EPLUS INC - Annual Report: 2020 (Form 10-K)

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

☒ ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the fiscal year ended March 31, 2020

OR

☐ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the transition period from ___to___.

Commission file number: 1-34167

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (703) 984-8400

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

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

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 of Section 15(d) of the 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 (Section 229.405 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 definition of “large accelerated filer”, “accelerated filer”, “smaller reporting company”, and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act (Check one):

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 ☒

The aggregate market value of the common stock held by non-affiliates of ePlus, computed by reference to the closing price at which the stock was sold as of September 30, 2019, was $1,003,434,364. The outstanding number of shares of common stock of ePlus as of May 19, 2020, was 13,499,603.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

The following documents are incorporated by reference into the indicated parts of this Form 10-K:

 

Portions of the Company’s definitive Proxy Statement relating to its 2020 annual meeting of stockholders (the “2020 Proxy Statement”) are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K where indicated. The 2020 Proxy Statement will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days after the Company’s fiscal year end to which this report relates.

Table of Contents

CAUTIONARY LANGUAGE ABOUT FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains certain statements that are, or may be deemed to be, “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or “Exchange Act,” and are made in reliance upon the protections provided by such acts for forward-looking statements. Such statements are not based on historical fact but are based upon numerous assumptions about future conditions that may not occur. Forward-looking statements are generally identifiable by use of forward-looking words such as “may,” “should,” “would,” “intend,” “estimate,” “will,” “potential,” “possible,” “could,” “believe,” “expect,” “intend,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “project,” and similar expressions. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements made by us or on our behalf. Forward-looking statements are made based upon information that is currently available or management’s current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects upon us, speak only as of the date hereof, and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties. We do not undertake any obligation to publicly update or correct any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that subsequently occur, or of which we hereafter become aware. Actual events, transactions and results may materially differ from the anticipated events, transactions, or results described in such statements. Our ability to consummate such transactions and achieve such events or results is subject to certain risks and uncertainties. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the matters set forth below:

We cannot be certain that our business strategy will be successful or that we will successfully address these and other challenges, risks, and uncertainties. For a further list and description of various risks, relevant factors, and uncertainties that could cause future results or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in our forward-looking statements, see Item 1A, “Risk Factors” and Item 2, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” sections contained elsewhere in this report, as well as other reports that we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).

Industry and Market Data

This Form 10-K includes industry data that we obtained from periodic industry publications, which represent data, research opinion, or viewpoints published as part of syndicated subscription services. We have not independently verified the data from the industry publications.

PART I

GENERAL

Our company was founded in 1990 and is a Delaware corporation. ePlus inc. is sometimes referred to in this Annual Report on Form 10-K as “we,” “our,” “us,” “ourselves,” or “ePlus.”

ePlus inc. does not engage in any business other than serving as the parent holding company for the following operating companies:

Technology

Financing

We began using the name ePlus inc. in 1999 after changing our name from MLC Holdings, Inc. ePlus Technology, inc. is the primary entity that conducts our technology sales and services business.

OUR BUSINESS

We are a leading solutions provider that delivers actionable outcomes for organizations by using IT and consulting solutions to drive business agility and innovation. Leveraging our engineering talent, we assess, plan, deliver, and secure solutions comprised of leading technologies and consumption models aligned with our customers’ needs. Our expertise and experience enable ePlus to craft optimized solutions that take advantage of the cost, scale and efficiency of private, public and hybrid cloud in an evolving market. We also provide consulting, professional and managed services, IT staff augmentation, and complete lifecycle management services including flexible financing and solutions in the areas of security, cloud, networking, data center, collaboration and emerging technologies. We have been in the business of selling, leasing, financing, and managing IT and other assets for nearly 30 years.

Our primary focus is to deliver integrated solutions that address our customers’ business needs, leveraging the appropriate technologies, both on-premise and in the cloud. Our approach is to lead with advisory consulting to understand our customers’ needs, design, deploy and manage solutions aligned to their objectives. Underpinning the broader areas of Cloud, Security, Networking, Data Center and Collaboration are specific skills in orchestration and automation, application modernization, DevOps, data management, data visualization, analytics, network modernization, edge compute and other advanced and emerging technologies. These solutions are comprised of world class leading technologies from partners such as Amazon Web Services, Arista Networks, Check Point, Cisco Systems, Citrix, Commvault, Dell EMC, F5 Networks, Gigamon, HPE, Juniper Networks, Lenovo, Microsoft, NetApp, Nutanix, NVIDIA, Oracle, Palo Alto Networks, Pure Storage, Rubrik, Splunk, and VMware, among many others. We possess top-level engineering certifications with a broad range of leading IT vendors that enable us to offer multi-vendor IT solutions that are optimized for each of our customers’ specific requirements. Our hosted, proprietary software solutions are focused on giving our customers more control over their IT supply chain, by automating and optimizing the procurement and management of their owned, leased, and consumption-based assets.

Our scale and financial resources have enabled us to continue investing in engineering and technology resources to stay on the forefront of technology trends. Our expertise in core and emerging technologies, buttressed by our robust portfolio of consulting, professional, and managed services, has enabled ePlus to remain a trusted advisor for our customers. In addition, we offer a wide range of consumption options including leasing and financing for technology and other capital assets. We believe our lifecycle approach offering of integrated solutions, services and financing, asset management and our proprietary supply chain software, is unique in the industry. This broad portfolio enables us to deliver a unique customer experience that spans the continuum from fast delivery of competitively priced products, services, subsequent management and upkeep, through to end-of-life disposal services. This approach permits ePlus to deploy sophisticated solutions enabling our customers’ business outcomes.

Our go-to-market strategy focuses primarily on diverse end-markets for middle market to large enterprises. For the year ended March 31, 2020, the percentage of revenue by customer end market within our technology segment includes 21% for the technology industry, 19% for the telecommunications, media and entertainment industry, 16% for state and local government, and educational institutions, 15% for healthcare, and 13% for financial services. Sales to Verizon represented 15% of our net sales for the year ended March 31, 2020. Sales to no one customer exceeded 10% of net sales for the year ended March 31, 2019. Sales to Apple Inc. represented 12% of our net sales for the year ended March 31, 2018. Most of our sales were generated within the United States (“US”); however, we support our customers nationally and internationally including physical locations in the United Kingdom (“UK”), India, and Singapore, which were established by acquisitions in December 2015 and May 2017, respectively. Our technology segment accounted for 96% of our net sales, and 65% of our operating income, while our financing segment accounted for 4% of our net sales, and 35% of our operating income for the year ended March 31, 2020.

OUR INDUSTRY BACKGROUND AND MARKET OPPORTUNITY

We have identified and focused on several specific trends that we believe will create higher growth in the broader US IT market:

COMPETITION

The market for IT solutions is highly competitive, subject to macro-economic cycles and the entry of new competitors. Additionally, the consolidation of existing market participants can create significantly larger competitors and is also affected by disruptive technologies and other market activities of industry participants. We expect to continue to compete in all areas of our business against local, regional, national, and international firms, including vendors, international, national, and regional resellers and service providers. Some of our competitors are direct marketers with little value add and sell products as commodities, which can place downward pressure on product pricing. In addition, many IT vendors may sell or lease directly to our customers, and our continued ability to compete effectively may be affected by the policies of such vendors. We face indirect competition from potential customers’ internal development efforts and must overcome potential customers’ reluctance to move away from legacy systems, processes, and solution providers. As IT consumption shifts from IT personnel and legacy infrastructure to line-of-business based outcomes using off-premise, on-demand, and cloud solutions, the legacy resale model is shifting from an upfront sale to a recurring revenue model.

The leasing and financing markets are also competitive and subject to changing economic conditions and market activities of leading industry participants. We expect to continue to compete against local, regional, national, and international firms, including banks, specialty finance companies, private-equity asset managers, vendors’ captive finance companies, and third-party leasing companies. Banks and other large financial services companies sell directly to business customers, particularly larger enterprise customers, and may provide other financial or ancillary services that we do not provide. Vendor captive leasing companies may use internal transfer pricing to effectively lower lease rates and/or bundle equipment sales and leasing to provide highly competitive packages to customers. Third-party leasing companies may have deep customer relationships with contracts in place that are difficult to displace; however, these competitors typically do not provide the breadth of product, service, and software offerings that we provide to our customers. Our competitors also may have access to more capital to fund more originations than us.

In all our markets, some of our competitors have longer operating histories and greater financial, technical, marketing, and other resources than we do. In addition, some of these competitors may be able to respond more quickly to new or changing opportunities, technologies, and customer requirements. Many current and potential competitors also have greater name recognition and engage in more extensive promotional marketing and advertising activities, offer more attractive terms to customers, and adopt more aggressive pricing policies than we do.

OUR SOLUTIONS

Technology Segment

Financing Segment

We primarily finance IT equipment, communication-related equipment, and medical equipment. We may also finance industrial machinery and equipment, office furniture and general office equipment, transportation equipment, and other general business equipment. We offer our solutions both directly and through vendors.

We offer enhanced financing solutions, and our business process services approach automates a significant portion of the IT procurement process and reduces our customers’ cost of doing business. The solution incorporates value-added services at every step in the process, including:

OUR COMPETITIVE STRENGTHS

Large Addressable Market with Long-term Growth Opportunities Driven by Increasing IT Complexity

We participate in the IT market focusing on the data center, network, cloud, security, virtualization, and mobility segments of the industry, facilitated by our professional and managed service solutions. We believe we are well-positioned in the IT solutions segment.

The IT market in which we compete has been and likely will continue to be negatively impacted by COVID-19. Industry analysts’ growth estimates calendar year 2020 prior to COVID-19 have been retracted. COVID-19 is impacting demand globally and some of our customer end markets may be impacted more significantly than others. We are uncertain as to the extent and duration of the impact on the IT market.

Our products and services target large enterprises, the approximately 30,000¹ middle market companies with revenues from $100 million to $1 billion, the over 90,000² state and local governmental organizations, larger school districts, and the over 4,300³ higher educational institutions in the US, and those same markets in the UK. We believe IT organizations within these companies and organizations are facing pressure to deliver higher service levels with fewer resources, increasing their reliance on third parties who can provide complex, multi-vendor technology solutions, such as our company.

Broad and Diverse Customer Base across a Wide Range of End Markets

We have a broad and diverse customer base of over 3,500 customers across a wide range of end-markets, including education, financial services, healthcare, media and entertainment, state and local government, technology, and telecommunications.

Differentiated Business Model Serving Entire IT Lifecycle – Procurement, Solutions, Services, Software, Financing

We believe we are a trusted IT advisor, delivering differentiated products and services to enable our customers to meet increasingly complex IT requirements. We are able to provide complete, turn-key solutions aligned to the entire IT lifecycle – procurement, products, services, software, and financing. We provide upfront assessments, design and configuration capabilities, installation and implementation, and ongoing services to support our customers’ solutions.

