DOCUSIGN, INC. (DOCU) FY 2024 MD&A
This page reproduces the company's own Item 7 MD&A text from the linked SEC filing. It is filer text, not grepcent analysis, scoring, or investment advice.
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 operations should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. As discussed in the section titled “Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements,” the following discussion and analysis contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, as well as assumptions that, if they never materialize or prove incorrect, could cause our results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to these differences include, but are not limited to, those identified below and those discussed in the section titled “Risk Factors” under Part I, Item 1A in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Our fiscal year ends January 31.
Executive Overview of Fiscal 2024 Results
Overview
DocuSign offers products that address agreement workflows and digital transformation as part of its agreement management platform, enabling agreements to be signed electronically on a wide variety of devices, from virtually anywhere in the world, securely. DocuSign’s core product offerings, including the world’s leading electronic signature product, allow organizations to do business faster with less risk and at a lower cost, while providing a better experience for customers. As a result, over 1.5 million customers and more than a billion users worldwide utilize our platform to accelerate and simplify the process of doing business.
We generally offer access to our products on a subscription basis with prices based on the functionality our customers require and the quantity of Envelopes provisioned. Similar to the physical envelopes historically used to mail paper documents, an Envelope is a digital container used to send one or more documents for signature or approval to one or more recipients. Our customers have the flexibility to put a large number of documents in an Envelope. For a number of use cases, such as buying a home, multiple Envelopes are used over the course of the process. To drive customer reach and adoption, we also offer for free certain limited-time or feature-constrained versions of our platform.
We generate substantially all our revenue from sales of subscriptions, which accounted for 97% of our revenue in each of the years ended January 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022. Our subscription fees include the use of our products and access to customer support. Subscriptions generally range from one to three years, and substantially all our multi-year customers pay in annual installments, one year in advance.
DocuSign, Inc.| 2024 Form 10-K | 43
We also generate revenue from professional and other non-subscription services, which consists primarily of fees associated with providing new customers deployment and integration services. Other revenue includes amounts derived from sales of on-premises solutions. Professional services and other revenue accounted for the remainder of total revenue in each of the years ended January 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022. We anticipate continuing to invest in customer success through our professional services offerings as we believe it plays an important role in accelerating our customers’ adoption of our products, which helps drive customer retention and expansion.
We offer subscriptions to our products to businesses at all scales, from global enterprise down to local, VSBs. We have an omnichannel go-to-market approach that consists of direct sales, partners to sell to our customers, and digital self-serve. We offer more than 900 active partner integrations with the applications that many of our customers already use so that they can create, commit, and manage agreements directly within these applications. We have a diverse customer base spanning across virtually all industries and around the world with no significant customer concentration. No single customer accounted for more than 10% of total revenue in any of the years presented.
We focused initially on selling our products to commercial businesses and VSBs and later expanded our focus to target enterprise customers. The number of our customers with greater than $300,000 in annualized contract value was 1,060 customers as of January 31, 2024 compared to 1,080 customers as of January 31, 2023. Each of our customer types has a different purchasing pattern. VSBs typically become customers by quickly utilizing our digital and self-serve channels and generate smaller average contract values, while commercial and enterprise customers typically involve longer sales cycles, larger contract values and greater expansion opportunities for us.
Financial Results for the Year Ended January 31, 2024
| (in thousands) | Year Ended January 31, 2024 | |
|---|---|---|
| Total revenue | $ | 2,761,882 |
| Total costs and expenses | 2,730,248 | |
| Total stock-based compensation expense | 616,847 | |
| Income from operations | 31,634 | |
| Net income | 73,980 | |
| Cash provided by operating activities | 979,526 | |
| Capital expenditures | (92,391) |
Cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and investments were $1.2 billion as of January 31, 2024.
Key Factors Affecting Our Performance
We believe that our future performance will depend on many factors, including the following:
Investing for Growth
We believe that our market opportunity is large, and we plan to invest to support further growth. This includes optimizing our go-to-market efforts to focus on attractive growth opportunities and investing in research and development to drive product innovation and meet customer needs at scale. We also continue to assess and evaluate strategic acquisitions and investments. As we focus on infrastructure and technology that best serve our customers across industries, we will prioritize initiatives that accelerate our product capabilities and expand our product solutions.
We believe these collective activities will help us retain and expand within our current customers’ organizations and attract new customers.
DocuSign, Inc.| 2024 Form 10-K | 44
Growing Customer Base
We are highly focused on continuing to acquire new customers to support our long-term growth. We have invested, and expect to continue to invest in our go-to-market efforts involving an omnichannel approach that consists of direct sales, partner-assisted sales and digital self-service purchasing. As of January 31, 2024, we had a total of over 1.5 million customers, including approximately 242,000 enterprise and commercial customers, compared to over 1.3 million customers and approximately 211,000 enterprise and commercial customers as of January 31, 2023. We define enterprise customers as companies generally included in the Global 2000. We define commercial customers to include both mid-market companies, which includes companies outside the Global 2000 that have greater than 250 employees, and medium-sized businesses (“SMBs”) which are companies with between 10 and 249 employees, in each case excluding any enterprise customers. We define VSBs as companies with fewer than 10 employees. We refer to total customers as all enterprises, commercial businesses and VSBs.
