Willdan Group, Inc. Leases Disclosure

7. LEASES

The Company leases certain office facilities under long-term, non-cancellable operating leases that expire at various dates through the year 2027. In addition, the Company is obligated under finance leases for certain furniture and office equipment that expire at various dates through the year 2023.

On December 29, 2018, the Company adopted ASU No. 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842) using the modified retrospective method. Under this guidance, the net present value of future lease payments is recorded as right-of-use assets and lease liabilities. In addition, the Company elected the ‘package of practical expedients’ permitted under the transition guidance within the new standard, which among other things, allowed the Company to carry forward the historical lease classification. In addition, the Company elected not to utilize the hindsight practical expedient to determine the lease term for existing leases. The Company elected the short-term lease recognition exemption for all leases that qualify. This means, for those leases that qualify, the Company did not recognize right-of-use assets or lease liabilities, including not recognizing right-of-use assets or lease liabilities for existing short-term leases of those assets in transition. The Company also elected the practical expedient to not separate lease and non-lease components for our facilities leases.

From time to time, the Company enters into non-cancelable leases for some of our facility and equipment needs. These leases allow the Company to conserve cash by paying a monthly lease rental fee for the use of facilities and equipment rather than purchasing them. The Company’s leases have remaining terms ranging from one to eight years, some of which may include options to extend the leases for up to five years, and some of which may include options to terminate the leases within one year. Currently, all of the Company’s leases contain fixed payment terms. The Company may decide to cancel or terminate a lease before the end of its term, in which case we are typically liable to the lessor for the remaining lease payments under the term of the lease. Additionally, all of our month-to-month leases are cancelable by the Company or the lessor, at any time, and are not included in our right-of-use asset or lease liability. As of January 1, 2021, the Company had no leases with residual value guarantees. Typically, the Company has purchase options on the equipment underlying its long-term leases. The Company may exercise some of these purchase options when the need for equipment is on-going and the purchase option price is attractive. Nonperformance-related default covenants, cross-default provisions, subjective default provisions and material adverse change clauses contained in material lease agreements, if any, are also evaluated to determine whether those clauses affect lease classification in accordance with “ASC” Topic 842-10-25. Leases are accounted for as operating or financing leases, depending on the terms of the lease.

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Financing Leases

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The Company leases certain equipment under financing leases. The economic substance of the leases is a financing transaction for acquisition of equipment and leasehold improvements. Accordingly, the right-of-use assets for these leases are included in the balance sheets in equipment and leasehold improvements, net of accumulated depreciation, with a corresponding amount recorded in current portion of financing lease obligations or noncurrent portion of financing lease obligations, as appropriate. The financing lease assets are amortized over the life of the lease or, if shorter, the life of the leased asset, on a straight-line basis and included in depreciation expense. The interest associated with financing lease obligations is included in interest expense.

Right-of-use assets

Operating leases are included in right-of-use assets, and current portion of lease liability and noncurrent portion of lease liability, as appropriate. Right-of-use assets and lease liabilities are recognized based on the present value of the future minimum lease payments over the lease term at commencement date. As most of the Company’s leases do not provide an implicit rate to calculate present value, the Company determines this rate by estimating the Company’s incremental borrowing rate at the lease commencement date. The right-of-use asset also includes any lease payments made and initial direct costs incurred at lease commencement and excludes lease incentives. Our lease terms may include options to extend or terminate the lease when it is reasonably certain that we will exercise that option. Lease expense for minimum lease payments is recognized on a straight-line basis over the lease term.

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The following is a summary of the lease expense:

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The following is a summary of lease information presented on the Company’s consolidated balance sheet:

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Rent expense for fiscal years 2020, 2019, and 2018 was $7.6 million, and $6.2 million, and $4.5 million, respectively.

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The following is a summary of other information and supplemental cash flow information related to finance and operating leases:

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The following is a summary of the maturities of lease liabilities as of January 1, 2021:

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The imputed interest for finance lease obligations represents the interest component of finance leases that will be recognized as interest expense in future periods. The financing component for operating lease obligations represents the effect of discounting the operating lease payments to their present value.

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