLVE KNOWN AND UNKNOWN RISKS, UNCERTAINTIES AND
OTHER FACTORS WHICH MAY CAUSE THE ACTUAL RESULTS, PERFORMANCE OR ACHIEVEMENTS OF
ACIES CORPORATION AND ITS PRINCIPAL SUBSIDIARY, ACIES, INC. (COLLECTIVELY,
"THE COMPANY",
"WE", “ACIES,” "US" OR "OUR") TO BE
MATERIALLY DIFFERENT FROM ANY FUTURE RESULTS, PERFORMANCE OR ACHIEVEMENTS
EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED BY SUCH FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS. REFERENCES IN THIS FORM
10-K, UNLESS ANOTHER DATE IS STATED, ARE TO MARCH 31, 2009.
COMPANY
HISTORY
The
Company was originally incorporated in the State of Nevada on October 11,
2000. On October 1, 2003, the Company changed its name to Atlantic
Synergy, Inc. (“Atlantic”). Our
principal subsidiary, Acies, Inc., was incorporated in the State of Nevada on
April 22, 2004 as GM Merchant Solutions, Inc., and changed its name to Acies,
Inc. on June 23, 2004. On June 28, 2004, Acies, Inc. purchased
substantially all of the assets of GM Merchant Solutions, Inc., a New York
corporation ("GM-NY") and GMS
Worldwide, LLC, a New York limited liability company ("GMS-NY"), including
cash, accounts receivable, office equipment, furniture, computer hardware and
software, and goodwill and other intangible property (including customer lists,
leases, and material contracts) in exchange for Acies, Inc. common stock (the
“Acies, Inc.
Stock”). Mr. Oleg Firer, our current Chief Executive Officer
and Director, Mr. Yakov Shimon, our former Vice President of Technology and Data
Management, and Mr. Miron Guilliadov, our former Vice President of Sales, had
been engaged in the payment processing business through GM-NY and
GMS-NY.
On July
2, 2004, Atlantic acquired approximately 99.2% of the issued and outstanding
common stock of Acies, Inc. in exchange for approximately 26,150,000 newly
issued shares of Atlantic's common stock (the "Exchange"). In
connection with, and subsequent to, the Exchange, Atlantic transferred all of
its assets held immediately prior to the Exchange, subject to all of Atlantic's
then existing liabilities, to Terence Channon, Atlantic's former President and
Chief Executive Officer, in consideration for Mr. Channon's cancellation of
4,285,000 shares of Atlantic's common stock and the cancellation of 200,000
shares of Atlantic's common stock held by a third party. The transaction was
accounted for as a reverse merger. In connection with this
transaction, the Acies, Inc. stock was exchanged for common stock of
Atlantic.
In
November 2004, Atlantic changed its name to Acies Corporation (“Acies” or the “Company”).
DESCRIPTION
OF PRINCIPAL PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
The
Company, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Acies, Inc., is engaged in the
business of providing payment processing solutions to small and medium size
merchants across the United States. Through contractual relationships with third
parties to whom we outsource the providing of certain services, Acies is able to
offer complete solutions for payment processing, whereby we consult with
merchants to best determine their hardware and software needs; provide
transaction authorization, settlement and clearing services; perform merchant
acceptance and underwriting functions; program, deploy and install traditional
and next-generation point-of-sale (POS) terminals; assist in the detection of
fraudulent transactions; and provide customer and technical support and service
on an on-going basis. We are a registered member service provider
of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. Historically we were sponsored
by JPMorgan Chase Bank through a joint venture between JPMorgan Chase and First
Data Corp. On May 27, 2008, JPMorgan Chase and First Data Corp
announced that they had agreed to end their joint venture. On
November 3, 2008, JPMorgan Chase and First Data Corp completed an ownership
transition and ended their joint venture. As part of this
transaction, First Data Corp assumed services to the joint venture’s customers
and changed bank sponsorship to Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. The Company
continues to do business under its legacy agreement, while negotiating new
processing agreements with First Data Corp.
The
Company’s payment processing services enable merchants to process Credit, Debit,
Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT), Check Conversion, and Gift & Loyalty
transactions. Our card processing services enable merchants to accept
traditional card-present transactions, including "swipe" and
contactless transactions, as well as card-not-present transactions made by
Internet or by mail, fax or telephone.
We
outsource certain services to third parties, including the receipt and
settlement of funds. In addition, we outsource for a fee certain underwriting
and acceptance functions, effectively insuring against risk for entire processed
transaction amounts relating to merchant fraud (while retaining the risk related
to the fees representing our revenue stream and associated costs). By doing so,
we intend to maintain an efficient operating structure which allows us to expand
our operations without having to significantly increase fixed costs or retain
certain risks associated with acceptance and underwriting of merchant
accounts.
We derive
the majority of our revenues from fee income related to transaction processing,
which is primarily comprised of a percentage of the dollar amount of each
transaction processed, as well as a flat fee per transaction. In the event that
we have outsourced any of the services provided in the transaction, we remit a
portion of the fee income to the third parties that have provided such
outsourced services.
We market
and sell our services primarily through an indirect sales channel, i.e., through
independent sales agents and organizations. In addition, we market services
through our direct channel, which is comprised of a limited in-house sales
team.
Our cost
of revenues is comprised principally of interchange and association fees which
are paid to the card-issuing bank and card association, and fees paid to third
parties that have provided outsourced services. The fees paid are based upon
fixed pricing schedules (certain detailed costs are fixed on a per transaction
and/or event basis, while others are fixed as a percentage of the dollar volume
of the transaction), which are subject to periodic revision, and are without
regard to the pricing charged to the merchant. Fee structures with third parties
providing outsourced services are reviewed, renegotiated and/or revised on a
periodic basis, and are based on mutually agreed-to expectations relating to,
for instance, minimum new business volume placed within specified periods which,
if not met, would result in additional charges to be paid by the
Company.
Although
the Company initiates and maintains the primary relationships with the merchants
whose transaction processing results in our revenues, including generally having
control over pricing and retaining risk as it relates to the fees comprising our
revenue stream, merchants do not have written contracts with the Company, and
instead have contractual agreements with third-party processors to whom we
outsource, and rely on to perform, certain services on our behalf.
Our
fiscal year ends on March 31. References to a fiscal year refer to the calendar
year in which such fiscal year ends.
MARKET
OVERVIEW
The
payment processing industry is an integral part of today's worldwide financial
structure. The industry is continually evolving, driven in large part by
technological advances. The benefits of card-based payments allow merchants to
access a broader universe of consumers, enjoy faster settlement times and reduce
transaction errors. By using credit or debit cards, consumers are able to make
purchases more conveniently, whether in person, over the Internet, or by mail,
fax or telephone, while gaining the benefit of loyalty programs, such as
frequent flyer miles or cash back, which are increasingly being offered by
credit or debit card issuers.
Consumers
are also beginning to use card-based and other electronic payment methods for
purchases at an earlier age in life, and increasingly for small dollar amount
purchases. Given these advantages of card-based payment systems to both
merchants and consumers, favorable demographic trends, and the resulting
proliferation of credit and debit card usage, we believe businesses will
increasingly seek to accept card-based payment systems in order to remain
competitive.
Our
management believes that cash transactions are becoming progressively obsolete.
The proliferation of bank cards has made the acceptance of bank card payments a
virtual necessity for many businesses, regardless of size, in order to remain
competitive. In addition, the advent and growth of e-commerce have marked a
significant new trend in the way business is being conducted. E-commerce is
dependent upon credit and debit cards, as well as other cashless payment
processing methods.
The
payment processing industry continues to evolve rapidly, based on the
application of new technology and changing customer needs. We intend to continue
to evolve with the market to provide the necessary technological advances to
meet the ever-changing needs of our market place. Traditional players in the
industry must quickly adapt to the changing environment or be left behind in the
competitive landscape.
COMPETITIVE
BUSINESS CONDITIONS
We are
committed not only to servicing clients' current processing needs, but also to
being amongst the first to make available new technologies that may improve our
merchants’ respective competitive positions. We are committed to gaining the
expertise and relationships to adopt and implement new technologies that we
believe may differentiate our service offerings.
The
credit, charge and debit card transaction processing services business is highly
competitive. Many of our current and prospective competitors have substantially
greater financial, technical and marketing resources, larger customer bases,
longer operating histories, more developed infrastructures, greater name
recognition and/or more established relationships in the industry than we have.
Because of this our competitors may be able to adopt more aggressive pricing
policies than we can, develop and expand their service offerings more rapidly,
adapt to new or emerging technologies and changes in customer requirements more
quickly, take advantage of acquisitions and other opportunities more readily,
achieve greater economies of scale, and devote greater resources to the
marketing and sale of their services. Because of the high levels of competition
in the industry and the fact that other companies may have greater resources, it
may be impossible for us to compete successfully. However, we seek to
differentiate the Company through our consultative approach, recommending and
implementing the best possible overall payment processing solutions, tailored to
merchants’ specific needs.
TARGET
MARKETS
We
provide services principally to small and medium-size merchants in retail,
restaurant, supermarket, petroleum and hospitality sectors located across the
United States. The small merchants we serve typically process on average in
excess of $20,000 a month in credit card transactions and have an average
transaction value of approximately $50.00 per transaction. These merchants have
traditionally been underserved by larger payment processors. As a result, these
merchants have historically paid higher transaction fees than larger merchants
and have not been provided with tailored solutions and on-going services that
larger merchants typically receive from larger processors.
We
believe that we have developed significant expertise in industries that we
believe present relatively low risk as customers are generally present and the
products and/or services are generally delivered at the time the transaction is
processed. These industries include “brick and mortar”
retailers, hospitality, automotive repair shops, food stores, petroleum
distributors and professional service providers. As of March 31, 2009, the end
of our last fiscal year, approximately 19% of our merchants were professional
service providers, 18% were hospitality merchants, 10% were food stores, 9% were
gas stations and petroleum distributors, 8% were automotive sales and repair
shops, 6% were apparel stores, 22% were other “brick and mortar”
retailers and 8% were other industries.
DISTRIBUTION
METHODS
We have
adopted what we believe to be an uncomplicated sales strategy enabling us to
establish additions to our sales force in a quick, inexpensive manner. We market
and sell our services primarily through relationships with independent sales
agents and organizations. These agents and organizations act as a non-employee,
external sales force in communities throughout the United States.
Our
independent sales agents and organizations are principally compensated by
receiving on-going monthly residual payments based on a percentage of
transaction-based revenues less expenses relating to merchant accounts they have
brought to the Company. This stream of residual payments is paid to them
indefinitely, assuming that the merchant is still processing through Acies, and
that the agent continues to serve the merchant’s needs.
RELATIONSHIPS
WITH SPONSORS AND PROCESSORS
Sponsor
Bank
In order
to provide processing services for Visa and MasterCard transactions, we must be
sponsored by a financial institution that is a principal member of the Visa and
MasterCard associations. The sponsor bank must register us with Visa as an
Independent Sales Organization and with MasterCard as a Member Service
Provider.
We are a
registered member service provider of Wells Fargo Bank,
N.A. Historically we were sponsored by JPMorgan Chase Bank through a
joint venture between JPMorgan Chase and First Data Corp. On May 27,
2008, JPMorgan Chase and First Data Corp announced that they had agreed to end
their joint venture. On November 3, 2008, JPMorgan Chase and First
Data Corp completed an ownership transition and ended their joint
venture. As part of this transaction, First Data Corp assumed
services to the joint venture’s customers and changed bank sponsorship to Wells
Fargo Bank, N.A. The Company continues to do business under its
legacy agreement, while negotiating new processing agreements with First Data
Corp.
Third-Party
Processors
It is
only through contractual arrangements with third-party processors that we have
the capabilities to provide critical payment processing services to our
merchants.
We have
agreements with several third-party processors to provide to us on a
non-exclusive basis payment processing and transmittal, transaction
authorization and data capture services, and access to various reporting tools.
Our agreements with third-party processors require us to submit a minimum
monthly number of transactions or volume for processing. If we submit a number
of transactions or volume that is lower than the minimum, we are required to pay
them fees that they would have received if we had submitted the required minimum
volume of transactions.
CUSTOMER
SERVICE
We are
the primary point of contact for our merchants’ payment processing needs, and
customer service is therefore a central part of our business plan. From our
consultative, total solution approach to handling both routine and complex
on-going service issues, we believe that a commitment to superior customer
service maximizes the value of our services. In addition, the competitive nature
of our business calls for special attention to merchant retention. Through the
level of service we provide we endeavor to minimize merchant attrition. This
focus on understanding and servicing the varying needs of our different
customers is the cornerstone of our business.
We are
not dependent on any one or a few customers. Our customer base consists of small
to medium-size businesses spread throughout various industries and across the
United States.
PATENTS,
TRADEMARKS & LICENSES
On June
7, 2005, the United States Trademark Office published a notice of publication
for “Acies” in
the Official Gazette for opposition purposes. The public had until July 7, 2005
to file oppositions or requests for extensions against our proposed trademark.
As neither type of document was filed with the United States Trademark Office,
the Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks issued a Notice of Allowance on
August 30, 2005, indicating that our proposed trademark is entitled to register.
A Statement of Use was filed on February 7, 2007 and a Certificate of
Registration was issued on February 12, 2008, registration number
3382339.
GOVERNMENTAL
REGULATIONS
Due to
the increasing public concern over consumer privacy rights, governmental bodies
in the United States and abroad have adopted, and are considering adopting
additional laws and regulations restricting the purchase, sale and sharing of
personal information about customers. The laws governing privacy generally
remain unsettled and it is difficult to determine whether and how existing and
proposed privacy laws will apply to our business. Several states have proposed
legislation that would limit the uses of personal information gathered using the
Internet. Congress has also considered privacy legislation that could regulate
use of consumer information obtained over the Internet or in other ways. While
we believe that our business model minimizes our accessing, transmitting and
storing customer information, if legislation is passed by the individual states
or Congress it would likely raise our cost of revenues, which would decrease our
net profit and could lead to a decrease in the value of our
securities.
EMPLOYEES
As of
June 29, 2009, we have 4 full-time employees and one part-time employee and
engage consultants from time to time. We have no collective bargaining
agreements with our employees and believe our relations with our employees are
good.
RECENT
MATERIAL TRANSACTIONS
On or
around June 16, 2009, the Company and LADP, LLC, a Delaware limited liability
company (“LADP”) agreed to
terminate their previously announced February 5, 2009, Amended and Restated
Share Exchange Agreement (the “Exchange Agreement”),
pursuant to which the Company had planned to acquire the ownership of L.A.
Digital Post, Inc., a California corporation (“LA Digital”), and
change its operations to that of LA Digital, the rental of post-production video
and film editing equipment.
The
parties agreed to terminate the Exchange Agreement as a required closing
condition of the Exchange Agreement, as LADP’s requirement to obtain the consent
of Bank of America to the Exchange Agreement and the transactions contemplated
therein, could not be obtained.
Series A Preferred
Stock
On
December 15, 2008, the Company filed with the Nevada Secretary of State, a
Certificate of Designations of Acies Corporation Establishing the Designations,
Preferences, Limitations and Relative Rights of Its Series A Preferred Stock
(the “Designation”). The
Designation provides for the issuance of a series of 44,340 shares of Series A
Preferred Stock, par value $0.001 per share (the “Preferred
Stock”). The holders of the Preferred Stock are not to be
entitled to any liquidation preference. The Designation provides
“Conversion
Rights” whereby upon the Effective Date (as defined below) of the Reverse
Stock Split, each share of Preferred Stock will automatically convert into
shares of the Company’s post-Reverse Stock Split common stock (the “Automatic
Conversion”), at the rate of 1,000 post-Reverse Stock Split shares of the
Company’s restricted common stock for each 1 share of Preferred Stock (the
“Conversion
Rate”), without any required action by the holder
thereof. “Effective Date” is to
mean the later to occur of (a) the date the Certificate of Amendment becomes
effective with the Secretary of State of Nevada; (b) the date the Reverse Stock
Split is effected with the Company’s Transfer Agent; and (c) the date the
Reverse Stock Split and Certificate of Amendment is effected with the Financial
Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”).
The
Designation also provides that the Preferred Stock is to have the same voting
rights as those accruing to the common stock and vote that number of voting
shares as are issuable upon conversion of such Preferred Stock that any holder
holds as of the record date of any such vote based on the Conversion Rate
divided by the Reverse Stock Split (to retroactively take into account the
Reverse Stock Split). The voting rights of the Preferred Stock are to
be applicable regardless of whether the Company has a sufficient number of
authorized but unissued shares of common stock then available to affect an
Automatic Conversion. The holders of the Preferred Stock are not to
be entitled to receive dividends paid on the Company’s common stock and the
Preferred Stock is not to accrue any dividends. Further, the shares
of Series A Preferred Stock are not to have or be subject to any redemption
rights. Also, the holders of Preferred Stock and holders of common
stock are not to be entitled to any preemptive, subscription or similar rights
in respect to any securities of the Company.
