As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 30, 2010

Registration No. 333-163476

 

UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

 

 

 

Amendment No. 4

to

Form S-1

REGISTRATION STATEMENT

UNDER

THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

 

 

 

 

SPS COMMERCE, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

 

 

 

 

333 South Seventh Street, Suite 1000

Minneapolis, MN 55402

(612) 435-9400

(Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of registrant’s principal executive offices)

 

 

 

 

Archie C. Black

President and Chief Executive Officer

SPS Commerce, Inc.

333 South Seventh Street, Suite 1000

Minneapolis, MN 55402

(612) 435-9400

(Name, address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)

 

 

 

 

Copies to:

 

 

 

 

 

Approximate date of commencement of proposed sale to the public:  As soon as practicable after the effective date of this registration statement.

 

If any of the securities being registered on this Form are to be offered on a delayed or continuous basis pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, check the following box.  o

 

If this Form is filed to register additional securities for an offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering.  o

 

If this Form is a post effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(c) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering.  o

 

If this Form is a post effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(d) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering.  o

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):

 

(Do not check if a smaller reporting company)

 

CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE

 

 

 

The registrant hereby amends this Registration Statement on such date or dates as may be necessary to delay its effective date until the registrant shall file a further amendment which specifically states that this Registration Statement shall thereafter become effective in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or until the Registration Statement shall become effective on such date as the Commission, acting pursuant to said Section 8(a), may determine.

 

 

SUBJECT TO COMPLETION, DATED MARCH 30, 2010

 

 

3,333,334 Shares
Common Stock
$     per share

 

 

SPS Commerce, Inc. is selling 2,500,000 shares of our common stock and the selling stockholders identified in this prospectus are selling an additional 833,334 shares. We will not receive any of the proceeds from the sale of the shares sold by selling stockholders. We have granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 500,000 shares from us to cover over-allotments, if any.

 

This is an initial public offering of our common stock. We currently expect the initial public offering price to be between $11.00 and $13.00 per share. We have applied for approval for listing of our common stock on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol “SPSC.”

 

 

INVESTING IN OUR COMMON STOCK INVOLVES RISKS.
SEE “RISK FACTORS” BEGINNING ON PAGE 8.

 

 

 

Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or passed upon the adequacy or accuracy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

 

 

Thomas Weisel Partners LLC

JMP Securities

 

 

The date of this prospectus is          , 2010.

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

 

 

You should rely only on the information contained in this prospectus. We have not, and the underwriters have not, authorized any other person to provide you with information different from that contained in this prospectus. This prospectus is not an offer to sell, nor is it seeking an offer to buy, these securities in any state where the offer or sale is not permitted. The information in this prospectus speaks only as of the date of this prospectus unless the information specifically indicates that another date applies, regardless of the time of delivery of this prospectus or of any sale of our common stock.

 

SPS Commerce^®, SPSCommerce.net, the SPS Commerce logo and other trademarks or service marks of SPS Commerce appearing in this prospectus are the property of SPS Commerce. Trade names, trademarks and service marks of other companies appearing in this prospectus are the property of the respective owners.

 

In this prospectus, company, we, our, and us refer to SPS Commerce, Inc., except where the context otherwise requires.

 

We obtained industry and market data used throughout this prospectus through our research, surveys and studies conducted by third parties and industry and general publications. We have not independently verified market and industry data from third-party sources.

 

The Gartner Report described herein represents data, research opinion or viewpoints published, as part of a syndicated subscription service, by Gartner, Inc., and is not a representation of fact. The Gartner Report speaks as of its original publication date (and not as of the date of this prospectus) and the opinions expressed in the Gartner Report are subject to change without notice.

 

PROSPECTUS SUMMARY

	•	increasing retailer service and performance demands;
	•	globalization of the supply chain ecosystem;
	•	increasing complexity of the supply chain ecosystem; and
	•	increasing use of outsourcing by small- and medium-sized suppliers.

	•	Trading Partner Integration. Our Trading Partner Integration solution enables suppliers to comply with retailers’ rule books and allows for the electronic exchange of information among numerous trading partners through various protocols.
	•	Trading Partner Enablement. Our Trading Partner Enablement solution helps organizations, typically large retailers, implement new integrations with trading partners, typically suppliers, to drive automation and electronic communication across their supply chains.
	•	Trading Partner Intelligence. In 2009, we introduced our Trading Partner Intelligence solution, which consists of six data analytics applications and allows our supplier customers to improve their visibility across, and analysis of, their supply chains. Retailers improve their visibility into supplier performance and their understanding of product sell-through.
	•	Other Trading Partner Solutions. We provide a number of peripheral solutions such as barcode labeling and our scan and pack application, which helps trading partners process information to streamline the picking and packaging process.

	•	further penetrating our current market;
	•	increasing revenues from our customer base;
	•	expanding our distribution channels;
	•	expanding our international presence;
	•	enhancing and expanding our platform; and
	•	selectively pursuing strategic acquisitions.

 

THE OFFERING

Common stock offered by us		2,500,000 shares

Common stock offered by selling stockholders		833,334 shares

Common stock to be outstanding after this offering		10,920,939 shares

Over-allotment option		500,000 shares

Use of proceeds		We estimate that the net proceeds to us from this offering, after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and offering expenses, will be approximately $26.2 million, assuming the shares are offered at $12.00 per share, which is the mid-point of the estimated offering price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus. We will not receive any of the proceeds from the sale of shares by the selling stockholders. See “Principal and Selling Stockholders.”

		We intend to use $594,000 of our net proceeds from this offering to repay indebtedness under our equipment term loans. We intend to use any remaining proceeds for working capital and general corporate purposes, including potential acquisitions. See “Use of Proceeds.”
Proposed Nasdaq Capital Market symbol		SPSC

 

SUMMARY FINANCIAL DATA
(In thousands, except per share and recurring revenue customer data)

		Year Ended December 31,
		2007				2008				2009
Statement of Operations Data:
Revenues		$	25,198			$	30,697			$	37,746
Cost of revenues (1)			6,379				9,258				11,715
Gross profit			18,819				21,439				26,031
Operating expenses
Sales and marketing (1)			11,636				12,493				13,506
Research and development (1)			3,546				3,640				4,305
General and administrative (1)			5,458				6,716				6,339
Total operating expenses			20,640				22,849				24,150
Income (loss) from operations			(1,821	)			(1,410	)			1,881
Other income (expense)
Interest expense			(439	)			(419	)			(270	)
Other income			120				28				(358	)
Total other expense			(319	)			(391	)			(628	)
Income tax expense			(16	)			(94	)			(91	)
Net income (loss)		$	(2,156	)		$	(1,895	)		$	1,162
Net income (loss) per share
Basic		$	(11.65	)		$	(6.45	)		$	3.53
Fully diluted		$	(11.65	)		$	(6.45	)		$	0.13
Weighted average shares outstanding
Basic			185				294				329
Fully diluted			185				294				9,268
Pro forma net income (loss) per share (unaudited) (2)
Basic										$	0.18
Fully diluted										$	0.17
Pro forma weighted average shares outstanding (unaudited) (2)
Basic											8,476
Fully diluted											9,268
		Year Ended December 31,
			2007				2008				2009
		(Unaudited)
Operating Data:
Adjusted EBITDA (3)		$	103			$	763				3,206
Recurring revenue customers (4)			9,496				10,076				11,003

		As of December 31,								As of December 31, 2009
														Pro Forma
		2008				2009				Pro Forma				As Adjusted
										(Unaudited)
Balance Sheet Data:
Cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments		$	3,715			$	5,931			$	5,931			$	31,487
Working capital			3,995				4,973				4,973				30,977
Total debt (5)			4,471				2,694				2,694				2,100
Total redeemable convertible preferred stock			65,964				65,778				—				—
Total stockholders’ equity (deficit)			(61,844	)			(60,466	)			5,312				31,462

(1)		Includes stock-based compensation expense as follows:

		Year Ended December 31,
		2007				2008				2009
Cost of revenues		$	2			$	19			$	53
Sales and marketing			33				60				91
Research and development			2				4				4
General and administrative			9				74				80
Total		$	46			$	157			$	228

(2)		Reflects the conversion of all of our preferred stock into common stock and a 0.267 for 1 reverse stock split of our common stock that will occur immediately prior to the consummation of this offering.

(3)		EBITDA consists of net income (loss) plus depreciation and amortization, interest expense and income tax expense. Adjusted EBITDA consists of EBITDA plus our non-cash, share-based compensation expense. We use Adjusted EBITDA as a measure of operating performance because it assists us in comparing performance on a consistent basis, as it removes from our operating results the impact of our capital structure. We believe Adjusted EBITDA is useful to an investor in evaluating our operating performance because it is widely used to measure a company’s operating performance without regard to items such as depreciation and amortization, which can vary depending upon accounting methods and the book value of assets, and to present a meaningful measure of corporate performance exclusive of our capital structure and the method by which assets were acquired. The following table provides a reconciliation of net income (loss) to Adjusted EBITDA:

		Year Ended December 31,
		2007				2008				2009
		(Unaudited)
Net income (loss)		$	(2,156	)		$	(1,895	)		$	1,162
Depreciation and amortization			1,758				1,988				1,455
Interest expense			439				419				270
Income tax expense			16				94				91
EBITDA			57				606				2,978
Non-cash, share-based compensation expense			46				157				228
Adjusted EBITDA		$	103			$	763			$	3,206

(4)		This reflects the number of recurring revenue customers at the end of the period. Recurring revenue customers are customers with contracts to pay us monthly fees. A minority portion of our recurring revenue customers consists of separate units within a larger organization. We treat each of these units, which may include divisions, departments, affiliates and franchises, as distinct customers. Our contracts with our recurring revenue customers typically allow the customer to cancel the contract for any reason with 30 days prior notice.
(5)		Total debt consists of our current and long-term capital lease obligations, current and long-term equipment and term loans, line of credit and interest payable.

