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UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
 
Form 10-K
 
     
(Mark One)    
þ
  ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
    For the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010
o
  TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 [NO FEE REQUIRED]
    For the transition period from          to          
 
Commission File Number 1-11689
Fair Isaac Corporation
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
 
     
Delaware
  94-1499887
(State or other jurisdiction of
incorporation or organization)
  (I.R.S. Employer
Identification No.)
901 Marquette Avenue, Suite 3200
Minneapolis, Minnesota
(Address of principal executive offices)
  55402-3232
(Zip Code)
 
Registrant’s telephone number, including area code:
612-758-5200
 
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
 
     
(Title of Class)   (Name of Each Exchange on Which Registered)
 
Common Stock, $0.01 par value per share
Preferred Stock Purchase Rights
  New York Stock Exchange, Inc.
New York Stock Exchange, Inc.
 
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:
None
 
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.
Yes þ     No o
 
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file report pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.  Yes o     No þ
 
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.  Yes þ     No o
 
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).  Yes þ     No o
 
Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K.  þ
 
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):
 
Large accelerated filer þ Accelerated filer o Non-accelerated filer o Smaller reporting company o
(Do not check if a smaller reporting company)
 
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).  Yes o     No þ
 
As of March 31, 2010, the aggregate market value of the registrant’s common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant was $770,150,790 based on the last transaction price as reported on the New York Stock Exchange on such date. This calculation does not reflect a determination that certain persons are affiliates of the registrant for any other purposes.
 
The number of shares of common stock outstanding on October 31, 2010 was 39,887,143 (excluding 48,969,640 shares held by the Company as treasury stock).
 
Items 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 of Part III incorporate information by reference from the definitive proxy statement for the Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be held on February 1, 2011.
 


 

 
TABLE OF CONTENTS
 
                 
PART I
  Item 1.     Business     2  
  Item 1A.     Risk Factors     14  
  Item 1B.     Unresolved Staff Comments     26  
  Item 2.     Properties     26  
  Item 3.     Legal Proceedings     26  
  Item 4.     (Removed and Reserved)     27  
Executive Officers of the Registrant     27  
 
PART II
  Item 5.     Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities     29  
  Item 6.     Selected Financial Data     31  
  Item 7.     Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations     32  
  Item 7A.     Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk     52  
  Item 8.     Financial Statements and Supplementary Data     55  
  Item 9.     Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure     95  
  Item 9A.     Controls and Procedures     95  
        Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting        
  Item 9B.     Other Information     95  
 
PART III
  Item 10.     Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance     95  
  Item 11.     Executive Compensation     96  
  Item 12.     Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters     96  
  Item 13.     Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence     96  
  Item 14.     Principal Accountant Fees and Services     96  
 
PART IV
  Item 15.     Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules     96  
Signatures     101  
 EX-10.16
 EX-10.25
 EX-10.27
 EX-12.1
 EX-21.1
 EX-23.1
 EX-31.1
 EX-31.2
 EX-32.1
 EX-32.2
 EX-101 INSTANCE DOCUMENT
 EX-101 SCHEMA DOCUMENT
 EX-101 CALCULATION LINKBASE DOCUMENT
 EX-101 LABELS LINKBASE DOCUMENT
 EX-101 PRESENTATION LINKBASE DOCUMENT
 EX-101 DEFINITION LINKBASE DOCUMENT


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FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS
 
Statements contained in this Report that are not statements of historical fact should be considered forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the “Act”). In addition, certain statements in our future filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), in press releases, and in oral and written statements made by us or with our approval that are not statements of historical fact constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Act. Examples of forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: (i) projections of revenue, income or loss, earnings or loss per share, the payment or nonpayment of dividends, capital structure and other statements concerning future financial performance; (ii) statements of our plans and objectives by our management or Board of Directors, including those relating to products or services; (iii) statements of assumptions underlying such statements; (iv) statements regarding business relationships with vendors, customers or collaborators; and (v) statements regarding products, their characteristics, performance, sales potential or effect in the hands of customers. Words such as “believes,” “anticipates,” “expects,” “intends,” “targeted,” “should,” “potential,” “goals,” “strategy,” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, but are not the exclusive means of identifying such statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those in such statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ from those discussed in the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, those described in Item 1A of Part I, Risk Factors, below. The performance of our business and our securities may be adversely affected by these factors and by other factors common to other businesses and investments, or to the general economy. Forward-looking statements are qualified by some or all of these risk factors. Therefore, you should consider these risk factors with caution and form your own critical and independent conclusions about the likely effect of these risk factors on our future performance. Such forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which statements are made, and we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which such statement is made to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events or circumstances. Readers should carefully review the disclosures and the risk factors described in this and other documents we file from time to time with the SEC, including our reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K to be filed by the Company in fiscal 2011.
 
PART I
 
Item 1.   Business
 
GENERAL
 
Fair Isaac Corporation (NYSE: FICO) (together with its consolidated subsidiaries, the “Company”, which may also be referred to in this report as “we,” “us,” “our,” and “FICO”) provides products and services that enable businesses to automate, improve and connect decisions to enhance business performance. Our predictive analytics, which includes the industry-standard FICO® Score, and our Decision Management systems power hundreds of billions of customer decisions each year.
 
We were founded in 1956 on the premise that data, used intelligently, can improve business decisions. Today, we help thousands of companies in over 80 countries use our Decision Management technology to target and acquire customers more efficiently, increase customer value, reduce fraud and credit losses, lower operating expenses, and enter new markets more profitably. Most leading banks and credit card issuers rely on our solutions, as do insurers, retailers and healthcare organizations. We also serve consumers through online services that enable people to purchase and understand their FICO® Scores, the standard measure in the United States of credit risk, empowering them to manage their financial health.
 
More information about us can be found on our principal website, www.fico.com. We make our Annual Report on Form 10-K, our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and our Current Reports on Form 8-K, as well as amendments to those reports, available free of charge through our website as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file them with the SEC. Information on our website is not part of this report.


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PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
 
We help businesses automate, improve and connect decisions across the enterprise, an approach we commonly refer to as Decision Management. Most of our solutions address customer decisions, including customer targeting and acquisition, account origination, customer management, fraud management, collections and recovery. We also help businesses improve noncustomer decisions such as transaction and claims processing, and network integrity review. Our solutions enable users to make decisions that are more precise, consistent and agile, and that systematically advance business goals. This helps our clients to reduce the cost of doing business, increase revenues and profitability, reduce losses from risks and fraud, and increase customer loyalty.
 
Our Segments
 
Effective October 1, 2009, we implemented an organizational restructuring resulting in a consolidation of our operating segment structure from four segments to three. We now deliver Decision Management through products and services that we categorize into the following three operating segments:
 
  •  Applications.  This segment includes the former Strategy Machine SolutionsTM segment, excluding our myFICO® solutions for consumers, and associated professional services. Our Applications products are pre-configured Decision Management applications designed for a specific type of business problem or process, such as marketing, account origination, customer management, fraud and insurance claims management.
 
  •  Scores.  This segment includes our business-to-business scoring solutions and services, our myFICO® solutions for consumers (previously included in the Strategy Machine Solutions segment), and associated professional services. Our scoring solutions give our clients access to analytics that can be easily integrated into their transaction streams and decision-making processes. Our scoring solutions are distributed through major credit reporting agencies, as well as services through which we provide our scores to clients directly.
 
  •  Tools.  This segment includes the former Analytic Software Tools segment and associated professional services. The Tools segment is composed of software tools that clients can use to create their own custom Decision Management applications.
 
The former Professional Services segment, which represents delivery and integration services, has been included within the applicable segment to which the services relate and is no longer its own segment.
 
Comparative segment revenues, operating income and related financial information for fiscal 2010, 2009 and 2008 are set forth in Note 20 to the accompanying consolidated financial statements.


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Key Products and Services by Operating Segment
 
     
Operating Segment   Key Products and Services
 
Applications
   
Marketing
  FICO® Precision Marketing Manager
FICO® Retail Action Manager
Originations
  FICO® LiquidCredit® service
FICO® Capstone® Decision Manager
FICO® Capstone® Decision Accelerator
Customer Management
  FICO® TRIAD® Customer Manager
FICO® Transaction Scores
Fraud
  FICOtm Falcon® Fraud Manager
FICOtm Insurance Fraud Manager
FICOtm Fraud Predictor with Merchant Profiles FICOtm Falcon® ID solution
FICOtm Card Alert Service
Collections & Recovery
  FICO® Debt Managertm solution
FICOtm Recovery Management Systemtm solution (“RMStm)
FICO® Network Services
FICOtm PlacementsPlus® service
Analytics
  FICO® Predictive Analytics
FICOtm Custom Decision Optimization
Scores
   
Business-to-business
  FICO® Scores
FICO® Expansion® Scores
FICO® Revenue Scores
FICO® Bankruptcy Scores
FICO® Insurance Scores Property PredictRtm, a
FICO® Insurance Score
FICO® PreScore® Service
Business-to-consumer
  myFICO® service
Score Watch® subscription
Tools
  FICOtm Blaze Advisor® business rules management system
FICOtm Model Builder
FICOtm Decision Optimizer
FICOtm Xpress Optimization Suite
 
Our Solutions
 
Our solutions involve four fundamental disciplines:
 
  •  Analytics to identify the risks and opportunities associated with individual clients, prospects and transactions, in order to detect patterns such as fraud, and to improve the design of decision logic or “strategies”;
 
  •  Data management and profiling that bring extensive consumer information to every decision;
 
  •  Software such as rules management systems that implement business rules, models and decision strategies, often in a real-time environment; and
 
  •  Consulting services that help clients make the most of investments in FICO applications, tools and analytics in the shortest possible time.


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All of our solutions are designed to help businesses make decisions that are faster, more precise, more consistent and more agile, while reducing costs and risks incurred in making decisions.
 
Applications
 
We develop industry-tailored Decision Management applications, categorized as Applications, which apply analytics, data management and Decision Management software to specific business challenges and processes. These include credit offer prescreening, insurance claims management and others. Our Applications primarily serve clients in the banking, insurance, healthcare, and retail sectors. Within our Applications segment our customer management solutions accounted for 14%, 15% and 15% of total revenues in each of fiscal 2010, 2009 and 2008, respectively, our fraud solutions accounted for 20%, 20% and 18% of total revenues in each of these periods, respectively, and our marketing solutions accounted for 11%, 9% and 7% for each of these periods, respectively.
 
Marketing Applications
 
The chief offering for marketing is our FICO® Precision Marketing Manager. The Precision Marketing Manager solution is a suite of products, capabilities and services designed to integrate the technology and analytic services needed to perform context-sensitive customer acquisition, cross-selling and retention programs. The Precision Marketing Manager solution enables companies that offer multiple products and use multiple channels (companies such as large financial institutions, consumer branded goods companies, pharmaceutical companies, retail merchants and hospitality companies) to execute more efficient and profitable customer interactions. Services offered under the Precision Marketing Manager brand name include customer data integration services; services that enable real-time marketing through direct consumer interaction channels; campaign management and optimization services; interactive tools that automate the design, execution and collection of customer response data across multiple channels; and customer data collection, management and profiling services.
 
A number of our marketing products and services are designed for specific industries, such as retail. For example, a product for retailers is our FICO® Retail Action Manager, which determines the optimal products to recommend to consumers based on purchase propensity.
 
Originations Applications
 
We provide solutions that enable banks, credit unions, finance companies, installment lenders and other companies to automate and improve the processing of requests for credit or service. These solutions increase the speed and efficiency with which requests are handled, reduce losses and increase approval rates through analytics that assess applicant risk, and reduce the need for manual review by loan officers.
 
Our solutions include the web-based FICO® LiquidCredit® service, which is primarily focused on credit decisions and is offered largely to mid-tier banking institutions. In addition, we offer FICO® Capstone® Decision Manager, an end-user software solution for application decisioning and processing and FICO® Capstone® Decision Accelerator, a rules-based application based on our FICOtm Blaze Advisor® business rules management system. We also offer custom and consortium-based credit risk and application fraud models.
 
Customer Management Applications
 
Our customer management products and services enable businesses to automate and improve decisions on their existing customers. These solutions help businesses decide which customers to cross-sell, what additional products and services to offer, whether customer risk levels have increased or decreased, when and how much to change a customer’s credit line, what pricing adjustments to make in response to account performance or promotional goals, and how to treat delinquent and high-risk accounts.
 
We provide customer management solutions for:
 
  •  Banking.  In banking, our leading account and customer management product is the FICO® TRIAD® Customer Manager. The solution is an adaptive control system, so named because it enables businesses to


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  rapidly adapt to changing business and internal conditions by designing and testing new strategies in a “champion/challenger” environment. The TRIAD system is the world’s leading credit account management system, and our adaptive control systems are used by more than 250 issuers. The current version of the TRIAD system enables users to manage risk and communications at both the account and customer level from a single platform. We also offer transaction-based neural network models (the term neural network is defined under “Technology” later in this section) called FICO® Transaction Scores, which help card issuers identify high-risk behavior more quickly and thus manage their credit card accounts more profitably. We market and sell TRIAD end-user software licenses, maintenance, consulting services, and strategy design and evaluation. Additionally, we provide TRIAD services and similar credit account management services through third-party credit card processors worldwide, including the two largest processors in the U.S., First Data Resources, Inc. and Total System Services, Inc.
 
  •  Insurance.  We provide property and casualty insurers with Decision Management solutions that enable them to create, test and implement decision strategies for areas such as cross-selling, pricing, claims handling, retention, prospecting and underwriting.
 
Fraud Applications
 
Our fraud management products improve our clients’ profitability by predicting the likelihood that a given transaction or customer account is experiencing fraud. Our fraud products analyze customer transactions in real time and generate recommendations for immediate action, which is critical to stopping third-party fraud, as well as first-party fraud and deliberate misuse of account privileges. These applications can also detect some organized fraud schemes, such as skimming or organized bust-out fraud, that are too complex and well-hidden to be identified by other methods.
 
Our solutions are designed to detect and prevent a wide variety of fraud and risk types across multiple industries, including credit and debit payment card fraud; deposit account fraud; identity fraud; technical fraud and bad debt; healthcare fraud; Medicaid and Medicare fraud; and property and casualty insurance fraud, including workers’ compensation fraud. FICO fraud solutions protect merchants, financial institutions, insurance companies, government agencies and employers from losses and damaged customer relationships caused by fraud and related criminal behavior.
 
Our leading fraud detection solution is FICOtm Falcon® Fraud Manager, recognized as the leader in global payment card fraud detection. Falcon Fraud Manager’s neural network predictive models and patented profiling technology, both further described below in the “Technology” section, examine transaction, cardholder and merchant data to detect a wide range of credit and debit card fraud quickly and accurately. Falcon Fraud Manager analyzes card transactions in real time, assesses the risk of fraud, and takes the user-defined steps to prevent fraud while expediting legitimate transactions.
 
FICOtm Fraud Predictor with Merchant Profiles is used in conjunction with Falcon Fraud Manager to improve fraud detection rates by analyzing merchant profile data. The merchant profiles include characteristics that reveal, for example, merchants that have a history of higher fraud volumes, and which purchase types and ticket sizes have most often been fraudulent at a particular merchant.
 
FICOtm Falcon® ID solution enables lenders to control identity fraud across the customer lifecycle. Falcon ID solution relies on multiple sources of data and complex statistical modeling techniques to identify activity that is at high risk of stemming from identity theft. It also provides business rules management that companies can use to identify and resolve cases that appear to involve identity theft.
 
FICOtm Insurance Fraud Manager, which uses predictive modeling to detect claims fraud, abuse and errors before payment, and identify suspicious providers as soon as aberrant behavior patterns emerge. FICO offers versions tailored to Healthcare and Workers Compensation.
 
In addition to the Falcon products, we offer FICOtm Card Alert Service. Card Alert Service is a solution for fighting debit and ATM fraud in the U.S. The Card Alert Service identifies and reports counterfeit payment cards to issuers before the majority of them incur fraud losses. The service analyzes daily transactions across


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multiple financial institutions, and uses this data to pinpoint multi-card fraud and identify common points of compromise.
 
Collections & Recovery Applications
 
Our leading solutions in this area are the FICO® Debt Managertm solution and the FICOtm Recovery Management Systemtm (“RMS”) solution. The Debt Manager solution automates the full cycle of collections and recovery, including early collections, late collections, asset disposal, agency placement, recovery, litigation, bankruptcy, asset management and residual balance recovery. The RMS solution is focused on the later phases of distressed debt management, including bankruptcy and agency management. Companies using the Debt Manager solution and the RMS solution in the U.S. can access partner services such as collection agencies and attorneys via FICO® Network Services, which provides web-based access to and from thousands of third-party collections and recovery service providers, as well as access to multiple data sources and FICO solutions hosted in ASP mode. We also provide the FICOtm PlacementsPlus® service, an account placement optimization and management system.
 
Analytics
 
We perform custom predictive, descriptive and decision modeling and related analytic projects for clients in multiple industries and to address multiple business processes across the customer life cycle. This work leverages our analytic methodologies and expertise to solve risk management and marketing challenges for a single business, using that business’s data and industry best practices to develop a highly customized solution. Most of this work falls under predictive analytics, decision analysis and optimization, which provide greater insight into customer preferences and future customer behavior. Within decision analysis and optimization, we apply data and proprietary algorithms to the design of customer treatment strategies.
 
Scores
 
We develop the world’s leading credit scores based on third-party data. Our FICO® Scores are used in most U.S. credit decisions, by most of the major banks and credit card organizations as well as by mortgage and auto loan originators. These scores provide a consistent and objective measure of an individual’s credit risk. Credit grantors use the FICO® Scores to prescreen solicitation candidates, to evaluate applicants for new credit and to review existing accounts. The FICO® Scores are calculated based on proprietary scoring models. The scores produced by these models are available through each of the three major credit reporting agencies in the United States: TransUnion, Experian and Equifax. Users generally pay the credit reporting agencies scoring fees based on usage, and the credit reporting agencies share these fees with us.
 
The most recent version of the FICO® Score for U.S. lenders is the FICO® 8 Score. This substantially upgraded version, available at the three major credit reporting agencies, includes enhancements that increase its predictive power, as well as enhancements that consider authorized user accounts (accounts where another consumer is added as a user of the primary cardholder’s account) while limiting the possibility that such accounts are used to artificially inflate scores.
 
Our scoring portfolio also includes the FICO® Expansion® Score, which provides scores on U.S. consumers who do not have traditional FICO® Scores, generally because they have too few credit accounts being reported to the credit reporting agencies. The score analyzes multiple sources of non-traditional credit data such as subscription memberships, deposit account activity and utility payment histories. The resulting scores have the same 300 — 850® score range as the traditional FICO® Score.
 
In fiscal 2010, the FICO® Economic Impact Index became available at Equifax. It is the first market-ready economic consumer risk measure available for portfolio stress testing as well as individual credit decisions.
 
Our other solutions include the FICO® Credit Capacity Indextm, the first market-ready predictive analytic to assess a consumer’s ability to pay new debt and is available for use with four credit reporting agencies’ data in markets worldwide.


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The FICO® Score Trends Service is a comprehensive reporting package that allows lenders to drill down into industry FICO® Score trends, indexed by a range of criteria such as industry, geography and time period, in order to regularly analyze their own portfolios, and improve their risk management and forecasting.
 
Through the combination of these scoring solutions, FICO offers a comprehensive market-ready solution for giving lenders a 360 degree view of the customer, encompassing the risk view (FICO® Score), market view (FICO® Score Trends Service), opportunity view (FICO® Credit Capacity Indextm) and economic view (FICO® Economic Impact Index).
 
Outside of the United States and Canada, we offer, or are close to launching, the FICO® Score, for consumer and/or SME lending, through credit reporting agencies in 11 markets worldwide. We have installed client-specific versions of the FICO® Score in 11 countries. Like FICO® Scores in North America, these scores help lenders in multiple countries leverage the FICO® Score’s predictive analysis to assess the risk of prospects, applicants and borrowers. FICO® Scores are in use or being implemented in 20 different countries across five continents.
 
In addition to the scoring solutions noted above, we also offer marketing and bankruptcy scores known as FICO® Revenue Scores and FICO® Bankruptcy Scores through the U.S. credit reporting agencies; an application fraud, revenue and bankruptcy score available in Canada; and commercial credit scores delivered by both U.S. and U.K. credit reporting agencies, and soon to be released in Singapore.
 
We have also developed scoring systems for insurance underwriters and marketers. Such systems use the same underlying statistical technology as our FICO® risk scores, but are designed to predict applicant or policyholder insurance loss risk for automobile or homeowners’ coverage. Our insurance scores are available in the U.S. from TransUnion, Experian, Equifax and ChoicePoint, Inc., and in Canada from Equifax. We also offer an insurance score called the Property PredictRtm score, which analyzes property inspection database data from an insurance services provider, Millennium Information Services, Inc., to calculate the loss risk of a property.
 
We provide credit bureau scoring services and related consulting directly to users in banking through the FICO® PreScore® service for prescreening solicitation candidates.
 
Through our myFICO® service, we provide solutions based on our analytics to consumers, sold directly by us or through distribution partners. Consumers can use the myFICO.com website to purchase their FICO® Scores, the credit reports underlying the scores, explanations of the factors affecting their scores, and customized advice on how to manage their scores. Customers can use the myFICO service to simulate how taking specific actions would affect their FICO Score. Consumers can also purchase Equifax’s Score Watch® subscriptions, which deliver alerts via email and SMS or text messages when the user’s scores or balances change. The myFICO products and subscription offerings are available online at www.myfico.com in partnership with two major U.S. credit reporting agencies: Equifax Inc. (“Equifax”) and TransUnion Corporation (“TransUnion”). The myFICO products and subscription offerings are also available to consumers through lenders, financial portals and numerous other partners.
 
Tools
 
We provide end-user software products that businesses use to build their own tailored Decision Management applications. In contrast to our packaged Applications developed for specific industry applications, our Tools support the addition of Decision Management capabilities to virtually any application or operational system. These tools are sold as licensed software, and can be used by themselves or together to advance a client’s Decision Management initiatives. We use these tools as common software components for our own Decision Management applications, described above in the Applications section. They are also key components of our Decision Management architecture, described in the Technology section. We also partner with third-party providers within given industry markets and with major software companies to embed our tools within existing applications.


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The principal products offered are software tools for:
 
  •  Rules Management.  The FICOtm Blaze Advisor® business rules management system is used to design, develop, execute and maintain rules-based business applications. The Blaze Advisor system enables businesses to more quickly develop complex decision-making applications, respond to changing customer needs, implement regulatory compliance and reduce the total cost of day-to-day operations. The Blaze Advisor system is sold as an end-user tool and is also the rules engine within several of our Decision Management applications. The Blaze Advisor system, available in six languages, is a multi-platform solution that supports Web Services and service-oriented architectures (SOA), Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) platforms, Microsoft .NET and COBOL for z/OS mainframes, and is the first rules engine to support Java, .NET and COBOL deployment of the same rules. It also incorporates the exclusive Rete III rules execution technology, which improves the efficiency and speed with which the Blaze Advisor system is able to process and execute complex, high-volume business rules.
 
  •  Model Development.  FICOtm Model Builder enables the user to develop and deploy sophisticated predictive models for use in automated decisions. This software is based on the methodology and tools FICO uses to build both client-level and industry-level predictive models, which we have evolved over more than 40 years. The predictive models produced can be embedded in custom production applications or one of our Decision Management applications and can also be executed in the FICO Blaze Advisor system.
 
  •  Optimization.  FICOtm Xpress Optimization Suite includes Xpress-Mosel, a powerful compiled modeling and programming language specifically designed for the rapid modeling and deployment of optimization problems; Xpress-Optimizer, sophisticated, robust optimization algorithms for solving large optimization problems; and Xpress-IVE, a complete visual development environment for Xpress-Mosel under Windows, incorporating a Mosel program editor, compiler and execution environment. The Xpress tools are licensed to end users, consultants and independent software vendors in several industries, and Xpress-Optimizer is embedded in FICOtm Decision Optimizer software. Decision Optimizer is a software tool that enables complex, large-scale optimizations involving dozens of networked action-effect models, and enables exploration and simulation of many optimized scenarios along an “efficient frontier” of options. The data-driven strategies produced by these tools can be executed by the FICOtm Blaze Advisor® system or one of our Decision Management applications.
 
COMPETITION
 
The market for our advanced solutions is intensely competitive and is constantly changing. Our competitors vary in size and in the scope of the products and services they offer. We encounter competition from a number of sources, including:
 
  •  in-house analytic and systems developers;
 
  •  scoring model builders;
 
  •  enterprise resource planning (“ERP”) and customer relationship management (“CRM”) packaged solutions providers;
 
  •  business intelligence solutions providers;
 
  •  business process management and business rules management providers;
 
  •  providers of credit reports and credit scores;
 
  •  providers of automated application processing services;
 
  •  data vendors;
 
  •  neural network developers and artificial intelligence system builders;
 
  •  third-party professional services and consulting organizations;


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  •  providers of account/workflow management software; and
 
  •  software companies supplying modeling, rules, or analytic development tools.
 
We believe that none of our competitors offers the same mix of products as we do, has the same expertise in predictive analytics and their integration with Decision Management software, and can offer the enhanced lifecycle management capabilities we offer in areas like banking. However, certain competitors may have larger shares of particular geographic or product markets.
 