The
Designation also contains “Protective
Provisions” whereby, so long as any shares of the Preferred Stock are
outstanding, the Company is not to, without first obtaining the approval of the
holders of a majority of the then outstanding shares of Preferred Stock voting
together as a class, do any of the following:
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a.
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Increase
or decrease (other than by conversion) the total number of authorized
shares of the Preferred Stock;
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b.
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Effect
an exchange, reclassification, or cancellation of all or a part of the
Preferred Stock, including a reverse stock split (other than the Reverse
Stock Split), but excluding a stock split, so long as the Preferred
Stock’s Conversion Rights are not diminished in connection
therewith;
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c.
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Effect
an exchange, or create a right of exchange, of all or part of the shares
of another class of shares into shares of the Preferred Stock (other than
as provided in the Exchange Agreement);
or
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d.
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Alter
or change the rights, preferences or privileges of the shares of the
Preferred Stock so as to affect adversely the shares of such
series.
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No Preferred
Stock has been issued to date.
ITEM
1A. RISK FACTORS
In
addition to other information contained in this Form 10-K, the following Risk
Factors should be considered when evaluating the forward-looking statements
contained in this Form 10-K.
RISKS
RELATED TO OUR FINANCIAL CONDITION AND BUSINESS
WE
HAVE HAD LOSSES SINCE WE HAVE BECOME A PUBLIC REPORTING COMPANY.
We have
incurred losses and experienced negative operating cash flow each year since we
have become a public reporting company in April 2002. For our fiscal years ended
March 31, 2009 and March 31, 2008, we had a net loss of $388,691 and $668,597,
respectively, and we have had a positive operating cash flow of $95,842 for
the fiscal year ended March 31, 2009 as compared to negative operating cash
flow of $453,081 for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2008. We
had a net loss of $405,624 and negative operating cash flows of $94,037 for the
nine months ended December 31, 2008. We had a total accumulated
deficit of $6,504,323 and negative working capital of $1,051,013 as of December
31, 2008.
Continued
losses may require us to seek additional debt or equity financing. If debt
financing is available and obtained, our interest expense may increase and we
may be subject to the risk of default, depending on the terms of such financing.
If equity financing is available and obtained it may result in our shareholders
experiencing significant dilution. If such financing is unavailable we may be
required to restrict growth by decreasing future marketing expenditures and/or
investment in our infrastructure.
DEPENDENCY
ON ADDITIONAL FINANCING.
As
mentioned above, we have experienced negative operating cash flow and there is
no assurance that we will have positive operating cash flow in the future. We
have relied upon borrowings under the Loan and Security Agreement described in
detail in the section “Management’s Discussion and
Analysis” and in Note 1 to the Unaudited Consolidated Financial
Statements in order to satisfy our liquidity needs. The borrowing capacity
afforded us under this agreement has been fully utilized based on the eighteen
months term of the Loan and Security Agreement. The Company needs to
obtain additional financing to maintain liquidity and continue its business
operations over the next twelve months.
OUR AUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR
FISCAL YEAR 2009 INCLUDE AN OPINION FROM OUR INDEPENDENT AUDITORS INDICATING
THAT THERE IS SUBSTANTIAL DOUBT ABOUT OUR ABILITY TO CONTINUE AS A GOING
CONCERN.
Our
auditors have stated that due to our lack of profitability and our negative
working capital, there is "substantial doubt"
about our ability to continue as a going concern. This substantial doubt may
limit our ability to access certain types of financing, or may prevent us from
obtaining financing on acceptable terms.
MAJORITY
VOTING CONTROL OVER THE COMPANY IS IN THE HANDS OF ONLY TWO
SHAREHOLDERS.
Voting
together, Pinnacle Three Corporation, which holds 22,515,000 or 30% of our
outstanding shares of common stock and our CEO, Oleg Firer, who can vote
27,530,009 shares of common stock representing 37.2% of the outstanding shares
of common stock have voting control over the Company. Mr. Firer holds
proxies for six (6) different stockholders of the Company, holding an aggregate
of 17,895,723 shares of the Company’s common stock. The stockholders
that entered into proxy agreements with Mr. Firer include Rite Holdings, Inc
(7,190,331 shares), Yakov Shimon (8,932,510 shares), Leonid Shimon (266,907
shares), Arkady Khavulya (1,423,175 shares), Stanislav Pavlenko (7,800 shares),
and G.R. Woitzik (75,000 shares). Mr. Firer also personally
holds voting rights to 8,949,910 shares of common stock which he personally
beneficially owns. Pinnacle Three Corporation holds 22,515,000 shares
of our common stock. In addition, both Mr. Firer and Pinnacle Three Corporation
hold convertible promissory notes in the amounts of $185,000 and $178,300,
respectively at March 31, 2009, which notes are convertible at the option of
such holders into approximately 9,250,000 and 8,915,000 shares of our common
stock, respectively, at a conversion price of $0.02 per share. As a
result, Pinnacle Three Corporation and Mr. Firer will exercise control in
determining the outcome of all corporate transactions or other matters,
including the election of directors, mergers, consolidations, the sale of all or
substantially all of our assets, and also the power to prevent or cause a change
in control. The interests of Pinnacle Three Corporation and Mr. Firer, who are
unrelated and have not agreed to vote together on any shareholder matters, may
differ from the interests of the other stockholders and thus result in corporate
decisions that are adverse to other shareholders.
WE
DEPEND ON VISA AND MASTERCARD REGISTRATION AND FINANCIAL INSTITUTION SPONSORS
AND WE MUST COMPLY WITH THEIR STANDARDS TO MAINTAIN REGISTRATION. THE
TERMINATION OF OUR REGISTRATION COULD REQUIRE US TO STOP PROVIDING PROCESSING
SERVICES ALTOGETHER.
Our
designation with Visa and MasterCard as a member service provider is dependent
upon the sponsorship of member clearing banks, including Wells Fargo Bank,
N.A., and our
continuing adherence to the standards of the Visa and MasterCard credit card
associations. In the event we fail to comply with these standards, Visa or
MasterCard could suspend or terminate our designation as a member service
provider. If these sponsorships are terminated and we are unable to secure
another bank sponsor, we will not be able to process bankcard transactions.
Because of the fact that the vast majority of the transactions we process
involve Visa or MasterCard, the termination of our registration or any changes
in the Visa or MasterCard rules that would impair our registration could require
us to stop providing processing services altogether. This would severely impact
our revenues, and with that the value of our Company.
WE
DEPEND ON SALES AGENTS THAT DO NOT SERVE US EXCLUSIVELY AND HAVE THE RIGHT TO
REFER MERCHANTS TO OUR COMPETITORS.
We rely
primarily on the efforts of independent sales agents ("Sales Agents") to
market our services to merchants seeking to establish an account with a payment
processor in order to accept Credit, Debit, Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT),
Check Conversion and Gift & Loyalty transactions. Sales Agents are
classified as either individuals or companies that seek to introduce both newly
established and existing small, medium and large businesses including retailers,
restaurants, supermarkets, petroleum stations and e-commerce retailers. Most of
the Sales Agents that refer merchants to us are non-exclusive to us and
therefore most of them have the right to refer merchants to other service
providers. Our failure to maintain our relationships with our existing and
future Sales Agents, and to recruit and establish new relationships with other
Sales Agents, could adversely affect our revenues and growth, and increase our
merchant attrition. This would lead to an increase in cost of revenues for us
which would adversely impact net income.
INCREASES
IN INTERCHANGE RATES MAY ADVERSELY AFFECT OUR PROFITABILITY.
Visa and
MasterCard routinely increase their respective interchange rates each year.
Interchange rates are also known as discount rates that are charged for
transactions processed through Visa and MasterCard. Although we historically
have reflected these increases in our pricing to merchants, there can be no
assurance that merchants will continue to assume the entire impact of future
increases or that transaction processing volumes will not decrease and merchant
attrition increase as a result of these increases. If interchange rates increase
to a point where it becomes unprofitable for us to enable merchants to accept
Visa and MasterCard it would cause an increase in our cost of revenues and
potentially make it unprofitable for us to continue without a change in our
business plan.
INCREASES
IN PROCESSING COSTS MAY ADVERSELY AFFECT OUR PROFITABILITY.
We are
subject to certain contractual volume obligations that if not met, will cause
our processing costs to increase and may therefore adversely affect our ability
to attain and retain new and existing merchants. More information about our
contractual obligations is located in the section of “Management’s Discussion and
Analysis” entitled "Liquidity and Capital
Resources."
HIGH
LEVELS OF COMPETITION MAY HAVE A MATERIAL ADVERSE EFFECT ON OUR BUSINESS,
FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS.
The
credit, charge and debit card transaction processing services business is highly
competitive. Many of our current and prospective competitors have substantially
greater financial, technical and marketing resources, larger customer bases,
longer operating histories, more developed infrastructures, greater name
recognition and/or more established relationships in the industry than we have.
Because of this our competitors may be able to adopt more aggressive pricing
policies than we can, develop and expand their service offerings more rapidly,
adapt to new or emerging technologies and changes in customer requirements more
quickly, take advantage of acquisitions and other opportunities more readily,
achieve greater economies of scale, and devote greater resources to the
marketing and sale of their services. Because of the high levels of competition
in the industry and the fact that other companies may have greater resources, it
may be impossible for us to compete successfully.
MAINTAINING
CURRENT REVENUE LEVELS IS DEPENDENT UPON FACTORS IMPACTING THE PETROLEUM
INDUSTRY.
Over 27%
of the Company’s revenue is derived from merchants in the petroleum
industry. The Company therefore has a risk of revenue being adversely
impacted by significant decreases in gasoline prices, increases in merchant
strategies to have more consumers pay in cash, or other negative factors which
adversely affect the petroleum industry.
INCREASED
MERCHANT ATTRITION MAY HAVE A MATERIAL ADVERSE EFFECT ON OUR BUSINESS, FINANCIAL
CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS.
We
experience attrition in our merchant base in the ordinary course of business
resulting from several factors, including business closures and losses to
competitors. Despite our retention efforts, increased merchant attrition may
have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of
operations. If we are unable to gain merchants to replace the ones we lose, we
may be forced to change, curtail or abandon our business plan.
OUR
OPERATING RESULTS ARE SUBJECT TO SEASONAL FLUCTUATIONS IN CONSUMER SPENDING
PATTERNS.
We have
experienced in the past, and expect to continue to experience, seasonal
fluctuations in our revenues as a result of consumer spending patterns.
Historically, revenues have been weaker during the first two quarters of the
calendar year and stronger during the third and fourth quarters. If, for any
reason, our revenues are below seasonal norms during the third or fourth
quarter, our net income could be lower than expected. This could lead to a
decrease in the value of our common stock.
WE
MAY BECOME SUBJECT TO CERTAIN STATE TAXES FOR CERTAIN PORTIONS OF OUR FEES
CHARGED TO MERCHANTS.
We, like
other transaction processing companies, may be subject to state taxation of
certain portions of our fees charged to merchants for our services. Application
of this tax is an emerging issue in the transaction processing industry and the
states have not yet adopted uniform guidelines. If in the future we are required
to pay such taxes and are not able to pass this expense on to our merchant
customers, our financial results could be adversely affected.
WE
MAY BE SUBJECT TO LIABILITY DUE TO SECURITY RISKS BOTH TO USERS OF OUR MERCHANT
SERVICES AND TO THE UNINTERRUPTED OPERATION OF OUR SYSTEMS.
Security
and privacy concerns of users of electronic commerce such as our merchant
services may inhibit the growth of the Internet and other online services as a
means of conducting commercial transactions. We rely on secure socket layer
technology, public key cryptography and digital certificate technology to
provide the security and authentication necessary for secure transmission of
confidential information. However, various regulatory and export restrictions
may prohibit us from using the strongest and most secure cryptographic
protection available and thereby expose us to a risk of data interception. While
we believe that our business model minimizes our accessing, transmitting and
storing consumer information, because some of our activities may involve the
storage and transmission of confidential personal or proprietary information,
such as credit card numbers, security breaches and fraud schemes could damage
our reputation and expose us to a risk of loss and possible liability. In
addition, our payment transaction services may be susceptible to credit card and
other payment fraud schemes perpetrated by hackers or other criminals. If such
fraudulent schemes become widespread or otherwise cause merchants to lose
confidence in our services, or in Internet payment systems generally, our
revenues could suffer.
WE
RELY ON THE INTERNET INFRASTRUCTURE, AND ITS CONTINUED COMMERCIAL VIABILITY,
OVER WHICH WE HAVE NO CONTROL. ITS FAILURE COULD SUBSTANTIALLY UNDERMINE OUR
BUSINESS STRATEGY.
Our
success depends, in large part, on other companies maintaining the Internet
system infrastructure, including maintaining a reliable network backbone that
provides adequate speed, data capacity and security and to develop products that
enable reliable Internet access and services. If the Internet continues to
experience significant growth in the number of users, frequency of use and
amount of data transmitted, the infrastructure of the Internet may be unable to
support the demands placed on it, and as a result the Internet's performance or
reliability may suffer. Because we rely heavily on the Internet, this would make
our business less profitable.
WE
MAY BE SUBJECT TO POTENTIAL LIABILITY FOR INFORMATION POSTED ON OUR CORPORATE
WEBSITE.
The legal
obligations and potential liability of companies which provide information by
means of the Internet are not well defined and are evolving. Any liability of
our company resulting from information posted on, or disseminated through, our
corporate website could have a material adverse effect on our business,
operating results and financial condition.
NEW
AND POTENTIAL GOVERNMENTAL REGULATIONS DESIGNED TO PROTECT OR LIMIT ACCESS TO
CONSUMER INFORMATION COULD ADVERSELY AFFECT OUR ABILITY TO PROVIDE THE SERVICES
WE PROVIDE OUR MERCHANTS.
Due to
the increasing public concern over consumer privacy rights, governmental bodies
in the United States and abroad have adopted, and are considering adopting
additional laws and regulations restricting the purchase, sale and sharing of
personal information about customers. The laws governing privacy generally
remain unsettled and it is difficult to determine whether and how existing and
proposed privacy laws will apply to our business. Several states have proposed
legislation that would limit the uses of personal information gathered using the
Internet. Congress has also considered privacy legislation that could further
regulate use of consumer information obtained over the Internet or in other
ways. If legislation is passed by the individual states or Congress it would
likely raise our cost of revenues, which would decrease our net
profit.
OUR
SYSTEMS AND OPERATIONS ARE VULNERABLE TO DAMAGE OR INTERRUPTION FROM FIRE,
FLOOD, POWER LOSS, TELECOMMUNICATIONS FAILURE, BREAK-INS, EARTHQUAKE AND SIMILAR
EVENTS OUTSIDE OF OUR CONTROL.
Our
success depends, in part, on the performance, reliability and availability of
our services. If our systems were to fail or become unavailable, such failure
would harm our reputation, result in a loss of current and potential customers
and could cause us to breach existing agreements. Our systems and operations
could be damaged or interrupted by fire, flood, power loss, telecommunications
failure, Internet breakdown, break-in, earthquake and similar events, and we
would face significant damage as a result. In addition, our systems use
sophisticated software which may in the future contain viruses that could
interrupt service. For these reasons, we may be unable to develop or
successfully manage the infrastructure necessary to meet current or future
demands for reliability and scalability of our systems. If this happens, it is
likely that we would lose customers and revenues would decrease.
WE
RELY ON KEY MANAGEMENT.
Our
success depends upon the personal efforts and abilities of Oleg Firer, our
President and Chief Executive Officer. Our ability to operate and implement our
business plan is heavily dependent on the continued service of Mr. Firer, as
well as our ability to attract, retain and motivate other qualified personnel,
particularly in the areas of sales, marketing and management for our company. We
face aggressive and continued competition for such personnel. We cannot be
certain that we will be able to attract, retain and motivate such personnel in
the future.
We do not
maintain key-man insurance on the life of Mr. Firer. If Mr. Firer were to resign
or die, the loss could result in loss of sales, delays in new product and
service development and diversion of management resources, and we could face
high costs and substantial difficulty in hiring qualified successors and could
experience a loss in productivity while any such successor obtains the necessary
training and experience. The loss of Mr. Firer, and our inability to hire,
retain and motivate qualified sales, marketing and management personnel for our
company would have a material adverse effect on our business and
operations.
OUR
REVENUES ARE HIGHLY SENSITIVE TO OVERALL CHANGES IN THE ECONOMY AND CONSUMER
SPENDING PATTERNS IN GENERAL.
As we
receive a greater number of payment processing fees the more consumers spent at
the locations of the merchants who are our clients, we are highly susceptible to
downturns in the overall economy and changes in consumer
spending. Due to the downturns in the credit markets, bankruptcies of
several large employers, as well as overall layoffs in the global economy and
general malaise in the global consumer economy, we expect our revenues for the
near future to be highly volatile and most likely lower than for the same
periods of fiscal 2009. As a result, our results of operations and
the value of our securities could decline in value and/or become
worthless.
