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 Item 1A Risk factors and our consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. The following discussion and analysis presents financial information denominated in millions of dollars which can lead to differences from rounding when compared to similar information contained in the consolidated financial statements and related notes, which are primarily denominated in thousands of dollars.
Executive Summary
We are the leading software provider exclusively dedicated to powering social impact. Serving the nonprofit and education sectors, companies committed to social responsibility and individual change makers, our essential software is built to accelerate impact in fundraising, nonprofit financial management, digital giving, grantmaking, corporate social responsibility and education management. A remote-first company, we have operations in the United States, Australia, Canada, Costa Rica and the United Kingdom, supporting users in 100+ countries. Millions of people across more than 100 countries connect, give, learn and engage through Blackbaud platforms. During 2023, we had nearly 100,000 customers that paid Blackbaud through transactional fees and more than 40,000 customers with contractual billing arrangements.
Our revenue is primarily generated from the following sources: (i) charging for the use of our software solutions in cloud and hosted environments; (ii) providing payment and transaction services; and (iii) providing Impact-as-a-ServiceTM digital educational content.
Update on Five Key Operational Initiatives
1 Product Innovation and Delivery
2 Bookings Growth and Acceleration
3 Transactional Revenue Optimization and Expansion
4 Modernized Approach to Pricing and Multi-Year Customer Contracts
5 Keen Attention to Cost Management
1.Product Innovation and Delivery
Product is core at Blackbaud, and we strive to bring increased value to our customers with improved and innovative capabilities. We have recently announced or released a number of product enhancements as well as new solutions that enable our customers to better deliver on their missions. Some examples include:
•Optimized Online Donation Capabilities: New online donation capabilities that fully integrate with Blackbaud’s payment processing and CRM software and enable customers to raise more money while reducing processing costs. We recently began an early adopter program for the new donation capabilities with a small sample of RE NXT customers across charity, education, and arts and cultural organizations. We expect to make them generally available in the first half of 2024.
•Prospect Insights Pro for Raiser’s Edge NXT®: New add-on capability within Raiser’s Edge NXT® that gives fundraisers access to AI-driven insights to support planned and major gift fundraising
•Impact EdgeTM: A first-of-its-kind AI-powered, social impact reporting and storytelling solution for corporate social responsibility (CSR) and social impact teams of all sizes. This new solution is currently in an early adopter program with our planned full roll out in the second half of 2024.
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•JustGiving Storywriter: With new generative AI capabilities, fundraisers on JustGiving are able to quickly and easily create personal stories to share with their networks. Company research has shown that JustGiving pages that include a clear and personal story raise approximately 65% more than those that don’t.
•Good MoveTM: New development transformed the Good Move activity-tracking mobile app into a powerful mobile participant center for Blackbaud TeamRaiser® peer-to-peer fundraising events. The new expansive feature for Blackbaud TeamRaiser® became generally available in the U.S. and Canada in March 2023.
•Intelligence for Good®: In summer 2023, we launched next generation Intelligence for Good® strategy with an extensive agenda of initiatives and investments targeted at making artificial intelligence more accessible, powerful and responsible across the social impact sector
2.Bookings Growth and Acceleration
We maintain a keen focus on accelerating bookings growth by signing new logos as well as upselling and cross-selling our existing customer base. Our sales team is split between prospect account executives dedicated to prospecting for new clients and customer account executives who focus on selling additional products to current customers. Given the breadth of our product portfolio, this “land and expand” model has proven successful for us over time. As previously disclosed, there can be volatility quarter-to-quarter on bookings.
3.Transactional Revenue Optimization and Expansion
Transactional revenue, which is about one-third of total revenue, is comprised of four primary components: donation processing (~55% of total transactional revenue); consumer giving (~20%); tuition management (~20%); and event-based usage (~5%). The diversity of the underlying transaction volumes from these four sources has resulted in consistent transactional recurring revenue growth in the mid-to-high single digits over the past several years. Strong momentum in consumer giving and tuition management, rate increases on Blackbaud Merchant Services, and increased donations tied to global events drove continued solid transactional recurring revenue growth in 2023. Going forward we will continue to implement additional payments solutions optimization to drive enhanced donor experience.
4.Modernized Approach to Pricing and Multi-Year Contracts
Last summer, we put in place an updated pricing policy primarily for our social sector customers that directly reflects the value we provide to them, is in-line with the broader market and reflects the inflationary pressures that all businesses are facing. In November 2022, we started notifying customers with a March 2023 contract renewal that we would be making important contract changes. First, we are offering 3-year contract renewal terms as our standard, replacing one-year renewal terms. This process was already being implemented outside of the pricing changes. Second, we are implementing a more significant rate increase on the 1-year renewal option versus the 3-year renewal option. And third, the 3-year renewal option includes embedded annual rate increases. Our 3-year renewal options did not historically include annual rate increases.
These efforts are well on their way and we have now completed the 2023 renewal cohort, which represented approximately 35% of the total contractual revenue eligible for this program. Approximately another 30% of the renewable base is up for renewal in 2024, another 25% in 2025, and the remaining 10% in the beginning of 2026. The close day-to-day management of renewals, the mix of 3-year and 1-year contracts, and the impact of pricing are progressing well, and we expect more impact from the compounding effect of these rate increases over time as we layer in future year contract renewals and annual rate increases. Additionally, the adoption of 3-year renewals as a standard, with more customers opting for this option than we originally expected, are expected to have an added benefit of higher retention which provides greater revenue assurance and predictability. Looking even further ahead, the cycle starts fresh in 2026 as the 2023 signed contracts will begin to renew. We expect that this will be a sustainable and meaningful revenue growth stream for us.
5.Keen Attention to Cost Management
Cost management initiatives already completed drove a significant improvement in profitability during 2023. These initiatives included:
•A reduction in headcount from approximately 3,600 in the third quarter of 2022 to approximately 3,000 as of December 31, 2023
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•Continued IT consolidation as we migrate customers from legacy private data centers to leading public cloud service providers. We closed four legacy data centers during 2022 and two in 2023.
•Renegotiated key vendor contracts including Microsoft Azure and AWS
•Reduced our real estate footprint as part of the shift to a remote first workforce
Going forward, our goal is to run the business at about this headcount level for the foreseeable future, while continuing to drive efficiencies in other areas of the business.
Financial Summary
Total Revenue ($M) Income from Operations ($M)
YoY Growth (%) YoY Growth (%)
Total revenue increased by $47.3 million during 2023, driven largely by the following:
+ Growth in recurring revenue primarily related to:
- Decrease in one-time services and other revenue primarily related to:
For information on the impact of foreign currency fluctuations on our financial results, see Foreign Currency Exchange Rates below on page 59.
We have a number of multi-year pricing initiatives underway, some to bring our pricing in line with the market while others are model changes that are expected to drive greater revenue for both us and our customers. As a result, we expect to see a continued acceleration in revenue growth during 2024 as we begin to see the full-year effect of some of these pricing initiatives.
We expect that the decline in our non-strategic one-time services and other revenue will slow in 2024 compared to the previous two years.
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Income from operations increased by $73.2 million during 2023, driven largely by the following:
+ Increase in total revenue, as described above
We are continuing to make investments in the business in areas such as innovation, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and our continued shift of cloud infrastructure to leading public cloud service providers. Our profitability during 2023 reflects some of these incremental investments. We plan to accelerate some of the cybersecurity investments during 2024, which is expected to modestly impact our profitability in the near term.
We continuously seek opportunities to optimize our portfolio of solutions to focus time and resources on innovation that will have the greatest impact for our customers and the markets we serve, and drive the highest return on investment. To that end, we will continue to simplify and rationalize our portfolio through product sunsets and divestitures of non-core businesses and technologies.
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Gross dollar retention
Our recurring subscription contracts are typically for a term of three years at contract inception with standard three year renewals thereafter. A key factor to our overall success is the renewal and expansion of our existing subscription agreements with our customers. Management uses gross dollar retention in analyzing our success at delighting our customers with innovative and cloud solutions. Gross dollar retention is defined as contracted annual recurring revenue ("CARR") divided by beginning CARR with a measurement period of twelve months. During 2023, our gross dollar retention was approximately 90%. This gross dollar retention rate was slightly lower than our rate for the full year ended December 31, 2022 primarily due to the inclusion of EVERFI beginning in 2023. Excluding EVERFI, our gross dollar retention during 2023 was slightly higher than our rate for the full year ended December 31, 2022. We are continually investing in innovation, which we believe will increase gross dollar retention over the long-term. Although some customer attrition is normal, our new contract pricing and renewal model (as described above on page 36) does not appear to have had a significant impact on customer attrition to date.
Balance sheet and cash flow
At December 31, 2023, our cash and cash equivalents were $31.3 million. Under the 2020 Credit Facility, the carrying amount of our debt was $720.6 million and our net leverage ratio was 1.97 to 1.00.
During 2023, we generated $199.6 million in cash flow from operations, had a net decrease in borrowings of $81.4 million and had aggregate cash outlays of $64.1 million for purchases of property and equipment and capitalized software and content development costs.
We resumed stock repurchases during the fourth quarter of 2023 under our then existing stock repurchase program that authorized us to purchase up to $250.0 million of our outstanding shares of common stock. On January 17, 2024, our Board of Directors reauthorized, expanded and replenished our stock repurchase program by raising the total capacity under the program from $250.0 million to $500.0 million available for repurchases. We plan to repurchase shares going forward to at least offset the dilution from our annual stock-based compensation and possibly beyond that amount as market conditions and our strategic plans permit. See additional details regarding our stock repurchase program below on page 56.
