# ServiceNow, Inc. (NOW) FY 2023 MD&A

Verbatim Item 7 Management's Discussion and Analysis from ServiceNow, Inc.'s 10-K for fiscal year 2023.

SEC filing source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1373715/000137371524000030/now-20231231.htm
Accession: 0001373715-24-000030
Filing date: 2024-01-25
Report date: 2023-12-31
Extracted structurally from real Item 7 body heading to real Item 7A/8 boundary. Published MD&A gate trimmed front/tail over-capture.
Confidence: high

Company profile: /company/NOW/
All MD&A years: /company/NOW/mda/
Previous year: /company/NOW/mda/fy2022/ (FY 2022)
Next year: /company/NOW/mda/fy2024/ (FY 2024)

ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

This section of our Annual Report on Form 10-K discusses our financial condition and results of operations for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, and year-to-year comparisons between fiscal 2023 and fiscal 2022 in accordance with U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“GAAP”). A discussion of our financial condition and results of operations for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021 and year-to-year comparisons between fiscal 2022 and fiscal 2021 that is not included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K can be found in “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in Part II, Item 7 of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022, filed on January 31, 2023.

Our free cash flow measure included in the section entitled “—Key Business Metrics—Free Cash Flow,” is not in accordance with GAAP. This non-GAAP financial measure is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for, or superior to, financial information prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP. This measure may be different from non-GAAP financial measures used by other companies, limiting its usefulness for comparison purposes. We encourage investors to carefully consider our results under GAAP, as well as our supplemental non-GAAP results, to more fully understand our business.

Overview

ServiceNow was founded on a simple premise: to make work flow better. Our purpose is to make the world work better for everyone. Our intelligent platform, the Now Platform, is a cloud-based solution with embedded artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities that helps global enterprises across industries, universities and governments unify and digitize their workflows. The Now Platform automates workflows across an entire enterprise by connecting disparate departments, systems and silos in a seamless way to unlock productivity and improve experiences for both employees and customers. Our workflow applications built on the Now Platform are organized along four primary areas: Technology, Customer and Industry, Employee and Creator. The transformation to digital operations, enabled by the Now Platform, increases our customers’ resiliency and security and delivers great experiences and additional value to their C-suite, employees and consumers.

We are closely monitoring the unfolding events of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the current armed conflict in Israel and the Gaza Strip. While these events are still evolving and the outcome remains highly uncertain, we do not believe the conflicts will have a material impact on our business and results of operations. However, if the conflicts continue or worsen, leading to greater global economic disruptions and uncertainty, our business and results of operations could be materially impacted. Our customers in these regions represented an immaterial portion of our net assets and total consolidated revenues both as of and for the year ended December 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022.

Additionally, other macroeconomic events, including rising interest rates, global inflation and bank failures, have led to economic uncertainty in the global economy. To mitigate risk, our cash and cash equivalents are distributed across several large financial institutions and are not concentrated in one financial institution. We have not experienced any impact to our liquidity or to our current and projected business operations and financial condition due to recent bank failures. Further, we have policy restrictions on the types of securities that can be purchased as part of our available-for-sale debt securities portfolio. These restrictions take industry and company concentration limits into consideration among other things. Furthermore, the majority of our non-marketable equity investments do not have material relationships with any one financial institution, and therefore, we believe that our exposure to loss is immaterial. We will continue to monitor the direct and indirect impact of macroeconomic events on our business and financial results.

See the “Risk Factors” section in Part I, Item 1A of this Annual Report for further discussion of the possible impact of the above conflicts and macroeconomic events on our business and financial results.

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Key Business Metrics

Remaining performance obligations. Transaction price allocated to remaining performance obligations (“RPO”) represents contracted revenue that has not yet been recognized, which includes deferred revenue and non-cancellable amounts that will be invoiced and recognized as revenue in future periods. RPO excludes contracts that are billed in arrears, such as certain time and materials contracts, as we apply the “right to invoice” practical expedient under relevant accounting guidance. Current remaining performance obligations (“cRPO”) represents RPO that will be recognized as revenue in the next 12 months.

As of December 31, 2023, our RPO was $18.0 billion, of which 48% represented cRPO. RPO and cRPO increased by 29% and 24%, respectively, compared to December 31, 2022. Factors that may cause our RPO to vary from period to period include the following:

•Foreign currency exchange rates. While a majority of our contracts have historically been in U.S. Dollars, an increasing percentage of our contracts in recent periods has been in foreign currencies, particularly the Euro and British Pound Sterling. Fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates as of the balance sheet date will cause variability in our RPO.

•Mix of offerings. In a minority of cases, we allow our customers to host our software by themselves or through a third-party service provider. In self-hosted offerings, we recognize a portion of the revenue upfront upon the delivery of the software and as a result, such revenue is excluded from RPO.

•Subscription start date. From time to time, we enter into contracts with a subscription start date in the future and these amounts are included in RPO if such contracts are signed by the balance sheet date.

