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1. Basis of Presentation and Use of Estimates
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]  
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements Disclosure BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND USE OF ESTIMATES
Basis of Presentation

In this report, “Bio-Rad,” “we,” “us,” “the Company” and “our” refer to Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. and its subsidiaries.  The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements of Bio-Rad have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (GAAP) and reflect all adjustments which are, in the opinion of management, necessary to fairly state the results of the interim periods presented.  All such adjustments are of a normal recurring nature. Results for the interim period are not necessarily indicative of the results for the entire year.  The condensed consolidated balance sheet at December 31, 2020 has been derived from the audited consolidated financial statements at that date but does not include all of the information and footnotes required by GAAP for complete financial statements. The condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the notes to the consolidated financial statements contained in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020.

We evaluate subsequent events and the evidence they provide about conditions existing at the date of the balance sheet as well as conditions that arose after the balance sheet date but through the date the financial statements are issued.  The effects of conditions that existed at the balance sheet date are recognized in the financial statements. Events and conditions arising after the balance sheet date but before the financial statements are issued are evaluated to determine if disclosure is required to keep the financial statements from being misleading.  To the extent such events and conditions exist, disclosures are made regarding the nature of events and the estimated financial effects of those events and conditions.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of the condensed consolidated financial statements requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingencies at the date of the financial statements as well as the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting periods. Bio-Rad bases its estimates on historical experience and on various other market-specific and other relevant assumptions that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results could differ materially from those estimates.

Revenue Recognition

We recognize revenue from operations through the sale of products, services, license of intellectual property and rental of instruments. Revenue from contracts with customers is recognized upon transfer of control of promised products or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration we expect to receive in exchange for those products or services. We enter into contracts that can include various combinations of products and services, which are generally accounted for as distinct performance obligations. Revenue is recognized net of any taxes collected from customers (sales tax, value added tax, etc.), which are subsequently remitted to government authorities.
Our contracts from customers often include promises to transfer multiple products and services to a customer. Determining whether products and services are considered distinct performance obligations that should be accounted for separately versus together may require significant judgment, and may impact the timing of revenue recognition. Revenue associated with equipment that requires factory installation is not recognized until installation is complete and customer acceptance, if required, has occurred. Certain equipment requires installation due to the fact that the instruments are being operated in a clinical/laboratory environment, and the installation services could result in modification of the equipment in order to ensure that the instruments are working according to customer specifications, which are subject to validation tests upon completion of the installation. In these arrangements, which require factory installation, the delivery of the equipment and the installation are separate performance obligations. We recognize the transaction price allocated to the equipment only upon customer acceptance, as the transfer of control in relation to the equipment has occurred at that point as the customer has the ability to direct the use of and obtain substantially all of the remaining benefits from the asset. The transaction price allocated to the installation services is also recognized upon customer acceptance because without the completion of the installation services and related customer acceptance the customer cannot receive any of the benefits of the service.

At the time revenue is recognized, a provision is recorded for estimated product returns as this right is considered variable consideration. Accordingly, when product revenues are recognized, the transaction price is reduced by the estimated amount of product returns.

Service revenues on extended warranty contracts are recognized ratably over the life of the service agreement as a stand-ready performance obligation. For arrangements that include a combination of products and services, the transaction price is allocated to each performance obligation based on stand-alone selling prices. The method used to determine the stand-alone selling prices for product and service revenues is based on the observable prices when the product or services have been sold separately.

We recognize revenues for a functional license of intellectual property at a point in time when the control of the license and technology transfers to the customer. For license agreements that include sales or usage-based royalty payments to us, we recognize revenue at the later of (i) when the related sale of the product occurs, or (ii) when the performance obligation to which some or all of the royalty has been allocated has been satisfied, or partially satisfied.

The primary purpose of our invoicing terms is to provide customers with simple and predictable methods of purchasing our products and services, not to either provide or receive financing to or from our customers. We record contract liabilities when cash payments are received or due in advance of our performance.

