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Performant Financial

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FY2013 Annual Report · Performant Financial
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Table of Contents  

UNITED STATES  
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION  
Washington, D.C. 20549  

FORM 10-K  

(Mark One)  

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

OF 1934  

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2013  
or  

(cid:1)   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: 001-35628  

PERFORMANT FINANCIAL CORPORATION  

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)  

Delaware  
(State or other jurisdiction of  
incorporation or organization)  

333 North Canyons Parkway, Livermore, CA  
(Address of principal executive offices)  

20-0484934  
(I.R.S. Employer  
Identification No.)  

94551  
(Zip Code)  

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (925) 960-4800  
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:  

Title of each class:  
Common Stock, par value $.0001 per share  

Name of each exchange on which registered:  
NASDAQ Global Select Market  

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:  
Common Stock, par value $.0001 per share  
(Title of class)  

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.    Yes   (cid:1) 

    No     

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.    Yes   (cid:1) 

    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   (cid:1)  

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every 

Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (section 232.405 of this chapter) during the 
preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).     Yes        No   (cid:1)  

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not 

 
   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III 

of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K.     

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

Large accelerated filer  

(cid:1)  

Accelerated filer  

Non-accelerated filer  

(Do not check if a smaller reporting company)  

Smaller reporting company  

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act).    Yes   (cid:1)     No     

 

(cid:1) 

As of June 28, 2013 (the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second quarter), the aggregate market value of the 
common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant was $328,500,099 . Shares of common stock beneficially held by each officer and director 
and by each person who owns 10% or more of the outstanding common stock have been excluded in that such persons may be deemed to be 
affiliates. This determination of affiliate status is not necessarily a conclusive determination for other purposes.  

As of March 11, 2014, 48,433,887 shares of the registrant’s common stock were outstanding.  

All or a portion of Items 10 through 14 in Part III of this Form 10-K are incorporated by reference to the Registrant’s definitive proxy 

statement on Schedule 14A, which will be filed within 120 days after the close of the fiscal year covered by this report on Form 10-K, or if the 
Registrant’s Schedule 14A is not filed within such period, will be included in an amendment to this Report on Form 10-K which will be filed 
within such 120 day period.  

Documents Incorporated By Reference  

 
 
 
 
 
  
  
  
  
  
Table of Contents  

TABLE OF CONTENTS  

PART I  
ITEM 1.   Business  
ITEM 1A.   Risk Factors  
ITEM 1B.   Unresolved Staff Comments  
ITEM 2.  
ITEM 3.  
ITEM 4.   Mine Safety Disclosures  

Properties  
Legal Proceedings  

PART II  
ITEM 5.   Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity 

Securities  
Selected Financial Data  

ITEM 6.  
ITEM 7.   Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations  
ITEM 7A.   Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk  
ITEM 8.  
Financial Statements and Supplementary Data  
ITEM 9.   Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure  
ITEM 9A.   Controls and Procedures  
ITEM 9B.   Other Information  

PART III  
ITEM 10.   Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance  
ITEM 11.   Executive Compensation  
ITEM 12.   Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters  
ITEM 13.   Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence  
ITEM 14.   Principal Accounting Fees and Services  

PART IV  
ITEM 15.   Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules  

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PART I  

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information  

This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains, in addition to historical information, certain forward-looking statements within the 
meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical fact contained in this Annual 
Report on Form 10-K, including statements regarding our future results of operations and financial position, strategy and plans, and our 
expectations for future operations, are forward-looking statements. The words “believe,” “may,” “estimate,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “design,” 
“intend,” “expect” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. We have based these forward-looking statements 
largely on our current expectations and projections about future events and trends that we believe may affect our financial condition, results of 
operations, strategy, short-term and long-term business operations and objectives, and financial needs. Forward-looking statements include, but 
are not limited to, statements about:  

•   our opportunities and expectations for growth in the student lending, healthcare and other markets; 

•  

anticipated trends and challenges in our business and competition in the markets in which we operate; 

•   our client relationships and future growth opportunities; 

•  

the adaptability of our technology platform to new markets and processes; 

•   our ability to invest in and utilize our data and analytics capabilities to expand our capabilities; 

•   our growth strategy of expanding in our existing markets and considering strategic alliances or acquisitions; 

•   our ability to meet our liquidity and working capital needs; 

•   maintaining, protecting and enhancing our intellectual property; 

•   our expectations regarding future expenses; 

•  

expected future financial performance; and 

•   our ability to comply with and adapt to industry regulations and compliance demands. 

These statements reflect current views with respect to future events and are based on assumptions and subject to risks and uncertainties. 
There are a variety of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the anticipated results or expectations expressed in our forward-
looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those risks discussed in Item 1A of this report. Given these 
uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements.  

Forward-looking statements contained in this report present management’s views only as of the date of this report. We undertake no 
obligation to publicly update forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. You are advised, 
however, to consult any further disclosures we make on related subjects in our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K 
filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.  

ITEM 1.    Business  

Overview  

We provide technology-enabled recovery and related analytics services in the United States. Our services help identify and recover 

delinquent or defaulted assets and improper payments for both government and private clients in a broad range of markets. Our clients typically 
operate in complex and regulated environments and outsource their recovery needs in order to reduce losses on billions of dollars of defaulted 
student loans, improper healthcare payments and delinquent state tax and federal treasury receivables. We generally provide our services on an 
outsourced basis, where we handle many or all aspects of our clients’ recovery processes.  

We believe we have a leading position in our markets based on our proprietary technology-enabled services platform, long-standing 

client relationships and the large volume of funds we have recovered for our clients. In 2013, we provided recovery services on approximately 
$11.0 billion of combined student loans and other delinquent federal and state receivables and recovered approximately $598 million in improper 
Medicare payments. Our clients include 11 of the 30 public sector participants in the student loan industry and these relationships average more 
than 10 years in length, including a 23-year relationship with the Department of Education. As of September 30, 2013, approximately $91 billion 
of government-supported student loans were in default. In the healthcare market, we are currently one of four prime Medicare Recovery Audit 
Contractors, or RACs, in the United States for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS. According to the  

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Government Accountability Office, Medicare paid $573 billion of claims in 2012, of which approximately $44 billion were estimated to be 
improper payments.  

We utilize our technology platform to efficiently provide recovery and analytics services in the markets we serve. We have 

continuously developed and refined our technology platform for almost two decades by using our extensive domain and data processing 
expertise. Our technology platform allows us to disaggregate otherwise complex recovery processes into a series of simple, efficient and 
consistent component steps, which we refer to as workflows, for our recovery and healthcare claims review specialists. This approach enables us 
to continuously refine our recovery processes to achieve higher rates of recovery with greater efficiency. By optimizing what traditionally have 
been manually-intensive processes, we believe we achieve higher workforce productivity versus more traditional labor-intensive outsourcing 
business models. For example, we generated in excess of $170,000 of revenues per employee during 2013, based on the average number of 
employees during the year.  

We believe that our platform is easily adaptable to new markets and processes. Over the past several years, we have successfully 

extended our platform into additional markets with significant recovery opportunities. For example, we utilized the same basic platform 
previously used primarily for student loan recovery activities to enter the healthcare market. We have enhanced our platform through investment 
in new data and analytics capabilities, which we believe will enable us to provide additional services such as services relating to the detection of 
fraud, waste and abuse.  

Our revenue model is generally success-based as we earn fees based on a percentage of the aggregate amount of funds that we enable 
our clients to recover. Our services do not require any significant upfront investments by our clients and we offer our clients the opportunity to 
recover significant funds otherwise lost. Because our model is based upon the success of our efforts and the dollars we enable our clients to 
recover, our business objectives are aligned with those of our clients and we are generally not reliant on their spending budgets. Further, our 
business model does not require significant capital expenditures and we do not purchase loans or obligations.  

For the year ended December 31, 2013, we generated approximately $255.3 million in revenues, $36.3 million in net income, $89.4 

million in adjusted EBITDA and $42.8 million in adjusted net income. See “Managements Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and 
Results of Operations - Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted Net Income” in Item 7 below for a definition of adjusted EBITDA and adjusted net 
income and reconciliations of adjusted EBITDA and adjusted net income to net income determined in accordance with generally accepted 
accounting principles.  

We commenced our operations in 1976 under the corporate name Diversified Collection Services, Inc., or DCS. We were incorporated 
in Delaware on October 8, 2003 under the name DCS Holdings, Inc. and subsequently changed our name to Performant Financial Corporation in 
2005. Our website address is www.performantcorp.com.  

Our Markets  

We operate in markets characterized by strong growth, a complex regulatory environment and a significant amount of delinquent, 

defaulted or improperly paid assets.  

Student Lending  

Government-supported student loans are authorized under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965. Historically, there have been 
two distribution channels for student loans: (i) the Federal Direct Student Loan Program, or FDSLP, which represents loans made and managed 
directly by the Department of Education; and (ii) the Federal Family Education Loan Program, or FFELP, which represents loans made by 
private institutions and currently backed by any of the 31 Guaranty Agencies, or "GAs".  

In July 2010, the government-supported student loan sector underwent a structural change with the passage of SAFRA. This legislation 

transitioned all new government-supported student loan originations to the FDSLP, and away from originations made by private institutions 
within the FFELP that had previously utilized the GAs to guarantee, manage and service loans. The GAs are non-profit 501(c)(3) public benefit 
corporations operating under contract with the U.S. Secretary of Education, pursuant to the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, solely 
for the purpose of guaranteeing and managing student loans originated by lenders participating in the FFELP. Consequently, while the original 
distribution channels for student loans have been consolidated into one channel, the Department of Education, this does not impact the volume of 
government-supported student loan origination, which is a key driver of the volume of defaulted student loan inventory. In addition, despite this 
transition of all new loan originations to the FDSLP, GAs will continue to manage a significant amount of defaulted student loans for some 
period of time, due to their large outstanding portfolios of loans originated prior to July 2010. The outstanding portfolios of defaulted FFELP 
loans will, therefore, require recovery for the foreseeable future.  

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The Department of Education estimates that the balance of defaulted loans was approximately $55.9 billion in the FDSLP and 

approximately $34.5 billion in the FFELP as of September 30, 2013. These programs collectively guaranteed approximately $896 billion of 
federal government-supported student loans according to the Congressional Budget Office as of September 30, 2012. Given the operational and 
logistical complexity involved in managing the recovery of defaulted student loans, the Department of Education and the GAs generally choose 
to outsource these services to third parties.  

Healthcare  

The healthcare industry represents a significant portion of the U.S. GDP. According to CMS, U.S. healthcare spending reached $2.8 

trillion in 2012 and is forecast to grow at a 6% annual rate through 2022. In particular, CMS indicates that federal government-related healthcare 
spending for 2012 totaled approximately $1.2 trillion. This federal government-related spending included approximately $573 billion for 
Medicare, which provides a range of healthcare coverage primarily to elderly and disabled Americans, and $421 billion for Medicaid, which 
provides federal matching funds for states to finance healthcare for individuals at or below the public assistance level.  

Medicare was initially established as part of the Social Security Act of 1965 and consists of four parts: Part A covers hospital and other 

inpatient stays; Part B covers hospital outpatient, physician and other services; Part C is known as Medicare Advantage, under which 
beneficiaries receive benefits through private health plans; and Part D is the Medicare outpatient prescription drug benefit.  

Of the $573 billion of 2012 Medicare spending, the Department of Health and Human Services estimated that approximately $44 

billion, or approximately 8%, was improper, and that Medicare is the federal program with the largest amount of improper payments. Medicare 
improper payments generally involve incorrect coding, procedures performed which were not medically necessary, and incomplete 
documentation or claims submitted based on outdated fee schedules, among other issues. Likewise, Medicaid improper payments were estimated 
to be $19 billion, or 5%, of total Medicaid payments for 2012.  

In accordance with the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003, a demonstration program was 

conducted from March 2005 to March 2008 in six states to determine if the RAC program could be effectively used to identify improper 
payments for claims paid under Medicare Part A and Part B. Due to the success of this demonstration, under The Tax Relief and Health Care Act 
of 2006, the U.S. Congress authorized the expansion of the RAC program nationwide. CMS relies on third-party contractors to execute the RAC 
program to analyze millions of Medicare claims annually for improper payments to healthcare providers. The program was implemented by 
designating one prime contractor in each of the four major regions in the United States: West, Midwest, South, and Northeast.  

In addition to government-related healthcare spending, significant growth in spending is expected in the private healthcare market. 

According to CMS’ National Health Expenditures Projections, the private healthcare market accounted for approximately $1.6 trillion in 
spending in 2012 and private expenditures are projected to grow more than 5% annually through 2022.  

Other Markets  

State Tax Market  

As state governments struggle with revenue generation and face significant budget deficits, many states have focused on recovery of 

delinquent state taxes. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, an independent think tank, 31 U.S. states faced projected budget 
shortfalls totaling $55 billion in the year ended September 30, 2013. The economic recession beginning in 2008 led to lower income and sales 
taxes from both individuals and corporations, reducing overall tax revenues and leading to large budget deficits at the state government level. 
While many states have received federal aid, most have cut services and increased taxes to help close the budget shortfall and have evaluated 
outsourcing at least some aspect of delinquent tax recovery.  

Federal Agency Market  

The federal agency market consists of government debt subrogated to the Department of the Treasury by numerous different federal 

agencies, comprising a mix of commercial and individual obligations and a diverse range of receivables. These debts are managed by the Bureau 
of the Fiscal Service (formerly the Department of Financial Management Service), a bureau of the Department of the Treasury, or FS. Since 
1997, the FS has recovered more than $62 billion in delinquent federal debt. For the year ended September 30, 2013, federal agency recoveries 
in this market totaled more than $7 billion, an increase of more than $800 million over 2012. A significant portion of these collections are 
processed by private collection firms on behalf of the FS.  

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Our Competitive Strengths  

We believe that our business is difficult to replicate, as it incorporates a combination of several important and differentiated elements, 

including:  

•   Scalable and flexible technology-enabled services platform.  We have built a proprietary technology platform that is highly 

flexible, intuitive and easy to use for our recovery and claims specialists. Our platform is easily configurable and deployable across 
multiple markets and processes. For example, we have successfully extended our platform from the student loan market to the state 
tax, federal treasury receivables and the healthcare recovery markets, each having its own industry complexities and specific 
regulations.  

•   Advanced, technology-enabled workflow processes.  Our technology-enabled workflow processes, developed over many years of 

operational experience in recovery services, disaggregate otherwise complex recovery processes into a series of simple, efficient 
and consistent steps that are easily configurable and applicable to different types of recovery-related applications. We believe our 
workflow software is highly intuitive and helps our recovery and claims specialists manage each step of the recovery process, while 
automating a series of otherwise manually-intensive and document-intensive steps in the recovery process. We believe our 
streamlined workflow technology drives higher efficiencies in our operations, as illustrated by our ability to generate in excess of 
$170,000 of revenues per employee during 2013, based on the average number of employees during the year. We believe our 
streamlined workflow technology also improves recovery results relative to more labor-intensive outsourcing models.  

•   Enhanced data and analytics capabilities.  Our data and analytics capabilities allow us to achieve strong recovery rates for our 
clients. We have collected recovery-related data for over two decades, which we combine with large volumes of client and third-
party data to effectively analyze our clients’ delinquent or defaulted assets and improper payments. We have also developed a 
number of analytics tools that we use to score our clients’ recovery inventory, determine the optimal recovery process and 
allocation of resources, and achieve higher levels of recovery results for our clients. In addition, we utilize analytics tools to 
continuously measure and test our recovery workflow processes to drive refinements and further enhance the quality and 
effectiveness of our capabilities. Finally, we possess enhanced data analytics capabilities, which we refer to as Performant Insight, 
which provides capabilities in several areas including the detection of fraud, waste and abuse in various markets and has assisted in 
our recovery activities for CMS. We intend to use our enhanced analytics capabilities to pursue additional opportunities in both the 
public and private healthcare markets.  

•   Long-standing client relationships.  We believe our long-standing focus on achieving superior recovery performance for our 

clients and the significant value our clients derive from this focus have helped us achieve long-tenured client relationships, strong 
contract retention and better access to new clients and future growth opportunities. We have business relationships with 11 of the 
30 public sector participants in the student loan market and these relationships average more than 10 years in length, including an 
approximate 23-year relationship with the Department of Education. In the healthcare market, we have a seven-year relationship 
with CMS and are currently one of four prime Medicare RAC contractors.  

•   Extensive domain expertise in complex and regulated markets.  We have extensive experience and domain expertise in providing 

recovery services for government and private institutions that generally operate in complex and regulated markets. We have 
demonstrated our ability to develop domain expertise in new markets such as healthcare and state tax and federal Treasury 
receivables. We believe we have the necessary organizational experience to understand and adapt to evolving public policy and 
how it shapes the regulatory environment and objectives of our clients. We believe this helps us identify and anticipate growth 
opportunities. For example, we successfully identified government healthcare as a potential growth opportunity that has thus far led 
to the award of three contracts to us by CMS. Together with our flexible technology platform, we have the ability to adapt our 
business strategy, to allocate resources and to respond to changes in our regulatory environment to capitalize on new growth 
opportunities.  

•   Proven and experienced management team.  Our management team has significant industry experience and has demonstrated 

strong execution capabilities. Our senior management team, led by Lisa Im, has been with us for an average of approximately 11 
years. This team has successfully grown our revenue base and service offerings beyond the original student loan market into 
healthcare and delinquent state tax and private financial institutions receivables. Our management team’s industry experience, 
combined with deep and specialized understanding of  

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complex and highly regulated industries, has enabled us to maintain long-standing client relationships and strong financial results.  

Our Growth Strategy  

Key elements of our growth strategy include the following:  

•   Expand our student loan recovery volume.  The balance of defaulted government-supported student loans was approximately $91 

billion as of September 30, 2013. While we have long-standing relationships with some of the largest participants in the 
government-supported student loan market, we believe there are significant opportunities within this growing market to increase 
the volume of student loans placed with us by existing and new clients. For example, if we are able to enter into a new contract 
with the Department of Education, which is currently subject to a rebidding process, we believe there is an opportunity to grow our 
placement volume through strong performance. Further, as a result of our relationships with five of the seven largest GAs, we 
believe we are well-positioned to benefit as a result of any consolidation of smaller GAs over the coming years.  

•   Expand our recovery services in the healthcare market.  According to CMS, Medicare spending totaled approximately $573 
billion in 2012 and is expected to increase to $1.1 trillion in 2022, representing a compound annual growth rate of 6%. In the 
private healthcare market, spending totaled $1.6 trillion in 2012 and is expected to grow more than 5% annually through 2022, 
according to CMS’ National Health Expenditures Projections. As these large markets continue to grow, we expect the need for 
recovery services to increase in the public and private healthcare markets. If we are able to continue to provide audit and recovery 
services for CMS under a new RAC contract, which is currently open to a competitive bidding process, we plan to expand our audit 
and recovery services in the public healthcare market. Further, we expect to continue to develop our audit, recovery and analytics 
services in the private healthcare market. In addition, through our enhanced analytics capabilities, we intend to pursue opportunities 
to find and eliminate losses prior to payment for healthcare services, including the detection of fraud, waste and abuse in the public 
and private healthcare markets.  

•   Pursue strategic alliances and acquisitions.  We intend to selectively consider opportunities to grow through strategic alliances or 
acquisitions that are complementary to our business. These opportunities may enhance our existing capabilities, enable us to enter 
new markets, expand our product offerings and allow us to diversify our revenues.  

Our Platform  

Our technology-enabled services platform is based on over two decades of experience in recovering large amounts of funds on behalf of 

our clients across several markets. The components of our platform include our data management expertise, analytics capabilities and 
technology-based workflow processes. Our platform integrates these components to allow us to achieve optimized outcomes for our clients in 
the form of increased efficiency and productivity and high recovery rates. Our platform and workflow processes are also intuitive and easy to use 
for our recovery and claims specialists and allow us to increase our employee retention and productivity.  

The components of our platform include the following:  

Data Management Expertise  

Our platform manages and stores large amounts of data throughout the workflow process. This includes both proprietary data we have 

compiled over two decades as well as third-party data which we can integrate efficiently and in real-time to reduce errors, reduce cycle time 
processing and, ultimately, improve recovery rates. The strength of our data management expertise augments our analytics capabilities and 
provides our recovery and claims specialists with powerful workflow processes.  

Data Analytics Capabilities  

Our data analytics capabilities efficiently screen and allocate massive volumes of recovery inventory. For example, upon receipt of each 

placement of student loans, we utilize our proprietary algorithms to assist us in determining the most efficient recovery process and the optimal 
allocation of recovery specialist resources for each loan. In the healthcare market, we analyze millions of Medicare claims to find potential 
correlations between claims data and improper payments, which enhance our future recovery rates. Across all of our current markets, we utilize 
our proprietary analytics tools to continuously and rigorously test our workflow processes in real-time to drive greater process efficiency and 
improvement in recovery rates.  

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Furthermore, we believe our enhanced analytics capabilities will extend our potential markets, permitting us to pursue significant new 

business opportunities. For example, we have expanded the use of our data analytics capabilities in the healthcare sector to offer a variety of 
services from post and pre-payment audit of healthcare claims in both the public and private healthcare sector, to detection of fraud, waste and 
abuse of healthcare claims, to coordination of benefits and pharmacy fraud detection.  

Workflow Processes  

Over many years, we have developed and refined our recovery workflow processes, which we believe drive higher efficiency and 

productivity and reduce our reliance on labor-intensive methods relative to more traditional recovery outsourcing models. We refer to the 
patented technology that supports our proprietary workflows as “Smart Bins.” Smart Bins disaggregate otherwise complex recovery processes 
into a series of simple, efficient and consistent steps that are easily configurable and applicable to different types of recovery-related 
applications. Our workflow processes integrate a broad range of functions that encompass each stage of a recovery process.  

Smart Bins have been designed to be highly intuitive and help our recovery and claims specialists manage each step in the recovery 

process and enhance their productivity to high levels, regardless of skill differences among specialists. Smart Bins direct specialists toward the 
most efficient and effective action, or step with respect to the management and recovery of a defaulted student loan, with some input by 
specialists. Our technology places expert system rules into the workflow engine, allowing employees at different skill levels to manage the more 
complex work steps that highly experienced workers would perform, while automating document management and compliance functionality as 
industry regulations and compliance demands change.  

The following recovery diagram illustrates how the various components of our platform work together to solve a typical client 

workflow:  

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Our Services  

We use our technology-enabled services platform to provide recovery and analytics services in a broad range of markets for the 

identification and recovery of student loans, improper healthcare payments and delinquent state tax and federal treasury receivables. The table 
below summarizes our recovery services and related analytics capabilities and the markets we serve.  

Analytics  
Capabilities  

•    We use our enhanced data 
analytics capabilities, which we refer 
to as Performant Insight, to offer a 
variety of services from post- and pre-
payment audit of healthcare claims to 
detection of fraud, waste and abuse of 
healthcare claims, to coordination of 
benefits and pharmacy fraud detection 

Student Loans  
•    Provide recovery services to 
the Department of Education, 
GAs and private institutions  

•    Identify and track defaulted 
borrowers across our clients’ 
portfolios of student loans  

•    Utilize our proprietary 
technology, our history of 
borrower data and our analytics 
capabilities to rehabilitate and 
recover past due student loans  

•    Earn contingent, success-
based fees calculated as a 
percentage of funds that we 
enable our clients to recover  

Recovery Services  

Healthcare  
•  Provide audit and recovery 
services to identify improper 
healthcare payments for public 
and private healthcare providers  

•    Identify improper payments 
typically resulting from 
incorrect coding, procedures 
that were not medically 
necessary, incomplete 
documentation or claims 
submitted based on outdated fee 
schedules  

•    Earn contingent, success-
based fees based on a 
percentage of claim amounts 
recovered  

Other Markets  

•    Provide tax recovery 
services to state and municipal 
agencies  

•    Recover government debt 
for numerous different federal 
agencies under a contract with 
the Treasury and provide 
recovery and audit services for 
the Department of Education  

•    Enable financial institutions 
to proactively manage loan 
portfolios and reduce the 
incidence of defaulted loan 
assets  

•    Earn contingent, success-
based fees calculated as a 
percentage of the amounts 
recovered, fees based on 
dedicated headcount and hosted 
technology licensing fees  

Recovery Services  

Student Loans  

We provide recovery services primarily to the government-supported student loan industry, and our clients include the Department of 

Education and several of the largest GAs, as well as private financial institutions. We use our proprietary technology to identify, track and 
communicate with defaulted borrowers on behalf of our clients to implement suitable recovery programs for the repayment of outstanding 
student loan balances.  

Our clients contract with us to provide recovery services for large pools of student loans generally representing a portion of the total 

outstanding defaulted balances they manage, which they provide to us as “placements” on a periodic basis. Generally, the volume of placements 
that we receive from our clients is influenced by our performance under our contracts and our ability to recover funds from defaulted student 
loans, as measured against the performance of competitors who may service a similar pool of defaulted loans for the same client. To the extent 
we perform well under our existing contracts and differentiate our services from those of our competitors, we may receive a relatively greater 
number of student loan placements under these contracts and may improve our ability to obtain future contracts from these clients and other 
potential clients.  

We use algorithms derived from over two decades of experience with defaulted student loans to make reasonably accurate estimates of 

the recovery outcomes likely to be derived from a placement of defaulted student loans.  

We also restructure and recover student loans issued directly by banks to students outside of federal lending programs. These types of 

loans typically supplement government-supported student loans to meet any shortfall in supply of student loan needs that cannot be met by 
grants or federal loans. Unlike government-supported student loans, private student loans do not have capped interest rates and, accordingly, 
involve higher instances of default relative to federally-backed student loans.  

Healthcare  

We provide recovery services related to improper payments in the healthcare market. In 2009 we were awarded the role as one of four 

prime RAC contractors in the United States, with exclusive responsibility for the Northeast region. Under our existing RAC contract, we identify 
and facilitate the recovery of improper Parts A and B Medicare payments. Our existing  

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contract with CMS is currently subject to a competitive rebidding process. Our relationship with CMS began in 2005 with an initial 
demonstration contract to recover improper payments for Medicare Secondary Payor claims.  

Under our RAC contract with CMS, we utilize our technology-enabled services platform to screen Medicare claims against several 

criteria, including coding procedures and medical necessity standards, to determine whether a claim should be further investigated for 
recoupment or adjustment by CMS. We conduct automated and, where appropriate, detailed medical necessity reviews. If we determine that the 
likelihood of finding a potential improper payment warrants further investigation, we request and review healthcare provider medical records 
related to the claim, utilizing experts in Medicare coding and registered nurses. We interact and communicate with healthcare providers and 
other administrative entities, and ultimately submit the claim to CMS for correction.  

In the private healthcare market, we utilize our technology-enabled services platform to provide audit, recovery and analytical services 

for private healthcare providers.  

Other Markets  

We also provide recovery services to several state and municipal tax authorities, the Department of the Treasury, the Department of 

Education and a number of financial institutions.  

For state and municipal tax authorities, we analyze a portfolio of delinquent tax and other receivables placed with us, develop a 
recovery plan and execute a recovery process designed to maximize the recovery of funds. In some instances, we have also run state tax amnesty 
programs, which provide one-time relief for delinquent tax obligations, and other debtor management services for our clients. We currently have 
relationships with ten state and municipal governments. Delinquent obligations are placed with us by our clients and we utilize a process that is 
similar to the student loan recovery process for recovering these obligations.  

For the Department of the Treasury, we recover government debt subrogated to it by numerous different federal agencies. The 

placements we are provided represent a mix of commercial and individual obligations. We are one of four contractors for the most recent 
Treasury contract.  

We also provide risk management advisory services that enable these clients to proactively manage loan portfolios and reduce the 

incidence of defaulted loan assets over time. Our experience suggests that proactive default prevention practices produce significant net yield 
and earnings gains for our clients. We deliver these services in two forms. First, we contact and consult with borrowers to implement a 
repayment program, including payment through automatic debit arrangements, prior to the beginning of the repayment period in order to 
increase the likelihood that payments begin on time. Second, we offer a service that involves contacting delinquent borrowers in an effort to cure 
the delinquency prior to the loan entering default.  