RISKS
RELATING TO OUR COMMON STOCK
THE
MARKET PRICE OF OUR COMMON STOCK MAY DECLINE BECAUSE THERE ARE A SUBSTANTIAL
NUMBER OF OPTIONS AND WARRANTS OUTSTANDING AND THE SALE OF THE UNDERLYING SHARES
MAY DEPRESS THE MARKET PRICE OF OUR COMMON STOCK.
The
market price of our common stock may decline because there are a large number of
options and warrants that are available for exercise, and the sale of shares
underlying these options and warrants may depress the market price of our common
stock. As of June 29, 2009, we had 73,984,095 shares of common stock issued and
outstanding. Although the holders may not exercise or convert our outstanding
warrants if such conversion or exercise would cause them to own more than 9.99%
of our outstanding common stock, this restriction does not prevent the holders
from converting and/or exercising some of their holdings. Exercise of these
options and warrants would dilute the proportionate equity interest and voting
power of holders of our common stock.
OUR
HISTORIC STOCK PRICE HAS BEEN VOLATILE AND THE FUTURE MARKET PRICE FOR OUR
COMMON STOCK IS LIKELY TO CONTINUE TO BE VOLATILE DUE IN PART TO THE LIMITED
MARKET FOR OUR SHARES, WHICH MAY MAKE IT DIFFICULT FOR YOU TO SELL OUR COMMON
STOCK FOR A POSITIVE RETURN ON YOUR INVESTMENT.
The
public market for our common stock has historically been very volatile. Any
future market price for our shares is likely to continue to be very volatile.
This price volatility may make it more difficult for you to sell shares when you
want at prices you find attractive. We do not know of any one particular factor
that has caused volatility in our stock price. However, the stock market in
general has experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations that have often
been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of companies.
Broad market factors, general economic and political conditions, and the
investing public's negative perception of our business may reduce our stock
price, regardless of our operating performance. Further, the market for our
common stock is limited and we cannot assure you that a larger market will ever
be developed or maintained.
IF
WE ARE LATE IN FILING OUR QUARTERLY OR ANNUAL REPORTS WITH THE SEC, WE MAY BE
DE-LISTED FROM THE OVER-THE-COUNTER BULLETIN BOARD.
Pursuant
to Over-The-Counter Bulletin Board ("OTCBB") rules
relating to the timely filing of periodic reports with the SEC, any OTCBB issuer
which fails to file a periodic report (Form 10-Q's or 10-K's) by the due date of
such report (not withstanding any extension granted to the issuer by the filing
of a Form 12b-25), three (3) times during any twenty-four (24) month period is
automatically de-listed from the OTCBB. Such removed issuer would not be
re-eligible to be listed on the OTCBB for a period of one-year, during which
time any subsequent late filing would reset the one-year period of de-listing.
Furthermore, any issuer delisted from the OTCBB more than one (1) time in any
twenty-four (24) month period for failure to file a periodic report would be
ineligible to be re-listed for a period of one-year year, during which time any
subsequent late filing would reset the one-year period of
de-listing. As we were late in filing our 10-K for the period ended
March 31, 2008, if we are late in our filings two more times in the twenty-four
(24) month period following March 31, 2008, or three times in any subsequent
twenty-four (24) month period and are de-listed from the OTCBB, or if our
securities are de-listed from the OTCBB two times in any twenty-four (24) month
period for failure to file a periodic report, our securities may become
worthless and we may be forced to curtail or abandon our business
plan.
WE
MAY INCUR SIGNIFICANT EXPENSES AS A RESULT OF BEING QUOTED ON THE OVER THE
COUNTER BULLETIN BOARD, WHICH MAY NEGATIVELY IMPACT OUR FINANCIAL
PERFORMANCE.
We incur
significant legal, accounting and other expenses as a result of being listed on
the Over the Counter Bulletin Board. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, as well as
related rules implemented by the Commission has required changes in corporate
governance practices of public companies. We expect that compliance with these
laws, rules and regulations, including compliance with Section 404 of the
Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 as discussed in the following risk factor, may
substantially increase our expenses, including our legal and accounting costs,
and make some activities more time-consuming and costly. As a result, there may
be a substantial increase in legal, accounting and certain other expenses in the
future, which would negatively impact our financial performance and could have a
material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial
condition.
OUR
INTERNAL CONTROLS OVER FINANCIAL REPORTING ARE NOT CONSIDERED EFFECTIVE, WHICH
COULD RESULT IN A LOSS OF INVESTOR CONFIDENCE IN OUR FINANCIAL REPORTS AND IN
TURN HAVE AN ADVERSE EFFECT ON OUR STOCK PRICE.
Pursuant
to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, beginning with our annual
report for the year ended March 31, 2008, we were required to furnish a report
by our management on our internal controls over financial reporting. Such report
is required to contain, among other matters, an assessment of the effectiveness
of our internal controls over financial reporting as of the end of the year,
including a statement as to whether or not our internal controls over financial
reporting are effective. This assessment must include disclosure of any material
weaknesses in our internal controls over financial reporting identified by
management. Beginning with the year ended March 31, 2010; this report will also
contain a statement that our independent registered public accounting firm has
issued an attestation report on management's assessment of internal controls. As
we were unable to assert that our internal controls were effective as of March
31, 2009, and if in future years our independent registered public accounting
firm is unable to attest that our management's report is fairly stated or they
are unable to express an opinion on our management's evaluation or on the
effectiveness of our internal controls, investors could lose confidence in the
accuracy and completeness of our financial reports, which in turn could cause
our stock price to decline.
OUR
COMMON STOCK IS SUBJECT TO THE "PENNY STOCK" RULES OF
THE SEC AND THE TRADING MARKET IN OUR SECURITIES IS LIMITED, WHICH MAKES
TRANSACTIONS IN OUR STOCK CUMBERSOME AND MAY REDUCE THE VALUE OF AN INVESTMENT
IN OUR STOCK.
The
Securities and Exchange Commission has adopted Rule 15g-9 which establishes the
definition of a "penny
stock," for the purposes relevant to us, as any equity security that has
a market price of less than $5.00 per share or with an exercise price of less
than $5.00 per share, subject to certain exceptions. For any transaction
involving a penny stock, unless exempt, the rules require:
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·
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that
a broker or dealer approve a person's account for transactions in penny
stocks; and
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·
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the
broker or dealer receive from the investor a written agreement to the
transaction, setting forth the identity and quantity of the penny stock to
be purchased.
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In order
to approve a person's account for transactions in penny stocks, the broker or
dealer must:
|
·
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obtain
financial information and investment experience objectives of the person;
and
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·
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make
a reasonable determination that the transactions in penny stocks are
suitable for that person and the person has sufficient knowledge and
experience in financial matters to be capable of evaluating the risks of
transactions in penny stocks.
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The
broker or dealer must also deliver, prior to any transaction in a penny stock, a
disclosure schedule prescribed by the Commission relating to the penny stock
market, which, in highlight form:
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·
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sets
forth the basis on which the broker or dealer made the suitability
determination; and
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·
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that
the broker or dealer received a signed, written agreement from the
investor prior to the transaction.
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Generally,
brokers may be less willing to execute transactions in securities subject to the
"penny stock"
rules. This may make it more difficult for investors to dispose of our common
stock and cause a decline in the market value of our stock.
Disclosure
also has to be made about the risks of investing in penny stocks in both public
offerings and in secondary trading and about the commissions payable to both the
broker-dealer and the registered representative, current quotations for the
securities and the rights and remedies available to an investor in cases of
fraud in penny stock transactions. Finally, monthly statements have to be sent
disclosing recent price information for the penny stock held in the account and
information on the limited market in penny stocks.
WE
CURRENTLY HAVE A SPORADIC, ILLIQUID, VOLATILE MARKET FOR OUR COMMON STOCK, AND
THE MARKET FOR OUR COMMON STOCK MAY REMAIN SPORADIC, ILLIQUID, AND VOLATILE IN
THE FUTURE.
We
currently have a highly sporadic, illiquid and volatile market for our common
stock, which market is anticipated to remain sporadic, illiquid and volatile in
the future and will likely be subject to wide fluctuations in response to
several factors, including, but not limited to:
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(1)
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actual
or anticipated variations in our results of operations;
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(2)
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our
ability or inability to generate new revenues;
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(3)
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the
number of shares in our public float;
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(4)
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increased
competition; and
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(5)
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conditions
and trends in the economy for consumer goods and credit card
services.
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Furthermore,
because our common stock is traded on the over the counter bulletin board, our
stock price may be impacted by factors that are unrelated or disproportionate to
our operating performance. These market fluctuations, as well as general
economic, political and market conditions, such as recessions, interest rates or
international currency fluctuations may adversely affect the market price of our
common stock. Additionally, at present, we have a limited number of shares in
our public float, and as a result, there could be extreme fluctuations in the
price of our common stock. Additionally, at present, we have a limited number of
shares in our public float, and as a result, there could be extreme fluctuations
in the price of our common stock. Further, due to the limited volume of our
shares which trade and our limited public float, we believe that our stock
prices (bid, asked and closing prices) may not reflect the actual value of our
common stock. Shareholders and potential investors in our common stock should
exercise caution before making an investment in the Company.
ITEM
2. DESCRIPTION OF PROPERTY
Lease
Termination
On or
about November 10, 2008, the Company entered into a Lease Termination Agreement
with CRP/Capstone 14 W Property Owner, L.L.C., a Delaware limited liability
company (“CRP”)
and the landlord and owner of the Company’s office space at 14 Wall Street, New
York, New York. Pursuant to the Lease Termination Agreement the
Company and CRP agreed to terminate the lease agreement for the Company’s office
space at 14 Wall Street, New York, New York. The Company entered into
the lease agreement on June 4, 2004, and the Company vacated the premises on
September 30, 2008. The Lease Termination Agreement has an effective
date of September 30, 2008. As consideration for allowing termination
of the lease agreement, the Company agreed to pay CRP a total of $12,500 prior
to November 28, 2008, which amount was paid on October 1, 2008, and relinquish
all rights to any security deposits held by CRP. The Lease
Termination Agreement also provides a mutual release of liability provision
whereby the Company and CRP agreed to release and discharge each other from all
claims and liability arising out of or in connection with the lease
agreement. On October 20, 2008, the Company abandoned offices located
at 1934 Hollywood Blvd, Suite 200, Hollywood, FL, and on such date the Company
notified the landlord and surrendered the premises.
Our
mailing address, 132 West 36th Street, 3rd Floor, New York, New York 10018, is
provided to us free of charge by Merchant Processing Services Corp. (MPS), a
company which services our clients for a fee. MPS is a wholly-owned subsidiary
of Merchant Capital Holding Corp, a company controlled by Star Capital Holdings
Corp, a company affiliated with our Chief Executive Officer, Oleg
Firer.
We also
maintain office space for our executive offices at 3363 NE 163rd Street,
Suite 705, North Miami Beach, Florida 33160, which is provided to us free of
charge by Star Capital Holdings Corp, a company affiliated with our Chief
Executive Officer, Oleg Firer.
The
Company is not subject to any legal proceedings other than the following: On
December 4, 2006, Acies received a complaint filed in the Supreme Court of the
State of New York, County of New York, by a merchant, which named as
co-defendants several of our strategic partners, Acies and a third-party
bank. The dispute relates to bank accounts used by the merchant to
process credit and debit card transactions. Acies believes that the
probability of any material loss is remote, especially when considering that we
are contractually indemnified by a partner for the type of loss which would
result from such a claim.
There
were no matters submitted to a vote of security holders during the fourth
quarter of the fiscal year ended March 31, 2009.
PART
II
Our
common stock has been traded on the Over-The-Counter Bulletin Board under the
symbol "ACIE".
The table below sets forth, for the periods indicated, the high and low sale
prices per share of the common stock as reported on the Over-The-Counter
Bulletin Board. These quotations reflect prices between dealers do not include
retail mark-ups, markdowns, and commissions and may not necessarily represent
actual transactions.
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High
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Low
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2009
Fiscal:
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Fourth
Quarter
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$
|
0.015
|
|
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$
|
0.006
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Third
Quarter
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$
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0.030
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|
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$
|
0.003
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Second
Quarter
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$
|
0.030
|
|
|
$
|
0.010
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|
|
First
Quarter
|
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$
|
0.050
|
|
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$
|
0.010
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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|
|
|
|
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2008
Fiscal:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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Fourth
Quarter
|
|
$
|
0.070
|
|
|
$
|
0.030
|
|
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Third
Quarter
|
|
$
|
0.050
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|
|
$
|
0.010
|
|
|
Second
Quarter
|
|
$
|
0.050
|
|
|
$
|
0.030
|
|
|
First
Quarter
|
|
$
|
0.050
|
|
|
$
|
0.030
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
As of
June 29, 2009, there were 73,984,095 shares of common stock
outstanding.
As of
June 29, 2009, there were approximately 50 stockholders of record of our
common stock. This does not reflect those shares held beneficially or those
shares held in "street"
name.
Dividends
We have
not paid cash dividends in the past, nor do we expect to pay cash dividends for
the foreseeable future. We anticipate that earnings, if any, will be retained
for the development of our business.
EQUITY
COMPENSATION PLAN INFORMATION
We
currently do not have an equity compensation plan in place. However, through
March 31, 2009 we have issued options, which have not been approved by our
shareholders, to our management team and directors as follows:
|
|
NUMBER
OF SECURITIES TO BE ISSUED UPON EXERCISE OF
OUTSTANDING
OPTIONS AND WARRANTS
(a)
|
|
WEIGHTED
AVERAGE EXERCISE PRICE
OF
OUTSTANDING
OPTIONS
AND WARRANTS
(b)
|
|
NUMBER
OF SECURITIES REMAINING AVAILABLE FOR FUTURE ISSUANCE UNDER COMPENSATION
PLANS (EXCLUDING SECURITIES REFLECTED IN COLUMN (a))
(c)
|
|
Equity
compensation plans approved by shareholders:
|
N/A
|
|
N/A
|
|
N/A
|
|
Equity
compensation plans not approved by shareholders:
|
10,435,825
|
|
$
|
0.38
|
|
N/A
|
None.
ITEM
6. SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA
Item
omitted as not required for smaller reporting companies.
ITEM
7. MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF
OPERATIONS
PLAN
OF OPERATION FOR THE NEXT TWELVE MONTHS
Moving
forward, we will continue to engage in the business of providing payment
processing solutions to small and medium size merchants across the United
States, and will use our best efforts to expand our client base and/or improve
the Company’s profitability.
We have
incurred losses and experienced negative operating cash flow each year since we
have become a public reporting company. For the year ended March 31, 2009, we
had a net loss of $388,691, and had an accumulated deficit of $6,504,323 and
negative working capital of $1,051,013 as of March 31, 2009.
The
Company received a going concern opinion from its auditors on its audited
financial statements for fiscal 2009. Due to our lack of profitability and our
negative working capital, there is "substantial doubt"
about our ability to continue as a going concern. This substantial doubt may
limit our ability to access certain types of financing, or may prevent us from
obtaining financing on acceptable terms.
We
anticipate needing to raise additional capital in the short term to continue our
operations in addition to the previous notes we sold in July and September
2008. We anticipate the need for approximately $2,000,000 of
additional capital to support our operations for the next 12
months. We may attempt to sell debt and/or equity securities in the
future to raise additional funds to continue our business
operations. If we are unable to raise additional funding in the
future, we may be forced to curtail our business operations, change our business
focus, cease our periodic filings, sell our assets, file for bankruptcy
protection or dissolve the Company.
REVENUES
Revenues
decreased $4,487,548 (or 34%) to $8,607,649 for the fiscal year ended March 31,
2009, as compared to revenues of $13,095,197 for the fiscal year ended March 31,
2008. The decrease in revenues was principally due to the decrease in processing
volumes (i.e., card-based sales in dollars) and the decrease in the number of
transactions. The decrease reflects the decrease in merchant
processing revenues resulting from the loss of merchant accounts and loss of
sales agents, and greater pricing pressure in certain industries to which we
market our services.
Cost of
revenues decreased $4,042,223 (or 35%) to $7,525,227 for the fiscal year ended
March 31, 2009, as compared to cost of revenues of $11,567,450 for the fiscal
year ended March 31, 2008. The decrease in cost of revenues was principally
attributable to the decrease in merchant processing costs that resulted from
decreasing merchant processing revenues.
Gross
margin decreased $445,325 (or 29%) to $1,082,422 for the fiscal year ended March
31, 2009, as compared to gross margin of $1,527,747 for the fiscal year ended
March 31, 2008. Gross margin as a percentage of revenues increased 1% to 13% for
the fiscal year ended March 31, 2009, as compared to gross margin of 12% for the
fiscal year ended March 31, 2008.
PERSONNEL
EXPENSE
Personnel
expense decreased $563,411 (or 46%) to $648,921 for the fiscal year ended March
31, 2009, as compared to personnel expense of $1,212,332 for the fiscal year
ended March 31, 2008. The decrease was due primarily to the decrease in
personnel from 9 full-time employees as of March 31, 2008, to 1 full-time
employee as of March 31, 2009 and a decrease in stock-based
compensation.
