SEC Company Response from POMEROY IT SOLUTIONS INC (CIK 0000883979) — Dec 29, 2005
POMEROY IT SOLUTIONS INC (CIK 0000883979)
Date: Dec. 29, 2005 · CIK: 0000883979 · Accession: 0001140361-05-011555
AI Filing Summary & Sentiment
File numbers found in text: 000-20022
Referenced dates: November 1, 2005
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pomeroy
IT Solutions
1020 Petersburg Road
Hebron, KY 41048
Phone: 859.586.0600
December 29, 2005
Securities and Exchange Commission
Attention: Brad Skinner, Accounting Branch Chief
100 F. Street, N.E.
Washington, DC 20549
Re: Pomeroy IT Solutions, Inc.
File No. 000-20022
Dear Mr. Skinner:
Pomeroy IT Solutions, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the "Company" or
"Pomeroy"), hereby submits the additional responses set forth below to your
follow-up Comment Letter, dated November 22, 2005 (the "Comment Letter"),
pertaining to the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended
January 5, 2005 and the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended July
5, 2005. The Company appreciates that the Commission's comments are designed to
assist the Company in providing more meaningful disclosure to the investment
community and to clarify certain of the Company's revenue recognition policies.
Our responses set forth below correspond to the numbered comments in the
Comment Letter. For your convenience, we have included your original comment
from the Comment Letter followed by the Company's response.
FORM 10-K FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDED JANUARY 5, 2005
------------------------------------------------------------
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
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NOTE 2. SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
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REVENUE RECOGNITION, PAGE F-9
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1. WE HAVE READ YOUR RESPONSE TO PRIOR COMMENT NUMBER 3 AND IT IS UNCLEAR TO
US HOW YOU HAVE DETERMINED THAT THE RISKS OF OWNERSHIP HAVE PASSED TO YOUR
CUSTOMERS IN ORDER TO RECOGNIZE REVENUE ON A BILL AND HOLD BASIS. IN THIS
REGARD, PLEASE EXPLAIN TO US HOW YOU HAVE EVALUATED THE EFFECT OF SECTION 5
OF YOUR COI AGREEMENT. THIS SECTION
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Securities and Exchange Commission
December 29, 2005
Page 2
APPEARS TO INDICATE THAT YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR MAINTAINING PROPERTY
INSURANCE AND THAT RISK OF LOSS SHIFTS TO YOUR CUSTOMERS UPON DELIVERY TO A
COMMON CARRIER.
The Company's logistical deployment service program is utilized by
customers who are implementing a staged computer migration or a large computer
refresh project. The customer's business purpose for doing so is to ensure
consistency and standardization in product specifications throughout the
customer's facilities. Due to ever-changing technology, original equipment
manufacturers will not guarantee consistency and standardization in product
specifications. Therefore, a bulk purchase is made at the customer's request, in
order to ensure that the respective customer's business requirements are met and
that consistent, standardized products are deployed across the customer's IT
environment. Customers request Pomeroy to perform staged deliveries to their
various locations, normally during a six-month period, because it is generally
not feasible to install all of the computers simultaneously.
There are a number of factors that affect whether the risks of ownership
have passed to the customer. The agreement pertaining to the Customer Owned
Inventory ("COI") clearly provides that legal title remains with the customer
while at a Pomeroy facility. The customer assumes all risk of ownership and risk
of loss for computer hardware obsolescence, defects, theft and damage while in
the physical possession of Pomeroy. In addition, the customer's products are
subject to the original manufacturer's warranty terms from the date of purchase.
Customer-owned inventories are segregated from Pomeroy-owned inventory. Due
to the practical difficulties of each customer obtaining separate insurance
coverage, Pomeroy's general insurance policy also provides replacement value
coverage for all customer-owned inventories. This fact is not indicative that
risk of loss is with Pomeroy since any proceeds from an insurance claim arising
from such loss belong to the customer and to the extent that the original
purchase price is greater than the replacement value (the insurable amount) the
customer would be liable for this loss.
For these reasons, Pomeroy has concluded that risk of ownership has passed
to our customers.
2. PLEASE EXPLAIN TO US HOW YOU HAVE CONSIDERED FOOTNOTE 18 TO SAB TOPIC
13(A)(3)(A) REGARDING THE FORM OF CUSTOMER REQUESTS RELATED TO BILL AND
HOLD TRANSACTIONS.
