AWARE INC /MA/ - Annual Report: 2021 (Form 10-K)

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021

OR

Securities Exchange Act of 1934

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021

Commission file number 000-21129

AWARE, INC.

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)

40 Middlesex Turnpike, Bedford, Massachusetts  01730

(Address of Principal Executive Offices)

(Zip Code)

(781) 276-4000

(Registrant’s Telephone Number, Including Area Code)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

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 ☐   No ☒

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act. Yes ☐  No ☒

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 ☒     No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files).  Yes ☒ No ☐

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

Large Accelerated Filer___   Accelerated Filer_   Non-Accelerated Filer_X_ Smaller Reporting Company_X_  Emerging Growth Company

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.  [  ]

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐    No ☒

As of June 30, 2021, the aggregate market value of the registrant’s common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant, based on the closing sale price as reported on the Nasdaq Global Market, was approximately $50,128,551.

The number of shares outstanding of the registrant’s common stock as of March 1, 2022 was 21,642,260.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Portions of the registrant’s definitive Proxy Statement to be delivered to shareholders in connection with the registrant’s Annual Meeting of Shareholders to be held on June 15, 2022 are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

AWARE, INC.

FORM 10-K

FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2021

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ITEM 1.   BUSINESS

Company Overview

Aware, Inc. (“Aware”, “we”, “us”, “our”, or the “Company”) is a leading, global authentication company that validates and secures identities using proven and trusted adaptive biometrics. Aware’s software offerings address the growing challenges that government and commercial enterprises face in knowing, authenticating and securing individuals through frictionless and highly secure user experiences. Aware’s algorithms are based on the most diverse data sets in the world and can be tailored to the unique security and requirements of each customer.  Our portfolio enables government agencies and commercial entities to enroll, identify, authenticate and enable using biometrics, which comprise physiological characteristics, such as fingerprints, faces, irises and voices.

We have been engaged in this business since 1993.  Our comprehensive portfolio of biometric solutions is based on innovative, robust products designed explicitly for ease of integration, including customer-managed and integration ready biometric frameworks, platforms, Software Development Kits (“SDKs”) and services. Principal government applications of biometrics systems include border control, visa applicant screening, law enforcement, national defense, intelligence, secure credentialing, access control, and background checks. Principal commercial applications include mobile enrollment, user authentication, identity proofing, and secure transaction enablement.

Our products span multiple biometric modalities, including fingerprint, face, iris and voice, and provide interoperable, standards-compliant, field-proven biometric functionality.  Our products are used to capture, verify, format, compress and decompress biometric images as well as aggregate, analyze, process, match and transport those images and templates within biometric systems. For large deployments, we may provide project management and software engineering services. We sell our biometrics software products and services globally through a multifaceted distribution strategy using systems integrators, Original Equipment Manufacturers (“OEMs”), value added resellers (“VARs”), partners, and directly to end user customers.

Aware was incorporated in Massachusetts in 1986.  We are headquartered at 40 Middlesex Turnpike in Bedford, Massachusetts, and our telephone number at this address is (781) 276-4000.  Our website address is www.aware.com.  The information on our website is not part of this Form 10-K, unless expressly noted.  Our stock is traded on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol AWRE.

Worldwide Coronavirus Pandemic (“COVID-19”)

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the novel strain of coronavirus (“COVID-19”) a global pandemic and recommended containment and mitigation measures worldwide. Governor Charlie Baker of Massachusetts ordered all businesses and organizations that do not provide “COVID-19 Essential Services” to close their physical workplaces and facilities to workers, customers and the public as of noon on March 24, 2020. At that time, we took the necessary steps to enable an all-remote workforce. Many of our clients worldwide were similarly impacted. Over time, the restrictions in the state of Massachusetts were eased, or re-tightened, in line with the trends of the pandemic. As of December 31, 2021, we were in a hybrid model with some employees coming into the office and others continuing to work remotely.

The global outbreak of COVID-19 continues to evolve, and the extent to which COVID-19, particularly with regard the new variants that emerged in 2021 (“Delta” and “Omicron”) may have long-term impact on our business and the markets we serve, will depend on future developments—which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted with confidence, such as the pace of ongoing vaccination efforts in the United States and the rest of the world, the duration of the outbreak, travel restrictions and social distancing measures in the United States and other countries, business closures or business disruptions, and the effectiveness of actions taken in the United States and other countries to contain and treat the disease.

We are continuing to monitor the situation with our primary focus on the health and safety of our employees and clients.

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Principal Products & Services

We sell a broad range of biometrics software products and solutions that perform functions to address our customers’ desired use cases where they are addressing improved security, data protection compliance and improved ROI and efficiencies including:

Our biometrics software solutions are built upon robust componentized products that are customer configurable to give them control so they can uniquely address their specific customers’ expectations. These solutions and services facilitate customers with an opportunity for a faster go-to-market process to help reduce their development times and exposure to software support and maintenance risks. Our solutions and services are described below.

Integrated Framework and Platform Solutions and Services

Knomi® Mobile Framework

The Knomi mobile biometric authentication framework is built on our hardened biometric SDK components, which are optimized to operate on mobile devices, and a server that together enable strong, multi-factor, password-free authentication from a mobile device using biometrics. Knomi offers multiple biometric modality options, including facial recognition, and voice authentication as means to enroll, onboard or authenticate. Knomi software components can be used in different combinations and configurations to enable either a server-centric architecture, a web-based or a device-centric implementation. Knomi has primarily been sold as a perpetual license and is also available as a fixed term license that is priced on a subscription-based model.

AwareABIS™ Platform

AwareABIS is an Automated Biometric Identification System (“ABIS”) used for large-scale biometric identification and deduplication using fingerprint, face, and iris recognition. Leveraging Aware’s Astra™ and BioSP™ products, AwareABIS is a highly scalable platform that performs one-to-many search or one-to-one match against large stores of biometrics and other identity data. Utilizing highly distributed computing, AwareABIS also enables complex filtering, and linking operations critical to data preparation and quality assurance functions, such as identity resolution and data deduplication of massive biometric databases (tens of millions of records).  The platform is built upon several mature, high-performance, field-proven applications and algorithms from Aware. AwareABIS has primarily been sold as perpetual license and is also available as a fixed term license that is priced on a subscription-based model or the size of the biometric system.

AFIX Suite of Products

Aware’s AFIX suite of products is used for small-scale law enforcement focused biometric identification. AFIX Tracker™ supports fingerprint, palmprint and latent print identification, designed to serve between 15,000 and 2 million identities.  AFIX Tracker is ideal for crime scene investigation applications in low to moderate sized community populations. The product provides minutiae-based search capability and can be configured as either a standalone system, or for use with centralized, server-based data stores. AFIX Tracker has primarily been sold as a perpetual license and is also available as a fixed term license that is priced on a subscription-based model or the size of the biometric system.

BioSP™ - Biometric Services Platform

BioSP is a service-oriented platform used to enable a biometric system with advanced biometric data processing and management functionality in a web services architecture. It provides workflow, data management and formatting, and other important utilities for large-scale fingerprint recognition, face recognition, and iris recognition systems. BioSP is well suited for applications that require the collection of biometrics throughout a distributed network, and

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subsequent aggregation, analysis, processing, distribution, matching, and sharing of data with other system components. BioSP is modular, programmable, scalable, and secure, capable of managing all aspects of transaction workflow, including messaging, submissions, responses, and logging. BioSP has primarily been sold as a perpetual license and is also available as a fixed term license that is priced on users, transactions, or enterprise wide.

BioSP™ Biometric Services Platform - WebEnroll

WebEnroll is a browser-based biometric enrollment and data management solution available as an enhanced version of BioSP™ that utilizes BioComponents™ for capture of biographic data, fingerprints and facial images in a browser. Each BioComponent performs advanced biometric image autocapture as well as capture device hardware abstraction.  Once images are captured, they are submitted to BioSP, where configurable workflows and modular software applications are used for processing, routing, and storage of each transaction.  WebEnroll has primarily been sold as a perpetual license and is also available as a fixed term license that is priced on users, transactions, or enterprise wide.

AwareID™

AwareID^™ is our new Software-as-a-Service (“SaaS) offering that is used for Aware’s adaptive authentication platform of cloud-based biometric application programming interfaces (“APIs”) and turnkey services.  AwareID provides biometric face and voice analysis for liveness-verification, and document validation. The platform uses proprietary Adaptive Authentication technology in cloud-based bundles to provide comprehensive authentication functionality with situational awareness for onboarding, access control/management, and authentication of transactions. These services can be used discretely to enhance investments already in place or combined to provide higher functionality. The AwareID platform is built on open architecture and interfaces to maximize interoperability and connection to other biometric and/or digital identity applications and platforms. AwareID is provided as a SaaS offering with usage-based pricing. This wider SaaS offering includes the solution formerly referred to as Indigo^™. 

FortressID™

Aware’s Fortress Identity cloud platform (“FortressID”), acquired in December 2021, is used for user authentication with compound biometrics. The Fortress Identity Biometric Authenticator™ and Onboarding Authentication Platform^™ provide multi-factor authentication through passive and active biometrics for multiple modalities, including voice, fingerprint, face and behavior to enable online onboarding and identity proofing. FortressID also includes a mobile SDK for iOS and Android applications, a Citrix connector to enable full multi-modal, multi-factor biometric user authentication with Citrix, and an Active Directory connector to enable the addition of biometrics to strengthen or replace password access. FortressID is sold as a SaaS offering. Going forward, we plan to transition FortressID into the AwareID offering. 

Software products

We sell a broad range of software components, or “building blocks”, such as SDKs, APIs, and applications that customers use to streamline or develop their systems into more effective solutions.  These building blocks enable important functions including:

BioComponents™ bundles our offerings as applications with a user interface.  We also license our software unbundled as building blocks and have primarily sold these offerings as a perpetual license.

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Historically, we sold our software products under perpetual or fixed-term licenses.  With the introduction of AwareID and FortressID, we have incorporated SaaS offerings into our product line-up.  While we did not recognize revenues from our SaaS offerings during 2021, we expect SaaS to become a significant product offering moving forward.

 Building Blocks: SDKs, APIs, Applications, and Subsystems

Biometric Search & Matching SDKs

Our SDKs consist of: i) multiple software libraries; ii) sample applications that show customers how to use the libraries; and iii) documentation.  Customers use our SDKs to design and develop biometrics applications. Nexa™ is our line of biometric search and match SDKs, including Nexa|Fingerprint™, Nexa|Face™, Nexa|Iris™ and Nexa|Voice™.  These products provide high-performance biometric algorithms for fingerprint, facial, iris and voice identification or authentication. The algorithms in these products convert images into biometric templates, which can then be compared to templates stored in databases to find matches.  

In addition to the Nexa line, we also offer AwareXM™, an interoperable fingerprint matching SDK that provides MINEX-certified, INCITS 378-compliant fingerprint minutiae extraction, template generation, and fingerprint authentication.

