Earnings Labs

H&R Block, Inc. (HRB)

Q4 2012 Earnings Call· Tue, Jun 26, 2012

$31.31

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Transcript

Operator

Operator

Good afternoon. My name is Lashonda, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Fiscal 2012 H&R Block Earnings Call. [Operator Instructions] Thank you. Mr. Drysdale, Investor Relations, sir, you may begin your conference

Derek Drysdale

Analyst

Thank you, Lashonda. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us today to discuss our fiscal 2012 results. On the call with me today is Bill Cob, our President and CEO; and Greg Macfarlane, our CFO. Other members of our senior management team will be available during the Q&A session. They include Jeff Brown, our Chief Accounting and Risk Officer; Jason Houseworth, President of U.S. Tax Services; and Susan Ehrlich, President of Financial Services. In conjunction with this call, we have posted today's press release and slide presentation on the Investor Relations website at www.hrblock.com. Before we begin our prepared remarks, I'd like to remind everyone that today's call will include forward-looking statements as defined under the Securities Exchange Commission Act of 1934. Such statements are based on current information and management's expectations as of this date and are not guarantees of future performance. Forward-looking statements involve certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. As a result, our actual outcomes and results could differ materially. You can learn more about these risks in our Form 10-K for fiscal 2012, which we plan to file later today, as well as our other SEC filings. H&R Block undertakes no obligation to publicly update these risk factors or forward-looking statements. With that, I'll now turn the call over to Bill

William C. Cobb

Analyst · Scott Schneeberger

Thanks, Derek, and congratulations on your promotion to Vice President. Well deserved. Good afternoon, everyone. As you know, we reported our fiscal 2012 results earlier today. Before we provide more color on those results, I'd like to update you on several recent developments. First, the board and I are extremely pleased that our senior management team is now complete with Greg's arrival earlier this month. I'm glad Greg is with us today for his first earnings call at H&R Block. He brings a wealth of experience from his 19 years of managing finance from both Ceridian and various GE entities. He's already making an impact in our organization, and we are confident that he'll be a major contributor to our success in the years ahead. We're also pleased that Jeff Brown has decided to stay with the company as our Chief Accounting and Risk Officer. As many of you know, we also recently completed a strategic realignment that will reduce our cost structure and drive a more cohesive and seamless end-to-end client experience with the more than 22 million clients we serve in the U.S. I'm pleased to have Jason Houseworth, Amy McAnarney, Susan Ehrlich and Robert Turtledove leading our U.S. clients services under my direction. These executives all have a track record of generating strong results, and I believe their leadership and commitment to our clients will serve us well. I'm confident that we now have the right management team in place to deliver better value for our clients and shareholders. We are excited about the opportunities we have in front of us to continue driving innovation and further improve our execution and client service. For competitive reasons, today, we will not provide significant detail on next season's plans, but we'll give some directional insight so you can see…

Gregory J. Macfarlane

Analyst · Scott Schneeberger

Thanks, Bill, and good afternoon, everybody. It's a pleasure being here at H&R Block and starting a dialogue with our investors and analysts. Like Bill, I believe management needs to be transparent and accessible to investors and analysts and look forward to getting to know all of you. In particular, I'm looking forward to our roadshow throughout the summer and getting to meet you in person. I'd like to begin by sharing [indiscernible] H&R Block. First, I believe the company has tremendous strengths, starting with the client experience, that trusts H&R Block to help them through one of their most important financial transactions. When one of our 25.6 million clients walks into an H&R Block location or uses H&R Block software, they know they're getting the best. Second, the company has a strong balance sheet, generates significant amounts of free cash flow and does well on return assets and equity. Third, as you may know, I have a strong background in financial services. When I look at the millions of H&R Block clients that are unbanked or under banked, and see our current offerings and potential, I see a lot of value creation opportunity. Fundamentally, there's a strong complementary nature of financial services in our core tax-preparation business, and I look forward to working with Bill and Susan to grow our financial services business over the coming years. Next, I'm excited about our non-U.S. opportunities. Our international revenue has grown at a 5-year growth rate of 12%, and I believe we have lots of room to grow. Canada and Australia continue to perform well, and I believe there's a lot of opportunity in new markets. And finally, throughout the entire interview process I was very impressed with Bill, his management team and H&R Block's Board of Directors. The words I…