We do not disclose the value of unsatisfied performance obligations for contracts with an original expected length of one year or less. Our payment terms vary by the type and location of our customer, and the products and services offered. The term between invoicing and when payment is due is not significant.

In the third quarter of fiscal year 2021, we received approximately $32.5 million related to a settlement of an intellectual property litigation for sales of products infringing on our patents during the period from November 2018 through July 2021. Of the total amount, we recognized $31.6 million as revenue, based on the estimated stand-alone royalty rate associated with the infringed patents and is included as part of Net sales in our condensed consolidated statements of income.

Reagent Rental Agreements

Reagent rental agreements are a diagnostic industry sales method that provides use of an instrument and consumables (reagents) to a customer on a per test basis. These agreements may also include maintenance of the instruments placed at customer locations as well as initial training. We determine if a reagent rental arrangement contains a lease at contract commencement. Where we have determined that such an arrangement contains a lease, we next must ascertain its lease classification for purposes of applying appropriate accounting treatment as an operating, sales-type or direct financing lease. For purposes of determining the lease term used in performing the
lease classification test, we include the noncancellable period of the lease together with those periods covered by the option to extend the lease if the customer is reasonably certain to exercise that option, the periods covered by an option to terminate the lease if the customer is reasonably certain not to exercise that option, and the periods covered by the option to extend (or not to terminate) the lease in which exercise of the option is controlled by the Company. While most of our reagent rental arrangements contain either the option for a lessee to extend and/or cancel, the period in which the contract is enforceable is a very short period and therefore the lease term has been limited to the noncancellable period. Generally these arrangements do not contain an option for the lessee to purchase the underlying asset.

We concluded that the use of the instrument (referred to as “lease elements”) is not within the guidance of ASC 606 but rather ASC 842. Accordingly, we first allocate the transaction price between the lease elements and the non-lease elements based on relative standalone selling prices. The determination of the transaction price requires judgment and consideration of any fixed/minimum payments as well as estimates of variable consideration. After allocation, the amount of variable payments allocated to lease components will be recognized as income under ASC 842, while the amount of variable payments allocated to non-lease components will be recognized as income in accordance with ASC 606.

Maintenance services, along with the reagents, are allocated to the non-lease elements and are recognized as income. Generally, the terms of the arrangements result in the transfer of control for reagents upon either (i) when the consumables are delivered or (ii) when the consumables are consumed by the customer.

Our reagent rental arrangements are predominantly comprised of variable lease payments that fluctuate depending on the volume of reagents purchased, as very few of such arrangements contain any fixed/minimum lease payments.  Further, our reagent rental arrangements are predominantly classified as operating leases, and any sales-type leases represent in aggregate an immaterial amount of lease income. Our reported lease income is primarily variable in nature and is recognized upon delivery or as the reagents are consumed by the customer.
Revenue allocated to the lease elements of these reagent rental arrangements represented approximately 2% and 3% of total revenue for both the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021 and September 30, 2020, respectively, and are included as part of Net sales in our condensed consolidated statements of income.

Contract costs:

As a practical expedient, we expense as incurred costs to obtain contracts as the amortization period would have been one year or less. These costs include our internal sales force and certain partner sales incentive programs and are recorded within Selling, general and administrative expense in our condensed consolidated statements of income.

Disaggregation of Revenue:

The following table presents our revenues disaggregated by geographic region (in millions):
Three Months EndedNine Months Ended
September 30,September 30,
2021202020212020
Europe$221.5 $220.9 $698.2 $590.6 
Asia171.2 142.0 512.2 382.3 
United States315.4 250.4 861.4 685.4 
Other (primarily Canada and Latin America)38.9 34.0 118.0 97.5 
Total net sales$747.0 $647.3 $2,189.8 $1,755.8 
The disaggregation of our revenue by geographic region is based primarily on the location of the use of the product or service, and by industry segment sources. The disaggregation of our revenue by industry segment sources are presented in our Segment Information footnote (see Note 10).