 

You should carefully consider the risks described below before making an investment decision. Our business could be harmed by any of these risks. The trading price of our common stock could decline due to any of these risks, and you may lose all or part of your investment. In assessing these risks, you should also refer to the other information contained in this prospectus, including our financial statements and related notes.

 

Risks Related to Our Business and Industry

 

The market for on-demand supply chain management solutions is at an early stage of development. If this market does not develop or develops more slowly than we expect, our revenues may decline or fail to grow and we may incur operating losses.

 

We derive, and expect to continue to derive, substantially all of our revenues from providing on-demand supply chain management solutions to suppliers. The market for on-demand supply chain management solutions is in an early stage of development, and it is uncertain whether these solutions will achieve and sustain high levels of demand and market acceptance. Our success will depend on the willingness of suppliers to accept our on-demand supply chain management solutions as an alternative to traditional licensed hardware and software solutions.

 

Some suppliers may be reluctant or unwilling to use our on-demand supply chain management solutions for a number of reasons, including existing investments in supply chain management technology. Supply chain management functions traditionally have been performed using purchased or licensed hardware and software implemented by each supplier. Because this traditional approach often requires significant initial investments to purchase the necessary technology and to establish systems that comply with retailers’ unique requirements, suppliers may be unwilling to abandon their current solutions for our on-demand supply chain management solutions.

 

Other factors that may limit market acceptance of our on-demand supply chain management solutions include:

 

 

If suppliers do not perceive the benefits of our on-demand supply chain management solutions, or if suppliers are unwilling to accept our platform as an alternative to the traditional approach, the market for our solutions might not continue to develop or might develop more slowly than we expect, either of which would significantly adversely affect our revenues and growth prospects.

 

We do not have long-term contracts with our recurring revenue customers, and our success therefore depends on our ability to maintain a high level of customer satisfaction and a strong reputation in the supply chain management industry.

 

Our contracts with our recurring revenue customers typically allow the customer to cancel the contract for any reason with 30 days prior notice. Our continued success therefore depends significantly on our ability to meet or exceed our recurring revenue customers’ expectations because most recurring revenue customers do not make long-term commitments to use our solutions. In addition, if our reputation in the supply chain management industry is harmed or diminished for any reason, our recurring revenue customers have the ability to terminate their relationship with us on short notice and seek alternative supply chain management solutions. If a significant number of recurring revenue customers seek to terminate their relationship with us, our business, results of operations and financial condition can be adversely affected in a short period of time.

Continued economic weakness and uncertainty could adversely affect our revenue, lengthen
our sales cycles and make it difficult for us to forecast operating results accurately.

 

Our revenues depend significantly on general economic conditions and the health of retailers. Economic weakness and constrained retail spending adversely affected revenue growth rates in late 2008 and similar circumstances may result in slower growth, or reductions, in revenues and gross profits in the future. We have experienced, and may experience in the future, reduced spending in our business due to the current financial turmoil affecting the U.S. and global economy, and other macroeconomic factors affecting spending behavior. Uncertainty about future economic conditions makes it difficult for us to forecast operating results and to make decisions about future investments. In addition, economic conditions or uncertainty may cause customers and potential customers to reduce or delay technology purchases, including purchases of our solutions. Our sales cycle may lengthen if purchasing decisions are delayed as a result of uncertain information technology or development budgets or contract negotiations become more protracted or difficult as customers institute additional internal approvals for information technology purchases. Delays or reductions in information technology spending could have a material adverse effect on demand for our solutions, and consequently our results of operations, prospects and stock price.

 

If we are unable to attract new customers, or sell additional solutions, or if our customers do not increase their use of our solutions, our revenue growth and profitability will be adversely affected.

 

To increase our revenues and achieve and maintain profitability, we must regularly add new customers, sell additional solutions and our customers must increase their use of the solutions for which they currently subscribe. We intend to grow our business by hiring additional inside sales personnel, developing strategic relationships with resellers, including resellers that incorporate our applications in their offerings, and increasing our marketing activities. In addition, we derived more than 90% of our revenues from sales of our Trading Partner Integration solution in 2007, 2008 and 2009 and have not yet received significant revenues from solutions and applications that we introduced in 2009. If we are unable to hire or retain quality sales personnel, convert companies that have been referred to us by our existing network into paying customers, ensure the effectiveness of our marketing programs, or if our existing or new customers do not perceive our solutions to be of sufficiently high value and quality, we might not be able to increase sales and our operating results will be adversely affected. In addition, if we fail to sell our new solutions to existing or new customers, we will not generate anticipated revenues from these solutions, our operating results will suffer and we might be unable to grow our revenues or achieve or maintain profitability.

 

Our quarterly results of operations may fluctuate in the future, which could result in volatility in our stock price.

 

Our quarterly revenues and results of operations have varied in the past and may fluctuate as a result of a variety of factors, including the success of our new offerings such as our Trading Partner Intelligence solution. If our quarterly revenues or results of operations fluctuate, the price of our common stock could decline substantially. Fluctuations in our results of operations may be due to a number of factors, including, but not limited to, those listed below and identified throughout this “Risk Factors” section in this prospectus:

 

 

 

Due to the foregoing factors, and the other risks discussed in this prospectus, you should not rely on quarter-to-quarter comparisons of our results of operations as an indication of our future performance.

 

We have incurred operating losses in the past and may incur operating losses in the future.

 

We began operating our supply chain management solution business in 1997. Throughout most of our history, we have experienced net losses and negative cash flows from operations. As of December 31, 2009, we had an accumulated deficit of $65.7 million. We expect our operating expenses to increase in the future as we expand our operations. Furthermore, as a public company, we will incur significant legal, accounting and other expenses that we did not incur as a private company. If our revenues do not grow to offset these increased expenses, we may not be profitable. We cannot assure you that we will be able to achieve or maintain profitability. You should not consider recent revenue growth as indicative of our future performance. In fact, in future periods, we may not have any revenue growth, or our revenues could decline.

 

Our inability to adapt to rapid technological change could impair our ability to remain competitive.

 

The industry in which we compete is characterized by rapid technological change, frequent introductions of new products and evolving industry standards. Our ability to attract new customers and increase revenues from customers will depend in significant part on our ability to anticipate industry standards and to continue to enhance existing solutions or introduce or acquire new solutions on a timely basis to keep pace with technological developments. The success of any enhancement or new solution depends on several factors, including the timely completion, introduction and market acceptance of the enhancement or solution. Any new solution we develop or acquire might not be introduced in a timely or cost-effective manner and might not achieve the broad market acceptance necessary to generate significant revenues. For example, we introduced our Trading Partner Intelligence solution during 2009, but we have not yet received significant revenues from this solution. If any of our competitors implements new technologies before we are able to implement them, those competitors may be able to provide more effective solutions than ours at lower prices. Any delay or failure in the introduction of new or enhanced solutions could adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.

 

We may experience service failures or interruptions due to defects in the hardware, software, infrastructure, third party components or processes that comprise our existing or new solutions, any of which could adversely affect our business.

 

Technology solutions as complex as ours may contain undetected defects in the hardware, software, infrastructure, third party components or processes that are part of the solutions we provide. If these defects lead to service failures after introduction of a solution or an upgrade to the solution, we could experience delays or lost revenues during the period required to correct the cause of the defects. We cannot be certain that defects will not be found in new solutions or upgraded solutions, resulting in loss of, or delay in, market acceptance, which could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

 

Because customers use our on-demand supply chain management solutions for critical business processes, any defect in our solutions, any disruption to our solutions or any error in execution could cause recurring revenue customers to cancel their contracts with us, prevent potential customers from joining our network and harm our reputation. Although most of our contracts with our customers limit our liability to our customers for these defects, disruptions or errors, we nonetheless could be subject to litigation for actual or alleged losses to our customers’ businesses, which may require us to spend significant time and money in litigation or arbitration or to pay significant settlements or damages. We do not currently maintain any warranty reserves. Defending a lawsuit, regardless of its merit, could be costly and divert management’s attention and could cause our business to suffer.

The insurers under our existing liability insurance policy could deny coverage of a future claim that results from an error or defect in our technology or a resulting disruption in our solutions, or our existing liability insurance might not be adequate to cover all of the damages and other costs of such a claim. Moreover, we cannot assure you that our current liability insurance coverage will continue to be available to us on acceptable terms or at all. The successful assertion against us of one or more large claims that exceeds our insurance coverage, or the occurrence of changes in our liability insurance policy, including an increase in premiums or imposition of large deductible or co-insurance requirements, could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results. Even if we succeed in litigation with respect to a claim, we are likely to incur substantial costs and our management’s attention will be diverted from our operations.

 

Interruptions or delays from third-party data centers could impair the delivery of our solutions and our business could suffer.

 

We use two third-party data centers, located in Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, to conduct our operations. All of our solutions reside on hardware that we own or lease and operate in these locations. Our operations depend on the protection of the equipment and information we store in these third-party centers against damage or service interruptions that may be caused by fire, flood, severe storm, power loss, telecommunications failures, unauthorized intrusion, computer viruses and disabling devices, natural disasters, war, criminal act, military action, terrorist attack and other similar events beyond our control. A prolonged service disruption affecting our solutions for any of the foregoing reasons could damage our reputation with current and potential customers, expose us to liability, cause us to lose recurring revenue customers or otherwise adversely affect our business. We may also incur significant costs for using alternative equipment or taking other actions in preparation for, or in reaction to, events that damage the data centers we use.