Analytics Capabilities  

For several years, we have leveraged our data analytics tools to help filter, identify and recover delinquent and defaulted assets and 

improper payments as part of our core recovery services platform. Through our enhanced data analytics capabilities, which we refer to as 
Performant Insight, we are able to review, aggregate, and synthesize very large volumes of structured and unstructured data, at high speeds, from 
the initial intake of disparate data sources, to the warehousing of the data, to the analysis and reporting of the data. We believe we have built a 
differentiated, next-generation “end-to-end” data processing solution that will maximize value for current and future customers.  

Performant Insight provides numerous benefits for our recovery services platform. Performant Insight has not only enhanced our 

existing recovery services under our RAC contract by analyzing significantly higher volumes of healthcare claims at faster rates and reducing 
our cycle time to review and assess healthcare claims, but has also enabled us to develop improved and more sophisticated business intelligence 
rules that can be applied to our audit processes. We believe our enhanced analytics capabilities will extend our potential markets, permitting us 
to pursue significant new business opportunities. We have expanded the use of our data analytics capabilities in the healthcare sector to offer a 
variety of services from post and pre-payment audit of healthcare claims in both the public and private healthcare sector, to detection of fraud, 
waste and abuse of healthcare claims, to coordination of benefits and pharmacy fraud detection.  

Our Clients  

We provide our services across a broad range of government and private clients in several markets.  

Department of Education  

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We have provided student loan recovery services to the Department of Education for approximately 23 years. We restructure and 
recover defaulted student loans distributed directly by the Department of Education as part of the FDSLP. Due to its limited resources and 
recovery capabilities, the Department of Education outsources much of its defaulted student loan portfolio to third-party vendors for recovery. 
Recovery fees are entirely contingency-based, and our fee for a particular recovery depends on the type of recovery facilitated. We also receive 
incremental performance incentives based upon our performance as compared to other contractors with the Department of Education, which are 
comprised of additional inventory allocation volumes and incentive fees. To participate in the Department of Education contracts, firms must 
follow a highly competitive selection process. For the latest Department of Education contract, the fourth major contract the Department of 
Education has outsourced to selected vendors, we were selected as one of 17 unrestricted vendors and initiated work on this contract in the fourth 
quarter of 2009. We are currently subject to a competitive rebidding process for the next contract with the Department of Education. Because all 
federally-supported student loans are being originated by the Department of Education as a result of SAFRA, our relationship with the 
Department of Education will become increasingly more important over time. The Department of Education was responsible for approximately 
20.2% of our revenues for the years ended December 31, 2013.  

Guaranty Agencies  

We restructure and recover defaulted student loans issued by private lenders and backed by GAs under the FFELP. Despite the 
transition from FFELP to FDSLP, we believe GA default volumes will continue to rise for a few years as there is a lag between originations and 
defaults of at least three to four years. When a borrower stops making regular payments on a FFELP loan, the GA is obligated to reimburse the 
lender approximately 97% of the loan’s principal and accrued interest. GAs then seek to recover and restructure these obligations. The GAs with 
which we contract generally structure one to three-year initial term contracts with multiple renewal periods, and historically the fees that we 
receive are generally similar to the fees we receive from the Department of Education contract. For some GA clients, we provide services 
through MSAs, under which we manage a GA’s entire portfolio of defaulted student loans and, for certain clients, engage subcontractors to 
provide a portion of the recovery services associated with a GA’s student loan portfolio.  

We have a relationship with 11 of the 30 active GAs in the U.S., including Great Lakes Higher Education Guaranty Corporation and 

American Student Assistance Corporation, which were responsible for 16.5% and 12.1%, respectively, of our revenues for the year ended 
December 31, 2013. We have had relationships with GA clients for over 25 years.  

CMS  

We have a seven-year relationship with CMS. Under our RAC contract with CMS awarded in 2009, we identify and facilitate the 

recovery of improper Parts A and B Medicare payments in the Northeast region of the United States and which accounted for approximately 
26.2% of our revenues for the year ended December 31, 2013. We are currently subject to a competitive rebidding process for the next RAC 
contract with CMS. The fees that we receive for identifying these improper payments from CMS are entirely contingency-based, and the 
contingency-fee percentage depends on the methods of recovery, and, in some cases, the type of improper payment that we identify.  

U.S. Department of the Treasury  

We have assisted the Department of the Treasury for 16 years in the recovery of delinquent receivables owed to a number of different 
federal agencies. The debt obligations we help to recover on behalf of the Department of the Treasury include commercial and individual debt 
obligations. We are one of the four firms servicing the current Department of the Treasury contract. Similar to our other recovery contracts, our 
fees under this contract are contingency-based. We view this as an important strategic relationship, as it provides us valuable insight into other 
business opportunities within the federal government.  

State Tax and Municipal Agencies  

We provide outsourced recovery services for individuals’ delinquent state tax and other municipal obligations on a hosted model and 

under MSAs. We currently have relationships with ten state and municipal governments.  

Private Lenders  

We provide recovery services for private student loans, that supplement federally guaranteed loans, and home mortgages to private 

lenders.  

Sales and Marketing  

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Our new business opportunities have historically been driven largely by referrals and natural extensions of our existing client 
relationships, as well as a targeted outreach by senior management. Our sales cycles are often lengthy, and demand high levels of attention from 
our senior management. At any point in time, we are typically focused on a limited number of potentially significant new business opportunities. 
As a result, to date, we have operated with a small staff of experienced individuals with responsibility for developing new sales, relying heavily 
upon our executive staff, including a Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing and a sales team covering various markets.  

Technology Operations  

Our technology center is based in Livermore, California, with a redundant capacity in our Grants Pass, Oregon office. Additionally, 

Performant Insight, our data analytics business, is supported by staff in Miami Lakes, Florida. We have designed our infrastructure for scalability 
and redundancy, which allows us to continue to operate in the event of an outage at either datacenter. We maintain an information systems 
environment with advanced network security intrusion detection and prevention with 24x7 monitoring and security incident response 
capabilities. We utilize encryption technologies to protect sensitive data on our systems, all data during transmission and all data on redundancy 
or backup media. We also maintain a comprehensive enterprise-wide information security system based upon recognized standards, including 
the NIST800 53 and ISO 27002 Code of Practice for Information Security Program Management, to uphold high security standards needed for 
the protection of sensitive information.  

Competition  

We face significant competition in all aspects of our business.  

In recovery services for delinquent and defaulted assets, we face competition from a number of companies. Holders of these delinquent 

and defaulted assets typically engage several firms simultaneously to provide recovery services on different portions of their portfolios. The 
number of recovery firms engaged varies by client. For example, we are one of 17 unrestricted providers of recovery services on the current 
Department of Education contract, while some of the GAs may only engage a few recovery vendors at any time. Initially, we compete to be one 
of the retained firms in a competitive bidding process and, if we are successful, we then face continuing competition from the client’s other 
retained firms based on the client’s benchmarking of the recovery performance of its several vendors. Clients such as the Department of 
Education typically will allocate additional placements to those recovery vendors producing the highest recovery rates. We believe that we 
primarily compete on the basis of recovery rate performance, as well as maintenance of high standards of recovery practices and data security 
capabilities. We believe that we compete favorably with respect to most of these factors as evidenced by our long-standing relationships with our 
clients in these markets. Pricing is not usually a major competitive factor as all recovery services vendors in these markets typically receive the 
same contingency-based fee rate.  

In the recovery of improper healthcare payments, we faced a highly competitive process, involving a large number of bidders, to 

become one of the four prime RAC contractors in the United States. CMS is currently in the procurement process for the next round of RAC 
contracts. We expect that our competition will include the other three RAC service providers: Health Management Systems, Inc., Connolly 
Consulting, Inc. and CGI Group. We also may face competition from a variety of healthcare consulting and healthcare information services 
companies. Some of these potential competitors for the next RAC contract may have greater financial and other resources than we do. According 
to the request for quotes, the competitive factors for this new RAC contract are demonstrated experience in effective recovery services in the 
healthcare market, technical approach for identifying improper payments, key personnel and staffing, financial capability to perform under the 
RAC contract and recovery fee rates. We believe that our seven-year relationship with CMS and our related experience in providing recovery 
services to identify improper payments allows us to compete favorably with respect to many of these factors. We expect that our performance in 
identifying claims, managing the claims processes under the current RAC contract, and established systems integration with CMS and related 
Medicare administrative contractors will also be key factors in determining our continued service to CMS.  

Government Regulation  

The nature of our business requires that we adhere to a complex array of federal and state laws and regulations. These include the 

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, or FDCPA, the Fair Credit Reporting 
Act, or FCRA, the rules and regulations established by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, or CFPB, and related state laws. We are also 
governed by a variety of state laws that regulate the collection, use, disclosure and protection of personal information. We have implemented and 
maintain physical, technical and administrative safeguards intended to protect all personal data and we have processes in place to assist us in 
complying with applicable laws and regulations regarding the protection of this data. Our compliance efforts include training of personnel and 
monitoring our systems and personnel.  

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HIPAA and Related State Laws  

Our Medicare recovery business subjects us to compliance with HIPAA and various related state laws that contain substantial 

restrictions and requirements with respect to the use and disclosure of an individual’s protected health information. HIPAA prohibits us from 
using or disclosing an individual’s protected health information unless the use or disclosure is authorized by the individual or is specifically 
required or permitted under HIPAA. Under HIPAA, we must establish administrative, physical and technical safeguards to protect the 
confidentiality, integrity and availability of electronic protected health information maintained or transmitted by us or by others on our behalf. 
We are required to notify affected individuals and government authorities of data security breaches involving unsecured protected health 
information. The Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights enforces HIPAA privacy violations; CMS enforces HIPAA 
security violations and the Department of Justice enforces criminal violations of HIPAA. We are subject to statutory penalties for violations of 
HIPAA.  

Most states have enacted patient confidentiality laws that protect against the unauthorized disclosure of confidential medical 

information, and many states have adopted or are considering further legislation in this area, including privacy safeguards, security standards and 
data security breach notification requirements. These state laws, if more stringent than HIPAA requirements, are not preempted by the federal 
requirements, and we must comply with them even though they may be subject to different interpretations by various courts and other 
governmental authorities. In addition, numerous other state laws govern the collection, dissemination, use, access to and confidentiality of 
individually identifiable health and healthcare provider information.  

Our compliance efforts include the encryption of protected health information that we hold and the development of procedures to 

detect, investigate and provide appropriate notification if protected health information is compromised. Our employees and contractors receive 
initial and periodic supplemental training and are tested to ensure compliance. As part of our certification and accreditation process, we must 
undergo audits by federal agencies as noted below. CMS regularly audits us for, among other items, compliance with their security standards.  

Privacy Act of 1974  

The Privacy Act of 1974 governs the collection, use, storage, destruction and disclosure of personal information about individuals by a 

government agency and extends to government contractors who have access to agency records performing services for government agencies. 
The Act requires maintenance of a code of conduct for employees with access to the agency records addressing the obligations under the Privacy 
Act, training of employees and discipline procedures for noncompliance. The Act also requires adopting and maintaining appropriate 
administrative, technical and physical safeguards to insure the security and confidentiality of records and to protect against any anticipated 
threats or hazards to their security or integrity.  

As a contractor to federal government agencies we are required to comply with the Privacy Act of 1974. Our compliance effort includes 

initial and ongoing training of employees and contractors in their obligations under the Act. In addition we have implemented and maintain 
physical, technical and administrative safeguards and processes intended to protect all personal data consistent with or exceeding our obligations 
under the Privacy Act.  

Certification, Accreditation and Security  

Business services that collect, store, transmit or process information for United States government agencies and organizations are 
required to undergo a rigorous certification and accreditation process to ensure that they operate at an acceptable level of security risk. As a 
government contractor, we currently have Authority to Operate, or ATO, licenses from both the Department of Education and CMS.  

We maintain a comprehensive enterprise-wide information security system based upon recognized standards, including the NIST800 53 

and ISO 27002 Code of Practice for Information Security Program Management, to uphold high security standards needed for the protection of 
sensitive information. In addition, we hold SSAE – SOC 1 Type II certification, which provides assurance to auditors of third parties that we 
maintain the necessary controls and procedures to effectively manage third party data. We undergo an independent audit by our government 
agency clients on the award of the contract and periodically thereafter. We also conduct periodic self-assessments.  

Our regulatory compliance group is charged with the responsibility of ensuring our regulatory compliance and security. All our 

facilities have security perimeter controls with segregated access by security clearance level. The information systems environment maintains 
advanced network security intrusion detection and prevention with 24x7 monitoring and security incident response capabilities. We utilize 
encryption technologies to protect sensitive data on our systems, all data during transmission and all data on redundancy or backup media. 
Employees undergo background and security checks appropriate to their position. This can include security clearances by the Federal Bureau of 
Investigation. We also maintain compliant disaster recovery and business continuity plans, annually conduct two table top disaster exercises, 
conduct routine  

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security risk assessments and maintain a continuous improvement process as part of our security risk mitigation and management activity.  

FDCPA and Related State Laws  

The FDCPA regulates persons who regularly collect or attempt to collect, directly or indirectly, consumer debts owed or asserted to be 

owed to another person. Certain of our debt recovery and loan restructuring activities may be subject to the FDCPA. The FDCPA establishes 
specific guidelines and procedures that debt recovery firms must follow in communicating with consumer debtors, including the time, place and 
manner of such communications. Further, it prohibits harassment or abuse by debt recovery firms, including the threat of violence or criminal 
prosecution, obscene language or repeated telephone calls made with the intent to abuse or harass. The FDCPA also places restrictions on 
communications with individuals other than consumer debtors in connection with the collection of any consumer debt and sets forth specific 
procedures to be followed when communicating with such third parties for purposes of obtaining location information about the consumer. In 
addition, the FDCPA contains various notice and disclosure requirements and prohibits unfair or misleading representations by debt recovery 
firms. Finally, the FDCPA imposes certain limitations on lawsuits to collect debts against consumers.  

Prior to the adoption of amendments to the FDCPA as part of the Dodd-Frank Act, no federal agency had the authority to issue 

interpretative regulations for the FDCPA. As a result, judicial determinations and non-binding interpretative positions issued by the Federal 
Trade Commission under the FDCPA created compliance difficulties for the consumer debt collections industry. With the adoption of the 
amendments to the FDCPA as part of the Dodd-Frank Act in 2011, however, as well as specific statutory authority to issue implementing 
regulations for the FDCPA, primary jurisdiction for the FDCPA was transferred to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, or CFPB. 
Subsequently, the CFPB has indicated that it may issue proposed regulations under the FDCPA in 2014.  

Debt recovery activities are also regulated at the state level. Most states have laws regulating debt recovery activities in ways that are 

similar to, and in some cases more stringent than, the FDCPA. In addition, some states require debt recovery firms to be licensed.  

Our compliance efforts include written procedures for compliance with the FDCPA and related state laws, employee training and 

monitoring, auditing client calls, periodic review, testing and retraining of employees, and procedures for responding to client complaints. In all 
states where we operate, we believe that we currently hold all required state licenses or are exempt from licensing. Violations of the FDCPA may 
be enforced by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, or FTC, or by a private action by an individual or class. Violations of the FDCPA are 
deemed to be an unfair or deceptive act under the Federal Trade Commission Act, which can be punished by fines for each violation. Class 
action damages can total up to one percent of the net worth of the entity violating the statute. Attorney fees and costs are also recoverable. In the 
ordinary course of business we are sued for alleged violations of the FDCPA and comparable state laws, although the amounts involved in the 
disposition or settlement of any such claims have not been significant.  

FCRA  

We are also subject to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, or FCRA, which regulates consumer credit reporting and which may impose 

liability on us to the extent that the adverse credit information reported on a consumer to a credit bureau is false or inaccurate. State law, to the 
extent it is not preempted by the FCRA, may also impose restrictions or liability on us with respect to reporting adverse credit information. Our 
compliance efforts include initial and ongoing training of employees working with consumer credit reports, monitoring of performance, and 
periodic review and risk assessments. Violations of FCRA, which are deemed to be unfair or deceptive acts under the Federal Trade Commission 
Act, are enforced by the FTC or by a private action by an individual or class. Civil actions by consumers may seek damages per violation, with 
punitive damages, attorneys fees and costs also recoverable. Under the Federal Trade Commission Act, penalties for engaging in unfair or 
deceptive acts can be punished by fines for each violation.  

CFPB  

The CFPB was created as part of the Dodd-Frank Act in 2011, with primary implementing and interpretative authority for most federal 

consumer protection laws, including the FDCPA, transferred to the CFPB. Among other things, the CFPB was given the authority to issue 
interpretive regulations for the FDCPA, which it has indicated may be issued as a proposal in 2014.  

In addition to its authority in regard to federal consumer protection laws, the CFPB was also provided direct jurisdiction over certain 

consumer financial service providers. In October of 2012, the CFPB issued a rule asserting direct jurisdiction over large consumer debt 
collectors, which includes debt collectors with annual assets of more than $10 million. In accordance with the calculations included in this rule, 
we are subject to direct jurisdiction of the CFPB and in the future may be  

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directly examined and supervised by the CFPB. In that regard, the CFPB has also released examination guidance that its examiners will use 
when reviewing compliance by debt collectors subject to its direct supervision .  

State Law Compliance and Security Breach Response  

Many states impose an obligation on any entity that holds personally identifiable information or health information to adopt appropriate 
security to protect such data against unauthorized access, misuse, destruction, or modification. Many states have enacted laws requiring holders 
of personal information to take certain actions in response to data breach incidents, such as providing prompt notification of the breach to 
affected individuals and government authorities. In many cases, these laws are limited to electronic data, but states are increasingly enacting or 
considering stricter and broader requirements. Massachusetts has enacted a regulation that requires any entity that holds, transmits or collects 
certain personal information about its residents to adopt a written data security plan meeting the requirements set forth in the statute. We have 
implemented and maintain physical, technical and administrative safeguards intended to protect all personal data and have processes in place to 
assist us in complying with applicable laws and regulations regarding the protection of this data and properly responding to any security 
incidents. We have adopted a system security plan and security breach incident response plans to address our compliance with these laws.  

Intellectual Property  

Our intellectual property is a significant component of our business, including, most notably, the intellectual property underlying our 

proprietary technology-enabled services platform through which we provide our defaulted asset recovery and other services. To protect our 
intellectual property, we rely on a combination of intellectual property rights, including patents, trade secrets, trademarks and copyrights. We 
also utilize customary confidentiality and other contractual protections, including employee and third-party confidentiality and invention 
assignment agreements.  

As of December 31, 2013, we had two U.S. patents, both covering aspects of the workflow management systems and methods 

incorporated into our technology-enabled services platform. These patents will expire in December 2019. We routinely assess appropriate 
occasions for seeking additional patent protection for those aspects of our platform and other technologies that we believe may provide 
competitive advantages to our business. We also rely on certain unpatented proprietary expertise and other know-how, licensed and acquired 
third-party technologies, and continuous improvements and other developments of our various technologies, all intended to maintain our 
leadership position in the industry.  

As of December 31, 2013, we had five trademarks registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark office: Performant, Performant 

Recovery, Performant Technologies, Discovery Analytics and Performant Business Services.  

We have registered copyrights covering various copyrighted material relevant to our business. We also have unregistered copyrights in 
many components of our software systems. We may not be able to use these unregistered copyrights to prevent misappropriation of such content 
by unauthorized parties in the future; however, we rely on our extensive information technology security measures and contractual arrangements 
with employees and third-party contractors to minimize the opportunities for any such misuse of this content.  

We are not subject to any material intellectual property claims alleging that we infringe, misappropriate or otherwise violate the 
intellectual property rights of any third party, nor have we asserted any material intellectual property infringement claim against any third party.  

Employees  

As of December 31, 2013, we had approximately 1,479 full-time employees. None of our employees is a member of a labor union and 

we consider our employee relations to be good.  

Available Information  

The SEC maintains an Internet site at http://www.sec.gov that contains our Annual Report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-
Q, current reports on Form 8-K and amendments to those reports, if any, or other filings filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of 
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, proxy and information statements. All reports that we file with the SEC 
may be read and copied at the SEC’s Public Reference Room at 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, DC, 20549. Information about the operation of 
the Public Reference Room can be obtained by calling the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330.  

ITEM 1A. Risk Factors  

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Our business, financial condition, results of operations and liquidity are subject to various risks and uncertainties, including those 

described below, and as a result, the trading price of our common stock could decline.  

Risks Related to Our Business  

Our agreements with the Department of Education and CMS, two of our largest customers, are currently subject to rebidding processes, and 
our failure to renew these agreements or a renewal on less favorable terms would have a significant negative impact on our revenues and 
results of operations.  

Our existing contracts with the Department of Education and CMS are currently subject to rebidding processes. The Department of 

Education and CMS were responsible for approximately 20.2% and 26.2% of our revenue for the year ended December 31, 2013, respectively. 
The Department of Education has initiated a contract re-compete process that is ongoing. Similarly, we are currently participating in a 
competitive bidding process for the next RAC contract, but this process has been and may continue to be delayed due in part to protests filed by 
our competitors with respect to the terms proposed for the next RAC contract. While we believe our performance under existing contracts with 
the Department of Education and CMS and the experience we have gained in performing under these contracts position us well to renew both of 
these agreements, failure to retain either of these agreements or a significant adverse change in the terms of either of these agreements upon any 
renewal would seriously harm our revenues and our operating results.  

Revenues generated from our four largest clients represented 75% of our revenues for the year ended December 31, 2013, and any 
termination of or deterioration in our relationship with any of these clients would result in a decline in our revenues.  

We derive a substantial majority of our revenues from a limited number of clients, including the Department of Education, CMS and 
two GAs. Revenues from our four largest clients represented 75% of our revenues for the year ended December 31, 2013. All of our contracts 
with these clients are subject to periodic renewal and re-bidding processes and if we lose one of these clients or if the terms of our relationships 
with any of these clients become less favorable to us, our revenues would decline, which would harm our business, financial condition and 
results of operations.  

The transition rules implemented by CMS in connection with the award of the new RAC contract will have an adverse impact on our 2014 
revenues.  

Our audit activities under the RAC contract are currently set to expire in June 2014. In planning for the award of the next RAC 
contracts, CMS has announced transition procedures that will affect our operations during the transition period. In this regard, CMS permitted us 
to submit medical records requests until February 21, 2014. In addition, CMS has placed restrictions on the types of claims and the amount of 
certain medical records requests that we may make during the transition period, and CMS has maintained a long-running prohibition on 
requesting medical records from PIP providers. We expect that these transition rules will have an adverse effect on our revenues during 2014. 
Further, protests have been filed in connection with the new RAC contract, and any delay in the award of the new RAC contract as a result of 
these protests or future protests would have an adverse impact on our future revenues in light of these transaction rules. Lastly, given the 
uncertainties surrounding the timing of the RAC contract renewal period and the final scope of the transition rules, we may be required to retain 
certain employees whose services may not be required during the transition period, or may terminate certain employees who we may not be able 
to re-hire in the future, either of which could have an adverse impact on our business and future revenues.  

Many of our contracts with our clients for the recovery of student loans and other receivables are not exclusive and do not commit our clients 
to provide specified volumes of business. In addition, the terms of these contracts may be changed unilaterally and on short notice by our 
clients. As a consequence, there is no assurance that we will be able to maintain our revenues and operating results.  

Substantially all of our existing contracts for the recovery of student loan and other receivables, which represented approximately 

73.6% of our revenues in 2013, enable our clients to unilaterally terminate their contractual relationship with us at any time without penalty, 
potentially leading to loss of business or renegotiation of terms. Further, most of our contracts in these markets allow our clients to unilaterally 
change the volume of loans and other receivables that are placed with us at any given time. In addition, most of our contracts are not exclusive, 
with our clients retaining multiple service providers with whom we must compete for placements of loans or other obligations. Therefore, 
despite our contractual relationships with our clients, our contracts do not provide assurance that we will generate a minimum amount of 
revenues or that we will receive a specific volume of placements.  

Our revenues and operating results would be negatively affected if our student loan and receivables clients, which include four of our 

five largest clients in 2013, reduce the volume of student loan placements provided to us, modify the terms of service, including the success fees 
we are able to earn upon recovery of defaulted student loans, or any of these clients establish more favorable relationships with our competitors. 
For example, in 2013 our contractual arrangement with the  

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Department of Education changed as a result of the Department of Education’s decision to have its recovery vendors promote income-based 
repayment, or IBR, to defaulted student loans. The IBR program provides flexibility on the required monthly payment for student loan borrowers 
at an amount intended to be affordable based on a borrower’s income and family size. In connection with the implementation of the IBR 
program, the Department of Education unilaterally reduced the contingency fee rate that we receive for rehabilitating student loans by 
approximately 13% as of March 1, 2013. Any changes in the contingency fee percentages or other compensation terms that we are paid under 
existing and future contracts could have a significant impact on our revenues and operating results.  

Our ability to derive revenues under our RAC contract will depend in part on the number and types of potentially improper claims that we 
are allowed to pursue by CMS, and our results of operations may be harmed if the scope of claims that we are allowed to pursue and be 
compensated for is limited.  

Under our existing RAC contract with CMS and any new RAC contract that we enter into upon completion of the current rebidding 

process with CMS, we are not permitted to and may not seek the recovery of an improper claim unless that particular type of claim has been pre-
approved by CMS to ensure compliance with applicable Medicare payment policies, as well as national and local coverage determinations. 
Accordingly, the long-term growth of the revenues we derive under a RAC contract will also depend in part on CMS expanding the scope of 
potentially improper claims that we are allowed to pursue. If we are unable to continue to identify improper claims within the types of claims 
that we are permitted to pursue from time to time or if CMS does not expand the scope of potentially improper claims that we are allowed to 
pursue, our results of operations could be adversely affected.  

In addition, CMS has implemented rules that, for the period through September 30, 2014, prevent RAC contractors from being able to 
review and audit (i) whether inpatient care delivered to patients with hospital stays lasting less than two midnights was medically necessary and 
therefore deserving of the higher reimbursement levels under Medicare Part A or (ii) whether inpatient treatment was medically necessary for 
admissions spanning more than two midnights.  In connection with these restrictions, hospitals cannot bill CMS for outpatient services on 
hospital stays lasting less than two midnights during such period.   Fees associated with recoveries initiated by us based upon improper claims 
for inpatient reimbursement of these short stays have represented a substantial portion of the revenues we have earned under our existing RAC 
contract. The suspension of this type of review activity could have a material adverse effect on our future healthcare revenues and operating 
results, depending on a variety of factors including, among other things, CMS’s evaluation of provider compliance with the new rules, the rules 
ultimately adopted by CMS with respect to medical necessity reviews of Medicare reimbursement claims associated with short stay inpatient 
admissions and, more generally, the scope of improper claims that CMS allows us to pursue and our ability to successfully identify improper 
claims within the permitted scope. In connection with the award of the new RAC contract, CMS has indicated that it is reviewing certain aspects 
of the RAC contract including the amount of medical records that RAC vendors may request and the timeframes for review and communications 
between RAC vendors and providers.  

We face significant competition in connection with obtaining, retaining and performing under our existing client contracts, including our 
contracts with the Department of Education and CMS, and an inability to compete effectively in the future could harm our relationships with 
our clients, which would impact our ability to maintain our revenues and operating results.  