Security Incident update
As discussed in Note 11 to our consolidated financial statements included in this report, total costs related to the Security Incident exceeded the limit of our insurance coverage in the first quarter of 2022. Accordingly, the Security Incident has negatively impacted, and we expect it to continue for the foreseeable future to negatively impact, our GAAP profitability and GAAP cash flow (see discussion regarding non-GAAP free cash flow and non-GAAP adjusted free cash flow on page 53). For full year 2023, we incurred net pre-tax expenses of $53.4 million related to the Security Incident, which included $22.4 million for ongoing legal fees. It also includes settlements and recorded liabilities for loss contingencies of $31.0 million. Also, for full year 2023, we had net cash outlays of $78.0 million related to the Security Incident, which included ongoing legal fees, the $3.0 million civil penalty paid during the first quarter of 2023 related to the SEC settlement and the $49.5 million civil penalty paid during the fourth quarter of 2023 related to the multi-state Attorneys General settlement (as discussed in Note 11). In line with our policy, legal fees are expensed as incurred. For full year 2024, we currently expect net pre-tax expense of approximately $5.0 million to $10.0 million and net cash outlays of approximately $8.0 million to $13.0 million for ongoing legal fees related to the Security Incident.
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As of December 31, 2023, we have recorded approximately $1.5 million in aggregate liabilities for loss contingencies based primarily on recent negotiations with certain customers related to the Security Incident that we believe we can reasonably estimate in accordance with our loss contingency procedures described in Note 11. It is reasonably possible that our estimated or actual losses may change in the near term for those matters and be materially in excess of the amounts accrued, but we are unable at this time to reasonably estimate the possible additional loss.
There are other Security Incident-related matters, including customer claims, customer constituent class actions and governmental investigations, for which we have not recorded a liability for a loss contingency as of December 31, 2023 because we are unable at this time to reasonably estimate the possible loss or range of loss. Each of these matters could, separately or in the aggregate, result in an adverse judgement, settlement, fine, penalty or other resolution, the amount, scope and timing of which we are currently unable to predict, but could have a material adverse impact on our results of operations, cash flows or financial condition.
Results of Operations
Reportable segment
We report our operating results and financial information in one operating and reportable segment. See Note 16 of our consolidated financial statements in this report for additional information.
Comparison of 2023 vs. 2022
For information regarding the comparison of 2022 to 2021, please refer to Part II Item 7 of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022 filed with the SEC on February 24, 2023.
Acquisitions
During 2022 and 2021, we acquired companies that provided us with strategic opportunities to expand our TAM and share of the philanthropic giving market through the integration of complementary solutions and services to serve the changing needs of our customers. The following are the companies we acquired and their respective acquisition dates:
•Kilter, Inc. ("Kilter") on August 19, 2022
•EVERFI, Inc. on December 31, 2021
We have included the results of operations of acquired companies in our consolidated results of operations from the date of their respective acquisitions. In accordance with applicable accounting rules, we determined that the Kilter and EVERFI acquisitions were not material to our consolidated financial statements; therefore, revenue and earnings since the acquisition date and pro forma information are not required or presented. See Note 3 to our consolidated financial statements in this report for a summary of these acquisitions.
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Revenue and Cost of Revenue
Recurring
Revenue ($M) Cost of revenue ($M) Gross profit ($M)and gross margin (%)
YoY Growth (%) YoY Growth (%)
Recurring revenue includes two components: contractual recurring and transactional recurring.
Contractual recurring revenue is primarily comprised of fees for the use of our subscription-based software solutions, which includes providing access to cloud solutions, Impact-as-a-ServiceTM digital educational content, online training programs and subscription-based analytic services. Contractual recurring revenue also includes fees from maintenance services for our on-premises solutions.
Transactional recurring revenue is comprised of transaction fees associated with the use of our solutions, including donation processing, tuition management, consumer giving and event-based usage.
Cost of recurring revenue is primarily comprised of compensation costs for customer support and production IT personnel, hosting and data center costs, third-party contractor expenses, third-party royalty and data expenses, allocated depreciation, facilities and IT support costs, amortization of intangible assets from business combinations, amortization of software development costs, transaction-based costs related to payments services including remittances of amounts due to third-parties and other costs incurred in providing support and recurring services to our customers.
Our customers continue to prefer cloud subscription offerings with integrated analytics, training and payment services. We intend to continue focusing on innovation, quality and integration of our cloud solutions, which we believe will drive future revenue growth.
Recurring revenue increased by $59.8 million, or 5.9%, driven primarily by the following:
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For additional information on the impact of foreign currency fluctuations on our financial results, see Foreign Currency Exchange Rates below on page 59.
Cost of recurring revenue increased by $7.0 million, or 1.5%, driven primarily by the following:
Recurring gross margin increased by 190 basis points primarily due to the increase in recurring revenue outpacing the increase in cost of recurring revenue.
One-time services and other
Revenue ($M) Cost of revenue ($M) Gross profit ($M)and gross margin (%)
YoY Growth (%) YoY Growth (%)
One-time services and other revenue is comprised of fees for one-time consulting (including creative services), analytic and onsite training services, and fees for retained and managed services contracts that we do not expect to have a term consistent with our cloud solution contracts.
Cost of one-time services and other is primarily comprised of compensation costs for professional services and onsite training personnel, other costs incurred in providing onsite customer training, third-party contractor expenses, data expense incurred to perform one-time analytic services, third-party software royalties, allocated depreciation, facilities and IT support costs and amortization of intangible assets from business combinations.
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One-time services and other revenue decreased by $12.5 million, or 26.9%, driven primarily by the following:
Cost of one-time services and other decreased $10.2 million or 24.3%, primarily driven by the following:
One-time services and other gross margin decreased by 320 basis points primarily due to the decrease in one-time services and other revenue outpacing the decrease in cost of one-time services and other revenue.
Operating Expenses
Percentages indicate expenses as a percentage of total revenue
Sales, marketing and customer success
Sales, marketing and customer success expense includes compensation costs, variable sales commissions, travel-related expenses, advertising and marketing materials, public relations costs, variable reseller commissions and allocated depreciation, facilities and IT support costs.
We see a large market opportunity in the long-term and will continue to make investments to drive sales effectiveness. We have also implemented software tools to enhance our digital footprint and drive lead generation. The enhancements we are making in our go-to-market approach are expected to reduce our average customer acquisition cost per customer as well as the related payback period while increasing sales velocity.
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Sales, marketing and customer success expenses decreased by $9.3 million, or 4.2%. The decreases in dollars and as a percentage of total revenue were primarily driven by the following:
Research and development
Research and development expense includes compensation costs for engineering and product management personnel, third-party contractor expenses, software development tools and other expenses related to developing new solutions or upgrading and enhancing existing solutions that do not qualify for capitalization, and allocated depreciation, facilities and IT support costs.
We continue to make investments to delight our customers with innovative cloud solutions. We also continue to invest heavily in the security of our solutions. Research and development expense decreased by $3.6 million, or 2.3%. The decreases in dollars and as a percentage of total revenue were primarily driven by the following:
Not included in research and development expense for 2023 and 2022 were $60.7 million and $58.5 million, respectively, of qualifying costs associated with software and content development activities that are required to be capitalized under GAAP, such as those for our cloud solutions, as well as development costs associated with acquired companies. Qualifying capitalized software and content development costs associated with our cloud solutions and online educational courses are subsequently amortized to cost of recurring revenue over the related asset's estimated useful life, which generally range from three to seven years. We expect that the amount of software and content development costs capitalized will be relatively consistent in the near-term as we continue making investments in innovation, quality, security and the integration of our solutions, which we believe will drive long-term revenue growth.
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General and administrative
General and administrative expense consists primarily of compensation costs for general corporate functions, including senior management, finance, accounting, legal, human resources and corporate development, Security Incident-related expenses (including legal fees, settlements and loss contingency accruals), third-party professional fees, insurance, allocated depreciation, facilities and IT support costs, acquisition-related expenses and other administrative expenses.
General and administrative expenses decreased by $10.0 million, or 5.0%. The decreases in dollars and as a percentage of total revenue were primarily driven by the following:
- Decrease in rent expense of $1.1 million
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Interest Expense
Interest expense ($M)
Percentages indicate expenses as a percentage of total revenue
Interest expense increased in dollars and as a percentage of total revenue during 2023 when compared to 2022, primarily due to an increase in our weighted average effective interest rates. We currently expect interest expense for the full year 2024 to be approximately $34 million to $38 million although our interest expense in connection with the variable rate portion of our outstanding debt could increase in a rising interest rate environment. See Note 10 to our consolidated financial statements in this report for more information regarding our derivative instruments, which we use to manage our variable interest rate risk, and Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk: Interest Rate Risk on page 64 for more information about our variable interest rate exposure and related risk.
Other Income
Other income ($M)
Percentages indicate expenses as a percentage of total revenue
Other income increased in dollars and as a percentage of total revenue during 2023 when compared to 2022, primarily due to an increase in interest income. Interest income increased primarily due to higher interest earned on restricted cash held and payable by us to customers for our payment processing solutions. See Note 8 to our consolidated financial statements in this report for more information regarding our other income.
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Deferred Revenue
The table below compares the components of deferred revenue from our consolidated balance sheets:
(dollars in millions) December 31,2023 December 31,2022 Change
Less: Long-term portion 2.4 2.8 (14.9) %
(1)The individual amounts for each year may not sum to total deferred revenue or current portion of deferred revenue due to rounding.
To the extent that our customers are billed for our solutions and services in advance of delivery, we record such amounts in deferred revenue. Our recurring revenue contracts are generally for a term of three years at contract inception with three-year renewals thereafter, billed annually in advance and non-cancelable. We generally invoice our customers with recurring revenue contracts in annual cycles 30 days prior to the end each one-year period.
The increase in deferred revenue during the year ended December 31, 2023 was primarily due to new subscription sales of our cloud solutions and progress in initiatives to bring our pricing in line with the market. Historically, due to the timing of customer budget cycles, we have an increase in customer contract renewals at or near the beginning of our third quarter. Generally, our lowest balance of deferred revenue during the year is at the end of our first quarter.
