# WORKIVA INC (WK) FY 2024 MD&A

Verbatim Item 7 Management's Discussion and Analysis from WORKIVA INC's 10-K for fiscal year 2024.

SEC filing source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1445305/000144530525000034/wk-20241231.htm
Accession: 0001445305-25-000034
Filing date: 2025-02-25
Report date: 2024-12-31
Extracted structurally from real Item 7 body heading to real Item 7A/8 boundary.
Confidence: high

Company profile: /company/WK/
All MD&A years: /company/WK/mda/
Previous year: /company/WK/mda/fy2023/ (FY 2023)
Next year: /company/WK/mda/fy2025/ (FY 2025)

Item 7.    Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of our operations should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this Annual Report. In addition to historical consolidated financial information, this discussion contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Our actual results could differ materially from those discussed below. Factors that could cause or contribute to these differences include, but are not limited to, those identified below, and those discussed in “Section 1A. Risk Factors” included elsewhere in this Annual Report.

Overview

Workiva’s mission is to power transparent reporting for a better world. We believe that all stakeholders including consumers, employees, shareholders, and regulators expect more from business – more action, transparency, and disclosure of financial and non-financial information. We build solutions to meet that demand and streamline processes, connect data and teams, and ensure consistency – all within the Workiva platform, the world’s leading cloud platform for assured integrated reporting. Additionally, we offer the only unified software-as-a-service (“SaaS”) platform that brings customers’ financial reporting, sustainability management, and Governance, Risk, and Compliance (“GRC”) together in a controlled, secure, audit-ready platform.

From data to disclosure, the Workiva platform empowers customers by connecting and transforming data from hundreds of enterprise resource planning (“ERP”), human capital management (“HCM”), and customer relationship management (“CRM”) systems, as well as other third-party cloud and on-premise applications. Customers use our platform to create, review and publish data-linked documents, presentations, and reports with greater control, consistency, accuracy, and productivity. Our platform is flexible and scalable, so customers can easily adapt it to define, automate, and change their business processes in real time.

Workiva provides more than 6,300 organizations across the globe with SaaS platform solutions to help solve some of the most complex reporting and disclosure challenges. While our customers use our platform for more than 100 different use cases, across dozens of vertical industries, we organize our sales and marketing resources into three purpose-built solution groups (financial reporting, sustainability management, and GRC) focusing primarily on the office of the Chief Financial Officer (“CFO”), Chief Sustainability Officer (“CSO”), and Chief Audit Executive (“CAE”).

We operate our business on a SaaS model. Customers enter into annual and multi-year subscription contracts to gain access to our platform. Our subscription fee includes the use of our software and technical support. Our subscription pricing is based primarily on a solution-based licensing model. Under this model, operating metrics related to a customer’s expected use of each solution determine the price. We charge customers additional fees primarily for document setup and XBRL tagging services.

We generate sales primarily through our direct sales force. In addition, we augment our direct sales channel with partnerships. Our advisory and service partners offer a wider range of domain and functional expertise that broadens the capabilities of our platform, bringing scale and support to customers and prospects. Our technology partners enable more data and process integrations to help customers connect critical transactional systems directly to our platform.

We continue to invest in the development of our solutions, infrastructure and sales and marketing to drive long-term growth. Our full-time employee headcount expanded to 2,828 at December 31, 2024 from 2,526 at December 31, 2023, an increase of 12.0%.

We have achieved significant revenue growth in recent periods. Our revenue grew to $738.7 million in 2024 from $630.0 million in 2023, an increase of 17.2%. We incurred net losses of $55.0 million and $127.5 million in 2024 and 2023, respectively.

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We continue to invest for future growth and are focused on several key drivers, including focusing on multi-solution adoption by new and existing customers, further developing our partner program, accelerating international expansion and our fit-for-purpose solutions. These growth drivers often require a more sophisticated go-to-market approach and, as a result, we may incur additional costs upfront to obtain new customers and expand our relationships with existing customers, including additional sales and marketing expenses.

Effects of Policy Uncertainty on Sales of Sustainability Solutions

Sales of our sustainability management solutions, including Workiva Carbon Reporting, could be materially impacted by domestic and global policy uncertainties. Risks relating to shifts in regulatory priorities and newly emerging trends due to changes in the U.S. presidential administration, and the outcome of other global elections, and risks relating to legal challenges to sustainability-related rules and regulations, may affect our market expansion opportunities in the U.S. and abroad. For example, amendments to the European Union’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (“CSRD”) standards used to identify and collect the information and data, with different implementation dates depending on the company size and geographic location, are still developing and uncertain. That regulatory uncertainty could limit compliance obligations or requirements, could slow market adoption and may reduce or delay the growth of our sustainability solutions. The extent of this policy uncertainty, and its potential impact on our growth trajectory, cannot be accurately predicted.