We operate in very competitive markets. In providing our services to the student loan and other receivables markets, we face 
competition from many other companies. Initially, we compete with these companies to be one of typically several firms engaged to provide 
recovery services to a particular client and, if we are successful in being engaged, we then face continuing competition from the client’s other 
retained firms based on the client’s benchmarking of the recovery rates of its several vendors. In addition, those recovery vendors who produce 
the highest recovery rates from a client often will be allocated additional placements and in some cases additional success fees. Accordingly, 
maintaining high levels of recovery performance, and doing so in a cost-effective manner, are important factors in our ability to maintain and 
grow our revenues and net income and the failure to achieve these objectives could harm our business, financial condition and results of 
operations.Some of our current and potential competitors in the markets in which we operate may have greater financial, marketing, 
technological or other resources than we do. The ability of any of our competitors and potential competitors to adopt new and effective 
technology to better serve our markets may allow them to gain market strength. Increasing levels of competition in the future may result in lower 
recovery fees, lower volumes of contracted recovery services or higher costs for resources. Any inability to compete effectively in the markets 
that we serve could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.  

The U.S. federal government accounts for a significant portion of our revenues, and any loss of business from, or change in our relationship 
with, the U.S. federal government would result in a significant decrease in our revenues and operating results.  

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We have historically derived and are likely to continue to derive a significant portion of our revenues from the U.S. federal government. 
For the year ended December 31, 2013, revenues under contracts with the U.S. federal government accounted for approximately 48% of our total 
revenues, compared to 42% for the year ended December 31, 2012. In addition, fees payable by the U.S. federal government are expected to 
become a larger percentage of our total revenues over the next several years as a result of legislation that has transferred responsibility for all 
new student loan origination to the Department of Education. The continuation and exercise of renewal options on existing government contracts 
and any new government contracts are, among other things, contingent upon the availability of adequate funding for the applicable federal 
government agency. Changes in federal government spending could directly affect our financial performance. For example, the Bipartisan 
Budget Act of 2013, which was signed into law by President Obama on December 26, 2013, reduced the compensation paid to GAs for the 
rehabilitation of student loans, effective July 1, 2014. This "revenue enhancement" measure will reduce from 18.5% to 16% of the outstanding 
loan balance, the amount that GAs can charge borrowers when a rehabilitated loan is sold by the GA and will eliminate entirely the GAs 
retention of 18.5% of the outstanding loan balance as a fee for rehabilitation services. It is unclear how the reduction in compensation the GAs 
receive will impact the contingency fee percentage that we receive from the GAs for assisting in the rehabilitation of defaulted student loans; 
however, any decrease in this contingency fee percentage would result in a decrease in our revenues. The loss of business from the U.S. federal 
government, or significant policy changes or financial pressures within the agencies of the U.S. federal government that we serve would result in 
a significant decrease in our revenues, which would adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.  

Future legislative or regulatory changes affecting the markets in which we operate could impair our business and operations.  

The two principal markets in which we provide our recovery services, government-supported student loans and the Medicare program, 

are a subject of significant legislative and regulatory focus and we cannot anticipate how future changes in government policy may affect our 
business and operations. For example, SAFRA significantly changed the structure of the government-supported student loan market by assigning 
responsibility for all new government-supported student loan originations to the Department of Education, rather than originations by private 
institutions and backed by one of 31 government-supported GAs. This legislation, and any future changes in the legislation and regulations that 
govern these markets, may require us to adapt our business to the new circumstances and we may be unable to do so in a manner that does not 
adversely affect our business and operations.  

Our business relationship with the Department of Education has accounted for a significant portion of our revenues and will take on 
increasing importance to our business as a result of SAFRA. Our failure to maintain this relationship would significantly decrease our 
revenues.  

While the majority of our historical revenues from the student loan market have come from our relationships with the GAs, as a result 
of SAFRA, the Department of Education will ultimately become the sole source of revenues in this market, although the GAs will continue to 
service their existing student loan portfolios for many years to come. As a result, over time, and assuming we are successful in entering into a 
new contract with the Department of Education under the current rebidding process, defaults on student loans originated by the Department of 
Education will predominate and our ability to maintain the revenues we had previously received from a number of GA clients will depend on our 
relationship with a single client, the Department of Education. While we have 23 years of experience in performing student loan recovery 
services for the Department of Education, we are one of 17 unrestricted recovery service providers on the current Department of Education 
contract. If we are successful in entering into a new contract with the Department of Education, there may be more than the current 17 recovery 
service providers, which could lead to greater competition among the selected service providers. If our relationship with the Department of 
Education terminates or deteriorates or if the Department of Education, ultimately as the sole holder of defaulted student loans, requires its 
contractors to agree to less favorable terms, our revenues would significantly decrease, and our business, financial condition and results of 
operations would be harmed.  

We could lose clients as a result of consolidation among the GAs, which would decrease our revenues.  

As a result of SAFRA, which terminated the ability of the GAs to originate government-supported student loans, some have speculated 
that there may be consolidation among the 30 GAs. This speculation has heightened as a result of the reduction of fees that the GAs will receive 
for rehabilitating student loans as a result of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013. If GAs that are our clients are combined with GAs with whom 
we do not have a relationship, we could suffer a loss of business. We currently have relationships with 11 of the 30 GAs and two of our GA 
clients were each responsible for more than 10% of our total revenues in the year ended December 31, 2013. The consolidation of our GA clients 
with others and the failure to provide recovery services to the consolidated entity could decrease our revenues, which could negatively impact 
our business, financial condition and results of operations.  

Our results of operations may fluctuate on a quarterly or annual basis and cause volatility in the price of our stock.  

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Our revenues and operating results could vary significantly from period-to-period and may fail to match our past performance because 

of a variety of factors, some of which are outside of our control. Any of these factors could cause the price of our common stock to fluctuate. 
Factors that could contribute to the variability of our operating results include:  

•  

•  

•  

the amount of defaulted student loans and other receivables that our clients place with us for recovery; 

the timing of placements of student loans and other receivables which are entirely in the discretion of our clients; 

the schedules of government agencies for awarding contracts including the impact of any protests filed in connection with the 

award of any such contracts;  

•   our ability to successfully identify improper Medicare claims and the number and type of potentially improper claims that CMS 

authorizes us to pursue under our RAC contact;  

•  

the loss or gain of significant clients or changes in the contingency fee rates or other significant terms of our business arrangements 

with our significant clients;  

•  

technological and operational issues that may affect our clients and regulatory changes in the markets we service; and 

•   general industry and macroeconomic conditions. 

For example, a technology system upgrade at the Department of Education significantly decreased the volume of student loan 

placements by the Department of Education to all recovery vendors, including us. While we and the other recovery vendors began to receive 
larger placement volumes in the fourth quarter of 2012, the majority of the revenues from these placements were delayed until the three months 
ended September 30, 2013, because we do not begin to earn rehabilitation revenues from a given placement until at least nine months after 
receipt of a placement. In addition, for approximately twelve months beginning in September 2011, because of this technology system upgrade, 
the Department of Education was not able to process a portion of rehabilitated student loans and accordingly we were not able to recognize 
certain revenues associated with rehabilitation of loans for this client. However, the Department of Education continued to pay us based on 
invoices submitted and we recorded these cash receipts as deferred revenues on our balance sheet.  

Similarly, in our healthcare markets, our claim recovery volume related to PIP providers in our region has been limited and we estimate 

that PIP providers in our region account for approximately 20% of Medicare claims. PIP providers are reimbursed for Medicare claims through 
different processes than other healthcare providers, and technology adjustments were necessary to permit automated processing of claims 
involving PIP providers. Prior to April 2012, we were not permitted to audit Medicare claims for these PIP providers and the improper payments 
to PIP providers that we identified beginning in April 2012 were not processed by CMS until January 2013, when a small portion of such 
payments began to be processed manually. In June 2013, CMS implemented the system adjustment necessary for automated processing of 
claims, which allowed us to recognize approximately $12 million in 2013.  

Downturns in domestic or global economic conditions and other macroeconomic factors could harm our business and results of operations.  

Various macroeconomic factors influence our business and results of operations. These include the volume of student loan originations 

in the United States, together with tuition costs and student enrollment rates, the default rate of student loan borrowers, which is impacted by 
domestic and global economic conditions, rates of unemployment and similar factors, and the growth in Medicare expenditures resulting from 
changes in healthcare costs. For example, during the global financial crisis beginning in 2008, the market for securitized student loan portfolios 
was disrupted, resulting in delays in the ability of some GA clients to resell rehabilitated student loans and, as a result, delays our ability to 
recognize revenues from these rehabilitated loans. Changes in the overall economy could lead to a reduction in overall recovery rates by our 
clients, which in turn could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.  

We may not be able to maintain or increase our profitability, and our recent financial results may not be indicative of our future financial 
results.  

We may not succeed in maintaining our profitability on a quarterly or annual basis and could incur quarterly or annual losses in future 

periods. We have incurred additional operating expenses associated with being a public company and we intend to continue to increase our 
operating expenses as we grow our business. We also expect to continue to make investments in our proprietary technology platform and hire 
additional employees and subcontractors as we expand our healthcare recovery and other operations, thus incurring additional expenses. If our 
revenues do not increase to offset these increases in expenses, our  

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operating results could be adversely affected. Our historical revenues and net income growth rates are not indicative of future growth rates.  

We may not be able to manage our growth effectively and our results of operations could be negatively affected.  

Our business has expanded significantly, especially in recent years with the expansion of our services in the healthcare market, and we 

intend to maintain our focus on growth. However, our continued focus on growth and the expansion of our business may place additional 
demands on our management, operations and financial resources and will require us to incur additional expenses. We cannot be sure that we will 
be able to manage our growth effectively. In order to successfully manage our growth, our expenses will increase to recruit, train and manage 
additional qualified employees and subcontractors and to expand and enhance our administrative infrastructure and continue to improve our 
management, financial and information systems and controls. If we cannot manage our growth effectively, our expenses may increase and our 
results of operations could be negatively affected.  

A failure of our operating systems or technology infrastructure, or those of our third-party vendors and subcontractors, could disrupt the 
operation of our business.  

A failure of our operating systems or technology infrastructure, or those of our third-party vendors and subcontractors, could disrupt our 
operations. Our operating systems and technology infrastructure are susceptible to damage or interruption from various causes, including acts of 
God and other natural disasters, power losses, computer systems failures, Internet and telecommunications or data network failures, operator 
error, computer viruses, losses of and corruption of data and similar events. The occurrence of any of these events could result in interruptions, 
delays or cessations in service to our clients, reduce the attractiveness of our recovery services to current or potential clients and adversely 
impact our financial condition and results of operations. While we have backup systems in many of our operating facilities, an extended outage 
of utility or network services may harm our ability to operate our business. Further, the situations we plan for and the amount of insurance 
coverage we maintain for losses as result of failures of our operating systems and infrastructure may not be adequate in any particular case.  

If our security measures are breached or fail and unauthorized access is obtained to our clients’ confidential data, our services may be 
perceived as insecure, the attractiveness of our recovery services to current or potential clients may be reduced, and we may incur significant 
liabilities.  

Our recovery services involve the storage and transmission of confidential information relating to our clients and their customers, 
including health, financial, credit, payment and other personal or confidential information. Although our data security procedures are designed to 
protect against unauthorized access to confidential information, our computer systems, software and networks may be vulnerable to unauthorized 
access and disclosure of our clients’ confidential information. Further, we may not effectively adapt our security measures to evolving security 
risks, address the security and privacy concerns of existing or potential clients as they change over time, or be compliant with federal, state, and 
local laws and regulations with respect to securing confidential information. Unauthorized access to confidential information relating to our 
clients and their customers could lead to reputational damage which could deter our clients and potential clients from selecting our recovery 
services, or result in termination of contracts with those clients affected by any such breach, regulatory action, and claims against us.  

In the event of any unauthorized access to personal or other confidential information, we may be required to expend significant 
resources to investigate and remediate vulnerabilities in our security procedures, and we may be subject to fines, penalties, litigation costs, and 
financial losses that are either not insured against or not fully covered through any insurance maintained by us. If one or more of such failures in 
our security and privacy measures were to occur, our business, financial condition and results of operations could suffer.  

Our business may be harmed if we lose members of our management team or other key employees.  

We are highly dependent on members of our management team and other key employees and our future success depends in part on our 

ability to retain these people. Our inability to continue to attract and retain members of our management team and other key employees could 
adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.  

The growth of our healthcare business will require us to hire and retain employees with specialized skills and failure to do so could harm our 
ability to grow our business.  

The growth of our healthcare business will depend in part on our ability to recruit, train and manage additional qualified employees. 

Our healthcare-related operations require us to hire registered nurses and experts in Medicare coding. Finding, attracting and retaining 
employees with these skills is a critical component of providing our healthcare-related  

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recovery and audit services, and our inability to staff these operations appropriately represents a risk to our healthcare service offering and 
associated revenues. An inability to hire qualified personnel, particularly to serve our healthcare clients, may restrain the growth of our business.  

We rely on subcontractors to provide services to our clients and the failure of subcontractors to perform as expected could harm our business 
operations and our relationships with our clients.  

We engage subcontractors to provide certain services to our clients. These subcontractors participate to varying degrees in our recovery 

activities with regards to all of the services we provide. While most of our subcontractors provide specific services to us, we engage one 
subcontractor to provide all of the audit and recovery services under our contract with CMS within a portion of our region. While we believe that 
we perform appropriate due diligence before we hire subcontractors, our subcontractors may not provide adequate service or otherwise comply 
with the terms set forth in their agreements. In the event a subcontractor provides deficient performance to one or more of our clients, any such 
client may reduce the volume of services we are providing under an existing contract or may terminate the relevant contract entirely and we may 
face claims for breach of contract. Any such disruption in our relations with our clients as a result of services provided by any of our 
subcontractors could adversely affect our revenues and operating results.  

If our software vendors or utility and network providers fail to deliver or perform as expected our business operations could be adversely 
affected.  

Our recovery services depend in part on third-party providers, including software vendors and utility and network providers. Our ability 

to service our clients depends on these third-party providers meeting our expectations and contractual obligations in a timely and effective 
manner. Our business could be materially and adversely affected, and we might incur significant additional liabilities, if the services provided by 
these third-party providers do not meet our expectations or if they terminate or refuse to renew their relationships with us on similar contractual 
terms.  

We are subject to extensive regulations regarding the use and disclosure of confidential personal information and failure to comply with 
these regulations could cause us to incur liabilities and expenses.  

We are subject to a wide array of federal and state laws and regulations regarding the use and disclosure of confidential personal 

information and security. For example, the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, as amended, or HIPAA, and 
related state laws subject us to substantial restrictions and requirements with respect to the use and disclosure of the personal health information 
that we obtain in connection with our audit and recovery services under our contract with CMS and we must establish administrative, physical 
and technical safeguards to protect the confidentiality of this information. Similar protections extend to the type of personal financial and other 
information we acquire from our student loan, state tax and federal receivables clients. We are required to notify affected individuals and 
government agencies of data security breaches involving protected health and certain personally identifiable information. These laws and 
regulations also require that we develop, implement and maintain written, comprehensive information security programs containing safeguards 
that are appropriate to protect personally identifiable information or health information against unauthorized access, misuse, destruction or 
modification. Federal law generally does not preempt state law in the area of protection of personal information, and as a result we must also 
comply with state laws and regulations. Regulation of privacy, data use and security requires that we incur significant expenses, which could 
increase in the future as a result of additional regulations, all of which adversely affects our results of operations. Failure to comply with these 
laws and regulations can result in penalties and in some cases expose us to civil lawsuits.  

Our student loan recovery business is subject to extensive regulation and consumer protection laws and our failure to comply with these 
regulations and laws may subject us to liability and result in significant costs.  

Our student loan recovery business is subject to regulation and oversight by various state and federal agencies, particularly in the area 

of consumer protection. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, or FDCPA, and related state laws provide specific guidelines that we must 
follow in communicating with holders of student loans and regulates the manner in which we can recover defaulted student loans. Some state 
attorney generals have been active in this area of consumer protection regulation. We are subject, and may be subject in the future, to inquiries 
and audits from state and federal regulators, as well as frequent litigation from private plaintiffs regarding compliance under the FDCPA and 
related state regulations. We are also subject to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, or FCRA, which regulates consumer credit reporting and may 
impose liability on us to the extent adverse credit information reported to a credit bureau is false or inaccurate. Our compliance with the FDCPA, 
FCRA and other federal and state regulations that affect our student loan recovery business may result in significant costs, including litigation 
costs. We may also become subject to regulations promulgated by the United States Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, or CFPB, which was 
established in July 2011 as part of the Dodd-Frank Act to, among other things, establish regulations regarding consumer financial protection 
laws. In addition, the CFPB has investigatory and  

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enforcement authority with respect to whether persons are engaged in unlawful acts or practices in connection with the collection of consumer 
debts. On April 12, 2013, we received a Civil Investigative Demand, or a CID, from the CFPB requesting production of documents and answers 
to questions generally related to the Company’s debt collection practices and procedures. The CFPB has not alleged a violation by us of any law 
or regulation. We responded to the CID, but have not been examined by the CFPB. In light of the possibility that the CFPB may issue 
interpretative regulations for the FDCPA, the issuance of such regulations could adversely affect our business and results of operations if we are 
not able to adapt our services and client relationships to meet any new regulatory structure that might be required.  

In addition, changing laws, regulations and standards relating to corporate governance and public disclosure are creating uncertainty for 
public companies, increasing legal and financial compliance costs and making some activities more time consuming. These laws, regulations and 
standards are subject to varying interpretations, in many cases due to their lack of specificity, and, as a result, their application in practice may 
evolve over time as new guidance is provided by regulatory and governing bodies. This could result in continuing uncertainty regarding 
compliance matters and higher costs necessitated by ongoing revisions to disclosure and governance practices. We will continue to invest 
resources to comply with evolving laws, regulations and standards, and this investment may result in increased general and administrative 
expenses and a diversion of management’s time and attention from revenue-generating activities to compliance activities. If our efforts to 
comply with new laws, regulations and standards differ from the activities intended by regulatory or governing bodies due to ambiguities related 
to their application and practice, regulatory authorities may initiate legal proceedings against us and our business may be adversely affected.  

However, for as long as we remain an “emerging growth company” as defined in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012, or 
the JOBS Act, we may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies 
that are not “emerging growth companies,” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements 
of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy 
statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval 
of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. We may take advantage of these reporting exemptions until we are no longer an 
“emerging growth company.”  

We will remain an “emerging growth company” for up to five years following our initial public offering in August 2012, although if the 
market value of our common stock that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of any June 30 before that time, our revenues exceed $1 
billion, or we issue more than $1 billion in non-convertible debt in a three-year period, we would cease to be an “emerging growth company” as 
of the following December 31.  

As a result of disclosure of information as a public company, our business and financial condition have become more visible, which we 
believe may result in threatened or actual litigation, including by competitors and other third parties. If such claims are successful, our business 
operations and financial results could be adversely affected, and even if the claims do not result in litigation or are resolved in our favor, these 
claims, and the time and resources necessary to resolve them, could divert the resources of our management and adversely affect our business 
operations and financial results. These factors could also make it more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified employees, executive officers 
and members of our board of directors.  

Failure to achieve and maintain effective internal controls in accordance with Section 404 of Sarbanes-Oxley would impair our ability to 
produce accurate and reliable financial statements, which would harm our stock price.  

We are subject to reporting obligations under Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act that require us to include a management report on 

our internal control over financial reporting in our annual report, which contains management’s assessment of the effectiveness of our internal 
control over financial reporting. These requirements first apply to this annual report on Form 10-K and complying with these requirements can 
be difficult. For example, in June 2012, we determined that we had incorrectly accounted for our mandatorily redeemable preferred stock, which 
required audit adjusting entries for the three-year period ended December 31, 2011. Our failure to detect this error was deemed to be a deficiency 
in internal control and this deficiency was considered to be a material weakness. To address this situation, our independent registered public 
accounting firm recommended that the Company emphasize the importance of thoroughly researching all new accounting policies and revisiting 
accounting policies set for existing transactions when changes in the business or reporting requirements occur or are expected to occur. To 
prevent issues like these in the future, we have bolstered our technical accounting expertise and, where appropriate, engaged outside consultants 
with specialized knowledge.  

Our management may conclude that our internal control over our financial reporting is not effective. We have limited accounting 

personnel and other resources with which to address our internal controls and procedures. If we fail to timely achieve and maintain the adequacy 
of our internal control over financial reporting, we may not be able to produce reliable financial reports or help prevent fraud. Our failure to 
achieve and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting  

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could prevent us from filing our periodic reports on a timely basis, which could result in the loss of investor confidence in the reliability of our 
financial statements, harm our business and negatively impact the trading price of our common stock.  

We are required to disclose changes made in our internal controls and procedures on a quarterly basis. However, our independent 

registered public accounting firm is not required to formally attest to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting pursuant to 
Section 404 until such time that we are no longer an “emerging growth company” as defined in the JOBS Act, if we continue to take advantage 
of the exemptions contained in the JOBS Act. At such time, our independent registered public accounting firm may issue a report that is adverse 
in the event it is not satisfied with the level at which our controls are documented, designed or operating. Our remediation efforts may not enable 
us to avoid a material weakness in the future.  

Litigation may result in substantial costs of defense, damages or settlement, any of which could subject us to significant costs and expenses.  

We are party to lawsuits in the normal course of business, particularly in connection with our student loan recovery services. For 

example, we are regularly subject to claims that we have violated the guidelines and procedures that must be followed under federal and state 
laws in communicating with consumer debtors. We may not ultimately prevail or otherwise be able to satisfactorily resolve any pending or 
future litigation, which may result in substantial costs of defense, damages or settlement. In the future, we may be required to alter our business 
practices or pay substantial damages or settlement costs as a result of litigation proceedings, which could adversely affect our business 
operations and results of operations.  

We typically face a long period to implement a new contract which may cause us to incur expenses before we receive revenues from new 
client relationships.  

If we are successful in obtaining an engagement with a new client or a new contract with an existing client, we typically have a 
subsequent long implementation period in which the services are planned in detail and we integrate our technology, processes and resources with 
the client’s operations. If we enter into a contract with a new client, we typically will not receive revenues until implementation is completed and 
work under the contract actually begins. Our clients may also experience delays in obtaining approvals or delays associated with technology or 
system implementations, such as the delays experienced with the implementation of our RAC contract with CMS due to an appeal by 
competitors who were unsuccessful in bidding on the contract. Because we generally begin to hire new employees to provide services to a new 
client once a contract is signed, we may incur significant expenses associated with these additional hires before we receive corresponding 
revenues under any such new contract. If we are not successful in maintaining contractual commitments after the expenses we incur during our 
typically long implementation cycle, our results of operations could be adversely affected.  

If we are unable to adequately protect our proprietary technology, our competitive position could be harmed or we could be required to incur 
significant costs to enforce our rights.  

The success of our business depends in part upon our proprietary technology platform. We rely on a combination of copyright, patent, 
trademark, and trade secret laws, as well as on confidentiality procedures and non-compete agreements, to establish and protect our proprietary 
technology rights. The steps we have taken to deter misappropriation of our proprietary technology may be insufficient to protect our proprietary 
information. Any infringement or misappropriation of our patents, trademarks, trade secrets, or other intellectual property rights could adversely 
affect any competitive advantage we currently derive or may derive from our proprietary technology platform and we may incur significant costs 
associated with litigation that may be necessary to enforce our intellectual property rights.  

Claims by others that we infringe their intellectual property could force us to incur significant costs or revise the way we conduct our 
business.  

Our competitors protect their proprietary rights by means of patents, trade secrets, copyrights, trademarks and other intellectual 
property. Any party asserting that we infringe, misappropriate or violate their intellectual property rights may force us to defend ourselves, and 
potentially our clients, against the alleged claim. These claims and any resulting lawsuit, if successful, could be time-consuming and expensive 
to defend, subject us to significant liability for damages or invalidation of our proprietary rights, prevent us from operating all or a portion of our 
business or force us to redesign our services or technology platform or cause an interruption or cessation of our business operations, any of 
which could adversely affect our business and operating results. In addition, any litigation relating to the infringement of intellectual property 
rights could harm our relationships with current and prospective clients. The risk of such claims and lawsuits could increase if we increase the 
size and scope of our services in our existing markets or expand into new markets.  

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We may make acquisitions that prove unsuccessful, strain or divert our resources and harm our results of operations and stock price.  

We may consider acquisitions of other companies in our industry or in new markets. We may not be able to successfully complete any 

such acquisition and, if completed, any such acquisition may fail to achieve the intended financial results. We may not be able to successfully 
integrate any acquired businesses with our own and we may be unable to maintain our standards, controls and policies. Further, acquisitions may 
place additional constraints on our resources by diverting the attention of our management from other business concerns. Moreover, any 
acquisition may result in a potentially dilutive issuance of equity securities, the incurrence of additional debt and amortization of expenses 
related to intangible assets, all of which could adversely affect our results of operations and stock price.  

Our current or future indebtedness could adversely affect our business and financial condition and reduce the funds available to us for other 
purposes, and our failure to comply with the covenants contained in our credit agreement could result in an event of default that could 
adversely affect our results of operations.  

As of December 31, 2013, our total debt was $133.3 million. For the year ended December 31, 2013, our consolidated interest expense 
was $11.6 million. Our ability to make scheduled payments or to refinance our debt obligations and to fund our other liquidity needs depends on 
our financial and operating performance, which is subject to prevailing economic and competitive conditions and to certain financial, business 
and other factors beyond our control. We cannot make assurances that we will maintain a level of cash flows from operating activities sufficient 
to permit us to pay the principal and interest on our indebtedness and to fund our other liquidity needs. If our cash flows and capital resources are 
insufficient to fund our debt service obligations and allow us to maintain compliance with the covenants under our credit agreement or to fund 
our other liquidity needs, we may be forced to reduce or delay capital expenditures, sell assets or operations, seek additional capital or restructure 
or refinance our indebtedness. We cannot ensure that we would be able to take any of these actions, that these actions would be successful and 
permit us to meet our scheduled debt service obligations or that these actions would be permitted under the terms of our existing or future debt 
agreements, including our credit agreement. If we cannot make scheduled payments on our debt, we will be in default and, as a result, our debt 
holders could declare all outstanding principal and interest to be due and payable, the lenders under our credit agreement could terminate their 
commitments to lend us money and foreclose against the assets securing our borrowings and we could be forced into bankruptcy or liquidation.  

Our debt agreements contain, and any agreements to refinance our debt likely will contain, financial and restrictive covenants that limit 

our ability to incur additional debt, including to finance future operations or other capital needs, and to engage in other activities that we may 
believe are in our long-term best interests, including to dispose of or acquire assets. Our failure to comply with these covenants may result in an 
event of default, which, if not cured or waived, could accelerate the maturity of our indebtedness or result in modifications to our credit terms. 
See "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations - Liquidity and Capital Resources - Long Term 
Debt" in Item 7 below for a more detailed discussion of our financial covenants as well as our current status under these covenants. If our 
indebtedness is accelerated, we may not have sufficient cash resources to satisfy our debt obligations and we may not be able to continue our 
operations as planned.  

The price of our common stock could be volatile, and you may not be able to sell your shares at or above the public offering price.  

Since our initial public offering in August 2012, the price of our common stock, as reported by NASDAQ, has ranged from a low sales 

price of $7.11 on February 21, 2014 to a high sales price of $14.09 on March 4, 2013. The trading price of our common stock may be 
significantly affected by various factors, including: quarterly fluctuations in our operating results; the financial projections we may provide to the 
public, any changes in those projections or our failure to meet those projections; changes in investors’ and analysts’ perception of the business 
risks and conditions of our business; our ability to meet the earnings estimates and other performance expectations of financial analysts or 
investors; unfavorable commentary or downgrades of our stock by equity research analysts; changes in our capital structure, such as future 
issuances of debt or equity securities; lawsuits threatened or filed against us; strategic actions by us or our competitors, such as acquisitions or 
restructurings; new legislation or regulatory actions; changes in our relationship with any of our significant clients; fluctuations in the stock 
prices of our peer companies or in stock markets in general; and general economic conditions.  

Our significant stockholder has the ability to influence significant corporate activities and our significant stockholder’s interests may not 
coincide with yours.  