PROFESSIONAL
FEES
Professional
fees increased $32,839 (or 13%) to $289,466 for the fiscal year ended March 31,
2009, as compared to $256,627 for the fiscal year ended March 31,
2008. The increase was due to higher consulting fees for
the year ended March 31, 2009, compared to the year ended March 31,
2008.
GENERAL,
ADMINISTRATIVE AND SELLING EXPENSES
General,
administrative and selling ("G&A") expenses
decreased $95,780 (24%) to $304,972 for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2009, as
compared to $400,752 for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2008. The
decrease was due to a scale down in operations.
RENT
Rent
expense decreased by $104,659 (62%) to $63,667 for the year ended March 31,
2009, compared to $168,326 for the year ended March 31, 2008. The
decrease in rent expense is a result of the termination of our lease agreement
in New York effective September 30, 2008 and the surrender of our leased
premises in Florida effective October 1, 2008.
INTEREST
EXPENSE AND INTEREST INCOME
Interest
expense decreased $14,168 to $144,287 for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2009,
as compared to interest expense of $158,455 for the fiscal year ended March 31,
2008, reflecting a net reduction in debt outstanding.
NET
LOSS
We had a
net loss of $388,691 for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2009, as compared to a
net loss of $668,597 for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2008. The decrease in
the net loss is primarily attributable to the decrease in personnel
expenses.
As of
March 31, 2009, we had total current assets of $484,146, and total current
liabilities of $1,535,159 resulting in negative working capital of $1,051,013.
The ratio of current assets to current liabilities was 32% as of March 31,
2009. The Company believes that the existing financing and expected
earnings will not meet its current working capital and debt service requirements
for the next twelve months. These issues raise substantial doubt
about our ability to continue as a going concern. The accompanying
financial statements do not include any adjustments relating to the
recoverability of the carrying amount of recorded assets or the amount of
liabilities that might result should the Company be unable to continue as a
going concern.
We had
long-term portion of notes payable of $41,380 and total liabilities of
$1,576,519 as of March 31, 2009.
We had a
total accumulated deficit of $6,504,323 as of March 31, 2009. The Company
believes that the existing financing and expected earnings will not meet its
current working capital and debt service requirements for the next twelve
months. These issues raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a
going concern. The accompanying financial statements do not include any
adjustments relating to the recoverability of the carrying amount of recorded
assets or the amount of liabilities that might result should the Company be
unable to continue as a going concern.
To
alleviate the effects of our previously reported working capital deficits and
negative cash flows from operations, the Company succeeded in securing financing
on October 31, 2006, when we entered into a Loan and Security Agreement (the
“Loan
Agreement”) with RBL Capital Group, LLC (“RBL”). The Loan
Agreement provided a term loan facility with a maximum borrowing of $2,000,000.
With the April 2008 drawdown on this facility, the Company has fully utilized
this capacity and has no remaining availability on this facility.
At March
31, 2009, Acies had drawn down an aggregate total of $1,870,000 on the RBL
facility and our aggregate remaining principal outstanding from these borrowings
was $176,048 at March 31, 2009. As of June 30, 2009, the principal amount
to be repaid under the facility is approximately $96,000.
In June
2008, the Company borrowed $450,000 through the execution of a Convertible
Promissory Note (the “Note”), with Pinnacle
Three Corporation, bearing interest at a rate of 8% per annum, with principal
and all accrued interest payable in November 2010. On June 6, 2008,
the Company received a conversion letter from Pinnacle Three Corporation
requesting conversion of the principal and accrued interest, into 22,515,000
shares of Acies common stock at a price of $0.02 per share, per the terms of the
Note agreement. On July 17, 2008, the Company issued 22,515,000
shares to Pinnacle Three Corporation in exchange for the Settlement Agreement
and Mutual Release between Pinnacle Three Corporation and the
Company.
On September 23, 2008, the
Company entered into an 18% Convertible Promissory Note in favor of Pinnacle for
$172,653 to evidence loans advanced to the Company by Pinnacle during the months
of August and September 2008. In July 2009, the Company entered into an
additional 18% Convertible Promissory Note with Pinnacle to evidence an
additional $5,647 loaned by Pinnacle to the Company. Together with principal and
all accrued interest, the notes are due and payable on September 23, 2009.
The notes are convertible into shares of the Company's common stock at an
exercise price of $0.02 per share at any time prior to the maturity date. The
balance of the notes, not including an accrued and unpaid interest as of March
31, 2009 was $178,300.
On September 23, 2008, the
Company entered into an 18% Convertible Promissory Note in favor of Mr. Oleg
Firer, the Company's Chief Executive Officer and Director of the Company, to
evidence the amount of $185,000 owed by the Company to Mr. Firer in connection
with various expenses paid by Mr. Firer on the Company's behalf and
reimbursements he is owed dating back to April 2006. The note is due and payable
together with accrued and unpaid interest on September 23, 2009, and is
convertible into shares of the Company's common stock at an exercise price of
$0.02 per share at any time prior to the maturity date. The balance of this
note, not including accrued and unpaid interest as of March 31, 2009 was
$185,000.
This
borrowing only alleviated our short-term capital needs. Acies
believes that it can secure additional capital through debt and/or equity
financing, and has received proposals from potential lenders, which are
currently in negotiation. We do not, however, have any commitments or
identified sources of additional capital from third parties or from our
officers, directors or significant shareholders. There is no assurance that
additional financing will be available on favorable terms, if at all. If we are
unable to raise such additional financing, it would have a materially adverse
effect upon our operations and our ability to fully implement our business plan,
which would limit our ability to continue as an on-going business.
Cash
Requirements
Our
business is such that our revenues are generally recurring. Once we add a new
account, which generally entails up-front expenditures, whether it be salaries
for direct (i.e., Acies-employed) salespersons, or an investment in merchant
terminal equipment, we typically receive revenue relating to that account for as
long as the merchant is our customer. If we employ a strategy of utilizing
independent sales agents and organizations who are not salaried and are paid on
a performance-based basis, the up-front costs are even less; however;
commissions payable to these independent sales agents are higher.
Our
strategy is flexible, whereby we attempt to employ funds that are available to
us to profitably grow the business as rapidly as possible, albeit in a
controlled fashion, with an eye toward maintaining customer service levels and
minimizing risk in order to retain merchants and have a long-term revenue
stream. Funding may be necessary to grow the business significantly, especially
through direct sales channels which would require the addition of salaried
employees. In the absence of such funding, we believe that we can continue to
grow at modest levels, relying more heavily on the indirect (i.e., independent
sales agent) channel.
Most of
our expenses are variable and are a function of our revenue stream, while other
expenses are of a more fixed nature, but are still controllable. Moreover, our
fixed expenses which reflect the on-going cost of our infrastructure would not
need to be increased significantly as our revenue base increases. We estimate
that over the next twelve months, to maintain a minimal rate of growth, we would
have corporate operating expenses on a cash basis, excluding our cost of
revenues which is variable, of approximately $2,000,000. This would include our
personnel costs, rent, professional fees, insurance, utilities and other office
expenses. At our current revenue growth rate, assuming no improvement over
historical margins, we believe that operating cash flow would not be sufficient
to cover our expenditures, unless we are able to obtain additional
financing.
We have
no current commitment from our officers and Directors or any of our shareholders
to supplement our operations or provide us with financing in the future. If we
are unable to raise additional capital from conventional sources and/or
additional sales of stock in the future, we may be forced to curtail or cease
our operations. The failure to obtain financing could have a substantial adverse
effect on our business and financial results.
In the
future, we may be required to seek additional capital by selling debt or equity
securities, selling assets, or otherwise be required to bring cash flows in
balance when we approach a condition of cash insufficiency. The sale of
additional equity or debt securities will result in dilution to our then
shareholders. We provide no assurance that financing will be available in
amounts or on terms acceptable to us, or at all.
Off
Balance Sheet Arrangements
We do not
have any off balance sheet arrangements.
Cash
Flows
The
Company had $95,842 of cash provided by operating activities for the year ended
March 31, 2009, which mainly consisted of $388,691 of net loss offset by $30,667
of stock-based compensation, $54,736 of depreciation expense, $643,814 of
accounts receivable and $254,372 of accounts payable and accrued
expenses.
The
Company had $0 of cash used in investing activities for the year ended March 31,
2009.
The
Company had $92,985 of cash used in financing activities for the year ended
March 31, 2009, which included $826,886 of repayment of notes payable, partially
offset by $555,601 of proceeds from notes payable and $178,300 of proceeds from
loans from related party.
Cash
Requirements
Our
business is such that our revenues are generally recurring. Once we add a new
account, which generally entails up-front expenditures, whether it be salaries
for direct (i.e., Acies-employed) salespersons, or an investment in merchant
terminal equipment, we typically receive revenue relating to that account for as
long as the merchant is our customer. If we employ a strategy of utilizing
Independent Sales Agents and organizations, who are not salaried and are paid on
a performance-based basis, the up-front costs are even less, however;
commissions payable to these Independent Sales Agents are higher.
Our
strategy is flexible, whereby we attempt to employ funds that are available to
us to profitably grow the business as rapidly as possible, albeit in a
controlled fashion, with an eye toward maintaining customer service levels and
minimizing risk in order to retain merchants and have a long-term revenue
stream. Funding may be necessary to grow the business significantly, especially
through direct sales channels which would require the addition of salaried
employees. In the absence of such funding, we believe that we can continue to
grow at modest levels, relying more heavily on the indirect (i.e., independent
sales agent) channel.
Most of our expenses are variable and are a
function of our revenue stream, while other expenses are of a more fixed nature,
but are still controllable. Moreover, our fixed expenses which reflect the
on-going cost of our infrastructure would not need to be increased significantly
as our revenue base increases. We estimate that over the next twelve months, to
maintain a minimal rate of growth, we would have corporate operating expenses on
a cash basis, excluding our cost of revenues which is variable, of approximately
$2,000,000. This would include our personnel costs, rent, professional fees,
insurance, utilities and other office expenses. At our current revenue growth
rate, assuming no improvement over historical margins, we believe that operating
cash flow would not be sufficient to cover our expenditures, unless we were able
to obtain additional financing.
In the
future, we may be required to seek additional capital by selling debt or equity
securities, selling assets, or otherwise be required to bring cash flows in
balance when we approach a condition of cash insufficiency. The sale of
additional equity or debt securities will result in dilution to our then
shareholders. We provide no assurance that financing will be available in
amounts or on terms acceptable to us, or at all.
OFF
BALANCE SHEET ARRANGEMENTS
We do not
have any off balance sheet arrangements.
CRITICAL
ACCOUNTING POLICIES
Our
discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations is
based upon our financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with
accounting principles generally accepted in the United States. The preparation
of these financial statements requires us to make estimates and judgments that
affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses, and
related disclosure of any contingent assets and liabilities. On an on-going
basis, we evaluate our estimates. We base our estimates on various assumptions
that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which
form the basis for making judgments about carrying values of assets and
liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results may
differ from these estimates under different assumptions or
conditions.
We
believe the following critical accounting policy affects our more significant
estimates and judgments used in the preparation of our financial
statements:
Revenue
recognition. Revenue is recognized when persuasive evidence of an arrangement
exists, delivery has occurred, the sales price is fixed or determinable, and
collectability is reasonably assured. Substantially all of Acies’ revenue is
derived from providing credit and debit card processing services, and it is
recognized when the services are rendered. When a merchant has a business
transaction for processing (e.g., purchases of goods or services for which
payments are accepted using credit or debit cards), the amount of the processing
fees due from the merchant that is discounted from the transaction amount prior
to the merchant receiving net proceeds is the amount that Acies recognizes as
revenue.
Revenue
is recognized on a gross basis (i.e., prior to deducting expenses paid to third
parties for outsourced processing and settlement services), with such
determination based on Acies’ review and interpretation of current accounting
promulgations, including but not limited to Emerging Issues Task Force Consensus
99-19, “Reporting
Revenue Gross as Principal versus Net as an Agent” (“EITF 99-19”). We
believe that most of the indicators of gross revenue reporting discussed in EITF
99-19 support our revenue recognition policy. Factors which were critical in our
determination included, but were not limited to, the extent to which Acies has
latitude in establishing price, credit risk and discretion in supplier
selection.
Acies has
very broad latitude in negotiating and setting the pricing paid by the merchants
for electronic transactions, including all fees relating to merchants’
acceptance of credit and debit card payments. Pricing generally is unique to
each merchant, and is principally based upon the merchant’s tailored needs,
competitive pricing issues and a satisfactory profit margin for Acies. Although
pricing varies by merchant, Acies’ costs relating to these transactions, paid to
third-party processors and others to whom Acies outsources certain functions,
are generally fixed and are based upon predetermined cost schedules which apply
regardless of the pricing agreed to by the merchant. Acies control of pricing is
critical to the determination of profitability as it relates to any given
merchant.
Acies has
credit risk relating to the revenue it recognizes. Should there be a problem
with any given transaction, or with fraudulent conduct by any given merchant,
Acies is not generally liable for the underlying value of a transaction (i.e.,
the amount paid by a consumer of a product or service paid for by credit or
debit card). We are, however, generally liable for the transaction costs (as
described above), even if we do not receive the revenue relating to the
transaction.
Although
Acies is generally not a formal party to a merchant agreement, we do have a
choice of third-party processors and servicers to whom we may outsource certain
on-going functions relating to any given merchant account and its related
transactions. In most cases, we have the contractual authority with our
third-party processors to switch a merchant account from one third-party
processor to another, assuming that the merchant agrees to do so.
The above
factors, along with Acies being the primary point of contact in the acquiring
and on-going servicing of its merchants, as well as the full spectrum of
services that Acies provides to its merchants, have led Acies to the judgment
that gross revenue reporting is the most appropriate accounting treatment. In
addition, we believe that based on our business model, our investors and other
readers of our financial statements benefit greatly from this presentation as it
exhibits the impact on profitability of the Company’s pricing
policies.
Stock
based Compensation. We account for share-based payments under SFAS 123R, which
requires that share-based payments be reflected as an expense based upon the
grant-date fair value of those awards. The expense is recognized over the
remaining vesting periods of the awards. The Company estimates the fair value of
these awards, including stock options and warrants, using the Black-Scholes
model. This model requires management to make certain estimates in the
assumptions used in this model, including the expected term the award will be
held, volatility of the underlying common stock, discount rate and forfeiture
rate. We develop our assumptions based on our past historical trends as well as
consider changes for future expectations.
EFFECT
OF RECENTLY ISSUED ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENTS
Effective
April 1, 2007, the Company adopted Financial Interpretation No. 48, “Accounting for Uncertainty
in Income Taxes-An Interpretation of FASB Statement No. 109,”
(“FIN 48”).
This interpretation prescribes a recognition threshold and measurement attribute
for the financial statement recognition and measurement of a tax position taken
or expected to be taken in a tax return. The interpretation contains a two-step
approach to recognizing and measuring uncertain tax positions accounted for in
accordance with SFAS No. 109. The first step is to evaluate the tax
position for recognition by determining if the weight of available evidence
indicates that it is more likely than not that the position will be sustained on
audit, including resolution of related appeals or litigation processes, if any.
The second step is to measure the tax benefit as the largest amount which is
more than fifty percent likely of being realized upon ultimate settlement. The
interpretation also provides guidance on derecognition, classification, interest
and penalties, and other matters. The adoption did not have an effect on the
consolidated financial statements. There continues to be no liability related to
unrecognized tax benefits at March 31, 2009, and no effect on the effective
rate.
In
September 2006, the FASB issued Statement No. 157, “Fair Value
Measurements” (“SFAS 157”).
SFAS 157 defines fair value, establishes a framework for measuring fair
value in generally accepted accounting principles, and expands disclosures about
fair value measurements. SFAS 157 applies to other accounting pronouncements
that require or permit fair value measurements and does not require any new fair
value measurements. SFAS 157 is effective for fiscal years beginning after
November 15, 2007 for financial assets and liabilities and is effective for
fiscal years beginning after November 15, 2008 for non-financial assets and
liabilities. The adoption of SFAS 157 is not expected to have a material
effect on our financial position or results of operations.
In
February 2007, the FASB issued Statement No. 159, “The Fair Value Option for
Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities—Including an amendment of FASB
Statement No. 115” ("SFAS 159.") SFAS
No. 159 permits entities to choose to measure many financial instruments
and certain other items at fair value that are not currently required to be
measured at fair value. Subsequent unrealized gains and losses on items for
which the fair value option has been elected will be reported in earnings. The
provisions of SFAS 159 are effective for financial statements issued for
fiscal years beginning after November 15, 2007. The adoption of
SFAS 159 is not expected to have a material effect on our financial
position or results of operations.
ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS.