Deferred revenues primarily represent unrecognized fees billed or collected for extended service arrangements. The deferred revenue balance at September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020 was $67.0 million and $60.0 million, respectively. The short-term deferred revenue balance at September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020 was $47.9 million and $42.5 million, respectively.

We warrant certain equipment against defects in design, materials and workmanship, generally for a period of one year. We estimate the cost of warranties at the time the related revenue is recognized based on historical experience, specific warranty terms and customer feedback. These costs are recorded within Cost of goods sold in our condensed consolidated statements of income.  

Warranty liabilities are included in Other current liabilities and Other long-term liabilities in the condensed consolidated balance sheets. Change in our warranty liability for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2021 and 2020 were as follows (in millions):
Nine Months Ended
September 30,
20212020
Balance at beginning of period$9.8 $9.0 
Provision for warranty8.7 5.4 
Actual warranty costs(8.3)(6.1)
Balance at end of period$10.2 $8.3 

Allowance for Doubtful Accounts

We record trade accounts receivable at the net invoice value and such receivables are non-interest bearing. We consider receivables past due based on the contractual payment terms. We review our exposure to accounts receivable and reserve for amounts if collectability is no longer reasonably assured based on an assessment of various factors including historical loss rates and expectations of forward-looking loss estimates.

Any adjustments made to our historical loss experience reflect current differences in asset-specific risk characteristics, including, for example, accounts receivable by customer type (public or government entity versus private entity) and by geographic location of customer.

Changes in our allowance for doubtful accounts were as follows (in millions):
Nine Months Ended
September 30,
20212020
Balance at beginning of period$19.8 $20.2 
Provision for expected credit losses0.6 1.2 
Write-offs charged against the allowance(5.6)(2.1)
 Recoveries collected0.2 0.1 
Balance at end of period$15.0 $19.4 
Recent Accounting Pronouncements Adopted

In March 2020, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued Accounting Standards Update (ASU) No. 2020-04, "Facilitation of the Effects of Reference Rate Reform on Financial Reporting (Topic 848)"  The ASU provides optional expedients and exceptions for applying GAAP to transactions affected by reference rate (e.g., LIBOR) reform if certain criteria are met, for a limited period of time to ease the potential burden in accounting for (or recognizing the effects of) reference rate reform on financial reporting.  The ASU is effective as of March 12, 2020 through December 31, 2022.  We will evaluate transactions or contract modifications occurring as a result of reference rate reform and determine whether to apply the optional guidance on an ongoing basis.  The ASU is currently not expected to have a material impact on our condensed consolidated financial statements. 
In January 2020, the FASB issued ASU 2020-01, "Clarifying the Interactions between Topic 321 Investments—Equity Securities, Topic 323 Investments—Equity Method and Joint Ventures, and Topic 815 Derivatives and Hedging." ASU 2020-01 clarifies that a company should consider observable transactions that require a company to either apply or discontinue the equity method of accounting under Topic 323 for the purposes of applying the measurement alternative in accordance with Topic 321 immediately before applying or upon discontinuing the equity method. ASU 2020-01 also clarifies that, when determining the accounting for certain forward contracts and purchased options a company should not consider, whether upon settlement or exercise, if the underlying securities would be accounted for under the equity method or fair value option. The adoption of ASU 2020-01 did not have a material impact on our condensed consolidated financial statements.

In December 2019, the FASB issued ASU 2019-12, "Simplifying the Accounting for Income Taxes," which
eliminates certain exceptions within ASC 740, Income Taxes, and clarifies other aspects of the current guidance to
promote consistency among reporting entities. ASU 2019-12 was effective for fiscal years beginning after
December 15, 2020, with any adjustments reflected as of January 1, 2021. The adoption of ASU 2019-12 did not have a material impact on our condensed consolidated financial statements.