 

Our on-demand supply chain management solutions are accessed by a large number of customers at the same time. As we continue to expand the number of our customers and solutions available to our customers, we may not be able to scale our technology to accommodate the increased capacity requirements, which may result in interruptions or delays in service. In addition, the failure of our third-party data centers to meet our capacity requirements could result in interruptions or delays in our solutions or impede our ability to scale our operations. In the event that our data center arrangements are terminated, or there is a lapse of service or damage to such facilities, we could experience interruptions in our solutions as well as delays and additional expense in arranging new facilities and services.

 

A failure to protect the integrity and security of our customers’ information could expose us to litigation, materially damage our reputation and harm our business, and the costs of preventing such a failure could adversely affect our results of operations.

 

Our business involves the collection and use of confidential information of our customers and their trading partners. We cannot assure you that our efforts to protect this confidential information will be successful. If any compromise of this information security were to occur, we could be subject to legal claims and government action, experience an adverse effect on our reputation and need to incur significant additional costs to protect against similar information security breaches in the future, each of which could adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects. In addition, because of the critical nature of data security, any perceived breach of our security measures could cause existing or potential customers not to use our solutions and could harm our reputation.

 

Evolving regulation of the Internet may increase our expenditures related to compliance efforts, which may adversely affect our financial condition.

 

As Internet commerce continues to evolve, increasing regulation by federal, state or foreign agencies becomes more likely. We are particularly sensitive to these risks because the Internet is a critical component of our on-demand business model. For example, we believe that increased regulation is likely in the area of data privacy, and laws and regulations applying to the solicitation, collection, processing or use of personal or consumer information could affect our customers’ ability to use and share data, potentially reducing demand for solutions accessed via the Internet and restricting our ability to store, process and share data with our clients via the Internet.

In addition, taxation of services provided over the Internet or other charges imposed by government agencies or by private organizations for accessing the Internet may be imposed. Any regulation imposing greater fees for Internet use or restricting information exchange over the Internet could result in a decline in the use of the Internet and the viability of Internet-based services, which could harm our business.

 

If we fail to protect our intellectual property and proprietary rights adequately, our business could be adversely affected.

 

We believe that proprietary technology is essential to establishing and maintaining our leadership position. We seek to protect our intellectual property through trade secrets, copyrights, confidentiality, non-compete and nondisclosure agreements, trademarks, domain names and other measures, some of which afford only limited protection. We do not have any patents, patent applications or registered copyrights. Despite our efforts to protect our proprietary rights, unauthorized parties may attempt to copy aspects of our technology or to obtain and use information that we regard as proprietary. We cannot assure you that our means of protecting our proprietary rights will be adequate or that our competitors will not independently develop similar or superior technology or design around our intellectual property. In addition, the laws of some foreign countries do not protect our proprietary rights to as great an extent as the laws of the United States. Intellectual property protections may also be unavailable, limited or difficult to enforce in some countries, which could make it easier for competitors to capture market share. Our failure to protect adequately our intellectual property and proprietary rights could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

An assertion by a third party that we are infringing its intellectual property could subject us to costly and time-consuming litigation or expensive licenses and our business might be harmed.

 

The Internet supply chain management and technology industries are characterized by the existence of a large number of patents, copyrights, trademarks and trade secrets and by frequent litigation based on allegations of infringement or other violations of intellectual property rights. As we seek to extend our solutions, we could be constrained by the intellectual property rights of others.

 

We might not prevail in any intellectual property infringement litigation given the complex technical issues and inherent uncertainties in such litigation. Defending such claims, regardless of their merit, could be time-consuming and distracting to management, result in costly litigation or settlement, cause development delays, or require us to enter into royalty or licensing agreements. If our solutions violate any third-party proprietary rights, we could be required to withdraw those solutions from the market, re-develop those solutions or seek to obtain licenses from third parties, which might not be available on reasonable terms or at all. Any efforts to re-develop our solutions, obtain licenses from third parties on favorable terms or license a substitute technology might not be successful and, in any case, might substantially increase our costs and harm our business, financial condition and operating results. Withdrawal of any of our solutions from the market might harm our business, financial condition and operating results.

 

In addition, we incorporate open source software into our platform. Given the nature of open source software, third parties might assert copyright and other intellectual property infringement claims against us based on our use of certain open source software programs. The terms of many open source licenses to which we are subject have not been interpreted by U.S. or foreign courts, and there is a risk that those licenses could be construed in a manner that imposes unanticipated conditions or restrictions on our ability to commercialize our solutions. In that event, we could be required to seek licenses from third parties in order to continue offering our solutions, to re-develop our solutions or to discontinue sales of our solutions, or to release our proprietary software code under the terms of an open source license, any of which could adversely affect our business.

 

We rely on third party hardware and software that could take a significant time to replace or upgrade.

 

We rely on hardware and software licensed from third parties to offer our on-demand supply chain management solutions. This hardware and software, as well as maintenance rights for this hardware and software, may not continue to be available to us on commercially reasonable terms, or at all. If we lose the

right to use or upgrade any of these licenses, our customers could experience delays or be unable to access our solutions until we can obtain and integrate equivalent technology. There might not always be commercially reasonable hardware or software alternatives to the third-party hardware and software that we currently license. Any such alternatives could be more difficult or costly to replace than the third-party hardware and software we currently license, and integration of the alternatives into our platform could require significant work and substantial time and resources. Any delays or failures associated with our platform could injure our reputation with customers and potential customers and result in an adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

 

Our strategy includes pursuing acquisitions and our potential inability to successfully integrate newly-acquired companies or businesses may adversely affect our financial results.

 

We believe part of our growth will be driven by acquisitions of other companies or their businesses. If we complete acquisitions, we face many risks commonly encountered with growth through acquisitions. These risks include:

 

 

Fully integrating an acquired company or business into our operations may take a significant amount of time. We cannot assure you that we will be successful in overcoming these risks or any other problems encountered with acquisitions. To the extent we do not successfully avoid or overcome the risks or problems related to any acquisitions, our results of operations and financial condition could be adversely affected. Future acquisitions also could impact our financial position and capital needs, and could cause substantial fluctuations in our quarterly and yearly results of operations. Acquisitions could include significant goodwill and intangible assets, which may result in future impairment charges that would reduce our stated earnings.

 

Our ability to use U.S. net operating loss carryforwards might be limited.

 

As of December 31, 2009, we had net operating loss carryforwards of $53.4 million for U.S. federal tax purposes. These loss carryforwards expire between 2010 and 2029. To the extent these net operating loss carryforwards are available, we intend to use them to reduce the corporate income tax liability associated with our operations. Section 382 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code generally imposes an annual limitation on the amount of net operating loss carryforwards that might be used to offset taxable income when a corporation has undergone significant changes in stock ownership. Due to changes in ownership, some of our net operating loss carryforwards will be limited. In addition, future changes in ownership could further limit the availability of our net operating loss carryforwards. Our ability to utilize the current net operating loss carryforwards also might be limited by the issuance of common stock in this offering. To the extent our use of net operating loss carryforwards is significantly limited, our income could be subject to corporate income tax earlier than it would if we were able to use net operating loss carryforwards, which could result in lower profits.

 

The markets in which we participate are highly competitive, and our failure to compete successfully would make it difficult for us to add and retain customers and would reduce or impede the growth of our business.

 

The markets for supply chain management solutions are increasingly competitive and global. We expect competition to increase in the future both from existing competitors and new companies that may enter our

markets. Increased competition could result in pricing pressure, reduced sales, lower margins or the failure of our solutions to achieve or maintain broad market acceptance. We face competition from:

 

 

To remain competitive, we will need to invest continuously in software development, marketing, customer service and support and product delivery infrastructure. However, we cannot assure you that new or established competitors will not offer solutions that are superior to or lower in price than ours. We may not have sufficient resources to continue the investments in all areas of software development and marketing needed to maintain our competitive position. In addition, some of our competitors are better capitalized than us, which may provide them with an advantage in developing, marketing or servicing new solutions. Increased competition could reduce our market share, revenues and operating margins, increase our costs of operations and otherwise adversely affect our business.

 

Mergers or other strategic transactions involving our competitors could weaken our competitive position, which could harm our operating results.

 

Our industry is highly fragmented, and we believe it is likely that some of our existing competitors will consolidate or will be acquired. In addition, some of our competitors may enter into new alliances with each other or may establish or strengthen cooperative relationships with systems integrators, third-party consulting firms or other parties. Any such consolidation, acquisition, alliance or cooperative relationship could lead to pricing pressure and our loss of market share and could result in a competitor with greater financial, technical, marketing, service and other resources, all of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition.

 

If we fail to retain our Chief Executive Officer and other key personnel, our business would be harmed and we might not be able to implement our business plan successfully.

 

Given the complex nature of the technology on which our business is based and the speed with which such technology advances, our future success is dependent, in large part, upon our ability to attract and retain highly qualified managerial, technical and sales personnel. In particular, Archie C. Black, our Chief Executive Officer and President, Kimberly K. Nelson, our Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, James J. Frome, our Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer, Michael J. Gray, our Executive Vice President of Operations, and David J. Novak, Jr., our Executive Vice President of Business Development, are critical to the management of our business and operations. Competition for talented personnel is intense, and we cannot be certain that we can retain our managerial, technical and sales personnel or that we can attract, assimilate or retain such personnel in the future. Our inability to attract and retain such personnel could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

 

Our continued growth could strain our personnel resources and infrastructure, and if we are unable to implement appropriate controls and procedures to manage our growth, we will not be able to implement our business plan successfully.

