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Description of the Business and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2024

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the United States of America generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) and applicable rules and regulations of the SEC regarding interim financial reporting. The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Dropbox and its wholly owned subsidiaries.

Consolidation

All intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.The condensed consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2023 included herein was derived from the audited financial statements as of that date. The unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements reflect all normal recurring adjustments necessary to present fairly the balance sheets, statements of operations, statements of comprehensive income, statements of stockholders' deficit and the statements of cash flows for the interim periods, but are not necessarily indicative of the results of operations to be anticipated for the full fiscal year ended December 31, 2024 or any future period.

Use of estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported and disclosed in the Company’s condensed consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. These estimates are based on information available as of the date of the condensed consolidated financial statements. Management evaluates these estimates and assumptions on a regular basis. Actual results may differ materially from these estimates.

The Company’s most significant estimates and judgments are related to the valuation of right-of-use and other lease related property and equipment assets as well as income taxes.

The Company reviews the useful lives of long-lived assets on an ongoing basis, and effective January 1, 2024, the Company changed the estimate of the useful lives of certain infrastructure server and component assets, which are included in property and equipment, net and are depreciated through cost of revenue, from four to five years. The Company has extended the economic life of these assets in light of recent technological advancements. The effect of this change in estimate during the three months ended September 30, 2024 was a reduction in depreciation expense of $6.9 million, and a benefit to net income of $5.2 million or $0.02 per basic and diluted share. The effect of this change in estimate during the nine months ended September 30, 2024 was a reduction in depreciation expense of $26.3 million, and a benefit to net income of $20.4 million or $0.06 per basic and diluted share. The Company estimates that this change in estimate will have a favorable impact to cost of revenue in fiscal year 2024 of approximately $30.5 million. The impact from the change in the Company's estimate was calculated based on assets that existed as of the effective date of the change and applying the revised estimated useful lives prospectively.

Financial information about segments and geographic areas

The Company manages its operations and allocates resources as a single operating segment. Further, the Company manages, monitors, and reports its financials as a single reporting segment. The Company’s chief operating decision-maker is its Chief Executive Officer, who reviews financial information presented on a consolidated basis for purposes of making operating decisions, assessing financial performance, and allocating resources.

Foreign currency transactions

The assets and liabilities of the Company’s foreign subsidiaries are translated from their respective functional currencies into U.S. dollars at the exchange rates in effect at the balance sheet date. Revenue and expense amounts are translated at the average exchange rate for the period. Foreign currency translation gains and losses are recorded in other comprehensive income, net of tax.

Gains and losses realized from foreign currency transactions (those transactions denominated in currencies other than the foreign subsidiaries’ functional currency) are included in other income (loss), net. Monetary assets and liabilities are remeasured using foreign currency exchange rates at the end of the period, and non-monetary assets are remeasured based on historical exchange rates.

Revenue recognition, Cost of revenue, and Deferred commissions, net

Revenue recognition

The Company derives its revenue from subscription fees from customers for access to its platform. The Company’s policy is to exclude sales and other indirect taxes when measuring the transaction price of its subscription agreements. The Company accounts for revenue contracts with customers 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

•Recognition of revenue when, or as, the Company satisfies a performance obligation

The Company’s subscription agreements are generally non-cancelable and have monthly or annual contractual terms with a small percentage having multi-year contractual terms. Revenue is recognized ratably over the related contractual term beginning on the date that the platform is made available to a customer. Access to the platform represents a series of distinct services as the Company continually provides access to, and fulfills its obligation to the end customer over the subscription term. The series of distinct services represents a single performance obligation that is satisfied over time. The Company recognizes revenue ratably because the customer receives and consumes the benefits of the platform throughout the contract period.

The Company bills in advance for monthly contracts and typically bills annually in advance for contracts with terms of one year or longer. The Company also recognizes an immaterial amount of contract assets, or unbilled receivables, primarily related to consideration for services completed but not billed at the reporting date. Unbilled receivables are classified as receivables when the Company has the right to invoice the customer.

