Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

v3.22.1
Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2021
Accounting Policies [Abstract]  
Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

3. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

 

Basis of Presentation - The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”).

 

Use of Estimates The preparation of consolidated 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 consolidated financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Making estimates requires management to exercise significant judgment. It is at least reasonably possible that the estimate of the effect of a condition, situation or set of circumstances that existed at the date of the consolidated financial statements, which management considered in formulating its estimate, could change in the near term due to one or more future intervening events. Accordingly, the actual results could differ significantly from estimates.

 

Significant estimates underlying the financial statements include the fair value of acquired assets and liabilities associated with acquisitions; assessment of goodwill impairment, other intangible assets and long-lived assets for impairment; allowances for doubtful accounts and assumptions related to the valuation allowances on deferred taxes, impact of applying the revised federal tax rates on deferred taxes, the valuation of stock-based compensation and the valuation of stock warrants.

 

Principles of Consolidation - The accompanying consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company, its wholly owned subsidiaries, and those subsidiaries where less than 50 percent is owned but consolidation is required. All significant intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

 

Cash Equivalents - The Company considers cash equivalents to include all short-term, highly liquid investments that are readily convertible to known amounts of cash and have original maturities of three months or less.

 

Accounts Receivable - Accounts receivable represent receivables generated from fees earned from customers and advertising revenue. The Company’s policy is to reserve for uncollectible accounts based on its best estimate of the amount of probable credit losses in its existing accounts receivable. The Company periodically reviews its accounts receivable to determine whether an allowance for doubtful accounts is necessary based on an analysis of past due accounts and other factors that may indicate that the realization of an account may be in doubt. Account balances deemed to be uncollectible are charged to the allowance after all means of collection have been exhausted and the potential for recovery is considered remote. As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, the allowance for doubtful accounts was $247,190 and $156,927.

 

 

Other ReceivablesOther receivables represents amounts that are owed to the Company that are not considered trade receivables. The Company periodically reviews its other receivables for credit risk to determine whether an allowance is necessary and other factors that may indicate that the realization of an account may be in doubt. Account balances deemed to be uncollectible are charged to the allowance after all means of collection have been exhausted and the potential for recovery is considered remote. As of December 31, 2021 the balance in other receivables as reported on the consolidated balance sheet was deemed collectible. There was no comparable transaction in fiscal 2020.

 

Incremental Direct Costs - Incremental direct costs incurred in connection with enrolling members in the NAPW Network consist of sales commissions paid to the Company’s direct sales agents. Incremental direct costs associated with the PDN Network consists of commissions paid to third-party agencies. Total incremental direct costs related to the NAPW and PDN Network during the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 was $149,000 and $107,000.

 

Property and Equipment - Property and equipment is stated at cost, including any cost to place the property into service, less accumulated depreciation. Depreciation is recorded on a straight-line basis over the estimated useful lives of the assets which currently range from three to five years. Leasehold improvements are amortized over the shorter of their estimated useful lives or the term of the lease. Maintenance, repairs and minor replacements are charged to operations as incurred; major replacements and betterments are capitalized. The cost of any assets sold or retired and related accumulated depreciation are removed from the accounts at the time of disposition, and any resulting profit or loss is reflected in income or expense for the period. Depreciation expense for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 was $6,281 and $19,978, respectively, and is recorded in depreciation and amortization expense in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations.

 

Lease Obligations - The Company leases office space and equipment under various operating lease agreements, including an office for its corporate headquarters, as well as office spaces for its events business, sales and administrative offices under non-cancelable lease arrangements that provide for payments on a graduated basis with various expiration dates.

 

On September 23, 2020, the Company entered into a new office lease agreement for its corporate headquarters. The office lease is for 4,902 square feet of office space and the lease term is for 84 months, commencing on October 1, 2020. Additionally, the office lease required a security deposit of $66,340 and the lease agreement provided for a rent abatement of twelve months beginning in October 2020.

 

Capitalized Technology Costs - In accordance with the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 350-40, Internal-Use Software, the Company capitalizes certain external and internal computer software costs incurred during the application development stage. The application development stage generally includes software design and configuration, coding, testing and installation activities. Training and maintenance costs are expensed as incurred, while upgrades and enhancements are capitalized if it is probable that such expenditures will result in additional functionality. Capitalized software costs are amortized over the estimated useful lives of the software assets on a straight-line basis, generally not exceeding three years.