Applications
 
The competition for our Applications varies by both application and industry.
 
In the marketing services market, we compete with Acxiom, Epsilon, Equifax, Experian, Harte-Hanks, InfoUSA, KnowledgeBase, Merkle and TargetBase, among others. We also compete with traditional advertising agencies and companies’ own internal information technology and analytics departments.
 
In the origination market, we compete with Experian, Equifax, and CGI, among others.
 
In the customer management market, we compete with Experian, among others.
 
In the fraud solutions market, we mainly compete with NICE Systems, ID Analytics, Experian, SAS, Retail Decisions plc, Norkom and ACI Worldwide, a division of Transaction Systems Architects, in the banking market; IBM and ViPS in the healthcare segment; and SAS, Infoglide Software Corporation, NetMap Analytics and Magnify in the property and casualty and workers’ compensation insurance market.
 
In the collections and recovery solutions market, we mainly compete with CGI, Experian, and various boutique firms for software and ASP servicing and in-house scoring and computer science departments, along with the three major U.S. credit reporting agencies and Experian-Scorex for scoring and optimization projects.
 
In the insurance and healthcare solutions market, we mainly compete with Emdeon, Ingenix, ViPS, MedStat, Detica, SAS, Verisk Analytics and IBM.
 
Scores
 
In this segment, we compete with both outside suppliers and in-house analytics and computer systems departments for scoring business. Major competitors among outside suppliers of scoring models include the three major credit reporting agencies in the U.S. and Canada, which are also our partners in offering our scoring solutions; Experian and Experian-Scorex (U.S. partner), TransUnion and TransUnion International, Equifax, VantageScore (a joint venture entity established by the major U.S. credit reporting agencies), CRIF and other credit reporting agencies outside the United States; and other data providers like LexisNexis and ChoicePoint, some of which also represent FICO partners.
 
For our direct-to-consumer services that deliver credit scores, credit reports and consumer credit education services, we compete with our credit reporting agency partners and their affiliated companies, as well as with Trilegiant, InterSections and others.
 
Tools
 
Our primary competitors in this segment include IBM, SAS, SPSS (acquired by IBM), Angoss, Computer Associates International and Pegasystems.
 
Competitive Factors
 
We believe the principal competitive factors affecting our markets include: technical performance; access to unique proprietary databases; availability in ASP format; product attributes like adaptability, scalability, interoperability, functionality and ease-of-use; product price; customer service and support; the effectiveness of sales and marketing efforts; existing market penetration; and our reputation. Although we believe our products


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and services compete favorably with respect to these factors, we may not be able to maintain our competitive position against current and future competitors.
 
MARKETS AND CUSTOMERS
 
Our products and services serve clients in multiple industries, including primarily banking, insurance, retail and healthcare. End users of our products include 88 of the 100 largest financial institutions in the United States, and more than half of the largest 100 banks in the world. Our clients also include more than 400 insurers, including the top ten U.S. property and casualty insurers; more than 200 retailers and general merchandisers, including about one-third of the top 100 U.S. retailers; more than 100 government or public agencies; and more than 150 healthcare and pharmaceuticals companies, including eight of the world’s top ten pharmaceuticals companies. Nine of the top ten companies on the 2010 Fortune 500 list use FICO’s solutions.
 
In addition, our consumer services are marketed to an estimated 200 million U.S. consumers whose credit relationships are reported to the three major credit reporting agencies.
 
In the United States, we market our products and services primarily through our own direct sales organization that is organized around vertical markets. Sales groups are based in our headquarters and in field offices strategically located both in and outside the United States. We also market our products through indirect channels, including alliance partners and other resellers.
 
During fiscal 2010, 2009 and 2008, revenues generated from our agreements with Equifax, TransUnion and Experian collectively accounted for 20%, 19%, and 19% of our total revenues, respectively.
 
Outside the United States, we market our products and services primarily through our subsidiary sales organizations. Our subsidiaries license and support our products in their local countries as well as within other foreign countries where we do not operate through a direct sales subsidiary. We also market our products through resellers and independent distributors in international territories not covered by our subsidiaries’ direct sales organizations.
 
Our largest market segments outside the United States are the United Kingdom and Canada. In addition, we have delivered products to users in over 80 countries.
 
Revenues from international customers, including end users and resellers, amounted to 35%, 32% and 33% of our total revenues in fiscal 2010, 2009 and 2008, respectively. See Note 20 to the accompanying consolidated financial statements for a summary of our operating segments and geographic information.
 
TECHNOLOGY
 
We specialize in analytics, software and data management technologies that analyze data and drive business processes and decision strategies. We maintain active research in a number of fields for the purposes of deriving greater insight and predictive value from data, making various forms of data more usable and valuable to the model-building process, and automating and applying analytics to the various processes involved in making high-volume decisions in real time.
 
Because of our pioneering work in credit scoring and fraud detection, we are widely recognized as the leader in predictive analytics. In addition, our Blaze Advisor software is consistently ranked as a leader in rules management systems. In all our work, we believe that our tools and processes are among the very best commercially available, and that we are uniquely able to integrate advanced analytic, software and data technologies into mission-critical business solutions that offer superior returns on investment.
 
Recent product releases support our integrated technical architecture for Decision Management, which ensures interoperability across FICO systems. Our intention is to bring greater flexibility, higher analytic performance and better decisions across the lifecycle. Building on FICO’s broad and deep experience in developing Decision Management applications, the architecture is service-oriented, designed for easy standards-based integration with our clients’ core systems and will support and deliver ever more powerful analytics that operate both within specific stages of the customer lifecycle and across them. This Decision


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Management architecture contains capabilities from existing FICO products, from new and existing components and from third-party providers. We have developed the architecture’s components and are continuing to migrate our software products onto the architecture. This migration takes the form of successive product releases that also provide immediate client value through added functionality.
 
The technologies listed below are all supported by the Decision Management architecture, which will create tighter integration between our Decision Management Applications, as well as our Tools.
 
Principal Areas of Expertise
 
Predictive Modeling.  Predictive modeling identifies and mathematically represents underlying relationships in historical data in order to explain the data and make predictions or classifications about future events. Our models summarize large quantities of data to amplify its value. Predictive models typically analyze current and historical data on individuals to produce easily understood metrics such as scores. These scores rank-order individuals by likely future performance, e.g., their likelihood of making credit payments on time, or of responding to a particular offer for services. We also include in this category models that detect the likelihood of a transaction being fraudulent. Our predictive models are frequently operationalized in mission-critical transactional systems and drive decisions and actions in near real time. A number of analytic methodologies underlie our products in this area. These include proprietary applications of both linear and nonlinear mathematical programming algorithms, in which one objective is optimized within a set of constraints, and advanced “neural” systems, which learn complex patterns from large data sets to predict the probability that a new individual will exhibit certain behaviors of business interest. We also apply various related statistical techniques for analysis and pattern detection within large datasets.
 
Decision Analysis and Optimization.  Decision analysis refers to the broad quantitative field that deals with modeling, analyzing and optimizing decisions made by individuals, groups and organizations. Whereas predictive models analyze multiple aspects of individual behavior to forecast future behavior, decision analysis analyzes multiple aspects of a given decision to identify the most effective action to take to reach a desired result. We have developed an integrated approach to decision analysis that incorporates the development of a decision model that mathematically maps the entire decision structure; proprietary optimization technology that identifies the most effective strategies, given both the performance objective and constraints; the development of designed testing required for active, continuous learning; and the robust extrapolation of an optimized strategy to a wider set of scenarios than historically encountered. Our optimization capabilities also include a proprietary mathematical modeling and programming language, an easy-to-use development environment, and a state-of-the-art set of optimization algorithms. These capabilities allow us to solve a large variety of optimization problems across all industries.
 
Transaction Profiling.  Transaction profiling is a patent-protected technique used to extract meaningful information and reduce the complexity of transaction data used in modeling. Many of our products operate using transactional data, such as credit card purchase transactions, or other types of data that change over time. In its raw form, this data is very difficult to use in predictive models for several reasons. First, an isolated transaction contains very little information about the behavior of the individual who generated the transaction. In addition, transaction patterns change rapidly over time. Finally, this type of data can often be highly complex. To overcome these issues, we have developed a set of proprietary techniques that transform raw transactional data into a mathematical representation that reveals latent information, and which make the data more usable by predictive models. This profiling technology accumulates data across multiple transactions of many types to create and update profiles of transaction patterns. These profiles enable our neural network models to efficiently and effectively make accurate assessments of, for example, fraud risk and credit risk within real-time transaction streams.
 
Customer Data Integration.  Decisions made on customers or prospects can benefit from data stored in multiple sources, both inside and outside the enterprise. We have focused on developing data integration processes that are able to assemble and integrate those disparate data sources into a unified view of the customer or household, through the application of persistent keying technology.


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Decision Management Software.  In order to make a decision strategy operational, the various steps and rules need to be programmed or exported into the business’ software infrastructure, where it can communicate with front-end, customer-facing systems and back-end systems such as billing systems. We have developed software systems, sometimes known as decision engines and business rules management systems, which perform the necessary functions to execute a decision strategy. Our software includes very efficient programs for these functions, facilitating, for example, business user definition of extremely complex decision strategies using graphic user interfaces; simultaneous testing of hundreds of decision strategies in “champion/challenger” (test/control) mode; high-volume processing and analysis of transactions in real time; integration of multiple data sources; and execution of predictive models for improved behavior forecasts and finer segmentation. Decision Management software is an integral part of our Decision Management Applications, described earlier.
 
Research and Development Activities
 
Our research and development expenses were $73.6 million, $73.6 million and $77.8 million in fiscal 2010, 2009 and 2008, respectively. We believe that our future success depends on our ability to continually maintain and improve our core technologies, enhance our existing products, and develop new products and technologies that meet an expanding range of markets and customer requirements. In the development of new products and enhancements to existing products, we use our own development tools extensively.
 
We have traditionally relied primarily on the internal development of our products. Based on timing and cost considerations; however, we have acquired, and in the future may consider acquiring, technology or products from third parties.
 
PRODUCT PROTECTION AND TRADEMARKS
 
We rely on a combination of patent, copyright, trademark and trade secret laws and confidentiality agreements and procedures to protect our proprietary rights.
 
We retain the title to and protect the suite of models and software used to develop scoring models as a trade secret. We also restrict access to our source code and limit access to and distribution of our software, documentation and other proprietary information. We have generally relied upon the laws protecting trade secrets and upon contractual nondisclosure safeguards and restrictions on transferability to protect our software and proprietary interests in our product and service methodology and know-how. Our confidentiality procedures include invention assignment and proprietary information agreements with our employees and independent contractors, and nondisclosure agreements with our distributors, strategic partners and customers. We also claim copyright protection for certain proprietary software and documentation.
 
We have patents on many of our technologies and have patent applications pending on other technologies. The patents we hold may not be upheld as valid and may not prevent the development of competitive products. In addition, patents may never be issued on our pending patent applications or on any future applications that we may submit. We currently hold 83 U.S. and 14 foreign patents with 130 applications pending.
 
Despite our precautions, it may be possible for competitors or users to copy or reproduce aspects of our software or to obtain information that we regard as trade secrets. In addition, the laws of some foreign countries do not protect proprietary rights to the same extent as do the laws of the United States. Patents and other protections for our intellectual property are important, but we believe our success and growth will depend principally on such factors as the knowledge, ability, experience and creative skills of our personnel, new products, frequent product enhancements and name recognition.
 
We have developed technologies for research projects conducted under agreements with various United States government agencies or their subcontractors. Although we have acquired commercial rights to these technologies, the United States government typically retains ownership of intellectual property rights and licenses in the technologies that we develop under these contracts. In some cases, the United States government can terminate our rights to these technologies if we fail to commercialize them on a timely basis.


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In addition, under United States government contracts, the government may make the results of our research public, which could limit our competitive advantage with respect to future products based on funded research.
 
We have used, registered and/or applied to register certain trademarks and service marks for our technologies, products and services. We currently have 39 trademarks registered in the U.S. and select foreign countries.
 
PERSONNEL
 
As of September 30, 2010, we employed 2,157 persons worldwide. Of these, 333 full-time employees were located in our Minneapolis and Arden Hills, Minnesota offices, 281 full-time employees were located in our San Rafael, California office, 311 full-time employees were located in our San Diego, California office, 340 full-time employees were located in our India-based office and 220 full-time employees were located in our United Kingdom-based offices. None of our employees is covered by a collective bargaining agreement, and no work stoppages have been experienced.
 
Information regarding our officers is included in “Executive Officers of the Registrant” at the end of Part I of this report.
 
Item 1A.   Risk Factors
 
Risks Related to Our Business
 
We have expanded the pursuit of our Decision Management strategy, and we may not be successful, which could cause our growth prospects and results of operations to suffer.
 
We have expanded the pursuit of our business objective to become a leader in helping businesses automate and improve decisions across their enterprises, an approach that we commonly refer to as Decision Management, or “DM.” Our DM strategy is designed to enable us to increase our business by selling multiple products to clients, as well as to enable the development of custom client solutions that may lead to opportunities to develop new proprietary scores or other new proprietary products. The market may be unreceptive to this general DM business approach, including being unreceptive to purchasing multiple products from us or unreceptive to our customized solutions. If our DM strategy is not successful, we may not be able to grow our business, growth may occur more slowly than we anticipate or our revenues and profits may decline.
 
We derive a substantial portion of our revenues from a small number of products and services, and if the market does not continue to accept these products and services, our revenues will decline.
 
As we implement our DM strategy, we expect that revenues derived from our scoring solutions, account management solutions, fraud solutions, originations and collections and recovery solutions will continue to account for a substantial portion of our total revenues for the foreseeable future. Our revenues will decline if the market does not continue to accept these products and services. Factors that might affect the market acceptance of these products and services include the following:
 
  •  changes in the business analytics industry;
 
  •  changes in technology;
 
  •  our inability to obtain or use key data for our products;
 
  •  saturation or contraction of market demand;
 
  •  loss of key customers;
 
  •  industry consolidation;
 
  •  failure to execute our selling approach; and
 
  •  inability to successfully sell our products in new vertical markets.


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If we are unable to access new markets or develop new distribution channels, our business and growth prospects could suffer.
 
We expect that part of the growth that we seek to achieve through our DM strategy will be derived from the sale of DM products and service solutions in industries and markets we do not currently serve. We also expect to grow our business by delivering our DM solutions through additional distribution channels. If we fail to penetrate these industries and markets to the degree we anticipate utilizing our DM strategy, or if we fail to develop additional distribution channels, we may not be able to grow our business, growth may occur more slowly than we anticipate or our revenues and profits may decline.
 
If we are unable to develop successful new products or if we experience defects, failures and delays associated with the introduction of new products, our business could suffer serious harm.
 
Our growth and the success of our DM strategy depend upon our ability to develop and sell new products or suites of products. If we are unable to develop new products, or if we are not successful in introducing new products, we may not be able to grow our business, or growth may occur more slowly than we anticipate. In addition, significant undetected errors or delays in new products or new versions of products may affect market acceptance of our products and could harm our business, financial condition or results of operations. In the past, we have experienced delays while developing and introducing new products and product enhancements, primarily due to difficulties developing models, acquiring data and adapting to particular operating environments. We have also experienced errors or “bugs” in our software products, despite testing prior to release of the products. Software errors in our products could affect the ability of our products to work with other hardware or software products, could delay the development or release of new products or new versions of products and could adversely affect market acceptance of our products. Errors or defects in our products that are significant, or are perceived to be significant, could result in rejection of our products, damage to our reputation, loss of revenues, diversion of development resources, an increase in product liability claims, and increases in service and support costs and warranty claims.
 
We rely on relatively few customers, as well as our contracts with the three major credit reporting agencies, for a significant portion of our revenues and profits. Certain of our large customers have been negatively impacted by the recent financial crisis. If these customers continue to be negatively impacted, or if the terms of these relationships otherwise change, our revenues and operating results could decline.
 
Most of our customers are relatively large enterprises, such as banks, credit card processors, insurance companies, healthcare firms and retailers. As a result, many of our customers and potential customers are significantly larger than we are and may have sufficient bargaining power to demand reduced prices and favorable nonstandard terms.
 
In addition, since mid-2007, global financial markets have suffered substantial stress, volatility, illiquidity and disruption. These forces reached unprecedented levels in the fall of 2008, resulting in the bankruptcy or acquisition of, or government assistance to, several major domestic and international financial institutions which are customers of our company. The potential for increased and continuing economic disruption presents considerable risks to our business, including potential bankruptcies or credit deterioration of financial institutions with which we have substantial relationships. Further deterioration or a continuation of the market conditions experienced since the fall of 2008 is likely to lead to a continued decline in the volume of transactions that we execute for our customers.
 
We also derive a substantial portion of our revenues and operating income from our contracts with the three major credit reporting agencies, TransUnion, Equifax and Experian, and other parties that distribute our products to certain markets. We are also currently involved in litigation with Experian arising from its development and marketing of credit scoring products competitive with our products. We have asserted various claims, including trademark infringement, unfair competition, and antitrust violations against Experian and the joint venture entity, VantageScore, LLC, that Experian formed with the other major credit reporting agencies. This litigation could have a material adverse effect on our relationship with one or more of the major credit reporting agencies, or with major customers.


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The loss of or a significant change in a relationship with a major customer, the loss of or a significant change in a relationship with one of the major credit reporting agencies with respect to their distribution of our products or with respect to our myFICO® offerings, the loss of or a significant change in a relationship with a significant third-party distributor or the delay of significant revenues from these sources, could have a material adverse effect on our revenues and results of operations.
 
We rely on relationships with third parties for marketing, distribution and certain services. If we experience difficulties in these relationships, our future revenues may be adversely affected.
 
Most of our products rely on distributors, and we intend to continue to market and distribute our products through existing and future distributor relationships. Our Scores segment relies on, among others, TransUnion, Equifax and Experian. Failure of our existing and future distributors to generate significant revenues, demands by such distributors to change the terms on which they offer our products or our failure to establish additional distribution or sales and marketing alliances could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition. In addition, certain of our distributors presently compete with us and may compete with us in the future either by developing competitive products themselves or by distributing competitive offerings. For example, TransUnion, Equifax and Experian have developed a credit scoring product to compete directly with our products and are collectively attempting to sell the product. Competition from distributors or other sales and marketing partners could significantly harm sales of our products and services.
 
If we do not engage in acquisition activity to the extent we have in the past, we may be unable to increase our revenues at historical growth rates.
 
Our historical revenue growth has been augmented by numerous acquisitions, and we anticipate that acquisitions may continue to be an important part of our revenue growth. Our future revenue growth rate may decline if we do not make acquisitions of similar size and at a comparable rate as in the past.
 
If we engage in acquisitions, significant investments in new businesses, or divestitures of existing businesses, we will incur a variety of risks, any of which may adversely affect our business.
 
We have made in the past, and may make in the future, acquisitions of, or significant investments in, businesses that offer complementary products, services and technologies. Any acquisitions or investments will be accompanied by the risks commonly encountered in acquisitions of businesses, which may include:
 
  •  failure to achieve the financial and strategic goals for the acquired and combined business;
 
  •  overpayment for the acquired companies or assets;
 
  •  difficulty assimilating the operations and personnel of the acquired businesses;
 
  •  product liability and other exposure associated with acquired businesses or the sale of their products;
 
  •  disruption of our ongoing business;
 
  •  dilution of our existing stockholders and earnings per share;
 
  •  unanticipated liabilities, legal risks and costs;
 
  •  retention of key personnel;
 
  •  distraction of management from our ongoing business; and
 
  •  impairment of relationships with employees and customers as a result of integration of new management personnel.


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We have also divested ourselves of businesses in the past and may do so again in the future. Any divestitures will be accompanied by the risks commonly encountered in the sale of businesses, which may include:
 
  •  disruption of our ongoing business;
 
  •  reductions of our revenues or earnings per share;
 
  •  unanticipated liabilities, legal risks and costs;
 
  •  the potential loss of key personnel;
 
  •  distraction of management from our ongoing business; and
 
  •  impairment of relationships with employees and customers as a result of migrating a business to new owners.
 
These risks could harm our business, financial condition or results of operations, particularly if they occur in the context of a significant acquisition. Acquisitions of businesses having a significant presence outside the U.S. will increase our exposure to the risks of conducting operations in international markets.
 
Our reengineering initiative may not be successful which could cause our growth prospects and profitability to suffer.
 
As part of our management approach, we implemented an ongoing reengineering initiative designed to grow revenues through strategic resource allocation and improve profitability through cost reductions. Periodically, implementation of our reengineering initiative may reduce our revenues as a result of our exit from non-strategic product lines. Our reengineering initiative may not be successful as a result of our failure to reduce expenses at the anticipated level, our inability to exit all non-strategic product lines included in the initiative, or a lower, or no, positive impact on revenues from strategic resource allocation. If our reengineering initiative is not successful, our revenues, results of operations and business may suffer.
 
The occurrence of certain negative events may cause fluctuations in our stock price.
 
The market price of our common stock may be volatile and could be subject to wide fluctuations due to a number of factors, including variations in our revenues and operating results. We believe that you should not rely on period-to-period comparisons of financial results as an indication of future performance. Because many of our operating expenses are fixed and will not be affected by short-term fluctuations in revenues, short-term fluctuations in revenues may significantly impact operating results. Additional factors that may cause our stock price to fluctuate include the following:
 
  •  variability in demand from our existing customers;
 
  •  failure to meet the expectations of market analysts;
 
  •  changes in recommendations by market analysts;
 
  •  the lengthy and variable sales cycle of many products, combined with the relatively large size of orders for our products, increases the likelihood of short-term fluctuation in revenues;
 
  •  consumer dissatisfaction with, or problems caused by, the performance of our products;
 
  •  the timing of new product announcements and introductions in comparison with our competitors;
 
  •  the level of our operating expenses;
 
  •  changes in competitive and other conditions in the consumer credit, banking and insurance industries;
 
  •  fluctuations in domestic and international economic conditions, including a continuation of the substantial disruption currently being experienced by the global financial markets;
 
  •  our ability to complete large installations on schedule and within budget;


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  •  acquisition-related expenses and charges; and
 
  •  timing of orders for and deliveries of software systems.
 
In addition, the financial markets have experienced significant price and volume fluctuations that have particularly affected the stock prices of many technology companies and financial services companies, and these fluctuations sometimes have been unrelated to the operating performance of these companies. Broad market fluctuations, as well as industry-specific and general economic conditions may adversely affect the market price of our common stock.
 
Due to ongoing uncertainty in economic conditions and weakness in financial credit markets, the fair value of our businesses has declined. If difficult market and economic conditions continue over a sustained period, we may experience a further decline in the fair value of one or more of our businesses from fiscal 2010 year-end levels. Such further declines in fair value may require us to record an impairment charge related to goodwill, which could adversely affect our results of operations, stock price and business.
 
Our products have long and variable sales cycles. If we do not accurately predict these cycles, we may not forecast our financial results accurately, and our stock price could be adversely affected.
 
We experience difficulty in forecasting our revenues accurately because the length of our sales cycles makes it difficult for us to predict the quarter in which sales will occur. In addition, our selling approach is complex because it emphasizes the sale of complete DM solutions involving multiple products or services across our customers’ organizations. This makes forecasting of revenues in any given period more difficult. As a result of our sales approach and lengthening sales cycles, revenues and operating results may vary significantly from period to period. For example, the sales cycle for licensing our products typically ranges from 60 days to 18 months. Customers are often cautious in making decisions to acquire our products, because purchasing our products typically involves a significant commitment of capital, and may involve shifts by the customer to a new software and/or hardware platform or changes in the customer’s operational procedures. Since our DM strategy contemplates the sale of multiple decision solutions to a customer, expenditures by any given customer are expected to be larger than with our prior sales approach. This may cause customers, particularly those experiencing financial stress, to make purchasing decisions more cautiously. Delays in completing sales can arise while customers complete their internal procedures to approve large capital expenditures and test and accept our applications. Consequently, we face difficulty predicting the quarter in which sales to expected customers will occur and experience fluctuations in our revenues and operating results. If we are unable to accurately forecast our revenues, our stock price could be adversely affected.
 
We typically have revenue-generating transactions concentrated in the final weeks of a quarter, which may prevent accurate forecasting of our financial results and cause our stock price to decline.
 
Large portions of our software license agreements are consummated in the weeks immediately preceding quarter end. Before these agreements are consummated, we create and rely on forecasted revenues for planning, modeling and earnings guidance. Forecasts, however, are only estimates and actual results may vary for a particular quarter or longer periods of time. Consequently, significant discrepancies between actual and forecasted results could limit our ability to plan, budget or provide accurate guidance, which could adversely affect our stock price. Any publicly-stated revenue or earnings projections are subject to this risk.
 
The failure to recruit and retain additional qualified personnel could hinder our ability to successfully manage our business.
 