Biometric Enrollment SDKs and APIs

Our suite of enrollment SDKs and APIs performs functions that are critical to biometric enrollment, including (i) image capture and hardware abstraction, (ii) image quality assurance, (iii) image compression, (iv) mobile enrollment, matching and liveness verification, and (v) fingerprint card processing.

Imaging products

In addition to our biometrics software products, we also sell products used in applications involving medical and advanced imaging. Our principal imaging product is Aware JPEG 2000, which is based on the JPEG2000 standard. The JPEG2000 standard is an image compression standard and coding system that was created by the Joint Photographic Experts Group committee in 2000. Our JPEG2000 product is used to compress, store, and display images. Those images are typically medical images.

Software maintenance

We also provide and sell software maintenance to many of our customers who purchase our software products and solutions.  Software maintenance has historically been made available by contracts that typically have a one-year term during which customers have the right to receive technical support and software updates for a fixed fee, if and when they become available. Software maintenance is also available as part of a subscription-based solution offering under which customers receive standard software maintenance plus access to upgrades and product enhancements.  

Services

We provide a variety of program management and software engineering services, including: i) project planning and management; ii) system and architecture design; iii) software design, development, customization, configuration, and testing; and iv) software integration and installation.  Services are sold in conjunction with our products and solutions and are provided for a fixed fee.

Service engagement deliverables may include: i) complete customer software solutions; ii) one or more subsystems comprised of software products that are integrated within a larger system; iii) custom-configured versions of existing software products; or iv) custom-designed software products.  In some cases, the software resulting from service engagements may form the basis for new or improved Aware software solutions and/or products.

Our customers for services include: i) government agencies; ii) large multinational systems integrators; iii) smaller systems integrators with a particular market, technology or geographic focus; and iv) commercial partners or providers of products, solutions, and services for themselves or to their end customers.  We provide services directly to end-users or indirectly to end-users through systems integrators or commercial entities or partners.  When we provide services to systems integrators, they are often engaged with the end-user as a prime contractor and are responsible for delivery of a complete solution, in which case we typically serve as a subcontractor assigned a subset of the total scope of work.

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The scope of our services projects varies.  A small project might involve configuration and testing of a single software product, taking a small team one month or less.  A large project might involve delivery of a more complex solution comprised of multiple products and subsystems, requiring a larger team to conduct program and project management, system design, software customization and integration, and taking up to one year or more.  Some projects are followed by subsequent follow-on projects that serve to change or extend the features and functionality of the initial system.  

Distribution Methods

We sell our products, solutions and services through three principal channels of distribution:

Major Customers

All of our revenue in 2021 and 2020 was derived from unaffiliated customers.  No customer represented 10% or more of total revenue in either 2021 or 2020.

Competitive Business Conditions

A significant number of established companies have developed or are developing and marketing software and hardware for biometrics products and applications that currently compete with or will compete directly with our offerings.  We believe that additional competitors will enter the biometrics market and become significant long-term competitors, and that, as a result, competition will increase.  Companies competing with us may introduce solutions that are competitively priced, have increased performance or functionality or incorporate technological advances we have not yet developed or implemented. Our current principal competitors include:

We expect competition to intensify in the near term in the biometrics market. Many current and potential competitors have substantially greater financial, marketing, and research resources than we have.  Moreover, low-cost foreign competitors have demonstrated a willingness to sell their products at significantly reduced prices. To compete effectively in this environment, we must continually develop and market new and enhanced solutions and technologies at competitive prices and must have the resources available to invest in significant research and development activities. Our failure to compete successfully could cause our revenues and market share to decline.

Intellectual Property

We rely on a combination of nondisclosure agreements and other contractual provisions, as well as patent, trademark, trade secret and copyright law to protect our proprietary rights.  We have an active program to protect our proprietary technology through the filing of patents.  As of December 31, 2021, we had approximately 84 U.S. and foreign patents and approximately 15 pending patent applications. Our patents and patent applications pertain primarily to biometrics and imaging compression.

Although we have patented certain aspects of our technology, we rely primarily on trade secrets to protect our intellectual property.  We attempt to protect our trade secrets and other proprietary information through agreements with our customers, suppliers, employees and consultants, and through security measures.  Each of our employees is required to sign a non-disclosure agreement.  Although we intend to protect our rights vigorously, we cannot guarantee that these measures will be successful.  In addition, effective intellectual property protection may be unavailable or limited in certain foreign countries.

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Third parties may assert exclusive patent, copyright and other intellectual property rights to technologies that are important to us.  We may receive claims from third parties suggesting that we may be obligated to license such intellectual property rights.  If we were found to have infringed any third party’s patents, we could be subject to substantial damages or an injunction preventing us from conducting our business.

Employees

As of December 31, 2021, we employed 81 people, all based in the U.S, including 49 in engineering and research, 20 in sales and marketing, and 12 in finance and administration.  Of these employees, 66 were based in Massachusetts and were based outside of Massachusetts.  None of our employees are represented by a labor union.  We consider our employee relations to be good.

We believe that our future success will depend in large part on the service of our technical, sales, marketing and senior management personnel and upon our ability to retain highly qualified technical, sales and marketing and managerial personnel.  We cannot guarantee that we will be able to retain our key managers and employees or that we will be able to attract and retain additional highly qualified personnel in the future.

Available Information

Our Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, proxy statements, and amendments to reports filed pursuant to Sections 13(a) and 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, are made available free of charge on or through our website at www.aware.com as soon as reasonably practicable after such reports are filed with, or furnished to, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“the SEC”). The SEC also maintains a website, www.sec.gov, that contains reports and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC.

Copies of our (i) Corporate Governance Principles, (ii) charters for the Audit Committee, Compensation Committee, and Nominating Committee, and (iii) Code of Ethics are available in the Investor Relations section of our website at www.aware.com.

ITEM 1A.  Risk Factors

While we expect the impacts of COVID-19 to have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations, we are unable to predict the extent or nature of these impacts at this time.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic we have been limited in our ability to: (i) conduct face-to-face meetings with customers and prospective customers, (ii) present in-person demonstrations of our software solutions, (iii) attend trade shows and conferences which typically generate future sales opportunities or (iv) meet with prospective strategic partners.   These effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic adversely impacted our operating and financial results in 2021 and 2020 and will likely have an adverse impact on our operating and financial results over at least the next several quarters.

The extent to which our operating and financial results will continue to be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic will depend on various factors and consequences beyond our control, such as the duration and scope of the pandemic; the impact of the emergence of new variants of the virus that causes COVID-19; additional actions by businesses and governments in response to the pandemic; and the speed and effectiveness of responses to combat the virus, including vaccine development and distribution. COVID-19, and the volatile regional and global economic conditions stemming from the pandemic, could also aggravate our other risk factors described in this Form 10-K.

Our operating results may fluctuate significantly from period-to-period and are difficult to predict.

Individual orders can represent a meaningful percentage of our revenues and operating results in any single quarter and the timing of the receipt of those orders is difficult to predict. The failure to close an order or the deferral or cancellation of an order can result in revenue and net income shortfalls for that quarter. We base our current and future expense levels on our internal operating plans and sales forecasts, and our operating costs are to a large extent fixed. As a result, we may not be able to sufficiently reduce our costs in any quarter to adequately compensate for an unexpected near-term shortfall in revenues, and even a small shortfall could disproportionately and adversely affect our financial results for that quarter.

Our financial results may be negatively affected by a number of factors, including the following:

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As a result of these factors, we believe that period-to-period comparisons of our revenue levels and operating results are not necessarily meaningful.  You should not rely on our quarterly revenue and operating results to predict our future performance.

We derive a significant portion of our revenue directly or indirectly from government customers, and our business may be adversely affected by changes in the contracting or fiscal policies of those governmental entities.

We derive a significant portion of our revenue directly or indirectly from federal, international, state and local governments. We believe that the success and growth of our business will continue to depend on government customers purchasing our products and services either directly from us or indirectly through our channel partners. Changes in government contracting policies or government budgetary constraints may adversely affect our financial performance. Among the factors that could adversely affect our business are:

These and other factors could cause government customers or our channel partners to reduce purchases of products and services from us which would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results.

A significant commercial market for biometrics technology may not develop, and, even if it does, there can be no assurance our biometrics technology will be successful.

A component of our strategy to grow our revenue includes expansion into commercial markets. To date, biometrics technology has received only limited acceptance and slow adoption in these markets.   Although the recent appearance

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of biometric readers on popular consumer products, such as smartphones, has increased interest in biometrics as a means of authenticating and/or identifying individuals, commercial markets for biometrics technology are still in the process of developing and evolving.   Biometrics-based solutions compete with more traditional security methods including keys, cards, personal identification numbers, passwords and security personnel. Acceptance of biometrics as an alternative to such traditional methods depends upon a number of factors including: i) the performance and reliability of biometric solutions; ii) costs involved in adopting and integrating biometric solutions; iii) public concerns regarding privacy; and iv) potential privacy legislation.

For these reasons, we are uncertain whether there will be significant demand for biometrics technology from commercial markets. Moreover, even if there is significant demand, there can be no assurance that our biometrics products will achieve market acceptance.

We derive a significant portion of our revenue from third party channel partners.

Our future results depend upon the continued successful distribution of our products through a channel of systems integrators and OEM partners. Systems integrators, including VARs, use our software products as a component of the biometrics systems they deliver to their customers. OEMs embed our software products in their technology devices or software products. These channel partners typically sell their products and services to government customers.

Our failure to effectively manage our relationships with these third parties could impair the success of our sales, marketing and support activities. Moreover, the activities of these third parties are not within our direct control. The occurrence of any of the following events could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results:

If the biometrics market does not experience significant growth or if our products do not achieve broad acceptance both domestically and internationally, we may not be able to grow our business.

Our revenues are derived primarily from sales of biometrics products and services. We cannot accurately predict the future growth rate or the size of the biometrics market. The expansion of the biometrics market and the market for our biometrics products and services depends on a number of factors, such as:

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Even if biometrics solutions gain wide market acceptance, our solutions may not adequately address market requirements and may not continue to gain market acceptance. If biometrics solutions generally or our solutions specifically do not gain wide market acceptance, we may not be able to achieve our anticipated level of growth and our revenues, and our results of operations would be adversely affected.

We face intense competition from other biometrics solutions providers.

A significant number of established companies have developed or are developing and marketing software and hardware for biometrics products and applications that currently compete with or will compete directly with our offerings.  We believe that additional competitors will enter the biometrics market and become significant long-term competitors, and that, as a result, competition will increase.  Companies competing with us may introduce solutions that are competitively priced, have increased performance or functionality or incorporate technological advances we have not yet developed or implemented. Our current principal competitors include:

We expect competition to intensify in the near term in the biometrics market. Many current and potential competitors have substantially greater financial, marketing, and research resources than we have.  Moreover, low-cost foreign competitors from third world and other countries have demonstrated a willingness to sell their products at significantly reduced prices. To compete effectively in this environment, we must continually develop and market new and enhanced solutions and technologies at competitive prices and must have the resources available to invest in significant research and development activities. Our failure to compete successfully could cause our revenues and market share to decline.