Parthenon Capital Partners beneficially owns approximately 32.4% of our common stock as of March 11, 2014. As a result of its 

ownership, Parthenon Capital Partners has the ability to influence the outcome of matters submitted to a vote of stockholders and, through our 
board of directors, the ability to influence decision-making with respect to our business direction and policies. Parthenon Capital Partners may 
have interests different from our other stockholders’ interests, and may vote in a  

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manner adverse to those interests. Matters over which Parthenon Capital Partners can, directly or indirectly, exercise influence include:the 
election of our board of directors and the appointment and removal of our officers;  

•   mergers and other business combination transactions, including proposed transactions that would result in our stockholders 

receiving a premium price for their shares;  

•   other acquisitions or dispositions of businesses or assets; 

•  

•  

•  

incurrence of indebtedness and the issuance of equity securities; 

repurchase of stock and payment of dividends; and 

the issuance of shares to management under our equity incentive plans. 

In addition, Parthenon Capital Partners has a contractual right to designate a number of directors proportionate to its stock ownership. 
Further, under our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, Parthenon Capital Partners does not have any obligation to present to us, 
and Parthenon Capital Partners may separately pursue, corporate opportunities of which it becomes aware, even if those opportunities are ones 
that we would have pursued if granted the opportunity.  

If securities analysts do not publish research or if securities analysts or other third parties publish inaccurate or unfavorable research about 
us, the price of our common stock could decline.  

The trading market for our common stock relies in part on the research and reports that securities analysts and other third parties choose 

to publish about us. We do not control these analysts or other third parties. The price of our common stock could decline if one or more 
securities analysts downgrade our common stock or if one or more securities analysts or other third parties publish inaccurate or unfavorable 
research about us or cease publishing reports about us.  

Anti-takeover provisions contained in our certificate of incorporation and bylaws could impair a takeover attempt that our stockholders may 
find beneficial.  

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws contain provisions that could have the effect of 

rendering more difficult or discouraging an acquisition deemed undesirable by our board of directors. Our corporate governance documents 
include the following provisions: establishing a classified board of directors so that not all members of our board are elected at one time; 
providing that directors may be removed by stockholders only for cause; authorizing blank check preferred stock, which could be issued with 
voting, liquidation, dividend and other rights superior to our common stock; limiting the ability of our stockholders to call and bring business 
before special meetings and to take action by written consent in lieu of a meeting; limiting our ability to engage in certain business combinations 
with any “interested stockholder,” other than Parthenon Capital Partners, for a three-year period following the time that the stockholder became 
an interested stockholder; requiring advance notice of stockholder proposals for business to be conducted at meetings of our stockholders and for 
nominations of candidates for election to our board of directors; requiring a super majority vote for certain amendments to our amended and 
restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws; and limiting the determination of the number of directors on our board of 
directors and the filling of vacancies or newly created seats on the board, to our board of directors then in office. These provisions, alone or 
together, could have the effect of delaying or deterring a change in control, could limit the opportunity for our stockholders to receive a premium 
for their shares of our common stock, and could also affect the price that some investors are willing to pay for our common stock.  

ITEM 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments  

None.  

ITEM 2.    Properties  

Facilities  

As of December 31, 2013, we operated five separate office locations throughout the United States. The largest of these facilities is in 

Livermore, California and serves as our corporate headquarters, as well as a data center and production location. Our Livermore facility 
represents approximately 50,291 square feet and has a lease expiration of September 2017. We also lease production centers in California, 
Oregon, Florida and Texas and own a production/data center in Oregon.  

We believe that our facilities are adequate for current operations and that additional space will be available as required. See note (6) to 
our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for information regarding our lease obligations.  

ITEM 3.    Legal Proceedings  

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We are involved in various legal proceedings that arise from our normal business operations. These actions generally derive from our 
student loan recovery services, and generally assert claims for violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act or similar federal and state 
consumer credit laws. While litigation is inherently unpredictable, we believe that none of these legal proceedings, individually or collectively, 
will have a material adverse effect on our financial condition or our results of operations.  

ITEM 4. Mine Safety Disclosures  

Not applicable.  

PART II  

ITEM 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities  

Market For Our Common Equity  

Our common stock began trading on the NASDAQ Global Select market under the symbol “PFMT” on August 10, 2012. Prior to that, 

there was no public market for our common stock. The table sets forth, for the periods indicated below, the high and low sales prices per share of 
our common stock as reported by NASDAQ since August 10, 2012.  

2012  
Third Quarter (beginning August 10, 2012)  
Fourth Quarter  
2013  

First Quarter  
Second Quarter  
Third Quarter  
Fourth Quarter  

High  
12.18  
11.84  

14.09  
13.26  
12.01  
11.02  

Low  
9.20  
7.55  

10.06  
9.25  
10.27  
9.26  

On March 12, 2014, the closing price as reported by NASDAQ of our common stock was $7.86 per share.  

Stockholders  

As of December 31, 2013 , we had approximately 14 holders of record of our common stock.  

Dividends  

Our board of directors does not currently intend to pay regular dividends on our common stock. However, we expect to reevaluate our 

dividend policy on a regular basis and may, subject to compliance with the covenants in our credit agreement and other considerations, 
determine to pay dividends in the future. Our ability to pay dividends is subject to restrictive covenants contained in our credit agreement.  

Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans  

Information regarding the securities authorized for issuance under our equity compensation plans can be found under Item 12 of this 

Annual Report on Form 10-K.  

Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities  

None.  

ITEM 6. Selected Financial Data  

The selected consolidated balance sheet data as of December 31, 2013 and 2012 , and the selected consolidated statements of operations 

data for each year ended December 31, 2013 , 2012 and 2011 , have been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements which are 
included elsewhere in this annual report. The selected consolidated balance sheet data as of December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009, and the selected 
consolidated statements of operations data for the years ended December 31, 2010 and 2009 have been derived from our audited consolidated 
financial statements not included in this annual  

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report. Historical results are not necessarily indicative of future results. You should read the following selected consolidated historical financial 
data below in conjunction with the section titled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and 
the consolidated financial statements, related notes, and other financial information included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. The selected 
consolidated financial data in this section is not intended to replace the consolidated financial statements and is qualified in its entirety by the 
consolidated financial statements and related notes and schedule included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.  

Consolidated Statement of Operations Data:  
Revenues  
Operating expenses:  

Salaries and benefits  
Other operating expense  
Impairment of trade name  

Total operating expenses  
Income from operations  
Debt extinguishment costs (1)  
Interest expense  
Interest income  
Income before provision for income taxes  
Provision for income taxes  
Net income  
Accrual for preferred stock dividends  
Net income (loss) available to common 
shareholders  

Year Ended December 31,  

2013  

2012  

2011  

2010  

2009  

(in thousands)  

$ 

255,302     $ 

210,073     $ 

162,974     $ 

123,519     $ 

109,832  

96,762     
85,671     
—    
182,433     
72,869     
—    
(11,564 )    
1     
61,306     
24,967     
36,339     
—    

83,002     
71,305     
—    
154,307     
55,766     
(3,679 )    
(12,414 )    
64     
39,737     
16,786     
22,951     
2,038     

67,082     
49,199     
13,400     
129,681     
33,293     
—    
(13,530 )    
125     
19,888     
7,516     
12,372     
6,495     

58,113     
33,655     
—    
91,768     
31,751     
—    
(15,230 )    
118     
16,639     
6,664     
9,975     
5,771     

53,728  
32,110  
— 
85,838  
23,994  
— 
(16,017 ) 
104  
8,081  
3,071  
5,010  
5,128  

$ 

36,339     $ 

20,913     $ 

5,877     $ 

4,204     $ 

(118 ) 

2013  

2012  

2011  

2010  

2009  

Year Ended December 31,  

Net income (loss) per share attributable to common 
shareholders (2)  
Basic  

Diluted  

Weighted average shares (in thousands)  

Basic  

Diluted  

$ 

$ 

0.77     $ 
0.74     $ 

0.48     $ 
0.44     $ 

0.14     $ 
0.13     $ 

0.10     $ 
0.09     $ 

— 
— 

47,492     
49,386     

43,985     
47,599     

42,962     
45,742     

42,962     
45,019     

42,962  
42,962  

(1)   Represents debt extinguishment costs comprised of approximately $3.3 million of fees paid to lenders in connection with our new 
credit facility and approximately $0.3 million of unamortized debt issuance costs in connection with our old credit facility.  

(2)   Please see Note 1 to our consolidated financial statements for an explanation of the calculations of our basic and diluted net income 

per share of common stock.  

Consolidated Balance Sheet Data:  
Cash and cash equivalents  
Total assets  
Total debt  
Total liabilities  
Redeemable preferred stock  
Total stockholders’ (deficit) equity  

2013  

2012  

2011  

2010  

2009  

(in thousands)  

As of December 31,  

$ 

81,909     $ 
257,260     
133,304     
183,026     
—    
74,234     

37,843     $ 
211,745     
147,769     
187,672     
—    
24,073     

20,004     $ 
182,299     
103,383     
139,756     
58,248     
(15,705 )    

11,078     $ 
181,390     
117,331     
151,231     
51,753     
(21,594 )    

8,924  
180,735  
127,298  
161,077  
45,982  
(26,324 ) 

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ITEM 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations  

Overview  

We provide technology-enabled recovery and related analytics services in the United States. Our services help identify and recover 

delinquent or defaulted assets and improper payments for both government and private clients in a broad range of markets. Our clients typically 
operate in complex and regulated environments and outsource their recovery needs in order to reduce losses on billions of dollars of defaulted 
student loans, improper healthcare payments and delinquent state tax and federal treasury and other receivables. We generally provide our 
services on an outsourced basis, where we handle many or all aspects of our clients’ recovery processes.  

Our revenue model is generally success-based as we earn fees on the aggregate amount of funds that we enable our clients to recover. 
Our services do not require any significant upfront investments by our clients and offer our clients the opportunity to recover significant funds 
otherwise lost. Because our model is based upon the success of our efforts and the dollars we enable our clients to recover, our business 
objectives are aligned with those of our clients and we are generally not reliant on their spending budgets. Furthermore, our business model does 
not require significant capital expenditures and we do not purchase loans or obligations.  

Sources of Revenues  

We derive our revenues from services for clients in a variety of different markets. These markets include our two largest markets, 

student lending and healthcare, as well as our other markets which include but are not limited to delinquent state taxes and federal Treasury and 
other receivables.  

Student Lending  
Healthcare  
Other  
Total Revenues  

Student Lending  

2013  

Year Ended  
December 31,  

2012  

(in thousands)  

$ 

$ 

163,708     $ 
67,531     
24,063     
255,302     $ 

132,445     $ 
54,747     
22,881     
210,073     $ 

2011  

122,253  
21,549  
19,172  
162,974  

We derive the majority of our revenues from the recovery of student loans. These revenues are contract-based and consist primarily of 

contingency fees based on a specified percentage of the amount we enable our clients to recover. Our contingency fee percentage for a particular 
recovery depends on the type of recovery facilitated. We also receive incremental performance incentives based upon our performance as 
compared to other contractors with the Department of Education, which are comprised of additional inventory allocation volumes and incentive 
fees. We are currently subject to a competitive rebidding process fro the next contract with the Department of Education.  

Based on data compiled from over two decades of experience with the recovery of defaulted student loans, at the time we receive a 

placement of student loans, we are able to make a reasonably accurate estimate of the recovery outcomes likely to be derived from such 
placement and the revenues we are likely able to generate based on the anticipated recovery outcomes.  

There are five potential outcomes to the student loan recovery process from which we generate revenues. These outcomes include: full 

repayment, recurring payments, rehabilitation, loan restructuring and wage garnishment. Of these five potential outcomes, our ability to 
rehabilitate defaulted student loans is the most significant component of our revenues in this market. Generally, a loan is considered successfully 
rehabilitated after the student loan borrower has made nine consecutive qualifying monthly payments and our client has notified us that it is 
recalling the loan. Once we have structured and implemented a repayment program for a defaulted borrower, we (i) earn a percentage of each 
periodic payment collected up to and including the final periodic payment prior to the loan being considered “rehabilitated” by our clients, and 
(ii) if the loan is “rehabilitated,” then we are paid a one-time percentage of the total amount of the remaining unpaid balance. The fees we are 
paid vary by recovery outcome as well as by contract. For non-government-supported student loans we are generally only paid contingency fees 
on two outcomes: full repayment or recurring repayments. The table below describes our typical fee structure for each of these five outcomes.  

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Student Loan Recovery Outcomes  

Full Repayment  

Recurring Payments  

•    Repayment in full of 
the loan  

•    Regular structured 
payments, typically 
according to a renegotiated 
payment plan  

Rehabilitation  
•    After a defaulted 
borrower has made nine 
consecutive recurring 
payments, the loan is 
eligible for rehabilitation  

Loan Restructuring  

•    Restructure and 
consolidate a number of 
outstanding loans into a 
single loan, typically with 
one monthly payment and 
an extended maturity  

•    We are paid a 
percentage of the full 
payment that is made  

•    We are paid a 
percentage of each payment  

•    We are paid based on a 
percentage of the overall 
value of the rehabilitated 
loan  

•    We are paid based on a 
percentage of overall 
value of the restructured 
loan  

Wage Garnishment  
•    If we are unable to 
obtain voluntary 
repayment, payments may 
be obtained through wage 
garnishment after certain 
administrative 
requirements are met  
•    We are paid a 
percentage of each 
payment  

For certain guaranty agency, or GA, clients, we have entered into Master Service Agreements, or MSAs. Under these agreements, 

clients provide their entire inventory of outsourced loans or receivables to us for recovery on an exclusive basis, rather than just a portion, as 
with traditional contracts that are split among various service providers. In certain circumstances, we engage subcontractors to assist in the 
recovery of a portion of the client’s portfolio. We also receive success fees for the recovery of loans under MSAs and our revenues under MSA 
arrangements include fees earned by the activities of our subcontractors. As of December 31, 2013, we had three MSA clients in the student loan 
market.  

Healthcare  

We derive revenues from the healthcare market primarily from our RAC contract, under which we are the prime contractor responsible 
for detecting improperly paid Part A and Part B Medicare claims in 12 states in the Northeastern United States. Revenues earned under the RAC 
contract are driven by the identification of improperly paid Medicare claims through both automated and manual review of such claims. We are 
paid contingency fees by CMS based on a percentage of the dollar amount of claims recovered by CMS as a result of our efforts. We recognize 
revenue when the provider pays CMS or incurs an offset against future Medicare claims. The revenues we recognize are net of our estimate of 
claims that will be overturned by appeal following payment by the provider. We are currently subject to a competitive rebidding process for the 
next RAC contract with CMS.  

To accelerate our ability to provide Medicare audit and recovery services across our region following our award of our initial RAC 

contract, we outsourced certain aspects of our healthcare recovery process to three different subcontractors. Two of these subcontractors provide 
a specific service to us in connection with our claims recovery process, and one subcontractor is engaged to provide all of the audit and 
recovery services for claims within a portion of our region. We recognize all of the revenues generated by the claims recovered through these 
subcontractor relationships, and we recognize the fees that we pay to these subcontractors in our expenses.  

We have also recently begun utilizing our technology-enabled services platform to provide audit, recovery and analytical services for 

private healthcare providers.  

Other  

We also derive revenues from the recovery of delinquent state taxes, and federal Treasury and other receivables, default aversion 
services for certain clients including financial institutions and the licensing of hosted technology solutions to certain clients. For our hosted 
technology services, we license our system and integrate our technology into our clients’ operations, for which we are paid a licensing fee. Our 
revenues for these services include contingency fees, fees based on dedicated headcount to our clients and hosted technology licensing fees.  

Operating Metrics  

We monitor a number of operating metrics in order to evaluate our business and make decisions regarding our corporate strategy. These 

key metrics include Placement Volume, Placement Revenue as a Percentage of Placement Volume, Net Claim Recovery Volume and Claim 
Recovery Fee Rate.  

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Student Lending:  
Placement Volume  
Placement Revenue as a percentage of Placement Volume  
Healthcare:  
Net Claim Recovery Volume  
Claim Recovery Fee Rate  

2013  

Year Ended  
December 31,  

2012  
(dollars in thousands)  

2011  

$ 

6,607,485  

  $ 

5,768,945  

  $ 

6,241,483  

2.48 %   

2.30 %   

1.96 % 

$ 

598,071  

  $ 

482,202  

  $ 

188,573  

11.29 %   

11.35 %   

11.43 % 

Placement Volume.  Our Placement Volume represents the dollar volume of defaulted student loans first placed with us during the 

specified period by public and private clients for recovery. Placement Volume allows us to measure and track trends in the amount of inventory 
our clients in the student lending market are placing with us during any period. The revenues associated with the recovery of a portion of these 
loans may be recognized in subsequent accounting periods, which assists management in estimating future revenues and in allocating resources 
necessary to address current Placement Volumes.  

Placement Revenue as a Percentage of Placement Volume.  Placement Revenue as a Percentage of Placement Volume is calculated by 

dividing revenues recognized during the specified period by Placement Volume first placed with us during that same period. This metric is 
subject to some level of variation from period to period based upon certain timing differences including, but not limited to, the timing of 
placements received by us within a period and the fact that a significant portion of revenues recognized in a current period is often generated 
from the Placement Volume received in prior periods. However, we believe that this metric provides a useful indication of the revenues we are 
generating from Placement Volumes on an ongoing basis and provides management with an indication of the relative efficiency of our recovery 
operations from period to period.  

Net Claim Recovery Volume.  Our Net Claim Recovery Volume measures the dollar volume of improper Medicare claims that we have 
recovered for CMS during the applicable period net of any amount that we have reserved to cover appeals by healthcare providers. We are paid 
recovery fees as a percentage of this recovered claim volume. We calculate this metric by dividing our claim recovery revenues by our Claim 
Recovery Fee Rate. This metric shows trends in the volume of improper payments within our region and allows management to measure our 
success in finding these improper payments, over time.  

Claim Recovery Fee Rate.  Our Claim Recovery Fee Rate represents the weighted-average percentage of our fees compared to amounts 

recovered by CMS. This percentage primarily depends on the method of recovery and, in some cases, the type of improper payment that we 
identify. This metric helps management measure the amount of revenues we generate from Net Claim Recovery Volume.  

Costs and Expenses  

We generally report two categories of operating expenses: salaries and benefits and other operating expense. Salaries and benefits 

expenses consist primarily of salaries and performance incentives paid and benefits provided to our employees. Other operating expense includes 
expenses related to our use of subcontractors, other production related expenses, including costs associated with data processing, retrieval of 
medical records, printing and mailing services, amortization and other outside services, as well as general corporate and administrative expenses. 
In addition to our main components of operating expenses, in 2011 we incurred a $13.4 million impairment expense to write off the carrying 
amount of the trade name intangible asset due to our plan to retire our Diversified Collection Services, Inc. trade name, which we report as 
impairment of trade name. We expect a significant portion of our expenses to increase as we grow our business. However, we expect certain 
expenses, including our corporate and general administrative expenses, to grow at a slower rate than our revenues. As a result, and over the long 
term, we expect our overall expenses to modestly decline as a percentage of revenues.  

Factors Affecting Our Operating Results  

Our results of operations are influenced by a number of factors, including allocation of placement volume, claim recovery volume, 

contingency fees, regulatory matters, effects of client concentration and macroeconomic factors.  

Allocation of Placement Volume  

Our clients have the right to unilaterally set and increase or reduce the volume of defaulted student loans or other receivables that we 

service at any given time. In addition, many of our recovery contracts for student loans and other receivables are not exclusive, with our clients 
retaining multiple service providers to service portions of their portfolios. Accordingly, the number of delinquent student loans or other 
receivables that are placed with us may vary from time to time,  

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which may have a significant effect on the amount and timing of our revenues. We believe the major factors that influence the number of 
placements we receive from our clients in the student loan market include our performance under our existing contracts and our ability to 
perform well against competitors for a particular client. To the extent that we perform well under our existing contracts and differentiate our 
services from those of our competitors, we may receive a relatively greater number of placements under these existing contracts and may 
improve our ability to obtain future contracts from these clients and other potential clients. Further, delays in placement volume, as well as 
acceleration of placement volume, from any of our large clients may cause our revenues and operating results to vary from quarter to quarter.  

Typically we are able to anticipate with reasonable accuracy the timing and volume of placements of defaulted student loans and other 

receivables based on historical patterns and regular communication with our clients. Occasionally, however, placements are delayed due to 
factors outside of our control. For example, a technology system upgrade at the Department of Education significantly decreased the volume of 
student loan placements by the Department of Education to all recovery vendors, including us. While we and the other recovery vendors have 
recently received substantially larger placement volume in the fourth quarter of 2012 as a result of the completion of this technology system 
upgrade, the majority of the revenues from these placements were not recognized until the third quarter of 2013 because we do not begin to earn 
rehabilitation revenues from a given placement until at least nine months after receipt of a placement. In addition, for approximately twelve 
months beginning in September 2011, the Department of Education was not able to process a portion of rehabilitated student loans and 
accordingly we were not able to recognize certain revenues associated with rehabilitation of loans for this client. However, the Department of 
Education continued to pay us based on invoices submitted and we recorded these cash receipts as deferred revenues on our balance sheet.  

Claim Recovery Volume  

While we are entitled to review Medicare records for all Part A and Part B claims in our region, we are not permitted to identify an 
improper claim unless that particular type of claim has been pre-approved by CMS to ensure compliance with applicable Medicare payment 
policies, as well as national and local coverage determinations. The growth of our revenues is determined primarily by the aggregate volume of 
Medicare claims in our region and our ability to identify improper payments within these claims. However, the long-term growth of these 
revenues will also be affected by the scope of the issues pre-approved by CMS.  

Our claim recovery volume related to PIP providers in our region has been limited and we estimate that PIP providers in our region 
account for approximately 20% of Medicare claims. PIP providers are reimbursed for Medicare claims through different processes than other 
healthcare providers, and technology adjustments were necessary to permit automated processing of claims involving PIP providers. Prior to 
April 2012, we were not permitted to audit Medicare claims for these PIP providers and the improper payments to PIP providers that we 
identified beginning in April 2012 were not processed by CMS until January 2013, when a small portion of such payments began to be processed 
manually. In June 2013, CMS implemented the system adjustment necessary for automated processing of claims, which allowed us to recognize 
approximately $12 million in revenues for 2013.  

Our audit activities under the RAC contract are currently set to expire in June 2014. In planning for the award of the next RAC 

contracts, CMS has been developing transition procedures that will affect our operations during the transition period. In this regard, CMS 
permitted us to submit medical records requests until February 21, 2014. In addition, CMS has placed restrictions on the types of claims and the 
amount of certain medical records requests that we may make during the transition period, and CMS has maintained a long-running prohibition 
on requesting medical records from PIP providers other than for a three week period that began in late October 2013. We expect that these 
transition rules will have an adverse effect on our revenues during 2014. In addition, CMS has implemented rules that, during the period 
October 1 through December 31, 2013, we and the other RAC contractors will not be able to review and audit (i) whether inpatient care 
delivered to patients with hospital stays lasting less than two midnights was medically necessary and therefore deserving of the higher 
reimbursement levels under Medicare Part A or (ii) whether inpatient treatment was medically necessary for admissions spanning more than two 
midnights. In connection with these restrictions, hospitals cannot bill CMS for outpatient services on hospital stays lasting less than two 
midnights during such period. CMS has subsequently extended this rule for hospitals until September 30, 2014. Also, during this time, CMS has 
initiated a provider education and compliance review program.  

Fees associated with recoveries initiated by us based upon improper claims for inpatient reimbursement of these short stays have 

represented a substantial portion of the revenues we have earned under our recovery and audit contract. The suspension of this type of review 
activity could have a material adverse effect on our 2014 healthcare revenues and operating results, depending on a variety of factors including, 
among other things, CMS’s evaluation of provider compliance with the new rules, the rules ultimately adopted by CMS with respect to medical 
necessity reviews of Medicare reimbursement claims associated with short stay inpatient admissions and, more generally, the scope of improper 
claims that CMS allows us to pursue and our ability to successfully identify improper claims within the permitted scope. In connection with the 
award of the new  

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RAC contract, CMS has indicated that it is reviewing certain aspects of the RAC contract including the amount of medical records that RAC 
vendors may request and the timeframes for review and status communications between RAC vendors and providers.  

Contingency Fees  

Our revenues consist primarily of contract-based contingency fees. The contingency fee percentages that we earn are set by our clients 
or agreed upon during the bid process, and may change from time to time either under the terms of existing contracts or pursuant to the terms of 
contract renewals. For example, we have been advised that our contractual arrangement with the Department of Education is under review as a 
result of the Department of Education’s decision to have its recovery vendors promote IBR to defaulted student loans. The IBR program 
provides flexibility on the required monthly payment for student loan borrowers at an amount intended to be affordable based on a borrower’s 
income and family size. As a result of the increased application of the IBR program to defaulted student loans, we expect that there will be an 
increase in the number of loans that become eligible for rehabilitation because more defaulted student loan borrowers will be able to make 
qualifying payments. In connection with the implementation of the IBR program, the Department of Education reduced the contingency fee rate 
that we receive for rehabilitating student loans by approximately 13% effective March 1, 2013. In addition, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013, 
which was signed into law by President Obama on December 26, 2013, reduced the compensation paid to GAs for the rehabilitation of student 
loans, effective July 1, 2014. This "revenue enhancement" measure will reduce from 18.5% to 16% of the outstanding loan balance, the amount 
that GAs can charge borrowers when a rehabilitated loan is sold and will eliminate entirely the GAs retention of 18.5% of the outstanding loan 
balance as a fee for rehabilitation services. It is unclear how the reduction of fees that the GAs receive will impact the contingency fee 
percentage that we receive from the GAs for assisting in the rehabilitation of defaulted student loans; however, any material decrease in this 
contingency fee percentage would result in a decrease in our revenues.  

Regulatory Matters  

Each of the markets which we serve is highly regulated. Accordingly, changes in regulations that affect the types of loans, receivables 
and claims that we are able to service or the manner in which any such delinquent loans, receivables and claims can be recovered will affect our 
revenues and results of operations. For example, the passage of the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act, or SAFRA, in 2010 had the effect 
of transferring the origination of all government-supported student loans to the Department of Education, thereby ending all student loan 
originations guaranteed by the GAs. Loans guaranteed by the GAs represented approximately 70% of government-supported student loans 
originated in 2009. While the GAs will continue to service existing outstanding student loans for years to come, this legislation will over time 
shift the portfolio of student loans that we manage toward the Department of Education, and further concentrate our sources of revenues and 
increase our reliance on our relationship with the Department of Education. In addition, our entry into the healthcare market was facilitated by 
passage of the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006, which mandated CMS to contract with private firms to audit Medicare claims in an effort 
to increase the recovery of improper Medicare payments. Any changes to the regulations that affect the student loan industry or the recovery of 
defaulted student loans or the Medicare program generally or the audit and recovery of Medicare claims could have a significant impact on our 
revenues and results of operations.  

Client Concentration  

Our revenues from the student loan market depend on our ability to maintain our contracts with some of the largest providers of student 

loans. In 2013, three providers of student loans each accounted for more than 10% of our revenues during such period and they collectively 
accounted for 49% of our total revenues during this period. Our contracts with these clients entitle them to unilaterally terminate their contractual 
relationship with us at any time without penalty. If we lose one of our significant clients, including if one of our significant clients is 
consolidated by an entity that does not use our services, if the terms of compensation for our services change or if there is a reduction in the level 
of placements provided by any of these clients, our revenues could decline.  

Our contract with CMS for the recovery of improper Medicare payments began generating significant revenues during 2011 and 
represented 26% of our total revenues in both of the years ended December 31, 2012 and 2013. Our audit work under the RAC contract is 
currently set to expire in June 2014, and we are currently participating in a competitive bidding process for the next RAC contract, but this 
process may be delayed due in part to protests filed by our competitors. While we believe our performance under the existing agreement and the 
experience we have gained in performing this contract position us well to renew the agreement, failure to renew the agreement or renewal on 
substantially less favorable terms could significantly harm our revenues and results of operations.  

