Kforce (KFRC) 10-K2019 FY Annual report

This report, particularly Item 1. Business, Item 1A. Risk Factors, and Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (“MD&A”) and the documents we incorporate into this report contain certain statements that are, or may be deemed to be, forward-looking statements within the meaning of that term in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), and are made in reliance upon the protections provided by such acts for forward-looking statements. Such statements may include, but may not be limited to, projections of financial or operational performance, our beliefs regarding potential government actions or changes in laws and regulations, anticipated costs and benefits of proposed acquisitions, divestitures and investments, effects of interest rate variations, financing needs or plans, funding of employee benefit plans, estimates concerning the effects of litigation or other disputes, the occurrence of unanticipated expenses, developments within the staffing sector including, but not limited to, the penetration rate (the percentage of temporary staffing to total employment) and growth rate in temporary staffing, a reduction in the supply of consultants and candidates or the Firm’s ability to attract such individuals, changes in client demand for our services and our ability to adapt to such changes, the entry of new competitors in the market, the ability of the Firm to maintain and attract clients in the face of changing economic or competitive conditions, as well as assumptions as to any of the foregoing and all statements that are not based on historical fact but rather reflect our current expectations concerning future results and events. For a further list and description of various risks, relevant factors and uncertainties that could cause future results or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in our forward-looking statements, refer to the Risk Factors and MD&A sections. In addition, when used in this discussion, the terms “anticipate,” “assume,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe,” “will,” “may,” “likely,” “could,” “should,” “future” and variations thereof and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, some of which cannot be predicted. Future events and actual results could differ materially from those set forth in or underlying the forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements contained in this report, which speak only as of the date of this report. Kforce undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements.

Kforce Inc. and its subsidiaries (collectively, “Kforce”) provide professional staffing services and solutions to our clients on both a temporary (“Flex”) and permanent (“Direct Hire”) basis through our Technology (“Tech”) and Finance and Accounting (“FA”) segments. We operate through our corporate headquarters in Tampa, Florida with 50 field offices located throughout the U.S. Kforce was incorporated in 1994 and completed its Initial Public Offering in August 1995, but its predecessor companies have been providing staffing services since 1962.

Kforce serves clients across many industries and geographies as well as organizations of all sizes, with a particular focus on Fortune 1000 and other large companies. We believe that our portfolio of service offerings is a key contributor to our long-term financial stability. Our 10 largest clients represented approximately 23% of revenue and no single client contributed more than 5% of total revenue for the year ended December 31, 2019.

During 2019, Kforce sold its Government Solutions ("GS") segment, which has been reported as discontinued operations in the consolidated financial statements. Except as specifically noted, our discussions in this report exclude any activity related to the GS segment. Refer to Note 2 - “Discontinued Operations” in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, included in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data of this report, for a more detailed discussion.

Our quarterly operating results can be affected by:

Our largest segment, Tech, provides both Flex and Direct Hire services to our clients, focusing primarily on areas of information technology such as systems/applications architecture and development, data management, business and artificial intelligence, machine learning and network architecture and security. Increasingly, Kforce has been successfully winning more complex technology projects that require us to manage teams of consultants and deliver solutions to our clients. This level of project ownership has been an intentional, strategic shift by Kforce over the last few years as our clients look to their third party providers, such as Kforce, for these engagements. Within our Tech segment, we provide service to clients in a variety of industries with a diversified footprint in financial and business services, communications and technology. Revenue for our Tech segment increased 6.8% to $1.1 billion in 2019 on a year-over-year basis. The average bill rate for Tech Flex in 2019 was approximately $76 per hour, which increased 3.1% as compared to 2018. Our average assignment duration for Tech Flex is nearly 10 months, which has steadily increased over the last several years. Tech Flex continues to benefit from improving bill rates and longer assignment durations, which we believe is related to the acute labor shortage, especially with highly-skilled resources.

The September 2019 report published by Staffing Industry Analysts (“SIA”) stated that temporary technology staffing is expected to experience growth of 3% in 2020. Digital transformation, as a general trend, is driving organizations across all industries to increase their technology investments as competition and the speed of change intensifies. Nontraditional competitors are also entering new emerging technologies and markets. This development puts increased pressure on companies to invest in innovation and the evolution of their business models. We believe the secular drivers of technology spend generally remain intact with many companies becoming increasingly dependent on the efficiencies provided by technology and the need for innovation to support business strategies and sustain relevancy in today’s rapidly changing marketplace. At the macro level, demand is also being driven by an ever-changing and complex regulatory and employment law environment, which increases the overall cost of employment for many companies. We believe that these factors, among others, are continuing to drive companies to look to temporary staffing providers, such as Kforce, to meet their human capital needs.

Our FA segment provides both Flex and Direct Hire services to our clients in areas such as general accounting, business and cost analysis, financial analysis and reporting, taxation, budgeting, loan servicing, professional administration, audit services and systems and controls analysis and documentation. Within our FA segment, we provide services to clients in a variety of industries with a diversified footprint in the financial services, healthcare and manufacturing sectors. Revenue for our FA segment decreased 7.7% to $289.5 million in 2019 on a year-over-year basis. The average bill rate for FA Flex in 2019 was approximately $37 per hour, which increased 5.7% as compared to 2018. This increase reflects our efforts to reposition our FA segment into more high-skilled positions that are less susceptible to being disrupted by technological advancements. The September 2019 report published by SIA stated that finance and accounting temporary staffing is expected to experience growth of 4% in 2019 and 2020.

Flex revenue represents approximately 96% of total revenue over the last three fiscal years. We provide our clients with qualified individuals (“consultants”) on a temporary basis when the consultant's set of skills and experience is the right match for our clients. We utilize a diversified set of recruitment platforms and databases to identify consultants who are actively seeking employment. The vast majority of our consultants are directly employed by Kforce (both domestic and foreign workers sponsored by Kforce) with a smaller composition representing qualified independent contractors. Our success is dependent upon our internal employees’ (“associates”) ability to: (1) acknowledge, understand and participate in creating solutions for our clients’ needs; (2) determine and understand the experience and capabilities of the consultants being recruited; (3) ensure excellence in delivering and managing the client-consultant relationship; and (4) have access to a sufficient pool of qualified consultants. We believe proper execution by our associates and consultants directly impacts the longevity of the assignments, increases the likelihood of generating repeat business with our clients and fosters a better experience for our consultants, which has a direct correlation to consultant redeployment.