We believe that our ability to increase the number of customers using our products, particularly the number of enterprise and commercial customers, is an indicator of our market penetration, the growth of our business and our potential future business opportunities. By increasing awareness of our products, further developing our sales and marketing expertise and continuing to build features tuned to different industry needs, we have expanded the diversity of our customer base to include organizations of all sizes across nearly every industry.
Retaining and Expanding Contracts with Existing Enterprise and Commercial Customers
Many of our customers have increased spend with us as they have expanded their use of our offerings in both existing and new use cases across their front or back office operations. Our enterprise and commercial customers may start with just one use case and gradually implement additional use cases across their organization once they see the benefits of our products. Several of our largest enterprise customers have deployed our software platform for hundreds of use cases across their organizations. We believe there is significant expansion opportunity with our customers following their initial adoption of our software platform.
Increasing International Revenue
Our international revenue represented 26%, 25% and 23% of our total revenue in each of the years ended January 31, 2024, 2023, and 2022.
We started our international selling efforts in English-speaking common law countries, such as Canada, the UK and Australia, where we were able to leverage our core technologies due to similar approaches to electronic signature in these jurisdictions and the U.S. We have since made significant investments to be able to offer our products in select civil law countries. For example, in Europe, we offer SBS technology tailored for the EU’s eIDAS regulations. SBS supports signatures that involve digital certificates, including those specified in the EU’s eIDAS regulations for advanced and qualified electronic signatures.
We believe there is a substantial opportunity for us to increase our international customer base by leveraging and expanding investments in our technology, direct sales force and strategic partnerships around the world, as well as helping existing U.S.-based customers manage agreements across their international businesses. We have experienced increased demand across multiple regions and are focusing our sales and marketing resources to capitalize on the potential growth of these markets. Additionally, we expect to continue to develop and enhance our strategic partnerships in key international markets as we grow internationally.
DocuSign, Inc.| 2024 Form 10-K | 45
Components of Results of Operations
Revenue
We derive revenue primarily from the sale of subscriptions and, to a lesser extent, professional services.
| Subscription Revenue | Subscription revenue consists of fees for the use of our software platform and our technical infrastructure and access to customer support, which includes phone or email support. We typically invoice customers annually in advance. We recognize subscription revenue ratably over the term of the contract subscription period beginning on the date access to our software platform is provided. |
|---|---|
| Professional Services and Other Revenue | Professional services revenue includes fees associated with new customers requesting deployment and integration services. We price professional services on a time and materials basis and on a fixed fee basis. We generally have standalone value for our professional services and recognize revenue based on standalone selling price as services are performed or upon completion of services for fixed fee contracts. Other revenue includes amounts derived from sales of on-premises solutions. |
Overhead Allocation
We allocate shared overhead costs, such as facilities (including rent, utilities and depreciation on equipment shared by all departments), information technology, information security and recruiting costs to all departments based on headcount. As such, these allocated overhead costs are reflected in each cost of revenue and operating expense category.
Cost of Revenue
| Cost of Subscription Revenue | Cost of subscription revenue primarily consists of expenses related to hosting our software platform and providing support. These expenses consist of employee-related costs, including salaries, bonuses, benefits, stock-based compensation and other related costs, associated with our technical infrastructure, customer success and customer support. These expenses also consist of software and maintenance costs, third-party hosting fees, outside services associated with the delivery of our subscription services, amortization expense associated with capitalized internal-use software and acquired intangible assets, credit card processing fees and allocated overhead costs. |
|---|---|
| Cost of Professional Services and Other Revenue | Cost of professional services and other revenue consists primarily of personnel costs for our professional services delivery team, travel-related costs and allocated overhead costs. |
Gross Profit and Gross Margin
Gross profit is total revenue less total cost of revenue. Gross margin is gross profit expressed as a percentage of total revenue. We expect that gross profit and gross margin will continue to be affected by various factors including our pricing, timing and amount of investment to maintain or expand our hosting capability, the growth of our software platform support and professional services team, stock-based compensation expenses, amortization of costs associated with capitalized internal use software and acquired intangible assets and allocated overhead costs.
DocuSign, Inc.| 2024 Form 10-K | 46
Operating Expenses
Our operating expenses consist of sales and marketing, research and development, general and administrative, and restructuring and other related charges. As our revenues continue to increase, our operating expenses as a percentage of revenue may increase or decrease at different rates, driven by the timing of revenue recognition, the timing of hiring, our investments in growth and other factors.
| Sales and Marketing Expense | Sales and marketing expense consists primarily of personnel costs, including sales commissions. These expenses also include expenditures related to advertising, marketing, promotional events and brand awareness activities, as well as allocated overhead costs. We expect sales and marketing expense to continue to increase in absolute dollars as we enhance our product offerings and implement marketing strategies. |
|---|---|
| Research and Development Expense | Research and development expense consists primarily of personnel costs. These expenses also include non-personnel costs, such as subcontracting, consulting and professional fees for third-party development resources, as well as allocated overhead costs. Our research and development efforts focus on maintaining and enhancing existing functionality and adding new functionality. We expect research and development expense to increase in absolute dollars as we invest in the enhancement of our software platform. |
| General and Administrative Expense | General and administrative expense consists primarily of employee-related costs for those employees providing administrative services such as legal, human resources, information technology related to internal systems, accounting and finance. These expenses also include certain third-party consulting services, certain facilities costs, allocated overhead costs and lease-related charges. We expect general and administrative expense to increase in absolute dollars to support the overall growth of our operations. |
| Restructuring and Other Related Charges | Restructuring and other related charges consist primarily of costs associated with restructuring plans approved by our board of directors. In connection with these restructuring actions or other exit actions, which were undertaken to improve operating margin and support our growth, scale and profitability objectives, we recognize costs related to termination benefits for former employees whose positions were eliminated, the write-off of facility-related balances, and other costs. |
Interest Expense
Interest expense consists primarily of contractual interest expense and amortization of debt issuance costs on our Convertible Senior Notes due 2023 and our Convertible Senior Notes due 2024 (collectively, the “Notes”).
