Accounting Policies

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2023

2. Accounting Policies

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements and footnotes have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“U.S. GAAP”) as contained in the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) for interim financial reporting. In the opinion of management, the interim financial information includes all adjustments of a normal recurring nature necessary for a fair presentation of the results of operations, financial position, changes in stockholders’ equity, and cash flows. The results of operations for the current period are not necessarily indicative of the results for the full year or the results for any future periods. These unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and related footnotes included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on February 16, 2023.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of our condensed consolidated financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires us to make estimates and judgments that affect the amounts reported in these condensed consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. Although we believe the estimates we use are reasonable, due to the inherent uncertainty involved in making these estimates, actual results reported in future periods could differ from those estimates.

Significant estimates embedded in the condensed consolidated financial statements include, but are not limited to, revenue recognition, income taxes and the related valuation allowance established against deferred tax assets, the amortization of deferred commissions, the amortization period of the cost to obtain the judgment preservation insurance (see Note 12), and stock-based compensation.

Principles of Consolidation

The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Appian and its wholly-owned subsidiaries. All intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

Revenue Recognition

Refer to Note 3 for a detailed discussion on specific revenue recognition principles related to our major revenue streams.

Cost of Revenue

Subscriptions

Cost of subscriptions revenue consists primarily of fees paid to our third-party managed hosting providers and other third-party service providers, personnel costs such as payroll and benefits for our technology operations and customer support teams, amortization of developed technology, and allocated facility costs and overhead.

Professional Services

Cost of professional services revenue includes all direct and indirect costs to deliver our professional services and training, including employee compensation for our global professional services and training personnel, third-party contractor costs, allocated facility costs and overhead, and the costs of billable expenses such as travel and lodging.

Concentration of Credit and Customer Risk

Our financial instruments exposed to concentration of credit and customer risk consist primarily of cash, cash equivalents, accounts receivable, and our short- and long-term investments. Deposits held with banks may exceed the amount of insurance provided on such deposits; however, we believe the financial institutions holding our cash deposits are financially sound and, accordingly, minimal credit risk exists with respect to these balances.

With regard to our customers, credit evaluation and account monitoring procedures are used to minimize the risk of loss. Revenue generated from government agencies represented 21.1% and 20.6% of our revenue for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023, respectively, of which the top three U.S. federal government agencies generated 4.6% and 4.3% of our revenue for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023, respectively. Additionally, 35.3% and 35.6% of our revenue during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023, respectively, was generated from international customers. Revenue generated from government agencies represented 21.2% and 19.2% of our revenue for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022, respectively, of which the top three U.S. federal government agencies generated 5.5% and 4.8% of our revenue for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022, respectively. Additionally, 31.3% and 33.2% of our revenue during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022, respectively, was generated from international customers. No single end-customer accounted for more than 10% of our total revenue in the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023 or 2022.

Cash, Cash Equivalents, and Restricted Cash

We consider all highly liquid investments with an original or remaining maturity of three months or less at the date of purchase, as well as overnight repurchase agreements, to be cash equivalents. Restricted cash consists of cash designated to settle an escrow liability stemming from a holdback agreement enacted pursuant to our acquisition of Lana Labs GmbH. We paid 25% of the balance on September 28, 2022 and the remaining 75% of the balance on August 11, 2023.

The following table presents a reconciliation of cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash as presented in the consolidated statements of cash flows (in thousands):


	As of
	September 30, 2023		December 31, 2022		September 30, 2022		December 31, 2021
Cash and cash equivalents	$	130,761	$	148,132	$	51,802	$	100,796
Restricted cash, current	—		2,249		2,053		791
Restricted cash, net of current portion	—		—		—		2,373
Total cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash	$	130,761	$	150,381	$	53,855	$	103,960

Accounts Receivable and Allowance for Doubtful Accounts

Accounts receivable are stated at realizable value, net of an allowance for doubtful accounts. The allowance for doubtful accounts is based on our assessment of the collectability of accounts and incorporates an estimation of expected lifetime credit losses on our receivables. We regularly review the composition of the accounts receivable aging, historical bad debts, changes in payment patterns, customer creditworthiness, and current economic trends. If the financial condition of our customers were to deteriorate, resulting in their inability to make required payments, additional provisions for doubtful accounts would be required and would increase bad debt expense. The allowance for doubtful accounts totaled $2.3 million and $2.1 million as of September 30, 2023 and December 31, 2022, respectively.

Deferred Commissions

We capitalize costs of obtaining a contract with a customer, which consists of sales commissions paid to our sales team, that are incremental costs to obtaining customer contracts. These costs are recorded as deferred commissions in the consolidated balance sheets. Costs to obtain a contract for a new customer or upsell an existing customer are amortized over an estimated economic life of five years as sales commissions on initial sales are not commensurate with sales commissions on contract renewals. Commissions paid relating to contract renewals are deferred and amortized over the related renewal period. We determine the estimated economic life based on both qualitative and quantitative factors such as expected renewals, product life cycles, contractual terms, and customer attrition. We periodically review the carrying amount of deferred contract acquisition costs to determine whether events or changes in circumstances have occurred that could impact the estimated economic life. We also capitalize the incremental payroll taxes associated with commission expenses paid to our direct sales team. Costs to obtain a contract for professional services arrangements are expensed as incurred as the contractual period of our professional services arrangements are one year or less.

Amortization associated with deferred commissions is recorded to sales and marketing expense in our consolidated statements of operations. Total commission expense was $11.3 million and $33.5 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023, respectively. Total commission expense was $9.5 million and $26.5 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022, respectively.

Property and Equipment

Property and equipment are stated at cost less accumulated depreciation. Depreciation is computed using the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the assets. Significant additions or improvements extending the useful life of an asset are capitalized, while repairs and maintenance costs which do not significantly improve the related assets or extend their useful lives are charged to expense as incurred.

The following table outlines the useful lives of our major asset categories:


						Useful Life (in years)
Computer software						3
Computer hardware						3
Equipment						5
Office furniture and fixtures						10
Leasehold improvements						(a)

(a) Leasehold improvements have an estimated useful life of the shorter of the useful life of the assets or the lease term.

Severance Costs

During the first and second quarter of 2023, we incurred severance costs related to involuntary reductions in our workforce designed to right-size our employee base and improve operations. No such similar actions occurred during the three months ended September 30, 2023. Severance costs in the first and second quarter totaled $6.3 million. The majority of the costs incurred will be paid to the impacted employees by December 31, 2023.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

Adopted

We did not adopt any new accounting guidance in 2023 that had a material impact on our condensed consolidated financial statements or disclosures.

Not Yet Adopted

There is no pending accounting guidance that we expect to have a material impact on our condensed consolidated financial statements or disclosures.