Deep Expertise in Advanced Technology to Address Cloud, Security, Digital Infrastructure and other Emerging IT Trends

We believe our customers choose us for their complex IT infrastructure needs based on our track record of delivering best-of-breed solutions, value-added services, and close relationships with both established and emerging vendors. We focus on obtaining and maintaining top-level engineering certifications and professional services expertise in advanced technologies of strategic vendors and possess over 1,700 certifications that are leveraged to help our customers achieve positive business outcomes.

Strategic Ability to Design and Integrate Cloud Solutions Across Multiple Vendors

We believe our expertise across both Data Center and Cloud architectures allows us to provide differentiated offerings in assisting our customers with their journey to the cloud. Combined with our established practices in Networking and Security, we are uniquely poised to help customers adopt a multi-cloud strategy utilizing our cloud cost management framework to help overcome the inherent challenges. We leverage our strategic partnerships with leading vendors such as Amazon Web Services, Cisco Systems, Dell EMC, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Microsoft Azure, NetApp, and VMware in conjunction with our professional, managed and lifecycle services to help our customers achieve their desired business outcomes.

¹ NAICS Association, Count by Annual Sales – Updated March 2020, https://www.naics.com/business-lists/counts-by-company-size/

² GovTech Navigator, 2019 US State and Local Governments by the Numbers, https://www.govtech.com/navigator/numbers/us-state---2019local-gov-by-the-numbers_121.html

³ U.S. News, A Guide to the Changing Number of U.S. Universities, https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/2019-02-15/how-many-universities-are-in-the-us-and-why-that-number-is-changing

Proven Track Record of Successfully Integrating Acquisitions and Accelerating Growth

We view acquisitions as an important factor in our strategic growth plan. Since 1997, we have successfully integrated 28 acquisitions. Most recently, we have been active in tuck-in acquisitions to broaden our product offerings, sector reach, and geographic footprint, with recent acquisitions including:

We generally integrate acquired firms into the ePlus platform immediately, which allows us to maintain customers and vendor relationships, retain key employees from acquired firms, and accelerate growth.

We continue to review new acquisition opportunities to expand our global footprint and expand our offerings, however, due to the uncertain impact from the COVID-19 pandemic we may have additional criteria to evaluate each acquisition.

Financial Performance Characterized by Growth and Profitability

We have focused on achieving top-line revenue growth while maintaining industry-leading gross margins – with a compound annual growth rate of 6.7% on net sales and 9.9% for consolidated gross profit, respectively, from April 1, 2014 to March 31, 2020.

Through our organic expansion and acquisitions, we have increased our employee base by 69.1% from April 1, 2014 to March 31, 2020. The increase in our employee base has largely been in customer facing roles, which increased by 92.0% over the same period, as we continue to build our sales and services team while leveraging our operational infrastructure.

GROWTH STRATEGY

Our goal is to continue to grow as a leading provider of technology solutions. The key elements of our strategy include the following:

Be Our Customers’ Partner of Choice for Comprehensive IT and Lifecycle Solutions, Including Consulting, Managed and Professional Services, and Financing

We seek to become the primary provider of IT solutions for each of our customers, whether on-premise, cloud, or managed services-based. We strive to provide excellent customer service, pricing, availability, and advanced professional and managed services in an efficient manner. We believe the increasing complexity of the IT ecosystem and the emergence of new technologies and vendors are factors that will lead to a growing demand from existing customers. We have a large number of experienced pre-sales engineers engage with customers about the most advanced technologies. Our account executives are trained on our broad solutions capabilities with access to many, category-focused subject-matter experts, which allow them to sell in a consultative business outcome-based manner that increases the likelihood of cross-selling our solutions. Our account executives are supported by experienced and professional inside sales representatives. We believe that our bundled offerings are an important differentiating factor from our competitors.

We focus on gaining top-level engineering certifications and professional services expertise in advanced technologies of strategic vendors. This expertise helps our customers develop their cloud capabilities including private, public, and hybrid infrastructures. We are providing virtual desktop infrastructure, unified communications, collaboration, networking, security, storage, big-data, mobility, converged and hyper-converged infrastructures, and managed services offerings, all of which remain in high demand. We believe our ability to deliver advanced professional services provides benefits in two ways. First, we gain recognition and mindshare of our strategic vendor partners and become the “go-to” partner in selected regional markets as well as the national market. This significantly increases direct and referral sales opportunities for our products and services and allows us to offer competitive pricing levels. Second, within our existing and potential customer base, our advanced professional services are a key differentiator against competitors who cannot provide services or advanced services for these key technologies or across multiple vendor product lines.

Our managed services portfolio expanded this year to include Managed SDWAN, Service Desk, Carrier Expense Management, Cloud Cost Optimization, Vulnerability Management as a Service (VMaas), Nutanix and Aruba monitoring and management.  We have further increased our breadth and depth of engineering expertise through the integration of SLAIT and ABS Technology, supplementing our Cisco service offerings, expanding our Netapp SSC/EMS portfolio, and security solutions releases. We have also enhanced our Managed Services and consolidated all ePlus annuity-based service solutions into a single service management platform to enhance customer experience. Likewise, we have increased automation of Service Level Target reporting to ensure remediation and response are top-of-mind.

Build Our Geographic Footprint

We intend to increase our direct sales and go-to-market capabilities in each of our geographic areas. We actively seek to acquire new account relationships through face-to-face field sales, electronic commerce, leveraging our partnerships with vendors, and targeted demand-generation activities to increase awareness of our solutions. We also seek to broaden our customer base, expand our geographic reach, and improve our technology and professional services delivery capabilities. During the last fiscal year, we continued to expand our sales and delivery capabilities across multiple international markets as we see more demand for solutions within this market.

Recruit, Retain, and Develop Employees

Based on our prior experience, capital structure, and business systems and processes, we believe we are well positioned to hire experienced sales people and engineers, make strategic acquisitions that expand our customer facing talent, broaden our customer base, expand our geographic reach, scale our existing operating structure, and/or enhance our product and service offerings. Part of our growth strategy is to hire purposefully and enhance our technical and skill base through strategic acquisitions.

Improve Operational Efficiencies

We continue to invest in our internal technology infrastructure and software platforms to optimize our operations and engage in process re-engineering efforts to become more streamlined and cost effective.

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

We incur software development costs associated with maintaining, enhancing, or upgrading our proprietary software, which may be performed by internal IT development resources or by an offshore software-development company that we use to supplement our internal development team or various US-based consultants.

SALES AND MARKETING

We focus our sales and marketing efforts on becoming the primary provider of IT solutions for each of our customers. We seek to acquire new account relationships through face-to-face field sales, leveraging our partnerships with manufacturers and targeted direct marketing to increase awareness of our solutions.. We target middle market and large commercial entities and state and local governments, and educational institution. We currently have over 3,500 customers. We undertake direct marketing and leverage digital marketing and social media campaigns to target certain markets in conjunction with our primary vendor partners, who may provide financial reimbursement, outsourced services, and personnel to assist us in these efforts.

Our sales representatives are compensated by a combination of salary and commission, with commission becoming the primary component of compensation as the sales representatives gain experience. To date, we acquired a majority of our customers through the efforts of our direct sales force and acquisitions. We market to different areas within a customer’s organization, including business units as well as the IT department, or finance department, depending on the solutions.

As of March 31, 2020, our sales force consisted of 605 sales, marketing and sales support personnel organized regionally in 38 offices or warehouses and customer locations throughout the US, UK, India, and Singapore.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

Our success depends in part upon proprietary business methodologies and technologies that we have licensed and modified. We own certain software programs or have entered into software licensing agreements to provide services to our customers. We rely on a combination of copyrights, trademarks, service marks, trade secret protection, confidentiality and nondisclosure agreements, and licensing arrangements to establish and protect our intellectual property rights. We seek to protect our documentation and other written materials and confidential corporate information under trade secret and copyright laws, which afford only limited protection.

For example, we currently have patents in the US and Canada. We cannot provide assurance that any patents, as issued, will prevent the development of competitive products or that our patents will not be successfully challenged by others or invalidated through the administrative process or litigation.

Our trademarks include e+®, ePlus®, Procure+®, Manage+®, Docpak®, Viewmark®, OneSource®, Where Technology Means More® and GRIT: Girls Re-Imagining Tomorrow ® in the US, and IGXGlobal® in Great Britain and the European Union (“EU”). We intend to use and protect these and our other marks, as we deem necessary. We believe our trademarks have significant value and are an important factor in the marketing of our products. In addition to our trademarks, we have service marks and over 20 registered copyrights and additional common-law trademarks and copyrights.

Despite our efforts to protect our proprietary rights, unauthorized parties may attempt to copy aspects of our products or to obtain and use information that we regard as proprietary. Our means of protecting our proprietary rights may not be adequate, and our competitors may independently develop similar technology, duplicate our products or design around our proprietary intellectual property.

FINANCIAL AND RISK MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES

Inventory Management: We have drop-shipment arrangements with many of our vendors and distributors, which permit us to offer products to our customers without taking physical delivery of the equipment. Ingram Micro, Arrow Enterprises, Tech Data, and Synnex Corporation are our largest distributors. Using the distribution systems available, we frequently sell products that are shipped from the vendors or distributors directly to our customers’ location, which allows us to keep our inventory of any product and shipping expenses to a minimum. For the year ended March 31, 2020, our four largest distributors accounted for over 30% of our purchases related to our technology segment net sales.

Risk Management and Process Controls: We use and maintain conservative underwriting policies and disciplined credit approval processes in both our technology and financing segments. We have an executive management review process and other internal controls in place to evaluate transactions’ potential risk.

In our technology segment, we manage our risk by using conservative credit quality analysis and periodic monitoring of customer financial results or third-party risk evaluation tools; monitoring customer accounts receivable balances and payment history; proactively pursuing delinquent accounts; ensuring we have appropriate contractual terms and conditions; perfecting security interests when practicable; requiring prepayment or deposits if indicated; performing fraud checks for new accounts; and evaluating general economic as well as industry specific trends. Our systems automatically decrease trade credit lines based on assigned risk ratings.

In our financing segment, we manage our risk in assets we finance by assigning the contractual payments due under the financing arrangement to third-parties. We also use agency purchase orders to procure equipment for lease to our customers and otherwise take measures to minimize our inventory of financed assets. When our technology segment is the supplier of the assets being financed, we retain certain procurement risks. Our financing arrangements with our customers are generally fixed-rate.

As a result of COVID-19, we have tightened our credit lines with many of our customers, particularly in the customer end markets under significant duress such as retail. Some customers have requested extended terms which we are assessing on a case by case basis. In our financing segment, we reduced our exposure by transferring certain transactions on a non-recourse basis.

Credit Risk Loss Experience: During the fiscal year ended March 31, 2020, we increased our reserves for credit losses by $1,004 thousand and incurred actual credit losses of $429 thousand. During the fiscal year ended March 31, 2019, we increased our reserves for credit losses by $335 thousand and incurred actual credit losses of $385 thousand.