Income Taxes
Income tax provision (benefit) ($M)
Percentages indicate effective income tax rates
Our effective income tax rate may fluctuate quarterly and annually as a result of factors, including changes in tax law in jurisdictions where we conduct business, transactions entered into, changes in the geographic distribution of our earnings or losses, and our assessment of certain tax contingencies and valuation allowances.
We have deferred tax assets for federal, state, and international net operating loss carryforwards and tax credits. The federal and state net operating loss carryforwards are subject to various Internal Revenue Code limitations and applicable state tax laws. A portion of the foreign and state net operating loss carryforwards and a portion of state tax credits have a valuation reserve due to the uncertainty of realizing such carryforwards and credits in the future.
We file income tax returns in the U.S. for federal and various state jurisdictions as well as in foreign jurisdictions including Canada, the U.K., Australia, Ireland and Costa Rica. We are generally subject to U.S. federal income tax examination for calendar tax years ending 2020 through 2023, as well as state and foreign income tax examinations for various years depending on statute of limitations of those jurisdictions.
We have taken federal and state tax positions for which it is reasonably possible that the total amount of unrecognized tax benefits may decrease within the next twelve months. The possible decrease could result from the expiration of statutes of limitations. The reasonably possible decrease at December 31, 2023 was insignificant.
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We recognize accrued interest and penalties, if any, related to unrecognized tax benefits as a component of income tax expense.
The increase in our effective income tax rate for year ended December 31, 2023, when compared to the same period in 2022, was primarily attributable to higher 2023 non-deductible accruals for loss contingencies related to the Security Incident and other non-deductible expenses and tax rate changes, partially offset by increased tax credits. Furthermore, our 2023 effective tax rate was negatively impacted by higher tax rates in foreign jurisdictions in which we operate which were predominantly due to UK tax rate increases.
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Non-GAAP Financial Measures
The operating results analyzed below are presented on a non-GAAP basis. We use non-GAAP financial measures internally in analyzing our operational performance. Accordingly, we believe these non-GAAP measures are useful to investors, as a supplement to GAAP measures, in evaluating our ongoing operational performance. While we believe these non-GAAP measures provide useful supplemental information, non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered in isolation from, or as a substitute for, financial information prepared in accordance with GAAP. In addition, these non-GAAP financial measures may not be completely comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies due to potential differences in the exact method of calculation between companies.
The non-GAAP financial measures discussed below exclude the impact of certain transactions because we believe they are not directly related to our operating performance in any particular period, but are for our long-term benefit over multiple periods. We believe that these non-GAAP financial measures reflect our ongoing business in a manner that allows for meaningful period-to-period comparisons and analysis of trends in our business.
Years ended December 31,
(dollars in millions, except per share amounts) 2023 2022
GAAP gross margin 54.6 % 52.2 %
Non-GAAP adjustments:
Add: Stock-based compensation expense 16.7 14.4
Add: Amortization of intangibles from business combinations 52.5 48.5
Add: Employee severance 0.8 2.1
Non-GAAP gross margin 60.9 % 58.4 %
GAAP income (loss) from operations $ 44.7 $ (28.5)
GAAP operating margin 4.0 % (2.7) %
Non-GAAP adjustments:
Add: Stock-based compensation expense 127.8 110.3
Add: Amortization of intangibles from business combinations 55.6 51.4
Add: Employee severance 5.1 5.2
Add: Acquisition and disposition-related costs(2)(3) 7.5 6.1
Add: Restructuring and other real estate activities — 0.1
Add: Security Incident-related costs, net of insurance(4) 53.4 55.7
Add: Impairment of capitalized software development costs — 2.3
Non-GAAP income from operations(1) $ 294.1 $ 202.6
Non-GAAP operating margin 26.6 % 19.1 %
GAAP income (loss) before provision (benefit) for income taxes $ 17.6 $ (55.6)
GAAP net income (loss) $ 1.8 $ (45.4)
GAAP diluted earnings (loss) per share $ 0.03 $ (0.88)
Non-GAAP adjustments:
Add: GAAP income tax provision (benefit) 15.8 (10.2)
Add: Total non-GAAP adjustments affecting income from operations 249.4 231.1
Non-GAAP income before provision for income taxes 267.0 175.5
Assumed non-GAAP income tax provision(5) 53.4 35.1
Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share $ 3.98 $ 2.69
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(1)The individual amounts for each year may not sum to subtotal, non-GAAP gross profit, non-GAAP income from operations, non-GAAP income before provision for income taxes or non-GAAP net income due to rounding.
(2)Includes a $2.0 million noncash impairment of certain intangible assets held for sale during the twelve months ended December 31, 2022.
(3)Includes noncash impairment charges incurred during the twelve months ended December 31, 2023 related to the sublease of our Washington, DC office location the lease of which was acquired during the EVERFI acquisition.
(4)Includes Security Incident-related costs incurred during the twelve months ended December 31, 2023 of $53.4 million, which includes approximately $31.0 million in settlements and recorded aggregate liabilities for loss contingencies, net of insurance recoveries during the same period of $0.0 million and during the twelve months ended December 31, 2022 of $57.6 million, which included approximately $23.0 million in recorded aggregate liabilities for loss contingencies, net of insurance recoveries during the same period of $1.9 million. Recorded expenses consisted primarily of payments to third-party service providers and consultants, including legal fees, as well as settlements of customer claims, negotiated settlements and accruals for certain loss contingencies. Not included in this adjustment were costs associated with enhancements to our cybersecurity program. For full year 2024, we currently expect net pre-tax expense of approximately $5 million to $10 million and net cash outlays of approximately $8 million to $13 million for ongoing legal fees related to the Security Incident. In line with our policy, legal fees, are expensed as incurred. As of December 31, 2023, we have recorded approximately $1.5 million in aggregate liabilities for loss contingencies based primarily on recent negotiations with certain customers related to the Security Incident that we believe we can reasonably estimate. In connection with the settlement of the multi-state Attorneys General investigation (as previously disclosed on October 5, 2023), we paid $49.5 million during the fourth quarter of 2023. There are other Security Incident-related matters, including customer claims, customer constituent class actions and governmental investigations, for which we have not recorded a liability for a loss contingency as of December 31, 2023 because we are unable at this time to reasonably estimate the possible loss or range of loss. Each of these matters could, separately or in the aggregate, result in an adverse judgement, settlement, fine, penalty or other resolution, the amount, scope and timing of which we are currently unable to predict, but could have a material adverse impact on our results of operations, cash flows or financial condition.
(5)We apply a non-GAAP effective tax rate of 20.0% when calculating non-GAAP net income and non-GAAP diluted earnings per share.
Beginning in 2024, we intend to update the non-GAAP tax rate we apply when calculating non-GAAP net income and non-GAAP diluted earnings per share in future periods. Since the first quarter of 2018, for the purposes of determining non-GAAP net income, we have utilized a non-GAAP tax rate of 20.0% in our calculation of the assumed non-GAAP income tax provision. We intend to adjust this rate to 24.5% to better reflect our periodic effective tax rate calculated in accordance with GAAP and our current expectations. The increase in our non-GAAP tax rate is primarily driven by increases in income tax rates in jurisdictions we operate in. Furthermore, as profitability increases, the effect of tax impacting items, including research and development credits, lessens such that our assumed non-GAAP tax rate moves closer to the statutory rate. The increase in our non-GAAP tax rate is primarily driven by increases in income tax rates in jurisdictions we operate in. Furthermore, as our non-GAAP profitability increases, the effect of tax impacting items lessens such that our assumed non-GAAP tax rate moves closer to the statutory tax rate. The non-GAAP tax rate utilized in future periods will be reviewed annually to determine whether it remains appropriate in consideration of our financial results including our periodic effective tax rate calculated in accordance with GAAP, our operating environment and related tax legislation in effect and other factors deemed necessary. All measures of the tax impact related to non-GAAP net income and non-GAAP diluted earnings per share included above are calculated under our historical methodology.
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Non-GAAP organic revenue growth
In addition, we use non-GAAP organic revenue growth, non-GAAP organic revenue growth on a constant currency basis, non-GAAP organic recurring revenue growth and non-GAAP organic recurring revenue growth on a constant currency basis in analyzing our operating performance. We believe that these non-GAAP measures are useful to investors, as a supplement to GAAP measures, for evaluating the periodic growth of our business on a consistent basis. Each of these measures of non-GAAP organic revenue growth excludes incremental acquisition-related revenue attributable to companies acquired in the current fiscal year. For companies, if any, acquired in the immediately preceding fiscal year, each of these non-GAAP organic revenue growth measures reflects presentation of full year incremental non-GAAP revenue derived from such companies as if they were combined throughout the prior period. In addition, each of these non-GAAP organic revenue growth measures excludes prior period revenue associated with divested businesses. The exclusion of the prior period revenue is to present the results of the divested businesses within the results of the combined company for the same period of time in both the prior and current periods. We believe this presentation provides a more comparable representation of our current business’ organic revenue growth and revenue run-rate.
Years ended December 31,
GAAP revenue growth 4.5 %
Less: Non-GAAP revenue from divested businesses(1) — (3.5)
Non-GAAP organic revenue growth 4.8 %
Foreign currency impact on Non-GAAP organic revenue(3) 0.4 —
Non-GAAP organic revenue on constant currency basis(3) $ 1,105.9 $ 1,054.6
Non-GAAP organic revenue growth on constant currency basis 4.9 %
GAAP recurring revenue growth 5.9 %
Less: Non-GAAP recurring revenue from divested businesses(1) — (3.4)
Non-GAAP organic recurring revenue $ 1,071.5 $ 1,008.3
Non-GAAP organic recurring revenue growth 6.3 %
Non-GAAP organic recurring revenue(2) $ 1,071.5 $ 1,008.3
Foreign currency impact on non-GAAP organic recurring revenue(3) 0.5 —
Non-GAAP organic recurring revenue growth on constant currency basis 6.3 %
(1)Non-GAAP revenue from divested businesses excludes revenue associated with divested businesses. The exclusion of the prior period revenue is to present the results of the divested business with the results of the combined company for the same period of time in both the prior and current periods.