Interest Income and Other Income, Net
Interest income and other income, net, consists primarily of interest earned on our cash, cash equivalents and investments, changes in fair value of our strategic investments and foreign currency transaction gains and losses.
Provision for Income Taxes
Our provision for income taxes consists primarily of income taxes in certain foreign jurisdictions where we conduct business and U.S. income taxes from a tax law change related to mandatory capitalization of research and development expenses for tax years starting January 1, 2022. We have a valuation allowance against our U.S. consolidated group and certain foreign deferred tax assets and will release the valuation allowance when there is sufficient positive evidence to support a conclusion that it is more likely than not the deferred tax assets will be realized. Depending on our operating results in the future, we may release the valuation allowance associated with the U.S. deferred tax assets within the next year. The timing and amount of the valuation allowance release could vary based on our assessment of all available evidence. Release of all, or a portion, of the valuation allowance would result in the recognition of certain deferred tax assets and may result in a material decrease to income tax expense for the period the release is recorded.
DocuSign, Inc.| 2024 Form 10-K | 47
Discussion of Results of Operations
The following table summarizes our historical consolidated statements of operations data:
| Year Ended January 31, | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (in thousands) | 2024 | As % of Revenue | 2023 | As % of Revenue | |||||||||
| Revenue: | |||||||||||||
| Subscription | $ | 2,686,708 | 97 | % | $ | 2,442,177 | 97 | % | |||||
| Professional services and other | 75,174 | 3 | 73,738 | 3 | |||||||||
| Total revenue | 2,761,882 | 100 | 2,515,915 | 100 | |||||||||
| Cost of revenue: | |||||||||||||
| Subscription | 459,905 | 17 | 426,077 | 17 | |||||||||
| Professional services and other | 112,716 | 4 | 110,011 | 4 | |||||||||
| Total cost of revenue | 572,621 | 21 | 536,088 | 21 | |||||||||
| Gross profit | 2,189,261 | 79 | 1,979,827 | 79 | |||||||||
| Operating expenses: | |||||||||||||
| Sales and marketing | 1,168,137 | 42 | 1,242,711 | 49 | |||||||||
| Research and development | 539,488 | 20 | 480,584 | 19 | |||||||||
| General and administrative | 419,621 | 15 | 316,228 | 13 | |||||||||
| Restructuring and other related charges | 30,381 | 1 | 28,335 | 1 | |||||||||
| Total operating expenses | 2,157,627 | 78 | 2,067,858 | 82 | |||||||||
| Income (loss) from operations | 31,634 | 1 | (88,031) | (3) | |||||||||
| Interest expense | (6,844) | — | (6,389) | (1) | |||||||||
| Interest income and other income, net | 68,889 | 2 | 4,539 | — | |||||||||
| Income (loss) before provision for income taxes | 93,679 | 3 | (89,881) | (4) | |||||||||
| Provision for income taxes | 19,699 | — | 7,573 | — | |||||||||
| Net income (loss) | $ | 73,980 | 3 | % | $ | (97,454) | (4) | % |
For a comparison of our results of operations for the fiscal years ended January 31, 2023 and 2022, see 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 January 31, 2023, filed with the SEC on March 27, 2023.
Revenue
| Year Ended January 31, | 2024 vs 2023 | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (in thousands) | 2024 | As % of Revenue | 2023 | As % of Revenue | ||||||||||||||||
| Revenue: | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Subscription | $ | 2,686,708 | 97 | % | $ | 2,442,177 | 97 | % | 10 | % | ||||||||||
| Professional services and other | 75,174 | 3 | 73,738 | 3 | 2 | % | ||||||||||||||
| Total revenue | $ | 2,761,882 | 100 | % | $ | 2,515,915 | 100 | % | 10 | % |
Subscription revenue increased $244.5 million, or 10%, in the year ended January 31, 2024. The increase was primarily due to the expansion of revenue from existing customers and the addition of new customers, as well as an increase in sales to our commercial and enterprise customers through our direct and indirect go-to-market initiatives. We continue to invest in a variety of customer programs and initiatives, which, along with expanded customer use cases, have helped increase our subscription revenue over time.