BACKLOG

We rely on our vendors or distributors to fulfill a large majority of our shipments to our customers. As of March 31, 2020, we recorded customer commitments to purchase products or services that remain open until either executed or canceled (“open orders”) of $277.6 million and deferred revenue of $72.2 million. As of March 31, 2019, we had open orders of $161.4 million and deferred revenues of $61.0 million. We expect that most of open orders as of March 31, 2020, will be recognized within ninety days of that date. We also expect that 77% of the deferred revenues as of March 31, 2020, will be recognized within the next twelve months.

EMPLOYEES

As of March 31, 2020, we employed 1,579 employees who operated through 38 offices or warehouses, home offices, and customer sites. No employees are represented by a labor union, and we believe that we have good relations with our employees. The functional areas of our employees are as follows:

US SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION REPORTS

Our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, and all amendments to those reports, filed with or furnished to the US SEC, are available free of charge through our Internet website, www.eplus.com, as soon as reasonably practical after we have electronically filed such material with, or furnished it to, the SEC. The SEC maintains an Internet site that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC at www.sec.gov. The contents on or accessible through these websites are not incorporated into this filing. Further, our references to the URLs for these websites are intended to be inactive textual references only.

EXECUTIVE OFFICERS

The following table sets forth the name, age and position of each person who was an executive officer of ePlus on March 31, 2020. There are no family relationships between any directors or executive officers of ePlus.

The business experience of each executive officer of ePlus is described below:

Mark Marron – Chief Executive Officer, President and Director

Mark P. Marron became the Chief Executive Officer and President of ePlus inc. on August 1, 2016. He began his career at ePlus in 2005 as Senior Vice President of Sales and became Chief Operating Officer in 2010. A 30-year plus industry veteran, he was formerly with NetIQ where he held the position of Senior Vice President of Worldwide Sales and Services. Prior to joining NetIQ, Mr. Marron served as General Manager of Worldwide Channel Sales for Computer Associates International Inc., a provider of software and services that enables organizations to manage their IT environments. Mr. Marron has extensive experience throughout North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from Montclair State University.

Elaine Marion – Chief Financial Officer

Elaine D. Marion joined us in 1998. Ms. Marion became our Chief Financial Officer on September 1, 2008. From 2004 to 2008, Ms. Marion served as our Vice President of Accounting. Prior to that, she was the Controller of ePlus Technology, inc., a subsidiary of ePlus, from 1998 to 2004. Ms. Marion currently serves on the Advisory Board of the School of Business at the University of Mary Washington and as a member of the George Mason University School of Business Dean’s Advisory Council. Ms. Marion is a graduate of George Mason University, where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Accounting.

Darren Raiguel – Chief Operating Officer and ePlus Technology inc. President

Darren S, Raiguel joined the company in 1997 as an account executive and has held numerous management positions in the organization for well over a decade. Mr. Raiguel became our Executive Vice President of Technology Sales, and in May 2018 was promoted to Chief Operating Officer of ePlus inc. and President of ePlus Technology, inc. Mr. Raiguel received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Temple University, with dual majors in Marketing and Finance. He has participated in numerous industry organizations, councils, and advisory boards throughout his career.

Actual or anticipated epidemics, pandemics, outbreaks, or other public health crises may adversely affect our customers’ financial condition and the operations of our business.

Our business could be materially and adversely affected by the impact of the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, which was recently declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization, or the actual or public perception of the risks related to any epidemic, pandemic, outbreak, or other public health crisis. The risk of COVID-19 pandemic, or public perception of the risks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, could cause customers to delay or cancel orders, and could cause temporary or long-term disruptions in our supply chains and/or delays in the delivery of our products and services to our customer. Quarantines or other cancellations of public events as well as governmental containment actions could also adversely affect our customers’ financial condition, resulting in reduced spending for the products and services we sell or uncollectible accounts receivable, leases or notes receivable. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a high percentage of our employees working from home, which could adversely affect our ability to adequately staff and manage our businesses. Risks or regulations related to an epidemic, pandemic or other health crisis, such as COVID-19, could also lead to the complete or partial closure of one or more of our offices or configuration centers or the operations of our customers or our sourcing partners. Office closures of our customers may reduce our ability to provide onsite professional services and staffing. The ultimate extent to which the current COVID-19 pandemic will affect the financial condition and results of operations will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, including new information that may emerge concerning the severity and duration of the current pandemic.

We began monitoring the COVID-19 outbreak and following the guidance of public health authorities in January 2020. In March 2020, we put in place a number of protective measures in response to the COVID-19 outbreak that is taking place world-wide. These measures include having employees work from home to the extent their job function enables them to do so, cancelling all non-essential business travel, asking some employees to self-quarantine at home, adjusting our facilities janitorial and sanitary policies. We may include various health-related measures, such as requiring employees and visitors to undergo a health screening or wear a mask. In addition, our employees may have health issues related to COVID-19 and may have unpredictable work schedules due to childcare responsibilities as many schools and childcare centers are closed. We are regularly revisiting the measures we are taking in response to the evolving COVID-19 pandemic, and we are likely to take additional action in response to the various requirements and recommendations of governmental and other health authorities. In addition, as Stay at Home orders by state and local governments are lifted or changed, additional risk may arise, including infections within our employee base, office closures, and/or closures at customers sites. These existing measures and any future actions, such as additional or renewed Stay at Home orders, may result in a disruption to our business.

As a high percentage of our employees are working from home due to COVID-19, we are highly reliant on the availability and functionality of our information systems to enable our operations. Working from home may increase risk of data loss. If our information systems are not operational for reasons which may include cyber security attacks, data center failures, failures by telecom providers to provide service to our business and to our employees’ homes, power failures, or failures of off-premise software such as SaaS based software, our business and financial results may be adversely impacted.

As our employees return to the workplace, we may face challenges implementing newly required processes technologies, and procedures specific to COVID-19, including paid time off laws and health screening. Additionally, as the facts, guidance and perception are rapidly changing, we may face challenges responding to actual or possible COVID-19 exposure in the workplace, training managers to address an anticipated uptick in leave and accommodation issues, and issuing corporate communications to effectively assuage and respond to employee concerns regarding COVID-19.

General economic weakness may harm our operating results and financial condition.

Our results of operations are largely dependent upon the state of the economy. Global economic weakness and uncertainty may result in decreased sales, gross margin, earnings and/or growth rates from our US based customers and from customers outside the US. For example, there continues to be substantial uncertainty regarding the economic impact of the Referendum on the UK’s Membership of the European Union (“EU”) (referred to as “Brexit”).

In June 2016, the United Kingdom (the “UK”) held a referendum in which voters opted for the country’s exit from the EU, Consistent with the outcome of this referendum, the UK left the EU on January 31, 2020. Thus, the UK is no longer a member of the EU; however, the UK will continue to be subject to EU rules and remain a member of the single market and customs union during an implementation period. The implementation period runs to December 31, 2020, but may be extended for up to two years. The UK government is negotiating with the EU on trade and other terms for such exit. Leaving without any agreement on such terms would lead to disruption to UK/EU trade.

The uncertainty concerning Brexit has also caused global stock market volatility and currency exchange rate fluctuations that resulted in strengthening of the US dollar relative to other foreign currencies in which we conduct business. The impact of Brexit could adversely affect our business, financial condition, operating results and cash flows.

If we lost one or more of our large volume customers, our earnings may be affected.

The contracts for the provision of products and services from us to our customers are generally non-exclusive agreements without volume purchase commitments and are terminable by either party upon 30 days’ notice. The loss of one or more of our largest customers, the failure of such customers to pay amounts due to us, or a material reduction in the amount of purchases made by such customers could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial position, results of operations and cash flows. Our accounts receivable-trade balance as of March 31, 2020, included approximately 20% concentration of invoices due from Verizon.

We depend on having creditworthy customers to avoid an adverse impact on our operating results and financial condition.

Our financing and technology segments require sufficient amounts of debt or equity capital to fund our equipment purchases. If the credit quality of our customer base materially decreases, or if we experience a material increase in our credit losses, we may find it difficult to continue to obtain the required capital for our business, and our operating results and financial condition may be harmed. In addition to the impact on our ability to attract capital, a material increase in our delinquency and default experience would itself have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results, and financial condition.

As a result of COVID-19, many of our customers may be susceptible to economic slowdowns or recessions and may be unable to pay for their purchases or repay the leases or note receivable to us or repayment may be extended by our customers or us. Therefore, our non-performing assets may increase, and the value of our portfolio may decrease during these periods as we are required to record our investments at their current fair value. Adverse economic conditions also may decrease the value of collateral securing some of our loans and the value of our equity investments. Economic slowdowns or recessions could lead to financial losses in our portfolio and a decrease in revenues, net income and assets in our financing segment. Unfavorable economic conditions also could increase our financing segment’s funding costs, limit our access to the capital markets or result in a decision by lenders not to extend credit to us. These events could prevent us from increasing our financing portfolio and harm our operating results.

The recent global outbreak of COVID-19 has disrupted economic markets and the prolonged economic impact is uncertain. Some economists and major investment banks have expressed concern that the continued spread of the virus globally will lead to a world-wide economic downturn, which could have an adverse economic effect on the companies and state and local government and educational institution (“SLED”) organizations for which we provide products, services and financing.

As of March 31, 2020, and 2019, we had reserves for credit losses of $3.2 million and $2.6 million, respectively.

The terms of our Credit Facility or lines of credit with our vendors or loss thereof may restrict our current and future operations, which could adversely affect our ability to respond to changes in our business and to manage our operations.

Our technology segment, through our subsidiary ePlus Technology, inc., finances its operations with funds generated from operations, and with a credit facility with Wells Fargo Commercial Distribution Finance, LLC or WFCDF. This facility provides short-term capital for our technology segment. There are two components of the WFCDF credit facility: (1) a floor plan component and (2) an accounts receivable component. As of March 31, 2020, the facility agreement had an aggregate limit of the two components of $300 million, and the accounts receivable component had a sub-limit of $75 million, which bears interest assessed at a rate of the One Month LIBOR plus two and one-half percent.

The loss of the technology segment’s credit facility could have a material adverse effect on our future results as we rely on this facility and its components for daily working capital and the operational function of our accounts payable process. Our credit agreement contains various covenants that must be met each quarter and either party may terminate the agreement for any reason with a 90-days’ notice. There can be no assurance that we will continue to meet those covenants and failure to do so may limit availability of, or cause us to lose, such financing. There can be no assurance that such financing will continue to be available to us in the future on acceptable terms.

COVID-19 may negatively impact our lender’s willingness to extend credit to us at the current credit limit or an increase in credit limit thus restricting our working capital. We also have lines of credit with our vendors for the purchase of goods and services for resale or internal use with terms including net 15, net 30, net 45, net 60 and net 90. The loss or decrease of our working capital facility or lines of credit with our vendors may have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

The uncertainty regarding the potential phase-out of LIBOR may negatively impact our operating results.