Our DM strategy and our future success will depend in large part on our ability to attract and retain experienced sales, consulting, research and development, marketing, technical support and management personnel. The complexity of our products requires highly trained customer service and technical support personnel to assist customers with product installation and deployment. The labor market for these individuals is very competitive due to the limited number of people available with the necessary technical skills and understanding and may become more competitive with general market and economic improvement. We cannot be certain that our compensation strategies will be perceived as competitive by current or prospective


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employees. This could impair our ability to recruit and retain personnel. We have experienced difficulty in recruiting qualified personnel, especially technical, sales and consulting personnel, and we may need additional staff to support new customers and/or increased customer needs. We may also recruit skilled technical professionals from other countries to work in the United States. Limitations imposed by immigration laws in the United States and abroad and the availability of visas in the countries where we do business could hinder our ability to attract necessary qualified personnel and harm our business and future operating results. There is a risk that even if we invest significant resources in attempting to attract, train and retain qualified personnel, we will not succeed in our efforts, and our business could be harmed. The failure of the value of our stock to appreciate may adversely affect our ability to use equity and equity based incentive plans to attract and retain personnel, and may require us to use alternative and more expensive forms of compensation for this purpose.
 
The failure to obtain certain forms of model construction data from our customers or others could harm our business.
 
We must develop or obtain a reliable source of sufficient amounts of current and statistically relevant data to analyze transactions and update our products. In most cases, these data must be periodically updated and refreshed to enable our products to continue to work effectively in a changing environment. We do not own or control much of the data that we require, most of which is collected privately and maintained in proprietary databases. Customers and key business alliances provide us with the data we require to analyze transactions, report results and build new models. Our DM strategy depends in part upon our ability to access new forms of data to develop custom and proprietary analytic tools. If we fail to maintain sufficient data sourcing relationships with our customers and business alliances, or if they decline to provide such data due to legal privacy concerns, competition concerns, prohibitions or a lack of permission from their customers, we could lose access to required data and our products, and the development of new products might become less effective. Third parties have asserted copyright interests in these data, and these assertions, if successful, could prevent us from using these data. Any interruption of our supply of data could seriously harm our business, financial condition or results of operations.
 
We will continue to rely upon proprietary technology rights, and if we are unable to protect them, our business could be harmed.
 
Our success depends, in part, upon our proprietary technology and other intellectual property rights. To date, we have relied primarily on a combination of copyright, patent, trade secret, and trademark laws, and nondisclosure and other contractual restrictions on copying and distribution to protect our proprietary technology. This protection of our proprietary technology is limited, and our proprietary technology could be used by others without our consent. In addition, patents may not be issued with respect to our pending or future patent applications, and our patents may not be upheld as valid or may not prevent the development of competitive products. Any disclosure, loss, invalidity of, or failure to protect our intellectual property could negatively impact our competitive position, and ultimately, our business. There can be no assurance that our protection of our intellectual property rights in the United States or abroad will be adequate or that others, including our competitors, will not use our proprietary technology without our consent. Furthermore, litigation may be necessary to enforce our intellectual property rights, to protect our trade secrets, or to determine the validity and scope of the proprietary rights of others. Such litigation could result in substantial costs and diversion of resources and could harm our business, financial condition or results of operations.
 
Some of our technologies were developed under research projects conducted under agreements with various U.S. government agencies or subcontractors. Although we have commercial rights to these technologies, the U.S. government typically retains ownership of intellectual property rights and licenses in the technologies developed by us under these contracts, and in some cases can terminate our rights in these technologies if we fail to commercialize them on a timely basis. Under these contracts with the U.S. government, the results of research may be made public by the government, limiting our competitive advantage with respect to future products based on our research.


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If we are subject to infringement claims, it could harm our business.
 
We expect that products in the industry segments in which we compete, including software products, will increasingly be subject to claims of patent and other intellectual property infringement as the number of products and competitors in our industry segments grow. We may need to defend claims that our products infringe intellectual property rights, and as a result we may:
 
  •  incur significant defense costs or substantial damages;
 
  •  be required to cease the use or sale of infringing products;
 
  •  expend significant resources to develop or license a substitute non-infringing technology;
 
  •  discontinue the use of some technology; or
 
  •  be required to obtain a license under the intellectual property rights of the third party claiming infringement, which license may not be available or might require substantial royalties or license fees that would reduce our margins.
 
Breaches of security, or the perception that e-commerce is not secure, could harm our business.
 
Our business requires the appropriate and secure utilization of consumer and other sensitive information. Internet-based electronic commerce requires the secure transmission of confidential information over public networks, and several of our products are accessed through the Internet, including our consumer services accessible through the www.myfico.com website. Security breaches in connection with the delivery of our products and services, including products and services utilizing the Internet, or well-publicized security breaches, and the trend toward broad consumer and general public notification of such incidents, could significantly harm our business, financial condition or results of operations. We cannot be certain that advances in criminal capabilities, discovery of new vulnerabilities, attempts to exploit vulnerabilities in our systems, data thefts, physical system or network break-ins or inappropriate access, or other developments will not compromise or breach the technology protecting the networks that access our net-sourced products, consumer services and proprietary database information.
 
Protection from system interruptions is important to our business. If we experience a sustained interruption of our telecommunication systems, it could harm our business.
 
Systems or network interruptions could delay and disrupt our ability to develop, deliver or maintain our products and services, causing harm to our business and reputation and resulting in loss of customers or revenue. These interruptions can include fires, floods, earthquakes, power losses, equipment failures and other events beyond our control.
 
Risks Related to Our Industry
 
Our ability to increase our revenues will depend to some extent upon introducing new products and services. If the marketplace does not accept these new products and services, our revenues may decline.
 
We have a significant share of the available market in portions of our Scores segment and for certain services in our Applications segment, specifically, the markets for account management services at credit card processors and credit card fraud detection software. To increase our revenues, we must enhance and improve existing products and continue to introduce new products and new versions of existing products that keep pace with technological developments, satisfy increasingly sophisticated customer requirements and achieve market acceptance. We believe much of the future growth of our business and the success of our DM strategy will rest on our ability to continue to expand into newer markets for our products and services. Such areas are relatively new to our product development and sales and marketing personnel. Products that we plan to market in the future are in various stages of development. We cannot assure you that the marketplace will accept these products. If our current or potential customers are not willing to switch to or adopt our new products and services, either as a result of the quality of these products and services or due to other factors, such as economic conditions, our revenues will decrease.


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If we fail to keep up with rapidly changing technologies, our products could become less competitive or obsolete.
 
In our markets, technology changes rapidly, and there are continuous improvements in computer hardware, network operating systems, programming tools, programming languages, operating systems, database technology and the use of the Internet. If we fail to enhance our current products and develop new products in response to changes in technology or industry standards, or if we fail to bring product enhancements or new product developments to market quickly enough, our products could rapidly become less competitive or obsolete. For example, the rapid growth of the Internet environment creates new opportunities, risks and uncertainties for businesses, such as ours, which develop software that must also be designed to operate in Internet, intranet and other online environments. Our future success will depend, in part, upon our ability to:
 
  •  innovate by internally developing new and competitive technologies;
 
  •  use leading third-party technologies effectively;
 
  •  continue to develop our technical expertise;
 
  •  anticipate and effectively respond to changing customer needs;
 
  •  initiate new product introductions in a way that minimizes the impact of customers delaying purchases of existing products in anticipation of new product releases; and
 
  •  influence and respond to emerging industry standards and other technological changes.
 
If our competitors introduce new products and pricing strategies, it could decrease our product sales and market share, or could pressure us to reduce our product prices in a manner that reduces our margins.
 
We may not be able to compete successfully against our competitors, and this inability could impair our capacity to sell our products. The market for business analytics is new, rapidly evolving and highly competitive, and we expect competition in this market to persist and intensify. Our regional and global competitors vary in size and in the scope of the products and services they offer, and include:
 
  •  in-house analytic and systems developers;
 
  •  scoring model builders;
 
  •  enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM) packaged solutions providers;
 
  •  business intelligence solutions providers;
 
  •  credit report and credit score providers;
 
  •  business process management solution providers;
 
  •  process modeling tools providers;
 
  •  automated application processing services providers;
 
  •  data vendors;
 
  •  neural network developers and artificial intelligence system builders;
 
  •  third-party professional services and consulting organizations;
 
  •  account/workflow management software providers; and
 
  •  software tools companies supplying modeling, rules, or analytic development tools.
 
We expect to experience additional competition from other established and emerging companies, as well as from other technologies. For example, certain of our fraud solutions products compete against other methods of preventing credit card fraud, such as credit cards that contain the cardholder’s photograph, smart


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cards, cardholder verification and authentication solutions and other card authorization techniques. Many of our anticipated competitors have greater financial, technical, marketing, professional services and other resources than we do, and industry consolidation is creating even larger competitors in many of our markets. As a result, our competitors may be able to respond more quickly to new or emerging technologies and changes in customer requirements. They may also be able to devote greater resources than we can to develop, promote and sell their products. Many of these companies have extensive customer relationships, including relationships with many of our current and potential customers. Furthermore, new competitors or alliances among competitors may emerge and rapidly gain significant market share. For example, TransUnion, Equifax and Experian have formed an alliance that has developed a credit scoring product competitive with our products. If we are unable to respond as quickly or effectively to changes in customer requirements as our competition, our ability to expand our business and sell our products will be negatively affected.
 
Our competitors may be able to sell products competitive to ours at lower prices individually or as part of integrated suites of several related products. This ability may cause our customers to purchase products that directly compete with our products from our competitors. Price reductions by our competitors could negatively impact our margins, and could also harm our ability to obtain new long-term contracts and renewals of existing long-term contracts on favorable terms.
 
Legislation that is enacted by the U.S. Congress, the states, Canadian provinces, and other countries, and government regulations that apply to us or to our customers may expose us to liability, affect our ability to compete in certain markets, limit the profitability of or demand for our products, or render our products obsolete. If these laws and regulations require us to change our current products and services, it could adversely affect our business and results of operations.
 
Legislation and governmental regulation affect how our business is conducted and, in some cases, subject us to the possibility of future lawsuits arising from our products and services. Globally, legislation and governmental regulation also influence our current and prospective customers’ activities, as well as their expectations and needs in relation to our products and services. Both our core businesses and our newer initiatives are affected globally by federal, regional, provincial, state and other jurisdictional regulations, including those in the following significant regulatory areas:
 
  •  Use of data by creditors and consumer reporting agencies. Examples in the U.S. include the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”), the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (“FACTA”), which amends FCRA, and certain proposed regulations and studies mandated by FACTA, under consideration;
 
  •  Laws and regulations that limit the use of credit scoring models such as state “mortgage trigger” laws, state “inquiries” laws, state insurance restrictions on the use of credit based insurance scores, and the Consumer Credit Directive in the European Union.
 
  •  Fair lending laws, such as the Truth In Lending Act (“TILA”) and Regulation Z, and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (“ECOA”) and Regulation B.
 
  •  Privacy and security laws and regulations that limit the use and disclosure of personally identifiable information or require security procedures, including but not limited to the provisions of the Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999, also known as the Gramm Leach Bliley Act (“GLBA”); FACTA; the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”); the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 (“USA Patriot Act”); identity theft, file freezing, security breach notification and similar state privacy laws;
 
  •  Extension of credit to consumers through the Electronic Fund Transfers Act, as well as nongovernmental VISA and MasterCard electronic payment standards;
 
  •  Regulations applicable to secondary market participants such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that could have an impact on our products;


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  •  Insurance laws and regulations applicable to our insurance clients and their use of our insurance products and services;
 
  •  The application or extension of consumer protection laws, including, laws governing the use of the Internet and telemarketing, advertising, endorsements and testimonials and credit repair;
 
  •  Laws and regulations applicable to operations in other countries, for example, the European Union’s Privacy Directive and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act;
 
  •  Sarbanes-Oxley Act (“SOX”) requirements to maintain and verify internal process controls, including controls for material event awareness and notification;
 
  •  The implementation of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 by federal regulators to manage the financial crisis in the United States;
 
  •  Financial regulatory reform stemming from the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act;
 
  •  Laws and regulations regarding export controls as they apply to FICO products delivered in non-US countries.
 
In making credit evaluations of consumers, or in performing fraud screening or user authentication, our customers are subject to requirements of multiple jurisdictions, which may impose onerous and contradictory requirements. Privacy legislation such as GLBA or the European Union’s Privacy Directive may also affect the nature and extent of the products or services that we can provide to customers, as well as our ability to collect, monitor and disseminate information subject to privacy protection. In addition to existing regulation, changes in legislative, judicial, regulatory or consumer environments could harm our business, financial condition or results of operations. These regulations and amendments to them could affect the demand for or profitability of some of our products, including scoring and consumer products. New regulations pertaining to financial institutions could cause them to pursue new strategies, reducing the demand for our products.
 
In response to recent market disruptions, legislators and financial regulators implemented a number of mechanisms designed to add stability to the financial markets, including the provision of direct and indirect assistance to distressed financial institutions, assistance by the banking authorities in arranging acquisitions of weakened banks and broker-dealers, and implementation of programs by the Federal Reserve to provide liquidity to the commercial paper markets. The overall effects of these and other legislative and regulatory efforts on the financial markets are uncertain, and they may not have the intended stabilization effects. Should these or other legislative or regulatory initiatives fail to stabilize and add liquidity to the financial markets, our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects could be materially and adversely affected. Whether or not legislative or regulatory initiatives or other efforts designed to address recent economic conditions successfully stabilize and add liquidity to the financial markets, we may need to modify our strategies, businesses or operations, and we may incur additional costs in order to compete in a changed business environment.
 
Our revenues depend, to a great extent, upon conditions in the banking (including consumer credit) and insurance industries. If our clients’ industries continue to experience a downturn, it will likely harm our business, financial condition or results of operations.
 
During fiscal 2010, 76% of our revenues were derived from sales of products and services to the banking and insurance industries. Since mid-2007, global credit and other financial markets have suffered substantial stress, volatility, illiquidity and disruption. These forces reached unprecedented levels in the fall of 2008, resulting in the bankruptcy or acquisition of, or government assistance to, several major domestic and international financial institutions. The recent market developments and the potential for increased and continuing disruptions present considerable risks to our businesses and operations. These risks include potential bankruptcies or credit deterioration of financial institutions, many of which are our customers. Further deterioration or a continuation of recent market conditions is likely to lead to a continued decline in the revenue we receive from financial and other institutions.


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While the rate of account growth in the U.S. bankcard industry has been slowing and many of our large institutional customers have consolidated in recent years, we have generated most of our revenue growth from our bankcard-related scoring and account management businesses by selling and cross-selling our products and services to large banks and other credit issuers. As the banking industry continues to experience contraction in the number of participating institutions, we may have fewer opportunities for revenue growth due to reduced or changing demand for our products and services that support customer acquisition programs of our customers. In addition, industry contraction could affect the base of recurring revenues derived from contracts in which we are paid on a per-transaction basis as formerly separate customers combine their operations under one contract. There can be no assurance that we will be able to prevent future revenue contraction or effectively promote future revenue growth in our businesses.
 
While we are attempting to expand our sales of consumer credit, banking and insurance products and services into international markets, the risks are greater as these markets are also experiencing substantial disruption and we are less well-known in them.
 
Risk Related to External Conditions
 
Continuing material adverse developments in global economic conditions, or the occurrence of certain other world events, could affect demand for our products and services and harm our business.
 
Purchases of technology products and services and decisioning solutions are subject to adverse economic conditions. When an economy is struggling, companies in many industries delay or reduce technology purchases, and we experience softened demand for our decisioning solutions and other products and services. Since mid-2007, global credit and other financial markets have suffered substantial stress, volatility, illiquidity and disruption. These forces reached unprecedented levels in the fall of 2008, resulting in the bankruptcy or acquisition of, or government assistance to, several major domestic and international financial institutions. The widespread economic downturn has also negatively affected the businesses and purchasing decisions of companies in the other industries we serve. These recent market developments and the potential for increased and continuing disruptions present considerable risks to our businesses and operations. If global economic conditions continue to experience stress and negative volatility, or if there is an escalation in regional or global conflicts or terrorism, we will likely experience reductions in the number of available customers and in capital expenditures by our remaining customers, longer sales cycles, deferral or delay of purchase commitments for our products and increased price competition, which may adversely affect our business, results of operations and liquidity.
 
Whether or not legislative or regulatory initiatives or other efforts successfully stabilize and add liquidity to the financial markets, we may need to modify our strategies, businesses or operations, and we may incur additional costs in order to compete in a changed business environment. Given the volatile nature of the current economic downturn and the uncertainties underlying efforts to mitigate or reverse the downturn, we may not timely anticipate or manage existing, new or additional risks, as well as contingencies or developments, which may include regulatory developments and trends in new products and services. Our failure to do so could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
 
In operations outside the United States, we are subject to unique risks that may harm our business, financial condition or results of operations.
 
A growing portion of our revenues is derived from international sales. During fiscal 2010, 35% of our revenues were derived from business outside the United States. As part of our growth strategy, we plan to continue to pursue opportunities outside the United States, including opportunities in countries with economic systems that are in early stages of development and that may not mature sufficiently to result in growth for our business. Accordingly, our future operating results could be negatively affected by a variety of factors arising out of international commerce, some of which are beyond our control. These factors include:
 
  •  general economic and political conditions in countries where we sell our products and services;


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  •  difficulty in staffing and efficiently managing our operations in multiple geographic locations and in various countries;
 
  •  effects of a variety of foreign laws and regulations, including restrictions on access to personal information;
 
  •  import and export licensing requirements;
 
  •  longer payment cycles;
 
  •  reduced protection for intellectual property rights;
 
  •  currency fluctuations;
 
  •  changes in tariffs and other trade barriers; and
 
  •  difficulties and delays in translating products and related documentation into foreign languages.
 
There can be no assurance that we will be able to successfully address each of these challenges in the near term. Additionally, some of our business will be conducted in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. Foreign currency transaction gains and losses are not currently material to our cash flows, financial position or results of operations. However, an increase in our foreign revenues could subject us to increased foreign currency transaction risks in the future.
 
In addition to the risk of depending on international sales, we have risks incurred in having research and development personnel located in various international locations. We currently have a substantial portion of our product development staff in international locations, some of which have political and developmental risks. If such risks materialize, our business could be damaged.
 
Our anti-takeover defenses could make it difficult for another company to acquire control of FICO, thereby limiting the demand for our securities by certain types of purchasers or the price investors are willing to pay for our stock.
 
Certain provisions of our Restated Certificate of Incorporation, as amended, could make a merger, tender offer or proxy contest involving us difficult, even if such events would be beneficial to the interests of our stockholders. These provisions include adopting a Shareholder Rights Agreement, commonly known as a “poison pill,” and giving our board the ability to issue preferred stock and determine the rights and designations of the preferred stock at any time without stockholder approval. The rights of the holders of our common stock will be subject to, and may be adversely affected by, the rights of the holders of any preferred stock that may be issued in the future. The issuance of preferred stock, while providing flexibility in connection with possible acquisitions and other corporate purposes, could have the effect of making it more difficult for a third party to acquire, or discouraging a third party from acquiring, a majority of our outstanding voting stock. These factors and certain provisions of the Delaware General Corporation Law may have the effect of deterring hostile takeovers or otherwise delaying or preventing changes in control or changes in our management, including transactions in which our stockholders might otherwise receive a premium over the fair market value of our common stock.
 
If we experience changes in tax laws or adverse outcomes resulting from examination of our income tax returns, it could adversely affect our results of operations.
 
We are subject to federal and state income taxes in the United States and in certain foreign jurisdictions. Significant judgment is required in determining our worldwide provision for income taxes. Our future effective tax rates could be adversely affected by changes in tax laws, by our ability to generate taxable income in foreign jurisdictions in order to utilize foreign tax losses, and by the valuation of our deferred tax assets. In addition, we are subject to the examination of our income tax returns by the Internal Revenue Service and other tax authorities. We regularly assess the likelihood of adverse outcomes resulting from such examinations to determine the adequacy of our provision for income taxes. There can be no assurance that the outcomes from such examinations will not have an adverse effect on our operating results and financial condition.


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Item 1B.   Unresolved Staff Comments
 
Not applicable.
 
Item 2.   Properties
 
Our properties consist primarily of leased office facilities for sales, data processing, research and development, consulting and administrative personnel. Our principal office is located in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
 
Our leased properties include:
 
  •  approximately 243,000 square feet of office, data center, and data processing space in Arden Hills and Minneapolis, Minnesota, in six buildings under leases expiring in 2011 or later; 33,000 square feet of this space is subleased to a third party;
 
  •  approximately 124,000 square feet of office space in San Rafael, California in one building under a lease expiring in 2020;
 
  •  approximately 80,000 square feet of office space in San Diego, California in one building under a lease expiring in 2019; and
 
  •  an aggregate of approximately 312,000 square feet of office and data center space in; Annandale, VA; Bangalore, India; Beijing, China; Birmingham, United Kingdom; Chicago, IL; Hong Kong, China; Gauteng, Malaysia; London, United Kingdom; Madrid, Spain; Melbourne, Australia; Mumbai, India; Munich, Germany; New Castle, DE; New York, NY; Norcross, GA; San Jose, CA; Sao Paulo, Brazil; Seoul, Korea; Shanghai, China; Singapore, Singapore; Sydney, Australia; Taipei City, Taiwan; Tokyo, Japan; Toronto, Canada; and Westminster, CO; 43,000 square feet of this space is subleased to third parties.
 
See Note 21 to the accompanying consolidated financial statements for information regarding our obligations under leases. We believe that suitable additional space will be available to accommodate future needs.
 
Item 3.   Legal Proceedings
 
On October 11, 2006, we filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota captioned Fair Isaac Corporation and myFICO Consumer Services Inc. v. Equifax Inc., Equifax Information Services LLC, Experian Information Solutions, Inc., TransUnion LLC, VantageScore Solutions LLC, and Does I through X. The lawsuit related in part to the development, marketing, and distribution of VantageScore, a credit score product developed by VantageScore Solutions LLC, which is jointly owned by the three national credit reporting companies. We alleged in the lawsuit violations of antitrust laws, unfair competitive practices and false advertising, trademark infringement, and breach of contract. We sought injunctive relief and compensatory damages. On June 6, 2008, we entered into a settlement agreement with Equifax Inc. and Equifax Information Services LLC, and on June 13, 2008, Equifax Inc. and Equifax Information Services LLC were formally dismissed from this lawsuit. On February 9, 2009, the Court granted our motions to strike counterclaims the remaining defendants had attempted to bring against us in the case, allowing them to assert only a counterclaim for trademark cancellation. On July 24, 2009, the Court issued a summary judgment order, which limited the claims to be tried. The Court dismissed our antitrust, contract, and certain false advertising claims. The Court allowed our trademark infringement, unfair competition, and passing off claims to proceed to trial. After a three-week trial on these claims, the jury ruled in the defendants’ favor on November 20, 2009. We filed post-trial motions to address issues in the trial, and the defendants filed post-trial motions seeking payment of certain attorneys’ fees and costs. On May 10, 2010, the Court issued a ruling denying our post-trial motions and substantially denying defendants’ motions for attorneys’ fees and costs (other than an award to TransUnion LLC for certain fees associated with our contract claims). On May 17, 2010, we entered into a settlement agreement with TransUnion LLC pursuant to which, among many other terms, TransUnion LLC released all claims to the fee award and was dismissed from the lawsuit. On August 20, 2010, we filed


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an appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eight Circuit appealing the results from the district court, including the dismissal of our antitrust claims and certain rulings fundamental to our trademark and false advertising claims. On November 4, 2010, the remaining defendants, Experian Information Solutions, Inc. and VantageScore Solutions LLC, filed an appeal regarding the denial of their motions for attorneys’ fees. Briefing on the appeals is expected to be complete in January 2011, and rulings are expected in mid-2011.
 
