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Fee Revenue
9 Months Ended
Jan. 31, 2020
Revenue From Contract With Customer [Abstract]  
Fee Revenue

7. Fee Revenue

Substantially all fee revenue is derived from talent and organizational consulting services and digital sales, fees for professional services related to executive and professional recruitment performed on a retained basis and RPO, standalone or as part of a solution.

Contract Balances

A contract asset (unbilled receivables) is recorded when the Company transfers control of products or services before there is an unconditional right to payment. A contract liability (deferred revenue) is recorded when cash is received in advance of performance of the obligation. Deferred revenue represents the future performance obligations to transfer control of products or services for which we have already received consideration. Deferred revenue is presented in other accrued liabilities on the consolidated balance sheet.

The following table outlines our contract asset and liability balances as of January 31, 2020 and April 30, 2019:

 

 

 

January 31, 2020

 

 

April 30, 2019

 

 

 

(in thousands)

 

Contract assets (unbilled receivables)

 

$

91,462

 

 

$

60,595

 

Contract liabilities (deferred revenue)

 

$

142,014

 

 

$

112,999

 

 

During the nine months ended January 31, 2020, we recognized revenue of $84.1 million that was included in the contract liabilities balance at the beginning of the period.

Performance Obligations

The Company has elected to apply the practical expedient to exclude the value of unsatisfied performance obligations for contracts with a duration of one year or less, which applies to all executive search and professional search fee revenue. As of January 31, 2020, the aggregate transaction price allocated to the performance obligations that are unsatisfied for contracts with an expected duration of greater than one year at inception was $596.1 million. Of the $596.1 million of remaining performance obligations, the Company expects to recognize approximately $122.0 million as fee revenue in fiscal 2020, $263.6 million in fiscal 2021, $117.2 million in fiscal 2022 and the remaining $93.3 million in fiscal 2023 and thereafter. However, this amount should not be considered an indication of the Company’s future revenue as contracts with an initial term of one year or less are not included. Further, the Company’s contract terms and conditions allow for clients to increase or decrease the scope of services and such changes do not increase or decrease a performance obligation until the Company has an enforceable right to payment.

Disaggregation of Revenue

The Company disaggregates its revenue by line of business and further by region for Executive Search. This information is presented in Note 10—Segments.

The following table provides further disaggregation of fee revenue by industry:

 

 

 

Three Months Ended January 31,

 

 

 

2020

 

 

2019

 

 

 

Dollars

 

 

%

 

 

Dollars

 

 

%

 

 

 

(dollars in thousands)

 

Industrial

 

$

148,552

 

 

 

28.8

%

 

$

138,460

 

 

 

29.2

%

Financial Services

 

 

87,917

 

 

 

17.1

 

 

 

86,570

 

 

 

18.2

 

Life Sciences/Healthcare

 

 

88,924

 

 

 

17.3

 

 

 

76,654

 

 

 

16.2

 

Consumer Goods

 

 

76,719

 

 

 

14.9

 

 

 

74,186

 

 

 

15.6

 

Technology

 

 

78,823

 

 

 

15.3

 

 

 

66,188

 

 

 

13.9

 

Education/Non-Profit

 

 

32,142

 

 

 

6.2

 

 

 

29,108

 

 

 

6.1

 

General

 

 

2,248

 

 

 

0.4

 

 

 

3,338

 

 

 

0.8

 

Fee Revenue

 

$

515,325

 

 

 

100.0

%

 

$

474,504

 

 

 

100.0

%

 

 

 

Nine Months Ended January 31,

 

 

 

2020

 

 

2019

 

 

 

Dollars

 

 

%

 

 

Dollars

 

 

%

 

 

 

(dollars in thousands)

 

Industrial

 

$

427,469

 

 

 

28.6

%

 

$

418,159

 

 

 

29.1

%

Financial Services

 

 

260,250

 

 

 

17.4

 

 

 

260,975

 

 

 

18.2

 

Life Sciences/Healthcare

 

 

259,845

 

 

 

17.4

 

 

 

239,425

 

 

 

16.7

 

Consumer Goods

 

 

223,779

 

 

 

15.0

 

 

 

224,848

 

 

 

15.7

 

Technology

 

 

218,273

 

 

 

14.6

 

 

 

189,155

 

 

 

13.2

 

Education/Non-Profit

 

 

92,605

 

 

 

6.3

 

 

 

90,748

 

 

 

6.3

 

General

 

 

10,042

 

 

 

0.7

 

 

 

11,967

 

 

 

0.8

 

Fee Revenue

 

$

1,492,263

 

 

 

100.0

%

 

$

1,435,277

 

 

 

100.0

%