The biometrics industry is characterized by rapid technological change and evolving industry standards, which could render our existing products obsolete.

Our future success will depend upon our ability to develop and introduce a variety of new capabilities and enhancements to our existing products in order to address the changing and sophisticated needs of the marketplace. Frequently, technical development programs in the biometrics industry require assessments to be made of the future direction of technology, which is inherently difficult to predict. Delays in introducing new products and enhancements, the failure to choose correctly among technical alternatives or the failure to offer innovative products or enhancements at competitive prices may cause customers to forego purchases of our products and purchase our competitors’ products. We may not have adequate resources available to us or may not adequately keep pace with appropriate requirements in order to effectively compete in the marketplace.

Our software products may have errors, defects or bugs, which could result in delayed or lost revenue, expensive correction, liability to our customers, and claims against us.

Despite testing, complex software products such as ours may contain errors, defects, or bugs, which may only be discovered after they have been installed and used by our customers. Defects in the products that we develop and sell to our customers could require expensive corrections and result in delayed or lost revenue, adverse customer reaction and negative publicity about us or our products and services. Customers who are not satisfied with any of our products may also bring claims against us for damages, which, even if unsuccessful, would likely be time-consuming to defend, and could result in costly litigation and payment of damages. Such claims could harm our reputation, financial results and competitive position.

Our business may be adversely affected by our use of open source software.

The software industry is making increasing use of open source software in the development of products. We also license and integrate certain open source software components from third parties into our software. Open source software license agreements may require that the software code in these components or the software into which they are integrated be freely accessible under open source terms. Many features we may wish to add to our products in the future may be available as open source software and our development team may wish to make use of this software to reduce development costs and speed up the development process. While we carefully monitor the use of all open

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source software and try to ensure that no open source software is used in such a way as to require us to disclose the source code to the related product, such use could inadvertently occur. If we were required to make our software freely available, our business could be seriously harmed.

We rely on third-party software to develop and provide our solutions and significant defects in third-party software could harm our business.

We rely on software licensed from third parties to develop and offer some of our solutions. In addition, we may need to obtain future licenses from third parties to use software or other intellectual property associated with our solutions. We cannot assure you that these licenses will be available to us on acceptable terms, without significant price increases or at all. Any loss of the right to use any such software or other intellectual property required for the development and maintenance of our solutions could result in delays in the provision of our solutions until equivalent technology is either developed by us or, if available from others, is identified, obtained, and integrated, which could harm our business. Any errors or defects in third-party software could result in errors or a failure of our solutions, which could harm our business.

Part of our future business is dependent on market demand for, and acceptance of, the cloud-based model for the use of software.

We expect to derive a growing percentage of our revenue from the sale of cloud-based services. As a result, widespread acceptance and use of the cloud-based business model is critical to our future growth and success. Under the perpetual or fixed term license model for software procurement, users of the software typically run applications on their hardware.  Because companies are generally predisposed to maintaining control of their IT systems and infrastructure, there may be resistance to the concept of accessing the functionality that software provides as a service through a third party. If the market for cloud-based, software solutions ceases to grow or grows slower than we currently anticipate, demand for our services could be negatively affected.

Our operational systems and networks and products may be subject to an increasing risk of continually evolving cybersecurity or other technological risks, which could result in the disclosure of company or customer confidential information, damage to Aware’s reputation, additional costs to Aware, regulatory penalties and financial losses.

Our products, services and systems may be used in critical company, customer or third-party operations, or involve the storage, processing and transmission of sensitive data, including valuable intellectual property, other proprietary or confidential data, regulated data, and personal information of employees, customers and others. Successful breaches, employee malfeasance, or human or technological error could result in, for example, unauthorized access to, disclosure, modification, misuse, loss, or destruction of company, customer, or other third party data or systems; theft of sensitive, regulated, or confidential data including personal information and intellectual property; the loss of access to critical data or systems through ransomware, destructive attacks or other means; and business delays, service or system disruptions or denials of service.

If we or third parties with which we do business were to fall victim to successful cyber-attacks or experience other cybersecurity incidents, including the loss of individually identifiable customer or other sensitive data, we may incur substantial costs and suffer other negative consequences, which may include remediation costs, such as liability for stolen assets or information, repairs of system damage, and incentives to customers or business partners in an effort to maintain relationships after an attack as well as litigation and legal risks, including regulatory actions by state and federal regulators.

Our intellectual property is subject to limited protection.

Because we are a technology provider, our ability to protect our intellectual property and to operate without infringing the intellectual property rights of others is critical to our success.  We regard our technology as proprietary. We rely on a combination of U.S. and worldwide patent, trade secret, copyright, and trademark law as well as confidentiality agreements to protect our proprietary technology.  We cannot assure you that we will be able to enforce the patents we own against third parties. Some foreign countries do not currently provide effective legal protection for intellectual property and our ability to prevent the unauthorized use of our products in those countries is therefore limited. Despite our efforts, these measures can only provide limited protection. Unauthorized third parties may try to copy or reverse engineer portions of our products or otherwise obtain and use our intellectual property. If we fail to protect our intellectual property rights adequately, our competitors may gain access to our technology, and our business would thus be harmed.

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In the future, we may be involved in legal action to enforce our intellectual property rights relating to our patents, copyrights or trade secrets.  Any such litigation could be costly and time-consuming for us, even if we were to prevail.  Moreover, even if we are successful in protecting our proprietary information, our competitors may independently develop technologies substantially equivalent or superior to our technology.  Accordingly, despite our efforts, we may be unable to prevent third parties from infringing upon or misappropriating our intellectual property or otherwise gaining access to our technology. The misappropriation of our technology or the development of competitive technology could seriously harm our business.

We may be sued by third parties for alleged infringement of their proprietary rights.

We may be subject to claims that our technology and products infringe the intellectual property rights of others.  A large and increasing number of participants in the technology industry, including companies known as non-practicing entities, have applied for or obtained patents. Some of these patent holders have demonstrated a readiness to commence litigation based on allegations of patent infringement.  Third parties have asserted against us in the past and may assert against us in the future patent, copyright and other intellectual property rights to technologies that are important to our business.  

Intellectual property rights can be uncertain and involve complex legal and factual questions.  Moreover, intellectual property claims, with or without merit, can be time-consuming and expensive to litigate or settle, and could divert management attention away from the execution of our business plan.  If we were found to have infringed the proprietary rights of others, we could be subject to substantial damages or an injunction preventing us from conducting our business.

If we are unable to attract and retain key personnel, our business could be harmed.

If any of our key employees were to leave, we could face substantial difficulty in hiring qualified successors and could experience a loss in productivity while any successor obtains the necessary training and experience. Our employment relationships are at-will and we have had key employees leave in the past. We cannot assure you that one or more key employees will not leave in the future. We intend to continue to hire additional highly qualified personnel, including software engineers and sales personnel, but may not be able to attract, assimilate or retain qualified personnel in the future. Any failure to attract, integrate, motivate and retain these employees could harm our business.

Our business may be affected by government laws and regulations.

Extensive regulation under federal, state, and foreign law has adversely affected us and could further adversely affect us in ways that are difficult for us to predict. More specifically, we are subject to regulatory environment changes regarding privacy and data protection that could have a material impact on our results of operations. These regulatory changes may potentially involve new regulatory issues/requirements such as the EU General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”), the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”), the Illinois Biometric Privacy Act, Texas Statute on the Capture or Use of Biometric Identifier, State of Washington H.B. 1493, Brazil’s General Data Protection Law (“LGPD”) and any other state, federal or foreign regulations governing the collection, use and storage of biometric data. The potential costs of compliance with or imposed by new/existing regulations and policies that are applicable to us, or fines and penalties to which we may become subject if we fail to comply with those regulations and polices, may affect the use of our products and services and could have a material adverse impact on our results of operations.

In addition, our business may also be adversely affected by: i) the imposition of tariffs, duties and other import restrictions on goods and services we purchase from non-domestic suppliers; or ii) the imposition of economic sanctions on existing or potential customers or suppliers, or iii) by the imposition of export restrictions on products we sell internationally. Changes in current or future laws or regulations, in the United States or elsewhere, could seriously harm our business.

Adverse economic conditions could harm our business.

Unfavorable changes in economic conditions, including recessions, inflation, turmoil in financial markets, changes caused by global crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine and resulting economic sanctions, the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, or other changes in economic conditions, could harm our business, results of operations, and financial conditions as a result of:

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We are unable to predict whether or when any such adverse economic conditions could occur in the U.S. or other countries; and if they do occur, nor can we predict their timing, duration, or severity.  The longer the duration, the greater the risks we face in operating our business.

We may not realize the anticipated benefits of our acquisitions.

We may make acquisitions of companies that offer complementary products, services, and technologies such as our acquisitions of FortressID in December of 2021 and AFIX in November of 2020. The ultimate success of our acquisitions depends, in part, on our ability to realize the anticipated synergies, cost savings and growth opportunities from integrating acquired businesses or assets into our existing businesses. However, the acquisition and successful integration of independent businesses or assets is a complex, costly and time-consuming process, and the benefits we realize may not exceed the costs of the acquisition.  The risk and difficulties associated with acquiring and integrating companies and other assets include, among others, difficulties assimilating the operations and personnel of acquired companies, challenges in realizing the value of the acquired assets relative to the price paid, distraction of management from our ongoing businesses and potential product disruptions associated with the sale of the acquired company’s products. These factors could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, operating results and cash flows.  Additionally, the consideration we pay for any future acquisitions could include shares of our stock, which could cause dilution to existing shareholders and to earnings per share.

We may have additional tax liabilities. 

We are subject to income taxes in the United States. Significant judgments are required in determining our provisions for income taxes. In the course of preparing our tax provisions and returns, we must make calculations where the ultimate tax determination may be uncertain. Our tax returns are subject to examination by the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) and state tax authorities. There can be no assurance as to the outcome of these examinations. If the ultimate determination of taxes owed is for an amount in excess of amounts previously accrued, our operating results, cash flows, and financial condition could be adversely affected.

The market price of our common stock has been and may continue to be subject to wide fluctuations, and this may make it difficult for shareholders to resell the common stock when they want or at prices they find attractive.

The market price of our common stock, like that of other technology companies, is volatile and is subject to wide fluctuations in response to a variety of factors, including:

Our stock price may also be affected by broader market trends unrelated to our performance. As a result, purchasers of our common stock may be unable at any given time to sell their shares at or above the price they paid for them. Moreover, companies that have experienced volatility in the market price of their stock often are subject to securities class action litigation. If we were the subject of such litigation, it could result in substantial costs and divert management's attention and resources.