Macroeconomic Factors  

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Certain macroeconomic factors influence our business and results of operations. These include the increasing volume of student loan 

originations in the U.S. as a result of increased tuition costs and student enrollment, the default rate of student loan borrowers, the growth in 
Medicare expenditures resulting from increasing healthcare costs, as well as the fiscal budget tightening of federal, state and local governments 
as a result of general economic weakness and lower tax revenues.  

Critical Accounting Policies  

Our consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States, or 

GAAP. The preparation of these consolidated financial statements requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported 
amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues, costs and expenses and related disclosures. We base our estimates on historical experience and on various 
other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances. In many instances, we could have reasonably used different 
accounting estimates, and in other instances changes in the accounting estimates are reasonably likely to occur from period-to-period. 
Accordingly, actual results could differ significantly from the estimates made by our management. To the extent that there are material 
differences between these estimates and actual results, our future financial statement presentation, financial condition, results of operations and 
cash flows will be affected. We believe that the accounting policies discussed below are critical to understanding our historical and future 
performance, as these policies relate to the more significant areas involving management’s judgments and estimates.  

Revenue Recognition  

The majority of our contracts are contingency fee based. We recognize revenues on these contingency fee based contracts when third-

party payors remit payments to our clients or remit payments to us on behalf of our clients, and, consequently, the contingency is deemed to have 
been satisfied. Under our RAC contract with CMS, we recognize revenues when the healthcare provider has paid CMS for a given claim or 
incurs an offset against future Medicare claims. Providers have the right to appeal a claim and may pursue additional appeals if the initial appeal 
is found in favor of CMS. We accrue an estimated liability for appeals based on the amount of commissions received which are subject to appeal 
and which we estimate are probable of being returned to providers following successful appeal. This estimated liability for appeals is an offset to 
revenues on our income statement. Our estimates are based on our historical experience with appeals activity under our CMS contract since 
January 2010. During the year ended December 31, 2013 , we reserved an amount equal to 16.1% of gross revenues from our CMS contract. We 
increased our estimated liability for appeals in 2013 due to recent trends in our historical data related to the likelihood of successful appeals. 
Commencing on December 31, 2011, we established a separate line item in the current liabilities section of our balance sheet entitled “Estimated 
liability for appeals” to reflect our estimate of this liability. The $15.3 million balance as of December 31, 2013 , represents our best estimate of 
the probable amount of losses related to appeals of claims for which commissions were previously collected. We estimate that it is reasonably 
possible that we could be required to pay up to an additional approximately $4.5 million as a result of potentially successful appeals. To the 
extent that required payments by us related to successful appeals exceed the amount accrued, revenues in the applicable period would be reduced 
by the amount of the excess. We similarly accrue an allowance against accounts receivable related to commissions yet to be collected, which was 
$1.2 million as of December 31, 2013 , based on the same estimates used to establish the estimated liability for appeals of commissions received. 
Our inability to correctly estimate the estimated liabilities and allowance against accounts receivable could adversely affect our revenues in 
future periods.  

Goodwill  

We periodically review the carrying value of intangible assets not subject to amortization, including goodwill, to determine whether an 

impairment may exist. GAAP requires that goodwill and certain intangible assets not subject to amortization be assessed annually for 
impairment using fair value measurement techniques.  

The balance of goodwill was $81.6 million as of December 31, 2013. We review goodwill for impairment by first assessing qualitative 

factors to determine whether it is more likely than not that the fair value of the reporting unit is less than its carrying amount, including goodwill, 
as a basis for determining whether it is necessary to perform the two-step goodwill impairment. If it is determined that it is not more likely than 
not that the fair value of the reporting unit is less than its carrying amount, we conclude that goodwill is not impaired. If it is determined that it is 
more likely than not that the fair value of the reporting unit is less than its carrying amount, we conduct detailed impairment testing. The first 
step of the goodwill impairment testing involves estimating the fair value of the reporting unit and comparing this to its carrying amount, 
including goodwill. If the carrying amount of the reporting unit exceeds its fair value, the second step of the two-step goodwill impairment test is 
performed to measure the amount of impairment loss, if any. The second step of the goodwill impairment test compares the implied fair value of 
the reporting unit’s goodwill with the carrying amount of that goodwill. If the carrying amount of the reporting unit’s goodwill exceeds the 
implied fair value of that goodwill, an impairment loss is recognized in an amount equal to that excess. The implied fair value of goodwill is 
determined in the same manner as the amount of goodwill recognized in a business combination. That is, the fair value of the reporting unit is 
allocated to all of the assets and liabilities  

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of that unit as if the reporting unit had been acquired in a business combination and the fair value of the reporting unit was the purchase price 
paid to acquire the reporting unit.  

Impairments of Depreciable Intangible Assets  

The balance of depreciable intangible assets was $32.5 million as of December 31, 2013. We evaluate depreciable intangible assets for 
impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of such assets may not be recoverable. Depreciable 
intangible assets consist of client contracts and related relationships, and are being amortized over their estimated useful life, which is generally 
20 years. We evaluate the client contracts intangible at the individual contract level. The recoverability of such assets is measured by a 
comparison of the carrying amount of the assets to future undiscounted net cash flows expected to be generated by the assets. If the assets are 
considered to be impaired, the impairment to be recognized is measured by the amount by which the carrying amount of the assets exceeds the 
fair value of the assets. There was no impairment expense for depreciable intangible assets in 2013, 2012 or 2011 .  

Results of Operations  

Year Ended December 31, 2013 compared to the Year Ended December 31, 2012  

The following table represents our historical operating results for the periods presented:  

Consolidated Statements of Operations Data:  
Revenues  
Operating expenses:  

Salaries and benefits  
Other operating expense  

Total operating expenses  
Income from operations  

Debt extinguishment costs  
Interest expense  
Interest income  

Income before provision for income taxes  

Provision for income taxes  

Net income  

Accrual for preferred stock dividends  
Net income available to common shareholders  

$ 

Revenues  

Year Ended December 31,  

2013  

2012  

$ Change  

   % Change  

(in thousands)  

$ 

255,302     $ 

210,073     $ 

45,229     

22  % 

96,762     
85,671     
182,433     
72,869     
—    
(11,564 )   
1     
61,306     
24,967     
36,339     
—    
36,339     $ 

83,002     
71,305     
154,307     
55,766     
(3,679 )   
(12,414 )   
64     
39,737     
16,786     
22,951     
2,038     
20,913     $ 

13,760     
14,366     
28,126     
17,103     
3,679     
850     
(63 )   
21,569     
8,181     
13,388     
(2,038 )   
15,426     

17  % 
20  % 
18  % 
31  % 
(100 )% 
(7 )% 
(98 )% 
54  % 
49  % 
58  % 
(100 )% 
74  % 

Total revenues were $255.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2013, an increase of $45.2 million or 22%, compared to total 

revenues of $210.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2012. This increase is due to growth in revenues in both our student lending and 
healthcare markets.  

Student lending revenues were $163.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2013, representing an increase of $31.3 million, or 

24%, compared to the year ended December 31, 2012. This increase was primarily a result of volume growth of student loan placements during 
the second half of 2012, which led to an increase in rehabilitation revenues for the year ended December 31, 2013, and continued execution on a 
contract involving a specialized portfolio of student loans with one of our leading GA clients.  

Healthcare revenues were $67.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2013, representing an increase of $12.8 million, or 23%, 

compared to the year ended December 31, 2012. This increase was primarily a result of higher net claim recovery volume under our RAC 
contract.  

Salaries and Benefits  

Salaries and benefits expense was $96.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2013, an increase of $13.8 million, or 17%, compared 

to salaries and benefits expense of $83.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2012. This increase is primarily due to an increase in 
employee headcount to support operational growth related to the recovery of student loans.  

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Other Operating Expense  

Other operating expense was $85.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2013, an increase of $14.4 million, or 20%, compared to 
other operating expense of $71.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2012. This increase is primarily due to increased costs related to our 
use of subcontractors and consultants, production related expenses associated with data processing, retrieval of medical records, printing and 
mailing services, and higher spending on professional services related to operating as a public company.  

Income from Operations  

As a result of the factors described above, income from operations was $72.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2013, compared 

to $55.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2012, representing an increase of $17.1 million, or 31%.  

Debt Extinguishment Costs  

We did not incur any debt extinguishment costs for the year ended December 31, 2013. In March 2012, we incurred debt 

extinguishment costs of $3.7 million in connection with a new credit facility.  

Interest Expense  

Interest expense was $11.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2013 compared to $12.4 million for the year ended December 31, 
2012, representing a decrease of 7%. Interest expense decreased due to repayments of principal under our credit agreement, resulting in a lower 
outstanding balance during 2013.  

Income Taxes  

Income tax expense was $25.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2013 compared to $16.8 million for the year ended 
December 31, 2012, representing an increase of 48.7% consistent with the increase in income before provision for income taxes. Our effective 
income tax rate decreased to 40.7% for the year ended December 31, 2013 from 42.2% for the year ended December 31, 2012. The decrease in 
the effective tax rate is the result of approximately 0.7% decrease due to changes in the state tax rate, and approximately 1% decrease due to 
income tax benefits associated with increases in stock options exercises as a result of two follow on offerings during the year, and the end of the 
lock-up periods for certain employees. These decreases were offset by approximately a 1.7% increase as a result of the non-deductible expenses 
associated with the follow on offerings. The 2012 effective tax rate includes a one time tax expense due to the non-deductible termination of an 
advisory services agreement of approximately 1.9%.  

Net Income  

As a result of the factors described above, net income was $36.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2013, which represented an 

increase of $13.4 million compared to net income of $23.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2012.  

Year Ended December 31, 2012 compared to the Year Ended December 31, 2011  

The following table presents our historical operating results for the periods presented:  

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Consolidated Statement of Operations Data:  
Revenues  
Operating expenses:  

Salaries and benefits  
Other operating expense  
Impairment of trade name  

Total operating expenses  
Income from operations  

Debt extinguishment costs  
Interest expense  
Interest income  

Income before provision for income taxes  

Provision for income taxes  

Net income  

Accrual for preferred stock dividends  
Net income available to common shareholders  

$ 

Revenues  

Year Ended December 31,  

2012  

2011  

$ Change  

% Change  

(in thousands)  

$ 

210,073     $ 

162,974     $ 

47,099     

83,002     
71,305     
—    
154,307     
55,766     
(3,679 )   
(12,414 )   
64     
39,737     
16,786     
22,951     
2,038     
20,913     $ 

67,082     
49,199     
13,400     
129,681     
33,293     
—    
(13,530 )   
125     
19,888     
7,516     
12,372     
6,495     
5,877     $ 

15,920     
22,106     
(13,400 )   
24,626     
22,473     
(3,679 )   
1,116     
(61 )   
19,849     
9,270     
10,579     
(4,457 )   
15,036     

29  % 

24  % 
45  % 
(100 )% 
19  % 
68  % 
— % 
(8 )% 
(49 )% 
100  % 
123  % 
86  % 
(69 )% 
256  % 

Total revenues were $210.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2012, an increase of $47.1 million, or 28.9%, compared to total 
revenues of $163.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2011. This increase in revenues is primarily due to an increase of $33.2 million in 
revenues received from CMS under our RAC contract as a result of higher claim recovery volume and an increase of $4.8 million generated 
from a new default-aversion service contract that commenced in May 2012, for a new service offering we provide in other markets we serve. 
Revenues from student lending increased by 8.3% in 2012 to $132.4 million from $122.2 million in the prior year period.  

Salaries and Benefits  

Salaries and benefits expense was $83.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2012, an increase of $15.9 million, or 23.7%, 
compared to salaries and benefits expense of $67.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2011. This increase is primarily due to hiring of new 
employees to provide services under our RAC contract with CMS, an increase in expenses associated with the engagement of additional software 
engineers to assist in the integration of a recently acquired software license and an increase in expenses associated with the hiring of additional 
administrative employees.  

Other Operating Expense  

Other operating expense was $71.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2012, an increase of $22.1 million, or 44.9%, compared to 
other operating expense of $49.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2011. This increase is primarily due to (i) an additional $10 million of 
subcontractor fees incurred in connection with increased services provided under the RAC contract and MSA contracts and (ii) $1.3 million paid 
to an affiliate of Parthenon Capital Partners in connection with the termination of an advisory services agreement, and an additional $0.9 million 
paid to Parthenon Capital Partners at the closing of our initial public offering also as a result of the termination of the advisory agreement.  

Impairment of Trade Name  

We did not recognize an impairment expense for intangible assets in 2012. In 2011, we recorded $13.4 million of impairment expense 

to write off the carrying value of our former trade name, Diversified Collection Services Inc., due to our decision to retire that trade name.  

Income from Operations  

As a result of the factors described above, income from operations was $55.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2012, compared 

to $33.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2011, representing an increase of $22.5 million, or 67.5%.  

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Debt Extinguishment Costs  

As a result of the entry into our new credit facility and the repayment of all amounts owed under our then existing credit facility in 
March 2012, we incurred debt extinguishment costs of $3.7 million, comprised of approximately $3.3 million in fees paid to the lenders in 
connection with our new credit facility and approximately $0.3 million of unamortized debt issuance costs associated with our old credit facility. 
We did not incur a similar expense in the year ended December 31, 2011.  

Interest Expense  

Interest expense was $12.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2012, compared to $13.5 for the year ended December 31, 2011, 

representing a decrease of $8.2% due to lower interest rates under the new credit agreement as compared to the interest rates under our old credit 
agreement.  

Income Taxes  

Income tax expense was $16.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2012, compared to $7.5 million for the year ended December 

31, 2011, representing an increase of 123.3% consistent with the increase in income before provision for income taxes. Our effective income tax 
rate increased to 42.2% for the year ended December 31, 2012 from 37.8% for the year ended December 31, 2011. Approximately 2.5% of the 
increase results from changes in the state tax rate, which includes a 2011 one-time benefit from a change in California tax law of 2.3%. In 
addition, approximately 1.9% of the increase was due to the non-deductible termination of an advisory services agreement in 2012.  

Net Income  

As a result of the factors described above, net income was $23.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2012, which represented an 

increase of $10.6 million compared to net income of $12.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2011.  

Liquidity and Capital Resources  

Our principal sources of liquidity are cash flows from operations, term loans, and the proceeds received from our initial public offering 

in August 2012. Cash and cash equivalents, which totaled $81.9 million as of December 31, 2013 , consist primarily of cash on deposit with 
banks. We expect that operating cash flows will continue to be a primary source of liquidity for our operating needs. There are currently no 
borrowings outstanding under our revolving credit facility other than a $1.4 million letter of credit. Due to our operating cash flows, our existing 
cash and cash equivalents and availability under our revolving credit facility, we believe that we have the ability to meet our working capital and 
capital expenditure needs for the foreseeable future.  

The following table presents information regarding our cash flows for the years ended December 31, 2013 , 2012 and 2011 :  

Net cash provided by operating activities  
Net cash used in investing activities  
Net cash used in financing activities  

Cash flows from operating activities  

2013  

Year Ended  
December 31,  

2012  
(in thousands)  

2011  

$ 

61,206     $ 
(12,503 )    
(4,637 )    

37,005     $ 
(12,193 )    
(6,973 )    

28,985  
(6,111 ) 
(13,948 ) 

Operating activities provided $61.2 million of cash during the year ended December 31, 2013 an increase of $24.2 million, compared to 

cash provided by operating activities of $37.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2012, primarily due to net income of $36.3 million, an 
increase in the estimated liability for appeals of $10.9 million associated with our RAC contract with CMS, collection of trade receivables of 
$3.4 million, and an increase in accrued salaries and benefits of $2.5 million. These items were partially offset by various working capital 
fluctuations such as a decrease in other current liabilities and deferred revenue. The estimated liability for appeals for revenue associated with 
CMS totaled $15.3 million in 2013, compared $4.4 million in 2012, due to higher claim recovery volumes under our RAC contract with CMS.  

Operating activities provided $37.0 million of cash during the year ended December 31, 2012, an increase of $8.0 million, compared to 
cash provided by operating activities of $29.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2011 primarily due to the increase in net income for the 
year ended December 31, 2012 to $23.0 million compared to $12.4 million for 2011.  

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Cash used to pay accrued salary and benefits totaled $9.3 million in 2012, as compared to the $7.1 million in accrued salaries and benefits 
payable for the comparable period in 2011. Accounts payable increased $1.3 million in 2012 compared to 2011, primarily due to timing. The 
estimated liability for appeals for revenue associated with CMS totaled $4.4 million in 2012, compared $0.5 million in 2011, due to higher claim 
recovery volumes under our RAC contract with CMS.       

We generated $29.0 million of cash from operating activities during the year ended December 31, 2011, primarily resulting from our 

net income of $12.4 million, non-cash depreciation and amortization of $7.8 million, an impairment expense to write off the carrying amount of 
the trade name intangible asset due to the retirement of the Diversified Collection Services, Inc. trade name of $13.4 million and changes in 
operating assets and liabilities of $3.8 million, offset by non-cash deferred income taxes of $9.6 million.  

Cash flows from investing activities  

Investments in property, plant and equipment resulted in cash outflow of $12.5 million during 2013 primarily for purchases related to 

information technology, data storage, hardware, telecommunication systems and security enhancements to our proprietary software.  

Investing activities resulted in cash outflow of $12.2 million during the year ended December 31, 2012. The primary uses of cash 

associated with investing activities in 2012 were $11.4 million for property, equipment and leasehold improvements, to enhance our proprietary 
technology platform, improve our telecommunications systems, upgrade our IT infrastructure for storage and operating activities, and $0.8 
million for the purchase of a perpetual software license.  

We used $6.1 million of cash in investing activities for the purchase of property, equipment and leasehold improvements during the 
year ended December 31, 2011, primarily for investments in information technology systems and infrastructure to support increased business 
volumes.  

Cash flows from financing activities  

Cash used in financing activities of $4.6 million in 2013 was due to the repayment of principal on outstanding debt and other 
contractual obligations of $15.5 million, offset by an income tax benefit of $9.1 million associated with the exercise of employee stock options, 
and $1.8 million in proceeds received from the exercise of employee stock options.  

For the year ended December 31, 2012, our primary financing activities were $156 million in proceeds from term loans, $12.8 million 

of net proceeds from our IPO which was completed in August 2012, and $4.5 million in revolving credit facility borrowings. These proceeds 
were offset by $103.4 million used for the repayment of our old notes payable and repayment of principal on our new term loans, $12.7 million 
used for the repayment of our old and new lines of credit, $60.3 million used to redeem 5.3 million shares of preferred stock, and $3.1 million 
used for debt issuance costs.  

We used $13.9 million of cash in financing activities for the repayment of notes payable during the year ended December 31, 2011.  

Long-term Debt  

On March 19, 2012, we, through our wholly owned subsidiary, entered into a $147.5 million credit agreement with Madison Capital 

Funding LLC as administrative agent, ING Capital LLC as syndication agent, and other lenders party thereto. The senior credit facility consists 
of (i) a $57.0 million term A loan that matures in March 2017, (ii) a $79.5 million term B loan that matures in March 2018 , and (iii) a $11.0 
million revolving credit facility that expires in March 2017, which had a borrowing capacity of $9.6 million as of December 31, 2013. On 
June 28, 2012, we increased the amount of our borrowings under our term B loan by $19.5 million. We may also request the lenders to increase 
the size of the term B loan or other term loans by up to an additional $10.5 million at any time prior to March 19, 2014.  

All borrowings under the credit agreement bear interest at a rate per annum equal to an applicable margin plus, at our option, either (i) a 
base rate determined by reference to the highest of (a) the prime rate published in the Wall Street Journal or another national publication, (b) the 
federal funds rate plus 0.5%, and (c) 2.5% or (ii) a London Interbank Offered Rate, or Libor, rate determined by reference to the highest of (a) a 
Libor rate published in Reuters or another national publication and (b) 1.5%. The term A loan and the revolving credit facility have an applicable 
margin of 4.25% for base rate loans and 5.25% for Libor rate loans. The term B loan has an applicable margin of 4.75% for base rate loans and 
5.75% for Libor rate loans. The minimum per annum interest rate that we are required to pay is 6.75% for the term A loan and revolving credit 
facility and 7.25% for the term B loan. Interest is due at the end of each month for base rate loans and at the end of each Libor period for Libor 
rate loans unless the Libor period is greater than 3 months, in which case interest is due at the last day of each 3-month interval of such Libor 
period.  

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The credit agreement requires us to prepay the two term loans on a prorated basis and then to prepay the revolving credit facility under 
certain circumstances: (i) with 100% of the net cash proceeds of any asset sale or other disposition of assets by us or our subsidiaries where the 
net cash proceeds exceed $1 million, (ii) with a percentage of our annual excess cash flow each year where such percentage ranges from 25%-
75% depending on our total debt to EBITDA ratio reduced by any voluntary prepayments that are made on our term loans during the same 
period and (iii) with any net cash proceeds from a qualified initial public offering by us, less net proceeds applied to redeem any outstanding 
preferred equity or convertible debt, to pay a common shareholder dividend not to exceed $20 million or, if we comply with an adjusted 
EBITDA ratio set forth in the agreement, to our cash balances in an amount not to exceed $75 million. We applied the proceeds from our initial 
public offering to our cash balances.  

We have to abide by certain negative covenants for our credit agreement, which limit the ability for our subsidiaries and us to:  

•  

•  

incur additional indebtedness; 

create or permit liens; 

•   pay dividends or other distributions to our equity holders; 

•   purchase or redeem certain equity interests of our equity holders, including any warrants, options and other security rights; 

•   pay management fees or similar fees to any of our equity holders; 

•   make any redemption, prepayment, defeasance, repurchase or any other payment with respect to any subordinated debt; 

•  

•  

•  

•  

consolidate or merge; 

sell assets, including the capital stock of our subsidiaries; 

enter into transactions with our affiliates; 

enter into different business lines; and 

•   make investments. 

The credit agreement also requires us to meet certain financial covenants, including maintaining a fixed charge coverage ratio and a 
total debt to EBITDA ratio as such terms are defined in our credit agreement. These financial covenants are tested at the end of each quarter 
beginning on December 31, 2012. The table below further describes these financial covenants, as well as our status under these covenants as of 
December 31, 2013 .  

Financial Covenant  
Fixed charge coverage ratio (minimum)  
Total debt to EBITDA ratio (maximum)  

Contractual Obligations  

The following summarizes our contractual obligations as of December 31, 2013 :  

Covenant  
Requirement  
1.20 to 1.0  
3.25 to 1.0  

Actual Ratio at  
December 31, 2013  
2.60  
1.53  

Contractual Obligations  
Long-Term Debt Obligations  
Interest Payments  
Operating Lease Obligations  
Purchase Obligations  
Total  

Payments Due by Period  

Less  
Than  
1 Year  

1-3  
Years  

3-5  
Years  

More  
Than  
5 Years  

10,763     $ 
9,446     
1,883     
6,825     
28,917     $ 

31,523     $ 
23,584     
2,923     
338     
58,368     $ 

91,018     $ 
1,437     
1,351     
—    
93,806     $ 

— 
— 
463  
— 
463  

Total  
133,304     $ 
34,467     
6,620     
7,163     
181,554     $ 

$ 

$ 

(1)   We entered into our new credit agreement on March 19, 2012 and amended it on June 28, 2012, with all outstanding 

indebtedness under our prior loan facility paid in full. Long-term debt obligations and interest payments presented in this 
table relate solely to our new credit agreement, as amended.  

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Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted Net Income  

To provide investors with additional information regarding our financial results, we have disclosed in the table below and within this 

report adjusted EBITDA and adjusted net income, both of which are non-GAAP financial measures. We have provided a reconciliation below of 
adjusted EBITDA to net income and adjusted net income to net income, the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure to these non-
GAAP financial measures.  

We have included adjusted EBITDA and adjusted net income in this report because they are key measures used by our management and 

board of directors to understand and evaluate our core operating performance and trends and to prepare and approve our annual budget. 
Accordingly, we believe that adjusted EBITDA and adjusted net income provide useful information to investors and analysts in understanding 
and evaluating our operating results in the same manner as our management and board of directors.  

Our use of adjusted EBITDA and adjusted net income has limitations as an analytical tool, and you should not consider it in isolation or 

as a substitute for analysis of our results as reported under GAAP. Some of these limitations are:  

•  

although depreciation and amortization are non-cash charges, the assets being depreciated and amortized may have to be replaced 

in the future, and adjusted EBITDA does not reflect cash capital expenditure requirements for such replacements or for new 

•  

•  

•  

•  

•  

capital expenditure requirements;  

adjusted EBITDA does not reflect interest expense on our indebtedness; 

adjusted EBITDA does not reflect changes in, or cash requirements for, our working capital needs; 

adjusted EBITDA does not reflect tax payments; 

adjusted EBITDA and adjusted net income do not reflect the potentially dilutive impact of equity-based compensation; 

adjusted EBITDA and adjusted net income do not reflect the impact of certain non-operating expenses resulting from matters we 

do not consider to be indicative of our core operating performance; and  

•   other companies may calculate adjusted EBITDA and adjusted net income differently than we do, which reduces its usefulness as a 

comparative measure.  

Because of these limitations, you should consider adjusted EBITDA and adjusted net income alongside other financial performance 

measures, including net income and our other GAAP results.  

The following tables present a reconciliation of adjusted EBITDA and adjusted net income for the years ended December 31, 2013, 

2012 and 2011 to actual net income for these periods:  

Reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA:  
Net income  
Provision for income taxes  
Interest expense  
Interest income  
Debt extinguishment costs (1)  
Secondary offering expense (2)  
Depreciation and amortization  
Impairment of trade name (3)  
Non-core operating expenses (4)  
Advisory fee (5)  
Stock based compensation  
Adjusted EBITDA  

Year Ended December 31,  

2013  

2012  
(in thousands)  

2011  

$ 

$ 

36,339     $ 
24,967     
11,564     
(1 )    
—    
2,893     
10,655     
—    
—    
—    
2,994     
89,411     $ 

22,951     $ 
16,786     
12,414     
(64 )    
3,679     
—    
9,505     
—    
47     
2,641     
1,614     
69,573     $ 

12,372  
7,516  
13,530  
(125 ) 
— 
— 
7,766  
13,400  
2,548  
634  
120  
57,761  

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Reconciliation of Adjusted Net Income:  
Net income  
Debt extinguishment costs (1)  
Secondary offering expense (2)  
Impairment of trade name (3)  
Non–core operating expenses (4)  
Advisory fee (5)  
Stock based compensation  
Amortization of intangibles (6)  
Deferred financing amortization costs (7)  
Tax adjustments (8)  
Adjusted net income  

Year Ended December 31,  

2013  

2012  
(in thousands)  

2011  

$ 

$ 

36,339     $ 
—    
2,893     
—    
—    
—    
2,994     
3,731     
1,125     
(4,297 )    
42,785     $ 

22,951     $ 
3,679     
—    
—    
47     
2,641     
1,614     
3,676     
1,161     
(5,126 )    
30,643     $ 

12,372  
— 
— 
13,400  
2,548  
634  
120  
3,043  
1,254  
(8,400 ) 
24,971  

(1)   Represents debt extinguishment costs comprised of approximately $3.3 million of fees paid to lenders in connection with our new 

credit facility and approximately $0.3 million of unamortized debt issuance costs in connection with our old credit facility.  

(2)   Represents direct and incremental costs associated with the Company's secondary offerings in February and April 2013. 
(3)   Represents impairment expenses to write off the carrying amount of the trade name intangible asset due to the retirement of the 

Diversified Collection Services, Inc. trade name.  

(4) Represents professional fees and settlement costs related to strategic corporate development activities and a $1.2 million legal 

settlement in 2011.  

(5) Represents expenses incurred under an advisory services agreement with Parthenon Capital Partners, which was terminated in April 

2012 and the August 2012 expense of $0.9 million associated with a payment to a financial advisor as part of the Company's 
initial public offering. See Note 11 "Related Party Transactions."  