 

Business Combinations - ASC 805, Business Combinations (“ASC 805”), applies the acquisition method of accounting for business combinations to all acquisitions where the acquirer gains a controlling interest, regardless of whether consideration was exchanged. ASC 805 establishes principles and requirements for how the acquirer: a) recognizes and measures in its financial statements the identifiable assets acquired, the liabilities assumed, and any non-controlling interest in the acquiree; b) recognizes and measures the goodwill acquired in the business combination or a gain from a bargain purchase; and c) determines what information to disclose to enable users of the financial statements to evaluate the nature and financial effects of the business combination. Accounting for acquisitions requires the Company to recognize, separately from goodwill, the assets acquired, and the liabilities assumed at their acquisition-date fair values. Goodwill as of the acquisition date is measured as the excess of consideration transferred and the net of the acquisition-date fair values of the assets acquired and the liabilities assumed. While the Company uses its best estimates and assumptions to accurately value assets acquired and liabilities assumed at the acquisition date, the estimates are inherently uncertain and subject to refinement. As a result, during the measurement period, which may be up to one year from the acquisition date, the Company may record adjustments to the assets acquired and liabilities assumed with the corresponding offset to goodwill. Upon the conclusion of the measurement period or final determination of the values of assets acquired or liabilities assumed, whichever comes first, any subsequent adjustments are recorded in the interim financial information. (See Note 4 – Business Combinations.)

 

Goodwill and Intangible Assets - The Company accounts for goodwill and intangible assets in accordance with ASC 350, Intangibles – Goodwill and Other (“ASC 350”). ASC 350 requires that goodwill and other intangibles with indefinite lives should be tested for impairment annually or on an interim basis if events or circumstances indicate that the fair value of an asset has decreased below its carrying value. (See Note 4 – Business Combinations and Note 7 – Intangible Assets.)

 

 

Goodwill is tested for impairment at the reporting unit level on an annual basis (December 31) and between annual tests if an event occurs or circumstances change that would more likely than not reduce the fair value of a reporting unit below its carrying value. The Company considers its market capitalization and the carrying value of its assets and liabilities, including goodwill, when performing its goodwill impairment test.

 

When conducting its annual goodwill impairment assessment, the Company initially performs a qualitative evaluation of whether it is more likely than not that goodwill is impaired. If it is determined by a qualitative evaluation that it is more likely than not that goodwill is impaired, the Company then compares the fair value of the Company’s reporting unit to its carrying or book value. If the fair value of the reporting unit exceeds its carrying value, goodwill is not impaired and the Company is not required to perform further testing. If the carrying value of a reporting unit exceeds its fair value, the Company will measure any goodwill impairment losses as the amount by which the carrying amount of a reporting unit exceeds its fair value, not to exceed the total amount of goodwill allocated to that reporting unit.

 

Treasury Stock – Treasury stock is recorded at cost as a reduction of stockholders’ equity in the accompanying balance sheets.

 

Revenue Recognition Revenue is recognized when all of the following conditions exist: (1) persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists, (2) services are performed, (3) the sales price is fixed or determinable, and (4) collectability is reasonably assured.

 

Membership Fees and Related Services

 

Membership fees are collected up-front and member benefits become available immediately; however, those benefits must remain available over the 12-month membership period. At the time of enrollment, membership fees are recorded as deferred revenue and are recognized as revenue ratably over the 12-month membership period. Members who are enrolled in this plan may cancel their membership in the program at any time and receive a partial refund (amount remaining in deferred revenue) or due to consumer protection legislation, a full refund based on the policies of the member’s credit card company.

 

We also offer a monthly membership for which we collect fees on a monthly basis and we recognize revenue in the same month as we collect the monthly fees.

 

Revenue from related membership services are derived from fees for development and set-up of a member’s personal on-line profile and/or press release announcements. Fees related to these services are recognized as revenue at the time the on-line profile is complete, and a press release is distributed.

 

Products offered to NAPW members relate to custom made plaques. Product sales are recognized as deferred revenue at the time the initial order is placed. Revenue is then recognized at the time these products are shipped. The Company’s shipping and handling costs are included in cost of sales.

 

Deferred Revenue Deferred revenue includes customer payments which are received prior to performing services and revenues are recognized upon the completion of these services. Annual membership fees collected at the time of enrollment are recognized as revenue ratably over the membership period, which are typically for a 12-month membership period.