 

We have experienced a period of rapid growth in our headcount and operations. To the extent that we are able to sustain such growth, it will place a significant strain on our management, administrative, operational and financial infrastructure. Our success will depend in part upon the ability of our senior management to manage this growth effectively. To do so, we must continue to hire, train and manage new employees as needed. If our new hires perform poorly, or if we are unsuccessful in hiring, training, managing and integrating these new employees, or if we are not successful in retaining our existing employees, our business would be harmed. To manage the expected growth of our operations and personnel, we will need to continue to improve our operational, financial and management controls and our reporting systems and

procedures. The additional headcount we are adding will increase our cost base, which will make it more difficult for us to offset any future revenue shortfalls by reducing expenses in the short term. If we fail to successfully manage our growth, we will be unable to execute our business plan.

 

Our failure to maintain adequate internal control over financial reporting in accordance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 or to prevent or detect material misstatements in our annual or interim financial statements in the future could result in inaccurate financial reporting, or could otherwise harm our business.

 

We are required to comply with the internal control evaluation and certification requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 by no later than the end of our 2011 fiscal year. We are in the process of determining whether our existing internal controls over financial reporting systems are compliant with Section 404. This process may divert internal resources and will take a significant amount of time and effort to complete. To the extent that we are not currently in compliance with Section 404, we may be required to implement new internal control procedures and re-evaluate our financial reporting. We may experience higher than anticipated operating expenses as well as increased independent auditor fees during the implementation of these changes and thereafter. Further, we may need to hire additional qualified personnel in order for us to comply with Section 404. If we are unable to implement these changes effectively or efficiently, it could harm our operations, financial reporting or financial results and could result in our being unable to obtain an unqualified report on internal controls from our independent auditors, which could have a negative impact on our stock price.

 

In connection with preparing the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, we identified an error in our prior years’ financial statements. This error related to accounting for the preferred stock warrants at fair value in 2006, 2007 and 2008. This error resulted in the restatement of our previously issued 2006, 2007 and 2008 financial statements. This error was determined to be a deficiency. Although we have taken measures to remediate the deficiency, we cannot assure you that we have identified all or that we will not in the future have additional, material weaknesses, significant deficiencies or control deficiencies. Any failure to maintain or implement required new or improved controls, or any difficulties we encounter in implementation, could cause us to fail to meet our periodic reporting obligations or result in material misstatements in our financial statements.

 

Our failure to raise additional capital or generate cash flows necessary to expand our operations and invest in new technologies could reduce our ability to compete successfully and adversely affect our results of operations.

 

We may need to raise additional funds, and we may not be able to obtain additional debt or equity financing on favorable terms, if at all. If we raise additional equity financing, our security holders may experience significant dilution of their ownership interests and the value of shares of our common stock could decline. If we engage in debt financing, we may be required to accept terms that restrict our ability to incur additional indebtedness, force us to maintain specified liquidity or other ratios or restrict our ability to pay dividends or make acquisitions. If we need additional capital and cannot raise it on acceptable terms, we may not be able to, among other things:

 

 

Our inability to do any of the foregoing could reduce our ability to compete successfully and adversely affect our results of operations.

Because our long-term success depends, in part, on our ability to expand the sales of our solutions to customers located outside of the United States, our business will be susceptible to risks associated with international operations.

 

We have limited experience operating in foreign jurisdictions. Customers in countries outside of North America accounted for 2% of our revenues for 2008 and 2009, and, in February 2010, we opened sales and support offices in the United Kingdom and France. Our inexperience in operating our business outside of North America increases the risk that our current and any future international expansion efforts will not be successful. Conducting international operations subjects us to new risks that, generally, we have not faced in the United States, including:

 

 

The occurrence of any one of these risks could negatively affect our international business and, consequently, our results of operations generally. Additionally, operating in international markets also requires significant management attention and financial resources. We cannot be certain that the investment and additional resources required in establishing, acquiring or integrating operations in other countries will produce desired levels of revenues or profitability.

 

Risks Relating to this Offering and Ownership of Our Common Stock

 

Because there has not been a public market for our common stock and our stock price may be volatile, you may not be able to resell your shares at or above the initial public offering price.

 

Prior to this offering, you could not buy or sell our common stock publicly. We cannot predict the extent to which investors’ interests will lead to an active trading market for our common stock or whether the market price of our common stock will be volatile following this offering. If an active trading market does not develop, you may have difficulty selling any of our common stock that you buy. The initial public offering price for our common stock was determined by negotiations between representatives of the underwriters and us and may not be indicative of prices that will prevail in the open market following this offering. Consequently, you may not be able to sell our common stock at prices equal to or greater than the price you paid in this offering. In addition to the factors discussed elsewhere in this section, many factors, most of which are outside of our control, could cause the market price of our common stock to decrease significantly from the price you pay in this offering, including:

 

 

 

In addition, securities class action litigation often has often been initiated when a company’s stock price has fallen below the company’s initial public offering price soon after the offering closes or following a period of volatility in the market price of a company’s securities. If class action litigation is initiated against us, we would incur substantial costs and our management’s attention would be diverted from our operations. All of these factors could cause the market price of our stock to decline, and you may lose some or all of your investment.

 

Future sales of our common stock by our existing stockholders could cause our stock price to decline.

 

If our stockholders sell substantial amounts of our common stock in the public market, the market price of our common stock could decrease significantly. The perception in the public market that our stockholders might sell shares of our common stock could also depress the market price of our common stock. Upon the closing of this offering, we intend to file registration statements with the SEC covering any shares of our common stock acquired upon option exercises prior to the closing of this offering and all of the 1,600,411 shares subject to options outstanding, but not exercised, as of the closing of this offering. 7,496,627 shares of our common stock that will be outstanding immediately after completion of this offering will become eligible for sale in the public markets from time to time, subject to restrictions under the Securities Act of 1933 following the expiration of lock-up agreements entered into for the benefit of the underwriters by the holders of the common stock, including our directors and executive officers. Furthermore, immediately after completion of this offering, the holders of 7,463,669 shares of our common stock will have the right to demand that we file registration statements, or request that their shares be covered by a registration statement that we are otherwise filing, with respect to the shares of our common stock held by them, and will have the right to include those shares in any registration statement that we file with the SEC, subject to exceptions, which would enable those shares to be sold in the public market, subject to the restrictions under the lock-up agreements referred to above.

 

The underwriters may, in their sole discretion and at any time or from time to time, without notice, release all or any portion of the shares of common stock subject to the lock-up agreements for sale in the public and private markets prior to the expiration of the lock-up. The market price for shares of our common stock may drop significantly when the restrictions on resale by our existing stockholders lapse or if those restrictions on resale are waived. A decline in the price of shares of our common stock might impede our ability to raise capital through the issuance of additional shares of our common stock or other equity securities.

 

We have broad discretion in the use of the proceeds of this offering and may apply the proceeds in ways with which you do not agree.

 

We intend to use $594,000 of our net proceeds from this offering to repay indebtedness under our equipment term loans. We intend to use any remaining proceeds for working capital and general corporate purposes. We have not determined the allocation of the net proceeds in excess of the indebtedness we intend to repay with the net proceeds we will receive in this offering. Our management will have broad discretion over the use and investment of these net proceeds, and, accordingly, you will have to rely upon the judgment of our management with respect to our use of these net proceeds, with only limited information concerning management’s specific intentions. You will not have the opportunity, as part of your investment decision, to assess whether we use these net proceeds appropriately. We may place the net proceeds in investments that do not produce income or that lose value, which may cause our stock price to decline.

 

Our charter documents, Delaware law and our credit agreement may inhibit a takeover that stockholders consider favorable.

 

Upon the closing of this offering, provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws and applicable provisions of Delaware law may delay or discourage transactions involving an actual or potential change in our control or change in our management,

including transactions in which stockholders might otherwise receive a premium for their shares, or transactions that our stockholders might otherwise deem to be in their best interests. These provisions:

 

 

 

In addition, Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law generally limits our ability to engage in any business combination with certain persons who own 15% or more of our outstanding voting stock or any of our associates or affiliates who at any time in the past three years have owned 15% or more of our outstanding voting stock. These provisions may have the effect of entrenching our management team and may deprive you of the opportunity to sell your shares to potential acquirers at a premium over prevailing prices. This potential inability to obtain a control premium could reduce the price of our common stock.

 

Our credit agreement also prohibits us from entering into a transaction whereby a person becomes the beneficial owner of more than 30% of the total voting power of our capital stock or a majority of the members of our board changes. These restrictions may prevent us from entering into transactions in which stockholders might otherwise receive a premium for their shares, or transactions that our stockholders might otherwise deem to be in their best interests.

 

We do not intend to declare dividends on our stock after this offering.

 

We currently intend to retain all future earnings for the operation and expansion of our business and, therefore, do not anticipate declaring or paying cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future. Our credit agreement also restricts our ability to pay cash dividends. Any payment of cash dividends on our common stock will be at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend upon our results of operations, earnings, capital requirements, financial condition, future prospects, contractual restrictions and other factors deemed relevant by our board of directors. Therefore, you should not expect to receive dividend income from shares of our common stock.

 

Our directors, executive officers and principal stockholders will continue to have substantial control over us after this offering and could delay or prevent a change in corporate control.