(6)   Represents amortization of capitalized expenses related to the acquisition of Performant by an affiliate of Parthenon Capital 

Partners in 2004, and also an acquisition in the first quarter of 2012 to enhance our analytics capabilities.  

(7)   Represents amortization of capitalized financing costs related to debt offerings conducted in 2009, 2010 and 2012. 
(8)   Represents tax adjustments assuming a marginal tax rate of 40%. 

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Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements  

We have no off-balance sheet arrangements.  

Recent Accounting Pronouncements  

In December 2011, the Financial Accounting Standards Board, or FASB issued Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2011-11, Balance 

Sheet (Topic 210), Disclosures about Offsetting Assets and Liabilities , updated by ASU 2013-01, Clarifying the Scope of Disclosures about 
Offsetting Assets and Liabilities, which requires companies to disclose information about financial instruments that have been offset and related 
arrangements to enable users of the company's financial statements to understand the effect of those arrangements on the company's financial 
position. Companies will be required to provide both net (offset amounts) and gross information in the notes to the financial statements for 
relevant assets and liabilities that are offset. ASU 2011-11, as amended by ASU 2013-01, is effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within 
those years, beginning on or after January 1, 2013. The adoption of this guidance did not have a material effect on our consolidated financial 
statements.  

In July 2012, FASB issued ASU No. 2012-02, Intangibles-Goodwill and Other (Topic 350): Testing Indefinite-Lived Intangible Assets 
for Impairment . This newly issued accounting standard allows an entity the option to first assess qualitative factors to determine whether it is 
necessary to perform a quantitative impairment test for indefinite-lived intangibles other than goodwill. Under that option, an entity would no 
longer  be  required  to  calculate  the  fair  value  of  an  indefinite-lived  intangible  asset  unless  the  entity  determines,  based  on  that  qualitative 
assessment, that it is more likely than not that the fair value of the indefinite-lived intangible asset is less than its carrying amount. This ASU is 
effective for annual and interim indefinite-lived intangible asset impairment tests performed for fiscal years beginning after September 15, 2012. 
Early adoption is permitted. The adoption of this guidance did not have a material effect on our consolidated financial statements.  

In March 2013, FASB issued ASU No. 2013-04, Obligations Resulting from Joint and Several Liability Arrangements for which the 
Total Amount of the Obligation is Fixed at the Reporting Date , which addresses the recognition, measurement, and disclosure of certain joint 
and  several  obligations  including  debt  arrangements,  other  contractual  obligations,  and  settled  litigation  and  judicial  rulings.  The  ASU  is 
effective  for  public  entities for  fiscal years, and interim  periods  within those  years,  beginning  after December 15, 2013. The  adoption  of  this 
guidance will not have a material effect on our consolidated financial statements.  

ITEM 7A.    Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk  

We do not hold or issue financial instruments for trading purposes. We conduct all of our business in U.S. currency and therefore do not 

have any direct foreign currency risk. We do have exposure to changes in interest rates with respect to the borrowings under our senior secured 
credit facility, which bear interest at a variable rate based on the prime rate or LIBOR. For example, if the interest rate on our borrowings 
increased 100 basis points (1%) from the credit facility floor of 1.5%, our annual interest expense would increase by approximately $1.3 million. 
In July 2012, we entered into an interest rate cap agreement per the terms of our senior secured credit agreement. The interest rate cap agreement 
is effective beginning in October 2012, and matures in October 2014, with a total notional amount of $75 million and a cap on LIBOR at 2.0%. 
If the LIBOR rate were to increase by 100 basis points (1.0%) above the credit facility floor of 1.5% for a year, we would receive a payment 
from the interest rate cap of approximately $0.4 million.  

While we currently hold our excess cash in an operating account, in the future we may invest all or a portion of our excess cash in short-

term investments, including money market accounts, where returns may reflect current interest rates. As a result, market interest rate changes 
impact our interest expense and interest income. This impact will depend on variables such as the magnitude of interest rate changes and the 
level of our borrowings under our credit facility or excess cash balances.  

ITEM 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data  

Our consolidated financial statements and notes thereto and the reports of KPMG LLP are set forth in the Index to Financial Statements 

under Item 15, Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules, and is incorporated herein by reference.  

ITEM 9. Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure  

None.  

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ITEM 9A. Controls and Procedures  

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures  

We maintain a system of disclosure controls and procedures that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in the 
Company’s reports under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the Securities 
and Exchange Commission’s rules and forms, and that such information is accumulated and communicated to management, including our Chief 
Executive Officer and the Chief Financial Officer, as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. In designing and 
evaluating the disclosure controls and procedures, management recognized that any controls and procedures, no matter how well designed and 
operated, can provide only reasonable assurance of achieving the desired control objectives.  

Management, with the participation of our Chief Executive Officer and our Chief Financial Officer, has evaluated the effectiveness of 

our disclosure controls and procedures, as defined in Rule 13a-15(e) under the Exchange Act, as of the fiscal year covered by this Annual Report 
on Form 10-K. Based on that evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that our disclosure controls and 
procedures were functioning effectively at the reasonable assurance level as of December 31, 2013.  

Management’s Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting  

Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rules 

13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act) to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of our financial reporting and the 
preparation of our consolidated financial statements for external purposes in accordance with United States Generally Accepted Accounting 
Principles (“US GAAP”). Under the supervision of, and with the participation of our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, 
management assessed the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2013. Management based its assessment 
on criteria established in “Internal Control Integrated Framework” issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway 
Commission (“COSO”). Based on this evaluation, management concluded that its internal control over financial reporting was effective as of 
December 31, 2013.  

Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting  

There was no change in our internal control over financial reporting during the quarter ended December 31, 2013, that has materially 

affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting, other than those noted above.  

ITEM 9B.    Other Information  

None.  

PART III  

ITEM 10.    Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance  

This Item is incorporated by reference to our definitive proxy statement on Schedule 14A, which will be filed within 120 days after the 
close of the fiscal year covered by this report on Form 10-K, or if our proxy statement is not filed by that date, will be included in an amendment 
to this Report on Form 10-K.  

ITEM 11.    Executive Compensation  

This Item is incorporated by reference to our definitive proxy statement on Schedule 14A, which will be filed within 120 days after the 
close of the fiscal year covered by this report on Form 10-K, or if our proxy statement is not filed by that date, will be included in an amendment 
to this Report on Form 10-K.  

ITEM 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters  

This Item is incorporated by reference to our definitive proxy statement on Schedule 14A, which will be filed within 120 days after the 
close of the fiscal year covered by this report on Form 10-K, or if our proxy statement is not filed by that date, will be included in an amendment 
to this Report on Form 10-K.  

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ITEM 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence  

This Item is incorporated by reference to our definitive proxy statement on Schedule 14A, which will be filed within 120 days after the 
close of the fiscal year covered by this report on Form 10-K, or if our proxy statement is not filed by that date, will be included in an amendment 
to this Report on Form 10-K.  

ITEM 14. Principal Accounting Fees and Services  

This Item is incorporated by reference to our definitive proxy statement on Schedule 14A, which will be filed within 120 days after the 
close of the fiscal year covered by this report on Form 10-K, or if our proxy statement is not filed by that date, will be included in an amendment 
to this Report on Form 10-K.  

PART IV  

ITEM 15. Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules  

(a) Financial Statements  

Financial Statements. The financial statements filed as part of this report are identified in the Index to Consolidated Financial 

Statements on page F-1.  

Financial Statement Schedules . See Item 15(c) below.  

Exhibits . See Item 15(b) below.  

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(b) Exhibits  

The following exhibits are filed herewith or are incorporated by reference to exhibits previously filed with the Securities and Exchange 

Commission. The Company shall furnish copies of exhibits for a reasonable fee (covering the expense of furnishing copies) upon request. 

Exhibit  
Number  

Description  

3.1  

3.2  

4.2  

10.1  

10.2  

10.3  

10.4  

10.5  

10.6  

10.7  

10.8  

10.9  

Restated Certificate of Incorporation of Registrant (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.1(b) to the Company’s Registration 
Statement on Form S-1/A filed July 23, 2012)  

Amended and Restated Bylaws of Registrant (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.2(b) to the Company’s Registration Statement 
on Form S-1/A filed July 23, 2012)  

Amended and Restated Registration Rights Agreement, dated as of August 15, 2012, among the Registrant and the persons listed 
thereon (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.2 to the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-1/A filed July 23, 2012)  

Form of Indemnification Agreement between the Registrant and its officers and directors (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 
to the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-1/A filed July 30, 2012)  

2004 Equity Incentive Plan and form of agreements thereunder (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to the Company’s 
Registration Statement on Form S-1 filed July 3, 2012)  

2004 DCS Holdings Stock Option Plan and form of agreements thereunder (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.3 to the 
Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-1 filed July 3, 2012)  

2007 Stock Option Plan and form of agreements thereunder (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.4 to the Company’s 
Registration Statement on Form S-1 filed July 3, 2012)  

Recovery Audit Contractor contract by and between Diversified Collection Services, Inc. and Center for Medicare and Medicaid 
Services dated as of October 3, 2008, as amended (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.5 to the Company’s Registration 
Statement on Form S-1/A filed July 23, 2012)  

Credit Agreement, dated as of March 19, 2012, by and among DCS Business Services, Inc., the Lenders party Hereto, Madison 
Capital Funding LLC, and ING Capital (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.6 to the Company’s Registration Statement on Form 
S-1/A filed July 23, 2012)  

Form of Change of Control Agreement, as amended (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.7 to the Company’s Registration 
Statement on Form S-1/A filed July 30, 2012)  

Employment Agreement between the Registrant and Lisa Im, dated as of April 15, 2012, as amended (incorporated by reference to 
Exhibit 10.8 to the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-1/A filed July 23, 2012)  

Employment Agreement between the Registrant and Jon D. Shaver dated as of March 31, 2003, as amended (incorporated by 
reference to Exhibit 10.9 to the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-1/A filed July 23, 2012)  

10.10  

Repurchase Agreement between the Registrant and Lisa C. Im dated as of July 3, 2012 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.10 
to the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-1 filed July 3, 2012)  

10.11  

Repurchase Agreement between the Registrant and Jon D. Shaver dated as of July 3, 2012 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 
10.11 to the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-1 filed July 3, 2012)  

10.12  

Director Nomination Agreement between the Registrant and Parthenon DCS Holdings, LLC dated as of July 20, 2012 (incorporated 
by reference to Exhibit 10.12 to the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-1/A filed July 23, 2012)  

Advisory Services Agreement between Diversified Collection Services, Inc. and Parthenon Capital, LLC dated as of January 8, 
2004, as amended (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.13 to the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-1/A filed July 
23, 2012)  

10.13  

 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Termination of the Advisory Services Agreement between Diversified Collection Services, Inc. and Parthenon Capital, LLC dated 
as of January 8, 2004, as amended, dated as of April 13, 2012 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.14 to the Company’s 
Registration Statement on Form S-1/A filed July 23, 2012)  

10.14  

10.15  

2012 Stock Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.15 to the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-1/A 
filed July 23, 2012)  

21  

List of Subsidiaries  

44  

 
  
  
  
  
  
  
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Exhibit  
Number  

Description  

23  

24  

Consent of KPMG LLP, Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm  

Powers of Attorney (included in the signature page to this report)  

31.1  

Rule 13a-14(a)/15d-14(a) Certification, executed by Lisa C. Im  

31.2  

Rule 13a-14(a)/15d-14(a) Certification, executed by Hakan L. Orvell  

32.1  

Furnished Statement of the Chief Executive Officer under 18 U.S.C. Section 1350  

32.2  

Furnished Statement of the Chief Financial Officer under 18 U.S.C. Section 1350  

101.INS   XBRL Instance Document  

101.SCH   XBRL Taxonomy Extension Scheme  

101.CAL   XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase  

101.DEF   XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document  

101.LAB   XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase  

101.PRE   XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase  

Schedules not listed above have been omitted because they are not applicable or required, or the information required to be set forth 

therein is included in the Consolidated Financial Statements or Notes hereto.  

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Index to Consolidated Financial Statements  

Consolidated Financial Statements of Performant Financial Corporation and Subsidiaries For the Years Ended 
December 31, 2013, 2012 and 2011  

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm  

Consolidated Balance Sheets  

Consolidated Statements of Operations  

Consolidated Statements of Changes in Redeemable Preferred Stock and Stockholders’ Equity (Deficit)  

Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows  

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements  

F-1  

Page  

F-2 

F-3 

F-4 

F-5 

F-6 

F-7 

 
   
 
     
   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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The Board of Directors and Stockholders  
Performant Financial Corporation  

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm  

We  have  audited  the  accompanying  consolidated  balance  sheets  of  Performant  Financial  Corporation  and subsidiaries  as  of 
December 31,  2013  and  2012,  and  the  related  consolidated  statements  of  operations,  changes  in  redeemable  preferred  stock  and 
stockholders’  equity  (deficit),  and  cash  flows  for  each  of  the  years  in  the  three-year  period  ended  December 31,  2013.  These 
consolidated financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion 
on these consolidated financial statements based on our audits.  

We  conducted our  audits in accordance with  the standards  of  the Public Company Accounting  Oversight  Board (United  States). 
Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements 
are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in 
the  financial  statements.  An  audit  also  includes  assessing  the  accounting  principles  used  and  significant  estimates  made  by 
management,  as  well  as  evaluating  the  overall  financial  statement  presentation.  We  believe  that  our  audits  provide  a  reasonable 
basis for our opinion.  

In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position 
of  Performant Financial  Corporation  and subsidiaries  as  of  December 31,  2013  and  2012,  and  the  results  of  their operations  and 
their  cash  flows  for  each  of  the  years  in  the  three-year  period  ended  December 31,  2013,  in  conformity  with  U.S. generally 
accepted accounting principles.  

San Francisco, California  
March 13, 2014  

/s/ KPMG LLP  

F-2  

 
 
 
 
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PERFORMANT FINANCIAL CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES  
Consolidated Balance Sheets  
(In thousands, except per share amounts)  

Current assets:  

Assets  

Cash and cash equivalents  
Trade accounts receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts of $32 and $65, respectively and 
estimated allowance for appeals of $1,160 and $1,199, respectively  
Deferred income taxes  
Prepaid expenses and other current assets  
Debt issuance costs, current portion  

Total current assets  

Property, equipment, and leasehold improvements, net  
Identifiable intangible assets, net  
Goodwill  
Debt issuance costs, net  
Other assets  

Total assets  

Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity  

Current liabilities:  

Current maturities of notes payable  
Accrued salaries and benefits  
Accounts payable  
Other current liabilities  
Income taxes payable  
Deferred revenue  
Estimated liability for appeals  

Total current liabilities  

Notes payable, net of current portion  
Deferred income taxes  
Other liabilities  

Total liabilities  

Commitments and contingencies  

Stockholders’ equity:  

Common stock, $0.0001 par value. Authorized, 500,000 and 50,000 shares at December 31, 2013 
and 2012, respectively; issued and outstanding 48,316 and 45,392 shares at December 31, 2013 and 
2012, respectively  
Additional paid-in capital  
Retained earnings (deficit)  

Total stockholders’ equity  
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity  

See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements.  

F-3  

December 31,  
2013  

December 31,  
2012  

$ 

81,909     $ 

37,843  

19,649     
6,847     
4,400     
1,055     
113,860     
26,247     
32,513     
81,572     
2,789     
279     
257,260     $ 

10,763     $ 
11,826     
2,383     
5,311     
103     
—    
15,283     
45,669     
122,541     
12,612     
2,204     
183,026     

23,044  
3,798  
2,876  
1,125  
68,686  
20,669  
36,244  
81,572  
3,844  
730  
211,745  

11,040  
9,288  
1,403  
8,252  
430  
2,187  
4,378  
36,978  
136,729  
11,271  
2,694  
187,672  

5     
49,791     
24,438     
74,234     
257,260     $ 

4  
35,970  
(11,901 ) 
24,073  
211,745  

$ 

$ 

$ 

 
 
  
   
     
   
     
  
  
    
   
     
 
   
  
  
    
   
     
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PERFORMANT FINANCIAL CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES  
Consolidated Statements of Operations  
(In thousands, except per share amounts)  

Revenues  
Operating expenses:  

Salaries and benefits  
Other operating expenses  
Impairment of trade name  

Total operating expenses  
Income from operations  

Debt extinguishment costs  
Interest expense  
Interest income  

Income before provision for income taxes  

Provision for income taxes  
Net income  

Accrual for preferred stock dividends  

Net income available to common shareholders  

Net income per share attributable to common shareholders (see Note 1)  

Basic  

Diluted  

Weighted average shares (see Note 1)  

Basic  

Diluted  

  See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements.  

F-4  

For the Years Ended December 31,  

2013  

2012  

2011  

$ 

255,302     $ 

210,073     $ 

162,974  

96,762     
85,671     
—    
182,433     
72,869     
—    
(11,564 )    
1     
61,306     
24,967     
36,339     $ 
—    
36,339     $ 

83,002     
71,305     
—    
154,307     
55,766     
(3,679 )    
(12,414 )    
64     
39,737     
16,786     
22,951     $ 
2,038     
20,913     $ 

0.77     $ 
0.74     $ 

0.48     $ 
0.44     $ 

47,492     
49,386     

43,985     
47,599     

67,082  
49,199  
13,400  
129,681  
33,293  
— 
(13,530 ) 
125  
19,888  
7,516  
12,372  
6,495  
5,877  

0.14  
0.13  

42,962  
45,742  

$ 

$ 

$ 

$ 

 
 
 
   
   
  
  
   
     
     
   
     
     
   
     
     
Table of Contents  

PERFORMANT FINANCIAL CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES  
Consolidated Statements of Changes in Redeemable Preferred Stock and Stockholders’ Equity (Deficit)  
For the Years Ended December 31, 2013 , 2012 and 2011  
(In thousands)  

Balance, December 31, 2010  

5,296     $ 

51,753        $ 

(2,158 )     37,667     $ 

Redeemable Preferred  Stock  
Series A  

Convertible Preferred Stock        

Shares  

   Amount  

Due From  
Stockholders     

Common Stock  

Shares  

   Amount     

   Additional  
Paid-In  
Capital  
4     $  19,251     $ 

Retained 
Earnings 
(Deficit)  

Total  

(38,691 )    $  (21,594 ) 

Increase in redemption value 
of Series A preferred stock  
Interest on notes receivable 
from stockholders  
Stock-based compensation 
expense  
Net income  

Balance, December 31, 2011  

Increase in redemption value 
of Series A preferred stock  
Conversion of Series A 
preferred stock to Series B 
preferred stock which was 
immediately redeemed for 
cash  
Conversion of Series B 
preferred stock to common  
Exercise of stock options  
Issuance of stock  
Purchase of treasury stock  
Interest on notes receivable 
from stockholders  
Repayment of notes 
receivable from stockholders 
Stock-based compensation 
expense  
Income tax benefit from 
employee stock options  
Net income  

Balance, December 31, 2012  
Exercise of stock options  
Stock-based compensation 
expense  
Income tax benefit from 
employee stock options  
Net income  

Balance, December 31, 2013  

—    

6,495        

—    

—    

—    

—    

—       

(108 )    

—    

—    

—    

—    

(6,495 )    

(6,495 ) 

—    

(108 ) 

—    
—    
5,296     

—       
—       
58,248        

—    
—    

—    
—    
(2,266 )     37,667     

—    
—    
4     

120     
—    
19,371     

—    
12,372     
(32,814 )    

120  
12,372  
(15,705 ) 

—    

2,038        

—    

—    

—    

—    

(2,038 )    

(2,038 ) 

(5,296 )    
—    
—    
—    

—    

—    

—    

—    
—    
—    
—    

—    

—    

(60,286 )       

—    

—    

—    

—    

—       
—       
—       
—       

—       

—    
—    
—    
—    

5,296     
284     
2,243     
(98 )    

—    
—    
—    
—    

—    
175     
15,420     
(1,225 )    

(57 )    

—    

—    

—       

2,323     

—    

—    

—    

—    

—    

—    
—    
—    
—    

—    

— 

— 
175  
15,420  
(1,225 ) 

(57 ) 

—    

2,323  

—       

—       
—       
—       
—       

—       

—    

—    

—    

1,614     

—    

1,614  

—    
—    
—    
—    
—     45,392     
2,924     
—    

—    
—    
4     
1     

615     
—    
35,970     
1,767     

—    
22,951     
(11,901 )    
—    

615  
22,951  
24,073  
1,768  

—    

—    

—    

2,994     

—    

2,994  

—    
—    
—    $ 

—       
—       
—       $ 

—    
—    

—    
—    
—     48,316     $ 

9,060     
—    

—    
—    
5     $  49,791     $ 

9,060  
—    
36,339     
36,339  
24,438     $  74,234  

  See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements.  

F-5  

 
 
 
   
  
  
   
     
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PERFORMANT FINANCIAL CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES  
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows  
(In thousands)  

Cash flows from operating activities:  

Net income  

Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities:  

Loss on disposal of assets  

Impairment of intangible asset  

Depreciation and amortization  

Write-off of unamortized debt issuance costs  

Deferred income taxes  

Stock-based compensation  

Interest expense from debt issuance costs and amortization of discount note payable  

Interest income on notes receivable from stockholders  

Changes in operating assets and liabilities:  

Trade accounts receivable  

Prepaid expenses and other current assets  

Other assets  

Accrued salaries and benefits  

Accounts payable  

Other current liabilities  

Income taxes payable  

Deferred revenue  

Estimated liability for appeals  

Other liabilities  

Net cash provided by operating activities  

Cash flows from investing activities:  

Purchase of property, equipment, and leasehold improvements  

Purchase of perpetual software license and computer equipment  

Net cash used in investing activities  

Cash flows from financing activities:  

Borrowing under notes payable  

Borrowing under line of credit  

Redemption of preferred stock  

Repayment of notes payable  

Repayment of line of credit  

Debt issuance costs paid  

Proceeds from exercise of stock options  

Proceeds from issuance of stock  

Repayment of promissory notes from stockholders  

Income tax benefit from employee stock options  

Payment to stockholders  

Purchase of treasury stock  

Payment of purchase obligation  

Net cash used in financing activities  

Net increase in cash and cash equivalents  

Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of year  

Cash and cash equivalents at end of year  

Supplemental disclosures of cash flow information:  

Cash paid for income taxes  

Cash paid for interest  

For the Years Ended December 31,      

2013  

2012  

2011  

$ 

36,339     $ 

22,951      $ 

12,372  

1     

10,655     
—    
(1,708 )    
2,994     
1,247     
—    

3,395     
(1,524 )    
451     
2,538     
980     
(2,941 )    
(327 )    
(2,187 )    
10,905     
388     
61,206     

(12,503 )    
—    
(12,503 )    

—    
—    
—    
(14,465 )    
—    
—    
1,768     
—    
—    
9,060     
—    
—    
(1,000 )    
(4,637 )    
44,066     
37,843     
81,909     $ 

51     
—    
9,505     
335     
(1,826 )    
1,614     
1,272     
(57 )    

(3,646 )    
416     
(71 )    
2,150     
1,343     
(1,223 )    
(40 )    
(27 )    
3,928     
330     
37,005     

(11,356 )    
(837 )    
(12,193 )    

156,000     
4,500     
(60,286 )    
(103,416 )    
(12,698 )    
(3,074 )    
175     
12,624     
2,323     
615     
(1,761 )    
(1,225 )    
(750 )    
(6,973 )    
17,839     
20,004     
37,843      $ 

— 
13,400  
7,766  
— 
(9,640 )  

120  
1,254  
(108 )  

(5,392 )  

(94 )  

372  
2,542  
(3 )  

4,714  
470  
2,214  
450  
(1,452 )  

28,985  

(6,111 )  

— 
(6,111 )  

— 
— 
— 
(13,948 )  

— 
— 
— 
— 
— 
— 
— 
— 
— 
(13,948 )  

8,926  
11,078  
20,004  

17,396     $ 

18,037      $ 

15,830  

$ 

$ 

 
   
   
  
  
   
     
     
   
     
     
    
   
     
     
   
     
     
   
     
     
   
     
     
Cash paid as debt extinguishment  

Supplemental disclosure of non-cash investing and financing activities:  

Obligation payable to sellers of perpetual license  

Issuance of common stock as part of debt issuance costs  

See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements.  

F-6  

$ 

$ 

$ 

$ 

10,294     $ 
—    $ 

—    $ 
—    $ 

11,178      $ 
3,344      $ 

3,250      $ 
2,796      $ 

12,246  
— 

— 
— 

 
   
     
     
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PERFORMANT FINANCIAL CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES  

Notes To Consolidated Financial Statements  

For the Years Ended December 31, 2013, 2012 and 2011  

1.   Summary of Significant Accounting Policies 

(a)   Organization and Nature of Business 

Performant Financial Corporation (the Company) is a leading provider of technology-enabled recovery and analytics services in the 
United States. Company services help identify, restructure and recover delinquent or defaulted assets and improper payments for both 
government and private clients in a broad range of markets. Company clients typically operate in complex and regulated environments 
and outsource their recovery needs in order to reduce losses on billions of dollars of defaulted student loans, improper healthcare 
payments and delinquent state tax and federal treasury receivables. The Company generally provides our services on an outsourced 
basis, where we handle many or all aspects of the clients’ recovery processes.  

The Company’s consolidated financial statements include the operations of Performant Financial Corporation (PFC), its wholly owned 
subsidiary Performant Business Services, Inc., and its wholly owned subsidiaries Performant Recovery, Inc. (Recovery), Performant 
Technologies, Inc., and Performant Europe Ltd. Effective August 13, 2012, we changed the name of our wholly owned subsidiary from 
DCS Business Services, Inc. (DCSBS) to Performant Business Services, Inc., and DCSBS’ wholly owned subsidiaries from Diversified 
Collection Services, Inc. (DCS), and Vista Financial, Inc. (VFI), to Performant Recovery, Inc., and Performant Technologies, Inc., 
respectively. PFC is a Delaware corporation headquartered in California and was formed in 2003. Performant Business Services, Inc. is 
a Nevada corporation founded in 1997. Recovery is a California corporation founded in 1976. Performant Technologies, Inc. is a 
California corporation that was formed in 2004.  

The Company is managed and operated as one business, with a single management team that reports to the Chief Executive Officer.  

(b)   Principles of Consolidation 

The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting 
Principles, or U.S. GAAP. The Company consolidates entities in which it has controlling financial interest, and as of December 31, 
2013 , all of the Company’s subsidiaries are 100% owned. All significant intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated 
in consolidation.  

(c)   Use of Estimates in the Preparation of Consolidated Financial Statements 

The preparation of the consolidated financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP, requires management to make certain 
estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, primarily accounts receivable, intangible assets, 
goodwill, estimated liability for appeals, accrued expenses, and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the 
consolidated financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting periods. Our actual results 
could differ from those estimates.  

(d)   Stock Split 

On July 26, 2012, the Company effected a two -for-one stock split of the Company’s shares of Common Stock. Accordingly, all per 
share amounts, average shares outstanding, shares outstanding, and equity based compensation presented in the consolidated financial 
statements and notes have been adjusted retroactively to reflect the stock split. Shareholders’ deficit has been retroactively adjusted to 
give effect to the stock split for all periods presented by reclassifying the par value of the additional shares issued in connection with the 
stock split to additional paid-in capital. Concurrently with the stock split, the authorized Common Stock was increased from 25,000,000 
shares to 60,000,000 shares. On August 15, 2012, the authorized Common Stock was increased to 500,000,000 shares and the 
authorized preferred stock was increased to 50,000,000 shares.  

(e)   Cash and Cash Equivalents 

Cash and cash equivalents include demand deposits and highly liquid debt instruments with original maturities of three months or less 
when purchased. These investments can include money market funds that invest in highly liquid U.S. government and agency 
obligations, certificates of deposit, bankers’ acceptances, and commercial paper.  