FINANCIAL
STATEMENT INDEX
ACIES
CORPORATION
CONSOLIDATED
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
MARCH
31, 2009
|
|
PAGE
|
|
Report
of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
|
F-2
|
|
Consolidated
Balance Sheets
|
F-3
|
|
Consolidated
Statements of Operations
|
F-4
|
|
Consolidated
Statements of Shareholders’ Deficit
|
F-5
|
|
Consolidated
Statements of Cash Flows
|
F-6
|
|
Notes
to Consolidated Financial Statements
|
F-7
|
Report of Independent Registered
Public Accounting Firm
To the
Board of Directors
Acies
Corporation
New York,
New York
We have
audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Acies Corporation as of
March 31, 2009 and 2008, and the related consolidated statements of operations,
shareholders’ deficit, and cash flows for the years then ended. These
financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s
management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these
consolidated financial statements based on our audits.
We
conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the Public Company
Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require
that we plan and perform the audits to obtain reasonable assurance about whether
the financial statements are free of material misstatement. The
Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its
internal control over financial reporting. Our audit included
consideration of internal control over financial reporting as a basis for
designing audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not
for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s
internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no
such opinion. An audit also includes examining, on a test basis,
evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements,
assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by
management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement
presentation. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis
for our opinion.
In our
opinion, the consolidated financial statements referred to above present fairly,
in all material respects, the financial position of Acies Corporation as of
March 31, 2009 and 2008 and the results of its operations and its cash flows for
the years then ended, in conformity with accounting principles generally
accepted in the United States of America.
The
accompanying financial statements have been prepared assuming that Acies
Corporation will continue as a going concern. As discussed in Note 1
to the financial statements, Acies has suffered recurring losses from
operations and negative cash flows from operations, all of which raise
substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going
concern. Management’s plans in regard to these matters are also
described in Note 1. The financial statements do not include any
adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.
/s/ GBH CPAs,
PC
GBH CPAs,
PC
www.gbhcpas.com
Houston,
Texas
July 14,
2009
|
|
|
CONSOLIDATED
BALANCE SHEETS
|
|
As
of March 31, 2009 and 2008
|
|
|
2009
|
|
2008
|
|
|
ASSETS
|
|
|
|
|
|
Current
Assets
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cash
|
$ |
44,255 |
|
$ |
41,398 |
|
|
Accounts
receivable
|
|
439,891 |
|
|
1,083,705 |
|
|
Other
current assets
|
|
- |
|
|
16,295 |
|
|
Total
current assets
|
|
484,146 |
|
|
1,141,398 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Other
assets and deposits
|
|
- |
|
|
67,921 |
|
|
Fixed
assets, net of accumulated depreciation of $42,193 and $35,892,
respectively
|
|
12,215 |
|
|
18,516 |
|
|
Merchant
terminal equipment,
net
of accumulated depreciation of $235,752 and 187,317,
respectively
|
|
- |
|
|
48,435 |
|
|
Total
Assets
|
$ |
496,361 |
|
$ |
1,276,270 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
LIABILITIES
AND SHAREHOLDERS’ DEFICIT
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Current
Liabilities
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Notes
payable - current portion
|
$ |
134,688 |
|
$ |
800,677 |
|
|
Accounts
payable and accrued expenses
|
|
833,295 |
|
|
1,360,280 |
|
|
Accounts
payable to related party
|
|
92,668 |
|
|
- |
|
|
Deferred
revenue
|
|
92,398 |
|
|
96,233 |
|
|
Merchant
equipment deposits
|
|
18,810 |
|
|
18,810 |
|
|
Loans
from related parties
|
|
363,300 |
|
|
- |
|
|
Total
current liabilities
|
|
1,535,159 |
|
|
2,276,000 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Long-term
portion of notes payable
|
|
41,360 |
|
|
102,010 |
|
|
Deferred
rent and other obligations
|
|
- |
|
|
70,694 |
|
|
Total
Liabilities
|
|
1,576,519 |
|
|
2,448,704 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Commitment
and contingencies
|
|
- |
|
|
- |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Shareholders’
Deficit
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Preferred
Stock, Series A, $0.001 par value, 44,340 shares authorized, no
shares
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
issued
and outstanding
|
|
- |
|
|
- |
|
|
Common
stock, $0.001 par value, 200,000,000 shares authorized 73,984,095
and
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
51,469,095
shares issued and outstanding, respectively
|
|
73,984 |
|
|
51,469 |
|
|
Additional
paid-in capital
|
|
5,350,181 |
|
|
4,891,729 |
|
|
Accumulated
deficit
|
|
(6,504,323 |
)
|
|
(6,115,632 |
) |
|
Total
Shareholders’ Deficit
|
|
(1,080,158 |
)
|
|
(1,172,434 |
) |
|
Total
Liabilities and Shareholders’ Deficit
|
$ |
496,361 |
|
$
|
1,276,270 |
|
The
accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial
statements.
|
ACIES
CORPORATION
|
|
CONSOLIDATED
STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
|
|
Years
Ended March 31, 2009 and 2008
|
|
|
|
2009
|
|
|
2008
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Revenues
|
|
$ |
8,607,649 |
|
|
$ |
13,095,197 |
|
|
Cost
of revenues
|
|
|
7,525,227 |
|
|
|
11,567,450 |
|
|
Gross
margin
|
|
|
1,082,422 |
|
|
|
1,527,747 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Corporate
expenses:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Personnel
expense (includes non-cash stock-based compensation)
|
|
|
648,921 |
|
|
|
1,212,332 |
|
|
Professional
fees
|
|
|
289,466 |
|
|
|
256,627 |
|
|
General,
administrative and selling
|
|
|
304,972 |
|
|
|
400,752 |
|
|
Rent
|
|
|
63,667 |
|
|
|
168,326 |
|
|
Total
corporate expenses
|
|
|
1,307,026 |
|
|
|
2,037,997 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Operating
loss
|
|
|
(224,604
|
) |
|
|
(510,250
|
) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Other
income (expense):
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Interest
expense
|
|
|
(144,287
|
) |
|
|
(158,455
|
) |
|
Interest
income
|
|
|
200 |
|
|
|
108 |
|
|
Other
expense
|
|
|
(20,000
|
) |
|
|
- |
|
|
Total
other income (expense)
|
|
|
(164,088
|
) |
|
|
(158,347
|
) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net
loss
|
|
$ |
(388,691 |
) |
|
$ |
(668,597 |
) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net
loss per share - Basic and Diluted
|
|
$ |
(0.01 |
) |
|
$ |
(0.01 |
) |
|
Weighted
average shares outstanding - Basic and Diluted
|
|
|
67,383,807 |
|
|
|
51,342,865 |
|
The
accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial
statements.
|
|
|
CONSOLIDATED
STATEMENTS OF SHAREHOLDERS’ DEFICIT
|
|
Years
ended March 31, 2009 and 2008
|
|
|
|
Common
Stock
|
|
|
Additional
Paid-in
|
|
|
Accumulated
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Shares
|
|
|
Par
|
|
|
Capital
|
|
|
Deficit
|
|
|
Total
|
|
|
Balance,
March 31, 2007
|
|
|
51,169,095 |
|
|
$ |
51,169 |
|
|
$ |
4,808,582 |
|
|
$ |
(5,447,035 |
) |
|
$ |
(587,284 |
) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Stock-based
compensation:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
–
restricted stock
|
|
|
300,000 |
|
|
|
300 |
|
|
|
12,534 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
12,834 |
|
|
– amortization
of option expense
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
70,613 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
70,613 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net
loss
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
(668,597
|
) |
|
|
(668,597
|
) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Balance,
March 31, 2008
|
|
|
51,469,095 |
|
|
$ |
51,469 |
|
|
$ |
4,891,729 |
|
|
$ |
(6,115,632 |
) |
|
$ |
(1,172,434 |
) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Stock-based
compensation:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
–
restricted stock
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
3,667 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
3,667 |
|
|
–
amortization of option expense
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
27,000 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
27,000 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Issuance
of common stock for conversion of debt and interest
|
|
|
22,515,000 |
|
|
|
22,515 |
|
|
|
427,785 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
450,300 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net
loss
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
(388,691
|
) |
|
|
(388,691
|
) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Balance,
March 31, 2009
|
|
|
73,984,095 |
|
|
$ |
73,984 |
|
|
$ |
5,350,181 |
|
|
$ |
(6,504,323 |
) |
|
$ |
(1,080,158 |
) |
The
accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial
statements.
|
ACIES
CORPORATION
|
|
CONSOLIDATED
STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
|
|
Years
Ended March 31, 2009 and 2008
|
|
|
|
Year
Ended March 31
|
|
|
|
|
2009
|
|
|
2008
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
CASH
FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net
loss
|
|
$ |
(388,691 |
) |
|
$ |
(668,597 |
) |
|
Adjustments
to reconcile net loss to cash from operating activities:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Stock-based
compensation
|
|
|
30,667 |
|
|
|
83,447 |
|
|
Depreciation
expense - fixed assets and merchant equipment
|
|
|
54,736 |
|
|
|
91,107 |
|
|
Changes
in assets and liabilities:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Accounts
receivable
|
|
|
643,814 |
|
|
|
(55,965
|
) |
|
Other
current assets
|
|
|
16,295 |
|
|
|
(16,295 |
) |
|
Deferred
revenue
|
|
|
(3,834
|
) |
|
|
606 |
|
|
Other
assets
|
|
|
67,921 |
|
|
|
(15,646
|
) |
|
Accounts
payable and accrued expenses
|
|
|
(254,372
|
) |
|
|
117,677 |
|
|
Deferred
rent and other current liabilities
|
|
|
(70,694
|
) |
|
|
10,585
|
) |
|
CASH
PROVIDED BY (USED IN) OPERATING ACTIVITIES
|
|
|
95,842 |
|
|
|
(453,081
|
) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
CASH
USED IN INVESTING ACTIVITIES
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Purchases
of fixed assets
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
(6,839
|
) |
|
CASH
USED IN INVESTING ACTIVITIES
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
(6,839
|
) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
CASH
FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Proceeds
from notes payable
|
|
|
555,601 |
|
|
|
1,310,000 |
|
|
Repayment
of notes payable
|
|
|
(826,886
|
) |
|
|
(770,467
|
) |
|
Proceeds
from loans from related party
|
|
|
178,300 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
Repayment
of loan from related party
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
(40,042
|
) |
|
CASH
PROVIDED BY (USED IN) FINANCING ACTIVITIES
|
|
|
(92,985
|
) |
|
|
499,491 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
NET
CHANGE IN CASH
|
|
|
2,857 |
|
|
|
(39,571
|
) |
|
Cash,
beginning of the year
|
|
|
41,398 |
|
|
|
1,827 |
|
|
Cash,
end of the year
|
|
$ |
44,255 |
|
|
$ |
41,398 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
SUPPLEMENTAL
DISCLOSURES OF CASH FLOW INFORMATION:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cash
paid for interest and debt-related fees
|
|
$ |
122,099 |
|
|
$ |
158,455 |
|
|
Cash
paid for income taxes
|
|
$ |
- |
|
|
$ |
- |
|
|
Non-cash
financing activities:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Issuance
of common stock in settlement of note payable
|
|
$ |
450,300 |
|
|
$ |
- |
|
|
Note
payable to officer issued for accounts payable and accrued
expenses
|
|
$ |
185,000 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The
accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial
statements.
NOTES
TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
NOTE
1 – GOING CONCERN
The
Company has limited capital resources and has incurred significant historical
losses and negative cash flows from operations. The Company believes that funds
on hand combined with funds that will be available from its operations and
existing financing will not be adequate to finance its operating requirements
and its financial obligations under its notes payable for the next twelve
months. We do not have any commitments or identified
sources of additional capital from third parties or from our officers, directors
or majority shareholders. There is no assurance that additional financing will
be available on favorable terms, if at all. If we are unable to raise such
additional financing, it would have a materially adverse effect upon our
operations and our ability to fully implement our business plan, which would
limit our ability to continue as an on-going business. Failure of our operations
to generate sufficient future cash flow and failure to raise additional
financing could have a material adverse effect on the Company's ability to
continue as a going concern and to achieve its business objectives. These
conditions raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a
going concern. The accompanying financial statements do not include any
adjustments relating to the recoverability of the carrying amount of recorded
assets or the amount of liabilities that might result should the Company be
unable to continue as a going concern.
NOTE
2 - SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
Nature of Business. Acies
Corporation (“Acies” or the “Company”), through its wholly owned subsidiary
Acies, Inc., provides payment processing services to merchants across the United
States. Acies' payment processing services enable merchants to process Credit,
Debit, Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT), Check Conversion, and Gift &
Loyalty transactions. Acies also offers traditional and next-generation
point-of-sale (POS) terminals, which enable merchants to utilize Acies' payment
processing services. Acies outsources certain processing services to
various third parties, including Chase Paymentech, LLC.
Cash and Cash Equivalents.
Acies considers all highly liquid investments purchased with an original
maturity of three months or less to be cash equivalents.
Principles of Consolidation.
The accompanying consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Acies
and Acies, Inc. All significant intercompany balances and transactions have been
eliminated in consolidation.
Use of Estimates. In preparing
financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting
principles, management makes estimates and assumptions that affect the reported
amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and
liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of
revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ
from those estimates.
Revenue Recognition. Revenue
is recognized when persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists, delivery has
occurred, the sales price is fixed or determinable, and collectability is
reasonably assured. Substantially all of Acies’ revenue is derived from
providing credit and debit card processing services, and it is recognized when
the services are rendered. Revenue is deferred and recorded over the required
service period if all revenue criteria have not been met when the fee is
received. When a merchant has a business transaction for processing (e.g.,
purchases of goods or services for which payments are accepted using credit or
debit cards), the amount that is discounted from the transaction amount prior to
the merchant receiving net proceeds is the amount that Acies recognizes as
revenue. Revenue is recognized on a gross basis (i.e., prior to deducting
expenses paid to third parties for outsourced processing and settlement
services), with such determination based on Acies’ review and interpretation of
current accounting promulgations, including but not limited to Emerging Issues
Task Force Memorandum 99-19 “Reporting Revenue Gross as Principal versus Net as
an Agent” (“EITF 99-19”). The indicators of gross revenue reporting which led to
our determination included, but were not limited to, the extent to which Acies
has latitude in establishing price, our credit risk and our discretion in
supplier selection.
Any
revenue relating to services to be performed in the future is deferred and
recognized on a straight-line basis over the period during which the services
will be performed.
Allowance for Doubtful
Accounts. Bad debt expense is recognized based on management’s estimate
of likely losses per year, based on past experience and an estimate of current
year uncollectible amounts. As of March 31, 2009 and 2008, no
allowance for doubtful accounts was deemed necessary.
Long-lived Assets. At each
balance sheet date or whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that
the carrying amount of an asset may not be recoverable, management of the
Company evaluates the recoverability of such assets. An impairment loss is
recognized if the amount of undiscounted cash flows is less than the carrying
amount of the asset, in which case the asset is written down to fair value. The
fair value of the asset is measured by either quoted market prices or the
present value of estimated expected future cash flows using a discount rate
commensurate with the risks involved.
Stock Based Compensation. We
account for share-based payments under in accordance with generally accepted
accounting principles, which requires that share−based payments be reflected as
an expense based upon the grant−date fair value of those awards. The expense is
recognized over the remaining vesting period of the awards. The Company
estimates the fair value of these awards, including stock options and warrants,
using the Black−Scholes model. This model requires management to make certain
estimates in the assumptions used in this model, including the expected term the
award will be held, volatility of the underlying common stock, discount rate and
forfeiture rate. We develop our assumptions based on our past historical trends
as well as consider changes for future expectations. For restricted stock
awards, the Company values the stock based on the closing price of our common
stock on the date of the award, and recognizes the expense over the vesting
period of the restricted stock on a straight-line basis.
Income Taxes. Deferred taxes
are provided on the liability method whereby deferred tax assets are recognized
for deductible temporary differences and operating loss and tax credit carry
forwards and deferred tax liabilities are recognized for taxable temporary
differences. Temporary differences are the differences between the reported
amounts of assets and liabilities and their tax bases. Deferred tax assets are
reduced by a valuation allowance when, in the opinion of management, it is more
likely than not that some portion or all of the deferred tax assets will not be
realized. Deferred tax assets and accrued tax liabilities are adjusted for the
effects of changes in tax laws and rates on the date of enactment.
Net Loss per Share. Acies
calculates basic net loss per share based on the weighted average number of
common shares outstanding during the year. Diluted loss per share is calculated
based on the weighted-average number of outstanding common shares plus the
effect of dilutive potential common shares, using the if-converted method.
Acies’ calculation of diluted net loss per share excludes potential common
shares as of March 31, 2009 and 2008 as the effect would be
anti-dilutive.
Risks from Concentrations. The
majority of our merchants’ transactions are processed by a third-party
processor. The Company therefore has a risk of our processor significantly
increasing our costs of outsourcing the services provided. The Company, however,
believes that there are alternative processing relationships available should
this occur.
In
addition, over 40% of the Company’s revenue is derived from merchants in the
petroleum industry. The Company therefore has a risk of revenues being adversely
impacted by significant decreases in gasoline prices or other negative factors
which adversely affect the petroleum industry.
Fair Value of Financial
Instruments. The carrying value of the accounts receivable, accounts
payable and accrued expenses and notes payable approximate their respective fair
values due to the their short maturities.
