NOTE A – BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

A summary of the significant accounting policies applied in the preparation of the accompanying consolidated financial statements follows.

Business and Basis of Presentation

Telkonet, Inc. (the “Company”, “Telkonet”), formed in 1999 and incorporated under the laws of the state of Utah, is the creator of the EcoSmart Platform of intelligent automation solutions designed to optimize energy efficiency, comfort and analytics in support of the emerging Internet of Things (“IoT”).

In 2007, the Company acquired substantially all of the assets of Smart Systems International (“SSI”), which was a provider of energy management products and solutions to customers in the United States and Canada and the precursor to the Company’s EcoSmart platform. The EcoSmart platform provides comprehensive savings, management reporting, analytics and virtual engineering of a customer’s portfolio and/or property’s room-by-room energy consumption. Telkonet has deployed more than a half million intelligent devices worldwide in properties within the hospitality, military, educational, healthcare and other commercial markets. The EcoSmart platform is recognized as a solution for reducing energy consumption, operational costs and carbon footprints, and eliminating the need for new energy generation in these marketplaces – all whilst improving occupant comfort and convenience.

On March 28, 2017, the Company sold substantially all of the assets of its wholly-owned subsidiary, EthoStream, LLC. Refer to Note P for further details.

The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and its wholly-owned subsidiaries, Telkonet Communications, Inc., and EthoStream, LLC. The accounts of EthoStream, LLC have been classified as discontinued operations on the consolidated statement of operations and the consolidated statement of cash flows for the year ended December 31, 2017. The Company deconsolidated EthoStream, LLC on March 29, 2017, when the Company had sold its controlling financial interest in this subsidiary, refer to Note P for further discussion on discontinued operations and the sale of EthoStream, LLC. All significant intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. We currently operate in a single reportable business segment.

Unless otherwise noted, all financial information in the consolidated financial statement footnotes reflect the Company’s results from continuing operations.

Going Concern and Management’s Plan

The accompanying financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis which assumes the Company will be able to realize its assets and discharge its liabilities in the normal course of business for the foreseeable future and, thus, do not include any adjustments relating to the recoverability and classification of assets and liabilities that may be necessary if the Company is unable to continue as a going concern.

Since inception through December 31, 2018, we have incurred cumulative losses of $123,171,406 and have never generated enough funds through operations to support our business. For the year ended December 31, 2018, we had an operating cash flow deficit of $3,945,742 from continuing operations. The Company’s ability to continue as a going concern is dependent upon generating profitable operations in the future and obtaining the necessary financing to meet its obligations and repay its liabilities arising from normal business operations when they come due. There can be no assurance that the Company will be able to secure such financing at commercially reasonable terms, if at all. If cash resources become insufficient to meet the Company’s ongoing obligations, the Company will be required to scale back or discontinue portions of its operations or discontinue operations entirely, whereby, the Company’s shareholders may lose some or all of their investment.

We have not identified, and cannot be certain we will be able to identify, a course of action that guarantees the achievement of profitable operations in the foreseeable future. In June 2018, the Company’s Board engaged an investment bank to strategic alternatives to maximize shareholder value, including but not limited to, a sale of the Company, an investment in the Company, a merger or other business combination, a sale of all or substantially all assets or a strategic joint venture. At April 1, 2019, no definitive alternatives had been identified.

At December 31, 2018, the Company had approximately $4,678,891 of cash and approximately $500,000 of availability on its credit facility. The Company currently expects to draw on these cash reserves and utilize the credit facility to finance its near term working capital needs. It expects to continue to incur operating losses and negative operating cash flows for one year beyond the date of these financial statements. Accordingly, and in light of the Company’s historic and continuing losses, there is substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern.

