CDW CorpCDW

CDW Corp Commitments Disclosure

10-KFiled Feb 20, 20262 min read
Commitments and Contingencies
The Company is party to various legal proceedings that arise in the ordinary course of its business, which include commercial, intellectual property, employment, tort, and other litigation matters. The Company is also subject to audit by federal, state, international, national, provincial, and local authorities, and by various partners, group purchasing organizations, and customers, including government agencies, relating to purchases and sales under various contracts. In addition, the Company is subject to indemnification claims under various contracts. From time to time, certain customers of the Company file voluntary petitions for reorganization or liquidation under the US bankruptcy laws or similar laws of the jurisdictions for the Company’s business activities outside of the US. In such cases, certain pre-petition payments received by the Company could be considered preference items and subject to return to the bankruptcy administrator.
As of December 31, 2025, the Company does not believe that there is a reasonable possibility that any material loss exceeding the amounts already recognized for these proceedings and matters, if any, has been incurred. However, the ultimate resolutions of these proceedings and matters are inherently unpredictable. As such, the Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements could be adversely affected in any particular period by the unfavorable resolution of one or more of these proceedings or matters.
The Company received a Civil Investigative Demand, issued by Department of Justice (“DOJ”) on June 11, 2024, in connection with a False Claims Act investigation. The DOJ requested information relating to bids that the Company submitted for contracts funded in whole or in part by the Schools and Libraries Program (E-Rate Program). The Company provided information in response to the CID in November 2024. The Company is unaware of any further activity in the matter and therefore is unable to assess the probability of any particular outcome or financial impact at this time.

Historical Timeline

Fiscal YearFiled
2025Feb 20, 2026Showing above
2024Feb 21, 2025
2023Feb 26, 2024
2022Feb 24, 2023
2021Feb 28, 2022
2020Feb 26, 2021
2019Feb 28, 2020
2018Feb 27, 2019
2017Mar 1, 2018
2016Mar 1, 2017
2015Feb 25, 2016

About Commitments Disclosures

Commitments and contingencies disclosures catalog a company's off-balance-sheet obligations and legal exposures — purchase commitments, guarantee arrangements, pending litigation, and regulatory proceedings. These items represent potential future cash outflows that may not appear as liabilities on the balance sheet until they become probable and estimable.

Key signals: litigation reserves and disclosed loss ranges quantify management's estimate of legal exposure, but unquantified "reasonably possible" losses often represent the larger risk. Watch for changes in language around pending cases — shifts from "remote" to "reasonably possible" or increases in estimated loss ranges signal deteriorating outcomes. Unconditional purchase obligations and take-or-pay contracts create fixed cost structures that reduce operational flexibility. Guarantee arrangements for subsidiaries or joint ventures can create cascading obligations. Compare the total commitment schedule against projected free cash flow to assess whether the company can meet its obligations without additional financing.

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