Effects of Volatility in the IPO/SPAC Markets

In the U.S., volatility in the public markets led to a decrease in the number of initial public offerings (“IPOs”) and special-purpose acquisition companies (“SPACs”) since fiscal 2022. New sales of our SEC and capital markets solutions were adversely affected by this decline in the IPO and SPAC markets. We expect reduced valuation multiples caused by higher interest rates, inflation, and geopolitical instability to create an uncertain impact on the number of IPOs in fiscal year 2025. Whether and to what extent the IPO and SPAC markets will moderate cannot be accurately predicted.

Key Factors Affecting Our Performance

Generate Growth From Existing Customers. The Workiva platform can exhibit a powerful network effect within an enterprise, meaning that the usefulness of our platform attracts additional users. Since solution-based licensing offers our customers an unlimited number of seats for each solution purchased, we expect customers to add more seats over time. As more employees in an enterprise use our platform, additional opportunities for collaboration and automation drive demand among their colleagues for additional solutions.

Pursue New Customers. We sell to organizations that manage large, complex processes with distributed teams of contributors and disparate sets of business data. We market our platform to professionals and executives in the areas of financial and non-financial reporting, including regulatory, multi-entity and performance reporting. In addition, we market to teams responsible for environmental, social and governance reporting, and governance, risk and compliance programs. We intend to continue to build our sales and marketing organization and leverage our brand equity to attract new customers.

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Offer More Solutions. We intend to introduce new solutions to continue to meet growing demand for our platform. Our close and trusted relationships with our customers are a source for new use cases, features and solutions. We have a disciplined process for tracking, developing and releasing new solutions that are designed to have immediate, broad applicability; a strong value proposition; and a high return on investment for both Workiva and our customers. Our advance planning team assesses customer needs, conducts industry-based research and defines new markets. This vetting process involves our sales, product marketing, customer success, professional services, research and development, finance and senior management teams.

Expand Across Enterprises. Our success in delivering multiple solutions has created demand from customers for a broader-based, enterprise-wide Workiva platform. In response, we have been improving our technology and realigning sales and marketing to capitalize on our growing enterprise-wide opportunities. We believe this expansion will add seats and revenue and continue to support our high retention rates. However, we expect that enterprise-wide deals will be larger and more complex, which tend to lengthen the sales cycle.

Add Partners. We continue to expand and deepen our relationships with global and regional partners, including consulting firms, system integrators, large and mid-sized independent software vendors, and implementation partners. Our advisory and service partners offer a wider range of domain and functional expertise that broadens our platform’s capabilities and promotes Workiva as part of the digital transformation projects they drive for their customers. Our technology partners enable powerful data and process integrations to help customers connect critical transactional systems directly to our platform, with powerful linking, auditability and control features. We believe that our partner ecosystem extends our global reach, accelerates the usage and adoption of our platform, and enables more efficient delivery of professional services.

Investment in growth. We plan to continue to invest in the development of our platform, fit-for-purpose solutions and application marketplace to enhance our current offerings and build new features. In addition, we expect to continue to invest in our sales, marketing, professional services and customer success organizations to drive additional revenue and support the needs of our growing customer base and to take advantage of opportunities that we have identified in EMEA and APAC.

Seasonality. Our revenue from professional services has some degree of seasonality. Many of our customers employ our professional services just before they file their Form 10-K, often in the first calendar quarter. As of December 31, 2024, the majority of our SEC customers reported their financials on a calendar-year basis. Our sales and marketing expense also has some degree of seasonality. Sales and marketing expense has historically been higher in the third quarter due to our annual user conference in September. In addition, the timing of the payments of cash bonuses to employees during the first and fourth calendar quarters may result in some seasonality in operating cash flow.

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Key Performance Indicators

[[GREPCENT_TABLE]]
[["","Year ended December 31,"],["","2024","","2023","","2022"],["","(dollars in thousands)"],["Financial metrics"],["Total revenue","$","738,680","","","$","630,039","","","$","537,875"],["Year-over-year percentage increase in total revenue","17.2%","","","17.1%","","","21.3%"],["Subscription and support revenue","$","667,646","","","$","558,645","","","$","464,935"],["Year-over-year percentage increase in subscription and support revenue","19.5%","","","20.2%","","","22.6%"],["Subscription and support as a percent of total revenue","90.4%","","","88.7%","","","86.4%"]]
[[/GREPCENT_TABLE]]