The key drivers of Flex revenue are the number of consultants on assignment, billable hours, the bill rate per hour and, to a limited extent, the amount of billable expenses incurred by Kforce. Our Flex gross profit is determined by deducting related costs of employment for consultants, including compensation, payroll taxes, certain fringe benefits and independent contractor costs from Flex revenue. Associate and management commissions, compensation, payroll taxes and other fringe benefits are included in selling, general and administrative expenses (“SG&A”), along with other customary costs such as administrative and corporate costs. Our Flex business model involves maximizing the number of billable hours and bill rates, while managing consultant pay rates and benefit costs, as well as compensation and benefits for our associates.

Our Direct Hire business involves locating qualified individuals (“candidates”) for permanent placement with our clients. Direct Hire revenue represents less than 4% of total revenue over the last three fiscal years. Although it is a smaller portion of our business, it continues to be an important capability in ensuring that we have the flexibility to meet the talent needs of our clients. We recruit candidates using methods that are consistent with Flex consultants. Candidate searches are generally performed on a contingency basis (as opposed to a retained search), therefore revenue is earned only if the candidates are ultimately hired by our clients. The typical fee structure is based upon a percentage of the candidate’s annual compensation in their first year of employment, which is determined or estimated at the time of placement.

The professional staffing industry is made up of thousands of companies, most of which are small local firms providing limited service offerings to a relatively small local client base. A report published by SIA in 2019 indicated that Kforce is one of the 10 largest publicly-traded specialty staffing firms in the U.S. Per this SIA report, Kforce is the fifth largest technology temporary staffing firm and fourth largest finance and accounting temporary staffing firm.

From an economic standpoint, temporary employment figures and trends are important indicators of staffing demand, which continued to be generally positive during 2019, based on data published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and SIA. The penetration rate (the percentage of temporary staffing to total employment) and unemployment rate were 2.0% and 3.5%, respectively, in December 2019. Although temporary help employment was down 0.5% year over year as of December 2019, total non-farm employment was up 1.4% year over year. In addition, the college-level unemployment rate, which we believe serves as a proxy for professional employment and therefore aligns well with the consultant and candidate population that Kforce most typically serves, was 1.9% in December 2019, which represented a decrease from December 2018. Further, we believe that the unemployment rate in the specialties we serve, especially in certain technology skill sets, is lower than the published averages. We believe this speaks to the high demand environment in which we are currently operating as well as the challenges of finding an adequate supply of qualified talent.

Our primary objectives are driving long-term shareholder value by achieving above-market revenue growth, making prudent investments to enhance efficiency and effectiveness within our operating model and significantly improving levels of operating profitability. We believe the following strategies will help us achieve our objectives.

During 2019, we began developing a new talent relationship management system (“TRM”) that we expect will better enable our delivery strategies and processes and improve our capabilities. In addition, we continue to make enhancements to our business and data intelligence capabilities. These investments are part of a multi-year effort to upgrade our technology tools to equip our associates with improved capabilities to deliver exceptional service to our clients, consultants and candidates and improve the productivity of our associates and the scalability of our organization.

We measure our success in building long-lasting relationships with our clients using staffing industry benchmarks and Net Promoter Score (“NPS”) surveys conducted by a specialized, independent third-party provider. Our client NPS ratings compare favorably against staffing industry averages and provide helpful insights from our clients on how to continue improving our relationships. We believe long-lasting relationships with our clients is a critical element in revenue growth.

We measure the quality of our service to and support of our consultants using staffing industry benchmarks and NPS surveys conducted by a specialized, independent third-party provider. Our consultant NPS ratings, similar to our client ratings, are above staffing industry averages. We continually seek direct feedback from our consultants, which gives us valuable insight into where we have opportunities to refine our services.

We operate in a highly competitive and fragmented staffing industry comprised of large national and local staffing firms. The local firms are typically operator-owned, and each market generally has one or more significant competitors. We also face competition from national and regional accounting, consulting and advisory firms that offer both solutions and staffing services. However, we believe that our U.S. geographic presence, concentration of service offerings in areas of greatest demand (especially technology), national delivery teams, delivery channels for foreign consultants, longevity of our brand and reputation in the market, along with our dedicated compliance and regulatory infrastructure, all provide a competitive advantage.

Many clients utilize Managed Service Providers (“MSP”) or Vendor Management Organizations (“VMO”) for the management and procurement of staffing services. Generally, MSPs and VMOs standardize processes through the use of Vendor Management Systems (“VMS”), which are tools used to aggregate spend and measure supplier performance. VMSs are also offered through independent providers. Typically, MSPs, VMOs and/or VMS providers charge staffing firms administrative fees ranging from 1% to 4% of revenue. In addition, the aggregation of services by MSPs for their clients into a single program can result in significant buying power and, thus, pricing power. Therefore, the use of MSPs by our clients has, in certain instances, resulted in margin compression. Kforce does not currently provide MSP or VMO services directly to our clients; rather, our strategy has been to work with MSPs, VMOs and VMS providers that enable us to best extend our services to current and prospective clients.

We believe that the principal elements of competition in our industry are reputation, the availability and quality of associates, consultants and candidates, level of service, effective monitoring of job performance, scope of geographic service and types of service offerings, and compliance orientation. To attract consultants and candidates, we emphasize our ability to provide competitive compensation and benefits, quality and varied assignments, scheduling flexibility and permanent placement opportunities, all of which are important to Kforce being the employer of choice. Because individuals pursue other employment opportunities on a regular basis, it is important that we respond to market conditions affecting these individuals and focus on our consultant relationship objectives. Additionally, in certain markets, we have experienced significant pricing pressure as a result of our competitors’ pricing strategies, which may result in us not being able to effectively compete or choosing to not participate in certain business that does not meet our profitability standard.

Staffing firms are generally subject to one or more of the following types of government regulations: (1) regulation of the employer/employee relationship, such as wage and hour regulations, tax withholding and reporting, immigration regulations, social security and other retirement, anti-discrimination, employee benefits and workers’ compensation regulations; (2) registration, licensing, recordkeeping and reporting requirements; and (3) worker classification regulations.

