Revenue Recognition, Contracts with Customers (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Apr. 30, 2019

Revenue Recognition, Contracts with Customers [Abstract]

Revenue from Contracts With Customers Disaggregated by Segment and Product Type

The following tables present our revenue from contracts with customers disaggregated by segment and product type for the years ended April 30, 2019, 2018 and 2017:

	Years Ended April 30,
	2019								2018								2017
	Research		Publishing		Solutions		Total		Research		Publishing		Solutions		Total		Research		Publishing		Solutions		Total
Research:
Journals Subscriptions	$	661,055	$	—	$	—	$	661,055	$	677,685	$	—	$	—	$	677,685	$	639,720	$	—	$	—	$	639,720
Open Access		54,671		—		—		54,671		41,997		—		—		41,997		30,633		—		—		30,633
Licensing, Reprints, Backfiles and Other		185,619		—		—		185,619		181,806		—		—		181,806		164,070		—		—		164,070
Publishing Technology Services (Atypon)		35,968		—		—		35,968		32,907		—		—		32,907		19,066		—		—		19,066
Publishing:
STM and Professional Publishing		—		265,719		—		265,719		—		287,315		—		287,315		—		291,255		—		291,255
Education Publishing		—		157,579		—		157,579		—		187,178		—		187,178		—		196,343		—		196,343
Courseware (WileyPLUS)		—		63,485		—		63,485		—		59,475		—		59,475		—		62,348		—		62,348
Test Preparation and Certification		—		40,606		—		40,606		—		35,534		—		35,534		—		35,609		—		35,609
Licensing, Distribution, Advertising and Other		—		46,803		—		46,803		—		48,146		—		48,146		—		47,894		—		47,894
Solutions:
Education Services		—		—		157,549		157,549		—		—		119,131		119,131		—		—		111,638		111,638
Professional Assessment		—		—		65,889		65,889		—		—		61,094		61,094		—		—		59,868		59,868
Corporate Learning		—		—		65,126		65,126		—		—		63,835		63,835		—		—		60,086		60,086
Total	$	937,313	$	574,192	$	288,564	$	1,800,069	$	934,395	$	617,648	$	244,060	$	1,796,103	$	853,489	$	633,449	$	231,592	$	1,718,530

Contract Asset and Liability Balances

The following table provides information about receivables and contract liabilities from contracts with customers.

	April 30, 2019		April 30, 2018 ⁽¹⁾		Increase/ (Decrease)
Balances from contracts with customers:
Accounts receivable, net ⁽²⁾	$	294,867	$	212,377	$	82,490
Contract liability (Deferred revenue) ⁽²⁾		507,365		486,353		21,012
Contract liability (Deferred revenue) (included in Other Long-Term Liabilities)	$	10,722	$	—	$	10,722

⁽¹⁾As noted above, prior period amounts have not been adjusted due to adoption of the new revenue standard under the modified retrospective method.

⁽²⁾Due to the adoption of the new revenue standard, the sales return reserve as of April 30, 2019 of $25.9 million is recorded in Contract Liability (Deferred Revenue). In prior periods, it was recorded as a reduction to Accounts Receivable, net on the Consolidated Statements of Financial Position. At April 30, 2018 the sales return reserve was $28.3 million.