 

After this offering, our directors, executive officers and holders of more than 5% of our common stock, together with their affiliates, will beneficially own, in the aggregate, approximately 59.7% of our outstanding common stock, assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares of our common stock in this offering. As a result, these stockholders, acting together, would have the ability to control the outcome of matters submitted to our stockholders for approval, including the election of directors and any merger, consolidation or sale of all or substantially all of our assets. In addition, these stockholders, acting together, would have the ability to control the management and affairs of our company. Accordingly, this concentration of ownership might harm the market price of our common stock by:

 

 

This prospectus contains forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the following words: “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “ongoing,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “will,” “would,” or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words. Forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of future performance or results, and will not necessarily be accurate indications of the times at, or by, which such performance or results will be achieved. Forward-looking statements are based on information available at the time the statements are made and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from the information expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements in this prospectus. These factors include:

 

 

You should read the matters described in “Risk Factors” and the other cautionary statements made in this prospectus as being applicable to all related forward-looking statements wherever they appear in this prospectus. We cannot assure you that the forward-looking statements in this prospectus will prove to be accurate and therefore prospective investors are encouraged not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. You should read this prospectus completely. Other than as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements, even though our situation may change in the future.

 

We estimate that the net proceeds from our sale of shares of common stock in this offering will be approximately $26.2 million, or approximately $31.7 million if the underwriters exercise their over-allotment option in full. This estimate is based upon an assumed initial public offering price of $12.00 per share, the mid-point of our filing range, less estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and offering expenses payable by us.

 

Based on amounts we owed as of March 29, 2010, we intend to use these net proceeds to:

 

 

We intend to use any remaining net proceeds for working capital and general corporate purposes, including potential acquisitions. We are not currently in negotiations for any acquisitions for which we intend to use the net proceeds of this offering. By establishing a public market for our common stock, this offering is also intended to facilitate our future access to public markets.

 

Pending the uses described above, we intend to invest the net proceeds of this offering in short- to medium-term, investment-grade, interest-bearing securities.

 

 

We have not historically paid dividends on our common stock. Following the completion of this offering, we intend to retain our future earnings, if any, to finance the expansion and growth of our business. We do not expect to pay cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future. Our credit agreement also currently limits our ability to pay cash dividends. Payment of future cash dividends, if any, will be at the discretion of our board of directors after taking into account various factors, including our financial condition, operating results, current and anticipated cash needs, outstanding indebtedness and plans for expansion and restrictions imposed by lenders, if any.

 

The following table sets forth our cash and cash equivalents and capitalization as of December 31, 2009:

 

 

 

 

You should read this information in conjunction with “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and our financial statements and the related notes appearing elsewhere in this prospectus.

 

The table and calculations above are based on the number of shares of common stock outstanding as of December 31, 2009 and exclude:

 

 

 

 

 

If you invest in our common stock, your ownership interest will be diluted to the extent of the difference between the initial public offering price per share of our common stock and the adjusted net tangible book value per share of our common stock immediately after completion of this offering. Pro forma net tangible book value per share represents total tangible assets less total liabilities, divided by the number of shares of common stock outstanding, after giving effect to the conversion of all of our outstanding preferred stock into an aggregate of 8,420,939 shares of our common stock. As of December 31, 2009, the pro forma net tangible book value of our common stock was approximately $3.9 million, or approximately $0.46 per share.

 

After giving effect to our sale of shares at an assumed initial public offering price of $12.00 per share, which is the mid-point of our filing range, deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and offering expenses payable by us, and applying the net proceeds from this sale, the pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value of our common stock, as of December 31, 2009, would have been approximately $30.0 million, or $2.75 per share. This amount represents an immediate increase in net tangible book value to our existing stockholders of $2.29 per share and an immediate dilution to new investors of $9.25 per share. The following table illustrates this per share dilution:

 

 

If the underwriters exercise their over-allotment option in full, there will be an increase in pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value to existing stockholders of $2.66 per share and an immediate dilution in pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value to new investors of $8.88 per share based on the assumed initial public offering price per share. A $1.00 increase or decrease in the assumed initial public offering price per share would increase or decrease, respectively, the pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per share of common stock after this offering by $0.21 per share and increase or decrease, respectively, the pro forma as adjusted dilution per share of common stock to new investors in this offering by $0.79 per share, in each case calculated as described above and assuming that the number of shares offered by us and the selling stockholders, as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, remains the same.

 

The following table summarizes, as of December 31, 2009, on a pro forma as adjusted basis, the number of shares of common stock purchased from us, the total consideration paid to us and the average price per share paid by our existing stockholders and by new investors, based upon an assumed initial public offering price of $12.00 per share and before deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and offering expenses payable by us.

 

 

The discussion and tables above are based on 8,420,939 shares of common stock outstanding as of December 31, 2009 and exclude:

 

 

 

 

 

Sales by the selling stockholders in this offering will cause the number of shares held by existing stockholders to be reduced to 7,657,696 shares or 70.1% of the total number of shares of our common stock outstanding after this offering. If the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised in full, the number of shares held by the existing stockholders after this offering would be reduced to 67.0% of the total number of shares of our common stock outstanding after this offering, and the number of shares held by new investors would increase to 33.6% of the total number of shares of our common stock outstanding after this offering.

 

Because the exercise prices of certain of our outstanding options and warrants are below the assumed initial public offering price of $12.00 per share, investors purchasing common stock in this offering will suffer additional dilution when and if these options and warrants are exercised.

 

You should read the following selected financial data together with our financial statements and the related notes appearing at the end of this prospectus and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” which follows immediately after this section.

 

The selected financial data under the heading “Balance Sheet Data” as of December 31, 2008 and 2009, under the heading “Statement of Operations Data” for each of the years ended December 31, 2007, 2008 and 2009 and under the heading “Operating Data” relating to Adjusted EBITDA for each of the years ended December 31, 2007, 2008 and 2009 have been derived from our audited annual financial statements, which are included elsewhere in this prospectus. The selected financial data under the heading “Balance Sheet Data” as of December 31, 2005, 2006 and 2007, under the heading “Statement of Operations Data” for each of the years ended December 31, 2005 and 2006 and under the heading “Operating Data” relating to Adjusted EBITDA for each of the years ended December 31, 2005 and 2006 have been derived from our audited annual financial statements, which have not been included in this prospectus. The unaudited summary financial data under the heading “Operating Data” relating to recurring revenue customers have been derived from our internal records of our operations.

 

The pro forma balance sheet data as of December 31, 2009 is unaudited and gives effect to the conversion of all of our preferred stock into our common stock immediately prior to the consummation of this offering. The pro forma as adjusted balance sheet data as of December 31, 2009 is unaudited and gives effect to (1) the pro forma adjustment above; (2) our receipt of estimated net proceeds of $26.2 million from this offering, based on an assumed initial public offering price of $12.00 per share, which is the mid-point of our filing range, after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and offering expenses payable by us and (3) the application of $594,000 of our net proceeds from this offering to repay indebtedness under our equipment term loans, as if each had occurred as of December 31, 2009. The pro forma as adjusted summary financial data are not necessarily indicative of what our financial position or results of operations would have been if this offering had been completed as of the date indicated, nor are these data necessarily indicative of our financial position or results of operations for any future date or period.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with the section titled “Selected Financial Data” and our financial statements and related notes appearing elsewhere in this prospectus. Our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements included in this discussion as a result of certain factors, including, but not limited to, those discussed in “Risk Factors” and “Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” included elsewhere in this prospectus.

 

Overview

 

We are a leading provider of on-demand supply chain management solutions, providing integration, collaboration, connectivity, visibility and data analytics to thousands of trading partners worldwide. We provide our solutions through SPSCommerce.net, a hosted software suite that improves the way suppliers, retailers, distributors and other trading partners manage and fulfill orders. We deliver our solutions to our customers over the Internet using a Software-as-a-Service model.

 

SPSCommerce.net fundamentally changes how organizations use electronic communication to manage a supply chain by replacing the collection of traditional, custom-built, point-to-point integrations with a “hub-and-spoke” model whereby a single integration to SPSCommerce.net allows an organization to connect seamlessly to the entire SPSCommerce.net network of trading partners. SPSCommerce.net combines integrations with 2,700 order management models across 1,300 retailers, grocers and distributors through a multi-tenant architecture and provides ancillary support applications that deliver a comprehensive set of supply chain solutions.

 

The value SPSCommerce.net offers increases with the number of trading partners connected to our platform. This “network effect” creates a significant opportunity for our customers to realize incremental sales by working with new trading partners connected to our platform and vice versa. As a result of this increased volume of activity amongst our customers, we earn additional revenues. We also sell our solutions through sales leads from retailers with whom we integrate our customers, referrals from trading partners in our network and channel partners, as well as our direct sales force.

 

We plan to grow our business by further penetrating the supply chain management market, increasing revenues from our customers as their businesses grow, expanding our distribution channels, expanding our international presence and developing new solutions and applications. We also intend to selectively pursue acquisitions that will add customers, allow us to expand into new regions or industries or allow us to offer new functionalities.

 

For 2007, 2008 and 2009, we generated revenues of $25.2 million, $30.7 million and $37.7 million. Our fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2009 represented our 36th consecutive quarter of increased revenues. Recurring revenues from recurring revenue customers accounted for 83%, 84% and 80% of our total revenues for 2007, 2008 and 2009. No customer represented over 1% of our revenues for 2007, 2008 or 2009. For 2008 and 2009, 2% of our revenues were generated outside of North America.

 

Key Financial Terms and Metrics

 

Sources of Revenues

 

Trading Partner Integration. Our revenues primarily consist of monthly revenues from our customers for our Trading Partner Integration solution. Our revenues for this solution consist of a monthly subscription fee and a transaction-based fee. We also receive set-up fees for initial integration solutions we provide our customers. Most of our customers have contracts with us that may be terminated by the customer by providing 30 days prior notice. Over 90% of our revenues for 2007, 2008 and 2009 were derived from Trading Partner Integration.