LIBOR, the interest rate benchmark used as a reference rate on our credit facility variable rate debt is expected to be phased out after 2021, when private-sector banks are no longer required to report the information used to set the rate. Without this data, LIBOR may no longer be published, or the lack of quality and quantity of data may cause the rate to no longer be representative of the market. At this time, no consensus exists as to what rate or rates will become accepted alternatives to LIBOR, although the US Federal Reserve, in connection with the Alternative Reference Rates Committee, a steering committee comprised of large US financial institutions, is considering replacing US dollar LIBOR with the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (“SOFR”). SOFR is a more generic measure than LIBOR and considers the cost of borrowing cash overnight, collateralized by US Treasury securities. Given the inherent differences between LIBOR and SOFR or any other alternative benchmark rate that may be established, there are many uncertainties regarding a transition from LIBOR, including but not limited to the need to amend all contracts with LIBOR as the referenced rate and how this will impact the our cost of variable rate debt. We will also need to consider new contracts and whether the contracts should reference an alternative benchmark rate or include suggested fallback language, as published by the Alternative Reference Rates Committee. The consequences of these developments with respect to LIBOR cannot be entirely predicted and span multiple future periods but could result in an increase in the cost of our variable rate debt which may be detrimental to our financial position or operating results.

We rely on a small number of key vendors, and do not have long-term supply or guaranteed price agreements or assurance of stock availability with our vendors.

A substantial portion of our revenue within our technology segment depends on a small number of key vendors. Products manufactured by Cisco Systems represented approximately 40%, 42%, and 42% of our technology segment net sales for the years ended March 31, 2020, 2019, and 2018, respectively. Products manufactured by NetApp, Hewlett Packard, Juniper Networks, Dell/EMC, and Arista Networks, represented approximately 21% - 24% of technology segment net sales for the last three years. Risks related to the COVID-19 pandemic or other health crisis could also lead to the complete or partial closure of one or more of the operations of our sourcing partners, resulting in disruptions of our supply chain or distribution channels. The ultimate extent of the impact of any epidemic, pandemic or other health crisis on our business, financial condition and results of operations will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted; including new information that may emerge concerning the severity of the current COVID-19 pandemic and actions taken to contain or prevent its further spread, among others. If we experience significant supply chain disruptions, we may not be able to develop alternate sourcing quickly on favorable terms, if at all, which could result in increased costs, loss of sales and a loss of customers, and adversely impact our financial condition and results of operations.

Our industry frequently experiences periods of product shortages from our vendors or our vendors’ distributors as a result of our vendors’ difficulties in projecting demand for certain products we sell; additional trade law provisions or regulations; additional duties, tariffs or other charges on imports or exports; natural disasters affecting our suppliers’ facilities; and significant labor disputes. As we do not stock inventory that is not related to an order we have received from our customer, we depend upon the supply of products available from our vendors to fulfill orders from our customers on a timely basis. The loss of, or change in business relationship with, any of these or any other key vendor partners, the diminished availability of their products, or backlogs for their products leading to manufacturer allocation could reduce the supply and increase the cost of products we sell and negatively impact our competitive position.

The loss of a key vendor or changes in its policies could adversely impact our financial results. Violations of a contract that results in either the termination of our ability to sell the product or a decrease in our certification level with the vendor could adversely impact our financial results. In addition, a reduction in the trade credit lines or the favorable terms granted to us by our vendors and financial partners could increase our need for and cost of working capital and have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

We depend on third-party companies to perform certain of our obligations to our customers, which if not performed adequately could cause significant disruption to our business.

We rely on arrangements with third-parties to perform certain professional services, staffing services, managed services, warranties, configuration services, and other services for our customers. If these third-parties do not perform these in accordance with the terms of our agreement and of a professional standard customary for the services, or if they cause disruption of or security weaknesses in our customers’ businesses, results to our organization could include legal claims and associated costs, monetary damages paid to our customers, and an adverse effect on our customer relationships, our brand, and our reputation, and our results of operations or cash flows could be affected.

We rely on independent shipping companies to deliver products from us and our vendors to our customers. The failure or inability of these shipping companies to deliver products, or the unavailability of their shipping services, even temporarily, could have an adverse effect on our business. We may also be adversely affected by an increase in freight surcharges that may result from economic, supply-chain, geopolitical, or other disruptions.

COVID-19 has disrupted shipping lanes globally due to a variety of issues including significantly less air transportation, Stay at Home orders which affect port operations or other carrier operations, shippers’ prioritization of packages needed to combat COVID-19, and shippers’ employees becoming ill with the virus. In addition, governmental containment actions including Stay at Home orders may impact third-parties to perform services for our customers.

We may incorrectly import or export products when shipping to and from different countries. Violation of trade laws may disrupt our international operations negatively or impair our reputation or we may incur monetary damage. Violation of trade laws may also result in audits, fines, penalties, litigation, or administrative enforcement actions with associated costs.

Changes in the IT industry, customers’ usage or procurement of IT, and/or rapid changes in product standards may result in reduced demand for the IT hardware and software solutions and services we sell.

Our results of operations are influenced by a variety of factors, including the condition of the IT industry, shifts in demand for, or availability of, IT hardware, software, peripherals and services, and industry introductions of new products, upgrades, methods of distribution, and the nature of how IT is consumed and procured. The IT industry is characterized by rapid technological change and the frequent introduction of new products, product enhancements and new distribution methods or channels, each of which can decrease demand for current products or render them obsolete. In addition, the proliferation of cloud technology, IaaS, SaaS, platform as a service (“PaaS”), software defined networking, or other emerging technologies may reduce the demand for products and services we sell to our customers. Cloud offerings may influence our customers to move workloads to cloud providers, which may reduce the procurement of products and services from us. Changes in the IT industry may also affect the demand for our advanced professional and managed services. We have invested a significant amount of capital in our strategy to provide certain products and services, and this strategy may adversely impact our financial position due to competition or changes in the industry or improper focus or selection of the products and services we decide to offer. If we fail to react in a timely manner to such changes, our results of operations may be adversely affected. Our sales can be dependent on demand for specific product categories, and any change in demand for or supply of such products could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.

We depend on continued innovations in hardware, software and services offerings by our vendors, as well as the competitiveness of their offerings and our ability to partner with new and emerging technology providers.

The technology industry is characterized by rapid innovation and the frequent introduction of new and enhanced hardware, software and services offerings, such as cloud-based solutions, including IaaS, SaaS and PaaS. We depend on innovations in hardware, software and services offerings by our vendors, as well as the acceptance of those innovations by our customers for the offerings we sell. A decrease in the rate of innovation by our vendors, or the lack of acceptance of innovations by our customers, or a shift by customers to technology platforms that we do not sell could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations or cash flows.

In addition, if we are unable to keep up with changes in technology and new hardware, software and services offerings––for example by not providing the appropriate training to our account managers, sales technology specialists and engineers to enable them to effectively sell and deliver such new offerings to customers––our business, results of operations or cash flows could be adversely affected.

We also depend upon our vendors for the development and marketing of hardware, software and services to compete effectively with hardware, software and services of vendors whose products and services we do not currently offer or are not authorized to offer in one or more customer channels. In addition, our success depends on our ability to develop relationships with and sell hardware, software and services and emerging vendors, as well as vendors that we have not historically represented in the marketplace. To the extent that a vendor’s offering that is highly in demand is not available to us for resale in one or more customer channels, and there is not a competitive offering from another vendor that we are authorized to sell in such customer channels, or we are unable to develop relationships with new technology providers or companies that we have not historically represented, or we partner with a vendor that is not in demand or the demand for whose products significantly decreases, our business, results of operations, or cash flows could be adversely impacted.

We may fail to innovate or create new solutions which align with changing market and customer demand.

As a provider of a comprehensive set of solutions, which involves the offering of bundled solutions consisting of direct IT sales, advanced professional and managed services, our propriety software, and financing, we expect to encounter some of the challenges, risks, difficulties, and uncertainties frequently encountered by companies providing bundled solutions in rapidly evolving markets. Some of these challenges include our ability to increase the total number of users of our services, adapt to meet changes in our markets and competitive developments, or continue to update our technology to enhance the features and functionality of our suite of products. Our personnel must continually stay current with vendor and marketplace technology advancements, create solutions which may integrate evolving vendor products and services as well as services and solutions we provide, to meet changing marketplace and customer demand. Further, we may provide customized solutions and services that are solely reliant on our own marketing, design and fulfillment services, and we may lack the skills or personnel to execute or COVID-19 may impact our ability to innovate due to travel restrictions, staff availability, or closed lab or data center locations. Our failure to innovate and provide bespoke value to our customers may erode our competitive position, market share and lead to reduce revenue and financial performance.

In the software market, a number of companies market business-to-business electronic commerce solutions similar to ours, and competitors are adapting their product offerings to a SaaS platform. We may not be able to compete successfully against current or future competitors, and competitive pressures faced by us may harm our business, operating results, or financial condition. We also face indirect competition from customers’ potential internal development efforts and have to overcome customers’ potential reluctance to move away from legacy systems and processes.

In all of our markets, some of our competitors have longer operating histories and greater financial, technical, marketing, and other resources than we do. In addition, some of these competitors may be able to respond more quickly to new or changing opportunities, technologies, and customer requirements. Many current competitors may have, and potential competitors may have, greater name recognition, engage in more extensive promotional marketing and advertising activities, offer more attractive terms to customers, and adopt more aggressive pricing and credit policies than we do. We may not be successful in achieving revenue growth and may incur additional costs associated with our software products, which may have a material adverse effect on our future operating results as a whole.

We may experience a reduction in incentives offered to us and earned by us from our vendors that would affect our earnings.

We receive payments and credits from vendors, including consideration pursuant to volume incentive programs, shared marketing expense programs, and early pay discounts. These programs are usually of finite terms and may not be renewed or may be changed in a way that adversely affects us. Vendor funding is used to offset inventory costs, costs of goods sold, marketing costs and other operating expenses. Certain of these funds are based on our volume of purchases, growth rate of purchases, and marketing programs. If we do not grow our sales over prior periods, or if we do not comply with the terms of these programs, or do not sell certain products that earn the incentive, there could be a material negative effect on the amount of incentives offered or paid to us by vendors. COVID-19 may affect our ability to meet these volume requirements and may affect our and our vendors’ ability to engage in marketing programs. We may not continue to receive such incentives or may not be able to collect outstanding amounts relating to these incentives in a timely manner, or at all. Any sizeable reduction in, the discontinuance of, a significant delay in receiving, or the inability to collect such incentives, particularly related to incentive programs with our largest vendors, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. If we are unable to react timely to any fundamental changes in the programs of vendors, including the elimination of funding for some of the activities for which we have been compensated in the past, such changes could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

We may not have designed or maintained our IT systems or have adequate or competent IT personnel to support our business.

We depend heavily upon the accuracy and reliability of our information, telecommunication, cybersecurity and other systems which are used for customer management, sales, distribution, marketing, purchasing, inventory management, order processing and fulfillment, customer service and general accounting functions. We must continually maintain, secure and improve our systems. The protections we have in place address a variety of threats to our information technology systems, both internal and external, including human error. Inadequate security practices or design of our IT systems, or IT systems from third-parties which we utilize, or third-party service providers’ failure to provide adequate services could result in the disclosure of sensitive or confidential information or personal information or cause other business interruptions that could damage our reputation and disrupt our business. Inadequate design or interruption of our information systems, Internet availability, telecommunications systems or power failures could have a material adverse effect on our business, our reputation, financial condition, cash flows, or results of operations.