William C. Cobb

Analyst · Scott Schneeberger

Thanks, Greg. We have made some difficult decisions over the past year, but we believe they are the right decisions to position us for long-term earnings growth, margin expansion and improved shareholder returns. We've rationalized our cost structure, we've shed non-core or unprofitable businesses, we've invested in improving our service and our products, we fought for every client in a highly competitive and unlevel playing field, and we have returned $723 million of capital to shareholders. Not only did we achieve our top goal of serving more clients, we also set records in returns prepared, Emerald Cards and Emerald deposits. As we look ahead to next tax season, we like our competitive position, with a solid pipeline of clients to build upon. We have a lot of work to do to prepare for another successful tax season, but I'm excited by the progress we're making. Our top priority during the off-season is to ensure that our client acquisition is profitable while maintaining an attractive value proposition across all of our client segments. With our management team and new organizational structure now in place, we believe we'll be able to capitalize on the opportunities that lie ahead of us, more quickly respond to our clients needs and invest in our future as we intensify efforts in our core businesses. With that, we are now ready for questions. Operator?

Operator

Operator

[Operator Instructions] And your first question comes from the line of Kartik Mehta.

Kartik Mehta - Northcoast Research

Analyst

Bill, I wanted to get your thoughts on -- your return of capital strategy. Obviously, I saw the statements you've made and we've seen what you've done. In the last 13 months, you've returned a significant amount of money back. And I just wanted to get your thoughts, as we go into the future and you renegotiate this line of credit, what it means and obviously with the RSM sale and where the balance sheet is?

William C. Cobb

Analyst · Scott Schneeberger

Yes, I think, Kartik, a couple of things at play. We want to get through these negotiations. And Greg is 3 weeks into the job. I want to give him a chance to take a look at our overall capital structure. I want to be judged by my actions, and I think my actions do indicate being very shareholder friendly. We did work with the board because the authorization on share repurchase was about to expire. So we extended that by 3 years. So I'm not going to give an indication of a specific number. We obviously have the increased authorization or the extension of the authorization for another $900 million. And in effect, stay tuned on that.

Kartik Mehta - Northcoast Research

Analyst

All right. Well, I guess moving on, the free RAC strategy, obviously, you will change that going into next season. Any thoughts as to what the potential impact could be from a backlash -- consumer backlash going from free to maybe a pay model now?

William C. Cobb

Analyst · Scott Schneeberger

We'll take that into consideration. That's why we talked about that we haven't settled on the pricing yet. I think with kind of a changing landscape, with RALs really losing their relevance for the most part as we move forward, I think we want to make sure we have the right value proposition there. So we'll take that into consideration. But the plan is not to decline in clients or anything like that.

Kartik Mehta - Northcoast Research

Analyst

And then with just one last question, Bill. I was wondering, your thoughts on what happened to paper and pencil tax returns? How much of a decline do you think they had for this tax season?

William C. Cobb

Analyst · Scott Schneeberger

Yes, let me kick that over to Jason because I think he's been studying that as you would imagine, quite closely. But let me let Jason Houseworth answer that question.