Item 4.   (Removed and Reserved)
 
EXECUTIVE OFFICERS OF THE REGISTRANT
 
Our current executive officers are as follows:
 
         
Name   Positions Held   Age
 
Mark N. Greene
  February 2007-present, Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors of the Company. 2006-2007, Vice President, Financial Services — Sales and Distribution at IBM Corporation (“IBM”), 2001-2006, General Manager, Global Banking Industry — Sales and Distribution at IBM. 2000-2001, Vice President Financial Services Strategy and Solutions — Sales and Distribution at IBM. 1998-2000, Vice President, SecureWay — Software Group at IBM. 1995-1998, Vice President, Electronic Commerce — Software Group at IBM. 1993-1994, Vice President and Practice Area Leader at Technology Solutions Company. 1989-1992, Senior Vice President, Trading Products and Consulting at Berkley Investment Technologies. 1987-1989, Director, Fixed Income Products at Citicorp. 1985-1986, Assistant Director, Research at the Federal Reserve Board. 1984-1985, Chief — Automation and Research Computing at the Federal Reserve Board. 1982-1984, Economist — Special Studies at the Federal Reserve Board.   56
Thomas A. Bradley
  November 2010-present, Vice President, Finance of the Company. April 2009-November 2010, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the Company. 2008-2009, Head of North American Operations at Zurich Financial Services (“Zurich”). 2005-2008, President and Chief Executive Officer at Zurich Direct Underwriters. 2004-2005, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for North America at Zurich. 2001-2004, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at St. Paul Companies, Inc. 1998-2001, Senior Vice President, Finance at St. Paul Companies. 1993-1998, Vice President, Finance and Corporate Controller at USF&G Corporation. 1989-1993, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Commercial Division at Maryland Casualty Company (“Maryland Casualty”), 1984-1989, Vice President and Controller at Maryland Casualty. 1980-1984, Auditor at Ernst & Young, LLP.   53
Deborah Kerr
  February 2009-present, Executive Vice Present, Chief Product and Technology Officer of the Company. 2007-2009, Chief Technology Officer, at Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Services (HP Services and EDS). 2005-2007, Vice President, Business Technology Optimization Products at Hewlett-Packard Software. 1998-2005, various positions and most recently Senior Vice President, Product Delivery at Peregrine Systems, Inc. (which filed a voluntary petition for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code is September of 2002). 1988-1998, various leadership positions at NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), including Mission Operations Manager, Space Very Long Baseline Interferometry.   38


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Name   Positions Held   Age
 
Charles L. Ill
  February 2010-Present, Executive Vice President, Sales and Marketing of the Company. 2006-2008, Senior Vice President, Global Sales at Avaya, Inc. (“Avaya”), 2005-2006, Vice President, Software at Avaya. 2005, Vice President, Worldwide Sales Operations and Channels at Avaya. 2003-2004, Vice President, Worldwide Software Sales at BEA Systems, Inc. 2002-2003, Vice President, Worldwide Software Sales at IBM Corporation (“IBM”). 2000-2002, Vice President, Software Sales and Marketing, Americas at IBM. 1999-2000, Vice President, Worldwide Software Marketing at IBM. 1998-1999, Vice President, EMEA Software Sales and Marketing at IBM. 1997-1998, General Manager, APAC Software Marketing and Channels at IBM. 1996-1997, Director, Asia Pacific Software Operations at IBM. 1994-1996, PC Software Product Mgmt Director at IBM. 1993-1994, PC Company M&S PS Brand Manager at IBM. 1991-1992, Manager of the Opportunity Project Office at IBM. 1989-1991, Executive Assistant M&S Director, PC and Software Marketing at IBM. 1987-1989, Customer Executive Instructor, Adv. Business Institute at IBM. 1984-1987, Business Unit Executive at IBM. 1983-1984, Executive Assistant to Director of Finance and Insurance at IBM.   56
Mark R. Scadina
  February 2009-present, Executive Vice President and General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of the Company. June 2007-February 2009, Senior Vice President and General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of the Company. 2003-2007, various senior positions including Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, Liberate Technologies, Inc. 1999-2003, various leadership positions including Vice President and General Counsel, Intertrust Technologies Corporation. 1994-1999, Associate, Pennie and Edmonds LLP.   41
Jordan L. Graham
  August 2010-Present, Executive Vice President, Scores, and President, FICO Consumer Services, of the Company. 2007-2010, Managing Director and Head of North America Business Development, Global Transaction Services Division at Citi Markets and Banking. 2005-2006, Managing Director and Founder at Quotient Partners. 2000-2004, Vice President, Services Industries Consulting, Internet Business Group (IBSG) at Cisco Systems, Inc. (“Cisco”). 1998-2000, Managing Director, Financial Services Industry Consulting, IBSG at Cisco. 1997-1998, Managing Director and Founder at Quotient Partners. 1995-1997, President, CEO and Board Director at Electric Classified Inc./Match.com. 1992-1995, President, CEO and Board Director at Tristar Market Data Inc. 1991-1992, Director of Business Development — Eastern Europe, Former Soviet Union, Middle East & Africa at Sun Microsystems, Inc. (“Sun”). 1990-1991, Commercial Industry Marketing Group Manager at Sun. 1988-1990, Financial Services Market Development Manager at Sun. 1982-1988, various sales and sales management positions at AT&T Information Systems.   50
Richard S. Deal
  August 2007-present, Senior Vice President, Chief Human Resources Officer of the Company. January 2001-July 2007, Vice President, Human Resources of the Company. 1998-2001, Vice President, Human Resources, Arcadia Financial, Ltd. 1993-1998, managed broad range of human resources corporate and line consulting functions with U.S. Bancorp.   43
Andrew N. Jennings
  October 2007-present, Senior Vice President, Chief Research Officer of the Company. May 2007-September 2007, Vice President, Analytic Research and Development of the Company. May 2006-May 2007, Vice President, EDM Applications of the Company. 2001-2006, Vice President Global Account Management Solutions of the Company. 2000-2001, Senior Vice President International Sales of the Company. 1999-2000, Senior Vice President, International Operations of the Company. 1996-1999, Vice President European Operations of the Company. 1994-1996, Director, United Kingdom Operations of the Company.   55

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Name   Positions Held   Age
 
Richard A. Stewart
  November 2010-present, Vice President, Solutions Delivery. April 2007-November 2010, Senior Vice President, Services and Product Support of the Company. 2000-2006, Senior Vice President and General Manager, SAP Consulting. 1999-2000, Co-Chief Operating Partner, Grant Thornton, LLP. 1991-1999, Regional Managing Partner, Grant Thornton, LLP. 1984-1991, Domestic and International Client Services Partner, Grant Thornton, LLP. 1974-1984, various consulting positions at Grant Thornton, LLP.   58
Michael J. Pung
  November 2010-present, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the Company. August 2004-November 2010, Vice President, Finance of the Company. 2000-2004, Vice President and Controller, Hubbard Media Group, LLC. 1999-2000, Controller, Capella Education, Inc. 1998-1999, Controller, U.S. Satellite Broadcasting, Inc. 1992-1998, various financial management positions with Deluxe Corporation. 1985-1992, various audit positions, including audit manager, at Deloitte & Touche LLP.   47
 
PART II
 
Item 5.   Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
 
Market Information
 
Our common stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol: FICO. According to records of our transfer agent, at September 30, 2010, we had 623 shareholders of record of our common stock.
 
The following table shows the high and low closing prices for our stock, as listed on the New York Stock Exchange for each quarter in the last two fiscal years:
 
                 
    High     Low  
 
Fiscal 2009
               
October 1 — December 31, 2008
  $ 22.57     $ 10.94  
January 1 — March 31, 2009
  $ 17.25     $ 9.90  
April 1 — June 30, 2009
  $ 18.37     $ 14.15  
July 1 — September 30, 2009
  $ 24.22     $ 13.88  
Fiscal 2010
               
October 1 — December 31, 2009
  $ 22.75     $ 18.07  
January 1 — March 31, 2010
  $ 26.57     $ 19.95  
April 1 — June 30, 2010
  $ 26.02     $ 20.97  
July 1 — September 30, 2010
  $ 25.27     $ 21.97  
 
Dividends
 
We paid quarterly dividends of two cents per share, or eight cents per year, during each quarter of fiscal 2010, 2009 and 2008. Our dividend rate is set by the Board of Directors on a quarterly basis taking into account a variety of factors, including among others, our operating results and cash flows, general economic and industry conditions, our obligations, changes in applicable tax laws and other factors deemed relevant by the Board. Although we expect to continue to pay dividends at the current rate, our dividend rate is subject to change from time to time based on the Board’s business judgment with respect to these and other relevant factors.
 
Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds
 
Not applicable.

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Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities (1)
 
                                 
                Total Number of
    Maximum
 
                Shares
    Dollar Value of
 
    Total
          Purchased as
    Shares that May
 
    Number of
          Part of Publicly
    Yet Be
 
    Shares
    Average
    Announced
    Purchased
 
    Purchased
    Price Paid
    Plans or
    Under the Plans
 
Period   (2)     per Share     Programs     or Programs  
 
July 1, 2010 through July 31, 2010
    642,032     $ 23.42       616,682     $ 218,742,102  
August 1, 2010 through August 31, 2010
    1,273,851     $ 23.02       1,258,500     $ 189,764,751  
September 1, 2010 through September 30, 2010
    618,205     $ 24.38       616,850     $ 174,728,894  
                                 
      2,534,088     $ 23.45       2,492,032     $ 174,728,894  
                                 
 
 
(1) In June 2010, our Board of Directors approved a common stock repurchase program that allows us to purchase shares of our common stock up to an aggregate cost of $250.0 million in the open market or through negotiated transactions. The June 2010 program does not have a fixed expiration date. This program replaced a similar plan approved in November 2007.
 
(2) Includes 42,056 shares delivered in satisfaction of the tax withholding obligations resulting from the vesting of restricted stock units held by employees during the quarter ended September 30, 2010.
 
Performance Graph
 
The follow graph shows the total stockholder return of an investment of $100 in cash on September 30, 2005, in (a) the Company’s Common Stock (b) the Standard & Poor’s 500 Stock Index and (c) the Standard & Poor’s 500 Application Software Index, in each case with reinvestment of dividends. We do not believe there are any publicly traded companies that compete with us across the full spectrum of our product and service offerings.
 
COMPARISON OF 5 YEAR CUMULATIVE TOTAL RETURN*
Among FICO, the S&P 500 Index
and the S&P Application Software Index
 
(GRAPH)


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* $100 invested on 9/30/05 in stock or index, including reinvestment of dividends. Fiscal year ending September 30.
 
Copyright© 2010 S&P, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. All rights reserved.
 
The Company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”). As an NYSE-listed company, our Chief Executive Officer must certify annually that he is not aware of any violation by the Company of NYSE corporate governance listing standards as of the date of that certification. The most recent Chief Executive Officer’s certification was filed with the NYSE on March 4, 2010.
 
Item 6.   Selected Financial Data
 
We acquired Dash Optimization (“Dash”) in January 2008. Results of operations from the acquisition are included prospectively from the date of each acquisition. As a result of these acquisitions, the comparability of the data below is impacted.
 
In April 2008, we completed the sale of our Insurance Bill Review business unit. We accounted for this business unit as a discontinued operation and, accordingly, we have reclassified the selected financial data for all periods presented.
 
                                         
    Fiscal Years Ended September 30,  
    2010(1)     2009(1)(2)     2008(1)     2007(1)(2)     2006(1)  
    (In thousands, except per share data)  
 
Revenues
  $ 605,643     $ 630,735     $ 744,842     $ 784,188     $ 782,995  
Operating income
    113,349       116,747       122,283       160,327       154,400  
Income from continuing operations
    64,457       65,465       81,186       111,851       104,505  
Income (loss) from discontinued operations
          (363 )     2,766       (7,201 )     (1,019 )
Net income
    64,457       65,102       83,952       104,650       103,486  
Basic earnings (loss) per share:
                                       
Continuing operations
  $ 1.44     $ 1.35     $ 1.66     $ 2.00     $ 1.64  
Discontinued operations
          (0.01 )     0.06       (0.13 )     (0.01 )
                                         
Total
  $ 1.44     $ 1.34     $ 1.72     $ 1.87     $ 1.63  
                                         
Diluted earnings (loss) per share:
                                       
Continuing operations
  $ 1.42     $ 1.34     $ 1.64     $ 1.94     $ 1.60  
Discontinued operations
          (0.01 )     0.06       (0.12 )     (0.01 )
                                         
Total
  $ 1.42     $ 1.33     $ 1.70     $ 1.82     $ 1.59  
                                         
Dividends declared per share
  $ 0.08     $ 0.08     $ 0.08     $ 0.08     $ 0.08  
 
                                         
    Fiscal Years Ended September 30,
    2010   2009   2008   2007   2006
    (In thousands)
 
Working capital (deficit)
  $ 225,028     $ 327,970     $ 229,071     $ (103,173 )   $ (123,719 )
Total assets
    1,123,716       1,303,888       1,275,253       1,275,771       1,321,205  
Senior convertible notes
                      390,963       400,000  
Senior Notes
    520,000       275,000       275,000              
Revolving line of credit
          295,000       295,000       170,000        
Stockholders’ equity
    474,914       600,269       561,941       566,314       770,028  
 
 
(1) Results of operations for fiscal years 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007 and 2006 include pre-tax charges of $1.6 million, $8.7 million, $10.2 million, $2.5 million and $19.5 million, respectively, in restructuring expenses.
 
(2) Results of operations for fiscal year 2009 and 2007 include a $3.0 million pre-tax loss and a $1.5 million pre-tax gain on the sale of product line assets, respectively.


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Item 7.   Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
 
OVERVIEW
 
We are a leader in Decision Management (“DM”) solutions that enable businesses to automate, improve and connect decisions to enhance business performance. Our predictive analytics, which include the industry standard FICO® score, and our Decision Management systems power billions of customer decisions each year. We help companies acquire customers more efficiently, increase customer value, reduce fraud and credit losses, lower operating expenses and enter new markets more profitably. Most leading banks and credit card issuers rely on our solutions, as do many insurers, retailers, healthcare organizations, pharmaceutical companies and government agencies. We also serve consumers through online services that enable people to purchase and understand their FICO® scores, the standard measure in the United States of credit risk, empowering them to manage their financial health.
 
A significant portion of our revenues are derived from the sale of products and services within the banking (including consumer credit) and insurance industries, and during the year ended September 30, 2010, 76% of our revenues were derived from within these industries. A significant portion of our remaining revenues are derived from the healthcare and retail industries. Our clients utilize our products and services to facilitate a variety of business processes, including customer marketing and acquisition, account origination, credit and underwriting risk management, fraud loss prevention and control, and client account and policyholder management. A significant portion of our revenues are derived from transactional or unit-based software license fees, annual license fees under long-term software license arrangements, transactional fees derived under scoring, network service or internal hosted software arrangements, and annual software maintenance fees. The recurrence of these revenues is, to a significant degree, dependent upon our clients’ continued usage of our products and services in their business activities. The more significant activities underlying the use of our products in these areas include: credit and debit card usage or active account levels; lending acquisition, origination and customer management activity; and customer acquisition, cross selling and retention programs. Approximately 75% of our revenues during fiscal 2010 were derived from arrangements with transactional or unit-based pricing. We also derive revenues from other sources which generally do not recur and include, but are not limited to, perpetual or time-based licenses with upfront payment terms and non-recurring consulting service arrangements.
 
Our revenues derived from clients outside the United States have generally grown, and may in the future grow, more rapidly than our revenues from domestic clients. International revenues totaled $209.6 million, $199.8 million and $246.3 million in fiscal 2010, 2009 and 2008, respectively, representing 35%, 32% and 33% of total consolidated revenues in each of these years. We expect that the percentage of our revenues derived from international clients will increase in the future, subject to the impact of foreign currency fluctuations.
 
Bookings
 
Management uses bookings as an indicator of our business performance. Bookings represent contracts signed in the current reporting period that will generate current and future revenue streams. We consider contract terms, knowledge of the marketplace and experience with our customers, among other factors, when determining the estimated value of contract bookings.
 
Bookings calculations have varying degrees of certainty depending on the revenue type and individual contract terms. Our revenue types are transactional and maintenance, professional services and license. Our estimate of bookings is as of the end of the period in which a contract is signed, and we do not update our initial booking estimates in future periods for changes between estimated and actual results. Actual revenue and the timing thereof could differ materially from our initial estimates. The following paragraphs discuss the key assumptions used to calculate bookings and the susceptibility of these assumptions to variability.


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Transactional and Maintenance Bookings
 
We calculate transactional bookings as the total estimated volume of transactions or number of accounts under contract, multiplied by a contractual rate. Transactional contracts generally span multiple years and require us to make estimates about future transaction volumes or number of active accounts. We develop estimates from discussions with our customers and examinations of historical data from similar products and customer arrangements. Differences between estimated bookings and actual results occur due to variability in the volume of transactions or number of active accounts estimated. This variability is primarily caused by the following:
 
  •  The health of the economy and economic trends in our customer’s industries;
 
  •  Individual performance of our customers relative to their competitors; and
 
  •  Regulatory and other factors that affect the business environment in which our customers operate.
 
We calculate maintenance bookings directly from the terms stated in the contract.
 
Professional Services Bookings
 
We calculate professional services bookings as the estimated number of hours to complete a project multiplied by the rate per hour. We estimate the number of hours based on our understanding of the project scope, conversations with customer personnel and our experience in estimating professional services projects. Estimated bookings may differ from actual results primarily due to differences in the actual number of hours incurred. These differences typically result from customer decisions to alter the mix of FICO and internal services resources used to complete a project.
 
License Bookings
 
Licenses are sold on a perpetual or term basis and bookings generally equal the fixed amount stated in the contract.
 
Bookings Trend Analysis
 
                                 
            Number of
   
            Bookings
  Weighted-
        Bookings
  Over $1
  Average
    Bookings   Yield*   Million   Term
    (In millions)           (Months)
 
Quarter ended September 30, 2010
  $ 105.6       20 %     18       27  
Quarter ended September 30, 2009
  $ 85.9       17 %     12       37  
Year ended September 30, 2010
  $ 283.3       36 %     53       N/M  
Year ended September 30, 2009
  $ 234.2       41 %     39       N/M  
 
 
* Bookings yield represents the percentage of revenue recognized from bookings for the period indicated.
 
N/M Measure is not meaningful
 
Transactional and maintenance bookings were 52% and 61% of total bookings for the quarters ended September 30, 2010 and 2009, respectively. Professional services bookings were 32% and 25% of total bookings for the quarters ended September 30, 2010 and 2009, respectively. License bookings were 16% and 14% of total bookings for the quarters ended September 30, 2010 and 2009, respectively.
 
Transactional and maintenance bookings were 50% and 48% of total bookings for the years ended September 30, 2010 and 2009, respectively. Professional services bookings were 34% and 35% of total bookings for the years ended September 30, 2010 and 2009, respectively. License bookings were 16% and 17% of total bookings for the years ended September 30, 2010 and 2009, respectively.
 
The weighted-average term of bookings achieved measures the average term over which the bookings are expected to be recognized as revenue. As the weighted-average term increases, the average amount of revenues


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expected to be realized in a quarter decreases, however, the revenues are expected to be recognized over a longer period of time. As the weighted-average term decreases, the average amount of revenues expected to be realized in a quarter increases, however, the revenues are expected to be recognized over a shorter period of time.
 
Management regards the volume of bookings achieved, among other factors, as an important indicator of future revenues, but they are not comparable to, nor should they be substituted for, an analysis of our revenues, and they are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties concerning timing and contingencies affecting product delivery and performance.
 
Although many of our contracts contain noncancelable terms, most of our bookings are transactional or service related and are dependent upon estimates such as volume of transactions, number of active accounts, or number of hours incurred. Since these estimates cannot be considered fixed or firm, we do not believe it is appropriate to characterize bookings as backlog.
 
Reengineering Initiative
 
In fiscal 2008, we announced the details of an ongoing reengineering initiative designed to grow revenues through strategic resource allocation and improve profitability through cost reduction. Key components of the initiative included rationalizing the business portfolio, simplifying management hierarchy, eliminating low-priority positions, investing in high-priority positions, consolidating facilities and managing fixed and variable costs. In fiscal 2009, we completed additional actions under our reengineering initiative. These actions were aimed at reducing costs through headcount reductions and facility consolidations. With respect to the headcount reductions, we identified and eliminated 255 positions throughout the Company. Also in connection with the initiative, we sold our Insurance Bill Review business unit and our LiquidCredit® Service for Telecom (“LCT”) and RoamEx® product line assets, and we fully exited our Cortronics neural research product line, Fast Panel diagnostics product line and advertising services group.
 
Current Business Environment
 
General economic conditions stabilized in 2010, however, high levels of unemployment and a difficult housing market continue to impact our customers in the United States and the pace of global recovery is likely to be modest across the geographical markets we serve. During the latter half of fiscal 2010 our business stabilized and we currently see signs of gradual improvement. We will continue to manage our expenses in an effort to maintain solid earnings and cash flows. We also plan to continue to invest in our Decision Management solutions as well as our core business operations to drive revenue growth.
 
The mixed economic conditions impacted the estimates used in our July 1, 2010 annual goodwill impairment testing, and in particular, for our Applications segment, which has $448.0 million in goodwill. If market conditions decline more quickly than we can reduce costs, our margins will decrease and we may experience a decline in the fair value of our reporting units. Such declines in fair value may require us to record an impairment charge related to goodwill.
 
Acquisition and Divestiture Activity
 
In June 2009, we signed definitive agreements to sell the assets associated with our LCT and RoamEx product lines for $6.2 million in cash. We recognized a combined $3.0 million pre-tax loss, and a $3.9 million after-tax loss on the sales, as the goodwill associated with the sale of these product lines was not deductible for income tax purposes. LCT and RoamEx solutions were included in our Applications segment. Revenues attributable to the LCT and RoamEx product lines were $15.7 million and $24.9 million during fiscal 2009 and 2008, respectively. The earnings contribution from the LCT and RoamEx product lines were not significant to our fiscal 2009 and 2008 results of operations.
 
In April 2008, we completed the sale of our Insurance Bill Review business unit for $16.0 million in cash. We recorded a $6.9 million pre-tax loss, but a $3.4 million after-tax gain on the sale as the amount of goodwill disposed of for income tax purposes exceeded the amount determined for financial reporting


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purposes. During fiscal 2009, we recorded an additional $0.4 million working capital adjustment in favor of the purchaser. Revenues from the business were $22.9 million in fiscal 2008. After-tax losses were $0.7 million in fiscal 2008. The Insurance Bill Review business unit is classified as discontinued operations in our consolidated financial statements and in the following management discussion and analysis.
 
In January 2008, we acquired Dash Optimization Ltd., a leading provider of decision modeling and optimization software, for an aggregate purchase price of $34.1 million in cash. Results of operations from this acquisition are included in our results prospectively from the date of acquisition.
 
Segment Information
 
Effective October 1, 2009, we implemented an organizational restructuring resulting in a consolidation of our reportable segment structure from four to three. Our reportable segments are: Applications, Scores and Tools. Although we sell solutions and services into a large number of end user product and industry markets, our reportable business segments reflect the primary method in which management organizes and evaluates internal financial information to make operating decisions and assess performance. Comparative segment revenues, operating income, and related financial information for the years ended September 30, 2010, 2009 and 2008 are set forth in Note 20 to the accompanying consolidated financial statements. All periods presented have been restated to reflect the new segment structure.
 
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
 
Continuing Operations
 
Revenues
 
The following tables set forth certain summary information on a segment basis related to our revenues for the fiscal years indicated.
 
                                                         
                Period-to-Period
 
          Period-to-Period
    Percentage
 
                      Change     Change  
                      2010
    2009
    2010
    2009
 
    Revenues Fiscal Year     to
    to
    to
    to
 
Segment   2010     2009     2008     2009     2008     2009     2008  
    (In thousands)     (In thousands)              
 
Applications
  $ 367,258     $ 383,130     $ 450,450     $ (15,872 )   $ (67,320 )     (4 )%     (15 )%
Scores
    172,339       179,575       211,902       (7,236 )     (32,327 )     (4 )%     (15 )%
Tools
    66,046       68,030       82,490       (1,984 )     (14,460 )     (3 )%     (18 )%
                                                         
Total Revenues
  $ 605,643     $ 630,735     $ 744,842       (25,092 )     (114,107 )     (4 )%     (15 )%
                                                         
 
                         
    Percentage of Revenues
 
    Fiscal Year  
Segment   2010     2009     2008  
 
Applications
    61 %     61 %     61 %
Scores
    28 %     28 %     28 %
Tools
    11 %     11 %     11 %
                         
Total Revenues
    100 %     100 %     100 %
                         


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Applications
 
                                                         
                Period-to-Period
 
                      Period-to-Period Change     Percentage Change  
    Fiscal Year     2010 to
    2009 to
    2010 to
    2009 to
 
Applications   2010     2009     2008     2009     2008     2009     2008  
          (In thousands)           (In thousands)              
 
Transactional and maintenance
  $ 257,275     $ 274,123     $ 299,569     $ (16,848 )   $ (25,446 )     (6 )%     (8 )%
Professional services
    86,097       92,000       115,855       (5,903 )     (23,855 )     (6 )%     (21 )%
License
    23,886       17,007       35,026       6,879       (18,019 )     40 %     (51 )%
                                                         
Total
  $ 367,258     $ 383,130     $ 450,450       (15,872 )     (67,320 )     (4 )%     (15 )%
                                                         
 
Applications segment revenues decreased $15.9 million in fiscal 2010 from fiscal 2009 due to a $14.5 million decrease in revenues from our originations solutions, a $10.6 million decrease in our customer management solutions and a $2.6 million decrease from our other Applications solutions. These decreases were partially offset by an $11.8 million increase in revenues from our marketing solutions.
 
The decrease in originations solutions was attributable to a decrease in volumes associated with transactional-based agreements, a decline in professional services and the June 2009 divestiture of our Liquid Credit Service for Telecom product line, which accounted for $9.1 million of revenue during the year ended September 30, 2009. The decrease in customer management solutions was attributable to a decrease in volumes associated with transactional-based agreements and a decline in implementation services. The increase in our marketing solutions revenues was attributable to sales of a new product, FICO® Retail Action Manager. In addition, although revenues from our fraud solutions revenues remained consistent from fiscal 2009 to fiscal 2010, revenues were positively impacted by higher volumes, new sales of FICOtm Falcon® Fraud Manager and sales of a new product, FICO® Insurance Fraud Manager. Fraud solutions revenues were negatively impacted by the June 2009 divestiture of our RoamEx product line, which accounted for $6.6 million of revenue during fiscal 2009.
 
Applications segment revenues decreased $67.3 million in fiscal 2009 from fiscal 2008 due to a $20.0 million decrease in revenues from our customer management solutions, a $19.0 million decrease in revenues from our collections and recovery solutions, a $16.1 million decrease in revenues from our fraud solutions, an $8.3 million decrease in revenues from our originations solutions and a $3.9 million decrease in revenues from our other Applications solutions.
 