[[GREPCENT_TABLE]]
[["","As of December 31,"],["","2024","","2023","","2022"],["Operating metrics"],["Number of customers","6,305","","","6,034","","","5,664"],["Gross retention rate","97.4%","","","97.9%","","","97.8%"],["Net retention rate","111.9%","","","110.3%","","","108.5%"],["Number of customers with annual contract value $100k+","2,055","","","1,631","","","1,345"],["Number of customers with annual contract value $300k+","416","","","311","","","236"],["Number of customers with annual contract value $500k+","181","","","137","","","101"]]
[[/GREPCENT_TABLE]]

Total customers. We believe total number of customers is a key indicator of our financial success and future revenue potential. We define a customer as an entity with an active subscription contract as of the measurement date. Our customer is typically a parent company or, in a few cases, a significant subsidiary that works with us directly. Companies with publicly-listed securities account for a substantial majority of our customers. As customers acquired through our Sustain.Life acquisition in 2024 renew their contracts with Workiva, they are added to our customer count above.

Gross retention rate. Our gross retention rate is based on subscription and support revenue. We calculate our gross retention rate based on all customers that were active at the end of the same calendar quarter of the prior year (“base customers”). We begin by annualizing the subscription and support revenue recorded in the same calendar quarter of the prior year for those base customers who are still active at the end of the current quarter. We divide the result by the annualized subscription and support revenue in the same quarter of the prior year for all base customers. We believe gross retention rates are an important metric to track how the Company retains its base revenue for each year.

Our gross retention rate was 97.4% as of December 31, 2024, down from 97.9% as of December 31, 2023. We believe that our success in maintaining a high rate of retention is attributable primarily to our robust technology platform and strong customer service. Customers whose securities were deregistered due to merger or acquisition or financial distress accounted for just under half of our revenue attrition in the latest quarter.

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Net retention rate. Our net retention rate is based on subscription and support revenue, and includes revenue from up-selling or cross-selling additional solutions, and pricing changes for existing customers and securing multi-year contracts renewals containing periodic pricing term increases. We calculate our net retention rate by annualizing the subscription and support revenue recorded in the current quarter for our base customers that were active at the end of the current quarter. We divide the result by the annualized subscription and support revenue in the same quarter of the prior year for all base customers. We believe our net retention rate is an important metric to measure the long-term value of customer agreements and our ability to retain our customers.

Our net retention rate was 111.9% as of the year ended December 31, 2024, up from 110.3% as of December 31, 2023.

Annual contract value. Our annual contract value (“ACV”) for each customer is calculated by annualizing the subscription and support revenue recognized during each quarter. We believe the increase in the number of larger contracts shows our progress in expanding our customers’ adoption of our platform. As customers acquired through our Sustain.Life acquisition in 2024 renew their contracts with Workiva, they are incorporated into our ACV metrics in the following table.

[[GREPCENT_TABLE]]
[["","Year ended December 31,"],["","2024","","2023","","2022"],["Subscription and support revenue from customers with annual contract value of $100k+ as a percent of total subscription and support revenue","71.2%","","66.3%","","62.1%"],["Subscription and support revenue from customers with annual contract value of $300k+ as a percent of total subscription and support revenue","35.7%","","31.7%","","27.6%"],["Subscription and support revenue from customers with annual contract value of $500k+ as a percent of total subscription and support revenue","23.9%","","21.5%","","9.6%"]]
[[/GREPCENT_TABLE]]

Components of Results of Operations

Revenue

We generate revenue through the sale of subscriptions to our cloud-based software and the delivery of professional services. We serve a wide range of customers in many industries, and our revenue is not concentrated with any single customer or small group of customers. For each of the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022, no single customer represented more than 1% of our revenue, and our largest 10 customers accounted for less than 10% of our revenue in the aggregate.

We generate sales directly through our sales force and partners. We also identify some sales opportunities with existing customers through our customer success and professional services teams.

Our customer contracts typically range in length from twelve to 36 months. We typically invoice our customers for subscription fees annually in advance. For contracts with a two or three year term, customers sometimes elect to pay the entire multi-year subscription term in advance. Our arrangements do not contain general rights of return.

Subscription and Support Revenue. We recognize subscription and support revenue on a ratable basis over the contract term beginning on the date that our service is made available to the customer. Amounts that are invoiced are initially recorded as deferred revenue.

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Professional Services Revenue. We believe our professional services facilitate the sale of our subscription service to certain customers. To date, most of our professional services have consisted of document set up, XBRL tagging, and consulting to help our customers with business processes and best practices for using our platform. Our professional services are not required for customers to utilize our solution. We recognize revenue for document set ups when the service is complete and control has transferred to the customer. Revenues from XBRL tagging and consulting services are recognized as the services are performed.