Jason Houseworth

Analyst · Scott Schneeberger

Kartik, this is Jason. We believe that there's about -- going into the season, there were about 8.9 million pen and paper returns. Coming out of the season, we believe that there's about 7.9 million, down 1 million or down 11%. And though we're not really certain on how, let's say, Intuit would derive its category, digital category estimates, the IRS data clearly reflects the growth of 10%, the digitally filed returns. Now, what I would say is that you have to adjust for digital filers who mailed their return, and ultimately, the pen and paper. So that's where we come out with digital category growth at about 8%. And what I would say is that looking at digital growth coming out of tax season '11 at 13%, and looking at digital category growth coming out of this season at 8%, this really further validates what we said and what I said specifically last December, which is with the pen and paper, a set of pen and paper filers, has fueled online growth. With that, with that pool of people declining, you're going to continue to see digital category growth moderate.

Operator

Operator

And your next question comes from the line of Scott Schneeberger. Scott A. Schneeberger - Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., Research Division: Following up on Kartik's first question, I guess, Bill, what do you anticipate the timing for the -- your debt refinancing? Are you going to do the CLOC and the January 13 bond together? I appreciate the color on trying to get rid of the minimum net worth covenant and then focus on leverage. But just curious if there's any more specificity you might be able to go into right now?

William C. Cobb

Analyst · Scott Schneeberger

So it's time to test the rookie, Scott. So let me throw it over to Greg, cause Greg's obviously been spending some time on this over the last few weeks. But Greg, why don't you take that?

Gregory J. Macfarlane

Analyst · Scott Schneeberger

Scott, so the line of credit is the first priority, that process is well underway. We expect to have that completed here in the summertime, barring any foreseen -- unforeseen macro issues. Getting out of the way then we turn quickly to the broader question which is what our capital structure is. That of course, wraps in the medium-term notes that you referenced in your comments. That to me is just part of the broader conversation, what this -- our capital structure look like going forward with the understanding that, that does have a time component, as you mentioned January of next year. So that's kind of where, I think, we're at right now in terms of line of credit and the medium-term notes. Scott A. Schneeberger - Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., Research Division: Okay. I'll just switch it up a little bit. I guess maybe for Jason, you guys are mentioning, you're taking storefront growth and then allude to the 2% IRS metric. Could you just back us into the market share achievement in the storefront these days?

Jason Houseworth

Analyst · Scott Schneeberger

Sure. I mean let's start with what we saw was total IRS up about 2.2% to 133.5 million returns. And then we saw assisted up 60 basis points to 80 million returns. And obviously, what you saw in our assisted business, we just saw 1% growth. And really, while in the release, you see a separation in terms of company in franchise, when you take out ExpressTax, what we saw was company of franchise growing at a very similar rate and, therefore, we saw 10 basis points in assisted share gain -- category share gain.

William C. Cobb

Analyst · Scott Schneeberger

I mean, the simple answer is 1% growth for us in assisted versus 0.6% for the overall assisted industry, if you will. Scott A. Schneeberger - Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., Research Division: Got it. Shifting gears again, well, actually let's look ahead on the thoughts on tax business. Do you guys have any preliminary thoughts on what the IRS may grow return next year? Any thoughts on what you'd like to do at revenue margin buyback and what we would see had mirror your income statement? I guess that's a 2 part question, however, you want to tackle that.

Jason Houseworth

Analyst · Scott Schneeberger

Well, at the highest level, we see IRS returns growing 1% to 2%. And then as far as our plans, as Bill alluded, we're going to -- we're not really going to discuss what we're doing for next season. We're evaluating our value proposition across all client segments, assisted and DIY. And we'll talk more again when we come back with a full tax season plan in December at the Investor Conference, Scott. Scott A. Schneeberger - Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., Research Division: Great. And then kind of playing off that. The strategic alignment and the expense reduction, is that realignment now completed or the actions necessary now completed or is there's still something left? And then, I think you'd said back in April, $85 million to $100 million in fiscal '12. Is there an exact number you're targeting? Or should we just think of that range and is that range still hold true?