Trading Partner Enablement. Our Trading Partner Enablement solution helps organizations, typically large retailers, to implement new integrations with trading partners. This solution ranges from Electronic Data Interchange testing and certification to more complex business workflow automation and results in a one-time payment to us.

 

Trading Partner Intelligence. In 2009, we introduced our Trading Partner Intelligence solution, which consists of six data analytics applications. These applications allow our supplier customers to improve their visibility across, and analysis of, their supply chains. Through interactive data analysis, our retailer customers improve their visibility into supplier performance and their understanding of product sell-through. Our revenues for this solution primarily consist of a monthly subscription fee.

 

Other Trading Partner Solutions. The remainder of our revenues are derived from solutions that allow our customers to perform tasks such as barcode labeling or picking-and-packaging information tracking as well as purchases of miscellaneous supplies. These revenues are primarily transaction-based.

 

Cost of Revenues and Operating Expenses

 

Overhead Allocation. We allocate overhead expenses such as rent, certain employee benefit costs, office supplies and depreciation of general office assets to cost of revenues and operating expenses categories based on headcount.

 

Cost of Revenues. Cost of revenues primarily consists of personnel costs such as wages and benefits related to implementation teams, customer support personnel and application support personnel. Cost of revenues also includes our cost of network services, which is primarily data center costs for the locations where we keep the equipment that serves our customers, and connectivity costs that facilitate electronic data transmission between our customers and their trading partners. We expect our cost of revenues to increase in absolute dollars.

 

Sales and Marketing Expenses. Sales and marketing expenses consist primarily of personnel costs for our sales, marketing and product management teams, commissions earned by our sales personnel and marketing costs. In order to grow our business, we will continue to add resources to our sales and marketing efforts over time. We expect that sales and marketing expenses will increase in absolute dollars.

 

Research and Development Expenses. Research and development expenses consist primarily of personnel costs for development and maintenance of existing solutions. This group also is responsible for enhancing existing solutions and applications as well as internal tools and developing new information maps that integrate our customers to their trading partners in compliance with those trading partners’ requirements. We expect research and development expenses will increase in absolute dollars as we continue to enhance and expand our solutions and applications.

 

General and Administrative Expenses. General and administrative expenses consist primarily of personnel costs for finance, human resources and internal information technology support, as well as legal, accounting and other fees, such as credit card processing fees. General and administrative expenses also include amortization of intangible assets relating to our acquisition of substantially all of the assets of Owens Direct LLC in February 2006. We amortized these intangible assets over a period of three years ending in February 2009. We expect to incur additional general and administrative expenses associated with being a public company, including higher legal, audit and insurance fees.

 

Other Income (Expense). Other income (expense) primarily consists of interest income, interest expense and the fair market value adjustment of preferred stock warrants using the Black-Scholes method. Interest income represents interest received on our cash and cash equivalents. Interest expense is associated with our debt, which includes equipment loan payments and payments on our term loans.

 

Other Metrics

 

Recurring Revenue Customers. As of December 31, 2009, we had over 11,000 customers with contracts to pay us monthly fees, which we refer to as recurring revenue customers. We report recurring revenue

customers at the end of a period. A minority portion of our recurring revenue customers consists of separate units within a larger organization. We treat each of these units, which may include divisions, departments, affiliates and franchises, as distinct customers.

 

Average Recurring Revenues Per Recurring Revenue Customer. We calculate average recurring revenues per recurring revenue customer for a period by dividing the recurring revenues from recurring customers for the period by the average of the beginning and ending number of recurring revenue customers for the period. We anticipate that average recurring revenues per recurring revenue customer will continue to increase as we increase the number of solutions we offer, such as the Trading Partner Intelligence solution we introduced in 2009, and increase the penetration of those solutions across our customer base.

 

Monthly Subscription and Transaction-Based Fees. For 2007, 2008 and 2009, revenues from fixed monthly subscription and transaction-based fees accounted for 83%, 84% and 80% of our revenues, which we refer to as recurring revenues. All of these recurring revenues in 2007 and 2008 and more than 95% of the recurring revenues for 2009 related to our Trading Partner Integration solution. Our revenues are not concentrated with any customer, as no customer represented over 1% of our revenues for 2007, 2008 or 2009.

 

Adjusted EBITDA. EBITDA consists of net income (loss) plus depreciation and amortization, interest expense, and income tax expense. Adjusted EBITDA consists of EBITDA plus our non-cash, share-based compensation expense. We use Adjusted EBITDA as a measure of operating performance because it assists us in comparing performance on a consistent basis, as it removes from our operating results the impact of our capital structure. We believe Adjusted EBITDA is useful to an investor in evaluating our operating performance because it is widely used to measure a company’s operating performance without regard to items such as depreciation and amortization, which can vary depending upon accounting methods and the book value of assets, and to present a meaningful measure of performance exclusive of our capital structure and the method by which assets were acquired. The following table provides a reconciliation of net income (loss) to Adjusted EBITDA:

 

 

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

 

The discussion of our financial condition and results of operations is based upon our financial statements, which are prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States, or GAAP. The preparation of these financial statements requires us to make estimates, judgments and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues, costs and expenses and related disclosures. On an ongoing basis, we evaluate our estimates and assumptions. We base our estimates of the carrying value of certain assets and liabilities on historical experience and on various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable. Our actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions.

 

We believe that of our significant accounting policies, which are described in the notes to our financial statements, the following accounting policies involve a greater degree of judgment, complexity and effect on materiality. A critical accounting policy is one that is both material to the presentation of our financial statements and requires us to make difficult, subjective or complex judgments for uncertain matters that could have a material effect on our financial condition and results of operations. Accordingly, these are the policies we believe are the most critical to aid in fully understanding and evaluating our financial condition and results of operations.

Revenue Recognition

 

We generate revenues by providing a number of solutions to our customers. These solutions include Trading Partner Integration, Trading Partner Enablement and Trading Partner Intelligence. All of our solutions are hosted applications that allow customers to meet their supply chain management requirements. Revenues from our Trading Partner Integration and Trading Partner Intelligence solutions are generated through set-up fees and a recurring monthly hosting fee. Revenues from our Trading Partner Enablement solutions are generally one-time service fees.

 

Fees related to recurring monthly hosting services and one-time services are recognized when the services are provided. The recurring monthly fee is comprised of both a fixed and transaction based fee. Revenues are recorded in accordance with Staff Accounting Bulletin (SAB) 104, Revenue Recognition in Financial Statements, when all of the following criteria are met: (1) persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists; (2) delivery has occurred; (3) the fee is fixed and determinable and (4) collectability is probable. If collection is not considered probable, revenues are recognized when the fees are collected.

 

Set-up fees paid by customers in connection with our solutions, as well as associated direct and incremental costs, such as labor and commissions, are deferred and recognized ratably over the expected life of the customer relationship, which is generally two years. We continue to evaluate and adjust the length of these amortization periods as more experience is gained with customer renewals, contract cancellations and technology changes requested by our customers. It is possible that, in the future, the estimates of expected customer lives may change and, if so, the periods over which such subscription set-up fees and costs are amortized will be adjusted. Any such change in estimated expected customer lives will affect our future results of operations.

 

Allowance for Doubtful Accounts

 

We maintain an allowance for doubtful accounts for estimated losses resulting from our customers’ inability to pay us. The provision is based on our historical experience and for specific customers that, in our opinion, are likely to default on our receivables from them. In order to identify these customers, we perform ongoing reviews of all customers that have breached their payment terms, as well as those that have filed for bankruptcy or for whom information has become available indicating a significant risk of non-recoverability. In addition, we have experienced significant growth in the number of our customers, and we have less payment history to rely upon with these customers. We rely on historical trends of bad debt as a percentage of total revenues and apply these percentages to the accounts receivable associated with new customers and evaluate these customers over time. To the extent that our future collections differ from our assumptions based on historical experience, the amount of our bad debt and allowance recorded may be different.

 

Income Taxes

 

We account for income taxes in accordance with ASC 740, Income Taxes, which requires that deferred tax assets and liabilities be recognized using enacted tax rates for the effect of temporary differences between the book and tax basis of recorded assets and liabilities. ASC 740 also requires that deferred tax assets be reduced by a valuation allowance if it is more likely than not that some portion of all of the deferred tax asset will not be realized. The realization of the deferred tax assets is evaluated quarterly by assessing the valuation allowance and by adjusting the amount of the allowance, if necessary.

 

We recognize the financial statement benefit of a tax position only after determining that the relevant tax authority would more likely than not sustain the position following an audit. For tax positions meeting the more-likely-than-not threshold, the amount recognized in the financial statements is the largest benefit that has a greater than 50% likelihood of being realized upon ultimate settlement with the relevant tax authority.

 

Stock-Based Compensation

 

We follow ASC 718, Compensation – Stock Compensation, in accounting for our stock-based awards to employees. ASC 718 establishes accounting for stock-based awards exchanged for employee services. Accordingly, stock-based compensation cost is measured at the grant date, based on the fair value of the

award, and is recognized as an expense over the vesting period of the grant. Determining the appropriate fair value model and calculating the fair value of stock-based payment awards require the use of highly subjective assumptions, including the expected life of the stock-based payment awards and stock price volatility. We use the Black-Scholes method to value our option grants and determine the related compensation expense. The assumptions used in calculating the fair value of stock-based payment awards represent management’s best estimates, but the estimates involve inherent uncertainties and the application of management judgment. As a result, if factors change and we use different assumptions, our stock-based compensation expense could be materially different in the future.