As a high percentage of our workforce is currently working from home as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are highly reliant on the availability and functionality of our information systems to enable our operations. Working from home may increase risk of data loss, including privacy-related events. If our information systems are not operational for reasons which may include cyber security attacks, data center failures, failures by telecom providers to provide services to our business and to our employees’ homes, power failures, or failures of off-premise software such as SaaS based software, our business and financial results may be adversely impacted.

Our managed services business requires us to monitor our customers’ devices on their networks across varying levels of service. If we have not designed our IT systems to provide this service accurately or if there is a security breach in our IT system or the customers’ systems, we may be liable for claims. In addition, we rely on our managed services personnel to perform this service. Illness, including from COVID-19, or improper training, performance or supervision may negatively affect the services we provide our customers resulting in decreased revenue and the potential for litigation.

We rely on the competency of our internal IT personnel. Our failure to hire, develop, retain, and supervise competent IT personnel to secure our data, or design and maintain resilient technology systems including our data and voice networks, infrastructure, and applications, could significantly interrupt our business causing a negative impact on our results.

Rising interest rates or the loss of key lenders or the constricting of credit markets may affect our future profitability and our ability to monetize our financing investments.

We finance transactions with our customers utilizing fix-rate borrowing. If we fund such transactions at inception with a third-party lender, we are able to lock an interest rate spread on the transaction between the customer rate and third-party rate. However, we may delay funding the transaction, and if interest rates increase in the interim, the interest rate spread will decrease, which will adversely impact our profitability, or we may not choose to fund the transaction due to higher interest rates, thus inhibiting our ability to monetize our portfolio to generate cash.

We rely on lenders to fund financing transactions we originate with our customers. Loss of any lender or group of lenders may significantly impact our ability to originate financing transactions, which may negatively impact our financial condition. In addition, our lenders may no longer be willing to provide funding under our current terms and conditions and may demand new terms and conditions that negatively impact our ability to consummate a financing transaction with our customers. We are also subject to changes, if any, in our lenders’ willingness to provide financing for different, particularly lower, credit quality lessees.

COVID-19 has resulted in a tightened credit market, which may impede our ability to fund on a recourse or non-recourse basis certain of our lesser credit quality customers or other general customers. This may result in less earnings, use of our own cash, or lesser credit quality in our financing portfolio.

Breaches of data security and the failure to protect our information technology systems from cybersecurity threats could adversely impact our business.

Our business involves the storage and transmission of proprietary information and sensitive or confidential data, including personal information of our employees, customers and others. In addition, we operate data centers for our customers that host their technology infrastructure and may store and transmit both business-critical data and confidential information. In connection with our services business, some of our employees also have access to our customers’ confidential data and other information. We have privacy and data security policies in place that are designed to prevent security breaches; however, as newer technologies evolve, and the portfolio of the service providers with whom we share confidential information grows, we could be exposed to increased risk of breaches in security and other illegal or fraudulent acts, including cyberattacks. The evolving nature of such threats, in light of new and sophisticated methods used by criminals and cyberterrorists, including computer viruses, malware, phishing, misrepresentation, social engineering and forgery, are making it increasingly challenging to anticipate and adequately mitigate these risks.

As a result of COVID-19, a high percentage of our employees are working from home. As a result of employees’ desire to remain up-to-date on the virus and its impacts, there may be increased risks relating to cyber security in the form of malware, hacking or phishing schemes, as criminals and cyberterrorists attempt to steal passwords, cookies, and other sensitive data. In addition, the vulnerability of our employees’ home network may also increase this risk.

We may be required to take impairment charges for goodwill or other intangible assets related to acquisitions.

We have acquired certain portions of our business and assets through acquisitions. Further, as part of our long-term business strategy, we may continue to pursue acquisitions of other companies or assets. In connection with prior acquisitions, we have accounted for the portion of the purchase price paid in excess of the book value of the assets acquired as goodwill or intangible assets, and we may be required to account for similar premiums paid on future acquisitions in the same manner.

Under the applicable accounting principles, goodwill is not amortized and is carried on our books at its original value, subject to annual review and evaluation for impairment, whereas intangible assets are amortized over the life of the asset. Changes in the business itself, the economic environment (including business valuation levels and trends), or the legislative or regulatory environment may trigger a review and evaluation of our goodwill and intangible assets for potential impairment outside of the normal review periods. These changes may adversely affect either the fair value of the business or our individual reporting units and we may be required to take an impairment charge.

If market and economic conditions deteriorate as a result of COVID-19 or otherwise, this could increase the likelihood that we will need to record impairment charges to the extent the carrying value of our goodwill exceeds the fair value of our overall business. Such impairment charges could materially adversely affect our net earnings during the period in which the charge is taken. As of March 31, 2020, we had goodwill and other intangible assets of $118.1 million and $34.5 million, respectively.

We may not be able to realize our entire investment in the equipment we lease.

The realization of the residual value of the equipment we lease, predominantly at the end of the term of a lease, as well as during the life of the lease, is an important element in our financing segment. At the inception of certain leases, we record a residual value for the leased equipment based on our estimate of the value of the equipment at the expected disposition date.

A decrease in the market value of leased equipment at a rate greater than the rate we projected, whether due to rapid technological or economic obsolescence, excessive or unusual wear and tear on the equipment, or other factors, would adversely affect the recoverability of the estimated residual values of such equipment. Further, certain equipment residual values are dependent on the vendor’s warranties, reputation, rules regarding relicensing of software to operate the equipment, and other factors, including market liquidity. In addition, we may not realize the full market value of equipment if we are required to sell it to meet liquidity needs or for other reasons outside of the ordinary course of business. Consequently, there can be no assurance that we will realize our estimated residual values for equipment.

The degree of residual realization risk varies by transaction type. Sales-type leases bear less risk because contractual payments typically cover 90% or more of the equipment’s lease cost at inception. Operating leases have a higher degree of risk because a smaller percentage of the equipment’s value is covered by contractual cash flows at lease inception.

The impact of COVID-19 may affect the fair value of our assets on lease and result in an impairment, loss or write off.

Our earnings may fluctuate, which could adversely affect the price of our common stock.

Our earnings are susceptible to fluctuations for a number of reasons, including, but not limited to, the risk factors discussed herein. In the event our sales or net earnings are less than the level expected by the market in general, such shortfall could have an immediate and significant adverse impact on the market price of our common stock.

Failure to comply with new laws or changes to existing laws may adversely impact our business.

Our operations are subject to numerous US and foreign laws and regulations in a number of areas including, but not limited to, areas of labor and employment, immigration, advertising, e-commerce, tax, import and export requirements, anti-corruption, data privacy requirements, anti-competition, and environmental, health, and safety. Compliance with these laws, regulations, and similar requirements may be onerous and expensive, and they may be inconsistent from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, further increasing the cost of compliance and doing business, and the risk of noncompliance. We have implemented policies and procedures designed to help comply with applicable laws and regulations, but there can be no certainty that against employees, contractors, or agents will fully comply with laws and regulations or our policies and procedures.

In addition, many countries and state and local governments have issued Stay at Home orders to combat COVID-19. These orders may mandate or recommend office closures, telework, or health or safety actions, such as social distancing in the workplace, masks or health screening. The orders frequently change, and each order is different and must be interpreted and applied to the jurisdiction. Additional risk may arise from these orders as they are lifted or changed which may include infections in our employee base, office closures, closures at customers sites, and additional Stay at Home orders or mandated or recommended safety actions. Additionally, a large number of employment related regulations, such as leave and accommodation matters, have been issued by federal, state, and local governments. These regulations continue to undergo revisions. We may fail to interpret or follow the regulations or orders properly which may result in sanction, penalties, fines or litigation.

We face substantial competition from other companies.

In our technology segment, we compete in all areas of our business against local, regional, national, and international firms, including other direct marketers; national and regional resellers; online marketplace competitors; and regional, national, and international service providers. In addition, we face competition from vendors, which may choose to market their products directly to end-users, rather than through channel partners such as our company, and this could adversely affect our future sales. Many competitors compete based principally on price and may have lower costs or accept lower selling prices than we do and, therefore, our gross margins may not be maintainable. Online marketplace competitors are continually improving their pricing and offerings to customers as well as ease of use of their online marketplaces. Our competitors may offer better or different products and services than we offer. In addition, we do not have guaranteed purchasing volume commitments from our customers and, therefore, our sales volume may be volatile.

In our financing segment, we face competition from many sources including much larger companies with greater financial resources. Our competition may originate from vendors of the products we finance or financial partners who choose to market directly to customers through the vendors’ captive leasing organization or large or regional financial institutions such as banks with substantially lower cost of funds. Our competition may lower lease rates to increase market share.

We may be liable for misuse of our customers’ or employees’ information.

Third-parties, such as hackers, could circumvent or sabotage the security practices and products used in our product and service offerings, and/or the security practices or products used in our internal IT systems, which could result in disclosure of sensitive or personal information, unauthorized procurement, or other business interruptions that could damage our reputation and disrupt our business. Attacks may range from random attempts to coordinated and targeted attacks, including sophisticated computer crime and advanced persistent threats.

As a high percentage of our employees are currently working from home as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are highly reliant on the availability and functionality of our information systems to enable for our operations. Working from home may increase risk of data loss, including privacy-related events. If our information systems are not operational for reasons which may include cyber security attacks, data center failures, failures by telecom providers to provide services to our business and to our employees’ homes, power failures, or failures of off-premise software such as SaaS based software, our business and financial results may be adversely impacted.

If third-parties or our employees are able to maliciously penetrate our network security or otherwise misappropriate our customers’ information or employees’ personal information, or other information for which our customers may be responsible and for which we agree to be responsible in connection with service contracts into which we may enter, or if we give third-parties or our employees improper access to certain information, we could be subject to liability. This liability could include claims for unauthorized access to devices on our network; unauthorized access to our customers’ networks, hardware, applications, data, devices, or software; unauthorized purchases with credit card information; and identity theft or other similar fraud-related claims. This liability could also include claims for other misuses of or inappropriate access to personal information. Other liability could include claims alleging misrepresentation of our privacy and data security practices. Any such liability for misappropriation of this information could decrease our profitability. In addition, federal and state agencies have been investigating various companies regarding whether they misused or inadequately secured information. We could incur additional expenses when new laws or regulations regarding the use, safeguarding, or privacy of information are enacted, or if governmental agencies require us to substantially modify our privacy or security practices. We could fail to comply with international and domestic data privacy laws, the violation of which may result in audits, fines, penalties, litigation, or administrative enforcement actions with associated costs.

Advances in computer capabilities, new discoveries in the field of cryptography, or other events or developments may result in a compromise or breach of the security practices we use to protect sensitive customer transaction information and employee information. A party who is able to circumvent our security measures could misappropriate proprietary information or cause interruptions in our operations. Further, third parties may attempt to fraudulently induce employees or customers into disclosing sensitive information such as user-names, passwords, or other information or otherwise compromise the security of our internal networks and/or our customers’ information. Since techniques used to obtain unauthorized access change frequently and the size and severity of security breaches are increasing, we may be unable to implement adequate preventative measures or timely identify or stop security breaches while they are occurring.