Cost of Revenue

Cost of revenue consists primarily of personnel and related costs directly associated with our professional services, customer success teams and training personnel, including salaries, benefits, bonuses, travel and stock-based compensation; the costs of contracted third-party vendors; the costs of server usage by our customers; information technology costs; and facility costs. Costs of server usage are comprised primarily of fees paid to Amazon Web Services.

Sales and Marketing Expenses

Sales and marketing expenses consist primarily of personnel and related costs, including salaries, benefits, bonuses, commissions, travel, and stock-based compensation. Other costs included in this expense are marketing and promotional events, our annual user conference, online marketing, product marketing, information technology costs, and facility costs. We pay sales commissions for initial contracts and expansions of existing customer contracts. When the relevant amortization period is one year or less, we expense sales commissions as incurred. All other sales commissions are considered incremental costs of obtaining a contract with a customer and are deferred and amortized on a straight-line basis over a period of benefit that we have determined to be three years.

Research and Development Expenses

Research and development expenses consist primarily of personnel and related costs, including salaries, benefits, bonuses, travel and stock-based compensation; costs of server usage by our developers; information technology costs; and facility costs.

General and Administrative Expenses

General and administrative expenses consist primarily of personnel and related costs for our executive, finance and accounting, legal, human resources, and administrative personnel, including salaries, benefits, bonuses, travel and stock-based compensation; legal, accounting, and other professional service fees; other corporate expenses; information technology costs; and facility costs.

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Results of Operations

The following table sets forth selected consolidated statement of operations data for each of the periods indicated:

[[GREPCENT_TABLE]]
[["","Year ended December 31,"],["","2024","","2023","","2022"],["","(in thousands)"],["Revenue"],["Subscription and support","$","667,646","","","$","558,645","","","$","464,935"],["Professional services","71,034","","","71,394","","","72,940"],["Total revenue","738,680","","","630,039","","","537,875"],["Cost of revenue"],["Subscription and support(1)","118,697","","","99,193","","","77,711"],["Professional services(1)","53,358","","","55,029","","","52,174"],["Total cost of revenue","172,055","","","154,222","","","129,885"],["Gross profit","566,625","","","475,817","","","407,990"],["Operating expenses"],["Research and development(1)","192,935","","","172,790","","","151,716"],["Sales and marketing(1)","347,243","","","287,035","","","245,260"],["General and administrative(1)","102,981","","","110,519","","","99,778"],["Total operating expenses","643,159","","","570,344","","","496,754"],["Loss from operations","(76,534)","","","(94,527)","","","(88,764)"],["Interest income","39,395","","","25,882","","","4,880"],["Interest expense","(12,865)","","","(53,639)","","","(6,042)"],["Other income and (expense), net","563","","","(1,814)","","","926"],["Loss before provision for income taxes","(49,441)","","","(124,098)","","","(89,000)"],["Provision for income taxes","5,601","","","3,427","","","1,947"],["Net loss","$","(55,042)","","","$","(127,525)","","","$","(90,947)"]]
[[/GREPCENT_TABLE]]

(1) Stock-based compensation expense included in these line items was as follows:

[[GREPCENT_TABLE]]
[["","Year ended December 31,"],["","2024","","2023","","2022"],["","(in thousands)"],["Cost of revenue"],["Subscription and support","$","7,979","","","$","5,030","","","$","3,437"],["Professional services","3,221","","","2,540","","","2,128"],["Operating expenses"],["Research and development","21,036","","","18,441","","","12,554"],["Sales and marketing","35,339","","","27,774","","","19,323"],["General and administrative","34,575","","","44,980","","","33,218"],["Total stock-based compensation expense","$","102,150","","","$","98,765","","","$","70,660"]]
[[/GREPCENT_TABLE]]

The following table sets forth our consolidated statement of operations data as a percentage of revenue for each of the periods indicated:

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[[GREPCENT_TABLE]]
[["","Year ended December 31,"],["","2024","","2023","","2022"],["Revenue"],["Subscription and support","90.4%","","","88.7%","","","86.4%"],["Professional services","9.6","","","11.3","","","13.6"],["Total revenue","100.0","","","100.0","","","100.0"],["Cost of revenue"],["Subscription and support","16.1","","","15.7","","","14.4"],["Professional services","7.2","","","8.7","","","9.7"],["Total cost of revenue","23.3","","","24.4","","","24.1"],["Gross profit","76.7","","","75.6","","","75.9"],["Operating expenses"],["Research and development","26.1","","","27.4","","","28.2"],["Sales and marketing","47.0","","","45.6","","","45.6"],["General and administrative","13.9","","","17.5","","","18.6"],["Total operating expenses","87.0","","","90.5","","","92.4"],["Loss from operations","(10.3)","","","(14.9)","","","(16.5)"],["Interest income","5.3","","","4.1","","","0.9"],["Interest expense","(1.7)","","","(8.5)","","","(1.1)"],["Other income and (expense), net","0.1","","","(0.3)","","","0.2"],["Loss before provision for income taxes","(6.6)","","","(19.6)","","","(16.5)"],["Provision for income taxes","0.8","","","0.5","","","0.4"],["Net loss","(7.4)","%","","(20.1)","%","","(16.9)","%"]]
[[/GREPCENT_TABLE]]