William C. Cobb

Analyst · Scott Schneeberger

Yes, I would think of that range for now, Scott. I mean, obviously, there is no, nothing, if you will, additional. I mean, Greg is coming in, he's taking a look at, we're always going to be looking at how do we improve on a leverage basis or productivity. I would use that range. There's -- it's up to us to execute now, the plans we have. But the plan is done, we've disclosed that to investors and I've got the whole company moving toward. Because it was a broad look at our overall cost structure, so we've got a lot of elements in place. And Amy is certainly working hard with her team on the field operations. So I don't know, Greg, if you have anything to add. But I think we're underway and we've got to execute now.

Gregory J. Macfarlane

Analyst · Scott Schneeberger

Putting the 85 million to $100 million of cost that is 50 plus work streams of activity. And in sort of my view right now, the hardest of the hard decisions have been made and executed. So that's pretty much -- I feel -- I would say, I feel comfortable where it's been, where those programs are -- a number of the programs that -- obviously, have to the take us within the tax season that just comes down to our planning models going into that. From my kind of view here after 3 weeks, it seems like there's a [indiscernible] against everyone, and people are tracking it and there's good level of attention to detail on it. So I don't see any major execution risk in it. Scott A. Schneeberger - Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., Research Division: Okay. I have 2 more separate questions, if I could sneak them in. First one, I heard on the radio today in a commercial for Emerald, then -- obviously, well after tax season is concluded. Just curious, what -- kind of what off-season, what longer-term plans do you have for that product?

William C. Cobb

Analyst · Scott Schneeberger

Yes, I heard it, too. I happen to be listening to the radio, and I heard the ad, too. I think we've got some market specific work going on. The one I heard was actually on satellite radio from New York. So we've got some marketing and the support of the Emerald Card going on in markets. It's not a large initiative, but we are trying to test some off-season plans. Scott A. Schneeberger - Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., Research Division: Okay. And then lastly, with one of the international moves going into India, could you address how much you spent on that? What type of first year profitability are you expecting there? And then also, and importantly, the cash that gets generated abroad on any initiative, is that easily repatriated or does that -- can that come back to shareholders in the U.S.? Or is that something that needs to continue to be reinvested abroad?

William C. Cobb

Analyst · Scott Schneeberger

Well, let me -- I'll let Greg address the second half. I think the first half, I'd say the levels are not material. We have -- we're opening 3 offices -- or we have opened 3 offices in India. We're preparing returns. It's a modest amount of money, but I think the opportunity there is potentially large. And I think it's a 10-, 20-year type of play for Block. We're going to do it, systematically. But we're not going to disclose specific spending levels. So the repatriation issue. Greg, do you want to address that?

Gregory J. Macfarlane

Analyst · Scott Schneeberger

Yes. Let's start with the -- we have to make sure that we're going to make money and all that, is an important part of where this whole conversation starts. And of course, we're going to do that prudently and with the goal of making money. Once you start making money, obviously, having some pre-thought about how to repatriate that cash is important. I think it's fair to say, in general, repatriation of foreign earned money into the U.S. can be challenging. It doesn't mean there's not solutions or creative ideas that are there. I just don't have enough sort of thought on that right now to share with you in detail.

Operator

Operator

And your next question comes from the line of Thomas Allen.

Thomas Allen - Morgan Stanley, Research Division

Analyst · Thomas Allen

Now that maybe your digital and assisted competitors have reported, any key takeaways or surprises you could share with us related to that competitive environment?

William C. Cobb

Analyst · Thomas Allen

Jason, do you want to take a shot at that?

Jason Houseworth

Analyst · Thomas Allen

I think it's a -- I would reiterate the way I felt in the middle part of the season, which is across the DIY business, we took share in online, we took share in software, we took share in the Free File Alliance and we took share in Mobile. And at the same time, we have our primary competitor, Intuit, with the TurboTax product, effectively, looking at digital category growth that's moderating and leveraging a method in which they're saying, "Hey, we've got expert advice." And we feel really, really great about that position as digital growth moderates, that even our primary competitor is indicating that, the importance and need for assisted advice and help. And that's what really where, Bill said this since he's gotten here, that we are the only company that has the ability to serve clients, anyway, anywhere and anyhow they choose. And I think the realignment is a step closer to where we want to be. And I think the last thing I would say is that the realignment was about continuing to be a more client-focused company, and I think you are going to continue to see more of that from us.