The Company records contract liabilities when cash payments are received or due in advance of performance to deferred revenue. Deferred revenue primarily relates to the advance consideration received from the customer.

The price of subscriptions is generally fixed at contract inception and therefore, the Company’s contracts do not contain a significant amount of variable consideration. As a result, the amount of revenue recognized in the periods presented from performance obligations satisfied (or partially satisfied) in previous periods was not material.

Cost of revenue

Cost of revenue consists primarily of expenses associated with the storage, delivery, and distribution of the Company’s platform for both paying users and free users. These costs, which are referred to as infrastructure costs, include depreciation of servers located in co-location facilities that the Company leases and operates, rent and facilities expense for those datacenters, network and bandwidth costs, support and maintenance costs for infrastructure equipment, and payments to third-party datacenter service providers. Cost of revenue also includes salaries, bonuses, benefits, travel-related expenses, and stock-based compensation, which are referred to as employee-related costs, for employees whose primary responsibilities relate to supporting the Company’s infrastructure and delivering user support. Other non-employee costs included in cost of revenue include credit card fees related to processing customer transactions and allocated overhead, such as facilities, including rent, utilities, depreciation on leasehold improvements and other equipment shared by all departments, and shared information technology costs. In addition, cost of revenue includes amortization of developed technologies, professional fees related to user support initiatives, and property taxes related to the datacenters.

Deferred commissions, net

Deferred commissions, net is stated as gross deferred commissions less accumulated amortization. Deferred commissions are considered to be incremental and recoverable costs of obtaining a contract with a customer such as sales commissions earned by the Company’s sales force including related payroll taxes and revenue share earned by strategic partners. These amounts have been capitalized as deferred commissions within prepaid and other current assets and other assets on the condensed consolidated balance sheets.

Stock-based compensation

The Company has primarily granted restricted stock units (“RSUs”) to its employees and members of the Board of Directors under the 2008 Equity Incentive Plan (“2008 Plan”), the 2017 Equity Incentive Plan (“2017 Plan”), and the 2018 Equity Incentive Plan (“2018 Plan” and together with the 2008 Plan and 2017 Plan, the "Dropbox Equity Incentive Plans”). Since August 2015, the Company has granted RSUs, which have a service based vesting condition over a four-year period vesting quarterly, as the only stock-based awards to its employees, with the exception of restricted stock awards ("RSAs") granted to its co-founder and certain executives, and has not granted any stock options to employees under the Dropbox Equity Incentive Plans. The Company recognizes compensation expense associated with RSUs on a straight-line basis over the requisite service period and accounts for forfeitures in the period in which they occur.

The Board of Directors determines the fair value of each share of underlying common stock based on the closing price of the Company's Class A common stock as reported on the Nasdaq Global Select Market on the date of the grant.

In December 2017, the Board of Directors approved the Company’s Co-Founder Grant, consisting of 10.3 million shares of Class A Common Stock in the form of RSAs which were granted to Drew Houston, the Company’s co-founder and Chief Executive Officer. This Co-Founder Grant has service-based, market-based, and performance-based vesting conditions. The Co-Founder Grant is excluded from Class A common stock issued and outstanding until the satisfaction of these vesting conditions. The Company estimated the grant date fair value of the Co-Founder Grant using a model based on multiple stock price paths developed through the use of a Monte Carlo simulation that incorporates into the valuation the possibility that certain stock price targets may not be satisfied. The first tranche of the Co-Founder Grant vested in the fourth quarter of 2021. The stock-based compensation expense for the Co-Founder Grant is recognized utilizing the accelerated attribution method over the requisite service period identified as the derived service period over which the market conditions are expected to be achieved, and is not reversed if the market conditions are not satisfied. Therefore no incremental stock-based compensation was recognized upon vesting of these RSAs. See Note 12, "Stockholders' Deficit" to the Company's condensed consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for further information.