Revenue

Comparison of Years Ended December 31, 2024 and 2023

[[GREPCENT_TABLE]]
[["","Year ended December 31,","","Period-to-period change"],["","2024","","2023","","Amount","","% Change"],["","(dollars in thousands)"],["Revenue"],["Subscription and support","$","667,646","","","$","558,645","","","$","109,001","","","19.5%"],["Professional services","71,034","","","71,394","","","(360)","","","(0.5)%"],["Total revenue","$","738,680","","","$","630,039","","","$","108,641","","","17.2%"]]
[[/GREPCENT_TABLE]]

Total revenue increased $108.6 million in 2024 compared to 2023 due primarily to a $109.0 million increase in subscription and support revenue. Growth in subscription and support revenue in 2024 was attributable mainly to strong demand and continued solution expansion across our customer base. The total number of our customers increased 4.5% from December 31, 2023 to December 31, 2024. Revenue from professional services was relatively flat in 2024 compared to 2023. We continue to transition consulting and other services to our partners and expect the revenue growth rate from subscription and support to continue to outpace revenue growth from professional services on an annual basis.

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Cost of Revenue

Comparison of Years Ended December 31, 2024 and 2023

[[GREPCENT_TABLE]]
[["","Year ended December 31,","","Period-to-period change"],["","2024","","2023","","Amount","","% Change"],["","(dollars in thousands)"],["Cost of revenue"],["Subscription and support","$","118,697","","","$","99,193","","","$","19,504","","","19.7%"],["Professional services","53,358","","","55,029","","","(1,671)","","","(3.0)%"],["Total cost of revenue","$","172,055","","","$","154,222","","","$","17,833","","","11.6%"]]
[[/GREPCENT_TABLE]]

Cost of revenue increased $17.8 million in 2024 compared to 2023. Subscription and support cost of revenue increased $19.5 million due primarily to $12.6 million in higher cash-based compensation and benefits costs due in part to increased headcount, $3.0 million of additional stock-based compensation, a $0.6 million increase in travel expense, and a $1.5 million increase in software expense. The increases in compensation and software expense resulted primarily from our continued investment in and support of our platform and solutions. The increase in travel expense was due to a general increase in travel driven by an increase in employee headcount. Amortization of acquired intangible assets for Sustain.Life was $1.1 million. Professional services cost of revenue decreased $1.7 million due primarily to a $1.8 million decrease in cash-based compensation and benefits costs and a $0.6 million decrease in professional service fees, partially offset by $0.7 million of additional stock-based compensation as we continue to transition consulting and other services to our partners.

Operating Expenses

Comparison of Years Ended December 31, 2024 and 2023

[[GREPCENT_TABLE]]
[["","Year ended December 31,","","Period-to-period change"],["","2024","","2023","","Amount","","% Change"],["","(dollars in thousands)"],["Operating expenses"],["Research and development","$","192,935","","","$","172,790","","","$","20,145","","","11.7%"],["Sales and marketing","347,243","","","287,035","","","60,208","","","21.0%"],["General and administrative","102,981","","","110,519","","","(7,538)","","","(6.8)%"],["Total operating expenses","$","643,159","","","$","570,344","","","$","72,815","","","12.8%"]]
[[/GREPCENT_TABLE]]

Research and Development

Research and development expenses increased $20.1 million in 2024 compared to 2023 due primarily to $13.9 million in higher cash-based compensation and benefits costs, $2.6 million of additional stock-based compensation, and a $3.0 million increase in professional service fees. During 2024 we recognized an additional $1.0 million in cash-based and stock-based compensation pursuant to certain severance obligations. The remaining increase in compensation was primarily due to a modest increase in employee headcount. The increases in professional service fees resulted primarily from our continued investment in and support of our platform and solutions.