DocuSign, Inc.| 2024 Form 10-K | 48
Cost of Revenue and Gross Margin
| Year Ended January 31, | 2024 vs 2023 | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (in thousands) | 2024 | 2023 | ||||||||||
| Cost of revenue: | ||||||||||||
| Subscription | $ | 459,905 | $ | 426,077 | 8 | % | ||||||
| Professional services and other | 112,716 | 110,011 | 2 | % | ||||||||
| Total cost of revenue | $ | 572,621 | $ | 536,088 | 7 | % | ||||||
| Gross margin: | ||||||||||||
| Subscription | 83 | % | 83 | % | — | pts | ||||||
| Professional services and other | (50) | % | (49) | % | (1) | pts | ||||||
| Total gross margin | 79 | % | 79 | % | — | pts |
Cost of subscription revenue increased $33.8 million, or 8%, in the year ended January 31, 2024, primarily driven by higher costs to support our growing customer base. Increases primarily consisted of:
•$13.3 million in operating costs to support our platform and revenue growth, including increases in hosting costs as well as processing and authentication costs;
•$7.1 million due to higher information technology costs; and
•$6.9 million in depreciation on our capitalized software projects.
Sales and Marketing
| Year Ended January 31, | 2024 vs 2023 | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (in thousands) | 2024 | 2023 | ||||||||||
| Sales and marketing | $ | 1,168,137 | $ | 1,242,711 | (6) | % | ||||||
| Percentage of revenue | 42 | % | 49 | % |
Sales and marketing expenses decreased $74.6 million, or 6%, in the year ended January 31, 2024, primarily driven by savings on personnel costs from the restructuring plans implemented during the third quarter of fiscal 2023 and the first quarter of fiscal 2024 as well as shifts in the allocation of resources for our go-to-market initiatives. Decreases primarily consisted of:
•$31.5 million in marketing and advertising costs due to reduced spending on paid media in line with our go-to-market strategy and expansion of our self-serve experience; and
•$21.3 million in personnel costs and $18.5 million in stock-based compensation expense due to lower headcount, partially offset by higher commissions in line with higher sales and annual merit increases.
Research and Development
| Year Ended January 31, | 2024 vs 2023 | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (in thousands) | 2024 | 2023 | ||||||||||
| Research and development | $ | 539,488 | $ | 480,584 | 12 | % | ||||||
| Percentage of revenue | 20 | % | 19 | % |
Research and development expenses increased $58.9 million, or 12%, in the year ended January 31, 2024, primarily due to investments in our workforce and product innovation. Increases primarily consisted of:
•$34.2 million in stock-based compensation expense and $15.1 million in personnel costs due to annual merit increases; and
•$11.9 million due to higher information technology costs to drive product innovation.
DocuSign, Inc.| 2024 Form 10-K | 49
General and Administrative
| Year Ended January 31, | 2024 vs 2023 | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (in thousands) | 2024 | 2023 | ||||||||||
| General and administrative | $ | 419,621 | $ | 316,228 | 33 | % | ||||||
| Percentage of revenue | 15 | % | 13 | % |
General and administrative expenses increased $103.4 million, or 33%, in the year ended January 31, 2024, primarily due to investments in workforce and information technology. Increases primarily consisted of:
•$55.6 million in stock-based compensation expense driven by charges due to executive new hire grants and transitions and annual merit increases;
•$27.8 million in personnel costs driven by annual salary increases to align with the increasing cost of labor; and
•$11.4 million due to higher information technology costs.
Other Income and Expense
| Year Ended January 31, | 2024 vs 2023 | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (in thousands) | 2024 | 2023 | ||||||||||
| Interest expense | $ | (6,844) | $ | (6,389) | 7 | % | ||||||
| Percentage of revenue | — | % | (1) | % | ||||||||
| Interest income and other income, net | $ | 68,889 | $ | 4,539 | 1,418 | % | ||||||
| Percentage of revenue | 2 | % | — | % |
Interest income and other income, net increased by $64.4 million in the year ended January 31, 2024. Increases primarily consisted of:
•$44.3 million increase in interest income due to rising interest rates;
•$8.8 million increase in accretion of investments purchased at a discount as the investments near maturity; and
•$7.4 million reduction of our net foreign currency exchange loss due to the strengthening of the euro and British pound compared to the U.S. dollar.
Provision for Income Taxes
| Year Ended January 31, | 2024 vs 2023 | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (in thousands) | 2024 | 2023 | ||||||||||
| Provision for income taxes | $ | 19,699 | $ | 7,573 | 160 | % | ||||||
| Percentage of revenue | — | % | — | % |
The provision for income taxes increased by $12.1 million in the year ended January 31, 2024 . The increase in the provision for income taxes in the current year is a result of higher pre-tax income and limitations on net operating losses allowed to reduce taxable income.
DocuSign, Inc.| 2024 Form 10-K | 50
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Our principal sources of liquidity were cash, cash equivalents and investments as well as cash generated from operations. As of January 31, 2024, we had $1.0 billion in cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments. We also had $122.0 million in long-term investments that provide additional capital resources. We finance our operations primarily through payments by our customers for use of our product offerings and related services and through debt financing.
In January 2021 we entered into a $500.0 million credit facility, as amended in May 2023, which may be increased by an additional $250.0 million subject to customary terms and conditions. The credit facility is available until January 11, 2026 to optimize our capital structure and strengthen our balance sheet. There were no outstanding borrowings under the credit facility as of January 31, 2024.
In September 2018, we issued and sold $575.0 million in aggregate principal amount of 0.5% Convertible Senior Notes due 2023 (the “2023 Notes”). In January 2021, we issued and sold $690.0 million in aggregate principal amount of 0% Convertible Senior Notes due 2024 (the “2024 Notes”). We fully settled the outstanding principal of the 2023 Notes and 2024 Notes and during the year ended January 31, 2024. We believe that our sources of liquidity, including our cash, cash equivalents and investments, and expected future operating cash flows, and borrowing capacity available to us from our credit facility, are adequate to meet the potential cash commitments for the foreseeable future, including upcoming maturities in the next 12 months related to our lease obligations.
