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Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2022
Accounting Policies [Abstract]  
Summary of Significant Accounting Policies Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
Nature of Operations. Robert Half International Inc. (the “Company”) is a specialized talent solutions and business consulting firm that connects opportunities at great companies with highly skilled job seekers. Robert Half® offers contract talent solutions and permanent placement talent solutions for finance and accounting, technology, marketing and creative, legal, administrative and customer support roles. Robert Half is also the parent company of Protiviti®, a global consulting firm that provides internal audit, risk, business, and technology consulting solutions.
The Company completed a multiyear process to unify its family of Robert Half endorsed divisional brands to a single brand, Robert Half. This simplifies the Company’s go-to-market brand structure for clients and candidates, provides leverage for greater brand awareness, and allows future flexibility to expand the Company’s existing functional specializations. In connection with this process, the Company’s current financial statement disclosures reflect new names for its reportable segments, including contract talent solutions (formerly temporary and consultant staffing), permanent placement talent solutions (formerly permanent placement staffing) and Protiviti (formerly risk consulting and internal audit services). What was previously referred to as staffing operations is now referred to as talent solutions.
The presentation of contract talent solutions includes functional specializations rather than the previously branded divisions. The functional specializations are: finance and accounting, which combines the former Accountemps® and Robert Half® Management Resources divisions; administrative and customer support, which consists of the former OfficeTeam®; and technology, which includes the former Robert Half® Technology.
The Company operates in North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Australia. The Company is a Delaware corporation.
Basis of Presentation. The unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements (“Financial Statements”) of the Company are prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) and the rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). The comparative year-end Condensed Consolidated Statement of Financial Position data presented was derived from audited financial statements. In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting of only normal recurring adjustments) necessary for a fair statement of the financial position and results of operations for the periods presented have been included. These Financial Statements should be read in conjunction with the audited Consolidated Financial Statements of the Company for the year ended December 31, 2021, included in its Annual Report on Form 10-K. The results of operations for any interim period are not necessarily indicative of, nor comparable to, the results of operations for a full year. Certain reclassifications have been made to prior year’s Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements to conform to the 2022 presentation.
Principles of Consolidation. The Financial Statements include the accounts of the Company and its subsidiaries, all of which are wholly-owned. All intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.
Use of Estimates. The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make 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. As of September 30, 2022, such estimates include allowances for credit losses, variable consideration, workers’ compensation losses, accrued medical expenses, income and other taxes, assumptions used in the Company’s goodwill impairment assessment and in the valuation of stock grants subject to market conditions. Actual results and outcomes may differ from management’s estimates and assumptions.
Service Revenues. The Company derives its revenues from three segments: contract talent solutions, permanent placement talent solutions, and Protiviti. Revenues are recognized when promised goods or services are delivered to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration the Company expects to be entitled to in exchange for those goods or services. See Note C for further discussion of the revenue recognition accounting policy.
Costs of Services. Direct costs of contract talent solutions consist of professional staff payroll, payroll taxes and benefit costs for the Company’s engagement professionals, as well as reimbursable expenses. Direct costs of permanent placement talent solutions consist of reimbursable expenses. Protiviti direct costs of services include professional staff payroll, payroll taxes and benefit costs, as well as reimbursable expenses.
Advertising Costs. The Company expenses all advertising costs as incurred. Advertising costs were $13.5 million and $42.2 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022, respectively, and $13.9 million and $34.1 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021, respectively.
(Income) Loss from Investments Held in Employee Deferred Compensation Trusts. Under the Company’s employee deferred compensation plans, employees direct the investment of their account balances, and the Company invests amounts held in the associated investment trusts consistent with these directions. As realized and unrealized investment gains and losses occur, the Company’s deferred compensation obligation to employees changes and adjustments are recorded in selling, general and administrative expenses or, in the case of Protiviti, costs of services. The value of the related investment trust assets also changes by an equal and offsetting amount, leaving no net cost to the Company. The Company’s (income) loss from investments held in employee deferred compensation trusts consists primarily of unrealized and realized gains and losses and dividend income from trust investments and is presented separately on the unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations.