•Timing of contract renewals. While customers typically renew their contracts at the end of the contract term, from time to time, customers may do so either before or after the scheduled expiration date. For example, in cases where we are successful in selling additional products or services to an existing customer, a customer may decide to renew its existing contract early to ensure that all its contracts expire on the same date. In other cases, prolonged negotiations or other factors may result in a contract not being renewed until after it has expired.

•Contract duration. While we typically enter into multi-year subscription services, the duration of our contracts varies. Further, we continue to see an increase in the number of 12-month agreements entered into with the U.S. federal government throughout the year, with the highest number of agreements entered into in the quarter ended September 30, driven primarily by timing of their annual budget expenditures. We sometimes also enter into contracts with durations that have a 12-month or shorter term to enable the contracts to co-terminate with the existing contract. The contract duration will cause variability in our RPO.

Number of customers with ACV greater than $1 million. We count the total number of customers with annual contract value (“ACV”) greater than $1 million as of the end of the period. We had 1,897, 1,643, and 1,350 customers with ACV greater than $1 million as of December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively. For purposes of customer count, a customer is defined as an entity that has a unique Dunn & Bradstreet Global Ultimate (“GULT”) Data Universal Numbering System (“DUNS”) number and an active subscription contract as of the measurement date. The DUNS number is a global standard for business identification and tracking. We make exceptions for holding companies, government entities and other organizations for which the GULT, in our judgment, does not accurately represent the ServiceNow customer. For example, while all U.S. government agencies roll up to “Government of the United States” under the GULT, we count each government agency that we contract with as a separate customer. Our customer count is subject to adjustments for acquisitions, spin-offs and other market activity; accordingly, we restate previously disclosed number of customers with ACV greater than $1 million calculations to allow for comparability. ACV is calculated based on the foreign exchange rate in effect at the time the contract was signed. Foreign exchange rate fluctuations could cause some variability in the number of customers with ACV greater than $1 million. We believe information regarding the total number of customers with ACV greater than $1 million provides useful information to investors because it is an indicator of our growing customer base and demonstrates the value customers are receiving from the Now Platform.

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Free cash flow. We define free cash flow, a non-GAAP financial measure, as GAAP net cash provided by operating activities plus cash outflows for legal settlements, repayments of convertible senior notes attributable to debt discount and business combination and other related costs including compensation expense, reduced by purchases of property and equipment. Purchases of property and equipment are otherwise included in cash used in investing activities under GAAP. We believe information regarding free cash flow provides useful information to investors because it is an indicator of the strength and performance of our business operations. However, our calculation of free cash flow may not be comparable to similar measures used by other companies. A calculation of free cash flow is provided below:

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We have historically seen higher collections in the quarter ended March 31 due to seasonality in timing of entering into customer contracts, which is significantly higher in the quarter ended December 31. Additionally, we have historically seen higher disbursements in the quarters ended March 31 and September 30 due to payouts under our annual commission plans, purchases under our employee stock purchase plan, payouts under our bonus plans and coupon payments related to our 2030 Notes beginning in 2021.

Renewal rate. We calculate our renewal rate by subtracting our attrition rate from 100%. Our attrition rate for a period is equal to the ACV from customers lost during the period, divided by the sum of (i) the total ACV from all customers that renewed during the period, excluding changes in price or users, and (ii) the total ACV from all customers lost during the period. Accordingly, our renewal rate is calculated based on ACV and is not based on the number of customers that have renewed. Further, our renewal rate does not reflect increased or decreased purchases from our customers to the extent such customers are not lost customers or lapsed renewals. A lost customer is a customer that did not renew an expiring contract and that, in our judgment, will not be renewed. Typically, a customer that reduces its subscription upon renewal is not considered a lost customer. However, in instances where the subscription decrease represents the majority of the customer’s ACV, we may deem the renewal as a lost customer. For our renewal rate calculation, we define a customer as an entity with a separate production instance of our service and an active subscription contract as of the measurement date, instead of an entity with a unique GULT or DUNS number. We adjust our renewal rate for acquisitions, consolidations and other customer events that cause the merging of two or more accounts occurring at the time of renewal. Our renewal rate was 98% for each of the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022, and 2021. As our renewal rate is impacted by the timing of renewals, which could occur in advance of, or subsequent to the original contract end date, period-to-period comparison of renewal rates may not be meaningful.

Critical Accounting Policies and Significant Judgments and Estimates

Our management’s discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations is based on our consolidated financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with GAAP. The preparation of these consolidated financial statements requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the consolidated financial statements, as well as the reported revenues and expenses during the reporting periods. These items are monitored and analyzed by us for changes in facts and circumstances, and material changes in these estimates could occur in the future. We base our estimates on historical experience and on various other factors that we believe are reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying value of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Changes in estimates are reflected in reported results for the period in which they become known. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions and such differences could be material.

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While our significant accounting policies are more fully described in Note 2 in the notes to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, we believe that the following accounting policies are critical to the process of making significant judgments and estimates in the preparation of our audited consolidated financial statements.