The decrease in customer management solutions revenues was attributable to a decline in license sales, as the prior year included several large license sales, and a decrease in customer management implementation services. In addition, there was a decline in transactional-based revenues. The decrease in collections and recovery solutions revenues resulted from a decline in license sales as the prior year included several large license sales, and the loss of one large customer. In addition, we experienced a decrease in implementation services and volumes associated with transactional-based agreements. The decrease in fraud solutions revenues was attributable primarily to decreases in volumes associated with transactional-based agreements. Additionally, the revenue decline was due partially to the June 2009 divestiture of our RoamEx product line. Revenues were also adversely impacted by the restructuring of a large customer contract. The decrease in originations solutions revenues was attributable primarily to a decline in sales volumes associated with our LCT product, which was divested in June 2009. The decrease in originations revenues was partially offset by a slight increase in implementation services.


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Scores
 
                                                         
                Period-to-Period
 
                      Period-to-Period Change     Percentage Change  
    Fiscal Year     2010 to
    2009 to
    2010 to
    2009 to
 
Scores   2010     2009     2008     2009     2008     2009     2008  
          (In thousands)           (In thousands)              
 
Transactional and maintenance
  $ 170,141     $ 178,048     $ 210,280     $ (7,907 )   $ (32,232 )     (4 )%     (15 )%
Professional services
    2,042       1,527       1,622       515       (95 )     34 %     (6 )%
License
    156                   156             %     %
                                                         
Total
  $ 172,339     $ 179,575     $ 211,902       (7,236 )     (32,327 )     (4 )%     (15 )%
                                                         
 
Scores segment revenues decreased $7.2 million in fiscal 2010 from 2009 due to a $5.4 million decrease in our myFICO® business-to-consumer services revenues and a $1.8 million decrease in our business-to-business scores revenues. The decline in our business- to-consumer services was primarily attributable to Experian terminating its relationship with myFICO.com in February 2009. Business-to-business scores revenue was impacted by a $3.4 million reduction in scores used for marketing purposes, partially offset by a true-up of royalty fees with one of the reporting agencies. The decrease in scores used for marketing purposes was due to a decline in volumes of prescreening initiatives by our customers.
 
During fiscal 2010 and 2009, revenues generated from our agreements with Equifax, TransUnion and Experian, collectively accounted for approximately 20% and 19%, respectively, of our total revenues, including revenues from these customers that are recorded in our other segments.
 
Scores segment revenues decreased $32.3 million in fiscal 2009 from fiscal 2008 due to a $25.3 million decrease in our business-to-business scores revenues and a $7.0 decrease in our myFICO® business-to-consumer services revenues. The decline in our business-to-business scores revenue was primarily attributable to volume declines as financial institutions have significantly reduced new account acquisition activities and extension of credit. Revenues were also impacted by a $4.4 million reduction in scores used for marketing purposes, which resulted from increased pricing pressures and a decline in volumes due to a decrease in prescreening initiatives by our customers. The decline in our business-to-consumer services was primarily attributable to Experian terminating its relationship with myFICO.com in February 2009.
 
During fiscal 2009 and 2008, revenues generated from our agreements with Equifax, TransUnion and Experian, collectively accounted for approximately 19% of our total revenues, including revenues from these customers that are recorded in our other segments.
 
Tools
 
                                                         
                Period-to-Period
 
                      Period-to-Period Change     Percentage Change  
    Fiscal Year     2010 to
    2009 to
    2010 to
    2009 to
 
Tools   2010     2009     2008     2009     2008     2009     2008  
          (In thousands)           (In thousands)              
 
Transactional and maintenance
  $ 28,071     $ 26,531     $ 26,106     $ 1,540     $ 425       6 %     2 %
Professional services
    14,739       18,886       30,437       (4,147 )     (11,551 )     (22 )%     (38 )%
License
    23,236       22,613       25,947       623       (3,334 )     3 %     (13 )%
                                                         
Total
  $ 66,046     $ 68,030     $ 82,490       (1,984 )     (14,460 )     (3 )%     (18 )%
                                                         
 
Tools segment revenues decreased $2.0 million in fiscal 2010 from fiscal 2009 primarily due to a decrease of license and professional services sales related to our FICOtm Blaze Advisor® product, which was negatively impacted by the current business environment. Professional services revenue declined due to the completion of several large installations in prior periods and fewer implementation services due to a reduction in FICOtm


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Blaze Advisor® license sales. These decreases were partially offset by an increase in revenues from our FICOtm Model Builder and FICOtm Decision Optimizer products.
 
Tools segment revenues decreased $14.5 million in fiscal 2009 from fiscal 2008 primarily due to a decrease in license and professional services related to our FICOtm Blaze Advisor® and Model Builder products, which were negatively impacted by the business environment. This decrease was partially offset by $4.9 million increase from products acquired in our January 2008 acquisition of Dash Optimization Ltd.
 
Operating Expenses and Other Income (Expense)
 
The following tables set forth certain summary information related to our consolidated statements of income for the fiscal years indicated.
 
                                                         
          Period-to-Period
    Period-to-Period
 
                      Change     Percentage Change  
                      2010
    2009
    2010
    2009
 
    Fiscal Year     to
    to
    to
    to
 
    2010     2009     2008     2009     2008     2009     2008  
    (In thousands, except employees)     (In thousands, except employees)              
 
Revenues
  $ 605,643     $ 630,735     $ 744,842     $ (25,092 )   $ (114,107 )     (4 )%     (15 )%
                                                         
Operating expenses:
                                                       
Cost of revenues
    180,932       206,448       274,917       (25,516 )     (68,469 )     (12 )%     (25 )%
Research and development
    73,581       73,626       77,794       (45 )     (4,168 )     %     (5 )%
Selling, general and administrative
    225,263       209,319       245,639       15,944       (36,320 )     8 %     (15 )%
Amortization of intangible assets
    10,901       12,891       14,043       (1,990 )     (1,152 )     (15 )%     (8 )%
Restructuring
    1,617       8,711       10,166       (7,094 )     (1,455 )     (81 )%     (14 )%
Loss on sale of product line assets
          2,993             (2,993 )     2,993       (100 )%      
                                                         
Total operating expenses
    492,294       513,988       622,559       (21,694 )     (108,571 )     (4 )%     (17 )%
                                                         
Operating income
    113,349       116,747       122,283       (3,398 )     (5,536 )     (3 )%     (5 )%
Inerest income
    1,688       4,717       8,802       (3,029 )     (4,085 )     (64 )%     (46 )%
Inerest expense
    (24,124 )     (25,481 )     (20,335 )     1,357       (5,146 )     (5 )%     25 %
Other income, net
    1,391       1,587       2,245       (196 )     (658 )     (12 )%     (29 )%
                                                         
Income from continuing operations before income taxes
    92,304       97,570       112,995       (5,266 )     (15,425 )     (5 )%     (14 )%
Provision for income taxes
    27,847       32,105       31,809       (4,258 )     296       (13 )%     1 %
                                                         
Income from continuing operations
    64,457       65,465       81,186       (1,008 )     (15,721 )     (2 )%     (19 )%
Income (loss) from discontinued operations
          (363 )     2,766       363       (3,129 )     (100 )%     (113 )%
                                                         
Net income
  $ 64,457     $ 65,102     $ 83,952       (645 )     (18,850 )     (1 )%     (22 )%
                                                         
Number of employees at fiscal year-end
    2,157       2,086       2,480       71       (394 )                
 


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    Percentage of Revenues
 
    Fiscal Year  
    2010     2009     2008  
 
Revenues
    100 %     100 %     100 %
                         
Operating expenses:
                       
Cost of revenues
    30 %     33 %     37 %
Research and development
    12 %     12 %     11 %
Selling, general and administrative
    37 %     33 %     33 %
Amortization of intangible assets
    2 %     2 %     2 %
Restructuring
    %     1 %     1 %
Loss on sale of product line assets
          %     %
                         
Total operating expenses
    81 %     81 %     84 %
                         
Operating income
    19 %     19 %     16 %
Interest income
    %     1 %     1 %
Interest expense
    (4 )%     (5 )%     (2 )%
Other income, net
    %     %     %
                         
Income from continuing operations before income taxes
    15 %     15 %     15 %
Provision for income taxes
    4 %     5 %     4 %
                         
Income from continuing operations
    11 %     10 %     11 %
Income (loss) from discontinued operations
    %     %     %
                         
Net income
    11 %     10 %     11 %
                         
 
Cost of Revenues
 
Cost of revenues consists primarily of employee salaries and benefits for personnel directly involved in developing, installing and supporting revenue products; travel costs; overhead costs; costs of computer service bureaus; internal network hosting costs; amounts payable to credit reporting agencies for scores; software costs; and expenses related to our consumer score services through myFICO.com.
 
Cost of revenues as a percentage of revenues was 30% in fiscal 2010, as compared to 33% in fiscal 2009. The decrease of $25.5 million in cost of revenues resulted from a $12.2 million decrease in personnel and other labor-related costs, an $11.8 million decrease in facilities and infrastructure costs and a $1.5 million decrease in other costs. The decrease in personnel and other labor-related costs was attributable primarily to a decline in salary and related benefit costs resulting from staff reductions and from the decline in consulting services activities. The decrease in facilities and infrastructure costs was attributable primarily to a decline in allocated costs resulting from overhead reductions and exiting certain facilities.
 
Cost of revenues as a percentage of revenues was 33% in fiscal 2009, as compared to 37% for fiscal 2008. The decrease was driven by a decline in costs associated with lower margin professional services projects and myFICO consumer data costs. The decrease of $68.5 million resulted from a $43.6 million decrease in personnel and other labor-related costs, a $9.8 million decrease in facilities and infrastructure costs, an $8.2 million decrease in third party software and data, a $4.9 million decrease in billable travel costs, and a $2.0 million decrease in other costs. The decrease in personnel and other labor-related costs was attributable primarily to a decline in salary and related benefit costs resulting from staff reductions and from the decline in professional services activities. The decrease in facilities and infrastructure costs was attributable primarily to a decline in allocated costs resulting from staff reductions and exiting certain facilities. The decrease in third party software and data costs was due to decreased sales in our consumer solutions that required data acquisition. The decrease in travel costs was from the overall reduction in consulting services activities.

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In fiscal 2011, we expect that cost of revenues as a percentage of revenues will be consistent with or slightly higher than those incurred during fiscal 2010.
 
Research and Development
 
Research and development expenses include the personnel and related overhead costs incurred in the development of new products and services, including the research of mathematical and statistical models and the development of new versions of our products.
 
Research and development expenditures for fiscal 2010 were consistent with expenditures for fiscal 2009.
 
The fiscal 2009 over 2008 decrease of $4.2 million in research and development expenditures was attributable primarily to a decrease of $5.2 million in personnel and $1.5 million in other expenses, partially offset by a $2.5 million increase in data related expenses. The decrease in personnel and related costs was driven by reductions associated with our reengineering program. The increase in data expenses was due to higher costs for data that is used for product development initiatives.
 
In fiscal 2011, we expect that research and development expenditures as a percentage of revenues will be consistent with or slightly higher than those incurred during fiscal 2010 as we continue to invest in our Decision Management solutions.
 
Selling, General and Administrative
 
Selling, general and administrative expenses consist principally of employee salaries and benefits, travel, overhead, advertising and other promotional expenses, corporate facilities expenses, legal expenses, business development expenses and the cost of operating computer systems.
 
The fiscal 2010 over 2009 increase of $15.9 million in selling, general and administrative expenses was attributable to an $18.6 million increase in personnel and related costs, a $2.8 million increase in travel expenses and a $1.6 million increase in marketing expenses, partially offset by a $3.9 million decrease in professional fees and a $3.2 million decrease in other costs, which includes bad debt expense, taxes and licenses and other miscellaneous expenses. The increase in personnel and related costs was primarily due to increased commissions and salaries and benefits for the year ended September 30, 2010. The increase in travel expenses was due to increased travel to support sales efforts. The increase in marketing expense was attributable to an increase in marketing campaigns and related activities. The decline in professional fees was primarily due to decreased legal fees.
 
The fiscal 2009 over 2008 decrease of $36.3 million in selling, general and administrative expenses was attributable to a decrease of $23.6 million in personnel and other labor-related costs, a $4.4 million decrease in professional fees, a $4.4 million decrease in travel costs, a $2.9 million decrease in bad debt expense and a $1.8 million decrease in facilities and infrastructure costs, partially offset by a $0.8 million increase in other expenses. The decrease in personnel and labor-related costs related primarily to a decrease in salary and benefits costs resulting from staff reductions associated with our reengineering program. The decrease in professional fees was primarily due to decreased legal expenses. The decrease in travel expenses was due to management programs focused on reducing expenses. The decrease in bad debt expense was due to successful collection efforts and a decrease in revenues. The decrease in facilities and infrastructure costs was attributable primarily to a decline in allocated costs resulting from staff reductions and exiting certain facilities.
 
In fiscal 2011, we expect that selling, general and administrative expenses as a percentage of revenues will be slightly higher than those incurred during fiscal 2010.
 
Amortization of Intangible Assets
 
Amortization of intangible assets consists of amortization expense related to intangible assets recorded in connection with acquisitions accounted for by the purchase method of accounting. Our definite-lived intangible assets, consisting primarily of completed technology and customer contracts and relationships, are being


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amortized using the straight-line method or based on forecasted cash flows associated with the assets over periods ranging from two to fifteen years.
 
The fiscal 2010 over 2009 decline of $2.0 million in amortization expense was attributable mainly to certain intangible assets associated with our London Bridge acquisition becoming fully amortized.
 
The fiscal 2009 over 2008 decline of $1.2 million in amortization expense was attributable mainly to certain intangible assets becoming fully amortized.
 
In fiscal 2011, we expect amortization expense will be slightly lower than the amortization expense incurred in 2010 due to certain intangible assets related to our London Bridge acquisition that became fully amortized during fiscal 2010.
 
Restructuring Expense
 
The following table sets forth certain summary information on restructuring expenses:
 
                         
    Fiscal Year  
    2010     2009     2008  
    (In thousands)  
 
Severance costs
  $ 742     $ 5,860     $ 7,353  
Lease exit costs and other adjustments
    875       2,851       2,813  
                         
Total restructuring expense
  $ 1,617     $ 8,711     $ 10,166  
                         
 
In fiscal 2010 we incurred restructuring expenses of $1.6 million. The expenses include a $0.9 million charge related to lease exit activities and $0.7 million for severance costs, which will be paid in fiscal 2011.
 
In fiscal 2009, we incurred restructuring charges of $8.7 million. The charges include $5.9 million for severance costs associated with the reduction of 255 positions throughout the Company, which were paid in fiscal 2009. We also recognized a $2.8 million, net charge associated with lease exit activities and a reversal of accrued expenses as a result of favorable adjustments.
 
In fiscal 2008, we eliminated 280 positions across the company and incurred charges of $7.4 million for severance costs. Cash payments for the majority of the severance costs were paid in fiscal 2008. We also recognized charges of $2.8 million associated with lease exit activities.
 
Loss on Sale of Product Line Assets
 
In June 2009, we signed definitive agreements to sell the assets associated with our LCT and RoamEx product lines for $6.2 million in cash. We recognized a $3.0 million pre-tax loss, and a $3.9 million after-tax loss on the sales, as the goodwill associated with the sale of these product lines was not deductible for income tax purposes.
 
Interest Income
 
Interest income is derived primarily from the investment of funds in excess of our immediate operating requirements.
 
The fiscal 2010 over 2009 decrease of $3.0 million in interest income was due mainly to a decline in interest rates and investment yields due to market conditions and a decrease in total investment balances outstanding.
 
The fiscal 2009 over 2008 decrease of $4.1 million in interest income was attributable to a decline in interest rates and investment income yields due to market conditions, partially offset by an increase in average cash and investment balances.


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Interest Expense
 
In fiscal 2010, interest expense included interest on the Senior Notes issued in May 2008 and July 2010 and borrowings under our revolving credit facility. In fiscal 2009, interest expense included interest on the Senior Notes issued in May 2008 and borrowings under our revolving credit facility. In fiscal 2008, interest expense included interest on our Senior Notes issued in May 2008, interest related to our 1.5% Senior Convertible Notes and interest associated with borrowings under our revolving credit facility. All of our Senior Convertible Notes were repurchased during 2008.
 
The decrease in interest expense of $1.4 million in fiscal 2010 compared to fiscal 2009 was the result of lower average interest rates on our revolving line of credit in fiscal 2010 partially offset by interest expense recorded on our $245 million Senior Notes issued in July 2010.
 
The increase in interest expense of $5.1 million in fiscal 2009 compared to fiscal 2008 was the result of higher average interest rates on outstanding borrowings. The increase in the average interest rate was due to incurring a full year of interest expense on the Senior Notes we issued in May of 2008, which had an average interest rate of 6.8%. In fiscal 2008 we had our Senior Convertible Notes that had an interest rate of 1.5%. The increase was partially offset by a lower average interest rate on our revolving credit facility.
 
In fiscal 2011, we expect that interest expense will be higher than what we incurred during fiscal 2010 due the higher average interest on our July 2010 Senior Notes as compared to our revolving credit facility.
 
Other Income, Net
 
Other income, net consists primarily of realized investment gains/losses, exchange rate gains/losses resulting from re-measurement of foreign-denominated receivable and cash balances held by our foreign reporting entities into their respective functional currency at period-end market rates, net of the impact of offsetting forward exchange contracts, and other non-operating items.
 
Other income in fiscal 2010 was consistent with other income, net in fiscal 2009.
 
Other income, net was $1.6 million in fiscal 2009, compared to $2.2 million in 2008. The change in other income, net was primarily due to a $0.9 million gain recognized in fiscal 2008 on the redemption of $123.7 million of Senior Convertible Notes.
 
Provision for Income Taxes
 
Our effective tax rates were 30.2%, 32.9% and 28.2% in fiscal 2010, 2009 and 2008, respectively.
 
The decrease in our effective tax rate in fiscal 2010 compared with fiscal 2009 was due to benefits recognized from the completion of a research and development credit study and an adjustment in tax reserves. This decrease was partially offset by the effect from the expiration of the U.S federal research and development tax credit. We were unable to recognize this tax credit during fiscal 2010 as legislation providing for reinstatement of this credit has not yet been enacted. The decrease in our effective tax rate in fiscal 2010 was also due to a higher tax rate in fiscal 2009 from the sale of our RoamEx and LCT product lines. These product line sales included a write-off of goodwill that was not deductible for income tax purposes.
 
The increase in our effective tax rate in fiscal 2009 compared with fiscal 2008 was due to adjustments to our tax reserves associated with a proposed settlement of the IRS audit for fiscals 2002 through 2006, and a change in mix between domestic and foreign income.


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Operating Income
 
The following table sets forth certain summary information on a segment basis related to our operating income for the fiscal years indicated.
 
                                                         
          Period-to-Period
    Period-to-Period
 
                      Change     Percentage Change  
                      2010
    2009
    2010
    2009
 
    Fiscal Year     to
    to
    to
    to
 
Segment   2010     2009     2008     2009     2008     2009     2008  
    (In thousands)     (In thousands)              
 
Applications
  $ 93,275     $ 112,589     $ 120,986     $ (19,314 )   $ (8,397 )     (17 )%     (7 )%
Scores
    110,651       122,202       143,638       (11,551 )     (21,436 )     (9 )%     (15 )%
Tools
    8,412       7,354       3,651       1,058       3,703       14 %     101 %
Unallocated corporate expenses
    (69,166 )     (80,868 )     (94,059 )     11,702       13,191       (14 )%     (14 )%
                                                         
Total segment operating income
    143,172       161,277       174,216       (18,105 )     (12,939 )     (11 )%     (7 )%
Unallocated share-based compensation
    (17,305 )     (19,935 )     (27,724 )     2,630       7,789       (13 )%     (28 )%
Unallocated amortization expense
    (10,901 )     (12,891 )     (14,043 )     1,990       1,152       (15 )%     (8 )%
Unallocated restructuring
    (1,617 )     (8,711 )     (10,166 )     7,094       1,455       (81 )%     (14 )%
Unallocated loss on sale of product line assets
          (2,993 )           2,993       (2,993 )     (100 )     %
                                                         
Operating income
  $ 113,349     $ 116,747     $ 122,283       (3,398 )     (5,536 )     (3 )%     (5 )%
                                                         
 
The decrease in operating income between fiscal 2010 and 2009 of $3.4 million was attributable to a decrease in segment revenues, partially offset by a reduction in segment and corporate operating expenses, which was driven by our reengineering initiative, a decrease in restructuring expenses, a decrease in loss on sale of product line assets, a decrease in share-based compensation expense and a decrease in amortization expenses. Under the reengineering initiative, we have reduced operating costs through staff reductions, facility consolidations and restriction of discretionary expenditures. At the segment level, our segment operating income was negatively impacted by a $19.3 million decrease in our Applications segment, and an $11.6 million decrease in our Scores segment partially offset by a $1.1 million increase in our Tools segment.
 
The decrease in our Applications segment operating income was attributable to a decrease in revenue and an increase in operating expenses as we continue to invest in our Decision Management solutions.
 
The decrease in our Scores segment operating income was attributable primarily to a decline in revenues from scores used for marketing purposes, revenues derived from business-to-consumer services and an increase in operating expenses due to increased marketing activities.
 
In our Tools segment, the increase in segment operating income was primarily attributed to an increase in FICO Model Builder and FICO Decision Optimizer revenues and lower operating expenses, which was driven by our reengineering initiative, partially offset by a decrease in Blaze Advisor revenues.
 
The decrease in corporate expenses was due to staff reductions and facility consolidations, driven by our reengineering initiative, and a decrease in legal fees.
 
The decrease in operating income between fiscal 2009 and 2008 of $5.5 million was attributable mainly to a reduction in segment revenues and an increase in loss on sale of product line assets, partially offset by a reduction in segment and corporate operating expenses, which was driven by our reengineering initiative, and a reduction in our share-based compensation expense. At the segment level, our segment operating income was negatively impacted by a $21.4 million decrease in our Scores segment and an $8.4 million decrease in our Applications segment, partially offset by a $3.7 million increase in our Tools segment.
 
The decrease in Applications segment operating income was attributable to a reduction of revenues, which were adversely impacted by difficult global economic conditions that caused our customers to restrict


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investments in large technology projects, offset by a significant decline in operating expenses, which was driven by our reengineering initiative.
 
The decrease in our Scores segment operating income was attributable primarily to a decline in transactional volumes from the credit reporting agencies, revenues from scores used for marketing purposes and revenues derived from business-to-consumer services.
 
The increase in Tools segment operating income was due mainly to a reduction in operating expenses partially offset by a reduction in revenues. The reduction in operating expenses was driven mainly by our reengineering initiative.
 
The decrease in unallocated corporate expenses was also due to our reengineering initiative, which resulted in staff reductions and facility consolidations.
 
Discontinued Operations
 
On April 30, 2008, we completed the sale of our Insurance Bill Review business unit for $16.0 million in cash. We recorded a $6.9 million pre-tax loss, but a $3.4 million after-tax gain on the sale as the amount of goodwill disposed of for income tax purposes exceeded the amount determined for financial reporting purposes. During fiscal 2009, we recorded an additional $0.4 million working capital adjustment in favor of the purchaser. Revenues from discontinued operations were $22.9 million in fiscal 2008. After-tax losses from discontinued operations were $0.7 million in fiscal 2008.
 
Capital Resources and Liquidity
 
Cash Flows from Operating Activities
 
Our primary method for funding operations and growth has been through cash flows generated from operating activities. Net cash provided by operating activities totaled $105.8 million in fiscal 2010 compared to $151.6 million in fiscal 2009. Operating cash flows were negatively impacted by an $11.6 million increase in accounts receivable (compared to a $31.3 million decrease in fiscal 2009), which resulted from the timing of cash receipts, a $3.3 million decrease in other liabilities and a $1.1 million decrease in deferred revenue. Operating cash flows were positively impacted by a $5.4 million increase in accrued compensation and employee benefits, which resulted from the timing of cash payments.
 
Net cash provided by operating activities totaled $151.6 million in fiscal 2009 compared to $159.2 million in fiscal 2008. Operating cash flows were negatively impacted by a decline in earnings in fiscal 2009 and a $10.8 million decrease in other liabilities. Operating cash flows were positively impacted by an increase in accrued compensation and employee benefits of $12.4 million, which was due to the timing of payments, and a decrease in accounts receivable of $11.2 million, which resulted from the timing of cash receipts and improvements made to our collections process.
 
Cash Flows from Investing Activities
 
Net cash provided by investing activities totaled $110.6 million in fiscal 2010 compared to net cash used of $81.9 million in fiscal 2009. The change was driven by $125.9 million in proceeds from maturities and sales of marketable securities, net of purchases, during the year ended September 30, 2010 compared to $73.3 million of cash used for purchases of marketable securities, net of sales and proceeds from maturities, during the year ended September 30, 2009.
 
Net cash used in investing activities totaled $81.9 million in fiscal 2009 compared to $31.1 million in fiscal 2008. The change in cash flows was due to an $81.2 million decrease in proceeds from sales and maturities of marketable securities, net of purchases, and an $8.8 million decrease in capital expenditures. In addition, the change in cash flows was due to $33.3 million paid for the acquisition of Dash Optimization Ltd. in January 2008 and $15.6 million of cash received in April 2008 from the sale of our Insurance Bill Review business unit.


