Amortization of intangibles from acquisitions and its related tax impact. The Company incurs amortization of intangibles, included in its GAAP presentation of amortization of software and acquired technology, and amortization expense, related to various acquisitions it has made in recent years. Management excludes these expenses and their related tax impact for the purpose of calculating non-GAAP operating income, non-GAAP operating profit margin, non-GAAP net income and non-GAAP diluted earnings per share when it evaluates the continuing operational performance of the Company because these costs are fixed at the time of an acquisition, are then amortized over a period of several years after the acquisition and generally cannot be changed or influenced by management after the acquisition. Accordingly, management does not consider these expenses for purposes of evaluating the performance of the Company during the applicable time period after the acquisition, and it excludes such expenses when making decisions to allocate resources. The Company believes that these non-GAAP financial measures are useful to investors because they allow investors to (a) evaluate the effectiveness of the methodology and information used by management in its financial and operational decision-making and (b) compare past reports of financial results of the Company as the Company has historically reported these non-GAAP financial measures.
Stock-based compensation expense and its related tax impact. The Company incurs expense related to stock-based compensation included in its GAAP presentation of cost of software licenses, cost of maintenance and service, research and development expense and selling, general and administrative expense. Although stock-based compensation is an expense of the Company and viewed as a form of compensation, management excludes these expenses for the purpose of calculating non-GAAP operating income, non-GAAP operating profit margin, non-GAAP net income and non-GAAP diluted earnings per share when it evaluates the continuing operational performance of the Company. Specifically, the Company excludes stock-based compensation during its annual budgeting process and its quarterly and annual assessments of the Company’s and management’s performance. The annual budgeting process is the primary mechanism whereby the Company allocates resources to various initiatives and operational requirements. Additionally, the annual review by the board of directors during which it compares the Company’s historical business model and profitability as it relates to the planned business model and profitability for the forthcoming year excludes the impact of stock-based compensation. In evaluating the performance of senior management and department managers, charges related to stock-based compensation are excluded from expenditure and profitability results. In fact, the Company records stock-based compensation expense into a stand-alone cost center for which no single operational manager is responsible or accountable. In this way, management is able to review on a period-to-period basis each manager’s performance and assess financial discipline over operational expenditures without the effect of stock-based compensation. The Company believes that the non-GAAP financial measures are useful to investors because they allow investors to (a) evaluate the Company’s operating results and the effectiveness of the methodology used by management to review the Company’s operating results, and (b) review historical comparability in its financial reporting, as well as comparability with competitors’ operating results.
Non-GAAP financial measures are not in accordance with, or an alternative for, generally accepted accounting principles in the United States. The Company’s non-GAAP financial measures are not meant to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for comparable GAAP financial measures, and should be read only in conjunction with the Company’s consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP.
Pursuant to the requirements of Regulation G, the Company has provided a reconciliation of the non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures as listed below:
GAAP Reporting Measure |
Non-GAAP Reporting Measure |
||
Revenue | Non-GAAP Revenue | ||
Operating Profit | Non-GAAP Operating Profit | ||
Operating Profit Margin | Non-GAAP Operating Profit Margin | ||
Net Income | Non-GAAP Net Income | ||
Diluted Earnings Per Share | Non-GAAP Diluted Earnings Per Share |