Websense to Revise OEM Royalty Revenue Recognition Policy

Apparently Websense found it needed to revise its revenue recognition policies this week around some OEM agreements they acquired when they purchased SurfControl. This revenue recognition policy is forcing them to go back to 2007 and to reduce the amount of recognized revenue.

From the press release:

As a result of this change, the company's financial statements for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2007 and 2008 and for the fiscal quarters ended March 31, 2008, June 30, 2008, September 30, 2008, March 31, 2009 and June 30, 2009 should no longer be relied upon.

Obviously this doesn't affect users of Websense or SurfControl software, but does change numbers for those of you interested in the company from an investment point of view. It also shows they have lower market share numbers (based on revenue) than previously thought, if that makes a difference in your purchasing plans.