Revenue Recognition

We derive our revenues predominately from subscription revenues, which are primarily comprised of subscription fees that give customers access to the ordered subscription service, related support and updates, if any, to the subscribed service during the subscription term. For our cloud services, we recognize subscription revenues ratably over the contract term beginning on the commencement date of each contract, the date we make our services available to our customers. Our contracts with customers typically include a fixed amount of consideration and are generally non-cancellable and without any refund-type provisions.

Subscription revenues also include revenues from self-hosted offerings in which customers deploy, or we grant customers the option to deploy without significant penalty, our subscription service internally or contract with a third party to host the software. For these contracts, we account for the software element separately from the related support and updates as they are distinct performance obligations. The transaction price is allocated to separate performance obligations on a relative standalone selling price (“SSP”) basis. The transaction price allocated to the software element is recognized when transfer of control of the software to the customer is complete. The transaction price allocated to the related support and updates are recognized ratably over the contract term.

We enter into contracts that can include various combinations of products and services, which are generally capable of being distinct and accounted for as separate performance obligations. For these contracts, the transaction price is allocated to the separate performance obligations on a relative SSP basis. Evaluating the terms and conditions included within our customer contracts for appropriate revenue recognition and determining whether products and services are considered distinct performance obligations that should be accounted for separately versus together may require significant judgment.

Deferred Commissions

Deferred commissions are the incremental selling costs that are associated with acquiring customer contracts and consist primarily of sales commissions paid to our sales organization and referral fees paid to independent third parties. Commissions and referral fees earned upon the execution of initial and expansion contracts are primarily deferred and amortized over a period of benefit that we have determined to be five years consistent with prior year. Commissions earned upon the renewal of customer contracts are deferred and amortized over the average renewal term. Additionally, for self-hosted offerings, consistent with the recognition of subscription revenues for self-hosted offerings, a portion of the commission cost is expensed upfront when the self-hosted offering is made available. Determining the period of benefit, including average renewal term, requires judgment for which we take into consideration our customer contracts, our technology life cycle and other factors.

Business Combinations

The allocation of the purchase price in a business combination requires management to make significant estimates in determining the fair value of acquired assets and assumed liabilities, especially with respect to intangible assets. The excess of the purchase price in a business combination over the fair value of these tangible and intangible assets acquired and liabilities assumed is recorded as goodwill. Critical estimates in valuing certain intangible assets include, but are not limited to, future expected cash flows, discount rates, revenue growth rates, the time and expense to recreate the assets and profit margin a market participant would receive. These estimates are inherently uncertain and unpredictable and, as a result, actual results may differ from estimates. We evaluate these estimates and assumptions as new information is obtained and may record adjustments to the fair value of the tangible and intangible assets acquired and liabilities assumed but not later than one year from the acquisition date.

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Income Taxes

Our annual tax rate is based on our income, statutory tax rates and tax planning opportunities available to us in the various jurisdictions in which we operate. Tax laws are complex and subject to different interpretations by the taxpayer and respective government taxing authorities. Significant judgment is required in determining our tax expense (benefit) and in evaluating our tax positions, including evaluating uncertainties and the complexity of taxes on foreign earnings. We review our tax positions quarterly and adjust the balances as new information becomes available.

Deferred tax assets represent amounts available to reduce income taxes payable on taxable income in future years. Such assets arise because of temporary differences between the financial reporting and tax bases of assets and liabilities, as well as from net operating loss and tax credit carryforwards. We evaluate the recoverability of these future tax deductions and credits by assessing the adequacy of future expected taxable income from all sources, including future growth, forecasted earnings, future taxable income, the mix of earnings in the jurisdictions in which we operate, historical earnings, taxable income in prior years, if carryback is permitted under the law, carryforward periods and prudent and feasible tax planning strategies. A valuation allowance is established if it is more likely than not that all or a portion of the deferred tax asset will not be realized. To the extent sufficient positive evidence becomes available, we may release all or a portion of our valuation allowance in one or more future periods. A release of the valuation allowance, if any, would result in the recognition of certain deferred tax assets and a material income tax benefit for the period in which such release is recorded.

We regularly assess the need for a valuation allowance against our deferred tax assets. In making that assessment, we consider both positive and negative evidence related to the likelihood of realization of the deferred tax assets to determine, based on the weight of available evidence, whether it is more likely than not that some or all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. As of June 30, 2023, we achieved cumulative U.S. income during the prior twelve quarters when considering pre-tax income adjusted for permanent differences and other comprehensive losses. Based on all available positive and negative evidence, having demonstrated sustained profitability which is objective and verifiable, and taking into account anticipated future earnings, we concluded it is more likely than not that our U.S. federal and state deferred tax assets will be realizable, with the exception of California. We continue to maintain a valuation allowance against our California deferred tax assets due to the uncertainty regarding realizability of these deferred tax assets as they have not met the “more likely than not” realization criteria, particularly as we expect research and development tax credit generation to exceed our ability to use the credits in future years. Of the $1.2 billion valuation allowance as of December 31, 2022, we released $1.05 billion of our valuation allowance during the year ended December 31, 2023. We maintained a valuation allowance of $196 million against our California deferred tax assets. We will continue to monitor the need for a valuation allowance against our deferred tax assets on a quarterly basis. See Note 16 – Income Taxes, in the notes to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information on discussion on valuation allowance.