Because we operate in a complex regulatory environment, one of our top priorities is compliance. For more discussion of the potential impact that the regulatory environment could have on Kforce’s financial results, refer to Item 1A. Risk Factors.

As of December 31, 2019, Kforce employed approximately 2,300 associates and we had approximately 10,600 consultants on assignment providing flexible staffing services and solutions to our clients. Approximately 90% of the consultants are employed directly by Kforce; the other 10% consists of qualified independent contractors. As the employer, Kforce is responsible for the employer’s share of applicable social security taxes (“FICA”), federal and state unemployment taxes, workers’ compensation insurance and other direct labor costs relating to our employees. We offer access to various health, life and disability insurance programs and other benefits for our employees. We have no collective bargaining agreements covering any of our employees, have never experienced any material labor disruption, and are unaware of any current efforts or plans to organize any of our employees.

Kforce maintains a number of insurance policies including general liability, automobile liability, workers’ compensation and employers’ liability, liability for certain foreign exposure, umbrella and excess liability, property, crime, fiduciary, directors and officers, employment practices liability, cybersecurity, professional liability and excess health insurance coverage. These policies provide coverage subject to their terms, conditions, limits of liability and deductibles, for certain liabilities that may arise from Kforce’s operations. There can be no assurance that any of the above policies will be adequate for our needs or that we will maintain all such policies in the future.

Our Annual Report on Form 10-K, along with all other reports and amendments filed with or furnished to the SEC, are publicly available, free of charge, on our website at www.kforce.com as soon as reasonably practicable after such reports are filed with, or furnished to, the SEC. The information contained on our website, or on other websites linked to our website, is not part of this document.

Demand for staffing services is significantly affected by the general level of economic activity and employment in the U.S. Even in a strong demand environment, without significant uncertainty and volatility, it is difficult for us to forecast future demand for our services due to the inherent difficulties in forecasting the strength of economic cycles, availability of consultants and candidates, and the short-term nature of many of our agreements. As economic activity slows, companies may defer projects for which they utilize our services or reduce their use of temporary employees before laying off permanent employees. In addition, an economic downturn could result in a reduction in the temporary staffing penetration rate, an increase in the unemployment rate and a deceleration of growth in the segments in which we and our clients operate. We may also experience more competitive pricing pressures during periods of economic downturn. Any substantial economic downturn in the U.S. or global impact on the U.S. could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and operating results.

Kforce depends upon the abilities of its staff to attract and retain consultants and candidates, particularly technical and professional individuals, who possess the skills and experience necessary to meet the staffing requirements of our clients. We must continually evaluate and upgrade our methods of attracting qualified consultants and candidates to keep pace with changing client needs and emerging technologies. We expect significant competition for individuals with proven technical or professional skills to continue or increase for the foreseeable future. The supply of available consultants and candidates has been constrained during this economic recovery, especially in our Tech segment. If qualified individuals are not available to us in sufficient numbers and upon economic terms acceptable to us, it could have a material adverse effect on our business.

Kforce employs people primarily in the workplaces of our clients. Inherent risks in our business include possible claims of or relating to: discrimination and harassment; wrongful termination; violations of employment rights related to employment screening or privacy issues; misclassification of workers as employees or independent contractors; violations of wage and hour requirements and other labor laws; employment of illegal aliens; criminal activity; torts; breach of contract; failure to protect confidential personal information; intentional criminal misconduct; misuse or misappropriation of client intellectual property; employee benefits; or other claims. In some cases, we are contractually obligated to indemnify our clients against such risks. Such claims may result in negative publicity, injunctive relief, criminal investigations and/or charges, civil litigation, payment by Kforce of defense costs, monetary damages or fines that may be significant, discontinuation of client relationships or other material adverse effects on our business. To reduce our exposure, we maintain policies, procedures and guidelines to promote compliance with laws, rules, regulations and best practices applicable to our business. Even claims without merit could cause us to incur significant expense or reputational harm. We also maintain insurance coverage for professional malpractice liability, fidelity, employment practices liability, and general liability in amounts and with deductibles that we believe are appropriate for our operations. However, our insurance coverage may not cover all potential claims against us, may require us to meet a deductible or may not continue to be available to us at a reasonable cost. In this regard, we face various employment-related risks not covered by insurance, such as wage and hour laws and employment tax responsibility. U.S. courts in recent years have been receiving large numbers of wage and hour class action claims alleging misclassification of overtime-eligible workers and/or failure to pay overtime-eligible workers for all hours worked.

Our future success is likely to depend on our ability to successfully keep pace with technological changes and advances occurring across our industry. Our business is reliant on a variety of systems and technologies, including those that support consultant and candidate searching and matching, hiring and tracking, order management, billing, and client data analytics. Our success may depend on our ability to keep pace with rapid technological changes in the development and implementation of these services. If our systems become outdated, or if our investments in technology fail to provide the expected results, then we may be unable to maintain our technological capabilities relative to our competitors and our business could be negatively affected.

In the ordinary course of our business, we collect and retain personal information of our associates and consultants and their dependents. We are also regularly subjected to cyberattacks and the number and sophistication of such cyberattacks continue to increase. Cyberattacks or other breaches of network or information technology used by our associates and consultants, as well as risks associated with compliance on data privacy could adversely impact our systems, services, operations and financial results. These attacks include, but are not limited to, attempts to gain unauthorized access to digital systems for purposes of misappropriating assets or sensitive information, corrupting data, or causing operational disruption. While we have policies, procedures and systems in place to detect, prevent and deter cyberattacks or other breaches of our networks, techniques used to obtain unauthorized access or cause system interruption change frequently and may not immediately produce signs of intrusion. As a result, we may be unable to anticipate these incidents or techniques, timely discover them, or implement adequate preventative measures.

The possession and use of personal information and data in conducting our business subjects us to legislative and regulatory burdens. We may be required to incur significant expenses to comply with mandatory privacy and security standards and protocols imposed by law, regulation, industry standards or contractual obligations. We maintain cyber risk insurance, but this insurance may not be sufficient to cover all of our losses from any future breaches of our systems or information. Our information technology may not provide sufficient protection, and as a result we may lose significant information about us, our employees or clients. Other results of these incidents could include, but are not limited to, increased cybersecurity protection costs, litigation, regulatory penalties, monetary damages, and reputational damage adversely affecting client or investor confidence.