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If we are unable to maintain effective internal controls over financial reporting, investors could lose confidence in the reliability of our financial statements, which could result in a decline in the price of our common stock.

As a public company, we are required to enhance and test our financial, internal and management control systems to meet obligations imposed by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Consistent with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the rules and regulations of the SEC, management's assessment of our internal controls over financial reporting is required in connection with our filing of our Annual Report on Form 10-K. If we are unable to identify, implement and conclude that we have effective internal controls over financial reporting, investors could lose confidence in the reliability of our financial statements, which could result in a decrease in the value of our common stock. Our assessment of our internal controls over financial reporting may also uncover weaknesses or other issues with these controls that could also result in adverse investor reaction.

We must make judgments in the process of preparing our financial statements.

We prepare our financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and certain critical accounting policies that are relevant to our business.  The application of these principles and policies requires us to make significant judgments and estimates.  The most significant estimates included in the financial statements pertain to revenue recognition, reserves for doubtful accounts, valuation of acquired assets and assumed liabilities in business combination and valuation allowance for deferred income tax assets.  In the event that our judgments and estimates differ from actual results, we may have to change them, which could materially affect our financial position and results of operations.

Moreover, accounting standards have been subject to rapid change and evolving interpretations by accounting standards setting organizations over the past few years.  The implementation of new accounting standards requires us to interpret and apply them appropriately.  If our current interpretations or applications are later found to be incorrect, we may have to restate our financial statements and the price of our stock could decline.

ITEM 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments

Not applicable.

ITEM 2.   PROPERTIES

We currently occupy approximately 72,000 square feet of office space in Bedford, Massachusetts, which serves as our headquarters.  This site is used for our research and development, sales and marketing, and administrative activities.  While we currently own this facility, in April 2021 we entered into a Purchase and Sale Agreement with FDS Bedford, LLC, pursuant to which it may elect to purchase the property.  See Note 10 to our audited financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for more information on this agreement.

In March 2022, we entered into a lease with respect to approximately 20,730 rentable square feet in Burlington, Massachusetts.  We expect to take possession of this property in July 2022 and intend to use this property as our headquarters.  We believe that this facility will be adequate for our current needs and that additional space sufficient to meet our needs for the foreseeable future will be available on reasonable terms.  See Note 11 to our audited financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for more information on this agreement.

ITEM 3.   LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

From time to time, we are involved in litigation incidental to the conduct of our business.  We are not party to any lawsuit or proceeding that, in our opinion, is likely to materially impact us or our business.

ITEM 4.   MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES

Not applicable.

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PART II

ITEM 5.  MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

Our common stock is the only class of stock we have outstanding, and it trades on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol AWRE.  

As of March 1, 2022, we had approximately 74 shareholders of record.  This number does not include shareholders who hold our shares in a “nominee” or “street” name. We paid no dividends in 2021 or 2020. We anticipate that we will continue to reinvest any earnings to finance future operations although we may also pay special cash dividends if our board of directors deems it appropriate.

Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

On May 4, 2020, the Company announced that the board of directors had approved the repurchase of up to $10,000,000 of our common stock from time to time through December 31, 2021. We did not repurchase any shares under this plan in 2021.

ITEM 6.  [RESERVED]

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ITEM 7.  MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

The following table sets forth, for the years indicated, certain line items from our consolidated statements of operations stated as a percentage of total revenue:

Summary of Operations

We are primarily engaged in the development and sale of biometrics products, solutions and services. Our software products are used in government and commercial systems and applications and fulfill a broad range of functions critical to secure biometric enrollment, authentication, identification and transactions. Principal government applications of biometrics systems include border control, visa applicant screening, law enforcement, national defense, intelligence, secure credentialing, access control, and background checks. Principal commercial applications include: i) user enrollment and authentication used for login to mobile devices, computers, networks, and software programs; ii) user authentication for financial transactions and purchases (online and in-person); iii) physical access control to buildings; and iv) identity proofing of prospective employees and customers. We sell our biometrics software products and services globally through a multifaceted distribution strategy using systems integrators, OEMs, VARs, partners, and directly to end user customers. We also derive a portion of our revenue from the sale of imaging software licenses to OEMs and systems integrators that incorporate our software into medical imaging products and medical systems.

In November 2020, we acquired certain assets and assumed certain liabilities of Radiant’s AFIX product line for cash consideration of approximately $2.4 million.  The acquisition of AFIX provides turnkey face and fingerprint biometric and forensic analysis software for small and medium-sized law enforcement and government agencies and extends our ABIS product family.

In December 2021, we acquired 100% of the outstanding shares of FortressID in exchange for $2.5 million in cash.  Additionally, the purchase consideration includes a contingent consideration arrangement wherein the seller is entitled to cash payments of up to $4.0M based on revenue targets in 2022 and 2023. The fair value of the contingent consideration was determined to be $0.9M at December 31, 2021 and is included in the purchase price consideration.  The acquisition of FortressID, expands the Company’s offerings around identity proofing, enhancing its onboarding, verification and authentication offerings to directly address financial compliance requirements and enable organizations to mitigate risk and curtail increasing fraud.

Summary of Financial Results

We used revenue and operating loss to summarize financial results over the past two years as we believe these measurements are the most meaningful way to understand our operating performance.

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2021 compared to 2020

Revenue and operating loss in 2021 were $16.9 million and $6.1 million, respectively, which compared to revenue and operating loss in 2020 of $11.3 million and $9.4 million, respectively.

Higher revenue in 2021 as compared to 2020 was primarily due to an increase in software license revenue from subscription-based contracts and fixed fee license contracts, as well as maintenance revenue related to our acquisition of AFIX in the fourth quarter of 2020 and services revenue related to additional service projects.  Lower operating loss in 2021 as compared 2020 was primarily due to the increase in revenue, which was partially offset by increased operating expenses.

Software License Revenue

Software license revenue consists of revenue from the sale of biometrics and imaging software products. Sales of software products depend on our ability to win proposals to supply software for biometrics systems projects either directly to end user customers or indirectly through channel partners.

Software license revenue increased 58% from $5.0 million in 2020 to $8.0 million in 2021.  As a percentage of total revenue, software license revenue increased from 45% in 2020 to 47% in 2021.  The $3.0 million increase in software license revenue was attributable to a $1.6 million increase in subscription-based contracts and $1.4 million increase in fixed fee license contracts.

Software Maintenance Revenue

Software maintenance revenue consists of revenue from the sale of software maintenance contracts. Software maintenance contracts entitle customers to receive software support and software updates, if and when they become available, during the term of the contract.

Software maintenance revenue increased 23% from $5.4 million in 2020 to $6.7 million in 2021.  As a percentage of total revenue, software maintenance revenue decreased from 48% in 2020 to 40% in 2021.  The dollar increase in software maintenance revenue was primarily due to software maintenance revenue related to our acquisition of AFIX in the fourth quarter of 2020.  

A majority of our customers purchase software maintenance contracts when they initially purchase software licenses. Since our software is used in active biometrics systems, many of our customers continue to renew their maintenance contracts in subsequent years while systems remain operational.

Services and Other Revenue

Services revenue consists of fees we charge to perform software development, integration, installation, and customization services. Similar to software license revenue, services revenue depends on our ability to win biometrics systems projects either directly with end user customers or in conjunction with channel partners.  Other revenue consists of hardware fees that are included with some of our software license.  Services and other revenue fluctuate when we commence new projects and/or when we complete projects that were started in previous periods.

Services and other revenue increased 162% from $0.8 million in 2020 to $2.2 million in 2021.  As a percentage of total revenue, services and other revenue increased from 7% in 2020 to 13% in 2021.  The dollar increase in services and other revenue was primarily due to additional services performed by us with system integrators.

Cost of Services and Other Revenue

Cost of services and other revenue consists primarily of engineering costs to perform customer services projects. Such costs primarily include: i) engineering salaries, stock-based compensation, fringe benefits, and facilities; ii) engineering consultants and contractors; iii) software license fees; and iv) hardware costs.

Cost of services and other revenue increased 49% from $0.8 million in 2020 to $1.2 million in 2021. When compared to services and other revenue, cost of services and other revenue as a percentage decreased from 96% in 2020 to 55% in 2021, which resulted in gross margins increasing from 4% in 2020 to 45% in 2021. The dollar increase in cost of services and other revenue was primarily due to third-party software and hardware costs related to a project from our AFIX product line as well as higher allocation of engineering costs to service and other revenue resulting from higher active contracts with services.

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Gross margins on services and other revenue are a function of: i) the nature of the projects; ii) the level of engineering difficulty and labor hours required to complete project tasks; and iii) how much we were able to charge.  Gross margins in these years reflect the profitability mix of customer projects. We expect that gross margins on services and other revenue will continue to fluctuate in future periods based on the nature, complexity, and pricing of future projects.

Research and Development Expense

Research and development expense consists of costs for: i) engineering personnel, including salaries, stock-based compensation, fringe benefits, and facilities; ii) engineering consultants and contractors, and iii) other engineering expenses such as supplies, equipment depreciation, dues and memberships and travel.  Engineering costs incurred to develop our technology and products are classified as research and development expense. As described in the cost of services section, engineering costs incurred to provide engineering services for customer projects are classified as cost of services and are not included in research and development expense.

The classification of total engineering costs to research and development expense and cost of services was (in thousands):

Total engineering costs increased 6% from 2020 to 2021.  As a percentage of total revenue, total engineering costs decreased from 87% in 2020 to 62% in 2021.

Total engineering costs increased by $0.6 million in 2021 as compared to 2020. The spending increase was primarily due to higher employee costs.  Our engineering headcount of 49 in 2021 remained consistent compared to 2020. We believe our engineering organization was adequately staffed as of December 31, 2021.

As we described in the Part I—Business of this Form 10-K, we intend to introduce new products that will allow us to offer more complete biometrics solutions. We believe this strategy will allow us to sell more software into biometrics systems projects in order to grow our revenue.  Our preference is to develop such products internally, however to the extent we are unable to do that, we may purchase or license technologies from third parties.  We anticipate that we will continue to focus our future research and development activities on enhancing existing products and developing new products.  We expect research and development expenses to increase in absolute dollars, but to decrease as a percentage of net revenues.

Selling and Marketing Expense

Selling and marketing expense primarily consists of costs for: i) sales and marketing personnel, including salaries, sales commissions, stock-based compensation, fringe benefits, travel, and facilities; and ii) advertising and promotion expenses.

Sales and marketing expense increased by 18% from $5.4 million in 2020 to $6.3 million in 2021.   As a percentage of total revenue, sales and marketing expense decreased from 48% in 2020 to 38% in 2021.  The dollar increase in selling and marketing expense was primarily due to increased headcount and contracted sales agents.  We expect to expand our sales and marketing force to address additional opportunities.    