Cash and cash equivalents

Cash consists primarily of cash on deposit with banks and includes amounts in transit from payment processors for credit and debit card transactions, which typically settle within five business days. Cash equivalents include highly liquid investments purchased with an original maturity date of 90 days or less from the date of purchase.

The Company monitors its credit risk by considering factors such as historical experience, credit ratings, current economic conditions, and reasonable and supportable forecasts.

Short-term investments

The Company’s short-term investments are primarily comprised of corporate notes and obligations, U.S. Treasury securities, certificates of deposit, asset-backed securities, commercial paper, U.S. agency obligations, foreign government securities, supranational securities, and municipal securities. The Company determines the appropriate classification of its short-term investments at the time of purchase and reevaluates such designation at each balance sheet date. The Company has classified and accounted for its short-term investments as available-for-sale securities as the Company may sell these securities at any time for use in its current operations or for other purposes, even prior to maturity. As a result, the Company classifies its short-term investments, including securities with stated maturities beyond twelve months, within current assets in the condensed consolidated balance sheets.

The Company's short-term investments are recorded at fair value each reporting period. Unrealized gains and losses on these short-term investments are reported as a separate component of accumulated other comprehensive loss in the condensed consolidated balance sheets until realized. Unrealized gains and losses for any short-term investments that management intends to sell or it is more likely than not that management will be required to sell prior to their anticipated recovery are recorded in other income (loss), net. The Company segments its portfolio based on the underlying risk profiles of the securities and has a zero-loss expectation for U.S. treasury and U.S. government agency securities. The Company regularly reviews the securities in an unrealized loss position and evaluates the current expected credit loss by considering factors such as credit ratings, issuer-specific factors, current economic conditions, and reasonable and supportable forecasts.

Concentrations of credit risk

Financial instruments that potentially subject the Company to significant concentrations of credit risk consist primarily of cash, cash equivalents, accounts receivable, and short-term investments. Although the Company deposits its cash and cash equivalents with multiple well-established financial institutions, the deposits, at times, may exceed federally insured limits. The Company has not experienced any losses on its deposits of cash and cash equivalents and management believes that the institutions where the Company has deposits are financially stable and, accordingly, minimal credit risk exists.

Property and equipment, net

Equipment is stated at cost less accumulated depreciation. Depreciation is computed using the straight-line method over the estimated useful life of the related asset, which is generally three to seven years. Leasehold improvements are amortized on a straight-line basis over the shorter of their estimated useful lives or the term of the related lease.

The following table presents the estimated useful lives of property and equipment:


Property and equipment						Useful life
Datacenter and other computer equipment						3 to 5 years
Office equipment and other						3 to 7 years
Leasehold improvements						Lesser of estimated useful life or remaining lease term

Lease obligations

The Company leases office space, datacenters, and equipment under non-cancelable finance and operating leases with various expiration dates through 2036. The Company determines if an arrangement contains a lease at inception.

Operating lease right-of-use assets and lease liabilities are recognized at the present value of the future lease payments at commencement date. The interest rate implicit in the Company’s operating leases is not readily determinable, and therefore an incremental borrowing rate is estimated to determine the present value of future payments. The estimated incremental borrowing rate factors in a hypothetical interest rate on a collateralized basis with similar terms, payments, and economic environments. Operating lease right-of-use assets also include any prepaid lease payments and lease incentives.

Certain of the operating lease agreements contain rent concession, rent escalation, and option to renew provisions. Rent concession and rent escalation provisions are considered in determining the single lease cost to be recorded over the lease term. Single lease cost is recognized on a straight-line basis over the lease term commencing on the date the Company has the right to use the leased property. The lease terms may include options to extend or terminate the lease. The Company generally uses the base, non-cancelable, lease term when recognizing the lease assets and liabilities, unless it is reasonably certain that the option will be exercised.

In addition, certain operating lease agreements contain tenant improvement allowances from its landlords. These allowances are accounted for as lease incentives and decrease the Company's right-of-use asset and reduce single lease cost over the lease term.