 

Recruitment Services

 

The Company’s recruitment services revenue is derived from the Company’s agreements through single and multiple job postings, recruitment media, talent recruitment communities, basic and premier corporate memberships, hiring campaign marketing and advertising, e-newsletter marketing and research and outreach services. Recruitment revenue includes revenue recognized from direct sales to customers for recruitment services and events, as well as revenue from the Company’s direct e-commerce sales. Direct sales to customers are most typically a twelve-month contract for services and as such the revenue for each contract is recognized ratably over its twelve-month term. Event revenue is recognized in the month that the event takes place and e-commerce sales are for one-month job postings and the revenue from those sales are recognized in the month the sale is made. Our recruitment services mainly consist of the following products:

 

On-line job postings to our diversity sites and to our broader network of websites including the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, National Urban League and over 20 other partner organizations

 

 

OFCCP job promotion and recordation services
   
Diversity job fairs, both in person and virtual fairs
   
Diversity recruitment job advertising services
   
Cost per application, a service that employers can purchase whereby PDN sources qualified candidates and charges only for those applicants who meet the employers’ minimum qualifications
   
Diversity executive staffing services

 

Contracted software Development

 

RemoteMore generates revenue by providing contracted programmers to assist customers with their software solutions through customized software development. Revenues are recognized in the period work is performed.

 

Consumer Advertising and Marketing Solutions

 

The Company provides career opportunity services to its various partner organizations through advertising and job postings on their websites. The Company works with its partners to develop customized websites and job boards where the partners can generate advertising, job postings and career services to their members, students and alumni. Consumer advertising and marketing solutions revenue is recognized as jobs are posted to their hosted sites.

 

The Company’s partner organizations include NAACP and National Urban League, VetJobs, among others.

 

Discontinued Operations

 

China Operations

 

The Company’s operations in China have been suspended since December 2019. On March 4, 2020 the Board decided to discontinue all of the Company’s operations in the People’s Republic of China, namely PDN (China) International Culture Development Co. Ltd.‎, a wholly owned subsidiary of ‎the Company, Jiangxi PDN Culture Media Co., Ltd. (“PDN Jiangxi”), a variable interest entity ‎‎controlled by of the Company‎, and the joint venture between PDN Jiangxi, Guangzhou ‎Zengcheng District Zhili Education ‎Training Center, and Guangzhou Angye Education ‎Consulting Co. Ltd.‎

 

The Company previously disclosed in its Form 10-K for the year ending December 31, 2019 (the “2019 10-K”) and subsequently that the assets of PDN China were frozen by Chinese local authorities in November 2019 in connection with the criminal investigation of alleged illegal public fund raising by Gatewang Group (the “Gatewang Case”), a separate company organized under the laws of the People’s Republic of China (“Gatewang”), with which Mr. Maoji (Michael) Wang, the former Chairman and CEO of the Company was affiliated. A subsequent investigation led by a special committee of the Board concluded that it did not find any evidence that the Company or PDN China has engaged in the criminal activity of illegal fund-raising as alleged against Gatewang. The Company subsequently discontinued all of its operations in China.

 

The Company also previously disclosed in the 2019 Form 10-K that although the seizure of PDN ‎China’s assets had been lifted in March 2020, however on April 22, 2021, the Company learned that RMB 18,841,064.15 (approximately $2.9 million) had been seized from the PDN China Account by Longxu District Court of Wuzhou City in Guangxi Province to satisfy a judgment in favor of the plaintiffs in the Gatewang Case. On April 26, 2021, the Company concluded that the seizure of such cash assets is a material reduction of Company assets. The Company has reflected the seizure of these cash funds in its condensed consolidated balance sheets.

 

The Company has asserted its claim to these funds as the genuine owner to the Chinese officials and asked for their return. The Company plans to pursue all possible legal alternatives to have these funds returned to the Company, but such return is uncertain at this time.

 

 

All historical operating results for the Company’s China operations are included in loss from discontinued operations, net of tax, in the accompanying consolidated statement of operations. For the year ended December 31, 2021, loss from discontinued operations was approximately ($112,000) compared to a loss from discontinued operations of ($216,000) for the year ended December 31, 2020.

 

Assets and liabilities of China operations are now included in current assets and long-term assets from discontinued operations, and current liabilities and long-term liabilities from discontinued operations. As of December 31, 2021, current assets from discontinued operations were approximately $4,600, compared to approximately $6,900 as of December 31, 2020, and long-term assets from discontinued operations were approximately $198,000 at December 31, 2021, compared to approximately $3,085,000 as of December 31, 2020. As of December 31, 2021, current liabilities from discontinued operations were approximately $421,000, compared to approximately $375,000 as of December 31, 2020.