General and Administrative Expense

General and administrative expense consists primarily of costs for: i) officers, directors and administrative personnel, including salaries, bonuses, director compensation, stock-based compensation, fringe benefits, and facilities; ii) professional fees, including legal and audit fees; iii) public company expenses; and iv) other administrative expenses, such as insurance costs and bad debt provisions.

General and administrative expense increased by 14% from $5.4 million in 2020 to $6.2 million in 2021.  As a percentage of total revenue, general and administrative expense decreased from 48% in 2020 to 37% in 2021.  The increase in general and administrative expense in 2021 was primarily due to higher employee related costs of our

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administrative personnel and professional services in 2021.  We expect general and administrative expenses to increase in absolute dollars, but to decrease as a percentage of net revenues and may fluctuate depending on specific activities in a period.

Interest Income

Interest income decreased by 98% from $0.2 million in 2020 to $4,000 in 2021.  The dollar decrease was primarily due to lower interest rates within our money market accounts.

Income Taxes

We are subject to income taxes in the United States and we use estimates in determining our provisions for income taxes. We account for income taxes using the asset and liability method for accounting and reporting income taxes. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized based on temporary differences between the financial reporting and income tax bases of assets and liabilities using statutory rates.

A discussion of income taxes for the years ended December 31, 2021, and 2020 follows:

Year ended December 31, 2021.  Total income tax benefit for the year ended December 31, 2021 was $0.3 million.  The income tax benefit for 2021 relates to a release of our valuation allowance as a result of deferred taxes recorded as part of the FortressID acquisition.

Year ended December 31, 2020.  Total income tax benefit for the year ended December 31, 2020 was $1.6 million.  The income tax benefit for 2020 was primarily due to the tax benefit of the current year tax loss which can be carried back due to changes made by the CARES Act.

LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES

In recent years, we have financed the company with our cash balances, cash generated from operations, and cash received from the sale of patent assets. Equity financing has not been a meaningful source of financing for us in recent years. Cash flows from operating, investing and financing activities are described below.

Cash flows from operating activities

A discussion of cash flow from operating activities for each of the last two years is as follows:

Year ended December 31, 2021. Cash used in operating activities was $6.2 million in 2021. Cash used by operations was primarily the result of $5.8 million of net loss and $2.3 million of changes in assets and liabilities, partially offset by the add back of $1.9 million of non-cash items for depreciation, amortization and stock-based compensation.

Year ended December 31, 2020. Cash used in operating activities was $5.3 million in 2020. Cash used by operations was primarily the result of $7.6 million of net loss, partially offset by $0.8 million of changes in assets and liabilities and by the add back of $1.5 million of non-cash items for depreciation, amortization and stock-based compensation.

Cash flows from investing activities

A discussion of cash flow from investing activities for each of the last two years is as follows:

Year ended December 31, 2021. Investing activity cash usage of $2.5 million was primarily the result of $2.5 million used in connection with our acquisition of FortressID.

Year ended December 31, 2020. Investing activity cash usage of $2.9 million was primarily the result of $2.4 million used in connection with our acquisition of the AFIX product suite and $0.5 million of purchases of property and equipment.

Cash flows from financing activities

A discussion of cash flow from financing activities for each of the last two years is as follows:

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Year ended December 31, 2021. Financing activity cash provided of $0.1 million was primarily the result of the issuance of common stock from stock grants which was partially offset by cash used to pay income taxes for employees who surrendered shares in connection with stock grants.

Year ended December 31, 2020. Financing activity cash usage of $1.0 million was primarily the result of $0.9 million used to buy back stock under our stock repurchase program and $0.1 million used to pay income taxes for employees who surrendered shares in connection with stock grants.

At December 31, 2021, we had cash and cash equivalents of $30.0 million.  While we cannot assure you that we will not require additional financing, or that if needed such financing will be available to us, we believe that our cash and cash equivalents will be sufficient to fund our operations for at least the next twelve months from the filing date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K and to meet our known long-term cash requirements.  Whether these resources are adequate to meet our liquidity needs beyond that period will depend on our future growth, operating results, and the investments needed to support our operations.  If we required additional capital resources, we may utilize available funds or additional external financing.

To date, inflation has not had a material impact on our financial results.  There can be no assurance, however, that inflation will not adversely affect our financial results in the future.

OFF-BALANCE SHEET ARRANGEMENTS

We do not currently have any arrangements with unconsolidated entities, such as entities often referred to as structured finance, special purpose entities, or variable interest entities which are often established for the purpose of facilitating off-balance sheet arrangements or other contractually narrow or limited purposes.  Accordingly, we are not exposed to any financing, liquidity, market or credit risk if we had such relationships.

CRITICAL ACCOUNTING POLICIES

The Company’s significant accounting policies are discussed in Note 2, Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, to our financial statements, included elsewhere in this Annual Report. We have identified the following as our significant accounting policies and estimates, which are defined as those that are reflective of significant judgments and uncertainties, are the most pervasive and important to the presentation of our financial condition and results of operations and could potentially result in materially different results under different assumptions, judgments or conditions.

Revenue recognition.  In accordance with Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”), Topic 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (“ASC 606”), revenue is recognized when a customer obtains control of promised goods and services. The amount of revenue recognized reflects the consideration to which we expect to be entitled to receive in exchange for these goods and services. In addition, ASC 606 requires disclosures of the nature, amount, timing, and uncertainty of revenue and cash flows arising from contracts with customers.

The core principle of the standard is that we should recognize revenue to depict the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which we expect to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. To achieve that core principle, we apply the following five step model:

We categorize revenue as software licenses, software maintenance, or services and other revenue. Revenue from software licenses is recognized at a point in time upon delivery, provided all other revenue recognition criteria are met. We recognize software maintenance revenue over time on a straight-line basis over the contract period. Services revenue is recognized over time as the services are delivered using an input method (i.e., labor hours incurred as a percentage of total labor hours budgeted), provided all other revenue recognition criteria are met.

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In addition to selling software licenses, software maintenance and software services on a standalone basis, a significant portion of our contracts include multiple performance obligations, which require an allocation of the transaction price to each distinct performance obligation based on a relative standalone selling price (“SSP”) basis.  The SSP is the price at which we would sell a promised good or service separately to a customer. The best estimate of SSP is the observable price of a good or service when we sell that good or service separately. A contractually stated price or a list price for a good or service may be the SSP of that good or service. We use a range of amounts to estimate SSP when we sell each of the goods and services separately and need to determine whether there is a discount that needs to be allocated based on the relative SSP of the various goods and services. In instances where SSP is not directly observable, such as when we do not sell the product or service separately, we typically determine the SSP using an adjusted market assessment approach using information that may include market conditions and other observable inputs. We typically have more than one SSP for individual goods and services due to the stratification of those goods and services by customers and circumstances. In these instances, we may use information such as the nature of the customer and distribution channel in determining the SSP.  

When software licenses and significant customization engineering services are sold together, they are accounted for as a combined performance obligation, as the software licenses are generally highly dependent on, and interrelated with, the associated customization services and therefore are not distinct performance obligations. Revenue for the combined performance obligation is recognized over time as the services are delivered using an input method (i.e., labor hours incurred as a percentage of total labor hours budgeted).

When subscription-based software is sold, the software license and software maintenance are generally considered distinct performance obligations. The transaction price is allocated to the software license and the software maintenance based on relative SSP.  We sell our software subscription license for a fixed fee or a subscription-based royalty fee, sometimes subject to a minimum guarantee.  When the amount is in the form of a fixed fee, including the guaranteed minimum usage-based royalty, revenue allocated to the software license is recognized at a point in time upon delivery, provided all other revenue recognition criteria are met.  Any royalties not subject to the guaranteed minimum or earned in excess of the minimum amount are recognized as revenue when the subsequent usage occurs. Revenue allocated to the software maintenance is recognized over the contract term.

Our arrangements can include variable fees, such as the option to purchase additional usage of a previously delivered software license. The Company may also provide pricing concessions to clients, a business practice that also gives rise to variable fees in contracts. For variable fees arising from the client’s purchase of additional usage of a previously delivered software license, we apply the sales and usage-based royalties guidance related to a license of intellectual property and recognizes the revenue in the period the underlying sale or usage occurs. We include variable fees in the determination of total transaction price if it is not probable that a future significant reversal of revenue will occur. We use the expected value or most likely value amount, whichever is more appropriate for specific circumstances, to estimate variable consideration, and the estimates are based on the level of historical price concessions offered to clients.  

The amount of consideration is not adjusted for a significant financing component if the time between payment and the transfer of the related good or service is expected to be one year or less under the practical expedient in ASC 606-10-32-18. Our revenue arrangements are typically accounted for under such expedient, as payment is typically due within 30 to 60 days. As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, none of our contracts contained a significant financing component.

Goodwill and intangible assets impairment.  Our goodwill and intangible assets result from our previous business acquisitions. Goodwill and intangible assets with indefinite useful lives are not amortized but are tested for impairment at least annually or as circumstances indicate their value may no longer be recoverable. We do not carry any intangible assets with indefinite useful lives other than goodwill. We perform our annual goodwill impairment test in the fourth quarter. To assess if goodwill is impaired, we first review qualitative factors to determine whether further impairment testing is necessary. If based on the qualitative assessment, we consider it more-likely-than-not that our reporting unit's fair value is less than its carrying amount, we perform a quantitative impairment test. An excess of carrying value over fair value would indicate that goodwill may be impaired.

We periodically reevaluate our business and have determined that we have one operating segment and one reporting unit. If our assumptions change in the future, we may be required to record impairment charges to reduce our goodwill's carrying value.

If indicators of impairment are present, we compare the estimated undiscounted cash flows that the asset is expected to generate to the carrying value. The key assumptions of the cash flow model involve significant subjectivity. If

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such assets are impaired, an impairment is measured by the amount by which the carrying amount of the asset exceeds its fair value.

As of December 31, 2021, we had $3.1 million of goodwill and $3.2 million of intangible assets. Impairment in the valuation of long-lived assets could materially impact our operating results and financial position. To date, there have been no impairments of goodwill or intangible assets.

Stock-Based Compensation.   We grant stock and stock options to our employees and directors.  We measure stock-based compensation cost at the grant date based on the fair value of the award and recognize it as expense over the applicable vesting period of the award on a straight-line basis.

For stock awards, we determine the fair value of the award by using the fair market value of our stock on the date of grant; provided the number of shares in the grant is fixed on the grant date.

For stock options, we use the Black-Scholes valuation model to estimate the fair value of the award. This valuation model takes into account the exercise price of the award, as well as a variety of significant assumptions.  The assumptions used to estimate the fair value of stock options include the expected term, the expected volatility of our stock over the expected term, the risk-free interest rate over the expected term, and our expected annual dividend yield.  