Part of our business strategy includes enhancing our service offerings and relationships with large consumers of temporary staffing and other solutions, which is intended to enable us to profitably grow our revenues with these clients. However, it also creates the potential for concentrating a significant portion of our revenues among our largest clients and exposes us to increased risks arising from decreases in the volume of business from, the pricing of business with, or the possible loss of business with these clients. Organizational changes occurring within those clients, or a deterioration of their financial condition or business prospects, could reduce their need for our services and result in a significant decrease in the revenues we derive from those clients, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial results.

Our business is subject to regulation and licensing in many states. There can be no assurance that we will be able to continue to obtain all necessary licenses or approvals or that the cost of compliance will not prove to be material. If we fail to comply, such failure could have a material adverse effect on our financial results.

A large part of our business entails employing individuals on a temporary basis and placing such individuals in clients’ workplaces. Increased government regulation of the workplace or of the employer/employee relationship could have a material adverse effect on Kforce. For example, changes to government regulations, including changes to statutory hourly wage and overtime regulations, could adversely affect the Firm’s results of operations by increasing its costs. Due to the substantial number of state and local jurisdictions in which we operate and the widening disparity among state and local laws (a trend which appears to be accelerating), there also is a risk that we may be unaware of, or unable to adequately monitor, actual or proposed changes in, or the interpretation of, the laws or governmental regulations of such states and localities. Any delay in our compliance with changes in such laws or governmental regulations could result in potential fines, penalties, or other sanctions for non-compliance.

Our Tech segment utilizes a significant number of foreign nationals employed by us on work visas, primarily under the H-1B visa classification. The H-1B visa classification that enables U.S. employers to hire qualified foreign nationals is subject to legislative and administrative changes, as well as changes in the application of standards and enforcement. Immigration laws and regulations can be significantly affected by political developments and levels of economic activity. Current and future restrictions on the availability of such visas could restrain our ability to employ the skilled professionals we need to meet our clients’ needs, which could have a material adverse effect on our business. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (“USCIS”) continues to closely scrutinize companies seeking to sponsor, renew or transfer H-1B status, including Kforce and Kforce’s subcontractors and has issued internal guidance to its field offices that appears to narrow the eligibility criteria for H-1B status in the context of staffing services. In addition to USCIS restrictions, certain aspects of the H-1B program are also subject to regulation and review by the U.S. Department of Labor and U.S. Department of State, which have recently increased enforcement activities in the program. Vigorous enforcement and/or legislative or executive action relating to immigration could adversely affect our ability to recruit or retain foreign national consultants, and consequently, reduce our supply of skilled consultants and candidates and subject us to fines, penalties and sanctions, or result in increased labor and compliance costs.

We utilize individuals to provide services in connection with our business as qualified third-party independent contractors rather than our direct employees. Heightened state and federal scrutiny of independent contractor relationships could adversely affect us given that we utilize independent contractors to perform our services. An adverse determination related to the independent contractor status of these subcontracted personnel could result in substantial taxes or other liabilities to us.

An inherent risk of employing people internally, and in the workplace of other businesses, is that many of these individuals have access to information systems and confidential information. The risks of such activity include possible acts of errors and omissions; intentional misconduct; release, misuse or misappropriation of client intellectual property, confidential information, personally identifiable information, funds, or other property; cybersecurity breaches affecting our clients and/or us; or other acts. Misconduct by our employees could include intentional or unintentional failures to comply with federal government regulations, engaging in unauthorized activities or improper use of our clients’ sensitive or classified information, potentially in collusion with third parties, which could result in regulatory sanctions against us and serious harm to our reputation. It is not always possible to deter employee misconduct, and precautions to prevent and detect this activity may not be effective in controlling such risks or losses, which could have a material adverse effect on our business.

In addition, these occurrences may give rise to litigation, which could be time-consuming and expensive. To reduce our exposure, we maintain policies, procedures and insurance coverage for types and amounts we believe are appropriate in light of the aforementioned exposures. There can be no assurance that the corporate policies and practices we have in place to help reduce our exposure to these risks will be effective or that we will not experience losses as a result of these risks. In addition, our insurance coverage may not cover all potential claims against us, may require us to meet a deductible or may not continue to be available to us at a reasonable cost.

Kforce is required to pay a number of federal, state and local payroll and related costs or provide certain benefits such as paid time off, sick leave, unemployment taxes, workers’ compensation and insurance premiums and claims, FICA, and Medicare, among others, related to our employees. Costs could also increase as a result of health care reforms or the possible imposition of additional requirements and restrictions related to the placement of personnel. We may not be able to increase the fees charged to our clients in a timely manner or in a sufficient amount to cover these potential cost increases.

We depend on our overall professional reputation and brand name recognition to secure new engagements, maintain existing business and hire qualified consultants and candidates. If our reputation, brand or relationships are damaged, it could have a material adverse effect on our operations. In addition, if our performance does not meet our clients' expectations, our revenues and operating results could be materially harmed.

Kforce is highly dependent on its management team and expects that continued success will depend largely upon their efforts, expertise and abilities. The loss of the services of any key executive for any reason could have a material adverse effect on Kforce. To attract and retain executives and other key employees (particularly management, client servicing, and consultant and candidate recruiting employees) in a competitive marketplace, we must provide a competitive compensation package, including cash-based and equity-based compensation. Kforce expends significant resources in the recruiting and training of its employees, as the pool of available applicants for these positions is limited. The loss or any sustained attrition of our key operating employees could have a material adverse effect on our business, including our ability to establish and maintain client, consultant and candidate, professional and technical relationships.