Thomas Allen - Morgan Stanley, Research Division

Analyst · Thomas Allen

Okay. And then addressing 2 points specifically. One of your competitors said that the lack of the Making Work Pay tax credit had a significant impact on the number of returns. Were you able to assess impact to your business? And then the second thing is, people have also suggested anticipation loan alternatives. Is it something that you'll look at?

William C. Cobb

Analyst · Thomas Allen

I'll take the first question. There are always changes to the tax code. To try to pin it on one particular regulation, I think it's really hard to assess the exact impact. I think the Making Work Pay credit did impact some industry refunds this year. But we don't think it materially affected our volume. Now, as for the second question, can you repeat that again, Thomas, I'm not sure I got it completely?

Thomas Allen - Morgan Stanley, Research Division

Analyst · Thomas Allen

Yes. Some competitors talked about other loan-based products that they may try and offer. Is that something that you would consider, maybe instant cash advances?

William C. Cobb

Analyst · Thomas Allen

Oh, okay, okay. I mean we're going to be -- we're going to look at anything. I think we're pretty satisfied with our RAC product and trying to drive Emerald Cards. We're going to obviously be attuned to the -- anything going on in the industry. But I wouldn't anticipate that being a big part of our growth initiatives as we go forward.

Thomas Allen - Morgan Stanley, Research Division

Analyst · Thomas Allen

Okay. And then just finally, on the AIG and C-Link threaten claims, any update there?

William C. Cobb

Analyst · Thomas Allen

No. No update. We do have -- well, the 10-K is either out or about to go out. You'll see some additional -- the full disclosure there. But I'm not going to comment specifically on that.

Operator

Operator

And your next question comes from the line of Michael Millman.

Michael Millman - Millman Research Associates

Analyst · Michael Millman

And I guess following on, I think, the industry chatter, can you talk about the heightened concern, the IRS seems to be showing on fraud? And I guess what I'm aiming at is to the extent that they refunds, clients [indiscernible] and [indiscernible] claim... [Technical Difficulty]

William C. Cobb

Analyst · Michael Millman

Derek, if you have a headset on, you're cutting out pretty bad. Could you...

Michael Millman - Millman Research Associates

Analyst · Michael Millman

Okay, I'll try it again.

William C. Cobb

Analyst · Michael Millman

Much better. That's much better. Sorry, could you start from the beginning, Mike.

Michael Millman - Millman Research Associates

Analyst · Michael Millman

Sure. On the -- the IRS is taking a heightened concern on fraud. And do you think that they are going to delay refunds? And if they do, what kind of impact do you think that has on the retail business?

William C. Cobb

Analyst · Michael Millman

Yes, I can't comment. In my meetings with the IRS, I don't think they have any stated intent in that regard. I think they are concerned about fraudulent returns just as we are. But I can't comment specifically because in my conversations and in our team's conversations, we have not received any specific indication from that. Obviously, this year there were some delays in refunds that did cause some issues for us, really more for our clients. I think I'm really proud of our client support teams and really the way we've managed through that. We've done this for a lot of years. I think we're able to -- we've managed discontinuities in the marketplace like this. But at this point, we're getting ready to operationalize. And if there's something goes wrong, something inevitably seems to go wrong, we're prepared to handle it.

Michael Millman - Millman Research Associates

Analyst · Michael Millman

Okay. Pricing. Retail was up 30 basis points. Can you talk about what do you expected the year to be? And also breakout the increase between franchisees and company-owned?