Income taxes.  As part of the process of preparing our consolidated financial statements we are required to estimate our actual current tax expense.  We must also estimate temporary and permanent differences that result from differing treatment of certain items for tax and accounting purposes.  These differences result in deferred tax assets and liabilities, which are included in our consolidated balance sheet.  We must then assess the likelihood that our deferred tax assets will be recovered from future taxable income and to the extent we believe recovery is not likely, we must establish a valuation allowance.  To the extent we establish a valuation allowance or increase this allowance in a period for deferred tax assets, which have been recognized, we must include an expense with the tax provision in the statement of operations.  Conversely, to the extent we decrease our valuation allowance in a period for deferred tax assets, which have been previously reserved, we must include a tax benefit with the tax provision in the statement of operations.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”) was signed into law on March 27, 2020.  The Act contained specific relief and stimulus measures including allowing net operating losses originating in 2018 through 2020 to be carried back five years to offset taxable income in the carryback period.

Significant management judgment is required in determining our provision for income taxes, our deferred tax assets, and any valuation allowance recorded against our net deferred tax assets.  Our deferred tax assets primarily relate to: i) research and development tax credit carryforwards related to excess stock compensation benefits; ii) net operating loss carryforwards; and iii) temporary differences that result from differing treatment of certain items for tax and accounting purposes. As of December 31, 2021, we had a total of $10.7 million of deferred tax assets for which we have recorded a $10.7 million valuation allowance.  

We will continue to assess the level of valuation allowance required in future periods. Should evidence regarding the realizability of tax assets change at a future point in time, the valuation allowance will be adjusted accordingly.

Allowance for doubtful accounts.  We make judgments as to our ability to collect outstanding receivables and provide allowances for receivables when collection becomes doubtful.  Provisions are made based upon a specific review of all significant outstanding invoices.  If the judgments we make to determine the allowance for doubtful accounts do not reflect the future ability to collect outstanding receivables, additional provisions for doubtful accounts may be required.

RECENT ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENTS

Recent Accounting Pronouncements.    In October 2021, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standard Update (“ASU”) No. 2021-08, Business Combinations (Topic 805): Accounting for Contract Assets and Contract Liabilities from Contracts with Customers. The ASU requires contract assets and contracts liabilities to be accounted for as if they (“the acquirer”) entered into the original contract at the same time and same date as the acquiree.  The guidance is to be effective for reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2022, with early adoption permitted.  We have elected not to early adopt and we are continuing to assess the impact of the standard on our consolidated financial statements.

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In December 2019, FASB issued Accounting Standard Update (“ASU”) No. 2019-12, Income Taxes (Topic 740): Simplifying the Accounting for Income Taxes. The ASU was issued to reduce the complexity of the reporting information for financial statement users. We adopted the standard on January 1, 2020. The adoption of the standard did not result in any adjustment to our financial statements.

In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-13, Financial Instruments – Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses of Financial Instruments, which changes the methodology for measuring credit losses on financial instruments and the timing of when such losses are recorded.  This guidance was to be effective for reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2019, with early adoption permitted. In November 2019, the FASB issued ASU 2019-10, Financial Instruments – Credit Losses (Topic 326), Derivatives and Hedging (Topic 815), and Leases (Topic842) Effective Dates, which deferred the effective dates for us, as a smaller reporting company, until fiscal year 2023. We are continuing to assess the impact of the standard on our consolidated financial statements.

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ITEM 8.  FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

To the Stockholders and the Board of Directors of Aware, Inc.

Opinion on the Financial Statements

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Aware, Inc. and its subsidiaries (the Company) as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, the related consolidated statements of operations,  changes in stockholders’ equity, and cash flows for each of the two years in the period ended December 31, 2021, and the related notes to the consolidated financial statements (collectively, the financial statements). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the two years in the period ended December 31, 2021, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

Basis for Opinion

These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB and in accordance with auditing standards generally accepted in the United States of America. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audits, we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.

Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

Critical Audit Matters

The critical audit matters communicated below are matters arising from the current period audit of the financial statements that were communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that: (1) relate to accounts or disclosures that are material to the financial statements and (2) involved our especially challenging, subjective, or complex judgments. The communication of critical audit matters does not alter in any way our opinion on the financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matters below, providing separate opinions on the critical audit matters or on the accounts or disclosures to which they relate.

Critical Audit Matters

The critical audit matters communicated below are matters arising from the current period audit of the financial statements that were communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that: (1) relate to accounts or disclosures that are material to the financial statements and (2) involved our especially challenging, subjective, or complex judgments. The communication of critical audit matters does not alter in any way our opinion on the financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matters below, providing separate opinions on the critical audit matters or on the accounts or disclosures to which they relate.

Revenue Recognition

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As described in Note 2 to the financial statements, the Company recognizes revenue when a customer obtains control of promised goods and services. The amount of revenue recognized reflects the consideration to which the Company expects to be entitled to receive in exchange for these goods and services. The Company offers customers the ability to purchase combinations of software licenses, software maintenance, and related professional services together in one arrangement. The Company must determine which promises are distinct performance obligations and allocate the revenue to the performance obligations that are considered distinct based upon their relative stand-alone selling price. Revenue allocated to software licenses is typically recognized at a point in time upon delivery and revenue allocated to the software maintenance and professional services is recognized over time, provided all other revenue recognition criteria are met. Significant judgment is exercised by the Company in determining revenue recognition for these customer agreements, and includes the following:

Given these factors, the related audit effort in evaluating management's judgments in determining revenue recognition for these customer agreements was extensive and required a high degree of auditor judgment.

Addressing the matter involved performing procedures and evaluating audit evidence in connection with forming our overall opinion on the financial statements. Our procedures related to the Company's revenue recognition for these customer agreements included, among others:

Contingent Acquisition Payment

As disclosed in Note 4 to the consolidated financial statements, during 2021, the Company completed the acquisition of FortressID for a total aggregate purchase price of $3.4 million. The transaction was accounted for as a business combination. The total aggregate purchase price included $2.5 million of cash consideration plus the fair value of the contingent consideration arrangement which was estimated to be $0.9 million. The contingent consideration requires cash payments of up to $2.0 million by achieving revenue targets during 2022 and up to another $2.0 million for revenue targets reached during 2023. The Company determines the fair value of contingent consideration as part of the initial purchase price allocation and on an ongoing basis each reporting period until the contingent consideration period is settled. As of December 31, 2021, the liability recorded for future estimated contingent consideration was $0.9 million, which represents a Level 3 estimate in the fair value hierarchy due to the significant unobservable inputs used in determining the fair value and the use of management judgment about the assumptions that market participants would use in pricing these liabilities.

Auditing the Company’s accounting for its contingent acquisition payment was complex due to the significant estimation required by management to determine the fair value of the contingent consideration. The significance of the estimations used by management to determine the fair value of contingent consideration was primarily due to the

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sensitivity of the fair value to the underlying assumptions. The significant assumptions include estimation of the probability and timing of payments, future sales forecasts, as well as the appropriate discount rate based on the estimated timing of payments. These significant assumptions are forward looking and could be affected by future economic and market conditions.

Given these factors, the related audit effort in evaluating management's judgments in determining the fair value of the contingent acquisition payment was extensive and required a high degree of auditor judgment.

Addressing the matter involved performing procedures and evaluating audit evidence in connection with forming our overall opinion on the financial statements. Our procedures related to the Company's contingent acquisition payment included, among others:

/s/ RSM US LLP

We have served as the Company's auditor since 2012.

Boston, Massachusetts

March 15, 2022

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AWARE, INC.

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

(in thousands, except share data)

The accompanying notes are an integral part of the consolidated financial statements.

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AWARE, INC.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

(in thousands, except per share data)

The accompanying notes are an integral part of the consolidated financial statements.

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AWARE, INC.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

(in thousands)

The accompanying notes are an integral part of the consolidated financial statements.

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AWARE, INC.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY

(in thousands)

The accompanying notes are an integral part of the consolidated financial statements.

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We are a global leader in biometrics software offerings and solutions. Our portfolio enables government agencies and commercial entities to enroll, identify authenticate and enable using biometrics, which comprise physiological characteristics, such as fingerprints, faces, irises and voices.

We have been engaged in this business since 1993.  Our comprehensive portfolio of biometric solutions is based on innovative, robust products designed explicitly for ease of integration, including customer-managed and integration ready biometric frameworks, platforms, software development kits (“SDKs”) and services. Principal government applications of biometrics systems include border control, visa applicant screening, law enforcement, national defense, intelligence, secure credentialing, access control, and background checks. Principal commercial applications include mobile enrollment, user authentication, identity proofing, and secure transaction enablement.

Our products span multiple biometric modalities including fingerprint, face, iris and voice, and provide interoperable, standards-compliant, field-proven biometric functionality.  Our products are used to capture, verify, format, compress and decompress biometric images as well as aggregate, analyze, process, match and transport those images and templates within biometric systems. For large deployments, we may provide project management and software engineering services. We sell our biometrics software products and services globally through a multifaceted distribution strategy using systems integrators, original equipment manufacturers (“OEMs”), VARs, partners, and directly to end user customers.

Certain amounts in the consolidated financial statements and associated notes may not add due to rounding. All percentages have been calculated using unrounded amounts.

Basis of Presentation - The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Aware, Inc. and its subsidiaries (“the Company”).  All significant intercompany transactions have been eliminated.  

Use of Estimates – The preparation of our financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amount of revenues and expenses during the reporting period.  The most significant estimates included in the financial statements pertain to revenue recognition, reserves for doubtful accounts, valuation of acquired assets and assumed liabilities in business combinations, earn-out liability, goodwill and long-lived asset impairment and valuation allowance for deferred income tax assets.  Actual results could differ from those estimates.

Fair Value Measurements - The Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Codification defines fair value and establishes a fair value hierarchy that prioritizes the inputs to valuation techniques used to measure fair value. The hierarchy gives the highest priority to the unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (level 1 measurements) and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs (level 3 measurements). The three levels of the fair value hierarchy under the FASB Codification are: i) Level 1 – valuations that are based on quoted prices (unadjusted) in active markets for identical assets or liabilities that the reporting entity has the ability to access at the measurement date; ii) Level 2 – valuations that are based on quoted prices in markets that are not active or for which all significant inputs are observable, either directly or indirectly; and iii) Level 3 – valuations that require inputs that are both significant to the fair value measurement and unobservable.

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Cash and cash equivalents, which primarily include money market mutual funds, were $30.0 million and $38.6 million at December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. We classified our cash equivalents of $29.0 million and $37.9 million as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively, within Level 1 of the fair value hierarchy because they are valued using quoted market prices.  Our cash equivalents are measured at fair value on a recurring basis and their carrying values approximate their respective fair values.

As of December 31, 2021, our assets that are measured at fair value on a recurring basis and whose carrying values approximate their respective fair values include the following (in thousands):

The fair value of our contingent acquisition payment was determined using a Monte Carlo simulation and there was no change in fair value from the initial recording date (acquisition date) to December 31, 2021 due to the proximity of the acquisition to year-end.