 

The fair value of each option is estimated on the date of grant using the Black-Scholes method with the following assumptions used for grants:

 

 

 

 

The risk-free interest rate is based on the implied yield available on U.S. Treasury zero-coupon issues with a remaining term approximately equal to the expected life of our stock options. The estimated pre-vesting forfeiture rate is based on our historical experience. We do not expect to declare dividends in the foreseeable future.

 

The expected term of the options is based on evaluations of historical and expected future employee exercise behavior.

 

As a non-public entity, historic volatility is not available for our shares. As a result, we estimated volatility based on a peer group of companies, which collectively provide a reasonable basis for estimating volatility. We intend to continue to consistently use the same group of publicly traded peer companies to determine volatility in the future until sufficient information regarding volatility of our share price becomes available or the selected companies are no longer suitable for this purpose.

 

We recorded non-cash, stock-based compensation expense under ASC 718 of $46,000 during 2007, $157,000 during 2008 and $228,000 during 2009. Based on stock options outstanding as of December 31, 2009, we had unrecognized, stock-based compensation of $459,000. We expect to continue to grant stock options in the future, and to the extent that we do, our actual stock-based compensation expense recognized in future periods will likely increase.

 

As of December 31, 2009, we had outstanding vested options to purchase 986,264 shares of our common stock and unvested options to purchase 261,941 shares of our common stock with an intrinsic value of approximately $10,481,458 and $2,431,662, respectively, based on the assumed initial public offering price of $12.00 per share, which is the mid-point of our filing range.

 

Significant Factors Used in Determining Fair Value of Our Common Stock

 

The fair value of the shares of common stock that underlie the stock options we have granted has historically been determined by our audit committee or board of directors based upon information available to it at the time of grant. Because, prior to this offering, there has been no public market for our common stock, our audit committee or board of directors has determined the fair value of our common stock by utilizing, among other things, recent or contemporaneous valuation information available as of December 31,

2007 and for each quarter end thereafter. The valuation information included reviews of our business and general economic, market and other conditions that could be reasonably evaluated at that time, including our financial results, business agreements, intellectual property and capital structure. The valuation information also included a thorough review of the conditions of the industry in which we operate and the markets that we serve. Our audit committee or board of directors conducted an analysis of the fair market value of our company considering two widely accepted valuation approaches: (1) market approach and (2) income approach. These valuation approaches are based on a number of assumptions, including our future revenues and industry, general economic, market and other conditions that could reasonably be evaluated at the time of the valuation.

 

Under the market approach, the guideline market multiple methodology was applied, which involved the multiplication of revenues by risk-adjusted multiples. Multiples were determined through an analysis of certain publicly traded companies, which were selected on the basis of operational and economic similarity with our principal business operations. Revenue multiples were calculated for the comparable companies based upon daily trading prices. A comparative risk analysis between our and the public companies formed the basis for the selection of appropriate risk-adjusted multiples for our company. The risk analysis incorporated factors that relate to, among other things, the nature of the industry in which we and other comparable companies are engaged. Under the income approach, we applied the discounted cash flow methodology, which involved estimating the present value of the projected cash flows to be generated from the business and theoretically available to the capital providers of our company. A discount rate was applied to the projected future cash flows to reflect all risks of ownership and the associated risks of realizing the stream of projected cash flows. Since the cash flows were projected over a limited number of years, a terminal value was computed as of the end of the last period of projected cash flows. The terminal value was an estimate of the value of the enterprise on a going concern basis as of that future point in time. Discounting each of the projected future cash flows and the terminal value back to the present and summing the results yielded an indication of value for the enterprise. Our board of directors and audit committee took these two approaches into consideration when establishing the fair value of our common stock.

 

Set forth below is a summary of our stock option grants from January 1, 2009 through December 31, 2009 and our contemporaneous valuations and Black-Scholes values for those grants.

 

 

 

 

 

Our audit committee and board of directors made their determinations as to the fair value in connection with the grant of stock options exercising their best reasonable judgment at the time of grant. In the absence of a public market for our common stock, numerous objective and subjective factors (the “Key Valuation Considerations”) were analyzed to determine the fair value at each grant date, including the following:

 

Business Conditions and Results:

 

 

Market Conditions:

 

 

Liquidity and Valuation:

 

 

As noted below, the significant factors contributing to the differences between the valuation of our common stock as determined by our audit committee or board of directors and the assumed initial public offering price of $12.00 per share, which is the mid-point of our filing range, include the following:

 

 

 

 

 

Specifics related to grants from January 1, 2009 to December 31, 2009 are as follows:

 

 

First Quarter — 2009

 

During the first quarter of 2009, we granted 82,503 stock options with an exercise price of $3.45 per share. In the absence of a public trading market for our common stock, our board of directors, with input from management, considered the Key Valuation Considerations and factors described below and determined the fair market value of our common stock in good faith to be $3.45 per share.

 

 

 

As indicated above, we performed a contemporaneous valuation of the fair value of our common stock as of February 10, 2009. In our valuation analysis, we utilized the market approach and the income approach. The discounted cash flow used in the income approach applied (i) the appropriate risk-adjusted discount rate, which in this case was 19.5%, to estimated debt-free cash flows, based on forecasted revenues and (ii) multiples to revenues to determine a terminal value, which in this case was 1.5 times revenues. The projections used in connection with the income approach were based on our expected operating performance over the forecast period. There is inherent uncertainty in these estimates; if different discount rates or assumptions had been used, the valuation would have been different.

 

The values of our company calculated under each methodology were given equal weight based upon our audit committee’s estimate as of the valuation date, of the meaningfulness of each methodology to our company’s valuation. Based on these inputs, our marketable minority equity value was determined to be $63.0 million. The Black-Scholes option pricing model was then used to perform an equity allocation of the marketable minority value of $63.0 million to each of the series and classes of equity capital to derive a common stock value. The resulting valuation determined a per share value of $3.45 after considering a lack of marketability discount of 30%.

 

Second Quarter — 2009

 

During the second quarter of 2009, we granted 17,355 stock options with a per share exercise price of $2.55 on April 22, 2009 and on April 1, 2009 amended the exercise price of 82,503 stock options previously granted to three employees to lower the exercise price to $2.43 per share. We treat the amended options as newly granted options for financial statement reporting purposes. In the absence of a public trading market for our common stock, our audit committee, with input from management, considered the Key Valuation

Considerations and factors described below and determined the fair market value of our common stock in good faith to be $2.43 per share on April 1, 2009 and $2.55 per share on April 22, 2009.

 

 

 

As indicated above, we performed a contemporaneous valuation of the fair value of our common stock as of April 1, 2009 for the amended options and as of April 22, 2009 for the options granted on that date. In our valuation analysis, we utilized the market approach and the income approach. The discounted cash flow used in the income approach applied (i) the appropriate risk-adjusted discount rate, which in this case was 19.5%, to estimated debt-free cash flows, based on forecasted revenues and (ii) multiples to revenues to determine a terminal value, which in this case was 1.5 times revenues. The projections used in connection with the income approach were based on our expected operating performance over the forecast period. There is inherent uncertainty in these estimates; if different discount rates or assumptions had been used, the valuation would have been different.

 

The values of our company calculated under each methodology were given equal weight based upon our audit committee’s estimate as of the valuation date, of the meaningfulness of each methodology to our company’s valuation. Based on these inputs, our marketable minority equity value was determined to be $64.0 million as of April 1, 2009. The Black-Scholes option pricing model was then used to perform an equity allocation of the marketable minority value of $64.0 million to each of the series and classes of equity capital to derive a common stock value as of that date. The resulting valuation determined a per share value of $2.43 on April 1, 2009 after considering a lack of marketability discount of 30%. Our marketable minority equity value was determined to be $64.6 million as of April 22, 2009. The Black-Scholes option pricing model was then used to perform an equity allocation of the marketable minority value of $64.6 million to each of the series and classes of equity capital to derive a common stock value as of that date. The resulting valuation determined a per share value of $2.55 after considering a lack of marketability discount of 30%.

 

The decrease in the per share value of our common stock during the first and second quarters of 2009 compared to October 31, 2008 primarily was the result of a decrease in the value of the publicly traded companies used in our market analysis as well as revised company projections that reduced our expected revenues and cash flows in light of the general economic downturn that continued during that time.

 

Third Quarter — 2009

 

During the third quarter of 2009, on July 23, 2009, we granted 801 stock options and amended 237,726 stock options such that all options granted or amended during the period had a per share exercise price of $3.03. We treat the amended options as newly granted options for financial statement reporting purposes. In the absence of a public trading market for our common stock, our audit committee, with input from management, considered the Key Valuation Considerations and factors described below and determined the fair market value of our common stock in good faith to be $3.03 per share.

 

 

 

As indicated above, we performed a contemporaneous valuation of the fair value of our common stock as of July 23, 2009. In our valuation analysis, we utilized the market approach and the income approach. The discounted cash flow used in the income approach applied (i) the appropriate risk-adjusted discount rate, which in this case was 19.5%, to estimated debt-free cash flows, based on forecasted revenues and (ii) multiples to revenues to determine a terminal value, which in this case was 1.5 times revenues. The projections used in connection with the income approach were based on our expected operating performance over the forecast period. There is inherent uncertainty in these estimates; if different discount rates or assumptions had been used, the valuation would have been different.

 

The values of our company calculated under each methodology were given equal weight based upon our audit committee’s estimate as of the valuation date, of the meaningfulness of each methodology to our company’s valuation. Based on these inputs, our marketable minority equity value was determined to be $71.8 million. The Black-Scholes option pricing model was then used to perform an equity allocation of the marketable minority value of $71.8 million to each of the series and classes of equity capital to derive a common stock value. The resulting valuation determined a per share value of $3.03 after considering a lack of marketability discount of 30%.