William C. Cobb

Analyst · Michael Millman

Yes, I think, as you know, we were expecting pricing, the level of price to be higher. It was a very competitive year for us. So the pricing was in -- essentially plus or minus 0. So we did anticipate it being a little bit higher. It didn't work out that way. But like I said, I think that with the client growth that we had and the share gains that we're able to realize, I think we had the right value proposition. As for what we're doing going forward, we're looking at a very thorough study right now. Jason and his team are leading that and we don't have anything to indicate. But we will certainly be looking at the entire value proposition and how we price. As for the franchise-company mix, I'm not going to comment on that specifically.

Michael Millman - Millman Research Associates

Analyst · Michael Millman

Okay. You've indicated that you expect cost benefits for this current year, $85 million to $100 million. Does that include the savings from the elimination of a free RAC of some $40 million?

William C. Cobb

Analyst · Michael Millman

No, it does not...

Michael Millman - Millman Research Associates

Analyst · Michael Millman

So you might...

William C. Cobb

Analyst · Michael Millman

These are structural changes in our overall cost structure. That was a promotional event and that was really an impact on our revenue line, not on the cost structure.

Michael Millman - Millman Research Associates

Analyst · Michael Millman

So is it fair to add $40 million to that number and start from there?

William C. Cobb

Analyst · Michael Millman

I wouldn't make any assumptions because we haven't decided on the level, as I indicated, of what the level of pricing is. So I wouldn't just assume that -- I think the question that came earlier, how do you think clients will react? We haven't decided on the level of RAC pricing. We want to look at our overall value proposition.

Michael Millman - Millman Research Associates

Analyst · Michael Millman

Okay, and another pushy question. I guess, I could ask it, in terms of what level of equity are you comfortable with? But what really what I'm asking is the potential for more share repurchases this year?

William C. Cobb

Analyst · Michael Millman

So I'm wondering why Thomas Allen didn't ask this question. We know have 3 out of 4 people pushing on this. But -- I think -- first of all, I think we laid out pretty clearly what our intent is on the CLOC, so that we don't believe an equity covenant is appropriate anymore. So I do think, as we work through the CLOC, I think that hopefully, if things go as well as we think they will, that will be a thing of the past. I think then, secondarily, I think Greg is taking an overall look, as he said earlier, at our capital structure. I think it's good to have fresh eyes on it, to take a look at our structure. And then I think that as we come out of that and we work closely with our board, we'll see what our level of -- basically, the decisions, and that once we have -- work through our business strategy and then combine that with a capital structure approach, then we'll figure out what we think the appropriate capital allocation going forward is. But hopefully, again, I've proven, if we go back a year ago, there were questions about what I was going to do. And I think, hopefully the actions that we've taken speak louder than anything.

Michael Millman - Millman Research Associates

Analyst · Michael Millman

Is it fair to assume additional share repurchases this fiscal year?

William C. Cobb

Analyst · Michael Millman

I think it's fair to assume that given the extension that we have over the next 3 years, that the board has authorized us to consider additional share repurchases, and we have $900 million left on that authorization. But I'm not going to commit to anything in terms of any specific timeframe other than we have the ability to repurchase up to $900 million during that 3-year timeframe.

Operator

Operator

And your next question comes from the line of Vishnu Lekraj.

Vishnu Lekraj - Morningstar Inc., Research Division

Analyst · Vishnu Lekraj

Taking a look here at the restructuring in the context of branch staffing, can you give a little color as to how we should expect strategy in terms of sales and customer service within the branches moving forward, given the restructuring?

William C. Cobb

Analyst · Vishnu Lekraj

I mean, I think, our plan is to rationalize our costs in the office. But that if anything, we're looking to increase our service levels to our clients in the office. We believe that we've done a good job over the past couple of years, and we really want to accelerate the effort to get our clients in front of more and more experienced tax pros. We think that's a key to our client satisfaction scores which you've seen us increasing. So I wouldn't assume that anything we do with regard to the cost structure or the management above the store, if you will, will have any impact on our clients. That was a key governor on any initiative we took during our overall look at the cost structure. But Jason, I don't know if there's anything you want to add to that.