As of December 31, 2020, our assets that are measured at fair value on a recurring basis and whose carrying values approximate their respective fair values include the following (in thousands):

Cash and Cash Equivalents – Cash and cash equivalents, which consist primarily of money market funds and demand deposits, are stated at fair value. All highly liquid investments purchased with an original maturity of three months or less are considered cash equivalents. Our cash balances exceed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation limits. The Company does not believe it is exposed to significant credit risk related to cash and cash equivalents.

Allowance for Doubtful Accounts – Accounts are charged to the allowance for doubtful accounts as they are deemed uncollectible based on a periodic review of the accounts.  

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For the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, changes to and ending balances of the allowance for doubtful accounts were as follows (in thousands):

Property and Equipment – Property and equipment is stated at cost.  Depreciation and amortization of property and equipment is provided using the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the assets. Upon retirement or sale, the costs of the assets disposed of and the related accumulated depreciation are removed from the accounts and any resulting gain or loss on disposal is included in the determination of income or loss.  Expenditures for repairs and maintenance are charged to expense as incurred.

The estimated useful lives of assets are:

Goodwill – We record goodwill when consideration paid in a business acquisition exceeds the value of the net assets acquired.  Our estimates of fair value are based upon assumptions believed to be reasonable at the time, but such estimates are inherently uncertain and unpredictable.  Assumptions may be incomplete or inaccurate and unanticipated events or circumstances may occur, which may affect the accuracy of validity of such assumptions, estimates or actual results.  Goodwill is not amortized but rather is tested for impairment annually in the fourth quarter or more frequently, if facts and circumstances warrant a review.  Circumstances that could trigger an impairment test include, but are not limited to, a significant adverse change in the business climate or legal factors, an adverse action or assessment by a regulator, or unanticipated competition.  We have determined that there is a single reporting unit for the purpose of conducting the goodwill impairment assessment.  In accordance with ASC Topic 350, Intangibles—Goodwill and Other, we first assess qualitative factors to determine whether it is necessary to perform the quantitative goodwill impairment test. If after assessing the totality of events or circumstances, we determine that it is more likely than not (i.e., greater than 50% likelihood) that the fair value of the reporting unit is less than its carrying amount, then the quantitative test is required. The quantitative goodwill impairment test requires us to estimate and compare the fair value of the reporting unit, determined using an income approach and a market approach, with its carrying value. If the fair value of the reporting unit exceeds the carrying value of the net assets, goodwill is not impaired. If the fair value of the reporting unit is less than the carrying value, the difference is recorded as an impairment loss up to the amount of goodwill.

Application of the goodwill impairment test requires judgments, including identification of the reporting units, assigning goodwill to reporting units, a qualitative assessment to determine whether there are any impairment indicators, and determining the fair value of each reporting unit which often involves the use of significant estimates and assumptions, including assumptions with respect to future cash inflows and outflows, discount rates, asset lives and market multiples, among other items. There is no assurance that the actual future earnings or cash flows of the reporting unit will not decline significantly from the projections used in the impairment analysis. Goodwill impairment charges may be recognized in future periods to the extent changes in factors or circumstances occur, including deterioration in the macroeconomic environment and industry, deterioration in the Company’s performance or its future projections, or changes in plans for its reporting unit.

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The changes in goodwill for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 were as follows (in thousands):

As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, we had $3.1 and $1.7 million of goodwill, respectively.  Changes in the valuation of goodwill could materially impact our operating results and financial position.  We performed a quantitative analysis during the year ended December 31, 2021 and determined there was no impairment loss and to date, there have been no impairments of goodwill.

Valuation of Long-Lived Assets – We review long-lived assets for impairment whenever events or changes in business circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of the assets may not be fully recoverable or that the useful lives of these assets are no longer appropriate.  Each impairment test is based on a comparison of the undiscounted cash flows estimated to be generated by those assets over their estimated economic life to the related carrying value of those assets to determine if the assets are impaired. If an impairment is indicated, the asset is written down to its estimated fair value.  The cash flow estimates used to identify the potential impairment reflect our best estimates using appropriate assumptions and projections at that time.  In evaluating potential impairment of these assets, we specifically consider whether any indicators of impairment are present, including, but not limited to:

We did not identify any events or changes in business circumstances that the carrying amount of the assets may not be fully recoverable or that the useful lives of these assets are no longer appropriate during the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020.

Revenue recognition.  The core principle of Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (“ASC 606”) is that we should recognize revenue to depict the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which we expect to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. To achieve that core principle, we apply the following five step model:

1) Identify the contract with the customer

A contract with a customer exists when (i) we enter into an enforceable contract with a customer that defines each party’s rights regarding the goods or services to be transferred and identifies the related payment terms, (ii) the contract has commercial substance, and (iii) we determine that collection of substantially all consideration for goods and services that are transferred is probable based on the customer’s intent and ability to pay the promised consideration. We apply judgment in determining the customer’s intent and ability to pay, which is based on a variety of factors including the customer’s historical payment experience, or in the case of a new customer, published credit and financial information pertaining to the customer.

We evaluate contract modifications for the impact on revenue recognition if they have been approved by both parties such that the enforceable rights and obligations under the contract have changed. Contract modifications are either accounted for using a cumulative effect adjustment or prospectively over the remaining term of the arrangement. The determination of which method is more appropriate depends on the nature of the modification, which we evaluate on a case-by-case basis.

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We combine two or more contracts entered into at or near the same time with the same customer and account for them as a single contract if (i) the contracts are negotiated as a package with a common commercial objective, (ii) the amount of consideration to be paid in one contract depends on the price or performance of the other contract, or (iii) some or all of the goods or services in one contract would be combined with some or all of the goods and services in the other contract into a single performance obligation. If two or more contracts are combined, the consideration to be paid is aggregated and allocated to the individual performance obligations without regard to the consideration specified in the individual contracts.

2) Identify the performance obligations in the contract

Performance obligations promised in a contract are identified based on the goods and services that will be transferred to the customer that are both capable of being distinct, whereby the customer can benefit from the good or service either on its own or together with other available resources, and are distinct in the context of the contract, whereby the transfer of the good or service is separately identifiable from other promises in the contract. To the extent a contract includes multiple promised goods and services, we apply judgment to determine whether promised goods and services are capable of being distinct and distinct in the context of the contract. If these criteria are not met, the promised goods and services are accounted for as a combined performance obligation. To identify performance obligations, we consider all of the goods or services promised in a contract regardless of whether they are explicitly stated or are implied by customary business practices.

3) Determine the transaction price

The transaction price is determined based on the consideration we expect to be entitled in exchange for transferring promised goods and services to the customer. Determining the transaction price requires significant judgment. To the extent the transaction price includes variable consideration, we estimate the amount of variable consideration that should be included in the transaction price utilizing either the expected value method or the most likely amount method depending on the nature of the variable consideration. Variable consideration is included in the transaction price if, in our judgment, it is probable that a significant future reversal of cumulative revenue recognized under the contract will not occur. Any estimates, including the effect of the constraint on variable consideration, are evaluated at each reporting period. Some of our arrangements include usage-based royalties where a software license is the predominant item that the royalty relates to.  In these arrangements, revenue from the usage-based royalty is recognized when the subsequent usage occurs.  

The amount of consideration is not adjusted for a significant financing component if the time between payment and the transfer of the related good or service is expected to be one year or less under the practical expedient in ASC 606-10-32-18. Our revenue arrangements are typically accounted for under such expedient, as payment is typically due within 30 to 60 days. As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, none of our contracts contained a significant financing component.

Our arrangements can include variable fees, such as the option to purchase additional usage of a previously delivered software license. The Company may also provide pricing concessions to clients, a business practice that also gives rise to variable fees in contracts.  The Company also reviews contractual termination provisions in determining contractual term and total transaction price.  For variable fees arising from the client’s purchase of additional usage of a previously delivered software license, we apply the sales and usage-based royalties guidance related to a license of intellectual property and recognizes the revenue in the period the underlying sale or usage occurs. We include variable fees in the determination of total transaction price if it is not probable that a future significant reversal of revenue will occur. We use the expected value or most likely value amount, whichever is more appropriate for specific circumstances, to estimate variable consideration, and the estimates are based on the level of historical price concessions offered to clients.  

4) Allocate the transaction price to performance obligations in the contract

If the contract contains a single performance obligation, the entire transaction price is allocated to the single performance obligation. Contracts that contain multiple performance obligations require an allocation of the transaction price to each performance obligation based on a relative standalone selling price (“SSP”) basis unless the transaction price is variable and meets the criteria to be allocated entirely to a performance obligation or to a distinct service that forms part of a single performance obligation. The consideration to be received is allocated among the separate performance obligations based on relative SSPs. The SSP is the price at which we would sell a promised good or service separately to a customer. The best estimate of SSP is the observable price of a

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good or service when we sell that good or service separately. A contractually stated price or a list price for a good or service may be the SSP of that good or service. We use a range of amounts to estimate SSP when we sell each of the goods and services separately and need to determine whether there is a discount that needs to be allocated based on the relative SSP of the various goods and services. In instances where SSP is not directly observable, such as when we do not sell the product or service separately, we typically determine the SSP using an adjusted market assessment approach using information that may include market conditions and other observable inputs. We typically have more than one SSP for individual goods and services due to the stratification of those goods and services by customers and circumstances. In these instances, we may use information such as the nature of the customer and distribution channel in determining the SSP.

5) Recognize revenue when or as we satisfy a performance obligation

We satisfy performance obligations either over time or at a point in time. Revenue is recognized over time if 1) the customer simultaneously receives and consumes the benefits provided by our performance, 2) our performance creates or enhances an asset that the customer controls as the asset is created or enhanced, or 3) our performance does not create an asset with an alternative use to us and we have an enforceable right to payment for performance completed to date. If we do not satisfy a performance obligation over time, the related performance obligation is satisfied at a point in time by transferring the control of a promised good or service to a customer.

We categorize revenue as software licenses, software maintenance, or services and other. Specific revenue recognition policies apply to each category of revenue.

Software licenses

Software licenses consist of revenue from the sale of software licenses for biometrics and imaging applications. Our software licenses are functional intellectual property and typically provide customers with the right to use our software on a term or perpetual basis as it exists when made available to the customer. We recognize revenue from perpetual software licenses at a point in time upon delivery, provided all other revenue recognition criteria are met.

We also offer certain products pursuant to a subscription-based software model which includes a term software license to use the software for a fixed term.  We recognize revenue for fixed fees associated with subscription-based software licenses at a point in time upon delivery, provided all other revenue recognition criteria are met.  Fees subject to the usage-based royalty exception are recognized when the subsequent usage occurs.

Also, with our acquisition of FortressID and adaption of our current products to be delivered in a hosted environment with AwareID, we expect to recognize revenue from our SaaS offerings in future periods.  SaaS offerings are recognized ratably over the subscription period.  For the year ended December 31, 2021 we did not generate revenue from SaaS contracts.