(2)Non-GAAP organic revenue and non-GAAP organic recurring revenue for the prior year periods presented herein may not agree to non-GAAP organic revenue and non-GAAP organic recurring revenue presented in the respective prior period quarterly financial information solely due to the manner in which non-GAAP organic revenue growth and non-GAAP organic recurring revenue growth are calculated.
(3)To determine non-GAAP organic revenue growth and non-GAAP organic recurring revenue growth on a constant currency basis, revenues from entities reporting in foreign currencies were translated to U.S. Dollars using the comparable prior period's quarterly weighted average foreign currency exchange rates. The primary foreign currencies creating the impact are the Australian Dollar, British Pound, Canadian Dollar and Euro.
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Rule of 40
We previously defined Rule of 40 as non-GAAP organic revenue growth plus non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA margin. Non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA is defined as GAAP net income plus interest, net; income tax provision (benefit); depreciation; amortization of intangible assets from business combinations; amortization of software and content development costs; stock-based compensation; employee severance; acquisition and disposition-related costs; restructuring and other real estate activities; Security Incident-related costs, net of insurance; and impairment of capitalized software development costs. Beginning in the fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2022, we now also include in non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA impairment of capitalized software and content development costs because we believe it is not directly related to our operating performance in any particular period.
Years ended December 31,
GAAP net income (loss) $ 1.8 $ (45.4)
Non-GAAP adjustments:
Add: GAAP income tax provision (benefit) 15.8 (10.2)
Add: Amortization of intangibles from business combinations 55.6 51.4
Add: Amortization of software and content development costs(1) 45.3 39.0
Non-GAAP EBITDA margin(3) 14.7 %
Non-GAAP adjustments:
Add: Stock-based compensation expense 127.8 110.3
Add: Employee severance 5.1 5.2
Add: Acquisition and disposition-related costs(4) 7.5 6.1
Add: Restructuring and other real estate activities — 0.1
Add: Security Incident-related costs, net of insurance(4) 53.4 55.7
Add: Impairment of capitalized software development costs — 2.3
Non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA margin(5) 32.2 %
Foreign currency impact on Non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA — 6.3
Non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA on constant currency basis(7) 356.5 268.9
Non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA margin on constant currency basis(7) 32.2 %
Rule of 40 on constant currency basis(8) 37.1 %
(1)Includes amortization expense related to software and content development costs and amortization expense from capitalized cloud computing implementation costs.
(2)The individual amounts for each year may not sum to subtotal, non-GAAP EBITDA, non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA or non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA on a constant currency basis due to rounding.
(3)Measured by GAAP revenue divided by non-GAAP EBITDA.
(4)See additional details in the reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP operating income above.
(5)Measured by non-GAAP organic revenue divided by non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA.
(6)Measured by non-GAAP organic revenue growth plus non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA margin. See Non-GAAP organic revenue growth table above.
(7)To determine non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA on a constant currency basis, non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA from entities reporting in foreign currencies were translated to U.S. Dollars using the comparable prior period's quarterly weighted average foreign currency exchange rates. The primary foreign currencies creating the impact are the Australian Dollar, British Pound, Canadian Dollar and Euro.
(8)Measured by non-GAAP organic revenue growth on constant currency basis plus non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA margin on constant currency basis. See Non-GAAP organic revenue growth table above.
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Non-GAAP free cash flow and non-GAAP adjusted free cash flow
Non-GAAP free cash flow is defined as operating cash flow less capital expenditures, including costs required to be capitalized for software and content development, and capital expenditures for property and equipment.
Non-GAAP adjusted free cash flow is defined as operating cash flow less capital expenditures, including costs required to be capitalized for software and content development and capital expenditures for property and equipment, plus cash outflows, net of insurance, related to the Security Incident.
We believe non-GAAP free cash flow and non-GAAP adjusted free cash flow provides useful measures of the Company's operating performance. Non-GAAP adjusted free cash flow is not intended to represent and should not be viewed as the amount of residual cash flow available for discretionary expenditures.
Years ended December 31,
GAAP net cash provided by operating activities $ 199.6 $ 203.9
GAAP operating cash flow margin 18.1 % 19.3 %
Non-GAAP adjustments:
Less: purchase of property and equipment (4.7) (12.3)
Less: capitalized software and content development costs (59.4) (58.8)
Non-GAAP free cash flow margin 12.3 % 12.6 %
Non-GAAP adjustments:
Add: Security Incident-related cash flows, net of insurance 78.0 20.9
Non-GAAP adjusted free cash flow(1) $ 213.5 $ 153.7
Non-GAAP adjusted free cash flow margin 19.3 % 14.5 %
(1)The individual amounts for each year may not sum to non-GAAP free cash flow or non-GAAP adjusted free cash flow due to rounding.
Seasonality
Our revenues normally fluctuate as a result of certain seasonal variations in our business. Our first quarter has historically been the seasonal low for bookings, with the second and fourth quarters historically being seasonally higher, and our bookings tend to be back-end loaded within individual quarters given our quarterly quota plans. Transactional revenue is non-contractual and less predictable given the susceptibility to certain drivers such as timing and number of events and marketing campaigns, as well as fluctuations in donation volumes and tuition payments. Our transactional revenue has historically been at its lowest in the first quarter due to the timing of customer fundraising initiatives and events. We have historically experienced seasonal highs during the fourth quarter due to year-end giving campaigns and during the second quarter when a large number of events are held. Our revenue from professional services has historically been lower in the first quarter when many of those services commence and in the fourth quarter due to the holiday season. As a result of these and other factors, our total revenue has historically been lower in the first quarter than in the remainder of our fiscal year, with the fourth quarter historically achieving the highest total revenue. Our expenses, other than transaction-based costs related to our payments services, do not vary significantly as a result of these factors, but do fluctuate on a quarterly basis due to varying timing of expenditures.
Our cash flow from operations normally fluctuates quarterly due to the combination of the timing of customer contract renewals including renewals associated with customers of acquired companies, delivery of professional services and occurrence of customer events, as well as merit-based salary increases, among other factors. Historically, due to lower revenues in our first quarter, combined with the payment of certain annual vendor contracts, our cash flow from operations has been lowest in our first quarter. Due to the timing of customer contract renewals and student enrollments, many of which take place at or near the beginning of our third quarter, our cash flow from operations has generally been lower in our second quarter as compared to our third and fourth quarters. Partially offsetting these favorable drivers of cash flow from operations in our third and fourth quarters are base salary merit increases, which occur in July. In addition, deferred revenues can vary on a seasonal basis due to the timing of customer contract renewals and student enrollments or significant acquisitions. Our cash flow from financing is negatively impacted in our first quarter when most of our equity awards vest, as we pay taxes on behalf of our employees related to the settlement or exercise of equity awards.
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These patterns may change as a result of the continued shift to online giving, growth in volume of transactions for which we process payments, large dollar customer bookings and contract renewals, or as a result of acquisitions, new market opportunities, new solution introductions or other factors.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
The following table presents selected financial information about our financial position:
(dollars in millions) December 31,2023 December 31,2022 Change
Cash and cash equivalents $ 31.3 $ 31.7 (1.4) %
Property and equipment, net 98.7 107.4 (8.1) %
Software and content development costs, net 160.2 141.0 13.6 %
The following table presents selected financial information about our cash flows:
Years ended December 31,
Net cash provided by operating activities $ 199.6 $ 203.9 (2.1) %
Net cash used in investing activities (64.4) (85.5) (24.7) %
Net cash used in financing activities (143.0) (25.7) 456.5 %
Our principal sources of liquidity are our operating cash flow, funds available under the 2020 Credit Facility and cash on hand. Our operating cash flow depends on continued customer renewal of our subscription and maintenance arrangements, market acceptance of our solutions and services, the volume and size of transactions for which we process payments and our customers' ability to pay. Based on current estimates of revenue and expenses, we believe that the currently available sources of funds and anticipated cash flows from operations will be adequate for at least the next twelve months to finance our operations, fund anticipated capital expenditures and meet our debt obligations. We also believe that we will be able to continue to meet our long-term cash requirements due to our anticipated cash flow from operations, solid financial position and ability to access capital from financial markets. To the extent we undertake future material acquisitions, investments or unanticipated capital or operating expenditures, including in connection with the Security Incident, we may require additional capital. In that context, we regularly evaluate opportunities to enhance our capital structure, including through potential debt or equity issuances.
As a well-known seasoned issuer, we filed an automatic shelf registration statement for an undetermined amount of debt and equity securities with the SEC on January 14, 2022. Under this universal shelf registration statement we may offer and sell, from time to time, debt securities, common stock, preferred stock, depositary shares, warrants, stock purchase contracts and stock purchase units. Subject to certain conditions, this registration statement will be effective through January 13, 2025.
We resumed stock repurchases during the fourth quarter of 2023 under our then existing stock repurchase program that authorized us to purchase up to $250.0 million of our outstanding shares of common stock. On January 17, 2024, our Board of Directors reauthorized, expanded and replenished our stock repurchase program by raising the total capacity under the program from $250.0 million to $500.0 million available for repurchases. The remaining amount available to purchase stock under the stock repurchase program was $499.4 million as of February 16, 2024. We plan to repurchase shares going forward to at least offset the dilution from our annual stock-based compensation and possibly beyond that amount as market conditions and our strategic plans permit. See additional details regarding our stock repurchase program below on page 56.