Further details of these transactions are described in Note 7 to the Consolidated Financial Statements, included in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
We were in compliance with all debt covenants at January 31, 2024.
We believe our existing cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities will be sufficient to meet our working capital and capital expenditures needs over at least the next 12 months. While we generated positive cash flows from operations in the recent years, we have generated losses from operations in the past as reflected in our accumulated deficit of $1.7 billion as of January 31, 2024. We may continue to incur operating losses in the foreseeable future due to the investments we intend to make and may require additional capital resources to execute strategic initiatives to grow our business.
We typically invoice our customers annually in advance. Therefore, a substantial source of our cash is from such invoices, which are included on our consolidated balance sheets in contract liabilities until revenue is recognized and in accounts receivable until cash is collected. Accordingly, collections from our customers have a material impact on our cash flows from operating activities. Contract liabilities consist of the unearned portion of billed fees for our subscriptions, which is subsequently recognized as revenue in accordance with our revenue recognition policy.
Our future capital requirements will depend on many factors including our growth rate, customer retention and expansion, inflation, tax withholding obligations related to settlement of our RSUs, the timing and extent of spending to support our efforts to develop our software platform, the expansion of sales and marketing activities and the continuing market acceptance of our software platform. We may in the future enter into arrangements to acquire or invest in complementary businesses, technologies and intellectual property rights. We may be required to seek additional equity or debt financing. In the event that additional financing is required from outside sources, we may not be able to raise it on terms acceptable to us or at all. If we are unable to raise additional capital when desired, our business, operating results and financial condition would be adversely affected.
DocuSign, Inc.| 2024 Form 10-K | 51
Cash Flows
The following table summarizes our cash flows for the periods indicated:
| Year Ended January 31, | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (in thousands) | 2024 | 2023 | ||||
| Net cash provided by (used in): | ||||||
| Operating activities | $ | 979,526 | $ | 506,759 | ||
| Investing activities | 44,612 | (191,197) | ||||
| Financing activities | (946,039) | (98,256) | ||||
| Effect of foreign exchange on cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash | 199 | (3,784) | ||||
| Net change in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash | $ | 78,298 | $ | 213,522 |
Cash Flows from Operating Activities
Cash provided by operating activities was $979.5 million for the year ended January 31, 2024. Our primary sources of cash provided by operating activities were billings and the related cash collections in addition to interest income due to favorable interest rates. Our primary uses of cash include the payment of employee salaries and benefits, including the payment of termination benefits under the 2024 Restructuring plan, in addition to vendor payments.
Cash provided by operating activities was $506.8 million for the year ended January 31, 2023. Cash provided by operating activities increased slightly due to increases in collections of accounts receivable and higher revenues, partially offset by a decrease in amounts billed to customers and recognized as contract liabilities.
Cash Flows from Investing Activities
For the year ended January 31, 2024, cash provided by investing activities of $44.6 million was primarily driven by $137.6 million net maturities of marketable securities. The increase was partially offset by purchases of property and equipment of $92.4 million as we continue to support operations at our data centers and invest in capitalized software development projects.
For the year ended January 31, 2023, cash used in investing activities of $191.2 million was primarily driven by $109.8 million net purchases of marketable securities and $77.7 million purchases of property and equipment as we continued to invest in data center build outs to support our growing operations and capitalized software development projects.
Cash Flows from Financing Activities
For the year ended January 31, 2024, cash used in financing activities of $946.0 million was primarily driven by the maturity of the Notes, stock repurchase program, and payments related to our equity plans. We fully repaid the 2023 Notes and 2024 Notes during fiscal 2024 for $727.0 million. We also used $145.5 million to repurchase 3.1 million shares of common stock at an average of $47.57 per share through our stock repurchase program. In addition, we made $97.2 million payments for tax withholding on share settlements, net of proceeds associated with our equity plans.These cash outflows were partially offset by $23.7 million received in connection with the settlement of our Capped Calls in relation to our 2023 Notes.
For the year ended January 31, 2023, cash used in financing activities of $98.3 million was primarily driven by $63.0 million used to repurchase 1.1 million shares of common stock at an average of $55.52 per share through our stock repurchase program which commenced in fiscal 2023, and $35.2 million payments for tax withholding on share settlements, net of proceeds associated with our equity plans.
Obligations and Commitments
Our principal contractual obligations and commitments consist of operating leases, as well as noncancelable contractual commitments that primarily relate to cloud infrastructure support and sales and marketing activities. Refer to Note 7, Note 8 and Note 9 to the Consolidated Financial Statements in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for more information.
We do not have any special purpose entities and we do not engage in off-balance sheet financing arrangements.
DocuSign, Inc.| 2024 Form 10-K | 52
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
We prepare our financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”). Preparing these financial statements requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenue, expenses and related disclosures. We evaluate our estimates and assumptions on an ongoing basis. Our estimates are based on historical experience and various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances. Our actual results could differ from these estimates.
