Accrued Expenses and Other Current Liabilities
 9 Months Ended
Apr. 30, 2011
Accrued Expenses and Other Current Liabilities  
Accrued Expenses and Other Current Liabilities

(9)            Accrued Expenses and Other Current Liabilities

 

                Accrued expenses and other current liabilities consist of the following:

 

 

April 30, 2011

 

July 31, 2010

Accrued wages and benefits

$      18,084,000

 

          21,607,000

Accrued warranty obligations

          8,846,000

 

          10,562,000

Accrued commissions and royalties

          4,329,000

 

            2,997,000

Accrued business acquisition payments

             492,000

 

            1,350,000

Other

        11,325,000

 

          16,882,000

      Accrued expenses and other current liabilities

$      43,076,000

 

      53,398,000

 

We provide warranty coverage for most of our products for a period of at least one year from the date of shipment. We record a liability for estimated warranty expense based on historical claims, product failure rates and other factors. Some of our product warranties are provided under long-term contracts, the costs of which are incorporated into our estimates of total contract costs.

 

Changes in our product warranty liability during the nine months ended April 30, 2011 and 2010 were as follows:

 

 

April 30, 2011

 

April 30, 2010

Balance at beginning of period

$    10,562,000

 

     14,500,000

Provision for warranty obligations

        5,976,000

 

       5,330,000

Reversal of warranty liability

       (1,120,000)

 

         (888,000)

Warranty obligation transferred with sale of certain assets and liabilities

                      -

 

         (400,000)

Charges incurred

       (6,572,000)

 

        (6,677,000)

Balance at end of period

$      8,846,000

 

      11,865,000