Software maintenance

Software maintenance consists of revenue from the sale of software maintenance contracts for biometrics and imaging software. Software maintenance contracts entitle customers to receive software support and software updates, if and when they become available, during the term of the maintenance contract. Software support and software updates are considered distinct services. However, these distinct services are considered a single performance obligation consisting of a series of distinct services that are substantially the same and have the same pattern of transfer to the customer. We recognize software maintenance revenue over time on a straight-line basis over the contract period.

Services

Service revenue consists of fees from biometrics customers for software engineering services. We recognize services revenue over time as the services are delivered using an input method (i.e., labor hours incurred as a percentage of total labor hours budgeted), provided all other revenue recognition criteria are met.  The use of the over-time revenue recognition method requires judgment in developing budgeted labor hours.  Changes in budgeted hours may occur and the resulting impact on revenue recognition is accounted for in the period of the change in estimate.

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Arrangements with multiple performance obligations

In addition to selling software licenses, software maintenance and software services on a standalone basis, a significant portion of our contracts include multiple performance obligations. The various combinations of multiple performance obligations and our revenue recognition for each are described as follows:

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Returns

We do not offer rights of return for our products and services in the normal course of business.

Customer Acceptance

Our contracts with customers generally do not include customer acceptance clauses.

Contract Balances

When the timing of our delivery of goods or services is different from the timing of payments made by customers, we recognize either a contract asset (performance precedes contractual due date) or a contract liability (customer payment precedes performance). Customers that prepay are represented by the deferred revenue until the performance obligation is satisfied. Our contract assets consist of unbilled receivables. Our contract liabilities consisted of deferred (unearned) revenue, which is generally related to software maintenance contracts. We classify deferred revenue as current or noncurrent based on the timing of when we expect to recognize revenue.

The following table presents changes in our contract assets and liabilities during the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 (in thousands):

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Remaining Performance Obligations

Remaining performance obligations represent the transaction price from contracts for which work has not been performed or goods and services have not been delivered. We expect to recognize revenue on approximately 67% of the remaining performance obligations over the next 12 months, with the remainder recognized thereafter. As of December 31, 2021, the aggregate amount of the transaction price allocated to remaining performance obligations with a duration greater than one year, comprised of software maintenance contracts, was $2.6 million.

Contract Costs

We recognize an other asset for the incremental costs of obtaining a contract with a customer if we expect the benefit of those costs to be longer than one year. We have determined that certain sales commissions meet the requirements to be capitalized, and we amortize these costs on a consistent basis with the pattern of transfer of the goods and services in the contract. Total capitalized costs to obtain a contract were immaterial during the periods presented and are included in other current and long-term assets on our consolidated balance sheets.

We apply a practical expedient to expense costs as incurred for costs to obtain a contract when the amortization period is one year or less. These costs include sales commissions on software maintenance contracts with a contract period of one year or less as sales commissions paid on contract renewals are commensurate with those paid on the initial contract.

Income Taxes – We compute deferred income taxes based on the differences between the financial statement and tax basis of assets and liabilities using enacted rates in effect in the years in which the differences are expected to reverse.  We establish a valuation allowance to offset temporary deductible differences, net operating loss carryforwards and tax credits when it is more likely than not that the deferred tax assets will not be realized.

We recognize the tax benefit from an uncertain tax position only if it is more-likely-than-not that the tax position will be sustained upon examination by the taxing authorities, based on the technical merits of the tax position. The evaluation of an uncertain tax position is based on factors that include, but are not limited to, changes in the tax law, the measurement of tax positions taken or expected to be taken in tax returns, the effective settlement of matters subject to audit, and changes in facts or circumstances related to a tax position.  Any changes to these estimates, based on the actual results obtained and/or a change in assumptions, could impact our tax provision in future periods.  Interest and penalty charges, if any, related to unrecognized tax benefits would be classified as a provision for income tax in the consolidated statements of operations.

Capitalization of Software Costs – We capitalize certain costs to develop software products to be sold, leased, or marketed to external users, after technological feasibility of the product has been established.  No software costs were capitalized during the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, because such costs incurred subsequent to the establishment of technological feasibility, but prior to commercial availability, were immaterial.  

Software development costs also include costs to support our SaaS offerings.  We capitalize development costs related to these software applications once the preliminary project stage is complete and it is probable that the projects will be completed.  No software costs were capitalized during the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020.                      

Research and Development Costs – Costs incurred in the research and development of our products are expensed as incurred.

Concentration of Credit Risk – At December 31, 2021 and 2020, we had cash and cash equivalents, in excess of federally insured deposit limits of approximately $29.7 million and $38.3 million, respectively.

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Concentration of credit risk with respect to net accounts receivable and unbilled receivables consisted of amounts owed by the following customers that comprised more than 10% of net accounts receivable and unbilled receivables at December 31:

We had no customer in 2021 or 2020 that provided 10% or more of revenue.

Stock-Based Compensation – We grant stock and stock options to our employees and directors.  We measure stock-based compensation cost at the grant date based on the fair value of the award and recognize stock-based compensation expense on a straight-line basis over the requisite service period of the award.

For stock awards, we determine the fair value of the award by using the fair market value of our stock on the date of grant; provided the number of shares in the grant is fixed on the grant date.

For stock options, we use the Black-Scholes option valuation model to estimate the fair value of the award. This valuation model takes into account the exercise price of the award, as well as a variety of significant assumptions.  The assumptions used to estimate the fair value of stock options include the expected term, the expected volatility of our stock over the expected term, the risk-free interest rate over the expected term, and our expected annual dividend yield.  

Computation of Earnings per Share – Basic earnings per share is computed by dividing income available to common shareholders by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding.  Diluted earnings per share is computed by dividing income available to common shareholders by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding plus additional common shares that would have been outstanding if dilutive potential common shares had been issued.  For the purposes of this calculation, stock options are considered common stock equivalents in periods in which they have a dilutive effect.  Stock options that are antidilutive are excluded from the calculation.

Fair Value of Financial Instruments – The carrying amounts of cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable, accounts payable and accrued expenses approximate fair value because of their short-term nature.

Segments – We organize ourselves into a single segment reporting to the chief operating decision maker, who we have designated as our Chief Executive Officer.

We conduct our operations in the United States and sell our products and services to domestic and international customers.  Revenues were generated from the following geographic regions (in thousands):

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Revenue by product group was (in thousands):

Revenue included by product group consists of all associated revenue within the contract, including license revenue, maintenance revenue, and services and other revenue.  Revenue by product group may be recognized at a point in time or over-time.  These revenues are attributable to both contracts with fixed fees or guaranteed minimums.  

Revenue by timing of transfer of goods or services was (in thousands):

Property and equipment consisted of the following at December 31 (in thousands):

Depreciation expense was $0.5 million for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020.

In December 2021, we acquired 100% of the outstanding shares and acquired all of assets and liabilities of FortressID for a purchase price of $3.4 million, which consisted of $2.5 million of cash consideration and an earnout with a fair value of $0.9 million.  The maximum earnout payment is $4.0 million and requires cash payments of up to $2.0 million for set revenue targets in 2022 and another $2.0 million for set revenue targets in 2023.  The acquisition of FortressID, expands our offerings around identity proofing-enhancing its onboarding, verification and authentication offerings to directly address financial compliance requirements and enable organizations to mitigate risk and curtail increasing fraud.

The acquisition was accounted for as a business combination, whereby all the assets acquired, and liabilities assumed were recognized at fair value on the acquisition date, with any excess of the consideration transferred over the fair value of the net assets acquired recognized as goodwill.  Unaudited pro forma results of operations assuming the above acquisition had taken place at the beginning of each period are not provided because the historical operating results and pro forma results would not be materially different from reported results for the periods presented.

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The fair values recorded were based on a valuation performed by a third-party valuation specialist and the estimates and assumptions used in such valuation are subject to change, within the measurement period (up to one year from the acquisition date).   The following table summarizes the fair values of the assets acquired and liabilities assumed at the date of acquisition (in thousands):

After allocating the purchase price to the assets acquired and liabilities assumed based on their fair values at the date of acquisition, we recorded goodwill of approximately $1.5 million, which included $0.3 million related to the release of certain deferred tax assets.  Goodwill largely consists of expected synergies to be realized from combining operations.  The goodwill is deductible for income tax purposes.

The fair values of intangible assets were based on valuations using the income approach.  The fair value of intangible assets and their estimated useful live as of December 31, 2021 are as follows (dollars in thousands):

In November 2020, we entered into a Bill of Sale and Assignment Agreement (the “Agreement”) with Radiant Mission Solutions Inc. (“Radiant” as seller) and Maxar Technologies, Inc. (“as guarantor”) to acquire certain assets and assume certain liabilities of Radiant’s AFIX product line for cash consideration of approximately $2.4 million.  The acquisition of AFIX, provides turnkey face and fingerprint biometric and forensic analysis software for small and medium-sized law enforcement and government agencies, extends our ABIS product family.

The acquisition was accounted for as a business combination, whereby all the assets acquired, and liabilities assumed were recognized at fair value on the acquisition date, with any excess of the consideration transfer over the fair value of the net assets acquired recognized as goodwill.  Unaudited pro forma results of operations assuming the above acquisition had taken place at the beginning of each period are not provided because the historical operating results and pro forma results would not be materially different from reported results for the periods presented.  There were no measurement period adjustments recorded in the measurement period, which is now closed.

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The fair values recorded were based on a valuation performed by a third-party valuation specialist.  The following table summarizes the fair values of the assets acquired and liabilities assumed at the date of acquisition (in thousands):

After allocating the purchase price to the assets acquired and liabilities assumed based on their fair values at the date of acquisition, we recorded goodwill of approximately $1.7 million. Goodwill largely consists of expected synergies to be realized from combining operations.  The goodwill is deductible for income tax purposes.

The fair values of intangible assets were based on valuations using the income approach.  The fair value of intangible assets and their estimated useful live as of December 31, 2021are as follows (dollars in thousands):

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During the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 we recorded $176 thousand and $26 thousand of amortization expense on intangible assets, respectively.  The Company expects to record amortization for the years ended December 31 as follows (in thousands):

We recorded a benefit for income taxes of $0.3 million in the year ended December 31, 2021 related to a release of our valuation allowance as a result the deferred taxes recorded as part of the FortressID acquisition.  We recorded a benefit for income taxes of $1.6 million in the year ended December 31, 2020 that includes a $1.4 million tax benefit of the current year tax loss which can be carried back due to changes made by the CARES Act which was signed into law on March 27, 2020.  The CARES Act contained specific relief and stimulus measures including allowing net operating losses originating in 2018 through 2020 to be carried back five years to offset taxable income in the carryback period. The components of the benefit from income taxes are as follows (in thousands):