The nature of Pomeroy's bill and hold transactions is such that the
customer requests Pomeroy to hold its products until such time as the products
are deployed to the customer's sites. The Company's COI contractual agreement
specifically states the customer desires Pomeroy to acquire products for
storage, configuration and/or deployment. The customer's business purpose for
doing so is to ensure consistency and standardization in product specifications
throughout the customer's facilities. Due to ever-changing technology, original
equipment manufacturers will not guarantee consistency and standardization in
product specifications. Therefore, a bulk purchase is made by the Company, at
the customer's request, in order to ensure that the respective customer's
business requirements are met and that consistent, standardized products are
deployed across the customer's IT environment with a staged, phased approach.
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Securities and Exchange Commission
December 29, 2005
Page 3
Pomeroy requires a written, customer-signed document outlining the terms
and conditions, prior to recording any revenue under a bill and hold
arrangement. Therefore, we have addressed footnote 18 to SAB Topic 13(A)(3)(a)
by requiring a written, signed customer request.
3. YOUR RESPONSE TO PRIOR COMMENT NUMBER 3 DOES NOT APPEAR TO INDICATE THAT A
STATED, FIXED DELIVERY SCHEDULE EXISTS IN ORDER TO RECOGNIZE REVENUE ON A
BILL AND HOLD BASIS. PLEASE EXPLAIN FURTHER HOW YOU HAVE MET THIS
REQUIREMENT.
A roll-out schedule for product deployment is part of a staged computer
migration or a large computer refresh project. This schedule, which is typically
a part of a statement of work between Pomeroy and the customer, is important
because it requires significant coordinating efforts between the customer and
the Company. Through a Master Agreement, COI Agreement or separate written
documents, the customer directs, in writing, the timing and location of the
delivery of their computer products. However, the COI Agreement (or Master
Agreement if the terms relating to COI are incorporated into the Master
Agreement) provides that if the customer fails to direct the delivery of the
products within 180 days, then Pomeroy is authorized to ship the product to the
customer's place of business at the end of the 180-day period.
4. PLEASE ASK THAT YOUR AUDITORS DESCRIBE TO US THE AUDIT PROCEDURES THEY
APPLIED TO BILL AND HOLD TRANSACTIONS AND THE EVIDENCE THEY GATHERED TO
SUPPORT THEIR CONCLUSION THAT REVENUE MAY BE RECOGNIZED PRIOR TO SHIPMENT.
REQUEST THAT THEY SPECIFICALLY EXPLAIN HOW THEY ADDRESSED THE REQUIREMENTS
IDENTIFIED IN THE COMMENTS ABOVE.
Our auditors, Crowe Chizek and Company LLC ("Crowe Chizek" or "they" or
"their") received from Pomeroy a listing by customer, by invoice of COI held by
Pomeroy as of January 5, 2005. They compared average gross margins of COI
hardware sales year over year noting consistency in the current year with
average gross margins realized in the previous year. They selected the largest 5
customer balances for detail testing and confirmation (the largest 5 customer
balances represented 72% of the total COI balance at January 5, 2005). They
requested confirmations from the customers of the detail of the customers'
inventory that Pomeroy was holding on their behalf.They received confirming
responses from 4 of the 5customersrepresenting 85% of thetotal amountconfirmed.
The fifth customer did not respond.For each of the 5 selected customers, they
reviewed a copy of the contract/ agreement between the customer and Pomeroy and
a sample of invoices included in the confirmation letters, representing
inventory held by Pomeroy at year end.
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Securities and Exchange Commission
December 29, 2005
Page 4
Crowe Chizek's assessment and review concluded with an inquiry of Pomeroy
management of the following seven criteria points, set forth by the Commission
in SAB No. 101, to be met in order to recognize revenue when delivery has not
occurred. Their assessment of Pomeroy's COI revenue recognition concluded that
such requirements, as set forth below, were met:
- The risks of ownership must have passed to the buyer;
- The customer must have made a fixed commitment to purchase the
goods,preferably in written documentation;
- The buyer, not the seller, must request that the transaction be on a
bill and hold basis. The buyermust have a substantial business purpose
for ordering the goods on a bill and hold basis;
- There must be a fixed schedule for delivery of the goods. The
date for delivery must be reasonable and must be consistent with the
buyer's business purpose (e.g., storage periods are customary in the
industry);
- The seller must not have retained any specific performance
obligations such that the earning process is not complete;
- The ordered goods must have been segregated from the seller's
inventory and not be subject to being used to fill other orders and
- The equipment (product) must be complete and ready for shipment.