Jason Houseworth

Analyst · Vishnu Lekraj

Well, I think what we believe is that, what we are honing in on is really similar to the free EZ program where this year we saw more than 25% of last year's clients migrating to a more complex form, and where we're seeing retention gains on new EZ clients. I think we are honing in on what we feel like works. And the restructuring is really trying to eliminate those things that we don't need to add into our client experience and where we've over engineered our client experience in order to focus on the things that are best for the client. And ultimately, the things that are going to enhance our acquisition and retention opportunities going forward.

Vishnu Lekraj - Morningstar Inc., Research Division

Analyst · Vishnu Lekraj

Got you. Looking at your incremental margins, let's say beyond 2013, a little bit beyond the near term, how should we look at incremental margins maybe into '14, '15, given where your strategy is taking you? Is it going to be in line with past metrics? Or is that going to be -- how should we do that?

William C. Cobb

Analyst · Vishnu Lekraj

I'll comment and then Greg, if you want to add anything. We're doing a very comprehensive strategy, overhaul this summer. We kind of did the cost work during the late fall and into the tax season. We're now looking at our overall corporate strategy over the coming months. So obviously, I'm going to kick the ball to December again for a longer-term look. So I don't really have anything to add, Vishnu, to answer your question. But I think, we're squarely focused on trying to make sure that as we go forward, we do it in a firm, strategic context. But Greg, I don't if you have anything?

Gregory J. Macfarlane

Analyst · Vishnu Lekraj

Well, just a general observation, when you talked about margin, there's margin percentage and then there's margin dollars or income. And I think, more broadly we've sort of expect and even expense restructure that's just shared with you earlier and then we've updated you today on. That will, obviously, say, there'll be margin expansion that should be -- have an impact beyond next year just because your not going to get the full annualized impact this year. I think obviously, our goal, as a management team, is to expand the margin dollars. In total, it's probably one thing. Otherwise, I would just say stay tuned, as Bill explained.

Vishnu Lekraj - Morningstar Inc., Research Division

Analyst · Vishnu Lekraj

One last question for you then. Can you give a little bit of color and update on Block Live and where that's going to be added here over the next tax season, if that's possible?

William C. Cobb

Analyst · Vishnu Lekraj

Yes. I think, and then Jason whatever you want to add, I think we're pleased with the launch of Block Live. We think it's a platform that is going to be very relevant. We think it's on trend. The user, I think we executed it very well, the user experience. Feedback we got was excellent. We're not going to release specific amounts of returns that we did. But we are very pleased with the launch of that. And it's going to be -- we think it's a competitive advantage for us, and we're going to continue to drive against that. I don't know if you have anything to add, Jason?

Jason Houseworth

Analyst · Vishnu Lekraj

The only thing I would add is I think we learned a lot from it. It was the first year of the program. And I think that we're assessing ways to integrate that type of capability, meaning video chat, in order to serve clients beyond just the Block Live product.

Vishnu Lekraj - Morningstar Inc., Research Division

Analyst · Vishnu Lekraj

So would it be fair to say that how should we -- or that the type of service would be part of your long-term strategies, one way or another, either in the current form or if we tweaked a little bit, correct?

William C. Cobb

Analyst · Vishnu Lekraj

I think it's in line with our philosophy. We want to serve clients in a way that -- our job should be to figure out forms and products and services that are in line with our clients needs and their lifestyle today and their life stage, et cetera. And I think that's what a lot of what Jason's team and Susan's team are really focused on, is how do we best serve that client base.

Operator

Operator

And you do have a follow-up question from the line of Scott Schneeberger. Scott A. Schneeberger - Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., Research Division: Just clarity on the expense reduction, the fiscal '13 expense reduction of $85 million to $100 million. Is that going to impact, the full $85 million to $100 million, going to impact the fiscal '13, the fiscal '13 year, or is that what we would expect annualized as we depart fiscal '13? I just want to be rock certain on that.