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The Company collects monies on behalf of its clients. Cash is often held on behalf of the clients in various trust accounts and is 
subsequently remitted to the clients based on contractual agreements. Cash held in these trust accounts for contracting agencies is not 
included in the Company’s assets (Note 12(a)).  

(f)   Hosted Service Installation and Implementation Deliverables 

In 2008, the Company entered into a long-term contract to provide hosted services to a client beginning in March 2009. The Company 
determined that certain installation and implementation deliverables were not separate units of accounting within the contract, and 
should be combined for revenue recognition purposes with the hosted service deliverable. Accordingly, revenue for these contract 
elements is being taken ratably from the commencement of hosted services in March 2009 through the contract period of March 2018. 
Additionally, the Company deferred the direct incremental costs associated with the installation and implementation deliverables, with 
the costs being expensed ratably from the March 2009 commencement of services through March 2018.  

(g)   Property, Equipment, and Leasehold Improvements 

Property, equipment, and leasehold improvements are stated at cost, net of accumulated depreciation. Furniture and equipment are 
depreciated using the straight-line method over estimated useful lives ranging from 5 to 7  years. Buildings are depreciated using the 
straight-line method over 31.5  years. Leasehold improvements are amortized using the straight-line method over the shorter of the 
estimated life of the asset or the remaining term of the lease. Computer software and computer hardware are depreciated using the 
straight-line method over 3  years and 5  years, respectively.  

Maintenance and repairs are charged to expense as incurred. Improvements that extend the useful lives of assets are capitalized.  

When property is sold or retired, the cost and the related accumulated depreciation are removed from the consolidated balance sheet and 
any gain or loss from the transaction is included in the consolidated statements of operations.  

(h)  Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets 

Goodwill represents the excess of purchase price and related costs over the fair value assigned to the net assets of businesses acquired. 
Goodwill is not amortized, but instead is reviewed for impairment at least annually. Impairment is the condition that exists when the 
carrying amount of goodwill is not recoverable and its carrying amount exceeds its fair value.  

The Company performed a qualitative assessment of whether it is more likely than not that goodwill fair value is less than its carrying 
amount for 2013 , 2012 and 2011 and concluded that there was no need to perform an impairment test.  

Identifiable intangible assets consist of customer contracts and related relationships, a perpetual license, and covenants not to compete. 
Customer contracts and related relationships are amortized over their estimated useful life of 4 to 20  years. The perpetual license is 
amortized over its estimated useful life of 5 years.  

(i)   Impairment of Long-Lived Assets 

Long-lived assets are evaluated for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of such 
assets or intangibles may not be recoverable. Recoverability of assets to be held and used is measured by a comparison of the carrying 
amount of the assets to future undiscounted net cash flows expected to be generated by the assets. If such assets are considered to be 
impaired, the impairment to be recognized is measured by the amount by which the carrying amount of the assets exceeds the fair value 
of the assets. The Company did not recognize an impairment expense for intangible assets in 2013 and 2012. In 2011, the Company 
recorded $13.4 million of impairment expense to write off the carrying amount of its former trade name, Diversified Collection 
Services, Inc. (DCS). The Company determined that the DCS trade name would not be used in the future, and retired the trade name 
intangible asset accordingly.  

(j)   System Developments 

The Company follows the provisions of Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) 
Subtopic 350-40, Internal-Use Software , which specifies that costs incurred during the application stage of development should be 
capitalized. All other costs are expensed as incurred. During 2013 , 2012 and 2011 , costs of $4.9 million , $5.4 million and $2.5 million 
respectively, were capitalized for projects in the application stage  

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of development, with depreciation expense of $2.6 million , $2.4 million and $2.1 million respectively, for completed projects.  

(k)   Debt Issuance Costs 

Debt issuance costs represent loan and legal fees paid in connection with the issuance of long-term debt. Debt issuance cost is 
amortized to interest expense in accordance with key terms of the notes as amended.  

(l)   Revenues, Accounts Receivable, and Estimated Liability for Appeals 

Revenue is recognized upon the collection of defaulted loan and debt payments. Loan rehabilitation revenue is recognized when the 
rehabilitated loans are sold (funded) by clients. Incentive revenue is recognized upon receipt of official notification of incentive award 
from customers. Under the Company’s RAC contract with CMS, the Company recognizes revenues when the healthcare provider has 
paid CMS for a given claim or offset. Providers have the right to appeal a claim and may pursue additional appeals if the initial appeal 
is found in favor of CMS. The Company accrues an estimated liability for appeals based on the amount of commissions received which 
are subject to appeal and which the Company estimates are probable of being returned to providers following successful appeal. At 
December 31, 2013 , a total of $16.4 million was presented as an allowance against revenue, representing the Company’s estimate of 
claims that may be overturned. Of this amount, $1.2 million was related to amounts in accounts receivable and $15.3 million was 
related to commissions which had already been received. The balances at December 31, 2013 and 2012 , were $15.3 million and $4.4 
million , respectively, represent the Company’s best estimate of the probable amount of losses related to appeals of claims for which 
commissions were previously collected. In addition to the $15.3 million amount accrued at December 31, 2013 , the Company estimates 
that it is reasonably possible that it could be required to pay an additional amount up to approximately $4.5 million as a result of 
potentially successful appeals. To the extent that required payments by the Company exceed the amount accrued, revenues in the 
applicable period would be reduced by the amount of the excess.  

For the year ended December 31, 2013 , the Company had 4 clients whose individual revenues exceeded 10% of the Company’s total 
revenues. The dollar amount and percent of total revenue of each of the 4 clients is summarized in the table below (in thousands):  

Rank  
1  
2  
3  
4  

2013 Revenue  
$66,820  
51,566  
42,056  
30,902  

Percent of  
total revenue  
26.2%  
20.2%  
16.5%  
12.1%  

For the year ended December 31, 2012 , the Company had 5 clients whose individual revenues exceeded 10% of the Company’s total 
revenues. The dollar amount and percent of total revenue of each of the 5 clients is summarized in the table below (in thousands):  

Rank  
1  
2  
3  
4  
5  

2012 Revenue  
$54,130  
39,183  
29,027  
25,469  
22,397  

Percent of  
total revenue  
25.8%  
18.7%  
13.8%  
12.1%  
10.7%  

For the year ended December 31, 2011 , the Company had 5 clients whose individual revenues exceeded 10% of the Company’s total 
revenues. The dollar amount and percent of total revenue of each of the 5 clients is summarized in the table below (in thousands):  

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Rank  
1  
2  
3  
4  
5  

2011 Revenue  
$30,732  
28,504  
21,812  
21,549  
17,934  

Percent of  
total revenue  
18.9%  
17.5%  
13.4%  
13.2%  
11.0%  

Revenue from the largest three customers was 63% , 58% and 50% of total revenue in 2013 , 2012 and 2011 , respectively. Accounts 
receivable due from these three customers were 59% , 63% and 25% of total trade receivables at December 31, 2013 , 2012 and 2011 , 
respectively. Trade accounts receivable are recorded at the invoiced amount and do not bear interest. Amounts collected on trade 
accounts receivable are included in net cash provided by operating activities in the consolidated statements of cash flows. The Company 
determines the allowance for doubtful accounts by specific identification. Account balances are charged off against the allowance after 
all means of collection have been exhausted and the potential for recovery is considered remote. The allowance for doubtful accounts 
was $0.0 million and $0.1 million at December 31, 2013 and 2012 , respectively.  

(m)  Legal Expenses 

The Company recognizes legal fees related to litigation as they are incurred.  

(n)  Comprehensive Income 

The Company has no components of comprehensive income other than its net income. Accordingly, comprehensive income is 
equivalent to net income.  

(o)   Fair Value of Financial Instruments 

The Company’s financial instruments include cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable, accounts payable and accrued liabilities, 
short-term debt and long-term debt. The carrying values of cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable, accounts payable, and 
accrued liabilities approximate their fair values based on or due to their short-term maturities. The carrying values of short-term debt 
and long-term debt approximate fair value, in which their variable interest rates approximate market rates.  

(p)   Income Taxes 

The Company accounts for income taxes under the asset-and-liability method. Deferred income tax assets and liabilities are recognized 
for future tax consequences attributable to differences between the carrying value of assets and liabilities for financial reporting 
purposes and for taxation purposes. Deferred income tax assets and liabilities are measured using the enacted tax rates expected to apply 
to taxable income in the years in which those temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. The effect of a change in 
tax rates on deferred income tax assets and liabilities is recognized in income in the period that includes the enactment date. Valuation 
allowances are established when necessary to reduce deferred tax assets to the amount expected to be realized.  

The Company recognizes the effect of income tax positions only if those positions are more likely than not of being sustained. 
Recognized income tax positions are measured at the largest amount that is greater than 50% likely of being realized. Changes in 
recognition or measurement are reflected in the period in which the change in judgment occurs.  

(q)   Preferred Stock 

The carrying amounts of preferred stock are periodically increased by amounts representing dividends not currently declared or paid, 
but which would be payable under certain redemption features. Such increases in carrying amounts are recorded against retained 
earnings.  

(r)   Stock Options 

The Company accounts for its employee stock-based compensation awards in accordance with FASB ASC Topic 718, Compensation – 
Stock Compensation . FASB ASC Topic 718 requires that all employee stock-based compensation is recognized as a cost in the 
financial statements and that for equity-classified awards, such cost is measured at the grant  

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date fair value of the award. The Company estimates grant date fair value using the Black-Scholes-Merton option-pricing model.  

FASB ASC Topic 718 also requires that excess tax benefits recognized in equity related to stock option exercises are reflected as 
financing cash inflows. The Company recognized income tax benefits resulting from the exercise of stock options in 2013 , 2012 and 
2011 of $9.1 million , $0.6 million and $0 million , respectively.  

(s)   Earnings per Share 

For the year ended December 31, 2013, basic earnings per share is calculated by dividing net income available to common shareholders 
by the sum of the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during the year . For the years ended December 31, 2012 
and 2011, basic earnings per share is calculated by dividing net income available to common shareholders by the weighted average 
number of common shares outstanding during the year plus the weighted average number of shares of Series A Convertible Preferred 
Stock outstanding during the period. The Series A Convertible Preferred Stock are included in the basic denominator because they 
could be converted into common shares for no cash consideration (via conversion units as further described in Note 7), and were thus 
considered outstanding common shares in computing basic earnings per share. Diluted earnings per share is calculated by dividing net 
income available to common shareholders by the weighted average number of common shares and dilutive common shares equivalents 
outstanding during the period. The Company’s common share equivalents consist of stock options and restricted stock units.  

The following table reconciles the basic to diluted weighted average shares outstanding using the treasury stock method (shares in 
thousands):  

Weighted average shares outstanding – basic  
Dilutive effect of stock options  
Weighted average shares outstanding – diluted  

Years Ended December 31,  

2013  

2012  

2011  

47,492     
1,894     
49,386     

43,985     
3,614     
47,599     

42,962  
2,780  
45,742  

For the year ended December 31, 2013 , the Company excluded 2,617,064 options from the calculation of diluted earnings per share for 
the year ended December 31, 2013 because the options’ combined exercise price, unamortized fair value and excess tax benefits were 
greater during the year than the average price for the Company's common stock because their effect would be anti-dilutive.  

(t)   Recent Accounting Pronouncements 

In December 2011, the Financial Accounting Standards Board, or FASB issued Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2011-11, Balance 
Sheet (Topic 210), Disclosures about Offsetting Assets and Liabilities , updated by ASU 2013-01, Clarifying the Scope of Disclosures 
about Offsetting Assets and Liabilities, which requires companies to disclose information about financial instruments that have been 
offset and related arrangements to enable users of the company's financial statements to understand the effect of those arrangements on 
the company's financial position. Companies will be required to provide both net (offset amounts) and gross information in the notes to 
the financial statements for relevant assets and liabilities that are offset. ASU 2011-11, as amended by ASU 2013-01, is effective for 
fiscal years, and interim periods within those years, beginning on or after January 1, 2013. The adoption of this guidance did not have a 
material effect on our consolidated financial statements.  

In July 2012, FASB issued ASU No. 2012-02, Intangibles-Goodwill and Other (Topic 350): Testing Indefinite-Lived Intangible Assets 
for  Impairment  .  This  newly  issued  accounting  standard  allows  an  entity  the  option  to  first  assess  qualitative  factors  to  determine 
whether it is necessary to perform a quantitative impairment test for indefinite-lived intangibles other than goodwill. Under that option, 
an  entity  would  no  longer  be  required  to  calculate  the  fair  value  of  an  indefinite-lived  intangible  asset  unless  the  entity  determines, 
based on that qualitative assessment, that it is more likely than not that the fair value of the indefinite-lived intangible asset is less than 
its carrying amount. This ASU is effective for annual and interim indefinite-lived intangible asset impairment tests performed for fiscal 
years beginning after September 15, 2012. Early adoption is permitted. The adoption of this guidance did not have a material effect on 
our consolidated financial statements.  

In March 2013, FASB issued ASU No. 2013-04, Obligations Resulting from Joint and Several Liability Arrangements for which the 
Total  Amount  of  the  Obligation  is  Fixed  at  the  Reporting  Date  ,  which  addresses  the  recognition,  measurement,  and  disclosure  of 
certain  joint  and  several  obligations  including  debt  arrangements,  other  contractual  obligations,  and  settled  litigation  and  judicial 
rulings. The ASU is effective for public entities for fiscal years, and interim periods within  

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those  years,  beginning  after  December 15,  2013.  The  adoption  of  this  guidance  will  not  have  a  material  effect  on  our  consolidated 
financial statements.  

2. Acquisition  

In February 2012, the Company purchased a perpetual software license and computer equipment from HOPS, a non-public Florida 
company, in a transaction valued at $3.68 million . The purchase agreement calls for a total of $4.0 million in cash payments to be made 
over an approximate 3 year period, beginning with an initial payment of $0.8 million which was made in February 2012, followed by 
quarterly payments of $0.3 million . As part of the transaction valuation, these payments were discounted to a present value using an 
estimate of our incremental borrowing rate.  

The HOPS proprietary software platform provides data filtering services for government and commercial health plans to help identify 
improper payments made to health providers, and enhances our existing service offering in recovery of improper payments.  

The purchase is being treated as a business combination for accounting purposes; the following table summarizes the estimated fair values 
of the assets acquired at the acquisition date (in thousands):  

Computer equipment  
Perpetual license  
Customer relationships  
Total identifiable assets acquired  

February 1,  
2012  

$ 

$ 

280  
3,250  
150  
3,680  

The acquired intangible assets will be amortized over their estimated useful lives, which are 5 and 4 years for the perpetual license and 
customer relationships, respectively.  

3.   Property, Equipment, and Leasehold Improvements 

Property, equipment, and leasehold improvements consist of the following at December 31, 2013 and 2012 (in thousands):  

Land  
Building and leasehold improvements  
Furniture, equipment, and automobile  
Computer hardware and software  

Less accumulated depreciation and amortization  
Property, equipment and leasehold improvements, net  

$ 

$ 

December 31,  
2013  

   December 31, 2012  
1,767  
5,500  
4,408  
40,886  
52,561  
(31,892 ) 
20,669  

1,767     $ 
5,773     
4,932     
52,021     
64,493     
(38,246 )    
26,247     $ 

Depreciation and amortization expense of property, equipment and leasehold improvements was $6.9 million , $5.8 million and $4.7 million 
for the years ended December 31, 2013 , 2012 and 2011 , respectively.  

4. Identifiable Intangible Assets  

Identifiable intangible assets consist of the following at December 31, 2013 and 2012 (in thousands):  

December 31, 2013  
Amortizable intangibles:  
Customer contracts and related relationships  
Perpetual license  
Total intangible assets  

Gross  
Amounts  

Accumulated  
Amortization  

Net  

$ 

$ 

62,198     $ 
3,250     
65,448     $ 

(31,689 )    $ 
(1,246 )    
(32,935 )    $ 

30,509  
2,004  
32,513  

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December 31, 2012  
Amortizable intangibles:  
Customer contracts and related relationships  
Perpetual license  
Total intangible assets  

Gross  
Amounts  

Accumulated  
Amortization  

Net  

$ 

$ 

62,198     $ 
3,250     
65,448     $ 

(28,608 )    $ 
(596 )    
(29,204 )    $ 

33,590  
2,654  
36,244  

For the years ended December 31, 2013 , 2012 and 2011 , amortization expense related to intangible assets amounted to $3.7 million , $3.7 
million and $3.0 million , respectively.  

The estimated aggregate amortization expense for each of the five following fiscal years is as follows (in thousands):  

Year Ending December 31,  
2014  
2015  
2016  
2017  
2018  
Thereafter  
Total  

5. Credit Agreement  

$ 

$ 

Amount  

3,731  
3,731  
3,696  
3,097  
3,043  
15,215  
32,513  

On March 19, 2012, the Company recapitalized entering into a credit agreement (the Agreement) consisting of a Term A Loan of $57.0 
million , a Term B Loan of $79.5 million , and a revolving credit facility of $11.0 million . In connection with the recapitalization, our old 
credit facility, scheduled to mature in 2012, was extinguished, and our indebtedness on the old facility was paid in full. As of December 31, 
2011, the indebtedness on the old facility consisted of $33.2 million under the Term A-2 Loan, $62 million under the Term B Loan and $8.2 
million under the line of credit. On June 28, 2012, the Agreement was amended to increase the Term B Loan to $99 million . Payments 
under the Agreement are as follows (in thousands):  

Year Ending December 31,  
2014  
2015  
2016  
2017  
2018  
Thereafter  
Total  

Amount  

$10,763  
10,763  
10,763  
9,996  
91,019  
— 
$133,304  

Proceeds from the new Term A, Term B, and revolving credit facility borrowings were used along with $14.5 million of our cash to repay 
our old notes payable and line of credit in the amount of $103.4 million and to redeem 3,897,000 shares of Series A Convertible Preferred 
Stock plus accrued dividends for a total of $44.0 million . Fees paid in conjunction with the credit agreement totaled $8.1 million , including 
an agency fee for $1.5 million to an entity associated with our majority stockholder, and an agreement to grant 215,000  shares of Common 
Stock valued at approximately $2.8 million to an investment bank acting as advisor.  

Proceeds from the additional Term B borrowings were used to redeem the remaining 1,399,000 shares of Series A Convertible Preferred 
Stock outstanding plus accrued dividends for a total of $16.3 million . Fees paid in conjunction with the credit agreement totaled $0.8 
million , including an agency fee for $0.2 million to an entity associated with our majority stockholder. Remaining proceeds of $2.3 million 
were used along with existing cash to pay off the line of credit balance of $4.5 million .  

The Term A Loan is charged interest either at Prime (subject to a 2.5% floor) + 4.25% or LIBOR (subject to a 1.5% floor) + 5.25% , which 
was 6.75% at December 31, 2013 . The Term A loan requires quarterly payments of $2.5 million beginning in June 2012, with the 
remaining outstanding principal balance due March 19, 2017 . As of December 31, 2013 , the Term A loan ending balance, including the 
current portion was $38.4 million .  

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The Term B loan is charged interest at Prime + 4.75% (subject to a 2.50% floor) or LIBOR (subject to a 1.50% floor) + 5.75% which was 
7.25% at December 31, 2013 . The Term B loan requires quarterly payments of $0.2 million beginning in June 2012, with the outstanding 
principal balance due March 19, 2018 . As of December 31, 2013 , the Term B loan ending balance, including the current portion was $94.9 
million .  

The Company has a line of credit under the Agreement which allows for borrowings of up to $11 million . Borrowings accrue interest at 
Prime + 4.25% or LIBOR + 5.25% , which was 6.75% at December 31, 2013 . Both the Prime and the LIBOR alternatives are subject to 
minimum rate floors. In addition, a facility fee of 0.5% is assessed on the commitment amount. There were no outstanding borrowings under 
this line of credit at December 31, 2013 , and a letter of credit outstanding in the amount of $1.4 million , leaving remaining borrowing 
capacity under the line of credit of $9.6 million at December 31, 2013 . The line of credit expires in March 19, 2017 .  

The Agreement contains certain restrictive financial covenants, which require, among other things, that we meet a minimum fixed charge 
coverage ratio of 1.20 and maximum total debt to EBITDA ratio of 3.25 . Additionally, these covenants restrict the Company and its 
subsidiaries’ ability to incur certain types or amounts of indebtedness, incur liens on certain assets, make material changes in corporate 
structure or the nature of its business, dispose of material assets, engage in a change in control transaction, make certain foreign investments, 
enter into certain restrictive agreements, or engage in certain transactions with affiliates. We were in compliance with all such covenants at 
December 31, 2013 .  

The Agreement contains a prepayment provision which requires the Company to perform an annual excess cash flow computation based on 
earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization compared to changes in working capital. Based on the results of this 
computation, in May 2013, the Company made a payment of $3.6 million to the lenders.  

During our March 19, 2012 recapitalization, debt issuance costs of $5.0 million were capitalized, including $1.5 million of agent fees paid to 
an entity associated with our majority stockholder, and $0.8 million paid to third parties for legal and other services and a grant of 215,044 
shares of Common Stock issued as compensation to an investment bank acting as financial advisor valued at approximately $2.8 million , 
based upon a price of $13 per share. These costs are being amortized to expense over the life of the new loans.  

The Company capitalized an additional $0.8 million related to our June 28, 2012 amendment to the Agreement, which included $0.2 million 
of agent fees paid to an entity associated with our majority stockholders, and $0.0 million paid to third parties for legal and other services. 
Debt issuance costs are being amortized to interest expense over the life of the new loans. Accumulated amortization of debt issuance costs 
amounted to $2.0 million at December 31, 2013 .  

Debt extinguishment costs of $3.7 million were expensed, including $3.3 million of fees paid to lenders, and $0.3 million of unamortized 
debt issuance costs associated with the old credit facility.  

6. Commitments and Contingencies  

The Company leases office facilities and certain equipment. In January 2012, we renewed two of our facilities leases and entered into a new 
lease agreement for approximately 6,000 square feet in Livermore, California. In August 2013, we entered into a new lease agreement for 
office space for approximately 15,667 square feet in Grants Pass, Oregon.  

Future minimum rental commitments under non-cancelable leases as of December 31, 2013 are as follows (in thousands):  

Year Ending December 31,  
2014  
2015  
2016  
2017  
2018  
Thereafter  
Total  

Amount  

1,883  
1,630  
1,293  
1,042  
308  
464  
6,620  

$ 

$ 

Lease expense was $2.6 million , $2.4 million and $1.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2013 , 2012 and 2011 , respectively.  

7. Capital Stock  

Prior to August 15, 2012, the total number of shares of capital stock that the Company had authority to issue was 96,000,000 , consisting of 
18,000,000 shares of Series A Participating Senior Preferred Stock (Series A Preferred Stock), $0.0001 par value per share (Series A 
Preferred Stock); 18,000,000 shares of Series B Redeemable Senior Preferred Stock,  

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$0.0001 par value per share (Series B Preferred Stock); and 60,000,000 shares of Common Stock, $0.0001 par value per share. On 
August 15, 2012, the authorized Common Stock was increased to 500,000,000 shares and the authorized preferred stock was increased to 
50,000,000 shares.  

(a)   Series A Preferred Stock 

Issuanc e – On May 23, 2006, the Company sold 5,295,676  shares of Series A Preferred Stock to shareholders at a price of $5.67 per share, 
receiving gross proceeds of $30,000,000 , and net proceeds of $29,925,000 after issuance costs of $75,000 .  

Retirement of Series of A Preferred Stock - On March 19, 2012, the Company recapitalized. As part of the recapitalization, 3,897,000 
shares of Series A Convertible Preferred Stock were converted into conversion units, which consisted of one share of Series B Preferred 
Stock and one share of Common Stock. The Series B Preferred shares plus accrued dividends were redeemed for cash of $44 million , and 
3,897,000 shares of Common Stock were issued to the holders of the redeemed Series A Convertible Preferred Stock.  
In June 2012, the remaining 1,399,000 shares of Series A Convertible Preferred Stock were converted into conversion units of one share of 
Series B Preferred Stock and one share of Common Stock. The shares Series B Preferred Stock plus accrued dividends were redeemed for 
cash of $16.3 million and 1,399,000 shares of Common Stock were issued to the holders of the redeemed Series A Convertible Preferred 
Stock.  

Dividends – The holders of Series A Preferred Stock were entitled to receive dividends as declared by the board of directors. The dividends 
accrued on a daily basis at the rate of 12%  per annum on the sum of the Liquidation Value plus accumulated dividends and accrued and 
unpaid dividends thereon from the date of issuance of the Preferred Stock. As of December 31, 2011, the Company had accrued dividends 
payable of $28,248,000 recorded as an increase to the Series A Preferred Stock.  

Voting – Each share of Series A Preferred Stock entitled the holder to cast a number of votes per share equal to the number of votes that the 
holder would be entitled to cast assuming that such shares of Series A Preferred Stock had been converted into shares of Common Stock.  

Liquidation – In the event of any liquidation, dissolution, or winding up of the Company, before any distribution or payment to holders of 
Common Stock, but on parity with the holders of Series B Preferred Stock, holders of shares of Series A Preferred Stock were entitled to be 
paid an amount equal to the Liquidation Value of $5.67 per share plus any accumulated or accrued but unpaid dividends thereon. In addition 
to the payments set forth above, the holders of shares of Series A Preferred Stock were entitled to participate, on a parity and ratably on a 
per-share basis with the holders of Common Stock, with respect to all such distributions or payments that the holders of Series A Preferred 
Stock would have been entitled to receive with respect to the number of shares of Common Stock into which such holders’ shares of 
Series A Preferred Stock were convertible immediately prior to any relevant record date or payment date in connection with liquidation, 
dissolution, or winding up, but only to the extent that shares of Common Stock would have participated in such distributions or payments 
(and such payment shall be junior to all equity securities of the Company that rank senior to the Common Stock, including without 
limitation the Series B Preferred Stock).  

Conversion – The Series A Preferred Stock was convertible into Conversion Units (as defined below), at a rate of one Conversion Unit for 
one share of Series A Preferred Stock. A Conversion Unit consisted of (i) the number of shares of Common Stock determined by dividing 
the Liquidation Value of the Series A Preferred Stock by the Conversion Price then in effect (the Common Portion) and (ii) one share of 
Series B Preferred Stock (the Series B Portion) subject to adjustments. If upon conversion there were any unpaid, accrued, or accumulated 
dividends due on the shares of Series A Preferred Stock, such dividends continued to be deferred, but were considered unpaid, accrued, or 
accumulated dividends (as the case may be) due on the Series B Preferred Stock.  

•   Optional conversion – Each share of Series A Preferred Stock was convertible, at the option of the holder thereof, into a 

Conversion Unit at any time after the date of issuance of such share.  

•   Automatic conversion – Each share of Series A Preferred Stock automatically could have been converted into Conversion Units on 
the date specified by written consent or agreement of the holders of a majority of the then outstanding shares of Series A Preferred 
Stock.  

•   Conversion price – The initial Conversion Price of the shares issued in May 2006 was $5.67 per share. In order to prevent dilution 

of the conversion rights granted to the holders of the Series A Preferred Stock, the Conversion Price was subject to adjustment from 
time to time under certain circumstances. If the Company (i) declared a dividend on the Common Stock payable in shares of its 
capital stock (including Common Stock), (ii) subdivided the outstanding Common Stock, (iii) combined the outstanding Common 
Stock into a smaller number of shares, or (iv) issued any shares of its capital stock in a reclassification of the Common Stock, then, 
in each such case, the  

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Conversion Price was to be proportionately adjusted so that, in connection with a conversion of the shares of Series A Preferred 
Stock after such date, the holder of shares of Series A Preferred Stock would have been entitled to receive the aggregate number 
and kind of shares of capital stock, which, if the conversion had occurred immediately prior to such date, the holder would have 
owned upon such conversion and been entitled to receive by virtue of such dividend, subdivision, combination, or reclassification.  