The critical accounting estimates, assumptions and judgments that we believe to have the most significant impact on our consolidated financial statements are revenue recognition, deferred contract acquisition costs, stock-based compensation, income taxes and loss contingencies.
Revenue Recognition
We recognize revenue from contracts with customers using the five-step method described in Note 1 to the consolidated financial statements. At contract inception we evaluate whether two or more contracts should be combined and accounted for as a single contract and whether the combined or single contract includes more than one performance obligation. We combine contracts entered into at or near the same time with the same customer if we determine that the contracts are negotiated as a package with a single commercial objective; the amount of consideration to be paid in one contract depends on the price or performance of the other contract; or the services promised in the contracts are a single performance obligation.
Our performance obligations consist of (i) subscription services, (ii) professional and other services, (iii) on-premises solutions and (iv) maintenance and support for our on-premises solutions. In general, we satisfy the majority of our performance obligations over time as we transfer the promised services to our customers. For some of our services, such as delivery of on-premises solutions, we satisfy our performance obligations at a point in time. We apply significant judgment in identifying and evaluating any terms and conditions in contracts which may impact revenue recognition.
Period of Benefit of Deferred Contract Acquisition Costs
Contract acquisition costs are amortized on a straight-line basis over their period of benefit. To determine the period of benefit, we evaluate the type of costs incurred, the nature of the related benefit, and the specific facts and circumstances of our arrangements. The period of benefit for commissions paid for the acquisition of the initial subscription contract is determined by considering our customer life and the technological life of our software platform and related significant features. The period of benefit for commissions on renewal subscription contracts is determined by considering the weighted average contractual term for our renewal contracts. Periodically, we evaluate these factors and review whether events or changes in circumstances have occurred that could impact the period of benefit. Any future changes in circumstances around our customer life and weighted average contractual terms of renewal contracts may materially change the periods of benefit and therefore the amortization amounts recognized in our consolidated statement of operations and comprehensive income (loss).
Stock-based Compensation
We issue stock-based awards to employees, including restricted stock units (“RSUs”), purchase rights granted under our Employee Stock Purchase Plan (“ESPP”) and stock options. We measure the fair value of these awards at the grant date and recognize such fair value as expense over the service period.
The fair value of RSUs is determined by the fair value of our underlying common stock. From time to time, we grant RSUs that also include performance-based or market-based conditions. For RSUs granted with a market condition, we use a Monte Carlo option-pricing model to determine the fair value of the RSUs. The fair value of stock options and ESPP purchase rights are determined by the Black-Scholes option pricing model.
For RSUs with a performance condition, we assess the probability that such performance conditions will be met or achieved every reporting period.
Judgment is required to estimate the expected life of the stock awards, the volatility of the underlying common stock, forfeiture rates and probability of achievement of performance conditions. Our assumptions may differ from those used in prior periods. Changes to the estimates we make from time to time may have a significant impact on our stock-based compensation expense and could materially impact our results of operations.
DocuSign, Inc.| 2024 Form 10-K | 53
We recognize compensation expense net of forfeitures that are estimated at the time of grant based on historical experience and our expectations regarding future pre-vesting termination behavior of employees and revise in subsequent periods if actual forfeitures differ from those estimates. To the extent our actual forfeiture rate is different from our estimate, stock-based compensation expense is adjusted accordingly.
Income Taxes
We use the asset and liability method of accounting for income taxes. Under this method, income tax expense is recognized for the amount of taxes payable or refundable for the current year. In addition, deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the expected future tax consequences of temporary differences between the financial reporting and tax basis of assets and liabilities, and for operating losses and tax credit carryforwards. Management must make assumptions, judgments and estimates to determine our current provision for income taxes and our deferred tax assets and liabilities.
We record a valuation allowance to reduce our deferred tax assets to the net amount that we believe is more likely than not to be realized. Accordingly, the need to establish such allowance is assessed periodically by considering matters such as future reversals of existing taxable temporary differences, projected future taxable income, tax planning strategies and results of recent operations. The evaluation of recoverability of the deferred tax assets requires that we weigh all positive and negative evidence to reach a conclusion that it is more likely than not that all or some portion of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. The weight given to the evidence is commensurate with the extent to which it can be objectively verified.
In recognizing tax benefits from uncertain tax positions, we assess whether it is more likely than not that the tax position will be sustained on examination by the taxing authorities based on the technical merits of the position. As we expand internationally, we will face increased complexity in determining the appropriate tax jurisdictions for revenue and expense items, and as a result, we may record unrecognized tax benefits in the future. At that time, we would make adjustments to these potential future reserves when facts and circumstances change, such as the closing of a tax audit or when the refinement of an estimate is appropriate. Our estimate of the potential outcome of any uncertain tax position is subject to management's assessment of relevant risks, facts and circumstances existing at that time. To the extent that the final tax outcome of these matters would be different to the amounts we may potentially record in the future, such differences will affect the provision for income taxes in the period in which such determination is made and could have a material impact on our financial condition and operating results.
Loss Contingencies
We evaluate contingent liabilities, including threatened or pending litigation, and make provisions for such liabilities when it is both probable that a loss has been incurred and its amount can be reasonably estimated. Because of uncertainties related to these legal matters, we base our estimates and accrue the liabilities, if any, on the information available at the time of our assessment. Developments in these matters could affect the amount of liability we accrue. As additional information becomes available, we may revise our estimates. Any revisions in the estimates of potential liabilities could have a material impact on our operating results and financial position. Further, until the final resolution of any such matter, there may be a loss exposure in excess of the liability recognized and such amount could be significant.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
Refer to Note 1 in the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for recently issued accounting pronouncements not yet adopted as of the date of this report.