Kforce is dependent on the proper functioning of information systems in operating our business. Critical information systems are used in every aspect of Kforce’s daily operations, most significantly, in the identification and matching of staffing resources to client assignments and in the client billing and consultant or vendor payment functions. Kforce’s information systems may not perform as anticipated and are vulnerable to damage or interruption including natural disasters, fire or casualty theft, technical failures, terrorist acts, cybersecurity breaches, power outages, telecommunications failures, physical or software intrusions, computer viruses, employee errors or other similar events. Our corporate headquarters and data center are located in a hurricane-prone area. Although we have disaster recovery systems for most key information systems, this makes us reliant on third party providers for the restoration of these systems. Failure or interruption of our critical information systems may require significant additional capital and management resources to resolve, which could have a material adverse effect on our business. Additionally, many of our information technology systems and networks are cloud-based or managed by third parties, whose future performance and reliability we cannot control. The risk of a cyberattack or security breach on a third party carries the same risks to Kforce as those associated with our internal systems.  We seek to reduce these risks by performing vendor due diligence procedures prior to engaging with any third party vendor who will have access to sensitive data. Additionally, we require audits of the relevant third parties’ information technology processes on an annual basis. However, there can be no assurance that such parties will not experience cybersecurity breaches that could adversely affect our employees, customers and businesses or that our audit or diligence processes will successfully deter or prevent such breach.

New business initiatives and strategic changes in the composition of our business mix can be a diversion to our management’s attention from other business concerns and could be disruptive to our operations, which could cause our business and results of operations to suffer materially. Acquisitions and new business initiatives could involve significant unanticipated challenges and risks, including the possibility that: they may not advance our business strategy; we may not realize our anticipated return on our investment; we may lose key personnel; we may incur and/or retain unforeseen liabilities; we may experience difficulty in implementing initiatives or integrating acquired operations; or management's attention may be diverted from our other businesses. These events could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results or financial condition.

Due to limited barriers to entry for new competitors, the competition among staffing services firms is intense and we face significant competition in the markets we serve. Kforce competes for potential clients with large national and local staffing firms and national and regional advisory firms that offer both solutions and staffing services. Some of our clients increasingly rely upon internal recruiting functions. Some of our competitors possess substantially greater resources than we do and others may develop new and unique technologies. From time to time, we experience significant pressure from our clients to reduce price levels due to competition. During these periods, we may face increased competitive pricing pressures and may not be able to recruit the personnel necessary to fulfill our clients’ needs. We also face the risk that certain of our current and prospective clients will decide to provide similar services internally, particularly if regulatory burdens are reduced. Additionally, many clients are retaining third parties to provide vendor management services, which may subject us to greater risks or lower margins.

Kforce is subject to periodic federal, state and local tax audits for various tax years. We also need to comply with new, evolving or revised tax laws and regulations. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, enacted in December 2017, continues to require significant interpretation; as additional regulatory guidance is issued and we continue to analyze the application of the new law, we may be required to refine our estimates, which could materially affect our tax obligations and effective tax rate. Although Kforce attempts to comply with all taxing authority regulations, adverse findings or assessments made by taxing authorities as the result of an audit could have a material adverse effect on Kforce.

We regularly monitor our goodwill, long-lived assets and equity method investment for impairment indicators. In conducting our goodwill impairment testing, we compare the fair value of each of our reporting units with goodwill to the related net book value. In conducting our impairment analysis of long-lived assets, we compare the undiscounted cash flows expected to be generated from the long-lived assets to the related net book value. We review our equity method investment for indicators of impairment on a periodic basis or whenever events or circumstances indicate the carrying amount may be other-than-temporarily impaired. Changes in economic or operating conditions impacting our estimates and assumptions could result in the impairment of our goodwill, long-lived assets and/or equity method investment. In the event that we determine that there is an impairment, we may be required to record a significant non-cash charge to earnings which could have a material adverse effect on our operating results.

We generate a significant amount of trade accounts receivable from our clients. Delays in payments owed to us could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and cash flows generated by our business. Factors that could cause a delay include business failures, turmoil in the financial and credit markets, sluggish or recessionary U.S. economic conditions, our exposure to clients in high-risk sectors such as the financial services industry, declines in the credit worthiness of our clients, extension in payment terms with our clients and declines in the business of our clients.

We have a credit facility consisting of a revolving line of credit of up to $300.0 million, subject to certain limitations. Borrowings under the credit facility are secured by substantially all of the tangible and intangible assets of the Firm, excluding the Firm’s corporate headquarters and certain other designated collateral.

Adverse changes in credit markets, including increases in interest rates, could increase our cost of borrowing and/or make it more difficult to refinance our existing indebtedness, if necessary. We have reduced our exposure to rising interest rates by entering into an interest rate hedging arrangement, although this and other arrangements may result in us incurring higher interest expenses than we would have otherwise incurred. If interest rates increase in the absence of such arrangements though, we would need to dedicate more of our cash flow from operations to service our debt.

Kforce is subject to certain affirmative and negative covenants under our credit facility. Our failure to comply with such restrictive covenants could result in an event of default, which, if not cured or waived, could result in Kforce being required to repay the outstanding balance before the due date. If this occurs, we may not be able to repay our debt or we may be forced to refinance on terms not acceptable to us, which could have a material adverse effect on our operating results and financial condition.

Our management, including our CEO and CFO, does not expect that our disclosure controls and internal controls will prevent all errors and fraud. A control system, regardless of how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives of the control system are met. Because of the inherent limitations in all control systems, no evaluation of controls can provide absolute assurance that all control issues and instances of fraud, if any, within Kforce have been detected. These inherent limitations include the realities that judgments in decision-making can be faulty, and that breakdowns can occur because of a simple error or mistake. Additionally, controls can be circumvented by the individual acts of some persons, by collusion of two or more people, or by management override of the control.

The design of any system of controls is also based in part upon certain assumptions about the likelihood of future events, and there can be no assurance that any design will succeed in achieving its stated goals under all potential future conditions; over time, a control may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate. Because of the inherent limitations, misstatements due to error or fraud may occur and not be detected.

The market price of our stock has fluctuated substantially in the past and could fluctuate substantially in the future, based on a variety of factors, including our operating results, changes in general conditions in the economy, the financial markets, the staffing industry, a decrease in our outstanding shares or other developments affecting us, our clients, or our competitors; some of which may be unrelated to our performance.

In addition, the stock market in general, especially NASDAQ, along with market prices for staffing companies, has experienced historical volatility that has often been unrelated to the operating performance of these companies. These broad market and industry fluctuations may adversely affect the market price of our common stock, regardless of our operating results.