William C. Cobb

Analyst · Scott Schneeberger

I mean our intent is that it impacts fiscal '13. Scott A. Schneeberger - Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., Research Division: Okay, got it. And then just kind of following up on that. Say, you're going to do what you're going to do but say, revenue was flat, just hypothetically, in '13 versus '12. Will we, because of that, see a net reduction in the cost structure of that amount, half that amount? I know you probably not going to give it with that exactness, but directionally, can help us out there, please?

William C. Cobb

Analyst · Scott Schneeberger

I'm not sure I...

Gregory J. Macfarlane

Analyst · Scott Schneeberger

Yes, I think it was in the fiscal year. I think Bill said that the numbers expected to come out of the numbers this year. But there will certainly be some tail that goes into the following year just because some of the programs. On an annualized basis year-to-year, you'll see some benefit on that. And I can't give you a detailed reconciliation because I don't have one myself yet, but just based on how the costs are going to come out, you're going to have some tail into the next year. Scott A. Schneeberger - Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., Research Division: Understood. I guess I wasn't clear on the question. In fiscal '13, and I understand that from the prior answer on fiscal '14 and that sounds good. In fiscal '13, will the cost base of H&R Block total be reduced because of this action? Are there any net -- are there any other offsets of growing of costs that are going to net make us see costs go up next year? Or should we see costs come out to the full tune $85 million to $100 million? Or will it be somewhere in between there?

Gregory J. Macfarlane

Analyst · Scott Schneeberger

Cost will come out in fiscal '13.

William C. Cobb

Analyst · Scott Schneeberger

Yes, that's the plan. I mean the idea is to reduce our cost structure by $85 million to $100 million, the costs that we can identify now. I don't want to get into a variable costs, but really our intent is to reduce the costs, bring those -- take those costs away, and obviously I'm not going to comment on revenue and the like -- but we're not, there's no games playing here. I want to be very clear and I want to go public and hold us accountable not only to our shareholders, but hold us accountable internally that, that's the number we have to deliver. Scott A. Schneeberger - Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., Research Division: Okay. I think I get it, but I'm not fully certain so -- the full -- your cost structure, say, is A this year. Next year it's going to be A minus $85 million to $100 million? Or will it be somewhere between A minus $85 million to $100 million?

Gregory J. Macfarlane

Analyst · Scott Schneeberger

It will be A minus $85 million to $100 million.

Operator

Operator

And you do have another follow-up question by the line of Michael Millman.

Michael Millman - Millman Research Associates

Analyst · Michael Millman

So to maybe add to the confusion on this cost of business. The $80 million, $85 million is before normal inflationary costs? Or is that taken into consideration?

William C. Cobb

Analyst · Scott Schneeberger

I thought this was an easy one. I've got to go back what we said here. I mean we want to reduce the cost structure by between $85 million to $100 million. That's our goal, that's what we're driving towards, that's what where the actions. As Greg said, there's 50 work streams. I'm not allowing people to talk about inflation and the like. So you should take the answer that we gave Scott. A minus $85 million to $100 million and that hopefully, we were hoping that there was no confusion, that this was very clear. And if we're confusing you further, tell us because I thought this was the right initiative for us to undertake. I thought it was clear to shareholders, and that's what we're executing against.

Michael Millman - Millman Research Associates

Analyst · Michael Millman

I agree. Just...

William C. Cobb

Analyst · Scott Schneeberger

No, that's okay.

Michael Millman - Millman Research Associates

Analyst · Michael Millman

Just trying to confirm.

Operator

Operator

And there are no further questions in queue.

Derek Drysdale

Analyst

All right. Everyone, we want to thank you all for joining us today. We hope you and your families have a happy and safe 4th of July. If you have any questions, follow-up questions, by all means, please give us a call at Investor Relations. Thank you.

Operator

Operator

This does conclude today's conference call. You may now disconnect.