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Cash Flows from Financing Activities
 
Net cash used in financing activities totaled $248.5 million in 2010, compared to $18.8 million in fiscal 2009. The increase in cash used in financing activities was primarily due to the $196.1 million of cash paid to repurchase of common stock during the year ended September 30, 2010 and the repayment of $295 million of debt outstanding on our revolving line of credit, partially offset by cash provided from the issuance of $245 million of Senior Notes on July 14, 2010.
 
Net cash used in financing activities totaled $18.8 million in 2009, compared to $91.0 million in 2008. The decrease in cash used in financing activities was primarily due to a $98.1 million decrease in common stock repurchased, a $16.5 million decrease in proceeds from the issuance of common stock under employee stock plans and a $9.9 million decrease in cash proceeds from net borrowings under our revolving credit facility, senior notes and senior convertible notes.
 
Repurchases of Common Stock
 
From time to time, we repurchase our common stock in the open market. During fiscal 2010, 2009 and 2008, we expended $198.0 million, $18.5 million and $116.6 million, respectively, in connection with our repurchase of common stock. In June 2010, our Board of Directors approved a common stock repurchase program that allows us to purchase shares of our common stock up to an aggregate cost of $250.0 million. As of September 30, 2010, we had $174.7 million remaining under this authorization.
 
Dividends
 
We paid quarterly dividends of two cents per share, or eight cents per year, during each of fiscal 2010, 2009 and 2008. Our dividend rate is set by the Board of Directors on a quarterly basis taking into account a variety of factors, including among others, our operating results and cash flows, general economic and industry conditions, our obligations, changes in applicable tax laws and other factors deemed relevant by the Board. Although we expect to continue to pay dividends at the current rate, our dividend rate is subject to change from time to time based on the Board’s business judgment with respect to these and other relevant factors.
 
Revolving Line of Credit
 
We have a $600 million unsecured revolving line of credit with a syndicate of banks that expires in October 2011. Proceeds from the revolving line of credit can be used for working capital and general corporate purposes and may also be used for the refinancing of existing debt, acquisitions, and the repurchase of the Company’s common stock. Interest on amounts borrowed under the revolving line of credit is based on (i) a base rate, which is the greater of (a) the prime rate and (b) the Federal Funds rate plus 0.50% or (ii) LIBOR plus an applicable margin. The margin on LIBOR borrowings ranges from 0.30% to 0.55% and is determined based on our consolidated leverage ratio. In addition, we must pay utilization fees if borrowings and commitments under the revolving line of credit exceed 50% of the total commitment, as well as facility fees. The revolving line of credit contains certain restrictive covenants, including maintenance of consolidated leverage and fixed charge coverage ratios. The revolving line of credit also contains covenants typical of unsecured facilities. On April 14, 2010, we used $50 million of cash to reduce our outstanding obligation on our revolving line of credit to $245 million. On July 14, 2010, we repaid the remaining outstanding obligations under the revolving line of credit using proceeds from the issuance of $245 million of Senior Notes in a private placement to a group of institutional investors. These Senior Notes have a weighted-average interest rate of 5.2% and a weighted-average maturity of 8 years.
 
Senior Notes
 
In May 2008, we issued $275 million of Senior Notes in a private placement to a group of institutional investors. These Senior Notes were issued in four series with maturities ranging from 5 to 10 years. These Senior Notes’ weighted average interest rate is 6.8% and the weighted average maturity is 7.9 years.


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In addition, on July 14, 2010, we issued $245 million of Senior Notes in a private placement to a group of institutional investors. These Senior Notes have a weighted average interest rate of 5.20% and a weighted average maturity of 8 years. Proceeds from these Senior Notes were used to repay the entire balance outstanding on our revolving line of credit. These Senior Notes were issued in four series as follows:
 
                         
Series   Amount   Interest Rate   Maturity Date
 
E
  $ 60 million       4.72 %     July 14, 2016  
F
  $ 72 million       5.04 %     July 14, 2017  
G
  $ 28 million       5.42 %     July 14, 2019  
H
  $ 85 million       5.59 %     July 14, 2020  
 
All of the Senior Notes are subject to certain restrictive covenants that are substantially similar to those in the credit agreement for the revolving credit facility, including maintenance of consolidated leverage and fixed charge coverage ratios. The purchase agreements for the Senior Notes also include covenants typical of unsecured facilities.
 
Capital Resources and Liquidity Outlook
 
As of September 30, 2010, we had $219.2 million in cash, cash equivalents and marketable security investments. We believe that these balances, as well as available borrowings from our $600 million revolving line of credit and anticipated cash flows from operating activities, will be sufficient to fund our working and other capital requirements and any scheduled repayments of existing debt over the course of the next twelve months. Under our current financing arrangements we have no significant debt obligations maturing until May 2013. In the normal course of business, we evaluate the merits of acquiring technology or businesses, or establishing strategic relationships with or investing in these businesses. We may elect to use available cash and cash equivalents and marketable security investments to fund such activities in the future. In the event additional needs for cash arise, or if we refinance our existing debt, we may raise additional funds from a combination of sources, including the potential issuance of debt or equity securities. Additional financing might not be available on terms favorable to us, or at all. If adequate funds were not available or were not available on acceptable terms, our ability to take advantage of unanticipated opportunities or respond to competitive pressures could be limited.
 
Contractual Obligations
 
The following is a summary of our contractual obligations at September 30, 2010:
 
                                                         
    2011     2012     2013     2014     2015     Thereafter     Total  
 
Senior Notes(1)
  $ 8,000     $ 8,000     $ 49,000     $ 8,000     $ 71,000     $ 376,000     $ 520,000  
Interest due on debt obligations(2)
    31,523       31,013       30,503       27,382       26,873       68,135       215,429  
Operating lease obligations
    19,759       16,687       13,892       13,758       11,881       40,770       116,747  
Purchase obligations(3)
    6,100       5,100       4,400       2,600                   18,200  
Unrecognized tax benefits(4)
                                        12,286  
                                                         
Total commitments
  $ 65,382     $ 60,800     $ 97,795     $ 51,740     $ 109,754     $ 484,905     $ 882,662  
                                                         
 
 
(1) Represents the unpaid principal amount of our $275 million Senior Notes issued in May 2008 and the $245 million Senior Notes issued in July 2010.
 
(2) Interest due on debt obligations represents interest payments on our Senior Notes.
 
(3) Represents amounts associated with agreements that are enforceable, legally binding and specify terms, including: fixed or minimum quantities to be purchased; fixed, minimum or variable price provisions; and the approximate timing of the payments.


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(4) Unrecognized tax benefits related to uncertain tax positions. As we are not able to reasonably estimate the timing of the payments or the amount by which the liability will increase or decrease over time, the related balances have not been reflected in the section of the table showing payment by fiscal year.
 
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements
 
We do not have any off-balance sheet arrangements that have or are reasonably likely to have a current or future material effect on our financial condition, changes in financial condition, revenues or expenses, results of operations, liquidity, capital expenditures, or capital resources.
 
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
 
We prepare our consolidated financial statements in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. These accounting principles require management to make certain judgments and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities as of the date of the financial statements, and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. We periodically evaluate our estimates including those relating to revenue recognition, the allowance for doubtful accounts, goodwill and other intangible assets resulting from business acquisitions, share-based compensation, income taxes and contingencies and litigation. We base our estimates on historical experience and various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable based on the specific circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying value of certain assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results may differ from these estimates.
 
We believe the following critical accounting policies involve the most significant judgments and estimates used in the preparation of our consolidated financial statements:
 
Revenue Recognition
 
Software Licenses
 
Software license fee revenue is recognized when persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists, software is made available to our customers, the fee is fixed or determinable and collection is probable. The determination of whether fees are fixed or determinable and collection is probable involves the use of assumptions. If at the outset of an arrangement we determine that the arrangement fee is not fixed or determinable, revenue is deferred until the arrangement fee becomes fixed or determinable, assuming all other revenue recognition criteria have been met. If at the outset of an arrangement we determine that collectability is not probable, revenue is deferred until the earlier of when collectability becomes probable or the receipt of payment. If there is uncertainty as to the customer’s acceptance of our deliverables, revenue is not recognized until the earlier of receipt of customer acceptance, expiration of the acceptance period, or when we can demonstrate we meet the acceptance criteria. We evaluate contract terms and customer information to ensure that these criteria are met prior to our recognition of license fee revenue.
 
We use the residual method to recognize revenue when an arrangement includes one or more elements to be delivered at a future date and vendor-specific objective evidence (“VSOE”) of the fair value of all undelivered elements exists. VSOE of fair value is based on the normal pricing practices for those products and services when sold separately by us and customer renewal rates for post-contract customer support services. Under the residual method, the fair value of the undelivered elements is deferred and the remaining portion of the arrangement fee is recognized as revenue. If evidence of the fair value of one or more undelivered elements does not exist, the revenue is deferred and recognized when delivery of those elements occurs or when fair value can be established. Changes to the elements in a software arrangement, the ability to identify VSOE for those elements, the fair value of the respective elements, and change to a product’s estimated life cycle could materially impact the amount of earned and unearned revenue.
 
When software licenses are sold together with implementation or consulting services, license fees are recognized upon delivery provided that the above criteria are met, payment of the license fees is not dependent upon the performance of the services, and the services do not provide significant customization or modification


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of the software products and are not essential to the functionality of the software that was delivered. For arrangements with services that are essential to the functionality of the software, the license and related service revenues are recognized using contract accounting as described below.
 
Revenues from post-contract customer support services, such as software maintenance, are recognized on a straight-line basis over the term of the support period. The majority of our software maintenance agreements provide technical support as well as unspecified software product upgrades and releases when and if made available by us during the term of the support period.
 
Transactional-based Revenues
 
Transactional-based revenue is recognized when persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists, fees are fixed or determinable, and collection is reasonably assured. Revenues from our credit scoring, data processing, data management and internet delivery services are recognized as these services are performed. Revenues from transactional or unit-based license fees under software license arrangements, network service and internally-hosted software agreements are recognized based on minimum contractual amounts or on system usage that exceeds minimum contractual amounts. Certain of our transactional-based revenues are based on transaction or active account volumes as reported by our clients. In instances where volumes are reported to us in arrears, we estimate volumes based on preliminary customer transaction information or average actual reported volumes for an immediate trailing period. Differences between our estimates and actual final volumes reported are recorded in the period in which actual volumes are reported. We have not experienced significant variances between our estimates and actual reported volumes in the past and anticipate that we will be able to continue to make reasonable estimates in the future. If for some reason we were unable to reasonably estimate transaction volumes in the future, revenue may be deferred until actual customer data is received, and this could have a material impact on our consolidated results of operations.
 
Consulting Services
 
We provide consulting, training, model development and software integration services under both hourly-based time and materials and fixed-priced contracts. Revenues from these services are generally recognized as the services are performed. For fixed-price service contracts, we apply the percentage-of-completion method of contract accounting to determine progress towards completion, which requires the use of estimates. In such instances, management is required to estimate the input measures, generally based on hours incurred to date compared to total estimated hours of the project, with consideration also given to output measures, such as contract milestones, when applicable. Adjustments to estimates are made in the period in which the facts requiring such revisions become known and, accordingly, recognized revenues and profits are subject to revisions as the contract progresses to completion. Estimated losses, if any, are recorded in the period in which current estimates of total contract revenue and contract costs indicate a loss. If substantive uncertainty related to customer acceptance of services exists, we apply the completed contract method of accounting and defer the associated revenue until the contract is completed. If we are unable to accurately estimate the input measures used for percentage-of-completion accounting, revenue would be deferred until the contract is complete, and this could have a material impact on our consolidated results of operations.
 
Hosting Services
 
We are an application service provider (“ASP”), where we provide hosting services that allow customers access to software that resides on our servers. The ASP model typically includes an up-front fee and a monthly commitment from the customer that commences upon completion of the implementation through the remainder of the contractual term. The up-front fee is the initial setup fee, or the implementation fee. The monthly commitment includes, but is not limited to, a fixed monthly fee or a transactional fee based on system usage that exceeds monthly minimums. Revenue is recognized from ASP when there is persuasive evidence of an arrangement, the service has been provided to the customer, the amount of fees is fixed or determinable and the collection of the Company’s fees is probable. We do not view the activities of signing the contract or providing initial setup services as discrete earnings events. Revenue is deferred until the date the customer


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commences use of our services at which point the up-front fees are recognized ratably over the contractual term of the customer arrangement. ASP transactional fees are recorded monthly as earned.
 
Non-Software Multiple-Deliverable Arrangements
 
Each deliverable within a multiple-deliverable revenue arrangement is accounted for as a separate unit of accounting if the following criteria are met: (i) the delivered item or items have value to the customer on a standalone basis and (ii) for an arrangement that includes a general right of return relative to the delivered item(s), delivery or performance of the undelivered item(s) is considered probable and substantially in our control. We consider a deliverable to have standalone value if we sell this item separately or if the item is sold by another vendor or could be resold by the customer. Further, our revenue arrangements generally do not include a general right of return relative to delivered products. Revenue for multiple element arrangements is allocated to the software and non-software deliverables based on a relative selling price. We use VSOE in our allocation of arrangement consideration when it is available. We define VSOE as a median price of recent standalone transactions that are priced within a narrow range, as defined by us. If a product or service is seldom sold separately, it is unlikely that we can determine VSOE. In circumstances when VSOE does not exist, we then assess whether we can obtain third-party evidence (“TPE”) of the selling price. It may be difficult for us to obtain sufficient information on competitor pricing to substantiate TPE and therefore we may not always be able to use TPE. When we are unable to establish selling price using VSOE or TPE, we use estimated selling price (“ESP”) in its allocation of arrangement consideration. The objective of ESP is to determine the price at which we would transact if the product or service were sold by us on a standalone basis. Our determination of ESP involves weighting several factors based on the specific facts and circumstances of each arrangement. The factors include, but are not limited to, geographies, market conditions, gross margin objectives, pricing practices and controls and customer segment pricing strategies and the product lifecycle. We analyze selling prices used in our allocation of arrangement consideration on an annual basis, or more frequently if necessary. Selling prices will be analyzed more frequently if a significant change in our business necessitates a more timely analysis or if we experience significant variances in our selling prices.
 
Gross vs. Net Revenue Reporting
 
We apply accounting guidance to determine whether we report revenue for certain transactions based upon the gross amount billed to the customer, or the net amount retained by us. In accordance with the guidance we record revenue on a gross basis for sales in which we have acted as the principal and on a net basis for those sales in which we have in substance acted as an agent or broker in the transaction.
 
Allowance for Doubtful Accounts
 
We make estimates regarding the collectability of our accounts receivable. When we evaluate the adequacy of our allowance for doubtful accounts, we analyze specific accounts receivable balances, historical bad debts, customer creditworthiness, current economic trends and changes in our customer payment cycles. Material differences may result in the amount and timing of expense for any period if we were to make different judgments or utilize different estimates. If the financial condition of our customers deteriorates resulting in an impairment of their ability to make payments, additional allowances might be required.
 
Business Acquisitions; Valuation of Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets
 
Our business acquisitions typically result in the recognition of goodwill and other intangible assets, which affect the amount of current and future period charges and amortization expense. Goodwill represents the excess of the purchase price over the fair value of net assets acquired, including identified intangible assets, in connection with our business combinations accounted for by the purchase method of accounting. We amortize our definite-lived intangible assets based on forecasted cash flows associated with the assets over the estimated useful lives. Goodwill is not amortized, but is assessed at least annually for impairment.
 
The determination of the value of these components of a business combination, as well as associated asset useful lives, requires management to make various estimates and assumptions. Critical estimates in valuing


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certain of the intangible assets include but are not limited to: future expected cash flows from product sales and services, maintenance agreements, consulting contracts, customer contracts, and acquired developed technologies and patents or trademarks; the acquired company’s brand awareness and market position, as well as assumptions about the period of time the acquired products and services will continue to be used in our product portfolio; and discount rates. Management’s estimates of fair value and useful lives are based upon assumptions believed to be reasonable, but which are inherently uncertain and unpredictable. Unanticipated events and circumstances may occur and assumptions may change. Estimates using different assumptions could also produce significantly different results.
 
We continually review the events and circumstances related to our financial performance and economic environment for factors that would provide evidence of the impairment of our intangible assets. When impairment indicators are identified with respect to our previously recorded intangible assets with finite useful lives, we test for impairment using undiscounted cash flows. If such tests indicate impairment, then we measure the impairment as the difference between the carrying value of the asset and the fair value of the asset, which is measured using discounted cash flows. Indefinite-lived intangible assets are assessed annually for impairment by comparing the fair value of such intangible assets, measured using discounted cash flows, to the respective fair value. To the extent the fair value is less than the associated carrying value, impairment is recorded. Significant management judgment is required in forecasting future operating results, which are used in the preparation of the projected discounted cash flows and should different conditions prevail, material write downs of net intangible assets and other long-lived assets could occur. We periodically review the estimated remaining useful lives of our acquired intangible assets. A reduction in our estimate of remaining useful lives, if any, could result in increased amortization expense in future periods.
 
We test goodwill for impairment at the reporting unit level at least annually during the fourth quarter of each fiscal year and more frequently if impairment indicators are identified. We have determined that our reporting units are the same as our reportable segments. The first step of the goodwill impairment test is a comparison of the fair value of a reporting unit to its carrying value. We estimate the fair values of our reporting units using the discounted cash flow valuation model and by comparing our reporting units to guideline publicly-traded companies. The two valuation methodologies are generally weighted equally in our final fair value calculation. These methods require estimates of our future revenues, profits, capital expenditures, working capital, costs of capital and other relevant factors, as well as selecting appropriate guideline publicly-traded companies for each reporting unit. We estimate these amounts by evaluating historical trends, current budgets, operating plans, industry data, and other relevant factors. In addition, we compare the aggregate reporting unit fair values to our market capitalization.
 
The estimated fair value of each of our reporting units exceeded its respective carrying value in fiscal 2010, indicating the underlying goodwill of each reporting unit was not impaired as of our most recent testing date. Accordingly, we were not required to complete the second step of the goodwill impairment test. As of July 1, 2010, the estimated fair value of our Applications reporting unit was 110% of carrying value. Total goodwill allocated to the reporting unit was $448.0 million as of September 30, 2010.
 
In a discounted cash flow valuation analysis, key assumptions that require significant management judgment include revenue growth rates and weighted average cost of capital. In our analysis, revenue growth rates were primarily based on third party studies of industry growth rates for each of our reporting units. Within each reporting unit, management refined these estimates based on their knowledge of the product, the needs of our customers and expected market opportunity. The key uncertainty for revenue growth in the Applications reporting unit is the recovery of the consumer credit industry over the next several years. The weighted average cost of capital was determined based on publicly available data such as the long-term yield on U.S. treasury bonds, the expected rate of return on high quality bonds and the returns and betas of various equity instruments. As it relates to the market approach, there is less management judgment in determining the fair value of our reporting units other than selecting which guideline publicly-traded companies are included in our peer group.
 
For the fiscal 2010 impairment assessment our Applications reporting unit revenue terminal growth rate was 3% and our weighted average cost of capital was 11%. A decline in cash flow of 13.5% due to a


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reduction in revenues, or margins achieved, as compared to our forecast would have caused the Applications reporting unit to fail step one of our annual impairment test. In addition, a 1.3 percentage point increase in our weighted average cost of capital would have caused the Applications reporting unit to fail step one of our annual impairment test.
 
The timing and frequency of our goodwill impairment test is based on an ongoing assessment of events and circumstances that would be an indicator of potential impairment of a reporting unit below its carrying value. There are various assumptions and estimates underlying the determination of an impairment loss, and estimates using different but, in each case, reasonable assumptions could produce significantly different results and materially affect the determination of fair value and/or goodwill impairment for each reporting unit. For example, if the expected recovery of the economy is delayed significantly beyond what we have anticipated in our forecasts, it could cause the fair value of our Applications reporting unit to fall below its respective carrying value. We believe that the assumptions and estimates utilized were appropriate based on the information available to management. The timing and recognition of impairment losses by us in the future, if any, may be highly dependent upon our estimates and assumptions.
 
Share-Based Compensation
 
We account for share-based compensation using the fair value recognition provisions as required in the accounting literature. We estimate the fair value of options granted using the Black-Scholes option valuation model. We estimate the volatility of our common stock at the date of grant based on a combination of the implied volatility of publicly traded options on our common stock and our historical volatility rate. Our decision to use implied volatility was based upon the availability of actively traded options on our common stock and our assessment that implied volatility is more representative of future stock price trends than historical volatility. We estimate the expected term of options granted based on historical exercise patterns. The dividend yield assumption is based on historical dividend payouts. The risk-free interest rate assumption is based on observed interest rates appropriate for the term of our employee options. We use historical data to estimate pre-vesting option forfeitures and record share-based compensation expense only for those awards that are expected to vest. For options granted, we amortize the fair value on a straight-line basis. All options are amortized over the requisite service periods of the awards, which are generally the vesting periods. If factors change we may decide to use different assumptions under the Black-Scholes option valuation model in the future, which could materially affect our share-based compensation expense, net income and earnings per share.
 
Income Taxes
 
We use the asset and liability approach to account for income taxes. This methodology recognizes deferred tax assets and liabilities for the expected future tax consequences of temporary differences between the carrying amounts and the tax base of assets and liabilities and operating loss and tax credit carryforwards. We then record a valuation allowance to reduce deferred tax assets to an amount that more likely than not will be realized. We consider future taxable income and ongoing prudent and feasible tax planning strategies in assessing the need for the valuation allowance, which requires the use of estimates. If we determine during any period that we could realize a larger net deferred tax asset than the recorded amount, we would adjust the deferred tax asset to increase income for the period or reduce goodwill if such deferred tax asset relates to an acquisition. Conversely, if we determine that we would be unable to realize a portion of our recorded deferred tax asset, we would adjust the deferred tax asset to record a charge to income. To the extent an adjustment in our deferred tax assets relates to a business combination the adjustment is recorded either in income from continuing operations in the period of the combination or directly in contributed capital, depending on the circumstances. Although we believe that our estimates are reasonable, there is no assurance that our valuation allowance will not need to be increased to cover additional deferred tax assets that may not be realizable, and such an increase could have a material adverse impact on our income tax provision and results of operations in the period in which such determination is made. In addition, the calculation of tax liabilities also involves significant judgment in estimating the impact of uncertainties in the application of complex tax laws. Resolution of these uncertainties in a manner inconsistent with management’s expectations could also have a


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material impact on our income tax provision and consolidated results of operations in the period in which such determination is made.
 
Contingencies and Litigation
 
We are subject to various proceedings, lawsuits and claims relating to products and services, technology, labor, shareholder and other matters. We are required to assess the likelihood of any adverse outcomes and the potential range of probable losses in these matters. If the potential loss is considered probable and the amount can be reasonably estimated, we accrue a liability for the estimated loss. If the potential loss is considered less than probable or the amount cannot be reasonably estimated, disclosure of the matter is considered. The amount of loss accrual or disclosure, if any, is determined after analysis of each matter, and is subject to adjustment if warranted by new developments or revised strategies. Due to uncertainties related to these matters, accruals or disclosures are based on the best information available at the time. Significant judgment is required in both the assessment of likelihood and in the determination of a range of potential losses. Revisions in the estimates of the potential liabilities could have a material impact on our consolidated financial position or consolidated results of operations.
 
New Accounting Pronouncements Not Yet Adopted
 
In June 2009, the FASB issued new accounting guidance related to the consolidation of variable interest entities. The guidance requires revised evaluations of whether entities represent variable interest entities, ongoing assessments of control over such entities, and additional disclosures for variable interests. We do not believe the adoption of this guidance will have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.
 
Item 7A.   Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
 
Market Risk Disclosures
 
We are exposed to market risk related to changes in interest rates, equity market prices, and foreign currency exchange rates. We do not use derivative financial instruments for speculative or trading purposes.
 
Interest Rate Risk
 
We maintain an investment portfolio consisting mainly of income securities with an average maturity of two years or less. These available-for-sale securities are subject to interest rate risk and will fall in value if market interest rates increase. We have the ability to hold our fixed income investments until maturity, and therefore we would not expect our operating results or cash flows to be affected to any significant degree by the effect of a sudden change in market interest rates on our securities portfolio. The following table presents the principal amounts and related weighted-average yields for our investments with interest rate risk at September 30, 2010 and 2009:
 
                                                 
    September 30, 2010     September 30, 2009  
          Carrying
    Average
          Carrying
    Average
 
    Cost Basis     Amount     Yield     Cost Basis     Amount     Yield  
    (Dollars in thousands)  
 
Cash and cash equivalents
  $ 146,199     $ 146,199       0.10 %   $ 178,157     $ 178,157       0.12 %
Short-term investments
    68,554       68,615       0.94 %     139,149       139,673       1.26 %
Long-term investments
                      57,437       57,611       1.44 %
                                                 
    $ 214,753     $ 214,814       0.37 %   $ 374,743     $ 375,441       0.75 %
                                                 
 
In May 2008, we issued $275 million of Senior Notes to a group of institutional investors in a private placement. In July 2010 we issued an additional $245 million of Senior Notes to a group of institutional investors in a private placement. The fair value of our Senior Notes may increase or decrease due to various factors, including fluctuations in market interest rates and fluctuations in general economic conditions. See Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations — Capital Resources


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and Liquidity, above, for additional information on the Senior Notes. The following table presents the principal amounts, carrying amounts, and fair values for our Senior Notes at September 30, 2010 and 2009:
 
                                                 
    September 30, 2010     September 30, 2009  
          Carrying
                Carrying
       
    Principal     Amounts     Fair Value     Principal     Amounts     Fair Value  
          (In thousands)                 (In thousands)        
 
May 2008 $275 million Senior Notes
  $ 275,000     $ 275,000     $ 315,019     $ 275,000     $ 275,000     $ 301,295  
July 2010 $245 million Senior Notes
  $ 245,000     $ 245,000     $ 258,727                    
 
We have interest rate risk with respect to our five-year $600 million unsecured revolving line of credit. Interest on amounts borrowed under the line of credit is based on (i) a base rate, which is the greater of (a) the prime rate and (b) the Federal Funds rate plus 0.50% or (ii) LIBOR plus an applicable margin. The margin on LIBOR borrowings ranges from 0.30% to 0.55% and is determined based on our consolidated leverage ratio. A change in interest rates on this variable rate debt impacts the interest incurred and cash flows, but does not impact the fair value of the instrument. We had $295.0 million of borrowings outstanding on this facility as of September 30, 2009. On July 14, 2010, we repaid all outstanding obligations under the revolving line of credit using proceeds from the issuance of $245 million of Senior Notes, and as of September 30, 2010 we had no outstanding borrowings on this facility.
 