Among other things, volatility in our stock price could mean that investors will not be able to sell their shares at or above the prices they pay. The volatility also could impair our ability in the future to offer common stock as a source of additional capital or as consideration in the acquisition of other businesses, or as compensation for our key employees.

Kforce’s articles of incorporation and bylaws and Florida law contain provisions that may have the effect of inhibiting a non-negotiated merger or other business combination. In particular, our articles of incorporation provide for a staggered Board of Directors (“Board”) and permit the removal of directors only for cause. Additionally, the Board may issue up to 15 million shares of preferred stock, and fix the rights and preferences thereof, without a further vote of the shareholders. In addition, certain of our officers and managers have employment agreements containing certain provisions that call for substantial payments to be made to such employees in certain circumstances after a change in control. Certain of these provisions may discourage a future acquisition of Kforce, including an acquisition in which shareholders might otherwise receive a premium for their shares. As a result, shareholders who might desire to participate in such a transaction may not have the opportunity to do so. Moreover, the existence of these provisions could negatively impact the market price of our common stock.

None.

We own our corporate headquarters in Tampa, Florida, which is approximately 128,000 square feet of space. In addition, as of December 31, 2019, we leased approximately 247,000 square feet of total office space in 50 field offices located throughout the U.S., with lease terms ranging from three to seven years, although a limited number of leases contain short-term renewal provisions that range from month-to-month to one year.

Not applicable.

Our common stock trades on the NASDAQ using the ticker symbol “KFRC”. As of February 19, 2020, there were 150 holders of record.

In March 2019, the Board approved an increase in our stock repurchase authorization bringing the then available authorization to $150.0 million. The following table presents information with respect to our repurchases of Kforce common stock during the three months ended December 31, 2019:

The information set forth below is not necessarily indicative of the results of future operations and should be read in conjunction with the information within Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations and Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data of this report.

During 2019, Kforce sold the GS segment, which has been reported as discontinued operations in the consolidated financial statements for all periods presented. Refer to Note 2 - “Discontinued Operations” in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, included in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data of this report, for a more detailed discussion. Except as specifically noted, our discussions below exclude any activity related to the GS segment, which is addressed separately in the discussion of Income from Discontinued Operations, Net of Tax, and certain prior year amounts have been reclassified to conform to current year presentation.

The following is an executive summary of what Kforce believes are highlights for 2019, which should be considered in the context of the additional discussions herein and in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto.

Certain discussions of the changes in our results of operations from the year ended December 31, 2017 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2018 have been omitted from this Form 10-K, but may be found in “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” of our Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018 filed with the SEC on February 22, 2019.

In 2019, we continued to make progress on our strategic initiatives including, among others, the completion of a multi-year effort to divest of non-core businesses with the divestiture of our GS segment, entering into a strategic joint venture, implementing a new consultant referral technology and making continued progress on implementing new and upgrading existing technologies that we believe will allow us to more effectively and efficiently serve our clients, consultants and candidates and improve the scalability of our organization.

The following table presents certain items in our Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income as a percentage of revenue for the years ended:

Flex revenue for our largest segment, Tech, increased 6.8% during the year ended December 31, 2019, as compared to 2018. Our growth rate exceeded SIA’s projected domestic temporary technology staffing growth rate for 2019 of 3% by more than two times. Our growth in Tech Flex in 2019 has been disporportionately driven by the largest consumers of our services, many of whom are also some of our largest clients. We believe the secular drivers of technology spend generally remain intact with many companies becoming increasingly dependent on the efficiencies provided by technology and the need for innovation to support business strategies and sustain relevancy in today’s rapidly changing marketplace. Our belief in the strength in the demand environment within technology has not changed; thus, we expect continued Tech Flex growth in 2020.

Our FA segment experienced a decrease in Flex revenue of 8.6% during the year ended December 31, 2019, as compared to 2018. The year-over-year decrease in 2019 from 2018 was primarily due to a lower volume of new assignments, which was partially offset by an increase in average bill rates of 5.7% for the year ended December 31, 2019 as compared to 2018. We continue to focus on the strategic repositioning of our FA Flex business into more high-skilled positions that are less susceptible to being disrupted by technological advancements. In 2020, we expect FA Flex revenue to be stable.

The following table presents the key drivers for the change in Flex revenue by segment over the prior period (in thousands):

The following table presents the key drivers for the change in Direct Hire revenue over the prior period (in thousands):

The following table presents the gross profit percentage (gross profit as a percentage of total revenue) for each segment and percentage change over the prior period for the years ended December 31:

Flex gross profit percentage (Flex gross profit as a percentage of Flex revenue) provides management with helpful insight into the other drivers of total gross profit percentage driven by our Flex business such as changes in the spread between the consultants’ bill rate and pay rate.

The following table presents the Flex gross profit percentage for each segment and percentage change over the prior period for the years ended December 31:

The following table presents certain components of SG&A as a percentage of total revenue for the years ended December 31 (in thousands):

SG&A as a percentage of revenue decreased 30 basis points in 2019 compared to 2018, primarily driven by an increase in associate productivity, leverage created from our revenue growth and better expense discipline. Included in the year ended December 31, 2019 was approximately $2.0 million of severance and other costs due to actions taken as a result of the GS divestiture, which negatively impacted SG&A.

The Firm continues to focus on improving the productivity of our associates and exercising better expense discipline to generate future leverage as revenue grows, while also increasing our investments in enabling technology.

We also recorded a loss on equity method investment of $0.8 million in Other expense, net for the year ended December 31, 2019. Refer to Note 1 - “Summary of Significant Accounting Policies” in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, included in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data of this report, for a more detailed discussion on our equity method investment.

On April 1, 2019, Kforce completed the sale of all of the issued and outstanding stock of Kforce Government Holdings, Inc., including its wholly-owned subsidiary, KGS, to ManTech International Corporation for a cash purchase price of $115.0 million. Our gain on the sale of KGS, net of transaction costs, was $72.3 million. Total transaction costs were $9.6 million, which primarily includes legal and broker fees, transaction bonuses and accelerated stock-based compensation expense for KGS management triggered by a change in control of KGS.