Concentrations of Credit Risk

Financial instruments and related items, which potentially subject the Company to concentrations of credit risk, consist primarily of cash, cash equivalents and trade receivables. The Company places its cash and temporary cash investments with credit quality institutions. At times, such investments may be in excess of the FDIC insurance limit. The Company has never experienced any losses related to these balances. With respect to trade receivables, the Company performs ongoing credit evaluations of its customers’ financial conditions and limits the amount of credit extended when deemed necessary. The Company provides credit to its customers primarily in the United States in the normal course of business. The Company routinely assesses the financial strength of its customers and, as a consequence, believes its trade receivables credit risk exposure is limited.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

The Company considers all highly liquid debt instruments purchased with an original maturity date of three months or less to be cash equivalents.

Accounts Receivable

Accounts receivable are uncollateralized customer obligations due under normal trade terms. The Company records allowances for doubtful accounts based on customer-specific analysis and general matters such as current assessment of past due balances and economic conditions. The Company writes off accounts receivable when they become uncollectible. The allowance for doubtful accounts was $65,542 and $22,173 at December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively. Management identifies a delinquent customer based upon the delinquent payment status of an outstanding invoice, generally greater than 30 days past due date. The delinquent account designation does not trigger an accounting transaction until such time the account is deemed uncollectible. The allowance for doubtful accounts is determined by examining the reserve history and any outstanding invoices that are over 30 days past due as of the end of the reporting period. Accounts are deemed uncollectible on a case-by-case basis, at management’s discretion based upon an examination of the communication with the delinquent customer and payment history. Typically, accounts are only escalated to “uncollectible” status after multiple attempts at collection have proven unsuccessful.

The allowance for doubtful accounts for the years ended December 31 are as follows:

Inventories

Inventories consist of thermostats, sensors and controllers for Telkonet’s EcoSmart product platform. These inventories are purchased for resale and do not include manufacturing labor and overhead. Inventories are stated at the lower of cost or net realizable value determined by the first in, first out (FIFO) method. The Company’s inventories are subject to technological obsolescence. Management evaluates the net realizable value of its inventories on a quarterly basis and when it is determined that the Company’s carrying cost of such excess and obsolete inventories cannot be recovered in full, a charge is taken against income for the difference between the carrying cost and the estimated realizable amount. The reserve for inventory obsolescence balance was approximately $114,000 and $245,000 for the years ended December 31, 2018, and 2017, respectively.

Property and Equipment

In accordance with Accounting Standards Codification ASC 360 “Property Plant and Equipment”, property and equipment is stated at cost and is depreciated using the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the assets. The estimated useful lives range from 2 to 10 years.

Fair Value of Financial Instruments

The Company accounts for the fair value of financial instruments in accordance with ASC 820, which defines fair value for accounting purposes, established a framework for measuring fair value and expanded disclosure requirements regarding fair value measurements. Fair value is defined as an exit price, which is the price that would be received upon sale of an asset or paid upon transfer of a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. The degree of judgment utilized in measuring the fair value of assets and liabilities generally correlates to the level of pricing observability. Financial assets and liabilities with readily available, actively quoted prices or for which fair value can be measured from actively quoted prices in active markets generally have more pricing observability and require less judgment in measuring fair value. Conversely, financial assets and liabilities that are rarely traded or not quoted have less price observability and are generally measured at fair value using valuation models that require more judgment. These valuation techniques involve some level of management estimation and judgment, the degree of which is dependent on the price transparency of the asset, liability or market and the nature of the asset or liability. The Company categorizes financial assets and liabilities that are recurring, at fair value into a three-level hierarchy in accordance with these provisions.

The Company’s financial instruments include cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash on deposit, accounts receivable, accounts payable, line of credit, and certain accrued liabilities. The carrying amounts of these assets and liabilities approximate fair value due to the short maturity of these instruments (Level 1 instruments), except for the line of credit. The carrying amount of the line of credit approximates fair value due to the interest rate and terms approximating those available to the Company for similar obligations (Level 2 instruments).

Long-Lived Assets

The Company reviews long-lived assets for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset may not be recoverable in accordance with ASC 360-10. Recoverability is measured by comparison of the carrying amount to the future net cash flows which the assets are expected to generate. 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 their fair value. Based on the assessment for impairment performed during 2018 and 2017, no impairment was recorded.