Recently Issued Accounting
Pronouncements.
In September 2006, the Financial Accounting
Standards Board (“FASB”) issued SFAS No. 157, Fair Value Measurements
(“SFAS 157”). SFAS 157 defines fair value, establishes a framework for
measuring fair value in generally accepted accounting principles and expands
disclosures about fair value measurements. This Statement applies under other
accounting pronouncements that require or permit fair value measurements, the
FASB having previously concluded in those accounting pronouncements that fair
value is the relevant measurement attribute. Accordingly, SFAS 157 does not
require any new fair value measurement. SFAS 157, as originally issued, was
effective for fiscal years beginning after November 15, 2007. However, on
December 14, 2007, the FASB issued FASB Staff Position FAS157-b, which proposed
deferring the effective date of SFAS 157 for one year, as it relates to
nonfinancial assets and liabilities. Acies adopted SFAS 157 as it relates
to financial assets and liabilities as of April 1, 2008. Acies is
evaluating the impact the adoption of SFAS 157 related to nonfinancial assets
and liabilities will have on its consolidated financial
statements.
In
February 2008, the FASB issued FASB Staff Position 157-2, Effective Date of FASB Statement No
157 (“FSP 157-2”). FSP 157-2 delays the effective date
of SFAS No. 157 for all non-financial assets and non-financial liabilities,
except for items that are recognized or disclosed at fair value in the financial
statements on a recurring basis (at least annually), to fiscal years beginning
after November 15, 2008 and interim periods for those fiscal
years. The Company is currently evaluating the impact that SFAS No,.
157 will have on the financial statements when it is applied to non-financial
assets and non-financial liabilities that are not measured at fair value on a
recurring basis beginning in the first quarter of fiscal year 2010.
In June
2008, FASB ratified EITF No. 07-05, Determining Whether an Instrument
(or an Embedded Feature) Is Indexed to an Entity’s Own Stock (“EITF
07-05”). EITF 07-05 provides that an entity should use a two-step
approach to evaluate whether an equity-linked financial instrument (or embedded
feature) is indexed to its own stock, including evaluating the instrument’s
contingent exercise and settlement provisions. EITF 07-05 is
effective March 1, 2009. The Company has determined that there are no
outstanding warrants that are affected by the adoption of ETIF 07-05, and thus
it is not impacted by its adoption of EITF 07-05.
In May
2008, the FASB issued SFAS No. 162 “The Hierarchy of Generally Accepted
Accounting Principles” (“SFAS 162”), which identifies a
consistent framework for selecting accounting principles to be used in preparing
financial statements for nongovernmental entities that are presented in
conformity with United States generally accepted accounting principles
(GAAP). The current GAAP hierarchy was criticized due to its
complexity, ranking position of FASB Statements of Financial Accounting Concepts
and the fact that is directed at auditors rather than entities. SFAS
162 became effective on November 15, 2008 and the SFAS did not an impact on
operating results, financial position or cash flows of the Company.
NOTE
3 - FIXED ASSETS
Property
and office equipment consisted of the following at March 31, 2009 and
2008:
|
Description
|
Life
|
|
2009
|
|
2008
|
|
|
Computer
Equipment
|
3
years
|
|
$ |
23,811 |
|
|
23,811 |
|
|
Office
Furniture
|
7
years
|
|
|
15,614 |
|
|
15,614 |
|
|
Equipment
|
5
years
|
|
|
14,983 |
|
|
14,983 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
54,408 |
|
|
54,408 |
|
|
Less:
accumulated depreciation
|
|
|
|
(42,193 |
) |
|
(35,892 |
) |
|
|
|
|
$ |
12,215 |
|
|
18,516 |
|
Depreciation
expense on fixed assets totaled $6,301 and $11,958 in fiscal 2009 and 2008,
respectively. These amounts were determined using the straight-line depreciation
method over the estimated useful life of the assets as noted above, as measured
from the dates of acquisition.
NOTE
4- MERCHANT TERMINAL EQUIPMENT
As a
sales promotion campaign, Acies at times places point of sale equipment at
merchant locations as an inducement to generate revenue from processing
services. When this occurs, Acies owns the equipment and often receives a
deposit thereon from the merchant. Should the merchant cease to be a customer,
the equipment is returned to Acies for redeployment to a different merchant
location, and the deposit is returned to the merchant. This equipment consisted
of the following at March 31, 2009 and 2008:
|
Description
|
Life
|
|
2009
|
|
|
2008
|
|
|
|
Merchant
terminal equipment
|
3
years
|
|
$ |
235,752 |
|
|
$ |
235,752 |
|
|
Less:
accumulated depreciation
|
|
|
|
(235,752 |
) |
|
|
(187,317 |
) |
|
|
|
|
$ |
- |
|
|
$ |
48,435 |
|
Depreciation
expense on terminal equipment totaled $48,435 and $79,149 in fiscal 2008 and
2007, respectively. These amounts were determined using the straight-line
depreciation method over the estimated useful life of the assets as noted above,
as measured from the dates of acquisition.
NOTE
5 - NOTES PAYABLE
On
October 31, 2006, Acies entered into a Loan and Security Agreement with RBL
Capital Group, LLC (“RBL”). The Loan and Security Agreement provides a term loan
facility with a maximum borrowing of $2,000,000. Each borrowing under this
facility is to be repaid in 18 equal monthly installments, each of which
includes amortization of the principal amount of the borrowing as calculated
using the interest method. A tri-party agreement between Acies, RBL and Chase
Alliance Partners, L.P. (“Chase”, to whom Acies outsources certain processing
services for the majority of its merchant accounts) arranges for monthly
installments to be paid such that Chase forwards to RBL the entire monthly
amounts due to Acies and, after deducting the monthly installment, the balance
is remitted to Acies within 24 hours. The Loan and Security Agreement requires
that accelerated payments of 150% of the monthly installment are required to be
paid if certain cash flow ratios are not maintained. Borrowings generally bear
interest at a fixed rate per annum of prime plus 8.90%. Borrowings under the
facility have been at interest rates ranging between 14.18% and 17.15%.
Borrowings may not be drawn more than once every 30 days, and there is a limit
on aggregate borrowings based on monthly residuals.
In
addition, the Loan and Security Agreement contains customary affirmative and
negative covenants for credit facilities of this type, including covenants with
respect to liquidity, disposition of assets, liens, other indebtedness,
investments, shareholder distributions, transactions with affiliates, officers’
compensation, and the transfer or sale of our merchant base, and that there are
no significant changes in our business. In addition, should Acies sell more than
25% of its merchant accounts for which certain processing services are
outsourced to Chase, that event would require that borrowings under the facility
be repaid in full. Also, should Acies transfer the outsourcing of certain
processing services for merchant accounts for which Chase currently provides
such services to a different third-party, that event would require either an
agreement between Acies, RBL and the third-party similar to the agreement
currently in place between Acies, RBL and Chase, or that borrowings under the
facility be repaid in full.
The Loan
and Security Agreement additionally provides for customary events of default
with corresponding grace periods, including the failure to pay any principal or
interest when due, failure to comply with covenants, material
misrepresentations, certain bankruptcy, insolvency or receivership events,
imposition of certain judgments and the liquidation or merger of Acies. Acies’
obligations under the Loan and Security Agreement are collateralized by
substantially all of Acies’ assets, including future remittances relating to its
portfolio of merchant accounts. Proceeds from loans under this facility were
used to fund general working capital needs, and to repay loans from officers of
the Company.
Acies’
borrowings under this agreement were $100,000 and $460,000 during the fiscal
years ended March 31, 2009 and 2008, respectively. At March 31, 2009, our
aggregate remaining principal outstanding from these borrowings was
$176,036. Beginning in April 2008, the Company did not have any
further remaining availability under this facility.
The
principal repayment schedule for notes payable as of March 31, 2009 is as
follows:
|
Year
Ending March 31:
|
|
|
|
|
2011
|
|
$
|
37,936
|
|
|
2012
|
|
|
3,424
|
|
NOTE
6 - STOCK OPTIONS AND WARRANTS
Acies
does not currently have an equity compensation plan in place. We have, however,
issued options which have not been approved by our
shareholders.
Acies
recognizes all share-based payments to employees, including grants of employee
stock options and restricted stock, in the financial statements at their fair
values. The expense is being recognized on a straight-line basis over
the vesting period of the amounts.
During
the years ended March 31, 2009 and 2008, Acies recognized stock-based
compensation expense (related both to options and to restricted stock awards) in
the amount of $27,000 and $83,447, respectively. Unrecognized compensation
expense on the non-vested portion of the options at March 31, 2009 was
approximately $23,000, which is expected to be expensed over a weighted average
period of 1.00 year.
No
options were granted during the years ended March 31, 2009 or 2008.
The
following summarizes the stock option and warrant transactions for the two years
ended March 31, 2009:
|
|
|
Options
|
|
Weighted
Avg.
Exercise
Price
|
|
Warrants
|
|
Weighted
Avg.
Exercise
Price
|
|
|
Outstanding
at March 31, 2007
|
|
|
5,130,181 |
|
$ |
0.74 |
|
|
8,310,000 |
|
$ |
0.27 |
|
|
Granted
|
|
|
- |
|
|
- |
|
|
- |
|
|
- |
|
|
Forfeited
|
|
|
- |
|
|
- |
|
|
- |
|
|
- |
|
|
Outstanding
at March 31, 2008
|
|
|
5,130,181 |
|
|
0.74 |
|
|
8,310,000 |
|
|
0.27 |
|
|
Granted
|
|
|
- |
|
|
- |
|
|
- |
|
|
- |
|
|
Forfeited
|
|
|
(2,284,356
|
) |
|
(0.74
|
) |
|
(720,000
|
)
|
|
(0.50
|
) |
|
Outstanding
at March 31, 2009
|
|
|
2,845,825 |
|
$ |
0.74 |
|
|
7,590,000 |
|
$ |
0.25 |
|
Options
outstanding and exercisable as of March 31, 2009:
|
Exercise
Price
|
Number
of
Shares
|
|
Remaining
life
|
|
Exercisable
Number
of
Shares
|
|
$1.00
|
1,845,825
|
|
1
years
|
|
1,845,825
|
|
$0.25
|
1,000,000
|
|
2
years
|
|
1,000,000
|
|
|
2,845,825
|
|
|
|
2,845,825
|
Options
outstanding as of March 31, 2009 have a $0 intrinsic value.
Warrants
outstanding and exercisable as of March 31, 2009:
|
|
Number
of
Shares
|
|
Remaining
life
|
|
Exercisable
Number
of
Shares
|
|
$0.25
|
7,590,000
|
|
1
year
|
|
7,590,000
|
There
were no warrants issued during the years ended March 31, 2009 or 2008.
Common
Stock
In May
2006, Acies granted a total of 300,000 shares of restricted common stock to its
three independent directors, which vested one year from the grant date. The
market value on the date of issuance was $27,000, which was expensed ratably
over the vesting period.
In
September 2007, Acies granted a total of 300,000 shares of restricted common
stock to its three independent directors, which vest on June 30, 2008. The
market value on the date of issuance was $12,000, which is being expensed
ratably over the vesting period.
On July
17, 2008, Acies issued 22,515,000 shares of common stock to Pinnacle in exchange
for the $450,000 promissory note and accrued interest of $300.
During
the years ended March 31, 2009 and 2008, Acies recognized a total of $3,667 and
$12,534, respectively, in stock-based compensation expense in connection with
the vested portion of restricted stock awards issued in the previous periods. At
March 31, 2009, there was no unrecognized compensation expense on the non-vested
portion of the restricted stock.
Preferred
Stock
On
December 15, 2008, Acies filed with the Nevada Secretary of State, a Certificate
of Designations of Acies Corporation Establishing the Designations, Preferences,
Limitations and Relative Rights of the Preferred Stock (the
“Designation”). The Designation provides for the designation of a
series of 44,340 shares of Series A Preferred Stock, par value $0.001 per
share. The holders of the Preferred Stock are not to be entitled to
any liquidation preference. The Designation provides conversion
rights whereby upon the effective date of a reverse stock split each share of
preferred stock will be automatically convert into shares of Acies’ post-reverse
stock split common stock at a rate of 1,000 post-reverse stock split shares of
Acies’ restricted common shares for each 1 share of preferred stock, without any
required action by the holder thereof.
The
preferred stock is to have the same voting rights as those accruing to the
common stock and vote that number of shares as are issuable upon conversion of
such preferred stock that any holder as of the record date of any such vote
based on the conversion rate divided by the reverse stock split (to
retroactively take into account the reverse stock split). The voting
rights of the preferred stock are to be applicable regardless of whether Acies
has a sufficient number of authorized but unissued shares of common stock then
available to affect an automatic conversion. The holders of the
preferred stock are not to be entitled to receive dividends paid on Acies’s
common stock and the preferred stock is not to accrue any
dividends. Further, the shares of the Series A Preferred Stock are
not to have or be subject to redemption rights.
NOTE
8 - LOSS PER SHARE
A
reconciliation of the numerator and the denominator used in the calculation of
loss per share is as follows:
|
|
For
the year ended March 31,
|
|
|
|
2009
|
|
2008
|
|
|
Basic
and diluted:
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net
loss
|
|
$ |
(388,691 |
) |
|
$ |
(668,597 |
) |
|
Weighted
average common shares outstanding
|
|
|
67,383,807 |
|
|
|
51,342,865 |
|
|
Net
loss per common share
|
|
$ |
(0.01 |
) |
|
$ |
(0.01 |
) |
Total
stock options and warrants in the amount of 10,435,825 and 13,440,181for the
years ended March 31, 2009 and 2008, respectively, were not included in the
computation of diluted loss per share applicable to common stockholders, as they
are anti−dilutive as a result of net losses.
NOTE
9 - COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
During
November 2008, Acies entered into a Lease Termination Agreement to terminate the
lease agreement for the office space located in New York, New York effective
September 30, 2008. In consideration for the termination of the lease
agreement the terms of the agreement provided for the payment of $12,500 to the
lessor and the surrender of deposits in the amount $30,000 held by the
lessor. All payments made in connection with the termination of the
lease agreement are included in rent expense in the consolidated statement of
operations.
In March
2008, Acies entered into a 3-year lease agreement for 2,000 square feet of
office space in Hollywood, Florida. The agreement provided for
scheduled rental increases that were expensed on a straight line
basis. During October 2008, Acies surrendered the office space. Acies
has not received a release of liability under this obligation. The remaining
monthly payments for remaining term of the lease would have been $95,933;
however, no amount is accrued.
A
deferred rental obligation for both locations in the amount of $0 and $70,694 as
of March 31, 2009 and 2008, respectively, is recorded in Deferred Rent and Other
Obligations. Rent expense was approximately $64,000 and $168,000 for fiscal 2009
and 2008, respectively.
During
the year ended March 31, 2008, Acies paid approximately $22,500 for equipment
purchased and accrued for in prior periods from ViVOtech Inc. Jeffrey D. Klores,
a former Director of Acies, was Vice President of Sales for ViVOtech
Inc.
During
the year ended March 31, 2009 and 2008, Acies paid approximately $45,300 and
$76,700, respectively, in residual commissions to an independent
sales organization, a principal of which is also a principal of Rite Holdings,
Inc., which is a significant shareholder of Acies.
In June
2008, the Company borrowed $450,000 through the execution of a
convertible promissory note with Pinnacle Three Corporation (“Pinnacle”),
bearing interest at a rate of 8% per annum, with principal and all accrued
interest payable in November 2010. On June 6, 2008, the
Company received a conversion letter from Pinnacle requesting conversion of
the principal and accrued interest of $300 into 22,515,000 shares of the
Company's common stock at a price of $0.02 per share, per the terms of the
Note agreement. On July 17, 2008, the Company issued 22,515,000 shares
to Pinnacle in exchange for the Settlement Agreement and Mutual Release between
Pinnacle and Acies.
During
the months of August and September 2008, the Company borrowed $178,300
through the execution of a convertible promissory note with
Pinnacle, bearing interest at a rate of 18% per annum, with principal and all
accrued interest payable
on September 23, 2009. The Pinnacle note is convertible into shares of the
Company’s common stock at an exercise price of $0.02 per
share at any time prior to the maturity date. Accrued interest is $15,500 as of
March 31, 2009.
On
September 23, 2008, the Company entered into an 18% Convertible
Promissory Note in favor of Mr. Firer, Acies’ Chief Executive Officer to
evidence the amount of $185,000 owed by the Company to Mr. Firer in
connection with various expenses paid by Mr. Firer on Acies’ behalf and
reimbursements he is owed dating back to April 2006. Under the terms and
conditions of the note, the Company promised to pay to Mr. Firer a
principal sum in the amount of $185,000, together with accrued and unpaid
interest at the rate of 18% per annum, on September 23, 2009. The note is
convertible into shares of the Company's common stock at an exercise
price of $0.02 per share at any time prior to the maturity date. The note is
redeemable by the Company by payment of the entire principal and
interest outstanding under the note to Mr. Firer. Acies must provide 30 days
notice to Mr. Firer prior to redemption. Accrued interest is $16,600 as of March
31, 2009.