Forward Foreign Currency Contracts
 
We maintain a program to manage our foreign currency exchange rate risk on existing foreign currency receivable and cash balances by entering into forward contracts to sell or buy foreign currency. At period end, foreign-denominated receivables and cash balances held by our U.S. reporting entities are remeasured into the U.S. dollar functional currency at current market rates. The change in value from this remeasurement is then reported as a foreign exchange gain or loss for that period in our accompanying consolidated statements of income and the resulting gain or loss on the forward contract mitigates the exchange rate risk of the associated assets. All of our forward foreign currency contracts have maturity periods of less than three months. Such derivative financial instruments are subject to market risk.
 
The following table summarizes our outstanding forward foreign currency contracts, by currency at September 30, 2010 and 2009:
 
                         
    September 30, 2010  
    Contract Amount        
    Foreign
          Fair Value  
    Currency     US$     US$  
    (In thousands)  
 
Sell foreign currency:
                       
Canadian dollar (CAD)
    CAD 1,300     $ 1,258     $  
Euro (EUR)
    EUR 5,460     $ 7,446        
Buy foreign currency:
                       
British pound (GBP)
    GBP 3,672     $ 5,800        
 


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    September 30, 2009  
    Contract Amount        
    Foreign
          Fair Value  
    Currency     US$     US$  
    (In thousands)  
 
Sell foreign currency:
                       
Canadian dollar (CAD)
    CAD 1,100     $ 1,022     $  
Euro (EUR)
    EUR 6,100     $ 8,908        
Japanese yen (JPY)
    JPY 61,000     $ 679          
Buy foreign currency:
                       
British pound (GBP)
    GBP 2,866     $ 4,600        
 
The forward foreign currency contracts were all entered into on September 30, 2010; therefore, the fair value was $0 on that date.

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Item 8.   Financial Statements and Supplementary Data
 
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
 
To the Board of Directors and Stockholders of
Fair Isaac Corporation
Minneapolis, Minnesota
 
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Fair Isaac Corporation and subsidiaries (the “Company”) as of September 30, 2010 and 2009, and the related consolidated statements of income, stockholders’ equity, and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended September 30, 2010. We also have audited the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of September 30, 2010, based on criteria established in Internal Control — Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission. The Company’s management is responsible for these financial statements, for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting, and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting included in the accompanying Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these consolidated financial statements and an opinion on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting based on our audits.
 
We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the consolidated financial statements are free of material misstatement and whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects. Our audits of the consolidated financial statements included examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the consolidated financial statements, assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, and evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. Our audit of internal control over financial reporting included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, and testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk. Our audits also included performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinions.
 
A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed by, or under the supervision of, the company’s principal executive and principal financial officers, or persons performing similar functions, and effected by the company’s board of directors, management, and other personnel to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.
 
Because of the inherent limitations of internal control over financial reporting, including the possibility of collusion or improper management override of controls, material misstatements due to error or fraud may not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. Also, projections of any evaluation of the effectiveness of the internal control over financial reporting to future periods are subject to the risk that the controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.
 
In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of September 30, 2010 and 2009, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended September 30, 2010, in


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conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. Also, in our opinion, the Company maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of September 30, 2010, based on the criteria established in Internal Control — Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission.
 
As discussed in Note 1 to the consolidated financial statements, effective October 1, 2009, the Company adopted a new accounting standard concerning accounting for revenue recognition for non-software deliverables in multiple element arrangements.
 
/s/  Deloitte & Touche LLP
 
Minneapolis, MN
November 23, 2010


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FAIR ISAAC CORPORATION
 
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
 
                 
    September 30,
    September 30,
 
    2010     2009  
    (In thousands, except
 
    par value data)  
 
Assets
Current assets:
               
Cash and cash equivalents
  $ 146,199     $ 178,157  
Marketable securities available for sale, current portion
    68,615       139,673  
Accounts receivable, net
    113,187       101,742  
Prepaid expenses and other current assets
    19,174       22,986  
                 
Total current assets
    347,175       442,558  
Marketable securities available for sale, less current portion
    4,367       61,371  
Other investments
    11,074       11,074  
Property and equipment, net
    30,975       34,340  
Goodwill
    665,953       667,640  
Intangible assets, net
    27,244       38,255  
Deferred income taxes
    27,774       38,100  
Other assets
    9,154       10,550  
                 
Total assets
  $ 1,123,716     $ 1,303,888  
                 
 
Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity
Current liabilities:
               
Accounts payable
  $ 8,765     $ 8,593  
Accrued compensation and employee benefits
    33,697       28,139  
Other accrued liabilities
    28,732       38,183  
Deferred revenue
    42,953       39,673  
Current maturities on long-term debt
    8,000        
                 
Total current liabilities
    122,147       114,588  
                 
Revolving line of credit
          295,000  
Senior notes
    512,000       275,000  
Other liabilities
    14,655       19,031  
                 
Total liabilities
    648,802       703,619  
                 
Commitments and contingencies
               
Stockholders’ equity:
               
Preferred stock ($0.01 par value; 1,000 shares authorized; none issued and outstanding)
           
Common stock ($0.01 par value; 200,000 shares authorized, 88,857 shares issued and 39,882 and 48,156 shares outstanding at September 30, 2010 and 2009, respectively)
    399       482  
Paid-in-capital
    1,103,244       1,106,292  
Treasury stock, at cost (48,975 and 40,701 shares at September 30, 2010 and 2009, respectively)
    (1,556,253 )     (1,375,400 )
Retained earnings
    947,202       886,324  
Accumulated other comprehensive loss
    (19,678 )     (17,429 )
                 
Total stockholders’ equity
    474,914       600,269  
                 
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity
  $ 1,123,716     $ 1,303,888  
                 
 
See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements.


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FAIR ISAAC CORPORATION
 
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME
 
                         
    Years Ended September 30,  
    2010     2009     2008  
    (In thousands, except per share data)  
 
Revenues:
                       
Transactional and maintenance
  $ 455,487     $ 478,702     $ 535,955  
Professional services
    102,878       112,413       147,914  
License
    47,278       39,620       60,973  
                         
Total revenues
    605,643       630,735       744,842  
                         
Operating expenses:
                       
Cost of revenues(1)
    180,932       206,448       274,917  
Research and development
    73,581       73,626       77,794  
Selling, general and administrative(1)
    225,263       209,319       245,639  
Amortization of intangible assets(1)
    10,901       12,891       14,043  
Restructuring
    1,617       8,711       10,166  
Loss on sale of product line assets
          2,993        
                         
Total operating expenses
    492,294       513,988       622,559  
                         
Operating income
    113,349       116,747       122,283  
Interest income
    1,688       4,717       8,802  
Interest expense
    (24,124 )     (25,481 )     (20,335 )
Other income, net
    1,391       1,587       2,245  
                         
Income from continuing operations before income taxes
    92,304       97,570       112,995  
Provision for income taxes
    27,847       32,105       31,809  
                         
Income from continuing operations
    64,457       65,465       81,186  
Income (loss) from discontinued operations
          (363 )     2,766  
                         
Net income
  $ 64,457     $ 65,102     $ 83,952  
                         
Basic earnings (loss) per share:
                       
Continuing operations
  $ 1.44     $ 1.35     $ 1.66  
Discontinued operations
          (0.01 )     0.06  
                         
Total
  $ 1.44     $ 1.34     $ 1.72  
                         
Diluted earnings (loss) per share:
                       
Continuing operations
  $ 1.42     $ 1.34     $ 1.64  
Discontinued operations
          (0.01 )     0.06  
                         
Total
  $ 1.42     $ 1.33     $ 1.70  
                         
Shares used in computing earnings (loss) per share:
                       
Basic
    44,903       48,658       48,940  
                         
Diluted
    45,308       48,776       49,373  
                         
 
 
(1) Cost of revenues and selling, general and administrative expenses exclude the amortization of intangible assets. See Note 9 to consolidated financial statements.
 
See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements.


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FAIR ISAAC CORPORATION
 
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY AND COMPREHENSIVE INCOME
Years Ended September 30, 2010, 2009 and 2008
 
                                                                 
                                  Accumulated
             
    Common Stock                       Other
    Total
       
          Par
    Paid-in-
    Treasury
    Retained
    Comprehensive
    Stockholders’
    Comprehensive
 
    Shares     Value     Capital     Stock     Earnings     Income (Loss)     Equity     Income  
    (In thousands)  
 
Balance at September 30, 2007
    51,064       511       1,097,327       (1,290,393 )     745,054       13,815       566,314          
Share-based compensation
                27,981                         27,981          
Exercise of stock options
    523       5       (5,594 )     17,878                   12,289          
Tax effect from share based payment arrangements
                (2,375 )                       (2,375 )        
Forfeitures of restricted stock
    (35 )           1,114       (1,114 )                          
Repurchases of common stock
    (3,540 )     (35 )           (116,607 )                 (116,642 )        
Issuance of ESPP shares from treasury
    384       3       (4,691 )     13,142                   8,454          
Issuance of restricted stock to employees from treasury
    77       1       (3,597 )     2,639                   (957 )        
Dividends paid ($0.08 per share)
                            (3,897 )           (3,897 )        
Net income
                            83,952             83,952     $ 83,952  
Unrealized gains on investments, net of tax of $25
                                  38       38       38  
Cumulative translation adjustments
                                  (13,216 )     (13,216 )     (13,216 )
                                                                 
Balance at September 30, 2008
    48,473       485       1,110,165       (1,374,455 )     825,109       637       561,941     $ 70,774  
                                                                 
Share-based compensation
                19,935                         19,935          
Exercise of stock options
    148       1       (3,197 )     5,027                   1,831          
Tax effect from share based payment arrangements
                (9,545 )                       (9,545 )        
Forfeitures of restricted stock
    (2 )           64       (64 )                          
Repurchases of common stock
    (832 )     (8 )           (18,492 )                 (18,500 )        
Issuance of ESPP shares from treasury
    195       2       (3,848 )     6,646                   2,800          
Issuance of restricted stock to employees from treasury
    174       2       (7,282 )     5,938                   (1,342 )        
Dividends paid ($0.08 per share)
                            (3,887 )           (3,887 )        
Net income
                            65,102             65,102     $ 65,102  
Unrealized gains on investments, net of tax of $232
                                  359       359       359  
Cumulative translation adjustments
                                  (18,425 )     (18,425 )     (18,425 )
                                                                 
Balance at September 30, 2009
    48,156       482       1,106,292       (1,375,400 )     886,324       (17,429 )     600,269     $ 47,036  
                                                                 
Share-based compensation
                17,305                         17,305          
Exercise of stock options
    288       3       (5,539 )     9,528                   3,992          
Tax effect from share based payment arrangements
                (4,717 )                       (4,717 )        
Repurchases of common stock
    (8,790 )     (88 )           (197,894 )                 (197,982 )        
Issuance of ESPP shares from treasury
    2             (18 )     55                   37          
Issuance of restricted stock to employees from treasury
    226       2       (10,079 )     7,458                   (2,619 )        
Dividends paid ($0.08 per share)
                            (3,579 )           (3,579 )        
Net income
                            64,457             64,457       64,457  
Unrealized losses on investments, net of tax benefit of $250
                                  (387 )     (387 )     (387 )
Cumulative translation adjustments
                                  (1,862 )     (1,862 )     (1,862 )
                                                                 
Balance at September 30, 2010
    39,882     $ 399     $ 1,103,244     $ (1,556,253 )   $ 947,202     $ (19,678 )   $ 474,914     $ 62,208  
                                                                 
 
See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements.


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FAIR ISAAC CORPORATION
 
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
 
                         
    Years Ended September 30,  
    2010     2009     2008  
    (In thousands)  
 
Cash flows from operating activities:
                       
Net income
  $ 64,457     $ 65,102     $ 83,952  
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities:
                       
Depreciation and amortization
    30,918       38,419       39,494  
Share-based compensation
    17,305       19,935       27,981  
Deferred income taxes
    6,761       (5,031 )     (23,095 )
Tax effect from share-based payment arrangements
    (4,717 )     (9,545 )     (2,375 )
Excess tax benefits from share-based payment arrangements
    (1,158 )     (280 )     (1,342 )
Gain on repurchase of senior convertible notes
                (896 )
Net amortization of premium on marketable securities
    2,174       1,057       579  
(Benefit from) Provision for doubtful accounts
    (118 )     499       3,414  
Loss on sale of business unit
                6,952  
Loss on sale of product line assets
          2,993        
Net loss on sales of property and equipment
    694       115       39  
Changes in operating assets and liabilities, net of acquisition and
disposition effects:
                       
Accounts receivable
    (11,561 )     31,316       20,153  
Prepaid expenses and other assets
    315       36       1,766  
Accounts payable
    (317 )     (2,519 )     (1,569 )
Accrued compensation and employee benefits
    5,413       (976 )     (13,363 )
Other liabilities
    (3,290 )     3,214       14,033  
Deferred revenue
    (1,096 )     7,298       3,427  
                         
Net cash provided by operating activities
    105,780       151,633       159,150  
                         
Cash flows from investing activities:
                       
Purchases of property and equipment
    (17,453 )     (13,958 )     (22,780 )
Cash proceeds from sales of property and equipment
    50             1,527  
Cash proceeds from sales of product line assets
    2,182       4,000        
Cash paid for acquisition, net of cash acquired
                (33,336 )
Cash proceeds from sale of business unit
                15,581  
Purchases of marketable securities
    (71,749 )     (197,274 )     (161,803 )
Proceeds from sale of marketable securities
    10,014       7,400       2,008  
Proceeds from maturities of marketable securities
    187,593       116,585       167,684  
Distribution from cost method investees
          1,300        
                         
Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities
    110,637       (81,947 )     (31,119 )
                         
Cash flows from financing activities:
                       
Proceeds from revolving line of credit
                300,000  
Payments on revolving line of credit
    (295,000 )           (175,000 )
Proceeds from issuance of senior notes
    245,000             275,000  
Payments for repurchases of senior convertible notes
                (390,067 )
Debt issuance costs
    (1,343 )           (1,477 )
Proceeds from issuances of common stock under employee stock option and purchase plans
    1,410       3,289       19,786  
Dividends paid
    (3,579 )     (3,887 )     (3,897 )
Repurchases of common stock
    (196,119 )     (18,500 )     (116,642 )
Excess tax benefits from share-based payment arrangements
    1,158       280       1,342  
                         
Net cash used in financing activities
    (248,473 )     (18,818 )     (90,955 )
                         
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash
    98       (2,389 )     (2,682 )
                         
Increase (Decrease) in cash and cash equivalents
    (31,958 )     48,479       34,394  
Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of year
    178,157       129,678       95,284  
                         
Cash and cash equivalents, end of year
  $ 146,199     $ 178,157     $ 129,678  
                         
Supplemental disclosures of cash flow information:
                       
Cash paid for income taxes, net of refunds of $457, $2,742 and $1,447 during the years ended September 30, 2010, 2009 and 2008, respectively
  $ 26,885     $ 28,364     $ 20,074  
Cash paid for interest
  $ 21,048     $ 26,189     $ 13,009  
 
See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements.


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FAIR ISAAC CORPORATION
 
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Years Ended September 30, 2010, 2009 and 2008
 
1.   Nature of Business and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
 
Fair Isaac Corporation
 
Incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware, Fair Isaac Corporation (“FICO”) is a provider of analytic, software and data management products and services that enable businesses to automate, improve and connect decisions. FICO provides a range of analytical solutions, credit scoring and credit account management products and services to banks, credit reporting agencies, credit card processing agencies, insurers, retailers and healthcare organizations.
 
In these consolidated financial statements, FICO is referred to as “we,” “us,” “our,” or “FICO”.
 
Principles of Consolidation and Basis of Presentation
 
The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of FICO and its subsidiaries. All intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated.
 
Use of Estimates
 
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the dates of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting periods. Actual results could differ from those estimates. These estimates and assumptions include, but are not limited to, assessing the following: the recoverability of accounts receivable, goodwill and other intangible assets, software development costs, deferred tax assets, the benefits related to uncertain tax positions, the determination of the fair value of stock-based compensation, the ability to estimate hours in connection with fixed-fee service contracts, the ability to estimate transactional-based revenues for which actual transaction volumes have not yet been received, and the determination of whether fees are fixed or determinable and collection is probable or reasonably assured.
 
Cash and Cash Equivalents
 
Cash and cash equivalents consist of cash in banks and investments with a maturity of 90 days or less at time of purchase.
 
Fair Value of Financial Instruments
 
The fair value of certain of our financial instruments, including cash and cash equivalents, receivables, other current assets, accounts payable, accrued compensation and employee benefits, other accrued liabilities and amounts outstanding under our revolving line of credit, approximate their carrying amounts because of the short-term maturity of these instruments. The fair values of our cash and cash equivalents and marketable security investments are disclosed in Note 5. The fair value of our Senior Notes is disclosed in Note 12.
 
Investments
 
Management determines the appropriate classification of our investments in marketable debt and equity securities at the time of purchase, and re-evaluates this designation at each balance sheet date. While it is our intent to hold debt securities to maturity, our investments in U.S. government obligations and marketable equity and debt securities that have readily determinable fair values are classified as available-for-sale, as the sale of such securities may be required prior to maturity to implement management strategies. Therefore, such securities are carried at fair value with unrealized gains or losses related to these securities included in


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FAIR ISAAC CORPORATION
 
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS — (Continued)
 
accumulated other comprehensive income (loss). The fair value of marketable securities is based upon inputs including quoted prices for identical or similar assets. Realized gains and losses are included in other income, net on the consolidated statements of income. The cost of investments sold is based on the specific identification method. Losses resulting from other than temporary declines in fair value are charged to operations. Investments with remaining maturities over one year are classified as long-term investments.
 
Our investments in equity securities of companies over which we do not have significant influence are accounted for under the cost method. Investments in which we own 20% to 50% and exercise significant influence over operating and financial policies are accounted for using the equity method. Under the equity method, the investment is originally recorded at cost and adjusted to recognize our share of net earnings or losses of the investee, limited to the extent of our investment in, advances to, and financial guarantees for the investee. Under the cost method, the investment is originally recorded at cost and adjusted for additional contributions or distributions. Management periodically reviews equity-method and cost-method investments for instances where fair value is less than the carrying amount and the decline in value is determined to be other than temporary. If the decline in value is judged to be other than temporary, the carrying amount of the security is written down to fair value and the resulting loss is charged to operations.
 
Concentration of Risk
 
Financial instruments that potentially expose us to concentrations of risk consist primarily of cash and cash equivalents, marketable securities and accounts receivable, which are generally not collateralized. Our policy is to place our cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities with high quality financial institutions, commercial corporations and government agencies in order to limit the amount of credit exposure. We have established guidelines relative to diversification and maturities for maintaining safety and liquidity. We generally do not require collateral from our customers, but our credit extension and collection policies include analyzing the financial condition of potential customers, establishing credit limits, monitoring payments, and aggressively pursuing delinquent accounts. We maintain allowances for potential credit losses.
 
A significant portion of our revenues are derived from the sales of products and services to the consumer credit, banking and insurance industries.
 
Property and Equipment
 
Property and equipment are recorded at cost less accumulated depreciation and amortization. Major renewals and improvements are capitalized, while repair and maintenance costs are expensed as incurred. Depreciation and amortization charges are calculated using the straight-line method over the following estimated useful lives:
 
     
    Estimated Useful Life
 
Data processing equipment and software
  2 to 3 years
Office furniture and equipment
  3 to 7 years
Leasehold improvements
  Shorter of estimated useful life or lease term
 
The cost and accumulated depreciation for property and equipment sold, retired or otherwise disposed of are removed from the applicable accounts and resulting gains or losses are recorded in our consolidated statement of operations. Depreciation and amortization on property and equipment totaled $20.0 million, $25.5 million and $24.1 million during fiscal 2010, 2009 and 2008, respectively.
 
Internal-use Software
 
Costs incurred to develop internal-use software during the application development stage are capitalized and reported at cost, subject to an impairment test as described below. Application development stage costs


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FAIR ISAAC CORPORATION
 
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS — (Continued)
 
generally include costs associated with internal-use software configuration, coding, installation and testing. Costs of significant upgrades and enhancements that result in additional functionality are also capitalized whereas costs incurred for maintenance and minor upgrades and enhancements are expensed as incurred. Capitalized costs are amortized using the straight-line method over two to three years.
 
We assess potential impairment of capitalized internal-use software whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset may not be recoverable. Recoverability of assets to be held and used is measured by a comparison of the carrying amount of an asset group to the future undiscounted net cash flows that are expected to be generated by the asset group. If such assets are considered to be impaired, the impairment to be recognized is measured by the amount by which the carrying amount of the assets exceeds the fair value of the assets. Assets to be disposed of are reported at the lower of the carrying amount or fair value less costs to sell. During fiscal 2010, we impaired $0.6 million of previously capitalized internal-use software. We did not capitalize any internal use software in fiscal 2010 while capitalizing $0.3 million in fiscal 2009 and 2008. We did not amortize any internal-use software in fiscal 2010 while amortizing $0.3 million and $0.6 million in fiscal 2009 and 2008, respectively.
 
Capitalized Software and Research and Development Costs
 
All costs incurred prior to the resolution of unproven functionality and features, including new technologies, are expensed as research and development costs. Software development costs incurred between completion of a working prototype and general availability of the related products have not been significant and have been expensed as incurred. Technological feasibility for our products occurs approximately concurrently with the general release of our products, accordingly, we have not capitalized any development or production costs. Costs we incur to maintain and support our existing products after the general release of the product are expensed in the period they are incurred and included in research and development costs in our statements of operations. Research and development costs totaled $73.6 million, $73.6 million and $77.8 million in fiscal 2010, 2009 and 2008, respectively.
 
Goodwill and Intangible Assets
 
Goodwill represents the excess of the purchase price over the fair value of net assets acquired in connection with our business combinations accounted for by the purchase method of accounting (see Note 9). We test goodwill for impairment at the reporting unit level at least annually during the fourth quarter of each fiscal year and more frequently if impairment indicators are identified. We have determined that our reporting units are the same as our reportable segments. The first step of the goodwill impairment test is a comparison of the fair value of a reporting unit to its carrying value. We estimate the fair values of our reporting units using discounted cash flow valuation models and by comparing our reporting units to guideline publicly-traded companies. These methods require estimates of our future revenues, profits, capital expenditures, working capital, and other relevant factors, as well as selecting appropriate guideline publicly-traded companies for each reporting unit. We estimate these amounts by evaluating historical trends, current budgets, operating plans, industry data, and other relevant factors.
 
Definite-lived intangible assets are tested for impairment if impairment indicators arise. We amortize our definite-lived intangible assets, which result from our acquisitions accounted for under the purchase method of accounting, using the straight-line method or based on the forecasted cash flows associated with the assets over the following estimated useful lives:
 
     
    Estimated Useful Life
 
Completed technology
  4 to 6 years
Customer contracts and relationships
  2 to 15 years
Trade names
  5 years


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FAIR ISAAC CORPORATION
 
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS — (Continued)
 
Revenue Recognition
 
Software Licenses
 
Software license fee revenue is recognized when persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists, software is made available to our customers, the fee is fixed or determinable and collection is probable. The determination of whether fees are fixed or determinable and collection is probable involves the use of assumptions. If at the outset of an arrangement we determine that the arrangement fee is not fixed or determinable, revenue is deferred until the arrangement fee becomes fixed or determinable, assuming all other revenue recognition criteria have been met. If at the outset of an arrangement we determine that collectability is not probable, revenue is deferred until the earlier of when collectability becomes probable or the receipt of payment. If there is uncertainty as to the customer’s acceptance of our deliverables, revenue is not recognized until the earlier of receipt of customer acceptance, expiration of the acceptance period, or when we can demonstrate we meet the acceptance criteria. We evaluate contract terms and customer information to ensure that these criteria are met prior to our recognition of license fee revenue.
 