 

Operating Results of Discontinued Operations

 

The following table represents the components of operating results from discontinued operations, net of intercompany eliminations, as presented in the consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020:

 

                 
    Year Ended December 31,  
    2021     2020  
             
Revenues   $ -     $ -  
                 
Cost of Sales     43,221       12,963  
Depreciation and amortization     -       -  
Sales and marketing     -       2,856  
General and administrative     46,256       170,196  
Non-operating (expense) income     (664 )     (8,301 )
Loss from discontinued operations before income tax     (88,813 )     (193,613 )
Income tax expense     -       -  
Net loss from discontinued operations   $ (88,813 )   $ (193,613 )

 

Advertising and Marketing Expenses Advertising and marketing expenses are expensed as incurred or the first time the advertising takes place. The production costs of advertising are expensed the first time the advertising takes place. For the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, the Company incurred advertising and marketing expenses of approximately $887,000 and $681,000. These amounts are included in sales and marketing expenses in the accompanying statements of operations.

 

Concentrations of Credit Risk - Financial instruments, which potentially subject the Company to concentration of credit risk, consist principally of cash and cash equivalents and accounts receivable. The Company places its cash with high credit quality institutions. At times, such amounts may be in excess of the FDIC insurance limits. The Company has not experienced any losses in such accounts and believes that it is not exposed to any significant credit risk on the account.

 

 

Income Taxes - The Company accounts for income taxes in accordance with ASC 740, Income Taxes, which requires that the Company recognize deferred tax liabilities and assets based on the differences between the financial statement basis and tax basis of assets and liabilities, using enacted tax rates in effect for the year in which the differences are expected to reverse. The Company estimates the degree to which tax assets and credit carryforwards will result in a benefit based on expected profitability by tax jurisdiction. A valuation allowance for such tax assets and loss carryforwards is provided when it is determined to be more likely than not that the benefit of such deferred tax asset will not be realized in future periods. If it becomes more likely than not that a tax asset will be used, the related valuation allowance on such assets would be reduced.

 

ASC 740 clarifies the accounting for uncertainty in income taxes recognized in an enterprise’s financial statements in accordance with ASC 740-20 and prescribes a recognition threshold and measurement process for financial statement recognition and measurement of a tax position taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. For those benefits to be recognized, a tax position must be more-likely-than-not to be sustained upon examination by taxing authorities. There were no unrecognized tax benefits as of December 31, 2021. The Company is currently not aware of any issues under review that could result in significant payments, accruals or material deviation from its position.

 

The Company may be subject to potential income tax examinations by federal or state authorities. These potential examinations may include questioning the timing and amount of deductions, the nexus of income among various tax jurisdictions and compliance with federal and state tax laws. Management does not expect that the total amount of unrecognized tax benefits will materially change over the next twelve months. Tax years that remain open for assessment for federal and state tax purposes include the years ended December 31, 2017 through 2020.

 

The Company’s policy for recording interest and penalties associated with audits is to record such expense as a component of income tax expense. There were no amounts accrued for penalties or interest as of September 30, 2020.

 

Fair Value of Financial Assets and Liabilities - Financial instruments, including cash and cash equivalents, short-term investments and accounts payable, are carried at cost. Management believes that the recorded amounts approximate fair value due to the short-term nature of these instruments.

 

Net Loss per Share - The Company computes basic net loss per share by dividing net loss available to common stockholders by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding for the period and excludes the effects of any potentially dilutive securities. Diluted earnings per share, if presented, would include the dilution that would occur upon the exercise or conversion of all potentially dilutive securities into common stock using the “treasury stock” and/or “if converted” methods as applicable. The computation of basic net loss per share for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 excludes the potentially dilutive securities summarized in the table below because their inclusion would be anti-dilutive.

 

    As of December 31,  
    2021     2020  
             
Warrants to purchase common stock     -       125,000  
Stock options     36,126       66,126  
Unvested restricted stock     159,524       206,775  
Total dilutive securities     195,650       397,901  

 

Reclassifications - Certain prior year amounts in the Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Loss have been reclassified to conform with the current year presentation.

 

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

 

In December 2019, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) ASU 2019-12, Simplifying the Accounting for Income Taxes, as part of its Simplification Initiative to reduce the cost and complexity in accounting for income taxes. ASU 2019-12 removes certain exceptions related to the approach for intraperiod tax allocation, the methodology for calculating income taxes in an interim period, and the recognition of deferred tax liabilities for outside basis differences. ASU 2019-12 also amends other aspects of the guidance to help simplify and promote consistent application of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. The guidance is effective for interim and annual period beginning after December 15, 2020, with early adoption permitted. The Company will adopt ASU 2019-12 during the first quarter of 2021 and the adoption of ASU 2019-12 will affect the classification of income taxes but is not expected to impact reported results in the consolidated financial statements.