We may be required to expend significant capital and other resources to protect against security breaches or to remediate the subsequent risks and issues caused by such breaches. Our security measures are designed to protect against security breaches, but our failure to prevent such security breaches could cause us to incur significant expense to investigate and respond to a security breach and remediate any problems caused by any breach, subject us to liability, damage our reputation, and diminish the value of our brand. There can be no assurance that the limitations of liability in our contracts would be enforceable or adequate or would otherwise protect us from any such liabilities or damages with respect to any particular claim. We also cannot be sure that our existing insurance coverage for errors and omissions or security breaches will continue to be available on acceptable terms or in sufficient amounts to cover one or more large claims, or that our insurers will not deny coverage as to any future claim. The successful assertion of one or more large claims against us that exceeds our available insurance coverage, or changes in our insurance policies, including premium increases or the imposition of large deductible or co-insurance requirements, could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We may not adequately protect ourselves through our contract vehicles, or our insurance policies may not be adequate to address potential losses or claims.

Our contracts may not protect us against the risks inherent in our business including, but not limited to, warranties, limitations of liability, indemnification obligations, human resources and subcontractor-related claims, patent and product liability, regulatory and compliance obligations, data security and privacy, and financing activities. Also, we face pressure from our customers for competitive pricing and contract terms. In addition, order cancellations by our customers may result from COVID-19 or the economic consequences thereof. If orders are cancelled and the equipment has shipped to us, we may have an increased risk of dispute resulting in non-payment. Such disputes may be complicated by novel legal arguments relating to contract enforceability, such as the application of force majeure, impossibility or impracticability of performance, and frustration of purpose. Despite the non-recourse nature of the loans financing certain of our activities, non-recourse lenders may file suit if the underlying transaction turns out poorly for the lenders. We are subject to such claims and the cost of defending such claims due to the nature of our business.

We also are subject to audits by various vendor partners and customers, including government agencies, relating to purchases and sales under various contracts. In addition, we are subject to indemnification claims under various contracts.

Failure to comply with our public-sector contracts or applicable laws and regulations could result in, among other things, termination, fines or other liabilities, and changes in procurement regulations could adversely impact our business.

Revenues in our public sector are derived from sales to SLED customers, through various contracts and open market sales of products and services. Sales to SLED customers are highly regulated. Noncompliance with contract provisions, government procurement regulations, or other applicable laws or regulations could result in civil, criminal, and administrative liability, including substantial monetary fines or damages, termination of SLED sector customer contracts, and suspension, debarment, or ineligibility from doing business with the government and other customers in the SLED sector. Contracts in the SLED sector are generally terminable at any time for convenience of the contracting agency or upon default and are subject to audits. In addition, most contracts require successfully bidding and award of the contract. These bid processes can be complex and require extensive review of terms and conditions and data compilation. Multiple bidders may win a product category, which creates aggressive competition even after contract award. The effect of any of these possible actions could adversely affect our business, results of operations or cash flows. In addition, the adoption of new or modified procurement regulations and other requirements may increase our compliance costs and reduce our gross margins, which could have a negative effect on our business, results of operations, or cash flows.

Loss of services by any of our executive officers or senior management and/or failure to successfully implement a succession plan could adversely affect our business.

The loss of the services by our executive officers or senior management and/or failure to successfully implement a succession plan could disrupt management of our business and impair the execution of our business strategies. We believe that our success depends in part upon our ability to retain the services of our executive officers and senior management and successfully implement a succession plan. Our executive officers are at the forefront in determining our strategic direction and focus. The loss of our executive officers’ and senior management’s services without replacement by qualified successors could adversely affect our ability to manage effectively our overall operations and successfully execute current or future business strategies, and could cause other instability within our workforce

We may not be able to hire and/or retain personnel that we need.

To increase market awareness and sales of our offerings, we may need to expand our marketing efforts and sales operations in the future. Our products and services require a sophisticated sales effort and significant technical engineering talent. For example, our sales and engineering candidates must have highly technical hardware and software knowledge to create a customized solution for our customers’ business processes. Competition for qualified sales, marketing and engineering personnel fluctuates depending on market conditions. Prior to COVID-19, the US was in a low unemployment environment which resulted in difficulties in hiring or retaining sufficient personnel to maintain and grow our business. COVID-19 has resulted in significant unemployment; however, we are uncertain as to the duration and severity of this impact on the employment environment in the future, or how that environment will impact our workforce.

In addition, changes to immigration laws, prior to, because of, and subsequent to COVID-19, may impact our ability to hire or retain talent. Frequently, our competitors require their employees to agree to non-compete and non-solicitation agreements as part of their employment. This makes it more difficult for us to hire and increases our costs by reviewing and managing non-compete restrictions. Additionally, in some cases our relationship with a customer may be impacted by turnover in our sales or engineering team.

Our results of operations are subject to fluctuations in foreign currency.

We have several foreign subsidiaries and conduct business in various countries and currencies. As result of these foreign operations, we have exposure to fluctuations in foreign currency rates resulting primarily from the translation exposure associated with the preparation of our consolidated financial statements. While our consolidated financial statements are reported in US dollars, the financial statements of our subsidiaries outside the US are prepared using the local currency as the functional currency and translated into US dollars. As a result, fluctuations in the exchange rate of the US dollar relative to the functional currencies of our subsidiaries could cause fluctuations in our results of operations. Our operations in our foreign countries is insignificant. We also have foreign currency exposure to the extent net sales and purchases are not denominated in a subsidiary’s functional currency, which could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or cash flows.

COVID-19 has had an effect on the global economy and as such may have or continue to have an effect on currency valuations which may cause currency losses for us.

Changes in accounting standards, or the misapplication of current accounting standards, may adversely affect our future financial results.

We prepare our financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the US These accounting principles are subject to interpretation by the Financial Accounting Standards Board, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, the SEC, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (“AICPA”) and various other bodies formed to interpret and create appropriate accounting policies. Future periodic assessments required by current or new accounting standards may result in noncash charges and/or changes in presentation or disclosure. In addition, any change in accounting standards may influence our customers’ decision to purchase from us or finance transactions with us, which could have a significant adverse effect on our financial position or results of operations.

We are required to determine if we are the principal or agent in all transactions with our customers. The voluminous number of products and services we sell, and the manner in which they are bundled, are technologically complex. Mischaracterization of these products and services could result in misapplication of revenue recognition polices. We use estimates where necessary, such as the fair value of assets acquired, and liabilities assumed in a business combination, the analysis for goodwill impairment, allowance for doubtful accounts and the cost to perform professional and managed services, which require judgment and are based on best available information. If we are unable to accurately estimate the cost of these services or the timeline for completion of contracts, the profitability of our contracts may be materially and adversely affected.

If we fail to perform sufficient due diligence prior to completing an acquisition, or entering into a strategic alliance, or fail to integrate a completed acquisition our earnings may be affected.

Our ability to successfully integrate the operations we acquire, reduce costs, or leverage these operations to generate revenue and earnings growth, could significantly impact future revenue and earnings. Integrating acquired operations is a significant challenge, may divert management’s attention from other business concerns, and there is no assurance that we will be able to manage the integrations successfully. Failure to successfully integrate acquired operations may adversely affect our cost structure thereby reducing our gross margins and return on investment. In addition, we may fail to perform adequate due diligence and acquire entities with unknown liabilities, fraud, cultural or business environment issues, or that may not have adequate internal controls as may be required by law.

If we acquire a company that does not fit culturally, strategically, or in some other fashion, the acquisition may not produce the expected results or may negatively affect our reputation, which may negatively affect our business, results of operations, or cash flows. The unpredictability of the economic impact of COVID-19 will also make it difficult to properly value or anticipate the future success of acquisition targets and impact our overall growth strategy.

To the extent the value of goodwill or identifiable assets with indefinite lives becomes impaired; we may be required to incur material charges relating to the impairment of those assets.

If we publish inaccurate catalog content data, our business could suffer.

Any defects or errors in our electronic catalog content data could harm our customers or deter businesses from participating in our offerings, damage our business reputation, harm our ability to attract new customers, and potentially expose us to liability. In addition, from time to time vendors who provide us electronic catalog data could submit to us inaccurate pricing or other catalog data. Even though such inaccuracies are not caused by us and are outside of our control, such inaccuracies could deter current and potential customers from using our products or result in inaccurate pricing to our customers.

If our proprietary software products contain defects, our business could suffer.

Products as complex as those used to provide our electronic commerce solutions or cloud automation solutions, such as scripts, often contain unknown and undetected errors, performance problems, or use open source code. We may have serious defects immediately following introduction of new products or enhancements to existing products. Undetected errors or performance problems may be discovered in the future and certain errors we consider to be minor may be serious to our customers. Our software products, or automation solutions, may be circumvented or sabotaged by third-parties such as hackers, which could result in the disclosure of sensitive information or personal information, unauthorized procurement, or cause other business interruptions that could damage our reputation and disrupt our business. Attacks may range from random attempts to coordinated and targeted attacks, including sophisticated computer crime and advanced persistent threats. In addition, our customers may experience a loss in connectivity to our proprietary software solutions because of a power loss at our data center, Internet interruption, or defects in our software. This could result in lost revenues, delays in customer acceptance, security breaches, and unforeseen liabilities that would be detrimental to our reputation and to our business.

We face risks of claims from third-parties for intellectual property infringement, including counterfeit products, that could harm our business.

We may be subject to claims that our products and services, or products that we resell, infringe on the intellectual property rights of third parties and/or are counterfeit products. The vendor of certain products or services we resell may not provide us with indemnification for infringement or indemnification; however, our customers may seek indemnification from us. We could incur substantial costs in defending infringement claims against ourselves and our customers. In the event such claims, we and our customers may be required to obtain one or more licenses from third parties. We may not be able to obtain such licenses from third parties at a reasonable cost or at all. Defense of any lawsuit or failure to obtain any such required license could significantly increase our expenses and/or adversely affect our ability to offer one or more of our services.

We may be unable to protect our intellectual property and costs to protect our intellectual property may affect our earnings.

The success of our business strategy depends, in part, upon proprietary technology and other intellectual property rights. To date, we have relied primarily on a combination of copyright, trademark, and trade secret laws, and contractual provisions with our customers, subcontractors and employees to protect our proprietary technology. It may be possible for unauthorized third parties to copy certain portions of our products or reverse engineer or obtain and use information that we regard as proprietary. Some of our agreements with our customers and technology licensors contain residual clauses regarding confidentiality and the rights of third parties to obtain the source code for our products. These provisions may limit our ability to protect our intellectual property rights in the future that could seriously harm our business and operating results. Our means of protecting our intellectual property rights may not be adequate.

The legal and associated costs to protect our intellectual property may significantly increase our expenses and have a material adverse effect on our operating results. We may deem it necessary to protect our intellectual property rights and significant expenses could be incurred with no certainty of the results of these potential actions. Costs relative to lawsuits are usually expensed in the periods incurred and there is no certainty in recouping any of the amounts expended regardless of the outcome of any action.