Income (Loss) per Common Share

The Company computes earnings per share under ASC 260-10, “Earnings Per Share”.  Basic net income (loss) per common share is computed using the weighted average shares outstanding. Diluted net income (loss) per common share is computed using the treasury stock method, which assumes that the proceeds to be received on exercise of outstanding stock options and warrants are used to repurchase shares of the Company at the average market price of the common shares for the year. Dilutive common stock equivalents consist of shares issuable upon the exercise of the Company's outstanding stock options and warrants. For the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, there were 3,599,793 and 4,626,474 shares of common stock underlying options and warrants excluded due to these instruments being anti-dilutive, respectively.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with United States of America (U.S.) generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) requires management to make certain estimates, judgments and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Estimates are used when accounting for items and matters such as revenue recognition and allowances for uncollectible accounts receivable, inventory obsolescence, depreciation and amortization, long-lived assets, taxes and related valuation allowance, income tax provisions, stock-based compensation, and contingencies. The Company believes that the estimates, judgments and assumptions are reasonable, based on information available at the time they are made. Actual results may differ from those estimates.

Income Taxes

The Company accounts for income taxes in accordance with ASC 740-10 “Income Taxes.” Under this method, deferred income taxes (when required) are provided based on the difference between the financial reporting and income tax bases of assets and liabilities and net operating losses at the statutory rates enacted for future periods. The Company has a policy of establishing a valuation allowance when it is more likely than not that the Company will not realize the benefits of its deferred income tax assets in the future.

The Company adopted ASC 740-10-25, which prescribes a recognition threshold and measurement attribute for the financial statement recognition and measurement of a tax position taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. ASC 740-10-25 also provides guidance on de-recognition, classification, treatment of interest and penalties, and disclosure of such positions. The Securities and Exchange Commission issued Staff Accounting Bulletin 118 to address uncertainty regarding the application of ASC 740 to the income tax effects of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, signed into law on December 22, 2017. The bulletin provides a measurement period (not to exceed one year from the Tax Act enactment date) for companies to complete the accounting under ASC 740. To the extent that a company’s accounting for certain income tax effects is incomplete, but is able to determine a reasonable estimate, it must record a provisional estimate in the financial statements. If a company cannot determine a provisional estimate in the financial statements, it should continue to apply ASC 740 on the basis of the provisions of the tax laws that were in effect immediately before the enactment of the Tax Act. The company was able to make reasonable estimates of certain effects and, therefore, recorded non-material provisional adjustments.

The revaluation of the net deferred tax assets resulted in an increase to tax expense of $12.72 million.  This was offset by the revaluation of the valuation allowance of $13.71 million.  The sale of EthoStream generated income, resulting in an increase to tax expense of $1.067 million. Tax credits generated during the year resulted in a tax benefit of $.07 million.

The provision for income taxes was $.001 million for the year ended December 31, 2018, relatively unchanged from the prior year amount of $.001 million. The effective income tax rate was 0.3% for the year ended December 31, 2018 similarly to 0.3% for the prior year. On December 22, 2017, the U.S. government enacted comprehensive tax legislation commonly referred to as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “Tax Act”), which effectively lower the federal tax rate from 35% to 21%. For the year ended December 31, 2018, the Company has recorded all known and estimable impacts of the Tax Act that are effective for 2018.

Revenue from Contracts with Customers

Accounting Standards Codification Topic 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (“ASC 606, the Standard”) supersedes nearly all legacy revenue recognition guidance. ASC 606, the Standard outlines a comprehensive five-step revenue recognition model based on the principle that an entity should recognize revenue based on when it satisfies its performance obligations by transferring control of promised goods or services in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for said goods or services.

Identify the customer contracts

The Company accounts for a customer contract under ASC 606 when the contract is legally enforceable. A contract is legally enforceable when all of the following criteria are met: (1) the contract has been approved by the Company and the customer and both parties are committed to perform their respective obligations, (2) the Company can identify each party’s rights regarding goods or services transferred, (3) the Company can identify payment terms for goods or services transferred, (4) the contract has commercial substance, and (5) collectability of all the consideration to which the Company is entitled in exchange for the goods or services transferred is probable.