DocuSign, Inc.| 2024 Form 10-K | 54
Non-GAAP Financial Measures and Other Key Metrics
To supplement our consolidated financial statements, which are prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP, we use certain non-GAAP financial measures, as described below, to understand and evaluate our core operating performance. These non-GAAP financial measures, which may be different than similarly titled measures used by other companies, are presented to enhance investors’ overall understanding of our financial performance and should not be considered a substitute for, or superior to, the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP.
We believe that these non-GAAP financial measures provide useful information about our financial performance, enhance the overall understanding of our past performance and future prospects, and allow for greater transparency with respect to important metrics used by our management for financial and operational decision-making. We present these non-GAAP measures to assist investors in seeing our financial performance using a management view, and because we believe that these measures provide an additional tool for investors to use in comparing our core financial performance over multiple periods with other companies in our industry. However, these non-GAAP measures are not intended to be considered in isolation from, a substitute for, or superior to our GAAP results.
Non-GAAP gross profit, non-GAAP gross margin, non-GAAP income from operations, non-GAAP operating margin and non-GAAP net income: We define these non-GAAP financial measures as the respective GAAP measures, excluding expenses related to stock-based compensation, employer payroll tax on employee stock transactions, amortization of acquisition-related intangibles, amortization of debt discount and issuance costs, acquisition-related expenses, fair value adjustments to strategic investments, executive transition costs, lease-related impairment and lease-related charges, restructuring and other related charges and, as applicable, other special items. The amount of employer payroll tax-related items on employee stock transactions is dependent on our stock price and other factors that are beyond our control and do not correlate to the operation of the business. When evaluating the performance of our business and making operating plans, we do not consider these items (for example, when considering the impact of equity award grants, we place a greater emphasis on overall stockholder dilution rather than the accounting charges associated with such grants). We believe it is useful to exclude these expenses in order to better understand the long-term performance of our core business and to facilitate comparison of our results to those of peer companies and over multiple periods. In addition to these exclusions, we subtract an assumed provision for income taxes to calculate non-GAAP net income. We utilize a fixed long-term projected tax rate in our computation of the non-GAAP income tax provision to provide better consistency across the reporting periods. For fiscal 2023 and fiscal 2024, we have determined the projected non-GAAP tax rate to be 20%.
Free cash flow: We define free cash flow as net cash provided by operating activities less purchases of property and equipment. We believe free cash flow is an important liquidity measure of the cash that is available (if any), after purchases of property and equipment, for operational expenses, investment in our business and to make acquisitions. Free cash flow is useful to investors as a liquidity measure because it measures our ability to generate or use cash in excess of our capital investments in property and equipment. Once our business needs and obligations are met, cash can be used to maintain a strong balance sheet and invest in future growth.
Billings: We define billings as total revenues plus the change in our contract liabilities and refund liability less contract assets and unbilled accounts receivable in a given period. Billings reflects sales to new customers plus subscription renewals and additional sales to existing customers. Only amounts invoiced to a customer in a given period are included in billings. We believe billings can be used to measure our periodic performance, when taking into consideration the timing aspects of customer renewals, which represents a large component of our business. Given that most of our customers pay in annual installments one year in advance, but we typically recognize a majority of the related revenue ratably over time, we use billings to measure and monitor our ability to provide our business with the working capital generated by upfront payments from our customers.
DocuSign, Inc.| 2024 Form 10-K | 55
Reconciliation of gross profit (loss) and gross margin:
| Year Ended January 31, | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (in thousands) | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | |||||||
| GAAP gross profit | $ | 2,189,261 | $ | 1,979,827 | $ | 1,640,762 | ||||
| Add: Stock-based compensation | 79,996 | 72,674 | 58,499 | |||||||
| Add: Amortization of acquisition-related intangibles | 8,857 | 9,613 | 11,670 | |||||||
| Add: Employer payroll tax on employee stock transactions | 2,262 | 2,184 | 7,524 | |||||||
| Add: Lease-related impairment and lease-related charges | 721 | 1,090 | — | |||||||
| Non-GAAP gross profit | $ | 2,281,097 | $ | 2,065,388 | $ | 1,718,455 | ||||
| GAAP gross margin | 79 | % | 79 | % | 78 | % | ||||