During
the year ended March 31, 2009, Pinnacle and Star Capital Fund, LLC
have paid for certain day-to-day operating expenses on behalf of the
Company. Payments of approximately $5,600 and $32,700, respectively, are
included accounts payable to related parties in the consolidated balance sheets
at May 31, 2009.
NOTE
11 - INCOME TAXES
Since its
inception, Acies has incurred net losses and, therefore, has no significant tax
liability. The net deferred tax asset has been fully offset by a valuation
allowance due to uncertainty regarding the realization of the assets. The
cumulative Federal net operating loss carry-forward is approximately $4,011,000
at March 31, 2009, and will expire in the years 2023 through 2029. The
net operating loss carryforwards may not be available to offset future taxable
income of Acies due to statutory limitations based on changes of ownership and
other statutory restrictions.
|
|
|
2009
|
|
|
2008
|
|
|
Deferred
rent
|
|
$ |
- |
|
|
$ |
31,800 |
|
|
Deferred
revenue
|
|
|
41,600 |
|
|
|
43,300 |
|
|
Stock-based
compensation
|
|
|
15,500 |
|
|
|
144,500 |
|
|
Net
operating losses
|
|
|
1,805,000 |
|
|
|
1,618,200 |
|
|
|
|
|
1,862,000 |
|
|
$ |
1,837,800 |
|
|
Valuation
allowance
|
|
|
(1,862,000
|
) |
|
|
(1,837,800
|
) |
|
Net
deferred tax asset
|
|
$ |
- |
|
|
$ |
- |
|
On April
1, 2007, we adopted the provisions of FASB Interpretation No. 48, “Accounting
for Uncertainty in Income Taxes” (“FIN 48”). FIN 48 provides
recognition criteria and a related measurement model for uncertain tax positions
taken or expected to be taken in income tax returns. FIN 48 requires that a
position taken or expected to be taken in a tax return be recognized in the
financial statements when it is more likely than not that the position would be
sustained upon examination by tax authorities. Tax positions that meet the more
likely than not threshold are then measured using a probability weighted
approach recognizing the largest amount of tax benefit that is greater than 50%
likely of being realized upon ultimate settlement. Acies had no tax positions
relating to open income tax returns that were considered to be uncertain.
Accordingly, we have not recorded a liability for unrecognized tax benefits upon
adoption of FIN 48. There continues to be no
liability related to unrecognized tax benefits at March 31,
2009.
As
reported in the Company’s Form 8-K filing dated July 24, 2008, Amper, Politziner
and Mattia, P.C. resigned as the Company’s independent registered public
accounting firm, and our Board of Directors replaced that firm with our current
principal independent accountants, GBH CPAs, PC. There were no disagreements, as
defined in Item 304 of Regulation S-K, between the Company and our former
independent registered public accountants.
ITEM
9A(T). CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
Disclosure
Controls and Procedures
Management
of the Company, with the participation of the Chief Executive Officer and Chief
Financial Officer, Oleg Firer, evaluated the effectiveness of the design and
operation of the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in
Rule 13a-15(e) of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended) as of
March 31, 2009. Based upon this evaluation, the Chief Executive
Officer, who is also the Chief Financial Officer, has concluded that the
Company’s disclosure controls and procedures were not effective as of March 31,
2009 because of the material weakness in internal control over financial
reporting described below.
Management’s
Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting.
Management
of the Company is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate
internal control over financial reporting, as defined in Rule 13a-15 (f) under
the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Management must
evaluate its internal controls over financial reporting, as required by
Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The Company's internal control over
financial reporting is a process designed under the supervision of the
Company's management to provide reasonable assurance regarding the
reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of the Company's
financial statements for external purposes in accordance with U.S.
generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”).
As of
March 31, 2009, management assessed the effectiveness of the
Company's internal control over financial reporting based on the
criteria for effective internal control over financial reporting
established in Internal Control-Integrated Framework issued by the Committee
of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway
Commission ("COSO") and
SEC guidance on conducting such assessments. Based on
that evaluation, they concluded that, during the period covered by this
report, such internal controls and procedures were not effective to detect the
inappropriate application of GAAP rules as more fully described below. This was
due to deficiencies that existed in the design or operation of
our internal controls over financial reporting that adversely
affected our internal controls and that may be considered to be material
weaknesses.
The
matters involving internal controls and procedures that the Company's
management considered to be material weaknesses under the standards of the
Public Company Accounting Oversight Board were: (1) inadequate segregation of
duties consistent with control objectives; (2) insufficient written policies and
procedures for accounting and financial reporting with respect to the
requirements and application of GAAP and SEC disclosure requirements; and (3)
ineffective controls over period end financial disclosure and reporting
processes. The aforementioned material weaknesses were identified by the
Company's management in connection with the financial statements as of
March 31, 2009.
Management
believes that the material weaknesses set forth above did not have an effect on
the Company's financial results reported herein.
We are
committed to improving our financial organization. As part of
this commitment, we will increase our personnel resources
and technical accounting expertise within the accounting function when
funds are available to the Company. In addition, at that time,
the Company will prepare and implement sufficient written policies and
checklists which will set forth procedures for accounting and financial
reporting with respect to the requirements and application of GAAP and
SEC disclosure requirements.
Management
believes that preparing and implementing sufficient written policies and
checklists will remedy the following material weaknesses (i)
insufficient written policies and procedures for accounting and
financial reporting with respect to the requirements
and application of GAAP and SEC disclosure requirements; and (ii)
ineffective controls over period end financial close and reporting
processes. Further, management believes that the hiring of additional
personnel who have the technical expertise and knowledge will result in
proper segregation of duties and provide more checks and balances
within the financial reporting department. Additional personnel will
also provide the cross training needed to support the Company if
personnel turnover issues within the financial reporting department
occur.
We will
continue to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of our internal controls
and procedures and our internal controls over financial reporting on an
ongoing basis and are committed to taking further action and
implementing additional enhancements or improvements, as necessary and
as funds allow.
This
Annual Report does not include an attestation report of the Company’s registered
public accounting firm regarding internal control over financial reporting.
Management’s report was not subject to attestation by the Company’s registered
public accounting firm pursuant to temporary rules of the Securities and
Exchange Commission that permit the company to provide only management’s report
in this annual report.
Changes
in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
ITEM
9B. OTHER INFORMATION
None.
PART
III
ITEM 10. DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE
OFFICERS, AND
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
Directors
are elected at each meeting of stockholders and hold office until the next
annual meeting of stockholders and the election and qualifications of their
successors. Executive officers are elected by and serve at the discretion of the
board of directors.
Our
executive officers, managers and directors are as follows:
|
Name
|
Age
|
Position
|
| |
|
|
|
Oleg
Firer
|
31
|
Chairman
of the Board of Directors, President
and Chief Executive Officer, and
Secretary
|
| |
|
|
|
Theodore
Ferrara (1)
|
44
|
Director
|
|
(1)
|
Effective
July 17, 2008, Mr. Ferrara was appointed as a Director of the
Company.
|
OLEG
FIRER, CHAIRMAN, PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER - From May 2005 to the
present, Oleg Firer has served as Chairman of the Board of Directors. From July
2004 to the present, Mr. Firer has served as our President, Chief Executive
Officer and Secretary and Treasurer until May 4, 2006. Mr. Firer has served as
the President of GM Merchant Solution, Inc., since August 2002. Additionally,
Mr. Firer has served as the Managing Partner of GMS Worldwide, LLC, since August
2003. From November 2002 to December 2003, Mr. Firer served as the Chief
Operating Officer of Digital Wireless Universe, Inc. From December 2001 to
November 2002, Mr. Firer served as the Managing Partner of CELLCELLCELL, LLC.
From March 1998 to December 2001, Mr. Firer served as Vice President of SpeedUS
Corp (NASDAQ: SPDE). Mr. Firer attended business management classes at Phoenix
University in 2000. Mr. Firer studied Computer Science at New York Technical
College from 1993 to 1995.
THEODORE
FERRARA, DIRECTOR – Mr. Ferrara has served as a Director of the Company since
July 17, 2008. Mr. Ferrara is currently the President of Sicon
Contractors Inc., where he has served since October 1991. Sicon
Contractors, Inc. is a construction company operating out of Brooklyn, New York
that specializes in the excavation, installation and restoration of
utilities. Mr. Ferrara has also served as the President of Rite
Holdings, Inc., since July 2007. From January 1985 to September 1991
he worked as a backhoe operator for Sical Contractors, Inc. in Brooklyn, New
York. The Company does not currently have an employment agreement or other
compensation arrangement in place with Mr. Ferrara.
EXECUTIVE
OFFICERS OF THE COMPANY
Officers
are appointed to serve at the discretion of the Board of Directors. None of our
executive officers, managers or directors has a family relationship with any
other of our executive officers, managers or directors. All executive officers
have agreed to abide by the Company’s Code of Ethics.
COMMITTEES
OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Audit and
compensation committees of our board of directors were formed on May 26, 2006,
both consisted of our three independent directors, Ms. Wachtel and Messrs.
Klores and Scigliano, prior to their resignations in July 2008. Subsequent
to their resignations, the Company has not had an audit committee and/or a
compensation committee and the functions of such committees have been handled
exclusively by the board of directors.
COMPLIANCE
WITH SECTION 16(a), BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP REPORTING COMPLIANCE
Based on
our review of copies of all disclosure reports filed by our directors and
executive officers pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of
1934, as amended, our officers and directors are in compliance with Section
16(a).
SUMMARY
COMPENSATION TABLE
|
Name
and principal position
|
Fiscal
Year
|
|
Salary
($)
|
|
Bonus
($)
|
|
Stock
awards
($)
(1)
|
|
Option
awards
($)
(1)
|
|
All
other compensation
($)
(2)
|
|
Total
($)
|
|
Oleg
Firer, President and CEO
|
2009
|
|
$
|
215,000
|
(a)
|
-
|
|
-
|
|
|
-
|
|
|
-
|
|
|
$215,000
|
|
|
2008
|
|
$
|
215,000
|
|
-
|
|
-
|
|
$
|
43,494
|
|
|
15,960
|
|
$
|
274,454
|
|
|
2007
|
|
$
|
211,433
|
|
-
|
|
-
|
|
$
|
90,898
|
|
$
|
15,720
|
|
$
|
318,051
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Jeffrey
A. Tischler, former EVP and CFO (3)
|
2009
|
|
$
|
45,000
|
|
-
|
|
-
|
|
|
-
|
|
|
-
|
|
|
$45,000
|
|
|
2008
|
|
$
|
180,000
|
|
-
|
|
-
|
|
$
|
13,846
|
|
$
|
12,000
|
|
$
|
192,000
|
|
|
2007
|
|
$
|
176,942
|
|
-
|
|
$68,750
|
|
$
|
73,851
|
|
$
|
5,000
|
|
$
|
324,543
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Yakov
Shimon, Former Vice President (4)
|
2009
|
|
$
|
86,667
|
|
-
|
|
-
|
|
|
-
|
|
|
-
|
|
$
|
86,667
|
|
|
2008
|
|
$
|
130,000
|
|
-
|
|
-
|
|
$
|
12,258
|
|
|
-
|
|
$
|
142,258
|
|
|
2007
|
|
$
|
118,333
|
|
-
|
|
-
|
|
$
|
24,109
|
|
$
|
4,850
|
|
$
|
147,292
|
(a)
Includes $95,000 which was accrued and unpaid.
(1) The
value for Stock and Option Awards in the table above represents the dollar
amount recognized for financial reporting purposes for each respective year in
accordance with Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 123R, Accounting
for Stock-Based Compensation (SFAS 123R). The dollar amount for each
named executive officer varies depending on the number of options held, the fair
value of such options, and the vesting terms of such options. See Note 6 of
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended March 31, 2008 for
information on the assumptions used to calculate the grant date fair value of
Option Awards and the expense recognized under SFAS 123R.
(2) Other
compensation for all named employees consists of premium payments for life
insurance policies pursuant to employment agreements. Such payments for Mr.
Shimon ceased in July 2006.
(3)
Effective May 31, 2008, Jeffrey A. Tischler resigned from the
Company.
(4)
Effective October 23, 2008, Yakov Shimon resigned from the
Company.
OUTSTANDING
EQUITY AWARDS AT MARCH 31, 2009
The
following table sets forth information regarding the unexercised options for
each of the named executive officers as of March 31, 2009:
|
Option
and Warrant Awards
|
| |
|
Name
|
|
Number
of Securities Underlying Unexercised Options and Warrants (#)
Exercisable
|
|
Number
of Securities Underlying Unexercised Options and Warrants (#)
Unexercisable
|
|
Option
or Warrant Exercise Price ($)
|
|
Option
or Warrant Expiration Date
|
|
Oleg
Firer
|
|
|
1,845,825
|
(1)
|
-
|
|
$
|
1.00
|
|
07/01/09
|
|
|
|
|
1,000,000
|
(2)
|
-
|
|
$
|
0.25
|
|
05/03/11
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(1)
Options granted July 1, 2004, and vested ratably each quarter over a three-year
period.
(2)
Options granted May 3, 2006, and vested ratably each quarter over a three-year
period.
EXECUTIVE
EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENTS
On July
1, 2004, we entered into a three-year employment contract with Oleg Firer to
serve as our Chief Executive Officer. Under the terms of the contract, Mr. Firer
received a base salary of $180,000 per year subject to upward or downward
adjustments each year after an annual review. Mr. Firer is also entitled to
receive annual performance based bonuses targeted at 30% or greater of his base
salary and contingent bonus based on certain performance factors. On May 5,
2006, we entered into a new employment agreement with Mr. Firer. The terms of
Mr. Firer’s employment agreement supersede the terms of the employment agreement
between dated July 1, 2004. In connection with such previous employment
agreement, on July 1, 2004 Mr. Firer was granted stock options to purchase
1,845,825 shares of our common stock at an exercise price of $1.00 per share
(the “2004 Option
Grant”), which options vested ratably on a quarterly basis over a 3 year
period from the date of grant and expired on July 1, 2009.
Mr.
Firer’s 2006 employment agreement has a three-year term and provides for an
annual base salary of $215,000 on an annualized basis, subject to periodic
adjustments. Under this agreement, Mr. Firer is entitled to earn periodic
incentive bonuses, based upon the achievement of milestones and objectives
established by our Board of Directors or Compensation Committee. For each fiscal
year covered by the agreement, Mr. Firer has been and will be eligible to earn
quarterly incentive bonus payments in the aggregate annual maximum amount of up
to 70% of his base salary based upon the achievement of milestones and
objectives established by our Board of Directors relating to revenue growth, net
income, and cash flow from operations, automobile allowance in an amount not to
exceed $1,500 per month and $1,000,000 whole life insurance policy with the
beneficiary designated by Mr. Firer. Under the employment agreement, Mr. Firer
also is eligible to earn annual discretionary bonuses. No such bonuses were
earned based on fiscal 2008 performance.
Mr.
Firer's employment contract expired May 4, 2009 and the Company plans to enter
into a new employment contract with him shortly after the filing of this
Report.
COMPENSATION
OF DIRECTORS
Members
of our Board of Directors receive cash compensation for their services as
Directors, and are reimbursed for reasonable expenses incurred in attending
Board or committee meetings. Directors do receive stock compensation for
services.
The
following table sets forth information concerning the compensation of our
directors, other than Mr. Firer, whose salary is described above, and who did
not receive any compensation other than his compensation for serving as an
officer of the Company, during the last completed fiscal year ended March 31,
2009:
|
Name
|
|
Fees
Earned
Total
|
|
|
Stock
awards
($)
(1)
|
|
|
Option
awards
($)
(1)
|
|
|
Total
($)
|
|
|
Theodore
Ferrara
|
|
$ |
- |
|
|
$ |
- |
|
|
$ |
- |
|
|
$ |
- |
|
ITEM
12. SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT AND RELATED
STOCKHOLDER MATTERS
The
following table identifies as of July 8, 2009 information regarding the
directors and executive officers of the Company and those persons or entities
who beneficially own more than 5% of the common stock of the Company, and the
number of and percent of the Company's common stock beneficially owned
by:
|
·
|
all
directors and nominees, naming
them,
|
|
·
|
our
executive officers,
|
|
·
|
our
directors and executive officers as a group, without naming them,
and
|
|
·
|
persons
or groups known by us to own beneficially 5% or more of our common
stock.
|
The
Company believes that all persons named in the table have sole voting and
investment power with respect to all shares of common stock beneficially owned
by them.