Our tax positions are subject to income tax audits by multiple tax jurisdictions throughout the world. We recognize the tax benefit of an uncertain tax position only if it is more likely than not the position is sustainable upon examination by the taxing authority based on the technical merits. We measure the tax benefit recognized as the largest amount of benefit which is more likely than not to be realized upon settlement with the taxing authority. We recognize interest accrued and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits in our tax provision. Significant judgment is required to evaluate uncertain tax positions. Our evaluations are based upon a number of factors, including changes in facts or circumstances, changes in tax law or guidance, correspondence with tax authorities during the course of audits and effective settlement of audit issues. Changes in the recognition or measurement of uncertain tax positions could result in material increases or decreases in our income tax expense in the period in which we make the change, which could have a material impact on our effective tax rate and operating results.

We calculate the current and deferred income tax provision based on estimates and assumptions that could differ from the actual results reflected in income tax returns filed in subsequent years and record adjustments based on filed income tax returns when identified. The amount of income taxes paid is subject to examination by U.S. federal, state and foreign tax authorities. The estimate of the potential outcome of any uncertain tax issue is subject to management’s assessment of relevant risks, facts and circumstances existing at that time. To the extent the assessment of such tax position changes, we record the change in estimate in the period in which we make the determination.

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Change in Accounting Estimate

In January 2024, we completed an assessment of the useful life of our data center equipment and determined we should increase the estimated useful life of data center equipment from four to five years. This change in accounting estimate will be effective beginning fiscal year 2024. Based on the carrying amount of data center equipment included in property and equipment, net that are in-service as of December 31, 2023, it is estimated this change will increase our fiscal year 2024 operating income by approximately $100 million.

Components of Results of Operations

Revenues

Subscription revenues. Subscription revenues are primarily comprised of fees that give customers access to the ordered subscription service for both self-hosted offerings and cloud-based subscription offerings, and related standard and enhanced support and updates, if any, to the subscription service during the subscription term. For our cloud-based offerings, we recognize revenue ratably over the subscription term. For self-hosted offerings, a substantial portion of the sales price is recognized upon delivery of the software, which may cause greater variability in our subscription revenues and subscription gross margin. Pricing includes multiple instances, hosting and support services, data backup and disaster recovery services, as well as future updates, when and if available, offered during the subscription term. We typically invoice our customers for subscription fees in annual increments upon execution of the initial contract or subsequent renewal. Our contracts are generally non-cancellable during the subscription term, though a customer can terminate for breach if we materially fail to perform.

Professional services and other revenues. Our arrangements for professional services are primarily on a time-and-materials basis, and we generally invoice our customers monthly in arrears for the professional services based on actual hours and expenses incurred. Some of our professional services arrangements are on a fixed fee. Professional services revenues are recognized as services are delivered. Other revenues primarily consist of fees from customer training delivered on-site or through publicly available classes. Typical payment terms require our customers to pay us within 30 days of invoice.

We sell our subscription services primarily through our direct sales organization. We also sell services through managed service providers and resale partners. We also generate revenues from certain professional services and from training of customers and partner personnel, through both our direct team and indirect channel sales. Revenues from our direct sales organization represented 79% of our total revenues for each of the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021. For purposes of calculating revenues from our direct sales organization, revenues from systems integrators and managed services providers are included as part of the direct sales organization.

Seasonality. We have historically experienced seasonality in terms of when we enter into customer agreements. We sign a significantly higher percentage of agreements with new customers, as well as expansion with existing customers, in the fourth quarter of each year. The increase in customer agreements for the fourth quarter is primarily a result of both large enterprise account buying patterns typical in the software industry, which are driven primarily by the expiration of annual authorized budgeted expenditures, and the terms of our commission plans, which incentivize our direct sales organization to meet their annual quotas by December 31. Furthermore, we usually sign a significant portion of these agreements during the last month, and often the last two weeks, of each quarter. This seasonality of entering into customer agreements is sometimes not immediately apparent in our revenues, due to the fact that we recognize subscription revenues from our cloud offering contracts over the term of the subscription agreement, which is generally 12 to 36 months. In addition, we continue to see an increase in the number of 12-month agreements entered into with the U.S. federal government throughout the year, with the highest number of agreements entered into in the third quarter, driven primarily by the timing of their annual budget expenditures. This larger mix of contracts with 12-month renewal terms in the third quarter will generally cause variability in our RPO and cRPO in subsequent quarters until they are renewed. Although these seasonal factors may be common in the technology industry, historical patterns should not be considered a reliable indicator of our future sales activity or performance.