(c)   Issuance of Shares of Common Stock as Compensation 

As part of the March 19, 2012 recapitalization, the Company issued to its financial advisor as compensation in connection with the debt 
portion of the recapitalization 215,000 shares of Common Stock valued at approximately $2.8 million based upon a price of $13 per share. 
This amount represents debt issuance costs and is being amortized to expense over the 5 to 6 year life of the loans described in Note 5.  

(d)   Initial Public Offering 

In August 2012, the Company completed its initial public offering (IPO) in which we issued and sold 1,924,000  shares of Common Stock at 
a public offering price of $9.00 per share. The Company received net proceeds of $12.6 million after deducting underwriter discounts and 
commissions of $1.0 million and other offering expenses of approximately $3.6 million . In addition, a financial advisor to the Company 
was paid $0.9 million through the issuance of 103,500 shares of Common Stock valued at $9.00 per share.  

8.   Stock-based Compensation 

(a)   Stock Options 

The Company established the 2004 DCS Holdings Stock Option Plan, the DCS Holdings, Inc. 2004 Equity Incentive Plan (Performant 
Financial Corporation is the new name of DCS Holdings, Inc.), the Performant Financial Corporation 2007 Stock Option Plan, and the 
Performant Financial Corporation 2012 Stock Incentive Plan (the Plans). Under the terms of the 2004 DCS Holdings Stock Option Plan, 
stock options may be granted for up to 4,000,000  shares of the Company’s authorized but unissued Common Stock. The 2004 DCS 
Holdings Stock Option Plan was terminated on the completion of the Company’s initial public offering in August 2012. No shares of 
our common stock are available under our 2004 Stock Option Plan other than for satisfying exercises of stock options granted under this 
plan prior to termination.  

Under the terms of the DCS Holdings, Inc. 2004 Equity Incentive Plan, incentive and nonqualified stock options, stock bonuses, and 
rights to acquire restricted stock may be granted for up to 3,600,000  shares of the Company’s authorized but unissued Common Stock. 
Options granted under the DCS Holdings, Inc. 2004 Equity Incentive Plan generally vest over a four -year period. The Company’s DCS 
Holdings, Inc. 2004 Equity Incentive Plan was terminated on the completion of its initial public offering in August 2012. No shares of 
our common stock are available under our 2004 Equity Incentive Plan other than for satisfying exercises of stock options granted under 
this plan prior to termination.  

Under the terms of the Performant Financial Corporation 2007 Stock Option Plan, incentive and nonqualified stock options may be 
granted for up to 4,000,000  shares of the Company’s authorized but unissued Common Stock. Options granted under the Performant 
Financial Corporation 2007 Stock Option Plan generally vest over a five -year period. Performant Financial Corporation 2007 Stock 
Option Plan was terminated on the completion of its initial public offering in August 2012. No shares of our common stock are 
available under our 2007 Stock Option Plan other than for satisfying exercises of stock options granted under this plan prior to 
termination.  

The terms of the Performant Financial Corporation 2012 Stock Incentive Plan provide for the granting of incentive stock options within 
the meaning of Section 422 of the Code to employees and the granting of nonstatutory stock options, restricted stock, stock appreciation 
rights, stock unit awards and cash-based awards to employees, non-employee directors and consultants. The Company has reserved 
4,300,000 shares of common stock under the 2012 Plan. Options granted under the Performant Financial Corporation 2012 Stock 
Incentive Plan generally vest over periods of four or five -years.  

The exercise price of incentive stock options shall generally not be less than 100% of the fair market value of the Common Stock 
subject to the option on the date that the option is granted. The exercise price of nonqualified stock options shall generally not be less 
than 85% of the fair market value of the Common Stock subject to the option on the date that the option is granted. Options issued 
under the Plans have a maximum term of 10 years and vest over schedules determined by the board of directors. Options issued under 
the Plans generally provide for immediate vesting of unvested shares in the event of a sale of the Company.  

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Total stock-based compensation expense charged as salaries and benefits expense in the consolidated statements of operations was $3.0 
million , $1.6 million and $0.1 million for the years ended December 31, 2013 , 2012 , and 2011 , respectively.  

The following table sets forth a summary of our stock option activity for the year ended December 31:  

Outstanding at December 31, 2010  
Granted  
Forfeited  
Exercised  
Outstanding at December 31, 2011  
Granted  
Forfeited  
Exercised  
Outstanding at December 31, 2012  
Granted  
Forfeited  
Exercised  
Outstanding at December 31, 2013  
Vested, exercisable, and expected to vest (1)  at 
December 31, 2013  
Exercisable at December 31, 2013  

Outstanding  
Options  

Weighted  
average  
exercise price  
per share  

5,510,750     
180,000     
(25,282 )    
(718 )    
5,664,750     
2,549,109     
(19,077 )    
(285,058 )    
7,909,724     
313,600     
(102,381 )    
(2,908,122 )    
5,212,821     $ 

5,100,610     $ 
2,864,898     $ 

0.64     
5.50        
0.74        
0.50        
0.80     
10.32        
7.99        
0.61        
3.85     
11.85        
10.05        
0.60        
6.03     

5.94     
3.02     

Weighted  
average  
remaining  
contractual life  
(Years)  
6.00  

Aggregate  
Intrinsic Value  
(in thousands)  

5.20  

5.89  

6.62  

6.58  

5.19  

  $ 

  $ 

  $ 

23,466  

23,374  

21,057  

(1)   Options expected to vest reflect an estimated forfeiture rate. 

The weighted-average grant-date exercise price of stock options granted during the years ended December 31, 2013 , 2012 and 2011 
was $11.85 , $10.32 and $5.50 , respectively, per share. The aggregate intrinsic value of our stock options (the amount by which the 
market price of the stock on the date of exercise exceeded the exercise price of the option) exercised during the years ended 
December 31, 2013 , 2012 and 2011 , was $31.3 million , $2.9 million and $0 million , respectively. At December 31, 2013 , 2012 , and 
2011 , there was $10.5 million , $12 million and $0.6 million , respectively, of unrecognized stock-based compensation expense related 
to non-vested stock-based compensation arrangements, which the Company expects to recognize over a weighted-average period of 
3.40 years as stock-based compensation expense.  

Net cash proceeds from the exercise of stock options were $1.8 million , $0.2 million and $0 million during 2013, 2012 and 2011, 
respectively. For the years ended December 31, 2013 , 2012 and 2011 , we realized a $9.1 million , $0.6 million and $0 million tax 
benefit from the exercise of stock options, respectively.  

The fair value of each option grant was estimated using the Black-Scholes option pricing model. Expected volatilities are calculated 
based on the historical volatility data of comparable peer companies over a term comparable to the expected term of the options issued. 
The expected term of the award is determined based on the average of the vesting term and the contractual term. Management monitors 
share option exercise and employee termination patterns to estimate forfeiture rates within the valuation model. Separate groups of 
employees that have similar groups of employees with similar historical exercise behavior are considered separately for valuation 
purposes.  

We estimated the fair value of options granted using a Black-Scholes option pricing model with the following assumptions:  

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Expected volatility  
Expected dividends  
Expected term (years)  
Risk-free interest rate  
Weighted-average estimated fair value of options granted during the year  

For the Year Ended December 31,  

2013  
54.2%  
—%  
6.2  
1.5%  
$6.23  

2012  
48.3%  
—%  
6.5  
1.0%  
$5.22  

2011  
39.8%  
—%  
6.3  
1.2%  
$2.23  

Valuation and Amortization Method – The Company estimates the fair value of stock options granted using the Black-Scholes-Merton 
option pricing model. The fair value is then amortized on a straight line basis over the requisite service periods of the awards, which is 
generally the vesting period. Stock options typically have a ten year life from the grant date and vesting periods of four to five years. 
The fair value of the Company’s common stock is based on the market price of the stock on the date of grant.  

Expected Term – The Company’s expected term represents the period that the Company’s stock-based awards are expected to be 
outstanding. For awards granted subject only to service vesting requirements, the Company utilizes the simplified method under the 
provisions of FASB ASC 718-10-S99-1 (Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 107) for estimating the expected term of the stock-based award. 

Expected Volatility – Because there is insufficient history of the Company’s stock price returns, the Company lacks sufficient historical 
volatility data for its equity awards. Accordingly, the Company calculates the expected volatility using a composite made up of 
comparable peer companies and an approximate 21% company weighting over a term comparable to the expected term of the options 
issued.  

Expected Dividend – The Company has never paid dividends on its common shares and currently does not intend to do so. Accordingly, 
the dividend yield percentage is zero for all periods.  

Risk-Free Interest Rate – The risk-free interest rate used in the Black Scholes valuation method is based on the U.S. Treasury constant 
maturity interest rate whose term is consistent with the expected life of our stock options.  

(b)   Restricted Stock Units 

      The following table summarizes restricted stock unit activity for the year ended December 31:  

Outstanding at December 31, 2012  
Granted  
Forfeited  
Vested and converted to shares  

Outstanding at December 31, 2013  

Expected to vest at December 31, 2013  

Number of  

Awards  

—      $ 

5,263      
—     
—     
5,263       $ 
5,263       $ 

Weighted  

average  

grant date  

fair value  

— 
10.59  
— 
— 
10.59  
10.59  

As of December 31, 2013, there was $0.06 million of compensation expense that has yet to be recognized related to non-vested 
restricted stock units. This expense is expected to be recognized over the remaining weighted-average vested period of four years. None 
of the restricted stock units vested during the year ended December 31, 2013. Restricted stock units granted under the Performant 
Financial Corporation 2012 Stock Incentive Plan generally vest over four years. The company did not realize any tax benefits related to 
the restricted stock units during the year ended December 31, 2013.  

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9. Employee Benefit Plan  

The Company has a 401(k) Salary Deferral Plan (the Plan) covering all full-time employees who have met certain service requirements. 
Employees may contribute a portion of their salary up to the maximum limit established by the Internal Revenue Code for such plans. 
Employer contributions are discretionary. No matching contributions were made during 2013, 2012 and 2011.  

10. Income Taxes  

The Company’s income tax expense (benefit) consists of the following (in thousands):  

Current:  

Federal  
State  

Deferred:  

Federal  
State  

Total Expense (Benefit)  

2013  

2012  

2011  

$ 

$ 

$ 

21,526     $ 
5,149     
26,675     

(866 )    $ 
(842 )    
(1,708 )    
24,967     $ 

15,142     $ 
3,470     
18,612     

(1,599 )    $ 
(227 )    
(1,826 )    
16,786     $ 

14,053  
3,103  
17,156  

(7,350 ) 
(2,290 ) 
(9,640 ) 
7,516  

A reconciliation of the income tax expense calculated using the applicable federal statutory rates to the actual income tax expense for the 
years ended December 31, 2013 , 2012 and 2011 is as follows:  

Federal income at the statutory rate  
State income tax, net of federal benefit  
Permanent differences  
Other  

2013  

2012  

2011  

35 %   
5 %   
1 %   
—%   
41 %   

35 %   
5 %   
2 %   
—%   
42 %   

35  % 
3  % 
1  % 
(1 )% 
38  % 

The following table summarizes the components of the Company’s deferred tax assets and liabilities as of December 31, 2013 , and 2012 (in 
thousands):  

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Deferred tax assets:  

Bad debt reserve  
Vacation accrual  
Nonqualified stock options  
Deferred finance costs  
Debt issuance costs  
Acquisition costs  
State tax deferral  
Deferred revenue  
State tax credits  
Net operating loss  
Estimated liability for appeals  
Other  

Total deferred tax assets  

Valuation allowance  

Total deferred tax assets net of valuation allowance  

Deferred tax liabilities:  

Identifiable intangible assets  
Fixed assets  
Other  

Total deferred tax liabilities  

Net deferred tax liabilities  

2013  

2012  

$ 

13     $ 

1,020     
1,526     
—    
848     
158     
1,474     
352     
290     
47     
4,277     
118     
10,123     
(147 )    
9,976     

26  
909  
1,767  
3,082  
— 
197  
1,373  
91  
566  
— 
1,260  
82  
9,353  
(351 ) 
9,002  

(11,176 )    
(4,543 )    
(22 )    
(15,741 )    
(5,765 )    $ 

(13,007 ) 
(3,446 ) 
(22 ) 
(16,475 ) 
(7,473 ) 

$ 

The Company believes that it is more likely than not that the results of future operations will generate sufficient taxable income to realize 
the deferred tax assets, except for certain state tax credits. Income tax expense is allocated to the subsidiaries included in the consolidated 
tax return on the basis of the subsidiaries’ stand-alone tax provision.  

The Company has a valuation allowance of approximately $0.1 million and $0.4 million , as of December 31, 2013 and December 31, 2012, 
respectively, primarily related to California enterprise zone tax credits for which it is not more likely than not that the tax benefit will be 
realized.  

The Company has state tax credits of $0.3 million , which, due to the Assembly Bill 93 and Senate Bill 90 signed on July 11, 2013, are now 
limited to a 10 year carryforward, and will expire in 2024. The Company has state net operating loss carryforwards of $0.4 million which 
expire in 2020 .  

The following table reconciles the Company’s unrecognized tax benefits as of December 31, 2013 from its unrecognized tax benefits as of 
December 31, 2011 (in thousands):  

Unrecognized tax benefits balance at December 31, 2011  
Increase related to prior year tax positions  
Decrease related to prior year tax positions  
Increase related to current year tax positions  
Settlements  
Lapse of statute of limitations  
Unrecognized tax benefits balance at December 31, 2012  
Increase related to prior year tax positions  
Decrease related to prior year tax positions  
Increase related to current year tax positions  
Settlements  
Lapse of statute of limitations  
Unrecognized tax benefits balance at December 31, 2013  

$ 

$ 

— 
115  
— 
164  
— 
— 
279  
357  
— 
49  
(139 ) 
— 
546  

At December 31, 2013 and 2012 , we had approximately $0.5 million and $0.3 million of unrecognized tax benefits, respectively. We do not 
expect any significant change in unrecognized tax benefits during the next twelve months. The  

F-20  

 
 
   
  
   
     
 
   
Table of Contents  

Company records interest expense and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits in income tax expense. The amount of accrued interest 
was not material at December 31, 2013 and 2012 , respectively. No penalties were recognized in 2013 or accrued at December 31, 2013 , 
and 2012 respectively. Unrecognized tax benefits of approximately $0.5 million which, if recognized, would favorably affect the 
Company’s effective income tax rate.  

The Company files federal and state income tax returns. For years before 2009, the Company is no longer subject to California, Texas, and 
certain state state tax examinations. For tax year before 2010, the Company is no longer subject to Federal and certain other state tax 
examinations.  

11. Related Party Transactions  

Our notes payable, both before and after the recapitalization of March 19, 2012, are held by a number of lenders, some of whom also 
invested in our stock. As a result, these entities are considered related parties. Interest expense under these arrangements totaled $10.3 
million , $11.1 million and $12.3 million for the years ended December 31, 2013 , 2012 and 2011 , respectively, and the debt 
extinguishment expense associated with the recapitalization totaled $3.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2012 .  

In an agreement dated April 13, 2012 , the Company and an affiliate of Parthenon Capital Partners terminated an existing advisory services 
agreement, which called for quarterly payments of $0.1 million . As part of the April 13, 2012 termination agreement, the Company agreed 
to pay Parthenon Capital $1.3 million in equal quarterly installments of $0.1 million beginning in April 2012, provided that the remaining 
balance will become due and payable immediately upon the closing of an IPO or the sale of the Company. The Company paid two quarterly 
installments of $0.1 million and paid the remaining balance of $1.1 million on August 15, 2012, the date the IPO closed. In addition, the 
agreement specifies that the affiliate will be due a fee equal to 1% of the aggregate gross proceeds of an IPO offering or 1% of the aggregate 
consideration paid in connection with the sale of the Company, as applicable. The Company expensed and paid $0.9 million to Parthenon 
Capital Partners in August 2012 upon successful closing of the IPO.  

12. Other Commitments and Contingencies  

(a)   Trust Funds 

The Company collects principal and interest payments and collection costs on defaulted loans for various contracting agencies. Cash 
collections for some of the Company’s customers are held in trust in bank accounts controlled by the Company. The Company remits trust 
funds to the contracting agencies on a regular basis. The amount of cash held in trust and the related liability are separated from and not 
included in the Company’s assets and liabilities. Cash held in trust for customers totaled $1.1 million and $1.4 million at December 31, 2013 
and 2012 , respectively.  

(b)   Litigation 

The Company, during the ordinary course of its operations, has been named in various legal suits and claims, several of which are still 
pending. In the opinion of management and the Company’s legal counsel, such legal actions will not have a material effect on the 
Company’s financial position or results of operations or cash flows.  

13. Subsequent Events  

We have evaluated subsequent events through the date these consolidated financial statements were issued and  
there are no other events that have occurred that would require adjustments or disclosures to our consolidated  
financial statements.  

F-21  

 
 
   
 
 
Table of Contents  

SIGNATURES  

Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to 

be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.  

PERFORMANT FINANCIAL CORPORATION  

By:  

/s/ Lisa C. Im  
Lisa C. Im  
Chief Executive Officer  

Date: March 14, 2014  

POWER OF ATTORNEY  

KNOW ALL PERSONS BY THESE PRESENTS, that each person whose signature appears below constitutes and appoints Lisa C. Im 

and Hakan L. Orvell, and each of them, his or her true and lawful attorneys-in-fact, each with full power of substitution, for him or her in any 
and all capacities, to sign any amendments to this report on Form 10-K and to file the same, with exhibits thereto and other documents in 
connection therewith, with the Securities and Exchange Commission, hereby ratifying and confirming all that each of said attorneys-in-fact or 
their substitute or substitutes may do or cause to be done by virtue hereof.  

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this report has been signed below by the following persons on 

behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.  

Name  

/s/ Lisa C. Im  
Lisa C. Im  

/s/ Hakan L. Orvell  
Hakan L. Orvell  

/s/ Dr. Jon D. Shaver  
Dr. Jon D. Shaver  

/s/ Todd R. Ford  
Todd R. Ford  

/s/ Brian P. Golson  
Brian P. Golson  

/s/ Bradley F. Fluegel  
Bradley F. Fluegel  

/s/ Bruce Hansen  
Bruce Hansen  

/s/ William D. Hansen  
William D. Hansen  

Title  

Date  

  Chief Executive Officer (Principal Executive Officer) 

March 14, 2014  

and Director  

  Chief Financial Officer (Principal Financial and 

March 14, 2014  

Accounting Officer)  

  Chairman of the Board and Director  

March 14, 2014  

  Director  

  Director  

  Director  

  Director  

  Director  

March 14, 2014  

March 14, 2014  

March 14, 2014  

March 14, 2014  

March 14, 2014  

 
   
   
 
  
  
   
   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Table of Contents  

SCHEDULE II – VALUATION AND QUALIFYING ACCOUNTS  
For the years ended December 31, 2013, 2012 and 2011  

Allowance for doubtful accounts (in thousands):  

Description  
2013  
2012  
2011  

Balance at  
Beginning of  
Period  

Additions  
Charged  
against Revenue  

$ 
$ 
$ 

65     
77     
45     

—    
—    
28     

Recoveries  

Charge-offs  

Balance at  
End of Period  

2     
2     
14     

(35 )    $ 
(14 )    $ 
(10 )    $ 

32  
65  
77  

Estimated allowance and liability for appeals – RAC Contract (in thousands):  

Description  
2013  
2012  
2011  

Balance at  
Beginning of  

$ 
$ 
$ 

5,577     
934     
101     

Additions  
Charged  
against Revenue     
12,791     
8,589     
1,743     

Appeals found  
in Providers  
Favor  

Balance at  
End of Period  

(1,925 )    $ 
(3,946 )    
(910 )    

16,443   *  
5,577   *  
934   *  

*  

Includes $1,160 , $1,199 and $484 related to the estimated allowance for appeals that apply to uncollected accounts receivable as of 
2013, 2012 and 2011, respectively.  

 
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
   
  
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EXHIBIT INDEX  

Exhibit  
Number  

Description  

3.1  

3.2  

4.2  

10.1  

10.2  

10.3  

10.4  

10.5  

10.6  

10.7  

10.8  

10.9  

10.10  

10.11  

10.12  

10.13  

Restated Certificate of Incorporation of Registrant (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.1(b) to the Company’s Registration 
Statement on Form S-1/A filed July 23, 2012)  

Amended and Restated Bylaws of Registrant (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.2(b) to the Company’s Registration Statement 
on Form S-1/A filed July 23, 2012)  

Amended and Restated Registration Rights Agreement, dated as of August 15, 2012, among the Registrant and the persons listed 
thereon (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.2 to the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-1/A filed July 23, 2012)  

Form of Indemnification Agreement between the Registrant and its officers and directors (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 
10.1 to the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-1/A filed July 30, 2012)  

2004 Equity Incentive Plan and form of agreements thereunder (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to the Company’s 
Registration Statement on Form S-1 filed July 3, 2012)  

2004 DCS Holdings Stock Option Plan and form of agreements thereunder (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.3 to the 
Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-1 filed July 3, 2012)  

2007 Stock Option Plan and form of agreements thereunder (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.4 to the Company’s 
Registration Statement on Form S-1 filed July 3, 2012)  

Recovery Audit Contractor contract by and between Diversified Collection Services, Inc. and Center for Medicare and Medicaid 
Services dated as of October 3, 2008, as amended (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.5 to the Company’s Registration 
Statement on Form S-1/A filed July 23, 2012)  

Credit Agreement, dated as of March 19, 2012, by and among DCS Business Services, Inc., the Lenders party Hereto, Madison 
Capital Funding LLC, and ING Capital (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.6 to the Company’s Registration Statement on 
Form S-1/A filed July 23, 2012)  

Form of Change of Control Agreement, as amended (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.7 to the Company’s Registration 
Statement on Form S-1/A filed July 30, 2012)  

Employment Agreement between the Registrant and Lisa Im, dated as of April 15, 2012, as amended (incorporated by reference to 
Exhibit 10.8 to the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-1/A filed July 23, 2012)  

Employment Agreement between the Registrant and Jon D. Shaver dated as of March 31, 2003, as amended (incorporated by 
reference to Exhibit 10.9 to the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-1/A filed July 23, 2012)  

Repurchase Agreement between the Registrant and Lisa C. Im dated as of July 3, 2012 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.10 
to the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-1 filed July 3, 2012)  

Repurchase Agreement between the Registrant and Jon D. Shaver dated as of July 3, 2012 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 
10.11 to the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-1 filed July 3, 2012)  

Director Nomination Agreement between the Registrant and Parthenon DCS Holdings, LLC dated as of July 20, 2012 
(incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.12 to the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-1/A filed July 23, 2012)  

Advisory Services Agreement between Diversified Collection Services, Inc. and Parthenon Capital, LLC dated as of January 8, 
2004, as amended (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.13 to the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-1/A filed July 
23, 2012)  

Termination of the Advisory Services Agreement between Diversified Collection Services, Inc. and Parthenon Capital, LLC dated 
as of January 8, 2004, as amended, dated as of April 13, 2012 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.14 to the Company’s 

 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
10.14  

Registration Statement on Form S-1/A filed July 23, 2012)  

10.15  

2012 Stock Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.15 to the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-1/A 
filed July 23, 2012)  

 
  
  
Table of Contents  

Exhibit  
Number  

Description  

21  

23  

24  

List of Subsidiaries  

Consent of KPMG LLP, Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm  

Powers of Attorney (included in the signature page to this report)  

31.1  

Rule 13a-14(a)/15d-14(a) Certification, executed by Lisa C. Im  

31.2  

Rule 13a-14(a)/15d-14(a) Certification, executed by Hakan L. Orvell  

32.1  

Furnished Statement of the Chief Executive Officer under 18 U.S.C. Section 1350  

32.2  

Furnished Statement of the Chief Financial Officer under 18 U.S.C. Section 1350  

101.INS   XBRL Instance Document  

101.SCH   XBRL Taxonomy Extension Scheme  

101.CAL   XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase  

101.DEF   XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document  

101.LAB   XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase  

101.PRE   XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase  

 
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
SUBSIDIARIES  

Exhibit 21 

Company Name  
Performant Business Services, Inc.  
Performant Recovery, Inc.  
Performant Technologies, Inc.  

State of Incorporation  
Nevada  
California  
California  

 
 
   
 
 
 
 
  
  
  
    
    
    
    
Consent of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm  

The Board of Directors  
Performant Financial Corporation:  

We consent to the incorporation by reference in the registration statement on Form S-8 (No. 333-184657) of our report dated March 
13, 2014 with respect to the consolidated balance sheets of Performant Financial Corporation and subsidiaries as of December 31, 
2013 and 2012, and the related consolidated statements of operations, changes in stockholders’ equity, and cash flows for each of 
the years in the three year period ended December 31, 2013 which report appears in this Form 10-K.  

Exhibit 23 

/s/ KPMG LLP  

San Francisco, California  
March 13, 2014  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Exhibit 31.1 

I, Lisa C. Im, certify that:  

1. I have reviewed this annual report on Form 10-K of Performant Financial Corporation;  

2. Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make 
the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by 
this report;  

3. Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects 
the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;  

4. The registrant’s other certifying officer and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in 
Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the registrant and have:  

a. Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our 

supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others 
within those entities, particularly during the period in which this report is being prepared;  

b. Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal control over financial reporting to be designed 

under our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements 
for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles;  

c. Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant’s disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions 

about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and 

d. Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the registrant’s 
most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant’s fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely 
to materially affect, the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting; and  

5. The registrant’s other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, 
to the registrant’s auditors and the audit committee of the registrant’s board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):  

a. All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which 

are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant’s ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information; and  

b. Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the registrant’s 

internal control over financial reporting.  

Dated: March 14, 2014  

/s/ Lisa C. Im  
Lisa C. Im  
Chief Executive Officer  

 
 
 
 
  
  
   
   
   
   
Exhibit 31.2 

I, Hakan L. Orvell, certify that:  

1. I have reviewed this annual report on Form 10-K of Performant Financial Corporation;  

2. Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make 
the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by 
this report;  

3. Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects 
the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;  

4. The registrant’s other certifying officer and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in 
Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the registrant and have:  

a. Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our 

supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others 
within those entities, particularly during the period in which this report is being prepared;  

b. Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal control over financial reporting to be designed 

under our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements 
for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles;  

c. Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant’s disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions 

about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and 

d. Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the registrant’s 
most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant’s fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely 
to materially affect, the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting; and  

5. The registrant’s other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, 
to the registrant’s auditors and the audit committee of the registrant’s board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):  

a. All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which 

are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant’s ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information; and  

b. Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the registrant’s 

internal control over financial reporting.  

Dated: March 14, 2014  

/s/ Hakan L. Orvell  
Hakan L. Orvell  
Chief Financial Officer  

 
 
   
 
 
SECTION 1350 CERTIFICATIONS  

Exhibit 32.1 

I, Lisa C. Im, Chief Executive Officer of Performant Financial Corporation (the “Company”), certify, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 1350, as adopted 
pursuant to § 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, that to my knowledge the Annual Report on Form 10-K of the Company (the “Report”), 
which accompanies this Certificate, fully complies with the requirements of Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and 
all information contained in the Report fairly presents, in all material respects, the financial condition and results of operations of the Company.  

Dated: March 14, 2014  

/s/ Lisa C. Im  
Lisa C. Im  
Chief Executive Officer  

 
 
   
 
 
 
SECTION 1350 CERTIFICATIONS  

Exhibit 32.2 

I, Hakan L. Orvell, Chief Financial Officer of Performant Financial Corporation (the “Company”), certify, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 1350, as 
adopted pursuant to § 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, that to my knowledge the Annual Report on Form 10-K of the Company (the 
“Report”), which accompanies this Certificate, fully complies with the requirements of Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 
1934, and all information contained in the Report fairly presents, in all material respects, the financial condition and results of operations of the 
Company.  

Dated: March 14, 2014  

/s/ Hakan L. Orvell  
Hakan L. Orvell  
Chief Financial Officer