On June 7, 2019, Kforce completed the sale of all of the issued and outstanding stock of TFX to an unaffiliated third party for a cash purchase price of $18.4 million less a post-closing working capital adjustment of $0.7 million. Our gain on the sale of TFX, net of transaction costs, was $7.0 million. Total transaction costs were $2.2 million, which primarily includes legal and broker fees and transaction bonuses. Due to the sale of TFX, we finalized the settlement of a contingent consideration liability related to the acquisition of TFX in 2014 and paid $0.6 million during the year ended December 31, 2019.

The effective tax rates for discontinued operations, including the gain on sale of discontinued operations, for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017 were 4.4%, 23.4%, and 59.8%, respectively. The GS effective tax rate for 2019 was low because of the minimal income tax obligation for the sale of KGS due to the efficient tax structure of the transaction. The GS effective tax rate for 2018 was positively impacted by the TCJA. The GS effective tax rate for 2017 was unfavorably impacted by the revaluation of our net deferred tax assets as a result of the TCJA.

The following table presents Free Cash Flow (in thousands):

In addition, although we excluded amortization of stock-based compensation expense because it is a non-cash expense, we expect to continue to incur stock-based compensation in the future and the associated stock issued may result in an increase in our outstanding shares of stock, which may result in the dilution of our shareholder ownership interest. We suggest that you evaluate these items and the potential risks of excluding such items when analyzing our financial position.

The following table presents Adjusted EBITDA and includes a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to net income (in thousands):

To meet our capital and liquidity requirements, we primarily rely on operating cash flow, as well as borrowings under our credit facility. We anticipate maintaining an outstanding balance of $65.0 million on our credit facility until the notional amount of our interest rate swap decreases to $25.0 million in May 2020. At December 31, 2019, we had $19.8 million in cash and cash equivalents, which consisted primarily of government money market funds. At December 31, 2019, Kforce had $160.3 million in working capital compared to $158.1 million at December 31, 2018.

We are principally focused on achieving an appropriate balance of cash flow across several areas of opportunity such as: generating positive cash flow from operating activities; returning capital to our shareholders through our quarterly dividends and common stock repurchase program; maintaining appropriate leverage under our credit facility; investing in our infrastructure to allow sustainable growth via capital expenditures; and maintaining sufficient liquidity to complete acquisitions or other strategic investments.

Our Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows are presented on a combined basis (continuing operations and discontinued operations). As previously discussed, the GS segment was sold and has been reflected as discontinued operations. The absence of cash flows from the GS segment is not expected to have a significant effect on the future liquidity, financial position or capital resources of Kforce.

The following table provides information for the total operating and investing cash flows for the GS segment (in thousands):

Our largest source of operating cash flows is the collection of trade receivables and our largest use of operating cash flows is the payment of our consultant and associate compensation. When comparing cash flows from operating activities, the decrease in cash provided by operating activities during the year ended December 31, 2019, as compared to 2018 was primarily due to the receipt of a $6.8 million income tax refund in 2018 and no comparable receipt in 2019 and an increase of $11.5 million in cash used for income tax payments, as well as a decrease in cash provided by the GS segment due to the divestiture.

Cash provided by investing activities for the year ended December 31, 2019 includes the net proceeds from the sale of assets held for sale offset by capital contributed for an equity method investment.

The increase in cash used for financing activities in 2019 compared to 2018 was primarily driven by a large increase in common stock repurchases, a reduction in our credit facility balance as well as an increase in cash used for dividends.

The following table presents the cash flow impact of the common stock repurchase activity for the years ended December 31 (in thousands):

During the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, Kforce declared and paid dividends of $16.6 million ($0.72 per share), $14.9 million ($0.60 per share), and $12.1 million ($0.48 per share), respectively. On January 31, 2020, Kforce’s Board approved an 11% increase to the Company's quarterly dividend from $0.18 per share to $0.20 per share. The declaration, payment and amount of future dividends are discretionary and will be subject to determination by Kforce’s Board each quarter following its review of, among other things, the Firm’s current and expected financial performance as well as the ability to pay dividends under applicable law.

We believe that existing cash and cash equivalents, cash flow from operations and available borrowings under our credit facility will be adequate to meet the capital expenditure and working capital requirements of our operations for at least the next 12 months. However, a material deterioration in the economic environment or market conditions, among other things, could negatively impact operating results and liquidity, as well as the ability of our lenders to fund borrowings. Actual results could also differ materially from those indicated as a result of a number of factors, including the use of currently available resources for potential acquisitions and additional stock repurchases.

Kforce entered into a forward-starting interest rate swap agreement (the “Swap”) to mitigate the risk of rising interest rates and the Swap has been designated as a cash flow hedge. Refer to Note 14 - “Derivative Instrument and Hedging Activity” in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, included in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data of this report, for a complete discussion of our interest rate swap. As of December 31, 2019 and 2018, the fair value of the Swap was a liability of $0.2 million and an asset of $0.9 million, respectively.

As of December 31, 2019, $44.3 million remained available for further repurchases under the Board-authorized common stock repurchase program. During the year ended December 31, 2019, we utilized the net proceeds from the GS divestiture to repurchase shares in the open market. We do not expect to repurchase at similar levels in 2020.

Kforce provides letters of credit to certain vendors in lieu of cash deposits. At December 31, 2019, Kforce had letters of credit outstanding for operating lease and insurance coverage deposits totaling $3.4 million.

In June 2019, we entered into a joint venture whereby Kforce has a 50% noncontrolling interest in a newly formed LLC that is accounted for as an equity method investment. Refer to Note 1 - “Summary of Significant Accounting Policies” in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, included in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data of this report, which discusses a contingent obligation related to this equity method investment.

These off-balance sheet arrangements do not have a material impact on our liquidity or capital resources.

Our significant accounting policies are discussed in Note 1 – “Summary of Significant Accounting Policies” in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, included in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data of this report. Our consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with GAAP. In connection with the preparation of our consolidated financial statements, we are required to make assumptions and estimates about future events, and apply judgments that affect the reported amount of assets, liabilities, revenues, expenses and the related disclosures. We base our assumptions, estimates and judgments on historical experience, current trends and other factors that management believes to be relevant at the time our consolidated financial statements are prepared. On a regular basis, management reviews the accounting policies, estimates, assumptions and judgments to ensure that our consolidated financial statements are presented fairly and in accordance with GAAP. However, because future events and their effects cannot be determined with certainty, actual results could differ from our assumptions and estimates, and such differences could be material. Management believes that the following accounting estimates are the most critical to aid in fully understanding and evaluating our reported financial results, and they require management’s most difficult, subjective or complex judgments, resulting from the need to make estimates about the effect of matters that are inherently uncertain. We have not made any material changes in our accounting methodologies used in prior years.