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Sales and Marketing

Sales and marketing expenses increased $60.2 million in 2024 compared to 2023 due primarily to $36.0 million in higher cash-based compensation and benefits costs, $7.6 million of additional stock-based compensation, a $4.9 million increase in travel expense, a $5.5 million increase in professional service fees, and a $5.4 million increase in marketing and advertising. During 2024 we recognized an additional $2.2 million in cash-based and stock-based compensation pursuant to certain severance obligations. The remaining increase in compensation, as well as the increase in software expense and travel, were primarily due to an increase in employee headcount as we continue to invest in our go-to-market activities. The increases in professional service fees and marketing and advertising were the result of our continued investment in and support of our platform and solutions.

General and Administrative

General and administrative expenses decreased $7.5 million in 2024 compared to 2023, due primarily to a $10.5 million decrease in stock-based compensation partially offset by a $2.9 million increase in professional service fees. In addition, during 2023 we recorded a one-time benefit of $1.0 million related to a goods and services tax refund as well as one-time fees of $0.6 million related to event cancellations which did not recur in 2024. The decrease in stock-based compensation is primarily due to the recognition of $1.4 million and $18.1 million in cash-based and stock-based compensation, respectively, pursuant to certain transition agreements with former executives during the first quarter of 2023 which did not recur in 2024, partially offset by a modest increase in employee headcount and an increase in performance-based restricted stock expense driven by additional performance-based restricted stock awards issued to executives in 2024 and changes in the assumptions associated with the attainment of company-specific performance targets. The increase in professional service fees was primarily due to costs incurred to acquire Sustain.Life.

Non-Operating Income (Expenses)

Comparison of Years Ended December 31, 2024 and 2023

[[GREPCENT_TABLE]]
[["","Year ended December 31,","","Period-to-period change"],["","2024","","2023","","Amount"],["","(dollars in thousands)"],["Interest income","$","39,395","","","$","25,882","","","$","13,513"],["Interest expense","(12,865)","","","(53,639)","","","40,774"],["Other income and (expense), net","563","","","(1,814)","","","2,377"]]
[[/GREPCENT_TABLE]]

Interest income increased $13.5 million in 2024 compared to 2023 due primarily to an increase in our investment balance, facilitated by the issuance of our 2028 convertible notes (the "2028 Notes"), coupled with higher interest rates. We recorded a $45.1 million loss on induced conversion from the partial repurchase of our 2026 Notes in the third quarter of 2023 which did not recur in 2024 and contributed primarily to the decrease in interest expense compared to the same period a year ago. Other income and (expense), net increased $2.4 million in 2024 compared to 2023 due primarily to gains on foreign currency transactions as well as losses on the sale of available-for-sale securities from 2023 which did not recur in 2024.

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Results of Operations for Fiscal 2023 Compared to 2022

For a comparison of our results of operations for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, see “Part II, Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” of our annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, filed with the SEC on February 20, 2024.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Overview of Sources and Uses of Cash

As of December 31, 2024, our principal sources of liquidity were cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities totaling $816.4 million, which were held for working capital purposes. We have financed our operations primarily through cash generated from operations and issuances of convertible debt. We have generated significant operating losses as reflected in our accumulated deficit and consolidated statements of cash flows. While we expect to continue to incur operating losses and may incur negative cash flows from operations in the future, we believe that current cash and cash equivalents and cash flows from operating activities will be sufficient to fund our operations for at least the next twelve months from the date of the issuance of the audited consolidated financial statements.

Convertible Debt

In August 2023, we issued $702.0 million aggregate principal amount of 1.250% convertible senior notes due 2028 (the “2028 Notes”). Proceeds from the issuance of the 2028 Notes totaled $691.1 million, net of initial purchaser discounts and issuance costs. We used $396.9 million of the net proceeds from the 2028 Notes offering to repurchase $273.8 million principal amount, together with accrued and unpaid interest thereon, of our 1.125% convertible senior notes due 2026 (the “2026 Notes”) in separate and individually negotiated transactions with certain holders. As of December 31, 2024, we had outstanding debt relating to our 2026 Notes and 2028 Notes of $70.8 million and $694.1 million, with corresponding maturity dates of August 15, 2026 and August 15, 2028, respectively.

Share Repurchase Plan

On July 30, 2024, our board of directors authorized a share repurchase program for up to $100.0 million of our outstanding Class A common stock (the “2024 Repurchase Plan”). The repurchases may be made in the open market or through privately negotiated transactions, pursuant to Rule 10b5-1 trading plans or other available means, each in compliance with Rule 10b-18 under the Exchange Act. The timing, manner, price, and amount of the repurchase will be subject to the discretion of the Company’s management, and it may be suspended or discontinued at any time. As of December 31, 2024, we have not made any repurchases under the 2024 Repurchase Plan.