At December 31, 2023, our total cash and cash equivalents balance included approximately $13.2 million of cash that was held by operations outside the U.S. While these funds may not be needed to fund our U.S. operations for at least the next twelve months, if we need these funds, we may be required to accrue and pay taxes to repatriate the funds. We currently do not intend nor anticipate a need to repatriate our cash held outside the U.S.
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Operating Cash Flow
Throughout 2023 and 2022, our cash flows from operations were derived principally from: (i) our earnings from on-going operations prior to non-cash expenses such as depreciation, amortization, stock-based compensation, deferred income taxes, amortization of deferred financing costs and debt discount and adjustments to our provision for credit losses and sales returns; and (ii) changes in our working capital.
Working capital changes are comprised of changes in accounts receivable, prepaid expenses and other assets, trade accounts payable, accrued expenses and other liabilities and deferred revenue.
Net cash provided by operating activities decreased by $4.3 million during the year ended December 31, 2023, when compared to the same period in 2022, primarily due to a $71.3 million increase in net income adjusted for non-cash expenses and a $75.5 million decrease in cash flow from operations associated with working capital.
The decrease in cash flow from operations associated with working capital during 2023, when compared to 2022, was primarily due to:
•fluctuations in the timing of vendor payments; and
•a decrease in accrued expenses related to the Security Incident.
Security Incident update
As discussed in Note 11 to our consolidated financial statements included in this report, total costs related to the Security Incident exceeded the limit of our insurance coverage in the first quarter of 2022. Accordingly, the Security Incident has negatively impacted, and we expect it to continue for the foreseeable future to negatively impact, our GAAP profitability and GAAP cash flow (see discussion regarding non-GAAP free cash flow and non-GAAP adjusted free cash flow on page 53). For full year 2023, we had net cash outlays of $78.0 million related to the Security Incident, which included ongoing legal fees, the $3.0 million civil penalty paid during the first quarter of 2023 related to the SEC settlement and the $49.5 million civil penalty paid during the fourth quarter of 2023 related to the multi-state Attorneys General settlement. For full year 2024, we currently expect net pre-tax expense of approximately $5.0 million to $10.0 million and net cash outlays of approximately $8.0 million to $13.0 million for ongoing legal fees related to the Security Incident.
As of December 31, 2023, we have recorded approximately $1.5 million in aggregate liabilities for loss contingencies based primarily on recent negotiations with certain customers related to the Security Incident that we believe we can reasonably estimate in accordance with our loss contingency procedures described in Note 11. It is reasonably possible that our estimated or actual losses may change in the near term for those matters and be materially in excess of the amounts accrued, but we are unable at this time to reasonably estimate the possible additional loss.
There are other Security Incident-related matters, including customer claims, customer constituent class actions and governmental investigations, for which we have not recorded a liability for a loss contingency as of December 31, 2023 because we are unable at this time to reasonably estimate the possible loss or range of loss. Each of these matters could, separately or in the aggregate, result in an adverse judgement, settlement, fine, penalty or other resolution, the amount, scope and timing of which we are currently unable to predict, but could have a material adverse impact on our results of operations, cash flows or financial condition.
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Investing Cash Flow
During 2024, we expect our total capital expenditures, including estimated outlays for capitalized software development costs, to be between approximately $65.0 million and $75.0 million.
Net cash used in investing activities of $64.4 million decreased by $21.2 million during 2023, when compared to 2022.
During 2022, we received net cash of $6.4 million related to our disposition of Blackbaud FIMSTM and DonorCentral® NXT.
During 2022, we used $20.9 million of net cash for our acquisitions of EVERFI and Kilter, comprised primarily of (i) $17.4 million that had not been paid by EVERFI to its former option holders as of December 31, 2021, solely due to the timing of the acquisition on the last day of 2021; (ii) $2.9 million that was paid to acquire Kilter; and (iii) $2.6 million that was paid to a number of EVERFI's selling shareholders after determining they would be paid in cash, rather than shares of our common stock.
During 2023, we used $59.4 million for software and content development costs, which was up $0.7 million from cash spent during 2022. We also spent $4.7 million of cash for purchases of property and equipment during 2023, which was a decrease of $7.6 million from cash spent in 2022.
Financing Cash Flow
During 2023, we had a net decrease in borrowings of $81.4 million. During 2023, we repurchased $18.8 million of our common stock while we did not repurchase any of our common stock during 2022 (see additional details below regarding our stock repurchase program).
We paid $35.9 million to satisfy tax obligations of employees upon settlement or exercise of equity awards during 2023 compared to $36.4 million during 2022. The amount of taxes paid by us on behalf of employees related to the settlement or exercise of equity awards varies from period to period based upon the timing of grants and vesting, as well as the market price for shares of our common stock at the time of settlement. Most of our equity awards currently vest in our first quarter.
During 2023, cash flow from financing activities associated with changes in restricted cash due to customers decreased$6.8 million, compared to an increase of $111.4 million during 2022. This line in the statement of cash flows represents the change in the amount of restricted cash held and payable by us to customers from one period to the next. This restricted cash due to customers is not available to us for operational purposes.
Stock repurchase program
In December 2021, our Board of Directors reauthorized, expanded and replenished our stock repurchase program that authorizes us to purchase up to $250.0 million of our outstanding shares of common stock. The program does not have an expiration date. Under the stock repurchase program, we are authorized to repurchase shares from time to time in accordance with applicable laws both on the open market, including under trading plans established pursuant to Rule 10b5-1 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and in privately negotiated transactions. The timing and amount of repurchases depends on several factors, including market and business conditions, the trading price of our common stock and the nature of other investment opportunities. The repurchase program may be limited, suspended or discontinued at any time without prior notice. During the year ended December 31, 2023, we repurchased 221,836 shares for $18.8 million. The remaining amount available to purchase stock under the then approved stock repurchase program was $231.2 million as of December 31, 2023.
On January 17, 2024, our Board of Directors reauthorized, expanded and replenished our stock repurchase program by raising the total capacity under the program from $250.0 million to $500.0 million available for repurchases. Between January 1, 2024 and January 17, 2024, we repurchased $22.3 million under the prior authorization. Between January 18, 2024 and February 16, 2024, we repurchased an additional 7,114 shares for $0.6 million under the new authorization. The remaining amount available to purchase stock under the stock repurchase program was $499.4 million as of February 16, 2024. We plan
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to repurchase shares going forward to at least offset the dilution from our annual stock-based compensation and possibly beyond that amount as market conditions and our strategic plans permit.
2020 Credit Facility
Historically, we have drawn on our credit facility from time to time to help us meet financial needs primarily due to the seasonality of our cash flows from operations and financing for business acquisitions. At December 31, 2023, our available borrowing capacity under the 2020 Credit Facility was $384.5 million. The 2020 Credit Facility matures in October 2025.
At December 31, 2023, the carrying amount of our debt under the 2020 Credit Facility was $720.6 million. Our average daily borrowings were $760.2 million during 2023.
The term loans under the 2020 Credit Facility and our other debt require periodic principal payments. The balance of the term loans and any amounts drawn on the revolving credit loans are due upon maturity of the 2020 Credit Facility in October 2025. Certain real estate loans (as described in Note 9 to our audited consolidated financial statements included in this report) also require periodic principal payments and the balances of the real estate loans are due upon maturity in April 2038.
The following is a summary of the financial covenants under the 2020 Credit Facility:
Financial Covenant Requirement Ratio as of December 31, 2023
(1)Under the terms of the 2020 Credit Facility, the Net Leverage Ratio requirement may be increased by up to 0.50 provided we satisfy certain requirements, including a permitted business acquisition, and provided that the maximum Net Leverage Ratio shall not exceed 4.25 to 1.00.
Under the 2020 Credit Facility, we also have restrictions on our ability to declare and pay dividends and our ability to repurchase shares of our common stock. In order to pay any cash dividends and/or repurchase shares of stock: (i) no default or event of default shall have occurred and be continuing under the 2020 Credit Facility, and (ii) our pro forma net leverage ratio, as set forth in the 2020 Credit Facility, must be 0.25 less than the net leverage ratio requirement at the time of dividend declaration or stock repurchase. At December 31, 2023, we were in compliance with our debt covenants under the 2020 Credit Facility. See Note 9 to our consolidated financial statements included in this report for additional information regarding the 2020 Credit Facility.
Commitments and Contingencies
As of December 31, 2023, we had contractual obligations with future minimum commitments as follows:
Payments due by period
(in millions) Less than1 year More than1 year Total(1)
Recorded contractual obligations:
Interest payments on debt — 5.5 5.5
Contingent consideration — 1.4 1.4
Unrecorded contractual obligations:
(1)The individual amounts may not sum to the total due to rounding.
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Debt
As of December 31, 2023, we had total remaining principal payments of $781.1 million. These payments represent principal payments only, under the following assumptions: (i) that the amounts outstanding under the 2020 Credit Facility, our real estate loans and our other debt at December 31, 2023 will remain outstanding until maturity, with minimum payments occurring as currently scheduled, and (ii) that there are no assumed future borrowings on the 2020 Revolving Facility for the purposes of determining minimum commitment amounts. See Note 9 to our consolidated financial statements in this report for more information.
Interest payments on debt
In addition to principal payments, as of December 31, 2023, we expect to pay interest expense over the life of our debt obligations of approximately $96.4 million. These payments represent our estimated future interest payments on debt using our debt balances and the related weighted average effective interest rates as of December 31, 2023, which includes the effect of interest rate swap agreements. The actual interest expense recognized in our consolidated statements of comprehensive income will depend on the amount of debt, the length of time the debt is outstanding and the interest rate, which could be different from our assumptions on our remaining principal payments described above.