Management performs an ongoing analysis of factors in establishing its allowance for doubtful accounts including recent write-off and delinquency trends, a specific analysis of significant receivable balances that are past due, the concentration of accounts receivable among clients and higher-risk sectors, and the current state of the U.S. economy. A 10% change in accounts reserved, at December 31, 2019, would have impacted our net income by approximately $0.1 million in 2019.

Our effective income tax rate is influenced by tax planning opportunities available to us in the various jurisdictions in which we conduct business. Significant judgment is required in determining our effective tax rate and in evaluating our tax positions, including those that may be uncertain.

We are also required to exercise judgment with respect to the realization of our net deferred tax assets. Management evaluates all positive and negative evidence and exercises judgment regarding past and future events to determine if it is more likely than not that all or some portion of the deferred tax assets may not be realized. If appropriate, a valuation allowance is recorded against deferred tax assets to offset future tax benefits that may not be realized. A 0.5% change in our effective tax rate would have impacted our net income by approximately $0.4 million in 2019.

Refer to Note 6 – “Income Taxes” in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, included in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data of this report, for a complete discussion of the components of our income tax expense, as well as the temporary differences that exist as of December 31, 2019.

In June 2019, we entered into a joint venture whereby Kforce has a 50% noncontrolling interest in an equity method investment. Under the joint venture operating agreement, Kforce is obligated to make additional cash contributions subsequent to the initial contribution, contingent on certain operational and financial milestones. Management evaluated the probability of the achievement of these milestones and recorded the estimated future contributions as part of the initial investment.

We review the equity method investment for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of the investment may not be recoverable. An impairment loss is recognized in the event that an other-than-temporary decline in fair value of an investment occurs. Management’s estimate of fair value of an investment is based on the income approach and/or market approach. For the income approach, we utilize estimated discounted future cash flows expected to be generated by the investee. For the market approach, we utilize market multiples of revenue and earnings derived from comparable publicly-traded companies. These types of analyses contain uncertainties because they require management to make significant assumptions and judgments including: (1) an appropriate rate to discount the expected future cash flows; (2) the inherent risk in achieving forecasted operating results; (3) long-term growth rates; (4) expectations for future economic cycles; (5) market comparable companies and appropriate adjustments thereto; and (6) market multiples. Changes in key assumptions about the financial condition of an investee or actual conditions that differ from estimates could result in an impairment charge.

Goodwill is tested at the reporting unit level which is generally an operating segment, or one level below the operating segment level, where a business operates and for which discrete financial information is available and reviewed by segment management. We evaluate goodwill for impairment annually or more frequently whenever events or circumstances indicate that the fair value of a reporting unit is below its carrying value. We monitor the existence of potential impairment indicators throughout the year. It is our policy to conduct impairment testing based on our current business strategy in light of present industry and economic conditions, as well as future expectations.

When performing a quantitative assessment, we determine the fair value of our reporting units using widely accepted valuation techniques, including the discounted cash flow, guideline transaction and guideline company methods. These types of analyses contain uncertainties because they require management to make significant assumptions and judgments including: (1) an appropriate rate to discount the expected future cash flows; (2) the inherent risk in achieving forecasted operating results; (3) long-term growth rates; (4) expectations for future economic cycles; (5) market comparable companies and appropriate adjustments thereto; and (6) market multiples. When performing a qualitative assessment, we assess qualitative factors to determine whether the existence of events or circumstances indicated that it was more likely than not that the fair value of the reporting unit was less than its carrying amount.

We are self-insured for certain losses related to health insurance and workers’ compensation claims that are below insurable limits. However, we obtain third-party insurance coverage to limit our exposure to claims in excess of insurable limits. When estimating our self-insured liabilities, we consider a number of factors, including historical claims experience, plan structure, internal claims management activities, demographic factors and severity factors. Periodically, management reviews its assumptions to determine the adequacy of our self-insured liabilities.

Our self-insured liabilities contain uncertainties because management is required to make assumptions and to apply judgment to estimate the ultimate total cost to settle reported claims and claims incurred but not reported (“IBNR”) as of the balance sheet date. A 10% change in our self-insured liabilities related to health insurance and workers’ compensation, as of December 31, 2019, would have impacted our net income by approximately $0.4 million in 2019.

The SERP is a defined benefit pension plan that benefits certain named executive officers. The SERP was not funded as of December 31, 2019 or 2018. When estimating the obligation for our pension benefit plan, management is required to make certain assumptions and to apply judgment with respect to determining an appropriate discount rate, bonus percentage assumptions and expected effect of future compensation increases for the participants in the plan.

A 10% change in the discount rate used to measure the net periodic pension cost for the SERP would have had an insignificant impact on our net income in 2019.

Refer to Note 12 – “Employee Benefit Plans” in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, included in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data of this report, for a complete discussion of the terms of this plan.

On April 21, 2017, Kforce entered into a forward-starting interest rate swap agreement with Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. to mitigate the risk of rising interest rates on the Firm’s financial statements. The Swap rate is 1.81%, which is added to our interest rate margin to determine the fixed rate that the Firm will pay to the counterparty during the term of the Swap based on the notional amount of the Swap. The effective date of the Swap is May 31, 2017 and the maturity date is April 29, 2022. The notional amount of the Swap is $65.0 million, which will decrease to $25.0 million at May 2020 through maturity.

LIBOR is expected to be discontinued after 2021. The expected discontinuation of LIBOR will require borrowers to transition from LIBOR to an alternative benchmark interest rate. We are currently evaluating the impact of the transition from LIBOR as an interest rate benchmark to other potential alternative reference rates. We do not currently have material contracts, with the exception of the above mentioned items, that are indexed to LIBOR. We will continue to actively assess the related opportunities and risks involved in this transition.