A person
or other entity is deemed to be the beneficial owner of securities that can be
acquired by that owner within 60 days from July 8, 2009. upon the exercise of
options, warrants or convertible securities. Each beneficial owner's percentage
ownership is determined by assuming that options, warrants or convertible
securities that are held by that owner, but not those held by any other owner,
and which are exercisable within 60 days of July 8, 2009 have been exercised and
converted.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Name
of Beneficial Owner
|
|
Common
Stock
|
|
|
Percentage
of
|
|
|
|
Beneficially
Owned
|
|
|
Common
Stock(1)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Oleg
Firer
|
|
37,780,009
|
(2)
|
|
44.9%
|
|
President,
CEO and Director
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
132
West 36th Street, 3rd Floor
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
New
York, New York 10018
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Yakov
Shimon
|
|
12,616,886
|
(3)
|
|
16.4%
|
|
152
Stonegate Dr.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Staten
Island, New York 10304
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Theodore
Ferrara (Rite Holdings, Inc.)
|
|
7,190,331
|
(4)
|
|
9.7%
|
|
Director
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
132
West 36th Street, 3rd Floor
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
New
York, New York 10018
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Pinnacle
Three Corporation
|
|
31,430,000
|
(5)
|
|
37.9%
|
|
1445
Windjammer Way
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hollywood,
Fl 33160
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
All
Officers and Directors
|
|
37,780,009
|
|
|
44.9%
|
|
As
a Group (2 persons)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(1)
|
Based
on 73,984,095 shares of common stock outstanding as of July 8, 2009,
except that shares of common stock underlying options or warrants
exercisable within 60 days of the date hereof are deemed to be outstanding
for purposes of calculating the beneficial ownership of securities of the
holder of such options or warrants.
|
|
(2)
|
Includes:
(i) 8,212,510 shares of common stock issued on July 2, 2004 pursuant to an
Exchange Agreement whereby Acies Corporation exchanged approximately 99.2%
of its issued and outstanding common stock for approximately 26,150,000
newly issued shares of common stock of Atlantic Synergy, Inc.; (ii)
342,188 shares of common stock each held by GM Merchant Solutions, Inc.
("GM-NY"), a New York corporation, and GMS Worldwide, LLC ("GMS-NY"), a
New York limited liability company, which Mr. Firer exercises voting and
investment power over; provided that Mr. Firer disclaims beneficial
ownership of such securities held by GM-NY and GMS-NY except to the extent
of his pecuniary interest in GM-NY and GMS-NY; (iii) 720,000 shares of
common stock issued on September 13, 2004 pursuant to the 2004
Officer/Director/Employee Stock Award Plan; (iv) 4,000 shares of common
stock purchased on the open market on October 5, 2004 at a price of $0.25
per share; (v) 5,200 shares of common stock purchased on the open market
on February 25, 2005 at a price of $0.19 per share; (vi) 8,200 shares of
common stock purchased on the open market on May 11, 2005 at a price of
$0.095 per share; and (vii) options issued on May 3, 2006 to purchase
1,000,000 shares of common stock at a price of $0.25 per share. Also
includes the result of Mr. Firer’s entry into Proxy Agreements or about
June 18, 2008, with six (6) different stockholders of the Company, holding
an aggregate of 17,895,723 shares of the Company’s common stock, whereby
they appointed Mr. Firer as proxy with full power of substitution to such
stockholder’s shares of common stock at any annual or special meeting held
within thirteen (13) months of each particular stockholders’ entry into
the Proxy Agreements (i.e., until July 18, 2009). The
stockholders that entered into Proxy Agreements with Mr. Firer include
Rite Holdings, Inc. (7,190,331 shares), Yakov Shimon (8,932,510 shares),
Leonid Shimon (266,907 shares), Arkady Khavulya (1,423,175 shares),
Stanislav Pavlenko (7,800 shares), and G.R. Woitzik (75,000
shares). Also includes a promissory note the principal amount
of $185,000, which is convertible into 9,250,000 shares of the Company’s
common stock at the rate of $0.02 per
share.
|
|
(3)
|
Includes:
(i) 8,212,510 shares of common stock issued on July 2, 2004 pursuant to an
Exchange Agreement whereby Acies Corporation exchanged approximately 99.2%
of its issued and outstanding common stock for approximately 26,150,000
newly issued shares of common stock of Atlantic Synergy, Inc.; (ii)
342,188 shares of common stock each held by GM Merchant Solutions, Inc.
("GM-NY"), a New York corporation, and GMS Worldwide, LLC ("GMS-NY"), a
New York limited liability company, which Mr. Yakov exercises voting and
investment power over; provided that Mr. Yakov disclaims beneficial
ownership of such securities held by GM-NY and GMS-NY except to the extent
of his pecuniary interest in GM-NY and GMS-NY; (iii) 720,000
shares of common stock issued on September 13, 2004 pursuant to the 2004
Officer/Director/Employee Stock Award Plan; and (v) options issued on May
3, 2006 to purchase 3,000,000 shares of common stock at a price of $0.25
per share.
|
|
(4)
|
Includes
7,190,331 shares of common stock sold to Rite Holdings on March 8, 2008
previously owned by Miron Guilliadov. The beneficial owner of
the shares held by Rite Holdings is Theodore Ferrara, who became our
Director on July 17, 2008.
|
|
(5)
|
Includes
22,515,000 shares of common stock issued upon conversion of the Promissory
Note issued to Pinnacle Three Corporation for $450,000 at an exercise
price of $0.02 per share including accrued interest of $300. Also includes
promissory notes in the principal amount of $178,300, which are
convertible into 8,915,000 shares of the Company’s common stock at
the rate of $0.02 per share.
|
ITEM
13. CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS, AND DIRECTOR
INDEPENDENCE
During
the year ended March 31, 2008, the Company paid approximately $22,500 for
equipment previously purchased from ViVOtech Inc. Jeffrey D. Klores, a former
Director of the Company, was Vice President of Sales for ViVOtech Inc at the
time of the purchase. During the corresponding period ended March 31,
2007, the Company purchased equipment from ViVOtech Inc. aggregating of
$22,947.
During
the year ended March 31, 2009, the Company paid approximately $7,692 in residual
commissions and accrued $37,616 in addition to a balance carried forward from
the year ended March 31, 2008 of $13,859 to CROM Merchant Services, Inc. an
entity controlled by Theodore Ferrara, then an independent sales agent,
and a principal of Rite Holdings, Inc., which is a significant shareholder
of the Company. Mr. Ferrara is also currently a Director of the
Company.
Our
former independent directors, Mr. Klores, Mr. Scigliano and Ms. Wachtel,
qualified as being independent pursuant to the rules and regulations of
NASDAQ. Subsequent to their resignations in July 2008, the Company
has not had an audit committee and/or a compensation committee and the functions
of such committees have been handled exclusively by the board of
directors.
On July
17, 2008, the Board of Directors of the Company approved a decrease in the
number of Directors of the Company from four (4) to two (2) and appointed
Theodore Ferrara as a Director of the Company to fill the one remaining vacancy
on the Board.
We
maintain office space for our executive offices at 3363 NE 163rd Street,
Suite 705, North Miami Beach, Florida 33160, which is provided to us free of
charge by Star Capital Holdings, Inc., a company affiliated with our Chief
Executive Officer, Oleg Firer.
In June
2008, the Company borrowed $450,000 through the execution of a
convertible promissory note with Pinnacle Three Corporation(“Pinnacle”), bearing
interest at a rate of 8% per annum, with principal and all accrued interest
payable in November 2010. On June6, 2008, the Company received a
conversion letter from Pinnacle requesting conversion of the principal and
accrued interest into 22,515,000 shares of the Company's common stock
at a price of $0.02 per share, per the terms of the Note agreement. On July 17,
2008, the Company issued 22,515,000 shares to Pinnacle in exchange for
the Settlement Agreement and Mutual Release between Pinnacle and the
Company.
During
the months of August and September 2008, the Company borrowed $172,653
through the execution of a convertible promissory note with
Pinnacle Three Corporation (“Pinnacle”). In July 2009, the Company entered
into an additional 18% Convertible Promissory Note with Pinnacle to evidence an
additional $5,647 loaned by Pinnacle to the Company. The notes bear
interest at a rate of 18% per annum, with principal and all accrued interest
payable
on September 23, 2009. The Pinnacle notes are convertible into shares of
the Company’s common stock at an exercise price of $0.02 per
share at any time prior to the maturity date. Accrued interest is $15,500 as of
March 31, 2009.
On
September 23, 2008, the Company entered into an 18% Convertible
Promissory Note in favor of Mr. Firer, Acies’ Chief Executive Officer to
evidence the amount of $185,000 owed by the Company to Mr. Firer in
connection with various expenses paid by Mr. Firer on the
Company's behalf and reimbursements he is owed dating back to April 2006.
Under the terms and conditions of the note, the Company promised to
pay to Mr. Firer a principal sum in the amount of $185,000, together with
accrued and unpaid interest at the rate of 18% per annum, on September 23, 2009.
The note is convertible into shares of the Company's common stock at
an exercise price of $0.02 per share at any time prior to the maturity date. The
note is redeemable by the Company by payment of the entire principal
and interest outstanding under the note to Mr. Firer. The Company must
provide 30 days notice to Mr. Firer prior to redemption. Accrued interest is
$16,600 as of March 31, 2009.
During
the year ended March 31, 2009, Pinnacle and Star Capital Fund, LLC
have paid for certain day-to-day operating expenses on behalf of the
Company. Payments of approximately $5,600 and $32,700, respectively, are
included accounts payable to related parties in the consolidated balance sheets
at May 31, 2009.
ITEM
14. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTANT FEES AND SERVICES
The
following is a summary of the fees billed to the Company by its independent
registered public accounting firm for professional services rendered during
fiscal years 2008 and 2007:
|
FEE
CATEGORY
|
|
FISCAL
2009
|
|
|
FISCAL
2008
|
|
|
Audit
Fees
|
|
$
|
57,000
|
|
|
$
|
125,747
|
|
|
Audit-Related
Fees
|
|
|
-
|
|
|
|
-
|
|
|
Tax
Fees
|
|
|
-
|
|
|
|
9,390
|
|
|
All
Other Fees
|
|
|
-
|
|
|
|
-
|
|
|
Total
Fees
|
|
$
|
57,000
|
|
|
$
|
135,137
|
|
Audit
Fees. Consists of fees billed for professional services rendered by GBH CPAs, PC
for the audit of the Company’s consolidated financial statements for the years
ended March 31, 2009 and 2008 and the review of the interim consolidated
financial statements included in the quarterly reports for the year ended March
31, 2009 and fees billed by Amper, Politziner & Mattia, P.C. for the year
ended March 31, 2008.
Audit-Related
Fees. No audit-related fees were billed for the years ended March 31, 2009 and
2008.
Tax Fees.
Tax fees consist of fees billed for professional services for tax compliance,
tax advice and tax planning by Amper, Politziner & Mattia, P.C. These
services include assistance regarding federal and state tax compliance and tax
planning.
All Other
Fees. No other fees were billed for the years ended March 31, 2009 and
2008.
ITEM
15. EXHIBITS
The
following exhibits are included as part of this Form 10-K. References to "the Company" in this
Exhibit List refer to Acies Corporation, a Nevada corporation.
|
3.1
|
Articles
of Incorporation of TerenceNet, Inc. dated October 11, 2000. (Incorporated
by reference to Exhibit 3 to TerenceNet, Inc.'s Form 10-SB, as amended,
filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 5,
2002).
|
|
3.2
|
Bylaws
of TerenceNet, Inc. (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4 to TerenceNet,
Inc.'s Form 10-SB, as amended, filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission on April 5, 2002).
|
|
3.3
|
Certificate
of Amendment of Articles of Incorporation (Incorporated by reference to
Exhibit 3 to Atlantic Synergy, Inc.'s Form 8-K filed with the Securities
and Exchange Commission on July 9,
2004).
|
|
4.1
|
Form
of Series A Common Stock Purchase Warrant issued to investors pursuant to
the February 3, 2005 private placement (Incorporated by reference to
Exhibit 4.2 to the Company's Form 8-K filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission on February 8,
2005).
|
|
10.1
|
Exchange
Agreement by and between Acies, Inc. and Atlantic Synergy, Inc. dated as
of July 2, 2004 (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 2 to Atlantic
Synergy, Inc.'s Form 8-K/A filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission on July 12, 2004).
|
|
10.2
|
Year
2004 Stock Award Plan of Atlantic Synergy, Inc. (Incorporated by reference
to Exhibit 4 to Atlantic Synergy, Inc.'s Form S-8 filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission on August 31,
2004).
|
|
10.3
|
Year
2004 Officer/Director/Employee Stock Award Plan of Atlantic Synergy, Inc.
(Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4 to Atlantic Synergy, Inc.'s Form
S-8 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on September 13,
2004).
|
|
10.4
|
Form
of Subscription Agreement by and between Atlantic Synergy, Inc. and the
purchasers identified on the signature pages thereto dated as of September
2, 2004 (Incorporated by reference to the Company’s Registration Statement
on Form SB-2 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 4,
2005).
|
|
10.5
|
Investor
Relations Agreement by and between Acies, Inc. and Investor Relations
Network dated as of December 3, 2004 (Incorporated by reference to the
Company’s Registration Statement on Form SB-2 filed with the Securities
and Exchange Commission on March 4,
2005).
|
|
10.6
|
Securities
Purchase Agreement by and between the Company and the purchasers
identified on the signature pages thereto dated as of February 3, 2005
(Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.1 to the Company's Form 8-K filed
with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 8,
2005).
|
|
10.7
|
Registration
Rights Agreement by and between the Company and the purchasers identified
on the signature pages thereto dated as of February 3, 2005 (Incorporated
by reference to Exhibit 4.3 to the Company's Form 8-K filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission on February 8,
2005).
|
|
10.8
|
Employment
Agreement by and between the Company and Oleg Firer dated as of May 5,
2006 (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Company’s Form 8-K
filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 12,
2006).
|
|
10.9
|
Employment
Agreement by and between the Company and Yakov Shimon dated as of July 1,
2004 (Incorporated by reference to the Company’s Registration Statement on
Form SB-2 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 4,
2005).
|
|
10.10
|
Employment
Agreement by and between the Company and Miron Guilliadov dated as of July
1, 2004 (Incorporated by reference to the Company’s Registration Statement
on Form SB-2 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 4,
2005).
|
|
10.11
|
Form
of Subscription Agreement by and between GM Merchant Solutions, Inc. and
the purchasers identified on the signature pages thereto dated as of June
2, 2004 (Incorporated by reference to the Company’s Registration Statement
on Form SB-2 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 4,
2005).
|
|
|
|
|
10.12
|
Employment
Agreement by and between the Company and Jeffrey A. Tischler dated as of
May 5, 2006 (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to the Company’s
Form 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 12,
2006).
|
|
10.13
|
Loan
and Security Agreement by and between the Company and RBL Capital Group,
LLC, dated October 31, 2006, providing a Term Loan Facility with a maximum
borrowing of $2,000,000.00 (Incorporated by reference to the Company’s
Form 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on November 6,
2006).
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10.14
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Convertible
Promissory Note with Pinnacle Three Corporation (Incorporated by reference
to the Company’s Form 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission on July 21, 2008).
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10.15
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Settlement
Agreement and Mutual Release Between Pinnacle Three Corporation and the
Company (Incorporated by reference to the Company’s Form 8-K filed with
the Securities and Exchange Commission on July 21,
2008).
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10.16
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Convertible
Promissory Note with Pinnacle Three Corporation (Incorporated by reference
to the Company’s Form 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission on September 29, 2008).
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10.17
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Convertible
Promissory Note with Oleg Firer (Incorporated by reference to the
Company’s Form 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on
September 29, 2008).
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10.18
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Lease
Termination Agreement between CRP/Capstone 14 W Property Owner, L.L.C. and
the Company (Incorporated by reference to the Company’s Form 10-Q filed
with the Securities and Exchange Commission on November 17,
2008).
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10.19
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Convertible
Promissory Note with Pinnacle Three Corporation (filed
herewith).
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16.1
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Letter
from Amper, Politziner & Mattia, P.C. (Incorporated by reference to
the Company’s Form 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission
on July 30, 2008).
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31
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Certification
by Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer pursuant to
Sarbanes-Oxley Section 302 (filed
herewith).
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32
|
Certification
by Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer pursuant to 18
U.S.C. Section 1350 (filed
herewith).
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In
accordance with the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on
its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
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|
ACIES
CORPORATION
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Date:
July 14, 2009
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By:
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/s/ Oleg
Firer
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Oleg
Firer
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Chief
Executive Officer (Principal Executive
Officer)
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|
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Date:
July 14, 2009
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By:
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/s/ Oleg
Firer
|
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Oleg
Firer
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Chief
Financial Officer (Principal Accounting
Officer)
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In
accordance with the requirements of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934,
this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the
registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.
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SIGNATURE
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TITLE
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|
DATE
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By: /s/ Oleg
Firer
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Chairman
of the Board, and
Chief
Executive Officer
(Principal
Executive Officer)
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July
14, 2009
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Oleg
Firer
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By:/s/
Oleg
Firer
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Chief
Financial Officer (Principal Accounting Officer)
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|
|
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Oleg
Firer
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|
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July
14, 2009
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By: /s/ Theodore
Ferrara
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Director
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July
14, 2009
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Theodore
Ferrara
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