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Cost of Revenues

Cost of subscription revenues. Cost of subscription revenues consists primarily of expenses related to hosting our services and providing support to our customers. These expenses are comprised of data center capacity costs, which include colocation costs associated with our data centers as well as interconnectivity between data centers, depreciation related to our infrastructure hardware equipment dedicated for customer use, amortization of intangible assets, expenses associated with software, public cloud service costs, IT services and dedicated customer support, personnel-related costs directly associated with data center operations and customer support, including salaries, benefits, bonuses and stock-based compensation and allocated overhead.

Cost of professional services and other revenues. Cost of professional services and other revenues consists primarily of personnel-related costs directly associated with our professional services and training departments, including salaries, benefits, bonuses and stock-based compensation, the costs of contracted third-party partners, travel expenses and allocated overhead.

Professional services are performed directly by our services team, as well as by contracted third-party partners. Fees paid by us to third-party partners are primarily recognized as cost of revenues as the professional services are delivered. Cost of revenues associated with our professional services engagements contracted with third-party partners as a percentage of professional services and other revenues was 10%, 12% and 14% for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively.

Sales and Marketing

Sales and marketing expenses consist primarily of personnel-related expenses directly associated with our sales and marketing staff, including salaries, benefits, bonuses and stock-based compensation. Sales and marketing expenses also include the amortization of commissions paid to our sales employees, including related payroll taxes and fringe benefits. In addition, sales and marketing expenses include branding expenses, marketing program expenses, which include events such as Knowledge, and costs associated with purchasing advertising and marketing data, software and subscription services dedicated for sales and marketing use and allocated overhead.

Research and Development

Research and development expenses consist primarily of personnel-related expenses directly associated with our research and development staff, including salaries, benefits, bonuses and stock-based compensation and allocated overhead. Research and development expenses also include data center capacity costs, costs associated with outside services contracted for research and development purposes and depreciation of infrastructure hardware equipment that is used solely for research and development purposes.

General and Administrative

General and administrative expenses consist primarily of personnel-related expenses for our executive, finance, legal, human resources, facilities and administrative personnel, including salaries, benefits, bonuses and stock-based compensation, external legal, accounting and other professional services fees, other corporate expenses, amortization of intangible assets and allocated overhead.

(Benefit from) Provision for Income Taxes

(Benefit from) provision for income taxes consists of federal, state and foreign income taxes. Our income tax benefit for the year ended December 31, 2023 is primarily attributable to the release of the valuation allowance against certain U.S. federal and state deferred tax assets, excluding California. We continue to maintain a valuation allowance against our California deferred tax assets due to the uncertainty regarding realizability of these deferred tax assets as they have not met the “more likely than not” realization criteria, particularly as we expect research and development tax credit generation to exceed our ability to use the credits in future years.

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Comparison of the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022

Revenues

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Subscription revenues increased by $1.8 billion for the year ended December 31, 2023, compared to the prior year, primarily driven by increased purchases by new and existing customers. Included in subscription revenues is $322 million and $253 million of revenues recognized upfront from the delivery of software associated with self-hosted offerings during the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively.

We expect subscription revenues for the year ending December 31, 2024 to increase in absolute dollars and remain relatively flat as a percentage of revenue as we continue to add new customers and existing customers increase their usage of our products compared to the year ended December 31, 2023.

Our expectations for revenues, cost of revenues and operating expenses for the year ending December 31, 2024 are based on the 31-day average of foreign exchange rates for December 31, 2023.

Subscription revenues consist of the following:

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[[/GREPCENT_TABLE]]

Our digital workflow products include most of our product offerings and are generally priced on a per user basis. Our remaining product offerings, primarily comprised of our IT Operations Management (“ITOM”) products are predominantly priced on a subscription unit basis.

Professional services and other revenues decreased by $63 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, compared to the prior year, due to a decrease in services and trainings provided to new and existing customers as we focused on deploying our internal professional services organization as a strategic resource and worked with our partner ecosystem to contract directly with customers for implementation services delivery.

We expect professional services and other revenues for the year ending December 31, 2024 to increase in absolute dollars and to remain relatively flat as a percentage of revenue compared to the year ended December 31, 2023 as we continue to execute our professional services strategy.

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Cost of Revenues and Gross Profit Percentage

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[[/GREPCENT_TABLE]]

Cost of subscription revenues increased by $419 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, compared to the prior year, primarily due to increased headcount and increased costs to support the growth of our subscription offerings including costs to support customers in regulated markets. Personnel-related costs including stock-based compensation and overhead expenses increased by $229 million as compared to prior year. Depreciation expense related to infrastructure hardware equipment dedicated for customer use increased by $97 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, as compared to prior year and maintenance costs to support the expansion of our data center capacity, including public cloud service costs, increased by $77 million, as compared to prior year.