We use the residual method to recognize revenue when an arrangement includes one or more elements to be delivered at a future date and vendor-specific objective evidence (“VSOE”) of the fair value of all undelivered elements exists. VSOE of fair value is based on the normal pricing practices for those products and services when sold separately by us and customer renewal rates for post-contract customer support services. Under the residual method, the fair value of the undelivered elements is deferred and the remaining portion of the arrangement fee is recognized as revenue. If evidence of the fair value of one or more undelivered elements does not exist, the revenue is deferred and recognized when delivery of those elements occurs or when fair value can be established. Changes to the elements in a software arrangement, the ability to identify VSOE for those elements, the fair value of the respective elements, and change to a product’s estimated life cycle could materially impact the amount of earned and unearned revenue.
 
When software licenses are sold together with implementation or consulting services, license fees are recognized upon delivery provided that the above criteria are met, payment of the license fees is not dependent upon the performance of the services, and the services do not provide significant customization or modification of the software products and are not essential to the functionality of the software that was delivered. For arrangements with services that are essential to the functionality of the software, the license and related service revenues are recognized using contract accounting as described below.
 
Revenues from post-contract customer support services, such as software maintenance, are recognized on a straight-line basis over the term of the support period. The majority of our software maintenance agreements provide technical support as well as unspecified software product upgrades and releases when and if made available by us during the term of the support period.
 
Transactional-based Revenues
 
Transactional-based revenue is recognized when persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists, fees are fixed or determinable, and collection is reasonably assured. Revenues from our credit scoring, data processing, data management and internet delivery services are recognized as these services are performed. Revenues from transactional or unit-based license fees under software license arrangements, network service and internally-hosted software agreements are recognized based on minimum contractual amounts or on system usage that exceeds minimum contractual amounts. Certain of our transactional-based revenues are based on transaction or active account volumes as reported by our clients. In instances where volumes are reported to us in arrears, we estimate volumes based on preliminary customer transaction information or average actual reported volumes for an immediate trailing period. Differences between our estimates and actual final volumes reported are recorded in the period in which actual volumes are reported. We have not experienced significant variances between our estimates and actual reported volumes in the past and anticipate that we will be able to continue


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FAIR ISAAC CORPORATION
 
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS — (Continued)
 
to make reasonable estimates in the future. If for some reason we were unable to reasonably estimate transaction volumes in the future, revenue may be deferred until actual customer data is received, and this could have a material impact on our consolidated results of operations.
 
Consulting Services
 
We provide consulting, training, model development and software integration services under both hourly-based time and materials and fixed-priced contracts. Revenues from these services are generally recognized as the services are performed. For fixed-price service contracts, we apply the percentage-of-completion method of contract accounting to determine progress towards completion, which requires the use of estimates. In such instances, management is required to estimate the input measures, generally based on hours incurred to date compared to total estimated hours of the project, with consideration also given to output measures, such as contract milestones, when applicable. Adjustments to estimates are made in the period in which the facts requiring such revisions become known and, accordingly, recognized revenues and profits are subject to revisions as the contract progresses to completion. Estimated losses, if any, are recorded in the period in which current estimates of total contract revenue and contract costs indicate a loss. If substantive uncertainty related to customer acceptance of services exists, we apply the completed contract method of accounting and defer the associated revenue until the contract is completed. If we are unable to accurately estimate the input measures used for percentage-of-completion accounting, revenue would be deferred until the contract is complete, and this could have a material impact on our consolidated results of operations.
 
Hosting Services
 
We are an application service provider (“ASP”), where we provide hosting services that allow customers access to software that resides on our servers. The ASP model typically includes an up-front fee and a monthly commitment from the customer that commences upon completion of the implementation through the remainder of the contractual term. The up-front fee is the initial setup fee, or the implementation fee. The monthly commitment includes, but is not limited to, a fixed monthly fee or a transactional fee based on system usage that exceeds monthly minimums. Revenue is recognized from ASP when there is persuasive evidence of an arrangement, the service has been provided to the customer, the amount of fees is fixed or determinable and the collection of the Company’s fees is probable. We do not view the activities of signing the contract or providing initial setup services as discrete earnings events. Revenue is deferred until the date the customer commences use of our services at which point the up-front fees are recognized ratably over the contractual term of the customer arrangement. ASP transactional fees are recorded monthly as earned.
 
Non-Software Multiple-Deliverable Arrangements
 
Each deliverable within a multiple-deliverable revenue arrangement is accounted for as a separate unit of accounting if the following criteria are met: (i) the delivered item or items have value to the customer on a standalone basis and (ii) for an arrangement that includes a general right of return relative to the delivered item(s), delivery or performance of the undelivered item(s) is considered probable and substantially in our control. We consider a deliverable to have standalone value if we sell this item separately or if the item is sold by another vendor or could be resold by the customer. Further, our revenue arrangements generally do not include a general right of return relative to delivered products. Revenue for multiple element arrangements is allocated to the software and non-software deliverables based on a relative selling price. We use VSOE in our allocation of arrangement consideration when it is available. We define VSOE as a median price of recent standalone transactions that are priced within a narrow range, as defined by us. If a product or service is seldom sold separately, it is unlikely that we can determine VSOE. In circumstances when VSOE does not exist, we then assess whether we can obtain third-party evidence (“TPE”) of the selling price. It may be difficult for us to obtain sufficient information on competitor pricing to substantiate TPE and therefore we may not always be able to use TPE. When we are unable to establish selling price using VSOE or TPE, we


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FAIR ISAAC CORPORATION
 
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS — (Continued)
 
use estimated selling price (“ESP”) in its allocation of arrangement consideration. The objective of ESP is to determine the price at which we would transact if the product or service were sold by us on a standalone basis. Our determination of ESP involves weighting several factors based on the specific facts and circumstances of each arrangement. The factors include, but are not limited to, geographies, market conditions, gross margin objectives, pricing practices and controls and customer segment pricing strategies and the product lifecycle. We analyze selling prices used in our allocation of arrangement consideration on an annual basis, or more frequently if necessary. Selling prices will be analyzed more frequently if a significant change in our business necessitates a more timely analysis or if we experience significant variances in our selling prices.
 
Gross vs. Net Revenue Reporting
 
We apply accounting guidance to determine whether we report revenue for certain transactions based upon the gross amount billed to the customer, or the net amount retained by us. In accordance with the guidance we record revenue on a gross basis for sales in which we have acted as the principal and on a net basis for those sales in which we have in substance acted as an agent or broker in the transaction.
 
Allowance for Doubtful Accounts
 
We make estimates regarding the collectability of our accounts receivable. When we evaluate the adequacy of our allowance for doubtful accounts, we analyze specific accounts receivable balances, historical bad debts, customer creditworthiness, current economic trends and changes in our customer payment cycles. Material differences may result in the amount and timing of expense for any period if we were to make different judgments or utilize different estimates. If the financial condition of our customers deteriorates resulting in an impairment of their ability to make payments, additional allowances might be required.
 
Income Taxes
 
Income taxes are recognized during the year in which transactions enter into the determination of financial statement income, with deferred taxes being provided for temporary differences between amounts of assets and liabilities for financial reporting purposes and such amounts as measured by tax laws. A deferred income tax asset or liability is computed for the expected future impact of differences between the financial reporting and tax bases of assets and liabilities as well as the expected future tax benefit to be derived from tax loss and tax credit carryforwards. Valuation allowances are established, when necessary, to reduce deferred tax assets to the amount “more likely than not” to be realized in future tax returns. Tax rate changes are reflected in income during the period the changes are enacted. We recognize interest expense related to unrecognized tax benefits and penalties as part of the provision for income taxes in our consolidated statements of income.
 
Earnings per Share
 
Basic earnings per share are computed on the basis of the weighted-average number of common shares outstanding during the period under measurement. Diluted earnings per share are based on the weighted-average number of common shares outstanding and potential common shares. Potential common shares result from the assumed exercise of outstanding stock options or other potentially dilutive equity instruments, when they are dilutive under the treasury stock method or the if-converted method.
 
Comprehensive Income
 
Comprehensive income is the change in our equity (net assets) during each period from transactions and other events and circumstances from non-owner sources. It includes net income, foreign currency translation adjustments and unrealized gains and losses, net of tax, on our investments in marketable securities.


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FAIR ISAAC CORPORATION
 
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS — (Continued)
 
Foreign Currency
 
We have determined that the functional currency of each foreign operation is the local currency. Assets and liabilities denominated in their local foreign currencies are translated into U.S. dollars at the exchange rate on the balance sheet date. Revenues and expenses are translated at average rates of exchange prevailing during the period. Translation adjustments are accumulated as a separate component of consolidated stockholders’ equity.
 
At the end of the reporting period, foreign currency denominated receivables and liabilities are remeasured into the functional currency of the reporting entities at current market rates. The change in value from this remeasurement is reported as a foreign exchange gain or loss for that period in other income, net in the accompanying consolidated statements of income. We recorded ($1.2) million, $2.5 million and $2.0 million of transactional foreign currency exchange gains (losses) during 2010, 2009 and 2008, respectively.
 
Derivative Financial Instruments
 
From time to time, we utilize forward contract instruments to manage market risks associated with fluctuations in certain foreign currency exchange rates as they relate to specific balances of accounts receivable and cash denominated in foreign currencies. It is our policy to use derivative financial instruments to protect against market risks arising in the normal course of business. Our policies prohibit the use of derivative instruments for the sole purpose of trading for profit on price fluctuations or to enter into contracts that intentionally increase our underlying exposure. All of our forward foreign currency contracts have maturity periods of less than three months. Gains or losses from forward foreign currency contracts are included in other income, net.
 
Share-Based Compensation Expense
 
We amortize share-based compensation expense based upon the fair value of share-based awards on a straight-line basis over the requisite vesting period as defined in the applicable plan documents. Corporate income tax benefits realized upon exercise or vesting of an award in excess of that previously recognized in earnings, referred to as an excess tax benefit, is presented in the consolidated statements of cash flow as a financing activity. Realized excess tax benefits are credited to paid-in capital in the consolidated balance sheets. Realized shortfall tax benefits, amounts which are less than that previously recognized in earnings, are first offset against the cumulative balance of excess tax benefits, if any, and then charged directly to income tax expense. See Note 17 for further discussion of our share-based employee benefit plans.
 
Impairment of Long-Lived Assets
 
We assess potential impairment to long-lived assets and certain identifiable intangible assets with finite lives whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset may not be recoverable. Recoverability of assets to be held and used is measured by a comparison of the carrying amount of an asset to the future undiscounted net cash flows that are expected to be generated by the asset. If such assets are considered to be impaired, the impairment to be recognized is measured by the amount by which the carrying amount of the assets exceeds the fair value of the assets. We determined that our long-lived assets were not impaired at September 30, 2010, 2009 and 2008. Assets to be disposed are reported at the lower of the carrying amount or fair value less costs to sell.


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FAIR ISAAC CORPORATION
 
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS — (Continued)
 
Advertising and Promotion Costs
 
Advertising and promotion costs are expensed as incurred. Advertising and promotion costs totaled $3.0 million, $6.8 million and $1.9 million in fiscal 2010, 2009 and 2008, respectively, and are included in selling, general and administrative expenses in the accompanying consolidated statements of income.
 
Recently Issued Accounting Standards
 
Recently Adopted Accounting Standards
 
In January 2010, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued guidance to amend the disclosure requirements related to recurring and nonrecurring fair value measurements. The guidance requires new disclosures on the transfers of assets and liabilities between Level 1 (quoted prices in an active market for identical assets or liabilities) and Level 2 (significant other observable inputs) of the fair value measurement hierarchy, including the reasons and the timing of the transfers. Additionally, the guidance requires a roll forward of activities on purchases, sales, issuances, and settlements of the assets and liabilities measured using significant unobservable inputs (Level 3 fair value measurements). We adopted this guidance on January 1, 2010, except for the disclosure on the roll forward activities for Level 3 fair value measurements, which will become effective for us with the reporting period beginning October 1, 2011. Other than requiring additional disclosures, adoption of this new guidance does not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.
 
In October 2009, the FASB issued two new accounting standards that removed certain tangible products from the scope of software revenue recognition guidance and altered the accounting for revenue arrangements with non-software multiple deliverables. The new guidance narrows the definition of products subject to software accounting rules to exclude certain tangible products that contain software and non-software elements that function together to deliver the combined product’s essential functionality. As such, certain products that were previously accounted for under the scope of software revenue recognition guidance will no longer be accounted for as software. In addition, the guidance amended the accounting standards for non-software multiple deliverable revenue arrangements to: (i) provide updated guidance on whether multiple deliverables exist, how the deliverables in an arrangement should be separated, and how the consideration should be allocated; (ii) require an entity to allocate revenue in an arrangement using estimated selling prices (“ESP”) of deliverables if a vendor does not have vendor-specific objective evidence of selling price (“VSOE”) or third-party evidence of selling price (“TPE”); and (iii) eliminate the use of the residual method and require an entity to allocate revenue using the relative selling price method.
 
We elected to early adopt this accounting guidance and we have applied these standards to all applicable revenue arrangements entered into or materially modified beginning October 1, 2009. The adoption of these standards had an immaterial effect on our revenues, pre-tax income, net income and earnings per share during the year ended September 30, 2010.
 
When a sales arrangement contains multiple deliverables we allocate revenue to each deliverable based on a selling price hierarchy. The selling price for a deliverable is based on its VSOE if available, TPE if VSOE is not available, or ESP if neither VSOE nor TPE is available. VSOE is generally limited to the price charged when the same or similar product is sold separately. If a product or service is seldom sold separately, it is unlikely that we can determine VSOE for the product or service. We define VSOE as a median price of recent standalone transactions that are priced within a narrow range, as defined by us. TPE is determined based on the prices charged by our competitors for a similar deliverable when sold separately. It may be difficult for us to obtain sufficient information on competitor pricing to substantiate TPE and therefore we may not always be able to use TPE.
 
When we are unable to establish selling price using VSOE or TPE, we use ESP in its allocation of arrangement consideration. The objective of ESP is to determine the price at which we would transact if the


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FAIR ISAAC CORPORATION
 
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS — (Continued)
 
product or service were sold by us on a standalone basis. Our determination of ESP involves weighting several factors based on the specific facts and circumstances of each arrangement. The factors include, but are not limited to, geographies, market conditions, gross margin objectives, pricing practices and controls and customer segment pricing strategies and the product lifecycle. We analyze selling prices used in our allocation of arrangement consideration on an annual basis, or more frequently if necessary. Selling prices will be analyzed more frequently if a significant change in our business necessitates a more timely analysis or if we experience significant variances in our selling prices.
 
Each deliverable within a multiple-deliverable revenue arrangement is accounted for as a separate unit of accounting under the guidance if both of the following criteria are met: (i) the delivered item or items have value to the customer on a standalone basis and (ii) for an arrangement that includes a general right of return relative to the delivered item(s), delivery or performance of the undelivered item(s) is considered probable and substantially in our control. We consider a deliverable to have standalone value if we sell this item separately or if the item is sold by another vendor or could be resold by the customer. Further, our revenue arrangements generally do not include a general right of return relative to delivered products. Revenue from multiple element arrangements is allocated to the software and non-software deliverables based on the relative selling prices of all of the deliverables in the arrangement using the hierarchy in the new revenue accounting guidance. In circumstances where we cannot determine VSOE or TPE of the selling price for all of the deliverables in the arrangement, including the software deliverable, ESP is used for the purposes of performing this allocation.
 
The adoption of this guidance did not result in a material change in our units of accounting or in how we allocate arrangement consideration to our units of accounting. In addition, we do not anticipate material changes in the pattern and timing of revenue recognition nor do we expect a material effect on our condensed financial statements in periods subsequent to adoption. However, the new guidance may facilitate our efforts to optimize our offerings due to better alignment between the economics of an arrangement and the accounting. This may lead to engaging in new go-to-market practices in the future. In particular, we expect that the new accounting standards will enable us to better integrate products and services without VSOE into existing offerings and solutions. As these go-to-market strategies evolve, we may modify pricing practices in the future which could result in changes in selling prices, including both VSOE and ESP.
 
On October 1, 2009 we adopted new guidance on the accounting for business combinations. The guidance states that business combinations will result in all assets and liabilities of an acquired business being recorded at their fair values including contingent assets and liabilities. It also requires the capitalization of in-process research and development at fair value and requires the expensing of acquisition-related costs as incurred. This guidance has been applied to all acquisitions contemplated subsequent to October 1, 2009.
 
In December 2007, the FASB issued new accounting guidance on non-controlling interests in consolidated financial statements. The guidance clarifies that a non-controlling or minority interest in a subsidiary is considered an ownership interest and, accordingly, requires all entities to report such interests in subsidiaries as equity in the consolidated financial statements. We adopted this guidance on October 1, 2009. The adoption of this guidance had an immaterial effect on our consolidated financial statements.
 
On October 1, 2009, we adopted the authoritative guidance on fair value measurement for nonfinancial assets and liabilities, except for items that are recognized or disclosed at fair value in the financial statements on a recurring basis (at least annually). Adoption of the new guidance did not impact our consolidated financial statements.
 
On October 1, 2009, we adopted new accounting guidance for measuring liabilities at fair value. This guidance clarifies that the quoted price for an identical liability is a Level 1 measurement when no adjustments to the quoted price are necessary. If quoted prices for identical liabilities are not available, the guidance


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FAIR ISAAC CORPORATION
 
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS — (Continued)
 
provides valuation techniques to be used in determining the fair value of the liability. The adoption of this standard did not impact our consolidated financial statements during the year ended September 30, 2010.
 
In May 2008, the FASB issued new guidance on the accounting for convertible instruments that may be settled in cash upon conversion. The guidance requires that proceeds from the issuance of convertible debt instruments be allocated between debt (at a discount) and an equity component. The debt discount is amortized over the period the convertible debt is expected to be outstanding as additional non-cash interest expense. We adopted this guidance on October 1, 2009. The guidance changed the accounting treatment for our Senior Convertible Notes, which were issued in August 2003; however, the only retrospective adjustment to our financial statements is a reclassification between equity accounts. The guidance does not require retrospective adoption if the instruments were not outstanding during any of the periods presented in the annual financial statements for the period of adoption, or if restatement would only lead to a reclassification between its opening equity accounts for periods presented in the annual financial statements. As a result, the adoption of this guidance did not impact our consolidated financial statements.
 
On October 1, 2009, we adopted new guidance to be used in determining the useful life of intangible assets. The guidance amended the factors that should be considered in developing renewal or extension assumptions used to determine the useful life of a recognized intangible asset. This new guidance is intended to improve the consistency between the useful life of a recognized intangible asset and the period of expected cash flows used to measure the fair value of the asset. The adoption of this guidance did not affect our consolidated financial statements.
 
Accounting Standards not yet Adopted
 
In June 2009, the FASB issued new accounting guidance related to the consolidation of variable interest entities. The guidance requires revised evaluations of whether entities represent variable interest entities, ongoing assessments of control over such entities, and additional disclosures for variable interests. We do not believe the adoption of this guidance will have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.
 
2.   Acquisition
 
In January 2008, we acquired Dash Optimization (“Dash”), a leading provider of decision modeling and optimization software, for an aggregate cash purchase price of approximately $34.1 million. The acquisition of Dash was consummated principally to augment our decision management analytic tools. We accounted for this transaction using the purchase method of accounting and allocated the associated goodwill to our Tools segment. The results of Dash have been included in our operating results since the date of acquisition. The pro forma effects of this acquisition on our Consolidated Financial Statements were not material.
 
3.   Discontinued Operations
 
In April 2008, we completed the sale of our Insurance Bill Review business unit for $16.0 million in cash. At the time of the disposition, we recorded a $6.9 million pre-tax loss, but a $3.4 million after-tax gain on the sale as the amount of goodwill disposed of for income tax purposes exceeded the amount determined for financial reporting purposes. During fiscal 2009, we recorded an additional charge of $0.4 million, net of tax, as a result of an unfavorable final working capital adjustment.
 
The decision to sell the Insurance Bill Review business was the result of management’s decision to divest non-strategic businesses and focus resources on our core products and services. Insurance Bill Review was primarily associated with the Applications segment.
 
We determined that the Insurance Bill Review business was a discontinued operation and as a result we have segregated the net assets, net liabilities and operating results from continuing operations in our consolidated balance sheets and statements of income for all periods prior to the sale. Revenues from


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FAIR ISAAC CORPORATION
 
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS — (Continued)
 
discontinued operations were $22.9 million for the year ended September 30, 2008. Pre-tax losses from discontinued operations were $1.1 million for the year ended September 30, 2008.
 
4.   Sales of Product Line Assets
 
In June 2009, we sold the assets associated with our LiquidCredit® for Telecom (“LCT”) and RoamEx® product lines. LCT and RoamEx solutions were included in our Applications segment. The LCT sale, which was for $3.5 million, included a $0.5 million receivable for post-closing working capital adjustments. All post-closing working capital amounts were received in fiscal 2010. The primary assets sold included accounts receivable and goodwill. Included in the results of operations for fiscal 2009 were a $1.5 million pre-tax loss and a $2.1 million after-tax loss on the sale as the goodwill associated with the LCT solution product line was not deductible for income tax purposes. Revenues attributable to the LCT solutions product line were $9.1 million and $13.4 million during fiscal 2009 and 2008, respectively. The RoamEx sale, which was for $2.7 million, included a $1.4 million escrow balance and a $0.3 million receivable for post-closing working capital adjustments. All amounts included in escrow and applicable post-closing working capital adjustments were received in fiscal 2010. The primary assets sold included accounts receivable and goodwill. We recognized a $1.5 million pre-tax loss, and a $1.8 million after-tax loss on the sale as the goodwill associated with the RoamEx product line was not deductible for income tax purposes. Revenues attributable to the RoamEx product line were $6.6 million and $11.5 million in fiscal 2009 and 2008, respectively.
 
5.   Cash, Cash Equivalents and Marketable Securities Available for Sale
 
The following is a summary of cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities available for sale at September 30, 2010 and 2009:
 
                                                                 
    2010     2009  
          Gross
    Gross
                Gross
    Gross
       
    Amortized
    Unrealized
    Unrealized
    Fair
    Amortized
    Unrealized
    Unrealized
    Fair
 
    Cost     Gains     Losses     Value     Cost     Gains     Losses     Value  
    (In thousands)  
 
Cash and Cash Equivalents:
                                                               
Cash
  $ 63,654     $     $     $ 63,654     $ 64,689     $     $     $ 64,689  
Money market funds
    82,545                   82,545       113,468                   113,468  
                                                                 
    $ 146,199     $     $     $ 146,199     $ 178,157     $     $     $ 178,157  
                                                                 
Short-term Marketable Securities:
                                                               
U.S. government obligations
  $ 48,325     $ 42     $     $ 48,367     $ 102,575     $ 460     $     $ 103,035  
U.S. corporate debt
    2,972       9             2,981       8,735       31             8,766  
Non U.S. corporate debt
    17,257       13       (3 )     17,267       27,839       33             27,872  
                                                                 
    $ 68,554     $ 64     $ (3 )   $ 68,615     $ 139,149     $ 524     $     $ 139,673  
                                                                 
Long-term Marketable Securities:
                                                               
U.S. government obligations
  $     $     $     $     $ 43,423     $ 174     $ (22 )   $ 43,575  
U.S. corporate debt
                            2,928       3             2,931  
Non U.S. corporate debt
                            11,086       19             11,105  
Marketable equity securities
    4,847             (480 )     4,367       4,580             (820 )     3,760  
                                                                 
    $ 4,847     $     $ (480 )   $ 4,367     $ 62,017     $ 196     $ (842 )   $ 61,371  
                                                                 


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FAIR ISAAC CORPORATION
 
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS — (Continued)
 
Short-term marketable securities mature at various dates over the course of the next twelve months. Typically, our long-term U.S. government obligations and corporate debt investments have matured at various dates over a one to three year period. During fiscal 2010, 2009 and 2008, we did not recognize any material realized gains or losses on investments.
 
The long-term marketable equity securities represent securities held under a supplemental retirement and savings plan for certain officers and senior management employees, which are distributed upon termination or retirement of the employees.
 
The following table shows the gross unrealized losses and fair value of our investments with unrealized losses that are not deemed to be other-than-temporarily impaired, aggregated by investment category and length of time that individual securities have been in a continuous unrealized loss position, at September 30, 2010 and 2009:
 
                                                 
    2010  
    Less Than 12 Months     12 Months or Greater     Total  
    Fair
    Unrealized
    Fair
    Unrealized
    Fair
    Unrealized
 
    Value     Losses     Value     Losses     Value     Losses  
    (In thousands)  
 
Description of Securities:
                                               
U.S. government obligations
  $     $     $     $     $     $  
Non U.S. corporate debt
    2,255       (3 )                 2,255       (3 )
                                                 
    $ 2,255     $ (3 )   $     $     $ 2,255     $ (3 )
                                                 
 
                                                 
    2009  
    Less Than 12 Months     12 Months or Greater     Total  
    Fair
    Unrealized
    Fair
    Unrealized
    Fair
    Unrealized
 
    Value     Losses     Value     Losses     Value     Losses  
    (In thousands)  
 
Description of Securities:
                                               
U.S. government obligations
  $ 1,253     $ (21 )   $     $     $ 1,253     $ (21 )
Non U.S. corporate debt
    2,076       (1 )                 2,076       (1 )
                                                 
    $ 3,329     $ (22 )   $     $     $ 3,329     $ (22 )