As part of their year-end physical inventory observation, Crowe Chizek
noted that the Company's COI is separately identifiable from Pomeroy's inventory
(containing unique yellow bar code stickers) and is given an immaterial 1-penny
value on the priced out inventory listing for identification purposes.
Crowe Chizek inquired of Pomeroy management of any additional unique bill
and hold arrangements that existed at year end beyond the COI items reviewed.
Pomeroy management advised them that no other such arrangements existed as of
January 5, 2005.
Specifically to comments 1 through 3 raised by the Commission in its letter
to Pomeroy dated November 22, 2005, Crowe Chizek concurred with the response by
Pomeroy management and through review of the documentation mentioned above, that
risk of ownership had transferred to the customer and is acommon practice for
logistical deployment in this industry. The fact that the Company maintains
property insurance for the convenience of its customers does not override the
assessment that ownership rights have transferred. They determined that the
signed COI contracts (or equivalent documentation) between each customer and
Pomeroy represented the written mutual agreement between the parties that
Pomeroy was holding the customer's inventory on its behalf.The typical fixed
delivery schedule as detailed in the contract required the purchaser to take
possession of the inventory within 180 days or be subject to additional storage
fees.
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Securities and Exchange Commission
December 29, 2005
Page 5
FORM 10-Q FOR FISCAL QUARTER ENDED JULY 5, 2005
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ITEM 4. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES, PAGE 20
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5. WE HAVE READ YOUR PROPOSED DISCLOSURE PROVIDED IN RESPONSE TO PRIOR
COMMENT NUMBER 6. IF YOU CONTINUE TO DESCRIBE THIS REVIEW, PLEASE PROVIDE
THE FOLLOWING DISCLOSURES:
- EXPLAIN HOW "SUFFICIENT" SHOULD BE INTERPRETED BY READERS AND DEFINE
THE "INTERNAL CONTROL STANDPOINT" FROM WHICH THE EVALUATION WAS
PERFORMED;
- CLEARLY EXPLAIN HOW THIS EVALUATION AND THE RELATED CONCLUSION DIFFER
FROM THOSE DESCRIBED IN ITEMS 307 AND 308 OF REGULATION S-K; AND
- IDENTIFY THE CONSULTING FIRM AND PROVIDE A SUMMARY OF THEIR RELEVANT
QUALIFICATIONS.
Pomeroy proposes to further revise its Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter
ended July 5, 2005 by removing the disclosure of the review performed by the
third party consulting firm contained in Item 4 - Controls and Procedures,
Changes in Internal Controls over Financial Reporting. The Company does not
believe it is necessary to include the disclosure because the consulting firm
performed an assessment over our service revenue manual control processes to
determine whether there were any deficiencies and to make recommendations as to
how the processes could be improved. We are submitting, as Exhibit A, the
Company's proposed revised disclosure (which still includes the revisions to the
third paragraph that were proposed by the Company in its letter dated November
1, 2005). We are also including a marked copy of this additional proposed change
as Exhibit B.
Thank you for your comments. If you have any questions, please contact our
counsel, Elizabeth A. Horwitz at (513) 852-8207, or me at (859) 586-0600, ext.
1416.
Sincerely,
/s/ Stephen E. Pomeroy, CEO
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Stephen E. Pomeroy
Chief Executive Officer
cc: Elizabeth A. Horwitz, Esq., Cors & Bassett, LLC
Frank Criniti, Crowe Chizek and Company LLC
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Securities and Exchange Commission
December 29, 2005
Page 6
EXHIBITA
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[FORM 10-Q FOR FISCAL QUARTER ENDED JULY 5, 2005]
ITEM 4-CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
EVALUATION OF DISCLOSURE CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
The Company maintains disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules
13(a)-15(e) and 15(d)-15(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended
(the "Exchange Act")) designed to provide reasonable assurance that the
information required to be reported in its Exchange Act filings is recorded,
processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified and
pursuant to the regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission, including
controls and procedures designed to ensure that this information is accumulated
and communicated to the Company's management, including its Chief Executive
Officer and Chief Financial Officer, as appropriate, to allow timely decisions
regarding required disclosure. It should be noted that, because of inherent
limitations, the Company's disclosure controls and procedures, however well
designed and operated, can provide only reasonable, and not absolute, assurance
that the objectives of the disclosure controls and procedures are met.
As more fully described in Item 9A of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K/A
for the year ended January 5, 2005, the Company reported that it identified
material weaknesses in its internal control over financial report