Operating leases
As of December 31, 2023, we had remaining operating lease payments of $55.5 million. These payments have not been reduced by sublease income, incentive payments, reimbursement of leasehold improvements or the amount representing imputed interest of $8.7 million. Our operating leases are generally for corporate offices, subleased offices and certain equipment and furniture. Given our remote-first workforce strategy and real estate footprint optimization efforts, as discussed above, we do not anticipate entering any new, material operating leases for offices for the foreseeable future. See Note 11 to our consolidated financial statements in this report for more information.
Purchase obligations
As of December 31, 2023, we had remaining purchase obligations of $257.6 million. These purchase obligations are for third-party technology used in our solutions and for other services we purchase as part of our normal operations. In certain cases, these arrangements require a minimum annual purchase commitment by us. Our purchase obligations are not recorded as liabilities on our consolidated balance sheets as of December 31, 2023, as we had not received the related services. See Note 11 to our consolidated financial statements in this report for more information.
The total liability for uncertain tax positions as of December 31, 2023 was $3.2 million. Our accrued interest and penalties related to tax positions taken on our tax returns was insignificant as of December 31, 2023.
In connection with the settlement of the multi-state Attorneys General investigation relating to the Security Incident, as discussed in Note 11 to our consolidated financial statements in this report, we have agreed to implement and improve certain of our cybersecurity programs and tools through October 2030. The currently anticipated costs in connection with these efforts are expected to be expensed as incurred.
Contingent consideration
In connection with our acquisition of Kilter, we are obligated to pay contingent consideration upon the achievement of certain milestones. For information regarding our contingent consideration obligations, see Note 3 to our consolidated financial statements in this report.
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Foreign Currency Exchange Rates
Approximately 14% of our total revenue for 2023 was generated from operations outside the U.S. We do not have significant operations in countries in which the economy is considered to be highly inflationary. Our consolidated financial statements are denominated in U.S. dollars and, accordingly, changes in the exchange rate between foreign currencies and the U.S. dollar will affect the translation of our subsidiaries’ financial results into U.S. dollars for purposes of reporting our consolidated financial results. The accumulated currency translation adjustment, recorded within accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income as a component of stockholders’ equity, was a loss of $9.8 million as of December 31, 2023 and a loss of $14.9 million as of December 31, 2022. We have entered into foreign currency forward contracts to hedge a portion of the foreign currency exposure that arises on translation of our investments denominated in British Pounds into U.S. dollars.
The vast majority of our contracts are entered into by our U.S. or U.K. entities. The contracts entered into by the U.S. entity are almost always denominated in U.S. dollars or Canadian dollars, and contracts entered into by our U.K., Australian and Irish subsidiaries are generally denominated in British Pounds, Australian dollars and Euros, respectively. Historically, as the U.S. dollar weakened, foreign currency translation resulted in an increase in our revenues and expenses denominated in non-U.S. currencies. Conversely, as the U.S. dollar strengthened, foreign currency translation resulted in a decrease in our revenues and expenses denominated in non-U.S. currencies. During 2023, foreign translation had an insignificant impact on our revenues and expenses denominated in non-U.S. currencies. Though we have exposure to fluctuations in currency exchange rates, primarily those between the U.S. dollar and both the British Pound and Canadian dollar, the impact has generally not been material to our consolidated results of operations or financial position. During 2023, the fluctuation in foreign currency exchange rates impacted our total revenue and our income from operations by insignificant amounts. We have entered into foreign currency forward contracts to hedge revenues denominated in the Canadian dollar against changes in the exchange rate with the U.S. dollar. We will continue monitoring such exposure and take action as appropriate. To determine the impacts on revenue (or income from operations) from fluctuations in currency exchange rates, current period revenues (or income from operations) from entities reporting in foreign currencies were translated into U.S. dollars using the comparable prior year period's weighted average foreign currency exchange rates. These impacts are non-GAAP financial information and are not in accordance with, or an alternative to, information prepared in accordance with GAAP.
Critical Accounting Estimates
Our discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations are based upon our consolidated financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States ("GAAP"). The preparation of these financial statements requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, as well as the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting periods. On an ongoing basis, we reconsider and evaluate our estimates and assumptions.
We base our estimates on historical experience, current trends and various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results could materially differ from any of our estimates under different assumptions or conditions. Our significant accounting policies are discussed in Note 2 to our consolidated financial statements in this report. We believe the accounting estimates listed below are the most critical to aid in fully understanding and evaluating our reported financial results, and they require our most difficult, subjective or complex judgments, resulting from the need to make estimates about the effect of matters that are inherently uncertain.
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Revenue Recognition
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Business Combinations
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Income Taxes
Long-lived Assets and Intangible Assets Other Than Goodwill
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Loss Contingencies
Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements
For a discussion of the impact that recently issued accounting pronouncements are expected to have on our financial position and results of operations when adopted in the future, see Note 2 to our consolidated financial statements in this report.
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ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK
We have market rate sensitivity for interest rates and foreign currency exchange rates.
Interest Rate Risk
Our variable rate debt is our primary financial instrument with market risk exposure for changing interest rates. We manage our variable rate interest rate risk through a combination of short-term and long-term borrowings and the use of derivative instruments entered into for hedging purposes. Additionally, our interest income that we primarily earn on restricted cash held and payable by us to customers for our payment processing solutions acts as a partial natural hedge against our interest rate risk. Our interest rate exposure includes SOFR rates. Because the Financial Conduct Authority in the U.K. previously stated that it would phase out all tenors of LIBOR by June 2023, we modified our financial contracts that were indexed to LIBOR to reference SOFR during 2022. These modifications did not have a significant financial impact. Due to the nature of our debt, the materiality of the fair values of the derivative instruments and the highly liquid, short-term nature and level of our cash and cash equivalents as of December 31, 2023, we believe that the risk of exposure to changing interest rates for those positions is immaterial. There were no significant changes in how we manage interest rate risk between December 31, 2022 and December 31, 2023.
Foreign Currency Risk
For a discussion of our exposure to foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations, see “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations — Foreign Currency Exchange Rates” in Item 7 of this report.
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ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA
BLACKBAUD, INC.
Index to Consolidated Financial Statements
Page No.
Consolidated Balance Sheets 70
Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive (Loss) Income 71
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows 72
Consolidated Statements of Stockholders’ Equity 73
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements 74
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
To the Stockholders and the Board of Directors of Blackbaud, Inc.
Opinion on the Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Blackbaud, Inc. (the Company) as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, the related consolidated statements of comprehensive loss, cash flows, and stockholders’ equity for each of the two years in the period ended December 31, 2023, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the “consolidated financial statements”). In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company at December 31, 2023 and 2022, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the two years in the period ended December 31, 2023, in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.
We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB), the Company's internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2023, based on criteria established in Internal Control-Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (2013 framework) and our report dated February 21, 2024, expressed an unqualified opinion thereon.
Basis for Opinion
These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company's management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audits to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
Critical Audit Matter
The critical audit matter communicated below is a matter arising from the current period audit of the financial statements that was communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that: (1) relates to accounts or disclosures that are material to the financial statements and (2) involved our especially challenging, subjective or complex judgments. The communication of the critical audit matter does not alter in any way our opinion on the consolidated financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matter below, providing a separate opinion on the critical audit matter or on the account or disclosure to which it relates.
Revenue Recognition - Payment Processing Services
/s/ Ernst & Young LLP
We have served as the Company's auditor since 2021.
Raleigh, North Carolina
February 21, 2024
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
To the Stockholders and the Board of Directors of Blackbaud, Inc.
Opinion on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
We have audited Blackbaud, Inc.’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2023, based on criteria established in Internal Control—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (2013 Framework) (the COSO criteria). In our opinion, Blackbaud, Inc. (the Company) maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2023, based on the COSO criteria.
We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB), the consolidated balance sheets of the Company as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, and the related consolidated statements of comprehensive loss, cash flows, and stockholders' equity for the two years in the period ended December 31, 2023, and the related notes and our report dated February 21, 2024 expressed an unqualified opinion thereon.
Basis for Opinion
The Company’s management is responsible for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting included in the accompanying Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects.
Our audit included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk, and performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.
Definition and Limitations of Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.
/s/ Ernst & Young LLP
Raleigh, North Carolina
February 21, 2024
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
To the Board of Directors and Stockholders of Blackbaud, Inc.
Opinion on the Financial Statements
We have audited the consolidated statements of comprehensive (loss) income, of stockholders' equity and of cash flows of Blackbaud, Inc. and its subsidiaries (the “Company”) for the year ended December 31, 2021 including the related notes (collectively referred to as the “consolidated financial statements”). In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the results of operations and cash flows of the Company for the year ended December 31, 2021 in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
Basis for Opinion
These consolidated financial statements are the responsibility of the Company's management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s consolidated financial statements based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audit of these consolidated financial statements in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the consolidated financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud.
Our audit included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the consolidated financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the consolidated financial statements. Our audit also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the consolidated financial statements. We believe that our audit provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
/s/ PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Atlanta, Georgia
March 1, 2022
We served as the Company’s auditor from 2000 to 2022.
Blackbaud, Inc.
Consolidated Balance Sheets
Assets
Current assets:
Customer funds receivable 353 249
Prepaid expenses and other current assets 99,285 81,654
Liabilities and stockholders’ equity
Current liabilities:
Accrued expenses and other current liabilities 64,322 86,002
Deferred revenue, net of current portion 2,397 2,817
Operating lease liabilities, net of current portion 40,085 44,918
Commitments and contingencies (see Note 11)
Stockholders’ equity:
Preferred stock; 20,000,000 shares authorized; none outstanding — —
Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income (1,688) 8,938
Blackbaud, Inc.
Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive (Loss) Income
(dollars in thousands, except per share amounts) Years ended December 31,
Revenue
Cost of revenue
Operating expenses
Restructuring — — 263
Earnings (loss) per share
Common shares and equivalents outstanding
Other comprehensive (loss) income
Foreign currency translation adjustment $ 5,049 $ (16,160) $ 661
Blackbaud, Inc.