If securities analysts do not publish research or reports about our company, or if they issue unfavorable commentary about us or our industry or downgrade our common stock, the price of our common stock could decline.

The trading market for our common stock depends in part on the research and reports that third-party securities analysts publish about us and our industry. One or more analysts could downgrade our common stock, or issue other negative commentary about us or our industry. If one or more of the analysts that publish research about us cease coverage, we could lose visibility in the market or such discontinuance may be viewed negatively by the market. As a result of one or more of these factors, the trading price of our common stock could decline.

Future offerings of debt or equity securities, which would rank senior to our common stock, may adversely affect the market price of our common stock.

If, in the future, we decide to issue debt or equity securities that rank senior to our common stock, it is likely that such securities will be governed by an indenture or other instrument containing covenants restricting our operating flexibility. Additionally, any convertible or exchangeable securities that we issue in the future may have rights, preferences and privileges more favorable than those of our common stock and may result in dilution to owners of our common stock. We and, indirectly, our stockholders, will bear the cost of issuing and servicing such securities. Because our decision to issue debt or equity securities in any future offering will depend on market conditions and other factors beyond our control, we cannot predict or estimate the amount, timing, or nature of our future offerings, if any. Thus, holders of our common stock will bear the risk of our future offerings reducing the market price of our common stock and diluting the value of their stock holdings in our common stock.

None.

As of March 31, 2020, we lease space for 38 offices or warehouses. Our total leased square footage as of March 31, 2020, was approximately 321 thousand square feet for which we incurred rent expense of approximately $529 thousand per month. Some of our subsidiaries operate in shared office space to support sales, marketing activities and produce cost efficiency. Some sales and technical service personnel work from either home offices or at customer sites.

Our largest office location is in Herndon, Virginia. The lease contract terminates on December 31, 2022.

Not Applicable

PART II

MARKET INFORMATION

At March 31, 2020, our common stock traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol “PLUS.”

On May 21, 2020, there were approximately 133 stockholders of record of our common stock, although there is a much larger number of beneficial owners.

DIVIDEND POLICIES AND RESTRICTIONS

We did not pay any cash dividends on our common stock during the fiscal years ended March 31, 2020, and 2019. Holders of our common stock are entitled to dividends if and when declared by our Board of Directors (“Board”), out of funds legally available. Generally, we have retained our earnings for use in the business. We currently intend to retain future earnings to fund ongoing operations and finance the growth and development of our business. Any future determination concerning the payment of dividends will depend upon our financial condition, results of operations, capital requirements and any other factors deemed relevant by our Board.

PURCHASES OF OUR COMMON STOCK

The following table provides information regarding our purchases of ePlus inc. common stock during the fiscal year ended March 31, 2020.

The following selected financial data should be read in conjunction with “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and with the consolidated financial statements and related notes, which are included elsewhere in this Form 10-K. The selected consolidated statement of operations data for the years ended March 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018 and the selected consolidated balance sheet data as of March 31, 2020, and 2019 presented below was derived from our audited consolidated financial statements, which are included elsewhere herein. On March 31, 2017, we completed a two-for-one stock split in the form of a stock dividend. Per share amounts have been retroactively adjusted for this stock split.

The selected financial data as of and for the years ended March 31, 2017, and 2016 have been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements, which are not included in this report.

Other Financial Data:

Our management monitors several financial and non-financial measures and ratios on a regular basis to track the progress of our business. We believe that the most important of these measures and ratios include net sales, gross margin, operating income margin, net earnings, net earnings per common share, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA margin, adjusted gross billings, and non-GAAP net earnings per share. We use a variety of operating and other information to evaluate the operating performance of our business, develop financial forecasts, make strategic decisions, and prepare and approve annual budgets.

These key indicators include financial information that is prepared in accordance with US GAAP and presented in our unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements, as well as non-GAAP performance measurement tools. Generally, a non-GAAP financial measure is a numerical measure of a company’s performance or financial position that either excludes or includes amounts that are not normally excluded or included in the most directly comparable measure calculated and presented in accordance with US GAAP. Non-GAAP measures used by management may differ from similar measures used by other companies, even when similar terms are used to identify such measures.

Our key business metrics are as follows (dollars in thousands):

We use non-GAAP net earnings per common share as a supplemental measure of our performance to gain insight into our operating performance. We believe that the exclusion of other income and acquisition related amortization expense in calculating non-GAAP net earnings per common share provides management and investors a useful measure for period-to-period comparisons of our business and operating results by excluding items that management believes are not reflective of our underlying operating performance. Accordingly, we believe that non-GAAP net earnings per common share provide useful information to investors and others in understanding and evaluating our operating results. However, our use of non-GAAP information as analytical tools has limitations, and you should not consider them in isolation or as substitutes for analysis of our financial results as reported under GAAP. In addition, other companies, including companies in our industry, might calculate similar non-GAAP net earnings and non-GAAP net earnings per common share or similarly titled measures differently, which may reduce their usefulness as comparative measures.

We use Adjusted EBITDA as a supplemental measure of our performance to gain insight into our operating performance. We believe that the exclusion of other income in calculating Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin provides management and investors a useful measure for period-to-period comparisons of our business and operating results by excluding items that management believes are not reflective of our underlying operating performance. Accordingly, we believe that Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin provide useful information to investors and others in understanding and evaluating our operating results. However, our use of Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin as analytical tools has limitations, and you should not consider them in isolation or as substitutes for analysis of our financial results as reported under GAAP. In addition, other companies, including companies in our industry, might calculate Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin or similarly titled measures differently, which may reduce their usefulness as comparative measures.

We use adjusted gross billings as a supplemental measure of our performance to gain insight into the volume of business generated by our technology segment, and to analyze the changes to our accounts receivable and accounts payable. Our use of adjusted gross billings as an analytical tool has limitations, and you should not consider them in isolation or as substitutes for analysis of our financial results as reported under US GAAP. In addition, other companies, including companies in our industry, might calculate adjusted gross billings or a similarly titled measure differently, which may reduce its usefulness as a comparative measure.

The following discussion and analysis of the financial condition and results of operations (“financial review”) of ePlus is intended to help investors understand our company and our operations. The financial review is provided as a supplement to, and should be read in conjunction with, the consolidated financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this report.

For a discussion of results for the year ended March 31, 2018, see “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended March 31, 2019, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 23, 2019.

EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW

Business Description

ePlus and its consolidated subsidiaries provide leading IT products and services, flexible leasing and financing solutions, and enterprise supply management to enable our customers to optimize their IT infrastructure and supply chain processes.

We design, implement and provide IT solutions for our customers. We are focused primarily on specialized IT segments including data center infrastructure, networking, security, cloud and collaboration. Our solutions incorporate hardware and software products from multiple leading IT vendors. As our customers’ IT requirements have grown increasingly complex, we have evolved our offerings by investing in our professional and managed services capabilities and by expanding our relationships with existing and emerging key vendors.

We continue to strengthen our relationships with vendors focused on emerging technologies, which have enabled us to provide our customers with new and evolving IT solutions. We are an authorized reseller of over 1,000 vendors, but primarily of approximately 100 vendors, including Check Point, Cisco Systems, Dell EMC, FireEye, F5 Networks, Gigamon, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Juniper, McAfee, NetApp, Nimble, Oracle, Palo Alto Networks, Pure Storage, Splunk, VMware, among many others. We possess top-level engineering certifications with a broad range of leading IT vendors that enable us to offer IT solutions that are optimized for each of our customers’ specific requirements. Our proprietary software solutions allow our customers to procure, control and automate their IT solutions environment.

COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic is having widespread, rapidly evolving, and unpredictable impacts on global society, economies, financial markets, and business practices. Governments and public health authorities have required measures to contain the virus, including social distancing, travel restrictions, border closures, limitations on public gatherings, work from home, supply chain logistical changes, and closure of non-essential businesses.

As COVID-19 impacts continue to expand across the country and globe, ePlus has been adjusting our business activities for the safety of our employees and to best serve our customers in this rapidly evolving environment.

ePlus has implemented a flexible work from home strategy applicable to all offices and our operational continuity plans ensure that we have sufficient resources to continue supporting our customers. For example, our managed service teams are distributed across the United States with the ability to leverage technology to provide seamless coverage from any combination of work and/or home offices. While ePlus and many of our customers and vendor partners have restricted travel, we are leveraging video and other collaborative tools to continue to be responsive.

Our account relationship teams are actively engaging with our customers, to ensure they have the support needed in adjusting to changes in the business environment and government directives. We are working closely with our partners to address varying impacts on their supply chain to satisfy infrastructure needs. ePlus has a resource page to support specific customer inquiries from security to collaboration to financing options.

We continue to execute against and adjust our business continuity plans to maximize our ability to support our employees and customers in concert with our partners. ePlus remains committed to driving positive business outcomes.

Financial Summary

During the year ended March 31, 2020, net sales increased 15.7% to $1,588.4 million, or an increase of $215.7 million compared to $1,372.7 million in the prior fiscal year. Product sales for the year ended March 31, 2020, increased 14.1% to $1,395.3 million, or an increase of $172.1 million compared to $1,223.2 million in the prior year. Services sales during the year ended March 31, 2020, increased 29.2% to $193.1 million, or an increase of $43.6 million, over prior year services sales of $149.5 million. There was a substantial increase in demand for products from our customers in the telecom, media and entertainment industries, and increases in the technology, SLED, healthcare, and all other category of customers, offset by a decrease in demand from financial services customers.

Adjusted gross billings increased by 16.1% to $2,227.9 million for the year ended March 31, 2020, compared to $1,919.0 million the prior fiscal year. The increase in adjusted gross billings was due to higher demand from our current customers, as well as from our acquisitions. Net sales increased at a slightly lower percentage than adjusted gross billings year over year due to a shift in mix to third party maintenance, software assurance, subscriptions/SaaS licenses, and services which we recognize revenue on a net basis.

Consolidated gross profit increased 18.4%, to $391.2 million, compared to $330.4 million in the prior fiscal year due to higher margins. Consolidated gross margin increased 50 basis points to 24.6% for the year ended March 31, 2020, compared to 24.1% for the year ended March 31, 2019. The increase in gross margin was due to expanded gross profit and margins of our financing segment, a shift in the technology segment revenue mix resulting from our continued focus on value added services for our customers, including the increase in sales of our professional and managed services, and sales of third-party maintenance agreements.

Operating income increased $15.7 million, or 19.8%, to $95.3 million and operating margin increased by 20 basis points to 6.0%, as compared to the year ended March 31, 2019. The increase in operating earnings was due to a year over year increase in gross profit partially offset by selling, general, and administrative expense increase of 17.8% or $42.1 million, due, in part to increases variable compensation, salaries, healthcare costs, office rent, and software license and maintenance, as well as full year expenses associated with the SLAIT acquisition in January 2019, and the ABS Technology acquisition in August 2019. As of March 31, 2020, we had 1,579 employees, an increase of 2.7% from 1,537 as of March 31, 2019. Depreciation and amortization expense increased $2.3 million, due to the acquisitions, and interest and financing costs increased $0.6 million, due to an increase in the average balance of non-recourse and recourse notes payable outstanding during the year.