The following table presents the Company’s (income) loss from investments held in employee deferred compensation trusts (in thousands):
Three Months Ended
September 30,
Nine Months Ended
September 30,
2022202120222021
Dividend income$(966)$(4,565)$(3,576)$(7,414)
Realized and unrealized (gains) losses16,301 6,324 114,534 (30,625)
(Income) loss from investments held in employee deferred compensation trusts$15,335 $1,759 $110,958 $(38,039)
Comprehensive Income (Loss).    Comprehensive income (loss) includes net income and certain other items that are recorded directly to stockholders’ equity. The Company’s only sources of other comprehensive income (loss) are foreign currency translation and foreign defined benefit plan adjustments.
Fair Value of Financial Instruments. Assets and liabilities recorded at fair value are measured and classified in accordance with a three-tier fair value hierarchy based on the observability of the inputs available in the market to measure fair value, summarized as follows:
Level 1: observable inputs for identical assets or liabilities, such as quoted prices in active markets
Level 2: inputs other than the quoted prices in active markets that are observable either directly or indirectly
Level 3: unobservable inputs in which there is little or no market data, which requires management’s best estimates and assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability
The carrying value of cash and cash equivalents, net accounts receivable, and accounts payable and accrued expenses approximates fair value because of their short-term nature. The Company holds mutual funds and money market funds to satisfy its obligations under its employee deferred compensation plans, which are carried at fair value based on quoted market prices in active markets for identical assets (level 1).
The following table sets forth the composition of the underlying assets which comprise the Company’s deferred compensation trust assets (in thousands):
Fair Value Measurements Using
Balance at September 30, 2022
Quoted Prices
in Active Markets for Identical Assets (Level 1)
Significant Other Observable Inputs
(Level 2)
Significant Unobservable Inputs
(Level 3)
Assets
Money market funds$78,932 $78,932 — — 
Mutual funds - bond28,043 28,043 — — 
Mutual funds - stock224,076 224,076 — — 
Mutual funds - blend72,968 72,968 — — 
$404,019 $404,019 — — 
Fair Value Measurements Using
Balance at December 31, 2021
Quoted Prices
in Active Markets for Identical Assets (Level 1)
Significant Other Observable Inputs
(Level 2)
Significant Unobservable Inputs
(Level 3)
Assets
Money market funds$66,700 $66,700 — — 
Mutual funds - bond30,750 30,750 — — 
Mutual funds - stock303,277 303,277 — — 
Mutual funds - blend94,264 94,264 — — 
$494,991 $494,991 — — 

Certain items such as goodwill and other intangible assets are recognized or disclosed at fair value on a non-recurring basis. The Company determines the fair value of these items using level 3 inputs. There are inherent limitations when estimating the fair value of financial instruments, and the fair values reported are not necessarily indicative of the amounts that would be realized in current market transactions.
Allowance for Credit Losses. The Company is exposed to credit losses resulting from the inability of its customers to make required payments. The Company establishes an allowance for these potential credit losses based on its review of customers’ credit profiles, historical loss statistics, prepayments, recoveries, age of customer receivable balances, current business conditions and macroeconomic trends. The Company considers risk characteristics of trade receivables based on asset type and geographical locations to evaluate trade receivables on a collective basis. The Company applies credit loss estimates to these pooled receivables to determine expected credit losses.
The following table sets forth the activity in the allowance for credit losses from December 31, 2021 through September 30, 2022 (in thousands):
Allowance for Credit Losses
Balance as of December 31, 2021
$21,530 
Charges to expense5,883 
Deductions(3,442)
Other, including foreign currency translation adjustments(1,655)
Balance as of September 30, 2022
$22,316