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BASIS OF PRESENTATION (Policies)
9 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2022
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]  
Basis of Presentation BASIS OF PRESENTATION
The accompanying unaudited interim consolidated financial statements have been prepared by NetScout Systems, Inc. (NetScout or the Company). Certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in financial statements prepared under United States generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) have been condensed or omitted pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In the opinion of management, the unaudited interim consolidated financial statements include all adjustments, consisting of normal recurring adjustments, necessary for a fair statement of the Company's financial position and stockholders' equity, results of operations and cash flows. The year-end consolidated balance sheet data and statement of stockholders' equity were derived from the Company's audited financial statements, but do not include all disclosures required by GAAP. The results reported in these unaudited interim consolidated financial statements are not necessarily indicative of results that may be expected for the entire year. All significant intercompany accounts and transactions are eliminated in consolidation.
These unaudited interim consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements, including the notes thereto, included in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2022 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 19, 2022.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
In October 2021, the FASB issued ASU 2021-08, Business Combinations (Topic 805): Accounting for Contract Assets and Contract Liabilities from Contracts with Customers, which requires companies to recognize and measure contract assets and contract liabilities acquired in a business combination as if the acquiring company originated the related revenue contracts. ASU 2021-08 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2022, with early adoption permitted. ASU 2021-08 is effective for the Company beginning April 1, 2023. Amendments within the standard are required to be applied on a prospective basis from the date of adoption. The adoption is not expected to have a material impact on the Company's financial position, results of operations, and disclosures. We will apply the provisions of ASU 2021-08 after adoption to future acquisitions, if any.
In March 2020, the FASB issued ASU 2020-04, Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848): Facilitation of the Effects of Reference Rate Reform on Financial Reporting. The amendments provide optional guidance for a limited time to ease the potential burden in accounting for reference rate reform. The new guidance provides optional expedients and exceptions for applying U.S. GAAP to contracts, hedging relationships and other transactions affected by reference rate reform if certain
criteria are met. The amendments apply only to contracts and hedging relationships that reference LIBOR or another reference rate expected to be discontinued due to reference rate reform. In January 2021, the FASB issued ASU 2021-01, Reference Rate Reform, which clarifies the scope and application of certain optional expedients and exceptions regarding the original guidance. ASU 2021-01 may be applied prospectively through December 31, 2022. The expedients and exceptions provided by the amendments do not apply to contract modifications made and hedging relationships entered into or evaluated after December 31, 2022, that an entity has elected certain optional expedients for and that are retained through the end of the hedging relationship. The adoption is not expected to have a material impact on the Company's financial position, results of operations, and disclosures.
Revenue Recognition Policy
Revenue Recognition Policy
The Company exercises judgment and uses estimates in connection with determining the amounts of product and service revenues to be recognized in each accounting period.
The Company derives revenues primarily from the sale of network management tools and cybersecurity solutions for service provider and enterprise customers, which include hardware, software, and service offerings. The Company's product sales consist of software only offerings and offerings which include hardware appliances with embedded software that are essential to providing customers the intended functionality of the solutions.
The Company accounts for revenue once a legally enforceable contract with a customer has been approved by the parties and the related promises to transfer products or services have been identified. A contract is defined by the Company as an arrangement with commercial substance identifying payment terms, each party’s rights and obligations regarding the products or services to be transferred and the amount the Company deems probable of collection. Customer contracts may include promises to transfer multiple products and services to a customer. Determining whether the products and services are considered distinct performance obligations that should be accounted for separately or as one combined performance obligation may require significant judgment. Revenue is recognized when control of the products or services are transferred to the Company's customers, in an amount that reflects the consideration the Company expects to be entitled to in exchange for products and services.
Product revenue is typically recognized upon fulfillment, provided a legally enforceable contract exists, control has passed to the customer, and in the case of software products, when the customer has the rights and ability to access the software, and collection of the related receivable is probable. If any significant obligations to the customer remain post-delivery, typically involving obligations relating to installation and acceptance by the customer, revenue recognition is deferred until such obligations have been fulfilled. The Company's service offerings include installation, integration, extended warranty and maintenance services, post-contract customer support, stand-ready software-as-a-service (SAAS) and other professional services including consulting and training. The Company generally provides software and/or hardware support as part of product sales. Revenue related to the initial bundled software and hardware support is recognized ratably over the support period. In addition, customers can elect to purchase extended support agreements for periods after the initial software/hardware warranty expiration. Support services generally include rights to unspecified upgrades (when and if available), telephone and internet-based support, updates, bug fixes and hardware repair and replacement. Consulting services are recognized upon delivery or completion of performance depending on the terms of the underlying contract. Reimbursements of out-of-pocket expenditures incurred in connection with providing consulting services are included in services revenue, with the offsetting expense recorded in cost of service revenue. Training services include on-site and classroom training. Training revenues are recognized upon delivery of the training.
Generally, the Company's contracts are accounted for individually. However, when contracts are closely interrelated and dependent on each other, it may be necessary to account for two or more contracts as one to reflect the substance of the group of contracts.
Bundled arrangements are concurrent customer purchases of a combination of the Company's product and service offerings that may be delivered at various points in time. The Company allocates the transaction price among the performance obligations in an amount that depicts the relative standalone selling prices (SSP) of each obligation. Judgment is required to determine the SSP for each distinct performance obligation. The Company uses a range of amounts to estimate SSP when it sells each of the products and services separately based primarily on the performance obligation's historical pricing. The Company also considers its overall pricing objectives and practices across different sales channels and geographies, and market conditions. Generally, the Company has established SSP for a majority of its service performance obligations based on historical standalone sales. In certain instances, the Company has established SSP for services based upon an estimate of profitability and the underlying cost to fulfill those services. SSP has primarily been established for product performance obligations as the average or median selling price the performance obligation was recently sold for, whether sold alone or sold as part of a bundle transaction. The Company reviews sales of the product performance obligations on a quarterly basis and
updates, when appropriate, its SSP for such performance obligations to ensure that it reflects recent pricing experience. The Company's products are distributed through its direct sales force and indirect distribution channels through alliances with resellers and distributors. Revenue arrangements with resellers and distributors are recognized on a sell-in basis; that is, when control of the product transfers to the reseller or distributor. The Company records consideration given to a customer as a reduction of revenue to the extent they have recorded revenue from the customer. With limited exceptions, the Company's return policy does not allow product returns for a refund. Returns have been insignificant to date. In addition, the Company has a history of successfully collecting receivables from its resellers and distributors.