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Cash Flows

The following table summarizes cash flow activity during the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022 (in thousands):

[[GREPCENT_TABLE]]
[["","Year ended December 31,"],["","2024","","2023","","2022"],["Cash flow provided by operating activities","$","87,706","","","$","70,875","","","$","11,334"],["Cash flow used in investing activities","(45,249)","","","(357,253)","","","(68,012)"],["Cash flow provided by (used in) financing activities","6,741","","","301,265","","","(1,587)"],["Net increase (decrease) in cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash, net of impact of exchange rates","$","45,629","","","$","16,524","","","$","(60,189)"]]
[[/GREPCENT_TABLE]]

Operating Activities

Our largest source of operating cash is cash collections from customers for subscription and support access to our platform. Our primary uses of cash from operating activities are for personnel-related expenditures, marketing activities, and costs of cloud infrastructure services.

Cash provided by operating activities of $87.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2024 consisted of a net loss of $55.0 million adjusted for non-cash charges of $103.2 million and net cash inflows of $39.6 million from changes in operating assets and liabilities. The change in operating assets and liabilities was driven by an increase in deferred revenue which was primarily due to timing of billings and growth in our customer base. The increase in deferred costs was primarily due to growth in subscription bookings and commission plan achievement at year-end. The increases in accounts receivable, other assets, accounts payable, and accrued expenses and other liabilities, as well as the decreases in other receivables and prepaid expenses and other assets were attributable primarily to the timing of our billings, cash collections, and cash payments.

Cash provided by operating activities of $70.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 consisted of a net loss of $127.5 million adjusted for non-cash charges of $105.0 million and net cash inflows of $48.2 million from changes in operating assets and liabilities. The adjustments for non-cash charges included a $45.1 million loss on induced conversion from the partial repurchase of our 2026 Notes. The change in operating assets and liabilities was driven by an increase in deferred revenue which was primarily due to customer growth. The increases in accounts receivable, other receivables and accrued expenses and other liabilities, and prepaid expenses and other assets were attributable primarily to the timing of our billings, cash collections, and cash payments.

Investing Activities

Cash used in investing activities of $45.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2024 consisted of $402.2 million in purchases of marketable securities, $98.1 million for the acquisition of Sustain.Life, and $1.4 million in purchases of fixed assets partially offset by $452.0 million from the maturities of marketable securities and $4.6 million from the sale of marketable securities. Our capital expenditures were associated primarily with computer equipment in support of expanding our infrastructure and work force.

Cash used in investing activities of $357.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 consisted of $573.3 million in purchases of marketable securities and $2.1 million in purchases of fixed assets primarily for computer equipment in support of expanding our infrastructure and work force. These uses of cash were partially offset by $153.4 million from the maturities of marketable securities as well as $65.1 million from the sale of marketable securities.

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Financing Activities

Cash provided by financing activities of $6.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2024 consisted of $13.8 million in proceeds from shares issued in connection with our Employee Stock Purchase Plan (“ESPP”) and $4.9 million in proceeds from option exercises partially offset by $11.5 million in taxes paid related to net share settlements of stock-based compensation awards.

Cash provided by financing activities of $301.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 consisted of $691.1 million in proceeds from the issuance of the 2028 Notes, net of issuance costs, $12.5 million in proceeds from shares issued in connection with our ESPP, and $4.5 million in proceeds from option exercises partially offset by $396.9 million paid for the partial repurchase of our 2026 Notes and $9.5 million in taxes paid related to net share settlements of stock-based compensation awards.

Contractual Obligations and Commitments

The following table represents our contractual obligations as of December 31, 2024, aggregated by type:

[[GREPCENT_TABLE]]
[["","","","","Payments due by period"],["","","Total","","Less than 1 year","","1-3 years","","3-5 years","","More than 5 years"],["","","(in thousands)"],["Convertible senior notes","","$","809,944","","","$","9,576","","","$","89,593","","","$","710,775","","","$","\u2014"],["Operating leases including imputed interest","","16,723","","","5,577","","","5,956","","","3,102","","","2,088"],["Finance leases, including interest","","21,290","","","1,315","","","2,630","","","2,630","","","14,715"],["Other contractual commitments","","156,408","","","46,601","","","55,807","","","54,000","","","\u2014"],["Total contractual obligations","","$","1,004,365","","","$","63,069","","","$","153,986","","","$","770,507","","","$","16,803"]]
[[/GREPCENT_TABLE]]

Total future payments related to our convertible senior notes shown in the table above includes $773.2 million aggregate principal amount and future interest payments associated with the Notes of $36.7 million. For more information on our convertible senior notes, refer to Note 8 of our accompanying notes to the consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

We lease certain office space, residential space, buildings and land with various lease terms which are primarily accounted for as operating leases. We have entered into a lease agreement for land and an office building in Ames, Iowa, which was constructed in two phases, and is accounted for as a finance lease. The lease term includes an initial 15-year term and three five-year extensions at our option because renewal was determined to be reasonably assured at the inception of the lease. The lease contains purchase options to acquire the landlord’s interest in the land lease and building at any time beginning three years from June 2014 (the commencement date of the second phase of the lease). In addition, the lease requires us to purchase the building from the landlord upon certain events, such as a change in control.