We expect our cost of subscription revenues for the year ending December 31, 2024 to increase in absolute dollars as we provide subscription services to more customers and increase usage within our customer instances but remain relatively flat as a percentage of revenue compared to the year ended December 31, 2023. We will continue to incur incremental costs to attract customers in regulated markets by adopting public cloud offerings as well as increased support for customers impacted by new and evolving data residency requirements. To the extent future acquisitions are consummated, our cost of subscription revenues may increase due to additional non-cash charges associated with the amortization of intangible assets acquired. Our subscription gross profit percentage was 82% and 83% for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. We expect our subscription gross profit percentage to remain relatively flat for the year ending December 31, 2024 compared to the year ended December 31, 2023.

Cost of professional services and other revenues decreased by $71 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 as compared to the prior year. The decrease was primarily due to a decrease in contracted third-party partners spend and decreased headcount resulting in a decrease in personnel-related costs, including stock-based compensation.

Our professional services and other gross loss percentage improved to 8% for the year ended December 31, 2023, compared to 9% in the prior year, primarily due to decreased headcount resulting in a decrease in personnel-related costs and a decrease in contracted third-party partners spend. We expect our professional services and other gross loss percentage to improve for the year ending December 31, 2024 compared to the year ended December 31, 2023.

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Sales and Marketing

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[[/GREPCENT_TABLE]]

Sales and marketing expenses increased by $487 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, compared to the prior year, primarily due to increased headcount resulting in an increase in personnel-related costs including stock-based compensation and overhead expenses of $334 million, compared to the prior year. Amortization expenses associated with deferred commissions increased by $99 million, compared to the prior year, due to an increase in contracts with new customers, expansion and renewal contracts. Other sales and marketing program expenses, which include branding, costs associated with purchasing advertising, marketing events and market data, increased by $44 million compared to the prior year, primarily due to increased program costs and travel for our annual Sales Kickoff.

We expect sales and marketing expenses for the year ending December 31, 2024 to increase in absolute dollars and to decrease as a percentage of revenue compared to the year ended December 31, 2023, as we continue to see leverage from increased sales productivity and marketing efficiencies in 2024.

Research and Development

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[[/GREPCENT_TABLE]]

Research and development expenses (“R&D”) increased by $356 million during the year ended December 31, 2023, compared to the prior year, primarily due to increased headcount resulting in an increase in personnel-related costs including stock-based compensation and overhead expenses of $312 million compared to prior year. The remaining increase was primarily due to an increase in data center capacity costs and depreciation of infrastructure hardware equipment that is used solely for R&D purposes of $27 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, compared to the prior year.

We expect R&D expenses for the year ending December 31, 2024 to increase in absolute dollars but remain relatively flat as a percentage of revenue compared to the year ended December 31, 2023, as we continue to improve the existing functionality of our services, develop new applications to fill market needs and enhance our core platform.

General and Administrative

[[GREPCENT_TABLE]]
[["","Year Ended December 31,","","% Change"],["","2023","","2022"],["","(dollars in millions)"],["General and administrative","$","863","","","$","735","","","17","%"],["Percentage of revenues","10","%","","10%"]]
[[/GREPCENT_TABLE]]

General and administrative expenses (“G&A”) increased by $128 million during the year ended December 31, 2023, compared to the prior year, primarily due to increased headcount resulting in an increase in personnel-related costs including stock-based compensation and overhead expenses of $83 million. Non-personnel-related costs and outside services increased by $32 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to the prior year.

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We expect G&A expenses for the year ending December 31, 2024 to increase in absolute dollars but decrease slightly as a percentage of revenue compared to the year ended December 31, 2023, as we continue to see leverage from continued G&A productivity.

Stock-based Compensation

[[GREPCENT_TABLE]]
[["","Year Ended December 31,","","% Change"],["","2023","","2022"],["","(dollars in millions)"],["Cost of revenues:"],["Subscription","$","202","","","$","157","","","29","%"],["Professional services and other","52","","","67","","","(22","%)"],["Operating expenses:"],["Sales and marketing","505","","","459","","","10","%"],["Research and development","579","","","495","","","17","%"],["General and administrative","266","","","223","","","19","%"],["Total stock-based compensation","$","1,604","","","$","1,401","","","14","%"],["Percentage of revenues","18","%","","19","%"]]
[[/GREPCENT_TABLE]]

Stock-based compensation increased by $203 million during the year ended December 31, 2023, compared to the prior year, primarily due to additional grants to current and new employees.

Stock-based compensation is inherently difficult to forecast due to fluctuations in our stock price. Based upon our stock price as of December 31, 2023, we expect stock-based compensation to continue to increase in absolute dollars for the year ending December 31, 2024 as we continue to issue stock-based awards to our employees but decrease slightly as a percentage of revenue compared to the year ended December 31, 2023. We expect stock-based compensation as a percentage of revenue to decline over time as we continue to grow.