| Non-GAAP adjustments | 4 | % | 3 | % | 4 | % | ||||
| Non-GAAP gross margin | 83 | % | 82 | % | 82 | % | ||||
| GAAP subscription gross profit | $ | 2,226,803 | $ | 2,016,100 | $ | 1,693,611 | ||||
| Add: Stock-based compensation | 51,660 | 46,916 | 31,152 | |||||||
| Add: Amortization of acquisition-related intangibles | 8,857 | 9,613 | 11,670 | |||||||
| Add: Employer payroll tax on employee stock transactions | 1,464 | 1,393 | 3,703 | |||||||
| Add: Lease-related impairment and lease-related charges | 505 | 447 | — | |||||||
| Non-GAAP subscription gross profit | $ | 2,289,289 | $ | 2,074,469 | $ | 1,740,136 | ||||
| GAAP subscription gross margin | 83 | % | 83 | % | 83 | % | ||||
| Non-GAAP adjustments | 2 | % | 2 | % | 2 | % | ||||
| Non-GAAP subscription gross margin | 85 | % | 85 | % | 85 | % | ||||
| GAAP professional services and other gross loss | $ | (37,542) | $ | (36,273) | $ | (52,849) | ||||
| Add: Stock-based compensation | 28,336 | 25,758 | 27,347 | |||||||
| Add: Employer payroll tax on employee stock transactions | 798 | 791 | 3,821 | |||||||
| Add: Lease-related impairment and lease-related charges | 216 | 643 | — | |||||||
| Non-GAAP professional services and other gross loss | $ | (8,192) | $ | (9,081) | $ | (21,681) | ||||
| GAAP professional services and other gross margin | (50) | % | (49) | % | (76) | % | ||||
| Non-GAAP adjustments | 39 | % | 37 | % | 45 | % | ||||
| Non-GAAP professional services and other gross margin | (11) | % | (12) | % | (31) | % |
Reconciliation of income (loss) from operations and operating margin:
| Year Ended January 31, | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (in thousands) | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | |||||||
| GAAP income (loss) from operations | $ | 31,634 | $ | (88,031) | $ | (61,884) | ||||
| Add: Stock-based compensation | 611,835 | 533,100 | 408,542 | |||||||
| Add: Amortization of acquisition-related intangibles | 19,375 | 20,706 | 24,770 | |||||||
| Add: Employer payroll tax on employee stock transactions | 13,682 | 12,921 | 42,192 | |||||||
| Add: Restructuring and other related charges | 30,381 | 28,335 | — | |||||||
| Add: Lease-related impairment and lease-related charges | 4,460 | 7,181 | 5,099 | |||||||
| Add: Executive transition costs | — | 2,634 | — | |||||||
| Add: Acquisition-related expenses | — | — | 387 | |||||||
| Non-GAAP income from operations | $ | 711,367 | $ | 516,846 | $ | 419,106 | ||||
| GAAP operating margin | 1 | % | (3) | % | (3) | % | ||||
| Non-GAAP adjustments | 25 | % | 24 | % | 23 | % | ||||
| Non-GAAP operating margin | 26 | % | 21 | % | 20 | % |
DocuSign, Inc.| 2024 Form 10-K | 56
Reconciliation of net income (loss):
| Year Ended January 31, | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (in thousands, except per share data) | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | |||||||
| GAAP net income (loss) | $ | 73,980 | $ | (97,454) | $ | (69,976) | ||||
| Add: Stock-based compensation | 611,835 | 533,100 | 408,542 | |||||||
| Add: Amortization of acquisition-related intangibles | 19,375 | 20,706 | 24,770 | |||||||
| Add: Employer payroll tax on employee stock transactions | 13,682 | 12,921 | 42,192 | |||||||
| Add: Amortization of debt discount and issuance costs | 5,175 | 4,970 | 5,098 | |||||||
| Add: Fair value adjustments to strategic investments | 22 | 3,689 | (5,270) | |||||||
| Add: Restructuring and other related charges | 30,381 | 28,335 | — | |||||||
| Add: Lease-related impairment and lease-related charges | 4,460 | 7,181 | 5,099 | |||||||
| Add: Executive transition costs | — | 2,634 | — | |||||||
| Add: Acquisition-related expenses | — | — | 387 | |||||||
| Add: Income Tax effect of non-GAAP adjustments(1) | (136,023) | (97,158) | — | |||||||
| Non-GAAP net income | $ | 622,887 | $ | 418,924 | $ | 410,842 |
(1)Represents the income tax adjustment using our estimated non-GAAP tax rate of 20%. Estimating a non-GAAP tax rate of 20%, the income tax effect of non-GAAP adjustments was $79.7 million for the year ended January 31, 2022.
Computation of free cash flow:
| Year Ended January 31, | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (in thousands) | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | |||||||
| Net cash provided by operating activities | $ | 979,526 | $ | 506,759 | $ | 506,467 | ||||
| Less: Purchases of property and equipment | (92,391) | (77,654) | (61,396) | |||||||
| Non-GAAP free cash flow | $ | 887,135 | $ | 429,105 | $ | 445,071 | ||||
| Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities | $ | 44,612 | $ | (191,197) | $ | (162,909) | ||||
| Net cash used in financing activities | $ | (946,039) | $ | (98,256) | $ | (394,621) |
Computation of billings:
| Year Ended January 31, | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (in thousands) | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | |||||||
| Revenue | $ | 2,761,882 | $ | 2,515,915 | $ | 2,107,213 | ||||
| Add: Contract liabilities and refund liability, end of period | 1,343,792 | 1,191,269 | 1,049,106 | |||||||
| Less: Contract liabilities and refund liability, beginning of period | (1,191,269) | (1,049,106) | (800,940) | |||||||
| Add: Contract assets and unbilled accounts receivable, beginning of period | 16,615 | 18,273 | 21,021 | |||||||
| Less: Contract assets and unbilled accounts receivable, end of period | (20,189) | (16,615) | (18,273) | |||||||
| Non-GAAP billings | $ | 2,910,831 | $ | 2,659,736 | $ | 2,358,127 |
DocuSign, Inc.| 2024 Form 10-K | 57