We enter into certain non-cancelable agreements with third-party providers in the ordinary course of business. Our total commitments under these agreements are $156.4 million and are primarily for cloud infrastructure and cloud services. These amounts are included in the table above under other contractual commitments.

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Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

Our consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S. The preparation of these consolidated financial statements requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenue, costs and expenses, provision for income taxes and related disclosures. On an ongoing basis, we evaluate our estimates and assumptions. Our actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions.

We believe that of our significant accounting policies, which are described in Note 1 to our consolidated financial statements, the following accounting policies involve a greater degree of judgment and complexity. Accordingly, these are the policies we believe are the most critical to aid in fully understanding and evaluating our consolidated financial condition and results of our operations.

Revenue Recognition

We generate revenue through the sale of our cloud-based software and the delivery of professional services. Revenues are recognized when control of these services is transferred to our customers in an amount that reflects the consideration we expect to be entitled to in exchange for those services.

We determine revenue recognition through the following steps:

•Identification of the contract, or contracts, with a customer

•Identification of the performance obligations in the contract

•Determination of the transaction price

•Allocation of the transaction price to the performance obligations in the contract

•Recognition of revenue when, or as, we satisfy a performance obligation

Subscription and Support Revenue 

We recognize subscription and support revenue on a ratable basis over the contract term beginning on the date that our service is made available to the customer. Our subscription contracts are generally twelve to 36 months in duration, are billed either annually or in advance and are non-cancelable. We consider the access to our platform and related support services in a customer contract to be a series of distinct services which comprise a single performance obligation because they are substantially the same and have the same pattern of transfer.

Professional Services Revenue and Customer Options

Professional services revenues primarily consist of fees for document set up, XBRL tagging, and consulting with our customers on business processes and best practices for using our platform. We have determined that an agreement to purchase these professional services constitutes an option to purchase services in accordance with ASC 606 rather than an agreement that creates enforceable rights and obligations because of the customer’s contractual right to cancel services that have not yet been used. In the limited case of agreements where we determined that the option provides the customer with a material right, we allocate a portion of the transaction price to the material right based upon the relative standalone selling price. Professional service agreements that do not contain a material right are accounted for when the customer exercises its option to purchase additional services.

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Revenue is recognized for document set ups when the service is complete and control has transferred to the customer. Revenues from XBRL tagging and consulting services are recognized as the services are performed.

Our professional services revenue is higher in the first calendar quarter because many of our customers employ our professional services just before they file their Form 10-K.

Contracts with Multiple Performance Obligations

Some of our contracts with customers contain multiple performance obligations. For these contracts, we account for the individual performance obligations separately if they are distinct. The transaction price is allocated to the separate performance obligations on a relative standalone selling price basis. We determine the standalone selling prices based on our overall pricing objectives, taking into consideration market conditions and entity-specific factors, including the value of our arrangements, length of term, customer demographics and the numbers and types of users within our arrangements.

While changes in assumptions or judgments or changes to the elements of the arrangement could cause an increase or decrease in the amount of revenue that we report in a particular period, these changes have not historically been significant because our recurring revenue is primarily subscription and support revenue.

Acquisitions

We account for acquisitions under Accounting Standards Codification 805, Business Combinations. In general, the acquisition method of accounting requires companies to record assets acquired and liabilities assumed at their respective fair market values at the date of acquisition. Determining the fair value of assets acquired and liabilities assumed requires significant judgment and estimates, including the selection of valuation methodologies, estimates of future revenue, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization margins, and discount rates. We engage the assistance of third-party valuation specialists in concluding on fair value measurements in connection with determining fair values of assets acquired and liabilities assumed in a business combination. Any amount of the purchase price paid that is in excess of the estimated fair values of net assets acquired is recorded as goodwill in our consolidated balance sheets. Transaction costs, as well as costs to reorganize acquired companies, are expensed as incurred in our consolidated statement of operations. Although we believe that the judgments and estimates discussed herein are reasonable, actual results could differ, and we may be exposed to an impairment charge if we are unable to recover the value of the recorded net assets.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

Refer to Note 1 of the notes to consolidated financial statements for a full description of recent accounting pronouncements.

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