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
Years ended December 31,
Cash flows from operating activities
Amortization of deferred financing costs and discount 1,775 2,364 1,570
Cash flows from investing activities
Capitalized software and content development costs (59,443) (58,774) (40,489)
Cash received in sale of business — 6,426 —
Other investing activities (250) — —
Cash flows from financing activities
Debt issuance costs — — (3,106)
Stock issuance costs — (1,339) —
Change in customer funds receivable (60) 380 (731)
Supplemental disclosure of cash flow information
Non-cash investing and financing activities:
Purchase of EVERFI through the issuance of stock (see Note 3) — — (303,633)
The following table provides a reconciliation of cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash reported within the consolidated balance sheets that sum to the total of the same such amounts shown above in the consolidated statements of cash flows:
Blackbaud, Inc.
Consolidated Statements of Stockholders' Equity
Shares Amount Shares Amount
Vesting of restricted stock units 1,014,562 1 — — — — — 1
Restricted stock grants 596,763 — — — — — — —
Restricted stock cancellations (194,720) — — — — — — —
Other comprehensive income — — — — — 9,019 — 9,019
Vesting of restricted stock units 1,015,304 — — — — — — —
Restricted stock grants 846,295 2 — — — — — 2
Restricted stock cancellations (179,686) — — — — — — —
Other comprehensive income — — — — — 2,416 — 2,416
Retirements of common stock(1) (143) — — — (14) — — (14)
Vesting of restricted stock units 1,007,921 — — — — — — —
Restricted stock grants 473,341 1 — — — — — 1
Restricted stock cancellations (106,859) — — — — — — —
Other comprehensive loss — — — — — (10,626) — (10,626)
(1)Represents shares retired after determining certain EVERFI's selling shareholders would be paid in cash, rather than shares of our common stock. See Note 3 for additional information regarding our acquisition of EVERFI.
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Blackbaud, Inc.
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
1. Organization
We are the leading software provider exclusively dedicated to powering social impact. Serving the nonprofit and education sectors, companies committed to social responsibility and individual change makers, our essential software is built to accelerate impact in fundraising, nonprofit financial management, digital giving, grantmaking, corporate social responsibility and education management. A remote-first company, we have operations in the United States, Australia, Canada, Costa Rica and the United Kingdom, supporting users in 100+ countries.
2. Basis of Presentation
Basis of presentation
The consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”).
Basis of consolidation
The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Blackbaud, Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiaries. All intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.
Use of estimates
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, as well as the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting periods. On an ongoing basis, we reconsider and evaluate our estimates and assumptions, including those that impact revenue recognition, long-lived and intangible assets, income taxes, business combinations, stock-based compensation, capitalization of software development costs, our allowances for credit losses and sales returns, costs of obtaining contracts, valuation of derivative instruments, loss contingencies and insurance recoveries, among others. Changes in the facts or circumstances underlying these estimates could result in material changes and actual results could materially differ from these estimates.
Recently adopted accounting pronouncements
In September 2022, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued Accounting Standards Update 2022-04, Liabilities-Supplier Finance Programs (Subtopic 405-50): Disclosure of Supplier Finance Program Obligations ("ASU 2022-04"). This update requires entities that use supplier finance programs in connection with the purchase of goods and services to disclose key terms of the programs and information about obligations outstanding at the end of the reporting period, including a rollforward of those obligations. The guidance does not affect the recognition, measurement, or financial statement presentation of supplier finance programs. We adopted ASU 2022-04 on January 1, 2023 and the adoption did not have a material impact on our condensed consolidated financial statements.
Recently issued accounting pronouncements
There are no recently issued accounting pronouncements that are expected to have a material impact on our financial position or results of operations when adopted in the future.
Summary of significant accounting policies
Revenue recognition
Our revenue is primarily generated from the following sources: (i) charging for the use of our software solutions in cloud and hosted environments; (ii) providing payment and transaction services; and (iii) providing Impact-as-a-ServiceTM digital educational content. Revenue is recognized when control of these services is transferred to our customers, in an amount that reflects the consideration we expect to be entitled to in exchange for those services.
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Blackbaud, Inc.
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
We determine revenue recognition through the following steps:
•Identification of the contract, or contracts, with a customer;
•Identification of the performance obligations in the contract;
•Determination of the transaction price;
•Allocation of the transaction price to the performance obligations in the contract; and
•Recognition of revenue when, or as, we satisfy a performance obligation.
Our recurring revenue includes two components: contractual recurring and transactional recurring.
Contractual recurring
Contractual recurring revenue is primarily comprised of fees for the use of our subscription-based software solutions, which includes providing access to cloud solutions, Impact-as-a-ServiceTM digital educational content, online training programs and subscription-based analytic services. Contractual recurring revenue also includes fees from maintenance services for our on-premises solutions.
Contractual recurring revenue represents stand-ready performance obligations in which we are making our solutions or services available to our customers continuously over time or the value of the contract renews. Therefore, recurring revenue is generally recognized over time on a ratable basis over the contract term, beginning on the date that the solution or service is made available to the customer. Our recurring revenue contracts are generally for a term of three years at contract inception with three-year renewals thereafter, billed annually in advance and non-cancelable.
Transactional recurring
Transactional recurring revenue is comprised of transaction fees associated with the use of our solutions, including donation processing, tuition management, consumer giving and event-based usage.
Our payment services are offered with the assistance of third-party vendors. In general, when we are the principal in a transaction based on the factors identified in ASC 606-10-55-36 through 55-40, we record the revenue and related costs on a gross basis. Otherwise, we net the cost of revenue associated with the service against the gross revenue (amount withheld for the transaction fees) and record the net amount as revenue. For payment and transaction services, we have the right to invoice the customer in an amount that directly corresponds with the value to the customer of our performance to date. Therefore, we recognize revenue for these services over time based on the amount we withhold for the transaction fees in accordance with the 'as invoiced' practical expedient in ASC 606-10-55-18.
One-time services and other
One-time services and other revenue is primarily comprised of fees for one-time consulting, analytic and onsite training services and fees for retained and managed services contracts that we do not expect to have a term consistent with our cloud solution contracts.
We generally bill consulting services based on hourly rates plus reimbursable travel-related expenses. Fixed price consulting engagements are generally billed as milestones towards completion are reached. Revenue for one-time consulting services is generally recognized over time as the services are performed.
Fees for retained and managed services contracts are generally billed in advance and recognized over time on a ratable basis over the contract term, beginning on the date the service is made available to the customer.
Contracts with multiple performance obligations
Some of our contracts with customers contain multiple performance obligations. For these contracts, we account for individual performance obligations separately if they are distinct. The transaction price is allocated to the separate performance obligations on a relative standalone selling price basis. Standalone selling prices of our solutions and services are typically estimated based on observable transactions when the solutions or services are sold on a standalone basis.
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Blackbaud, Inc.
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
Costs of obtaining contracts, contract assets and deferred revenue
We pay sales commissions at the time contracts with customers are signed or shortly thereafter, depending on the size and duration of the sales contract. Sales commissions and related fringe benefits earned by our sales force are considered incremental and recoverable costs of obtaining a contract with a customer. These costs are deferred and then amortized in a manner that aligns with the expected period of benefit, which we have historically determined to be five years. We determined the period of benefit by taking into consideration our customer contracts, including renewals, retention, our technology and other factors. We generally do not pay commissions for contract renewals that are commensurate with the commission paid on the initial contract. The related amortization expense is included in sales, marketing and customer success expense in our consolidated statements of comprehensive income.
A contract asset is recorded when revenue is recognized in advance of our right to receive consideration (i.e., we must satisfy additional performance obligations in order to receive consideration). Amounts are recorded as receivables when our right to consideration is unconditional (i.e., only the passage of time is required before payment of the consideration is due). Our contract assets are recorded within prepaid expenses and other current assets on our consolidated balance sheets. To the extent that our customers are billed for our solutions and services in advance of us satisfying the related performance obligations, we record such amounts in deferred revenue.
Sales taxes
We present sales taxes and other taxes collected from customers and remitted to governmental authorities on a net basis and, as such, exclude them from revenues.
Fair value measurements
We measure certain financial assets and liabilities at fair value on a recurring basis, including derivative instruments. Fair value is defined as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability (an exit price) in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. An active market is defined as a market in which transactions for the asset or liability take place with sufficient frequency and volume to provide pricing information on an ongoing basis. We use a three-tier fair value hierarchy to measure fair value. This hierarchy prioritizes the inputs into three broad levels as follows:
•Level 1 - Quoted prices for identical assets or liabilities in active markets;
•Level 2 - Quoted prices for similar assets and liabilities in active markets, quoted prices for identical or similar assets in markets that are not active, and model-derived valuations in which all significant inputs and significant value drivers are observable in active markets; and
•Level 3 - Valuations derived from valuation techniques in which one or more significant inputs are unobservable.
Our financial assets and liabilities are classified in their entirety within the hierarchy based on the lowest level of input that is significant to fair value measurement. Changes to a financial asset's or liability's level within the fair value hierarchy are determined as of the end of a reporting period. All methods of assessing fair value result in a general approximation of value, and such value may never actually be realized.
Derivative instruments
We generally use derivative instruments to manage interest rate and foreign currency exchange risk. We view derivative instruments as risk management tools and do not use them for trading or speculative purposes. Our policy requires that derivatives used for hedging purposes be designated and effective as a hedge of the identified risk exposure at the inception of the contract. Accordingly, changes in fair value of the derivative contract must be highly correlated with changes in the fair value of the underlying hedged item at inception of the hedge and over the life of the hedge contract.