Foreign Currency Exchange

Our international operations have provided and will continue to provide a significant portion of our total revenues. Revenues outside North America represented 36% and 35% of total revenues for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. Because we primarily transact in foreign currencies for sales outside of the United States, the general weakening of the U.S. Dollar relative to certain major foreign currencies (primarily the Euro and British Pound Sterling) during the year ended December 31, 2023 had a favorable impact on our revenues. For entities reporting in currencies other than the U.S. Dollar, if we had translated our results for the year ended December 31, 2023 at the exchange rates in effect for the year ended December 31, 2022 rather than the actual exchange rates in effect during the period, our reported subscription revenues would have been $34 million lower for the year ended December 31, 2023. The impact from the foreign currency movements from the year ended December 31, 2022 to the year ended December 31, 2023 was not material to professional services and other revenues.

In addition, because we primarily transact in foreign currencies for cost of revenues and operating expenses outside of the United States, the general strengthening of the U.S. Dollar relative to other major foreign currencies had a favorable impact on our R&D expenses during the year ended December 31, 2023. For entities reporting in currencies other than the U.S. Dollar, if we had translated our results for the year ended December 31, 2023 at the exchange rates in effect for the year ended December 31, 2022 rather than the actual exchange rates in effect during the period, our reported R&D expenses would have been $12 million higher for the year ended December 31, 2023. The impact from the foreign currency movements from the year ended December 31, 2022 to the year ended December 31, 2023 was not material to cost of revenues, sales and marketing and G&A expenses.

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Interest Income

[[GREPCENT_TABLE]]
[["","Year Ended December 31,","","% Change"],["","2023","","2022"],["","(dollars in millions)"],["Interest income","$","302","","","$","82","","","268","%"],["Percentage of revenues","3","%","","1","%"]]
[[/GREPCENT_TABLE]]

Interest income increased during the year ended December 31, 2023, compared to the prior year primarily driven by an increase in investment income from our managed portfolio resulting from higher portfolio balances and an increase in interest rates.

Other Expense, net

[[GREPCENT_TABLE]]
[["","Year Ended December 31,","","% Change"],["","2023","","2022"],["","(dollars in millions)"],["Interest expense","$","(24)","","","$","(27)","","","(11","%)"],["Other","(32)","","","(11)","","","191","%"],["Other expense, net","$","(56)","","","$","(38)","","","47","%"],["Percentage of revenues","(1","%)","","(1%)"]]
[[/GREPCENT_TABLE]]

Other expense, net increased by $18 million during the year ended December 31, 2023, compared to the prior year, primarily driven by higher unrealized losses on foreign currency forward contracts.

To mitigate our risks associated with fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates, we enter into foreign currency derivative contracts with maturities of 12 months or less to hedge a portion of our net outstanding monetary assets and liabilities. These hedging contracts may reduce, but cannot entirely eliminate, the impact of adverse currency exchange rate movements. The gains (losses) recognized for these foreign currency forward contracts in other expense, net, were immaterial for each of the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022.

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(Benefit from) provision for Income Taxes

[[GREPCENT_TABLE]]
[["","Year Ended December 31,","","% Change"],["","2023","","2022"],["","(dollars in millions)"],["Income before income taxes","$","1,008","","","$","399","","","153","%"],["(Benefit from) provision for income taxes","(723)","","","74","","","NM"],["Effective tax rate","(72","%)","","19","%","","NM"]]
[[/GREPCENT_TABLE]]

 NM - Not meaningful

Our effective tax rate was (72%) and 19% for the year ended December 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022. The difference in rates was primarily attributable to the release of the valuation allowance against certain U.S. federal and state deferred tax assets, excluding California in the year ended December 31, 2023.

The income tax benefit was $723 million for the year ended December 31, 2023. The income tax benefit was primarily attributable to the release of the valuation allowance of certain U.S. federal and state deferred tax assets. We regularly assess the need for a valuation allowance against our deferred tax assets. In making that assessment, we consider both positive and negative evidence related to the likelihood of realization of the deferred tax assets to determine, based on the weight of available evidence, whether it is more likely than not that some or all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. As of June 30, 2023, we achieved cumulative U.S. income during the prior twelve quarters when considering pre-tax income adjusted for permanent differences and other comprehensive losses. Based on all available positive and negative evidence, having demonstrated sustained profitability which is objective and verifiable, and taking into account anticipated future earnings, we concluded it is more likely than not that our U.S. federal and state deferred tax assets will be realizable, with the exception of California. We continue to maintain a valuation allowance against our California deferred tax assets due to the uncertainty regarding realizability of these deferred tax assets as they have not met the “more likely than not” realization criteria, particularly as we expect research and development tax credit generation to exceed our ability to use the credits in future years. Of the $1.2 billion valuation allowance as of December 31, 2022, we released $1.05 billion of our valuation allowance during the year ended December 31, 2023. We maintained a valuation allowance of $196 million against our California deferred tax assets. We will continue to monitor the need for a valuation allowance against our deferred tax assets on a quarterly basis.

In December 2021, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development adopted model rules for a 15% global minimum tax (Pillar 2) and has continued to issue administrative guidance and interpretations. Approximately 20 countries have enacted the rules into their domestic tax legislation. The United States has not enacted the rules. Due to the uncertainty of whether the United States and other countries will enact the rules, the timing of individual country legislative action and the underlying complexity of the rules, the impact, if any, on the Company is not reasonably estimable.

