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Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies) | 9 Months Ended
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Sep. 30, 2019
Accounting Policies [Abstract] |
Basis of Presentation | (a) Basis of Presentation The accompanying Consolidated Financial Statements of MicroStrategy Incorporated (“MicroStrategy” or the “Company”) are unaudited. In the opinion of management, all adjustments necessary for a fair statement of financial position and results of operations have been included. All such adjustments are of a normal recurring nature, unless otherwise disclosed. Interim results are not necessarily indicative of results for a full year. As discussed in Note 2, Recent Accounting Standards, to the Consolidated Financial Statements, the Company adopted Accounting Standards Update No. 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842), and its subsequent amendments (“ASU 2016-02”) effective January 1, 2019. Comparative prior period Consolidated Financial Statements have not been restated and are not directly comparable to the current period Consolidated Financial Statements. The Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements are presented as required by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and do not contain certain information included in the Company’s annual financial statements and notes. These financial statements should be read in conjunction with the Company’s audited financial statements and the notes thereto filed with the SEC in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018. There have been no significant changes in the Company’s accounting policies since December 31, 2018, except as discussed below with respect to the Company’s adoption of ASU 2016-02. The accompanying Consolidated Financial Statements include the accounts of the Company and its subsidiaries. All significant intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. The Company is not aware of any subsequent event that would require recognition or disclosure.
Leases | (b) Leases ASU 2016-02 defines a lease as a contract, or part of a contract, that conveys the right to both (i) obtain economic benefits from and (ii) direct the use of an identified asset for a period of time in exchange for consideration. Under ASU 2016-02, the Company evaluates its contracts to determine if they contain a lease and classifies any lease components identified as an operating or finance lease. For each lease component, the Company recognizes a right-of-use (“ROU”) asset and a lease liability. ROU assets and lease liabilities are presented separately for operating and finance leases; however, the Company currently has no material finance leases. The Company’s operating leases are primarily related to office space in the United States and foreign locations. In a contract that contains a lease, a component is an item or activity that transfers a good or service to the lessee. Such contracts may be comprised of lease components, non-lease components, and elements that are not components. Each lease component represents a lessee’s right to use an underlying asset in the contract if the lessee can benefit from the right of use of the asset either on its own or together with other readily available resources and if the right of use is neither highly dependent nor highly interrelated with other rights of use. Non-lease components include items such as common area maintenance and utilities provided by the lessor. The Company has elected the practical expedient provided in ASU 2016-02 to not separate lease components from non-lease components for office space, which is the Company’s only material underlying asset class. For each lease within this asset class, the non-lease components and related lease components are accounted for as a single lease component. Items or activities that do not transfer goods or services to the lessee, such as administrative tasks to set up the contract and reimbursement or payment of lessor costs, are not components of the contract and therefore no contract consideration is allocated to such items or activities. Consideration in the contract is comprised of any fixed payments and variable payments that depend on an index or rate. Payments in the Company’s operating lease arrangements are typically comprised of base office rent and parking fees. Costs related to the Company’s non-lease components, as described above, are generally variable and do not depend on an index or rate and are therefore excluded from the contract consideration allocated to the lease components. The Company’s operating lease arrangements generally do not contain any payments related to items or activities that are not components. Operating lease liabilities are initially and subsequently measured at the present value of unpaid lease payments, discounted at the discount rate of the lease. Operating lease ROU assets are initially measured as the sum of the initial lease liability, any initial direct costs incurred, and any prepaid lease payments, less any lease incentives received. The ROU asset is amortized over the term of the lease. A single lease expense is recorded within operating expenses in the consolidated statements of operations on a straight-line basis over the lease term. Variable lease payments that are not included in the measurement of the lease liability are recognized in the period when the obligations for those payments are incurred. In the Company’s lease agreements, these variable payments typically include certain taxes, utilities, and maintenance costs, and other fees. The Company uses its incremental borrowing rate as the discount rate for all of its leases, as the rate implicit in the lease is not readily determinable in any of its lease contracts. As the Company has no history of publicly-traded debt, in order to estimate a collateralized borrowing rate curve, the Company first estimates a synthetic credit rating and then applies modeling methodologies to an unsecured borrowing rate curve. In determining the incremental borrowing rate of each lease, the Company uses a centralized treasury approach and considers the currency of the contract, the economic environment in which the lease exists, and the term of the lease. The Company does not recognize lease liabilities or ROU assets for any short-term leases with a non-cancellable lease term of 12 months or less. Instead, the lease payments for these short-term leases are expensed on a straight-line basis over the lease term and any variable payments are recognized in the period when the obligations for those payments are incurred. The Company believes that, using this methodology, the expense recorded reasonably reflects the Company’s short-term lease commitments.
Short-term Investments | The Company periodically invests a portion of its excess cash in short-term investment instruments. All of the Company’s short-term investments are in U.S. Treasury securities and all short-term investments have stated maturity dates between three months and one year from the purchase date. All short-term investments are included within “Short-term investments” on the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets. The fair value of the Company’s short-term investments is determined based on quoted market prices in active markets for identical securities (Level 1 inputs). As of September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018, all short-term investments were classified as available-for-sale and reported at fair value.
Income Taxes | The Company recognizes estimated accrued interest related to unrecognized income tax benefits in the provision for (benefit from) income tax accounts.Additionally, the Tax Act requires certain Global Intangible Low Taxed Income (“GILTI”) earned by controlled foreign corporations (“CFCs”) to be included in the gross income of the CFCs’ U.S. shareholder. The Company has elected the “period cost method” and treats taxes due on future U.S. inclusions in taxable income related to GILTI as a current-period expense when incurred. The Tax Act allows a U.S. corporation a deduction equal to a certain percentage of its foreign-derived intangible income (“FDII”). In determining the Company’s provision for (benefit from) income taxes, net deferred tax assets, liabilities, and valuation allowances, management is required to make judgments and estimates related to projections of domestic and foreign profitability, the timing and extent of the utilization of NOL carryforwards, applicable tax rates, transfer pricing methods, and prudent and feasible tax planning strategies. As a multinational company, the Company is required to calculate and provide for estimated income tax liabilities for each of the tax jurisdictions in which it operates. This process involves estimating current tax obligations and exposures in each jurisdiction, as well as making judgments regarding the future recoverability of deferred tax assets. Changes in the estimated level of annual pre-tax income, changes in tax laws, particularly changes related to the utilization of NOLs in various jurisdictions, and changes resulting from tax audits can all affect the overall effective income tax rate, which, in turn, impacts the overall level of income tax expense or benefit and net income. Judgments and estimates related to the Company’s projections and assumptions are inherently uncertain. Therefore, actual results could differ materially from projections. Currently, the Company expects to use its deferred tax assets, subject to Internal Revenue Code limitations, within the carryforward periods. Valuation allowances have been established where the Company has concluded that it is more likely than not that such deferred tax assets are not realizable. If the Company is unable to sustain or increase profitability in future periods, it may be required to increase the valuation allowance against the deferred tax assets, which could result in a charge that would materially adversely affect net income in the period in which the charge is incurred.
Basic and Diluted Earnings per Share | Potential shares of common stock are included in the diluted earnings per share calculation when dilutive. Potential shares of common stock, consisting of common stock issuable upon exercise of outstanding stock options, are calculated using the treasury stock method.

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