A contract does not exist if each party to the contract has the unilateral right to terminate a wholly unperformed contract without compensating the other party (or parties). Nearly all of the Company’s contracts do not contain such mutual termination rights for convenience. All contracts are in written form.

Identify the performance obligations

The Company will enter into product only contracts that contain a single performance obligation related to the transfer of EcoSmart products to a customer.

The Company will also enter into certain customer contracts that encompass product and installation services, referred to as “turnkey” solutions. These contracts ultimately provide the customer with a solution that enhances the functionality of the customer’s existing equipment. For this reason, the Company has determined that the product and installation services are not separately identifiable performance obligations, but in essence represent one, combined performance obligation (“turnkey”).

The Company also offers technical phone support services to customers. This service is considered a separate performance obligation.

Determine the transaction price

The Company generally enters into contracts containing fixed prices. It is not customary for the Company to include contract terms that would result in variable consideration. In the rare situation that a contract does include this type of provision, it is not expected to result in a material adjustment to the transaction price. The Company regularly extends pricing discounts; however, they are negotiated up front and adjust the fixed transaction price set out in the contract.

Customer contracts will typically contain upfront deposits that will be applied against future invoices, as well as customer retainage. The intent of any required deposit or retainage is to ensure that the obligations of either party are honored and follow customary industry practices. In addition, the Company will typically be paid in advance at the beginning of any support contracts, consistent with industry practices. None of these payment provisions are intended to represent significant implicit financing. The Company’s standard payment terms are thirty days from invoice date. Products are fully refundable when returned in their original packaging without damage or defacing less a restocking fee. Historical returns have shown to be immaterial. The Company offers a standard one-year assurance warranty. However customers can purchase an extended warranty. Under the new standard, extended warranties are accounted for as a service warranty, requiring the revenue to be recognized over the extended service periods. Contracts involving an extended warranty are immaterial and will continue to be combined with support revenue and recognized on a straight-line basis over the support revenue term.

Allocate the transaction price to the performance obligations

Revenues from customer contracts are allocated to the separate performance obligations based on their relative stand-alone selling price (“SSP”) at contract inception. The SSP is the price at which the Company would sell a promised good or service separately. The best evidence of an SSP is the observable price of a good or service when the entity sells that good or service separately in similar circumstances and to similar customers. However, turnkey solutions are sold for a broad range of amounts resulting from, but not limited to, tiered discounting for value added resellers (“VAR”) based upon committed volumes and other economic factors. Due to the high variability of our pricing, the Company cannot establish a reliable SSP using observable data. Accordingly, the Company uses the residual approach to allocate the transaction price to performance obligations related to its turnkey solutions. When support services are not included within the turnkey solution, the residual method is not utilized and no allocation of the transaction price to the performance obligation is necessary.

All support service agreements, whether single or multi-year terms, automatically renew for one-year terms at a suggested retail price (“SRP”). Support service renewals are consistently priced and therefore would support the use of SRP as the best estimate of an SSP for such performance obligations.

Revenue Recognition

The Company recognizes revenues from product only sales at a point in time, when control over the product has transferred to the customer. As the Company’s principal terms of sale are FOB shipping point, the Company primarily transfers control and records revenue for product only sales upon shipment.

A typical turnkey project involves the installation and integration of 200-300 rooms in a customer-controlled facility and usually takes sixty days to complete. Since control over goods and services transfers to a customer once a room is installed, the Company recognizes revenue for turnkey solutions over time. The Company uses an outputs measure based on the number of rooms installed to recognize revenues from turnkey solutions.

Revenues from support services are recognized over time, in even daily increments over the term of the contract, and are presented as “Recurring Revenue” in the Statement of Operations.

Contract liabilities include deferrals for the monthly support service fees. Long-term contract liabilities represent support service fees that will be recognized as revenue after December 31, 2019.