See Note 16– Income Taxes, in the notes to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for our reconciliation of income taxes at the statutory federal rate to the provision for income taxes.

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Liquidity and Capital Resources

We generate cash inflows from operations primarily from selling subscription services which are generally paid in advance of provisioning services, and cash outflows to develop new services and core technologies that further enhance the Now Platform, engage our customer and enhance their experience, and enable and transform our business operations. Subscription services arrangements typically have a three-year duration, and we have experienced a renewal rate of 98% for each of the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021. Cash outflows from operations are principally comprised of the salaries, bonuses, commissions, and benefits for our workforce, licenses and services arrangements that are integral to our business operations and data centers and operating lease arrangements that underlie our facilities. We have generated positive operating cash flows for more than ten years as we continue to grow our business in pursuit of our business strategy, and we expect to grow our business and generate positive cash flows from operations during 2024. When assessing sources of liquidity, we also include cash and cash equivalents, short-term investments and long-term investments totaling $8.1 billion as of December 31, 2023.

Our working capital requirements are principally comprised of non-contract workforce salaries, bonuses, commissions, and benefits and, to a lesser extent, cancellable and non-cancellable licenses and services arrangements that are integral to our business operations, and operating lease obligations. Non-cancellable purchase commitments for business operations total $1.6 billion as of December 31, 2023, due primarily over the next five years. Operating lease obligations totaling $937 million are principally associated with leased facilities and have varying maturities with $515 million due over the next five years.

We may repurchase our shares of common stock in the open market, in privately negotiated transactions or by other means, with the objective to return value to our stockholders and manage the dilution from future employee equity grants and employee stock purchase programs. In May 2023, our board of directors authorized a program to repurchase up to $1.5 billion of our common stock. During the year ended December 31, 2023, we repurchased 0.9 million shares of our common stock for $538 million. All repurchases were made in open market transactions. Repurchases of common stock are recognized as treasury stock and held for future issuance. As of December 31, 2023, $962 million of the originally authorized amount under the Share Repurchase Program remained available for future repurchases.

To grow our business, we also invest in capital and other resources to expand our data centers and enable our workforce, and we acquire technology and businesses to supplement our technology portfolio. Our capital expenditures are typically under cancellable arrangements primarily used to support the installed base and growth of our hosted business. We have also issued long-term debt to finance our business. In August 2020, we issued 1.40% fixed rate ten-year notes with an aggregate principal amount of $1.5 billion due on September 1, 2030 (the “2030 Notes”).

Our free cash flows, together with our other sources of liquidity, are available to service our liabilities as well as our cancellable and non-cancellable arrangements. We anticipate cash flows generated from operations, cash, cash equivalents and investments will be sufficient to meet our liquidity needs for at least the next 12 months. As we look beyond the next 12 months, we seek to continue to grow free cash flows necessary to fund our operations and grow our business. If we require additional capital resources, we may seek to finance our operations from the current funds available or additional equity or debt financing.

[[GREPCENT_TABLE]]
[["","Year Ended December 31,"],["","2023","","2022"],["","(in millions)"],["Net cash provided by operating activities","$","3,398","","","$","2,723"],["Net cash used in investing activities","(2,167)","","","(2,583)"],["Net cash used in financing activities","(803)","","","(344)"],["Net increase/(decrease) in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash","429","","","(257)"]]
[[/GREPCENT_TABLE]]

Operating Activities

Net cash provided by operating activities was $3.4 billion for the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to $2.7 billion for the prior year. The net increase in operating cash flow was primarily due to higher collections driven by revenue growth.

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Investing Activities

Net cash used in investing activities for the year ended December 31, 2023 was $2.2 billion compared to $2.6 billion for the prior year. The net decrease in cash used in investing activities was primarily due to a $681 million decrease in net purchases of investments, a $92 million decrease in purchases of non-marketable investments, offset by a $191 million increase in business combinations and a $144 million increase in purchases of property and equipment.

Financing Activities

Net cash used in financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2023 was $803 million compared to $344 million for the prior year. The net increase in cash used in financing activities is primarily due to repurchases of common stock for $538 million, a $32 million increase in taxes paid related to net share settlement of equity awards, offset by a $17 million increase in proceeds from employee stock plans and a $94 million decrease in repayments of convertible senior notes attributable to principal.

Contractual Obligations and Commitments

Our estimated future obligations consist of leases, a non-cancellable $500 million agreement with Microsoft to purchase cloud services over five years for accelerating the Azure adoption for mutual customers, the second installment of the consideration for the G2K acquisition to be paid in February 2024, purchase obligations, debt and unrecognized tax benefits as of December 31, 2023. Refer to Note 17 “Commitments and Contingencies,” Note 5 “Business Combinations” and Note 16 “(Benefit from) Provision for Income Taxes” to our consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for more information.