Business

Telkonet, Inc. (“we,” “us,” “our,” the “Company,” or “Telkonet”), formed in 1999 and incorporated under the laws of the state of Utah, is the creator of the EcoSmart and the Rhapsody Platforms of intelligent automation solutions designed to optimize energy efficiency, comfort and analytics in support of the emerging Internet of Things (“IoT”). The platforms are deployed primarily in the hospitality, educational, governmental and other commercial markets, and is specified by engineers, HVAC professionals, building owners, and building operators. We currently operate in a single reportable business segment.

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. In 2020, the Company launched the Rhapsody Platform, which simplifies the installation and setup of the Company’s newest products and integrations. Both platforms provide 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, educational, governmental and other commercial markets. The platforms are recognized as solutions 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 August 6, 2021, the Company entered into a stock purchase agreement (the “Purchase Agreement”) with VDA Group S.p.A., an Italian joint stock company (“VDA”), pursuant to which VDA would, at the Closing (as defined in the Purchase Agreement), contribute $5 million to Telkonet (the “Financing”) and, in exchange, Telkonet would issue to VDA (The “Issuance”): (i) 162,900,947 shares of Company Common Stock (the “Common Stock”); and (ii) a warrant to purchase 105,380,666 additional shares of Common Stock (the “Warrant”) (the Issuance and the Financing referred to collectively herein as the “VDA Transaction”). The Closing occurred on January 7, 2022.

Following the issuance of 162,900,947 shares of Common Stock to VDA upon the Closing, VDA owns 53% of the issued and outstanding Common Stock on a fully diluted as exercised/converted basis, resulting in a change of control of the Company. VDA could eventually own as much as 65% of the issued and outstanding Common Stock on a fully diluted as exercised/converted basis if it fully exercises the Warrant.

The Company has elected not to apply pushdown accounting adjustments to the Company’s financial statements related to the change in control as allowed by Accounting Standards Update No. 2014-17.

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.

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.

The Company will enter into product only contracts that contain a single performance obligation related to the transfer of 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 post-installation support services to customers. Support services are considered a separate performance obligation.

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 revenue 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.

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”), unless terminated by either party. 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.

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.

Advertising

The Company follows the policy of charging the costs of advertising to expenses as incurred. The Company incurred $1,508 and $1,493 in advertising costs during the three months ended March 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively.

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. 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. 

Guarantees and Product Warranties

The Company records a liability for potential warranty claims. The amount of the liability is based on the trend in the historical ratio of claims to sales. 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. 

Stock Based Compensation

We account for our stock based awards in accordance with ASC 718, which requires a fair value measurement and recognition of compensation expense for all share-based payment awards made to our employees and directors, including employee stock options and restricted stock awards.

We estimate the fair value of stock options granted using the Black-Scholes valuation model. This model requires us to make estimates and assumptions including, among other things, estimates regarding the length of time an employee will retain vested stock options before exercising them and the estimated volatility of our common stock price. 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 our consolidated statements of operations.

Recovery of Long -Lived Assets

We review 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 undiscounted 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 its fair value.

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 quality credit 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.

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:

Level 1: Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets that are accessible at the measurement date for identical, unrestricted assets or liabilities;

Level 2: Quoted prices in markets that are not active, or inputs which are observable, either directly or indirectly, for substantially the full term of the asset or liability; or

Level 3: Prices or valuation techniques that require inputs that are both significant to the fair value measurement and are unobservable.

The Company’s financial instruments include cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable, accounts payable, 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).

Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic

The Company’s operations and financial results have also been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Both the health and economic aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic are highly fluid and the future course of each is uncertain. We cannot predict whether the outbreak of COVID-19 will be effectively contained on a sustained basis. Depending on the length and severity of the COVID-19 pandemic, the demand for our products, our customers’ ability to meet payment obligations to the Company, our supply chain and production capabilities, and our workforces’ ability to deliver our products and services could be impacted. Management is actively monitoring the impact of the global situation on the Company’s financial condition, liquidity, operations, suppliers, industry, and workforce. While we expect this disruption to continue to have a material adverse impact on our results of operations, financial condition, cash flows, and liquidity, the Company is unable to reasonably determine the full extent of the impact at this time.

Due to travel restrictions, social distancing edicts and overall fear, the hospitality industry, our largest market that generally accounts for a majority of our revenue, has suffered as much as any since the onset of the pandemic. While the industry is trending toward recovery, the situation remains fragile. The effects of supply-chain issues, inflation and labor shortages, and subsequent rising wages, all present some level of pandemic uncertainty for the foreseeable future. STR and Tourism Economics expect leisure travel to pace the recovery while commercial demand, the dominant segment, will remain significantly below pre-pandemic levels until there is a significant increase in the quantity of large group events, as well as the return of business travel ^[1] When adjusted for inflation, revenue per available room (RevPAR) will likely remain below 2019 levels until at least 2025^[2].

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^[1] O’Conner, Stefani C. “Industry’s recovery heats up-slowly.” Hotelbusiness.com January 2022:8A

[2] O’Conner, Stefani C. “Industry’s recovery heats up-slowly.” Hotelbusiness.com January 2022:14A