We record all derivative instruments on our consolidated balance sheets at fair value as either an asset or liability. If the derivative is designated as a cash flow hedge, the effective portions of the changes in fair value of the derivative are recorded in other comprehensive income and reclassified to earnings in a manner that matches the timing of the earnings impact of the hedged transactions. If the derivative is designated as a net investment hedge, the effective portions of the changes in fair value of the derivative are recorded to translation adjustment, a component of other comprehensive income, and recognized in earnings only when the hedged investment is liquidated. Ineffective portions of the changes in the fair value of cash flow hedges are recognized currently in earnings. See Note 10 to these consolidated financial statements for further discussion of our derivative instruments.
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Blackbaud, Inc.
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
Cash and cash equivalents
We consider all highly liquid investments purchased with an original maturity of three months or less and cash items in transit to be cash equivalents.
Restricted cash due to customers; Customer funds receivable; Due to customers
Restricted cash due to customers consists of monies collected by us (or in transit) and payable to our customers, net of the associated transaction fees earned. Monies associated with amounts due to customers are segregated in separate bank accounts and used exclusively for the payment of amounts due to customers. This usage restriction is either legally or internally imposed and reflects our intention with regard to such deposits. Customer funds receivable consists of monies we expect to collect and remit to our customers.
Concentration of credit risk
Financial instruments that potentially subject us to concentrations of credit risk consist of cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash due to customers and accounts receivable. Our cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash due to customers are placed with high credit-quality financial institutions. Our accounts receivable is derived from sales to customers. With respect to accounts receivable, we perform ongoing evaluations of our customers and maintain an allowance for credit losses based on historical experience and our expectations of future credit losses. As of and for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, there were no significant concentrations with respect to our consolidated revenues or accounts receivable.
Property and equipment
We record property and equipment assets at cost and depreciate them over their estimated useful lives using the straight-line method. Leasehold improvements are depreciated over the lesser of the term of the lease or the estimated useful life of the asset. Upon retirement or sale, the cost of assets disposed of and the related accumulated depreciation are removed from the accounts and any resulting gain or loss is credited or charged to earnings. Repair and maintenance costs are expensed as incurred.
Construction-in-progress primarily related to purchases of information technology assets which had not been placed in service at the respective balance sheet dates. We transfer these assets to the applicable property and equipment category on the date they are placed in service. There was no capitalized interest applicable to construction-in-progress for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022.
Business combinations
We include the operating results of acquired companies as well as the net assets acquired and liabilities assumed in our consolidated financial statements from the date of acquisition. We are required to allocate the purchase price of acquired companies to the tangible and intangible assets acquired and liabilities assumed at the acquisition date based upon their estimated fair values. Goodwill as of the acquisition date represents the excess of the purchase consideration of an acquired business over the fair value of the underlying net tangible and intangible assets acquired and liabilities assumed.
We apply significant judgement in estimating the fair value of intangible assets acquired, which involves the use of significant assumptions. Significant assumptions used in the valuation of customer relationships include future revenue and operating expenses, customer attrition rates, contributory asset charges, tax amortization benefit, and discount rates. Significant assumptions used in the valuation of certain developed technology assets include future revenue, proprietary technology obsolescence curve, royalty rate, and discount rate. Significant assumptions used in the valuation of marketing assets include assumptions about the period of time the brand will continue to be valuable, royalty rate, and discount rate. Significant assumptions used in the valuation of content intangible assets include cost-based assumptions. Our estimates of fair value are based upon assumptions we believe to be reasonable, but which are inherently uncertain and unpredictable, and unanticipated events and changes in circumstances may occur.
Goodwill
Goodwill represents the purchase price in excess of the net amount assigned to assets acquired and liabilities assumed by us in a business combination. Goodwill is not amortized, but tested annually for impairment on the first day of our fourth quarter, or more frequently if indicators of potential impairment arise.
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Blackbaud, Inc.
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
Accounting guidance permits entities to first assess qualitative factors to determine whether it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying amount as a basis to determine whether it is necessary to perform the quantitative impairment test. Significant judgment is required in the assessment of qualitative factors, including but not limited to an evaluation of macroeconomic conditions as they relate to our business, industry and market trends, as well as the overall future financial performance of identified reporting units and future opportunities in the markets in which we operate.
The quantitative impairment test compares the fair values of identified reporting units with their respective carrying amounts. If the carrying amount of a reporting unit exceeds its fair value, an impairment loss is recognized in an amount equal to that excess. Based on our current internal reporting structure, we have one operating segment, one reportable segment, and one reporting unit. In each of 2023, 2022 and 2021, we performed the quantitative impairment test, which indicated that the estimated fair values of the identified reporting units significantly exceeded their respective carrying values. There were no impairments of goodwill during 2023, 2022 and 2021.
Intangible assets other than goodwill
We amortize finite-lived intangible assets over their estimated useful lives as follows.
Basis of amortization Amortizationperiod(in years)
Customer relationships Straight-line and Curve of Economic Benefit(1) 10-17
Marketing assets Straight-line and Curve of Economic Benefit(1) 14-15
Developed technology Straight-line and Curve of Economic Benefit(1) 3-14
Content Straight-line 9
(1)Certain of the customer relationships, marketing assets and developed technology assets are amortized on a curve that represents the expected period of economic benefit.
We write off the gross carrying amount and accumulated amortization balances for all fully amortized intangible assets. We evaluate the estimated useful lives and the potential for impairment of finite and indefinite-lived intangible assets on an annual basis or more frequently if events or circumstances indicate revised estimates of useful lives may be appropriate or that the carrying amount may be impaired. If the carrying amount of a finite-lived intangible asset is no longer recoverable based upon the undiscounted cash flows of the asset, the amount of impairment is the difference between the carrying amount and the fair value of the asset. All of our intangible assets were acquired in business combinations. See Note 6 to these consolidated financial statements for a discussion of our impairment of certain intangible assets during 2022. There were no impairments of acquired intangible assets during 2023 and 2021.
Impairment of long-lived assets
We review long-lived assets for impairment when events change or circumstances indicate the carrying amount may not be recoverable. Events or changes in circumstances that indicate the carrying amount may not be recoverable include, but are not limited to, a significant decrease in the market value of the business or asset acquired, a significant adverse change in the extent or manner in which the business or asset acquired is used or significant adverse change in the business climate. If such events or changes in circumstances are present, the undiscounted cash flow method is used to determine whether the asset or asset group is impaired. See Note 6 to these consolidated financial statements for a discussion of our impairment of certain long-lived assets during 2023, 2022 and 2021.
Deferred financing costs and debt discount
Deferred financing costs included in other assets represent the direct third-party costs of entering into the revolving (line-of-credit) portion of our credit facility in October 2020 and portions of the unamortized deferred financing costs from prior facilities. These costs are amortized ratably over the term of the credit facility as interest expense.
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Blackbaud, Inc.
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
Other debt issuance costs, as well as the debt discount associated with our 2021 Incremental Term Loan (as defined below), 2020 Credit facility (as defined below) and portions of the unamortized balances from prior facilities, are recorded as a direct deduction from debt. These costs are amortized over the term of the credit facility as interest expense.
Stock-based compensation
We measure stock-based compensation cost at the grant date based on the fair value of the award and recognize it as expense over the requisite service period, which is the vesting period.
We recognize the effect of awards for which the requisite service period is not rendered when the award is forfeited (that is, we recognize the effect of forfeitures in compensation cost when they occur). Previously recognized compensation cost for an award is reversed in the period that the award is forfeited. Income tax benefits resulting from the vesting and exercise of stock-based compensation awards are recognized in the period the unit or award is vested or option or right is exercised.
Income taxes
We make estimates and judgments in accounting for income taxes. The calculation of the income tax provision requires estimates due to transactions, credits and calculations where the ultimate tax determination is uncertain. Uncertainties arise as a consequence of the actual source of taxable income between domestic and foreign locations, the outcome of tax audits and the ultimate utilization of tax credits. To the extent actual results differ from estimated amounts recorded, such differences will impact the income tax provision in the period in which the determination is made.
We make estimates in determining tax assets and liabilities, which arise from differences in the timing of recognition of revenue and expense for tax and financial statement purposes. We record valuation allowances to reduce our deferred tax assets to the amount expected to be realized. In assessing the adequacy of a recorded valuation allowance significant judgment is required. We consider all positive and negative evidence and a variety of factors including the scheduled reversal of deferred tax liabilities, historical and projected future taxable income, and prudent and feasible tax planning strategies. If we determine there is less than a 50% likelihood that we will be able to use a deferred tax asset in the future in excess of its net carrying value, then an adjustment to the deferred tax asset valuation allowance is made to increase income tax expense, thereby reducing net income in the period such determination was made.
We measure and recognize uncertain tax positions. To recognize such positions, we must first determine if it is more likely than not that the position will be sustained upon audit. We must then measure the benefit as the largest amount that is more than 50% likely of being realized upon ultimate settlement. Significant judgment is required in the identification and measurement of uncertain tax positions.
Foreign currency
Net assets recorded in a foreign currency are translated at the exchange rate on the balance sheet date. Revenue and expense items are translated using an average of monthly exchange rates. The resulting translation adjustments are recorded in accumulated other comprehensive income.
Gains and losses resulting from foreign currency transactions denominated in currency other than the functional currency are recorded at the approximate rate of exchange at the transaction date in other income, net. For the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2021, we recorded net foreign currency losses that were insignificant and $1.6 million, respectively. During the year ended December 31, 2022, we recorded a net foreign currency gain of $4.6 million.
Research and development
Research and development costs are expensed as incurred except as noted below under Software and content development costs. These costs include compensation costs for engineering and product management personnel, third-party contractor expenses, software development tools and other expenses related to researching and developing new solutions or upgrading and enhancing existing solutions that do not qualify for capitalization, and allocated depreciation, facilities and IT support costs.
Software and content development costs