Our effective tax rate for the year ended March 31, 2020, was 28.0%, compared to 26.7% for the same period in the prior year, due to a decrease in the tax benefit from the vesting of restricted stock. The higher tax rate had a negative effect on net earnings for the year ended March 31, 2020, of $1.2 million compared to the prior year tax rate.

Net earnings for the year ended March 31, 2020, increased 9.3% to $69.1 million, as compared to the year ended March 31, 2019. Net earnings for the year ended March 31, 2020, and 2019 included other income of $1.0 and $6.3 million from payments received from distributions from various legal claims.

Adjusted EBITDA for the year ended March 31, 2020, was $119.4 million, an increase of $18.9 million, or 18.9%, compared to $100.4 million in the prior year.

For the year ended March 31, 2020, diluted earnings per share were $5.15, an increase of $0.50, or 10.8%, compared to the prior year of $4.65 per diluted share. Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share was $6.13 for fiscal year 2020, an increase of $1.01, or 19.7%, from the prior year of $5.12 per diluted share.

Cash and cash equivalents increased $6.4 million, or 8.0%, to $86.2 million at March 31, 2020, compared to March 31, 2019. The increase is primarily the result of cash flows from operations and a $35 million balance on the accounts receivable component of our credit facility, which was partially offset by an increase in working capital required for the growth in our technology segment, and an increase in our cash conversion cycle, investments in our financing portfolio, and the repurchase of shares of our common stock for $14.4 million under our stock repurchase authorization in the year ended March 31, 2020. Our cash on hand, funds generated from operations, amounts available under our credit facility and the possible monetization of our investment portfolio have provided sufficient liquidity for our business.

The extent of the impact of COVID-19 is uncertain and may impact our liquidity position over the longer term. As credit markets have tightened as a result of COVID-19, we may have difficulty funding our financing transactions with lenders which may result in the use of our cash or a decrease in financing originations.

Segment Overview

Our operations are conducted through two segments: technology and financing.

Technology Segment

The technology segment derives revenue from sales of product, project related advanced professional services, managed services and staff augmentation. The technology segment sells primarily to corporate customers, state and local governments, and higher education institutions on a nationwide basis, with geographic concentrations relating to our physical locations. The technology segment also provides Internet-based business-to-business supply chain management solutions for information technology products.

Customers who purchase IT equipment and services from us may have customer master agreements, or CMAs, with our company, which stipulate the terms and conditions of the relationship. Some CMAs contain pricing arrangements, and most contain mutual voluntary termination clauses. Our other customers place orders using purchase orders without a CMA in place or with other documentation customary for the business. Often, our work with state and local governments is based on public bids and our written bid responses. Our service engagements are generally governed by statements of work and are primarily fixed price (with allowance for changes); however, some service agreements are based on time and materials.

We endeavor to minimize the cost of sales through incentive programs provided by vendors and distributors. The programs we qualify for are generally set by our reseller authorization level with the vendor. The authorization level we achieve and maintain governs the types of products we can resell as well as such items as pricing received, funds provided for the marketing of these products and other special promotions. These authorization levels are achieved by us through purchase volume, certifications held by sales executives or engineers and/or contractual commitments by us. The authorization levels are costly to maintain, and these programs continually change and, therefore, there is no guarantee of future reductions of costs provided by these vendor consideration programs.

Financing Segment

Our financing segment offers financing solutions to corporations, governmental entities, and educational institutions nationwide and in Canada, the UK, and several other European countries. The financing segment derives revenue from leasing IT and medical equipment and the disposition of that equipment at the end of the lease. The financing segment also derives revenues from the financing of third-party software licenses, software assurance, maintenance and other services.

Financing revenue generally falls into the following three categories:

We also recognize revenue from events that occur after the initial sale of a financial asset and remarketing fees from certain residual value investments.

Fluctuations in Operating Results

Our results of operations are susceptible to fluctuations for a number of reasons, including, without limitation, customer demand for our products and services, supplier costs, changes in vendor incentive programs, interest rate fluctuations, decision to sell financial assets, general economic conditions, and differences between estimated residual values and actual amounts realized related to the equipment we lease. Operating results could also fluctuate as a result of a sale prior to the expiration of the lease term to the lessee or to a third-party or from other post-term events.

We expect to continue to expand by opening new sales locations and hiring additional staff for specific targeted market areas whenever we can find both experienced personnel and desirable geographic areas over the longer term, which may reduce our results from operations. COVID-19 may negatively affect market demand, which will likely lower our financial results, and may adversely impact our ability to expand. We are uncertain as to the extent and duration of the impact to the IT market demand for our products and services.

CRITICAL ACCOUNTING ESTIMATES

REVENUE RECOGNITION — When we enter contracts with customers, we are required to identify the performance obligations in the contract. We recognize most of our revenues from the sales of third-party products, third-party software, third-party maintenance, software support, and services, ePlus professional and managed services, and hosting ePlus proprietary software. Our recognition of revenue differs for each of these different types of performance obligations and identifying each performance obligation appropriately may require judgement.

In a qualitative assessment, we assess qualitative factors to determine whether it is more likely than not (that is, a likelihood of more than 50 percent) that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying amount, including goodwill. A significant amount of judgment is involved in determining if an event representing an indicator of impairment has occurred between annual test dates. Such indicators may include: a significant decline in expected future cash flows; a sustained, significant decline in stock price and market capitalization; a significant adverse change in legal factors or in the business climate; unanticipated competition; the testing for recoverability of a significant asset group within a reporting unit; and reductions in revenue or profitability growth rates.

The fair values determined by the market approach and income approach, as described above, are weighted to determine the fair value for each reporting unit. Although we have consistently used the same methods in developing the assumptions and estimates underlying the fair value calculations, such estimates are uncertain and may vary from actual results.

BUSINESS COMBINATIONS — We account for business combinations using the acquisition method. For each acquisition, we recognize the majority of assets acquired and liabilities assumed at their fair values at the acquisition date. Our valuations of certain assets acquired, including customer relationships and trade names, and certain liabilities assumed, such as performance obligations, involve significant judgement and estimation. Additionally, our determination of the purchase price may include an estimate for the fair value of contingent consideration. We utilize independent valuation specialists to assist us in determining the fair value of certain assets and liabilities. Our valuations utilize significant estimates, such as forecasted revenues and profits. Changes in our estimates could significantly impact the value of certain assets and liabilities.

RECENT ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENTS

The information set forth in Note 2, “Recent Accounting Pronouncements” to the accompanying Consolidated Financial Statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this Form 10-K is incorporated herein by reference.

RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

The Year Ended March 31, 2020 Compared to the Year Ended March 31, 2019

The results of operations for our technology segment for the years ended March 31, 2020 and 2019 were as follows (in thousands):

Net sales: Net sales for the year ended March 31, 2020, increased by $200.6 million, or 15.1%, to $1,530.1 million due to increases from customers in telecom, media and entertainment industry which was partially offset by a decrease in demand from SLED, financial services, and all the other category of customers. Product sales increased 13.3%, or $157.0 million, to $1,337.0 million and services revenues increased 29.2%, or $43.6 million, to $193.1 million due to an increase in staffing and professional and managed services primarily from the SLAIT acquisition.

Adjusted gross billings increased to $2,227.9 million, or 16.1%, from $1,919.0 million in the prior year. The increase in adjusted gross billings was due, in part, to acquisitions as well as higher demand from our current customers.  This increase was a higher percentage than that for the net sales increase due a shift in mix to more third-party maintenance, software assurance, subscriptions/SaaS licenses, and services where we recognize revenue on a net basis.

We analyze sales by customer end market and by manufacturer. The percentage of net sales by industry and vendor are summarized below:

Our revenues by customer end market have remained consistent over the prior year, with over 80% of our sales being generated from customers within the five end markets specified above. In fiscal year 2020, we had a percentage increase in revenues from customers in telecommunications, media and entertainment, a consistent percentage for healthcare, and decreases in the percentage of revenues for technology, SLED, financial services, and all other category of customers. These changes were driven by changes in customer buying cycles and specific IT related initiatives, rather than the acquisition or loss of a customer or set of customers.

The majority of our revenues by vendor are derived from Cisco Systems, Dell/EMC, Hewlett Packard companies, and NetApp which collectively remain at or above 55% of total revenues for both fiscal year 2020 and 2019. None of the vendors included within the “other” category exceeded 5% of total revenues.

Cost of sales: The 14.9% increase in cost of sales was due to the increase in product sales, and a higher amount of services revenues, partially offset by an improvement in gross margin on product sales. Gross margin increased 10 basis points to 22.3% for the year ended March 31, 2020, from 22.2% in the prior year due to an increase in sales of third-party maintenance, software assurance, subscription/SaaS licenses, and services, for which the revenues are presented on a net basis, as well as increases in revenues from our professional and managed service. Vendor incentives earned as a percentage of sales for the year ended March 31, 2020, and 2019 remained constant.

Selling, general, and administrative expenses: Selling, general, and administrative expenses of $264.1 million for the year ended March 31, 2020, increased by $38.0 million, or 16.8% compared to the prior year. Salaries and benefits increased $32.2 million or 17.2% to $219.0 million, compared to $186.8 million during the prior year. Approximately 39.6% of this increase was due to higher variable compensation due to the increase in gross profit, and the remaining increase was due to the costs for employees acquired in the acquisition of SLAIT in January 2019 included for the entire current fiscal year, the acquisition of ABS technology in August 2019, and organic position additions.

Our technology segment had 1,543 employees as of March 31, 2020, an increase of 40, or 2.7%, from 1,503 at March 31, 2019. There was an increase 52 positions related to sales, marketing, and professional services personnel, along with a reduction in administrative positions. Employee benefits, including healthcare, increased $1.9 million, or 8.9% over the prior year.

General and administrative expenses, excluding acquisition related expense, increased $5.8 million, or 15.7%, to $42.9 million during the fiscal year ended March 31, 2020, compared to $37.1 million the prior year. Contributing to the increase in costs were the operational expenses for the full calendar year related to the acquisition of SLAIT and also the partial year operational expenses related to the ABS Technology acquisition, as well as increases in the cost of software licenses and maintenance.

Depreciation and amortization expense: Depreciation and amortization expense increased $2.2 million, or 18.7%, to $14.0 million during the fiscal year ended March 31, 2020, compared to $11.8 million in the prior year. The increase is related to the SLAIT and ABS Technology acquisitions.

Segment earnings: As a result of the foregoing, operating income increased $5.4 million, or 9.5%, to $62.2 million for the year ended March 31, 2020, compared to $56.7 million in the prior year and Adjusted EBITDA increased 11.2% to $85.8 million for the year ended March 31, 2020, compared to $77.2 million in the prior year.

The results of operations for our financing segment for the years ended March 31, 2020, and 2019 were as follows (in thousands):