 

Fourth Quarter — 2009

 

During the fourth quarter of 2009, we granted 801 stock options on October 22, 2009 with a per share exercise price of $3.71. In the absence of a public trading market for our common stock, our audit committee, with input from management, considered the Key Valuation Considerations and factors described below and determined the fair market value of our common stock in good faith to be $3.71 per share.

 

 

 

As indicated above, we performed a contemporaneous valuation of the fair value of our common stock as of October 22, 2009. In our valuation analysis, we utilized the market approach and the income approach. The discounted cash flow used in the income approach applied (i) the appropriate risk-adjusted discount rate, which in this case was 19.5%, to estimated debt-free cash flows, based on forecasted revenues and (ii) multiples to revenues to determine a terminal value, which in this case was 1.5 times revenues. The projections used in connection with the income approach were based on our expected operating performance over the forecast period. There is inherent uncertainty in these estimates; if different discount rates or assumptions had been used, the valuation would have been different.

 

The values of our company calculated under each methodology were given equal weight based upon our audit committee’s estimate as of the valuation date, of the meaningfulness of each methodology to our company’s valuation. Based on these inputs, our marketable minority equity value was determined to be $82.2 million. The Black-Scholes option pricing model was then used to perform an equity allocation of the marketable minority value of $82.2 million to each of the series and classes of equity capital to derive a common stock value. The resulting valuation determined a per share value of $3.71 after considering a lack of marketability discount of 30%.

 

Research and Development

 

We account for the costs incurred to develop our software solution in accordance with ASC 350-40, Intangibles – Goodwill and Other. Capitalizable costs consists of (a) certain external direct costs of materials and services incurred in developing or obtaining internal-use computer software and (b) payroll and payroll-related costs for employees who are directly associated with, and who devote time to, the project. These costs generally consist of internal labor during configuration, coding and testing activities. Research and development costs incurred during the preliminary project stage or costs incurred for data conversion activities, training, maintenance and general and administrative or overhead costs are expensed as incurred. Costs that cannot be separated between maintenance of, and relatively minor upgrades and enhancements to, internal-use software are also expensed as incurred. Capitalization begins when the preliminary project stage is complete, management with the relevant authority authorizes and commits to the funding of the software project, it is probable the project will be completed, the software will be used to perform the functions intended and certain functional and quality standards have been met.

 

Our research and development expenses primarily consist of personnel costs for development and maintenance of our existing solutions. Historically, we therefore have expensed all research and development expenditures as incurred.

 

Valuation of Goodwill

 

Goodwill represents the excess of the purchase price over the fair value of identifiable net assets acquired in business combinations. We test goodwill for impairment annually at December 31, or more frequently if events or changes in circumstances indicate that the asset might be impaired. The impairment test is conducted by comparing the fair value of the net assets with their carrying value. Fair value is determined using the future cash flows expected to be generated. If the carrying value exceeds the fair value, goodwill may be impaired. If this occurs, the fair value is then allocated to its assets and liabilities in a manner similar to a purchase price allocation in order to determine the implied fair value of goodwill. This implied fair value is then compared to the carrying amount of goodwill and, if it is less, we would recognize an impairment loss. There has been no impairment of these assets to date.

 

The valuation of goodwill requires the use of discounted cash flow valuation models. Those models require estimates of future revenue, profits, capital expenditures and working capital. These estimates will be

determined by evaluating historical trends, current budgets, operating plans and industry data. Determining the fair value of goodwill includes significant judgment by management and different judgments could yield different results.

 

We have reviewed our operations and determined that to date we have had one reporting unit. We based our conclusion primarily on the fact that we do not prepare separate financial information for distinct units, we do not have segment or unit managers that are responsible for specific solutions we provide and our management and board of directors use only one set of financial information to make decisions about resources to be allocated among our company.

 

Results of Operations

 

The following table sets forth, for the periods indicated, our results of operations:

 

The following table sets forth, for the periods indicated, our results of operations expressed as a percentage of revenues:

 

 

Year ended December 31, 2009 compared to year ended December 31, 2008

 

Revenues. Revenues for 2009 increased $7.0 million, or 23%, to $37.7 million from $30.7 million for 2008. The increase in revenues resulted primarily from a 9% increase in recurring revenue customers to 11,003 from 10,076 as well as a 10% increase in average recurring revenues per recurring revenue customer to $2,879 from $2,622. The increase in average recurring revenues per recurring revenue customer was primarily attributable to increased fees resulting from increased usage of our solutions by our recurring revenue customers. In addition, $1.2 million of the increase in revenues was due to higher testing and certification revenues due to a greater number of enablement campaigns for 2009. In 2009, we had our highest level of revenues from Trading Partner Enablement due to significant increased demand for enablement from our retailers in the year. As a result, in 2010, we anticipate a smaller number of enablement campaigns and a corresponding decrease in testing and certification revenues, in absolute dollars and as a percentage of revenues.

 

Cost of Revenues. Cost of revenues for 2009 increased $2.4 million, or 27%, to $11.7 million from $9.3 million for 2008. Of the increase in costs, approximately $2.1 million resulted from an increase in personnel costs, which was primarily attributable to the additional employees we hired for our implementation groups and customer support team. The remaining $300,000 increase was primarily due to higher costs of network services and depreciation. As a percentage of revenues, cost of revenues was 31% for 2009 compared to 30% for 2008.

 

Sales and Marketing Expenses. Sales and marketing expenses for 2009 increased $1.0 million, or 8%, to $13.5 million from $12.5 million for 2008. The increase in the dollar amount is due to higher commissions earned by sales personnel from new business. As a percentage of revenues, sales and marketing expenses were 36% for 2009 compared to 41% for 2008. Increased revenues for 2009 compared to 2008 allowed us to leverage our fixed sales and marketing expenses and caused the decrease in sales and marketing expenses as a percentage of revenues.

 

Research and Development Expenses. Research and development expenses for 2009 increased $665,000, or 18%, to $4.3 million from $3.6 million for 2008. The increase in the dollar amount was primarily related to

increased personnel costs of $502,000 due to increased salaries and wages for 2009 as well as costs for employees added during 2009. We also had additional consulting fees of $147,000 during 2009 compared to 2008, as consultants supplemented development work on new solutions. As a percentage of revenues, research and development expenses were 11% for 2009 compared to 12% for 2008.

 

General and Administrative Expenses. General and administrative expenses for 2009 decreased $377,000, or 6%, to $6.3 million from $6.7 million for 2008. As a percentage of revenues, general and administrative expenses were 17% for 2009 compared to 22% for 2008. In February 2009, the subscriber relationships from our 2006 Owens Direct acquisition became fully amortized, causing a decrease in amortization costs included in general and administrative expenses for the remainder of 2009 and driving the decrease in general and administrative expenses in absolute dollars and as a percentage of revenues.

 

Other Income (Expense). Interest expense for 2009 decreased $149,000, or 36%, to $270,000 from $419,000 for 2008. The decrease in interest expense is principally due to reduced equipment borrowings. Other expense for 2009 was $358,000 compared to other income of $28,000 for 2008. The other income (expense) change was driven by updating the value of preferred stock warrants we issued to fair market value using the Black-Scholes method.

 

Year ended December 31, 2008 compared to year ended December 31, 2007

 

Revenues. Revenues for 2008 increased $5.5 million, or 22%, to $30.7 million from $25.2 million for 2007. The increase in revenues resulted primarily from a 6% increase in recurring revenue customers to 10,076 from 9,496 as well as a 10% increase in average recurring revenues per recurring revenue customer to $2,622 from $2,385. The increase in average recurring revenues per recurring revenue customer was primarily attributable to increased fees resulting from increased usage of our solutions by our recurring revenue customers.

 

Cost of Revenues. Cost of revenues for 2008 increased $2.9 million, or 45%, to $9.3 million from $6.4 million for 2007. Of the increase in costs, $2.3 million is related to personnel costs associated with implementation and customer and applications support based on business growth. The principal driver of these increased personnel costs, which we amortize over 24 months, is the additional employees we hired during 2007 to provide implementation services to support our focus on integrating our solutions into our recurring revenue customers’ business systems. This resulted in a larger impact in 2008 than 2007. Additionally, $500,000 of the increase in cost of revenues from 2007 to 2008 is attributable to direct cost, which includes cost of resale and increased depreciation. As a percentage of revenues, cost of revenues was 30% for 2008 compared to 25% for 2007. Cost of revenues increased as a percentage of revenues because the increased personnel costs for 2008 did not correspond with an increase in revenues for the period.

 

Sales and Marketing Expenses. Sales and marketing expenses for 2008 increased $857,000, or 7%, to $12.5 million from $11.6 million for 2007. The increase in sales and marketing expenses is due to the increase in personnel costs driven by an increase to the number of employees in sales and marketing in 2008 compared to 2007. As a percentage of revenues, sales and marketing expenses were 41% for 2008 compared to 46% for 2007. Sales and marketing expenses decreased as a percentage of revenues because we effectively leveraged these costs across the revenues generated by the recurring revenue customers added during 2008.

 

Research and Development Expenses. Research and development expenses for 2008 increased $94,000, or 3%, to $3.6 million from $3.5 million for 2007. As a percentage of revenues, research and development expenses were 12% for 2008 compared to 14% for 2007. Research and development expenses decreased as a percentage of revenues because we effectively leveraged these expenses across the revenues generated by recurring revenue customers during 2008.