Contract Fulfillment Cost

The Company recognizes related costs of the contract over time in relation to the revenue recognition. Costs included within the projects relate to the cost of material, direct labor and costs of outside services utilized to complete projects. . These are presented as “Contract assets” in the consolidated balance sheets.

Transition

The Company adopted ASC 606 using a modified retrospective approach to all contracts not completed as of January 1, 2018. Results for reporting periods beginning January 1, 2018 are presented under ASC 606, while prior period amounts were not adjusted and continue to be reported in accordance with the Company’s historic accounting under Topic 605, Revenue Recognition. The Company recorded a net decrease to beginning retained earnings of $0.43 million as of January 1, 2018 due to the cumulative impact of adopting ASC 606. The impact to beginning retained earnings was primarily driven by the deferral of revenue for unfulfilled performance obligations related to the Company’s turnkey solutions.

Sales Taxes

Unless provided with a resale or tax exemption certificate, the Company assesses and collects sales tax on sales transactions and records the amount as a liability. It is recognized as a liability until remitted to the applicable state. Total revenues do not include sales tax as the Company is considered a pass through conduit for collecting and remitting sales taxes.

Guarantees and Product Warranties

The Company records a liability for potential warranty claims in cost of sales at the time of sale. The amount of the liability is based on the trend in the historical ratio of claims to sales, the historical length of time between the sale and resulting warranty claim, new product introductions and other factors. The products sold are generally covered by a warranty for a period of one year. In the event the Company determines that its current or future product repair and replacement costs exceed its estimates, an adjustment to these reserves would be charged to earnings in the period such determination is made. For the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, the Company experienced returns of approximately 1% to 3% of material’s included in cost of sales. As of December 31, 2018 and 2017, the Company recorded warranty liabilities in the amount of $46,103 and $59,892, respectively, using this experience factor range.

Product warranties for the years ended December 31 is as follows:

Advertising

The Company follows the policy of charging the costs of advertising to expenses as incurred. The Company incurred $108,632 and $33,520 in advertising costs during the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively.

Research and Development

The Company accounts for research and development costs in accordance with the ASC 730-10, “Research and Development”. Under ASC 730-10, all research and development costs must be charged to expense as incurred. Accordingly, internal research and development costs are expensed as incurred. Third-party research and development costs are expensed when the contracted work has been performed or as milestone results have been achieved. Company-sponsored research and development costs related to both present and future products are expensed in the period incurred. Total expenditures on research and product development for 2018 and 2017 were $1,879,676 and $1,770,597, respectively.

Stock-Based Compensation

The Company accounts for stock-based awards in accordance with ASC 718-10, “Share-Based Compensation”, which requires a fair value measurement and recognition of compensation expense for all share-based payment awards made to the Company’s employees and directors, including employee stock options and restricted stock awards. The Company estimates the fair value of stock options granted using the Black-Scholes valuation model. This model requires the Company to make estimates and assumptions including, among other things, estimates regarding the length of time an employee will hold vested stock options before exercising them, the estimated volatility of the Company’s common stock price and the number of options that will be forfeited prior to vesting. The fair value is then amortized on a straight-line basis over the requisite service periods of the awards, which is generally the vesting period. Changes in these estimates and assumptions can materially affect the determination of the fair value of stock-based compensation and consequently, the related amount recognized in the Company’s consolidated statements of operations.

The expected term of the options represents the estimated period of time until exercise and is based on historical experience of similar awards, giving consideration to the contractual terms, vesting schedules and expectations of future employee behavior. For 2018 and prior years, expected stock price volatility is based on the historical volatility of the Company’s stock for the related expected term.

Stock-based compensation expense in connection with options granted to employees for the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017 was $6,405 and $322,888, respectively.

Deferred Lease Liability

Rent expense is recorded on a straight-line basis over the term of the lease. Rent escalations and rent abatement periods during the term of the lease create a deferred lease liability which represents the excess of cumulative rent expense recorded to date over the actual rent paid to date.

Reclassification

Certain prior year amounts have been reclassified to conform to the current year presentation in the consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes to the consolidated financial statements.