As part of the Company's Virtual First strategy, Dropbox has retained a portion of its office space for in-person collaboration while the remainder will be subleased. The Company did not recognize any impairment charges during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024, respectively. The company recognized impairment charges of zero and $2.2 million during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023, respectively, related to right-of-use assets and other lease related property and equipment assets. See Note 9 "Leases" to our condensed consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for further information.

The Company leases certain equipment from various third parties, through equipment finance leases. These leases either include a bargain purchase option, a full transfer of ownership at the completion of the lease term, or the terms of the leases are at least 75 percent of the useful lives of the assets and are therefore classified as finance leases. These leases are capitalized in property and equipment, net and the related amortization of assets under finance leases is included in depreciation and amortization expense. Initial asset values and finance lease obligations are based on the present value of future minimum lease payments.

The Company’s finance lease agreements may contain lease and non-lease components. The non-lease components include payments for support on infrastructure equipment obtained via finance leases, which when not significant in relation to the overall agreement, are combined with the lease components and accounted for together as a single lease component.

Business combinations

The Company uses best estimates and assumptions, including but not limited to, future expected cash flows, expected asset lives, and discount rates, to assign a fair value to the tangible and intangible assets acquired and liabilities assumed in business combinations as of the acquisition date. These estimates are inherently uncertain and subject to refinement. During the measurement period, which may be up to one year from the acquisition date, adjustments to the fair value of these tangible and intangible assets acquired and liabilities assumed may be recorded, with the corresponding offset to goodwill. Upon the conclusion of the measurement period or final determination of the fair value of assets acquired or liabilities assumed, whichever comes first, any subsequent adjustments are recorded to the Company’s condensed consolidated statements of operations.

Long-lived assets, including goodwill and other acquired intangible assets, net

The Company evaluates the recoverability of its property and equipment and finite-lived intangible assets for possible impairment whenever events or circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of such assets may not be recoverable. The evaluation is performed at the lowest level for which identifiable cash flows are largely independent of the cash flows of other assets and liabilities. Recoverability of these assets is measured by a comparison of the carrying amounts to the future undiscounted cash flows the assets are expected to generate. If such review determines that the carrying amount of specific property and equipment or intangible assets is not recoverable, the carrying amount of such assets is reduced to its fair value.

The Company reviews goodwill for impairment at least annually in the fourth quarter, or more frequently if events or changes in circumstances would more likely than not reduce the fair value of its single reporting unit below its carrying value.

The Company has not recorded impairment charges on goodwill or intangible assets for the periods presented in these condensed consolidated financial statements.

The Company did not recognize any impairment charges during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024, respectively. The Company recognized impairment charges of zero and $2.2 million during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023, respectively, related to right-of-use assets and other lease related property and equipment assets.

Acquired property and equipment and finite-lived intangible assets are amortized over their useful lives. The Company evaluates the estimated remaining useful life of these assets when events or changes in circumstances warrant a revision to the remaining period of depreciation or amortization. If the Company revises the estimated useful life assumption for any asset, the remaining unamortized balance is amortized or depreciated over the revised estimated useful life on a prospective basis. In the

first quarter of 2024, the Company changed the estimate of the useful lives of certain infrastructure server and component assets from four to five years. See "Use of estimates" within Note 1 above for further information.

Income taxes

Deferred income tax balances reflect the effects of temporary differences between the financial reporting and tax bases of the Company’s assets and liabilities using enacted tax rates expected to apply when taxes are actually paid or recovered. In addition, deferred tax assets are recorded for net operating loss and credit carryforwards.

A valuation allowance is provided against deferred tax assets unless it is more likely than not that they will be realized based on all available positive and negative evidence. Such evidence includes, but is not limited to, recent cumulative earnings or losses, expectations of future taxable income by taxing jurisdiction, and the carry-forward periods available for the utilization of deferred tax assets.

The Company uses a two-step approach to recognizing and measuring uncertain income tax positions. The first step is to evaluate the tax position for recognition by determining if the weight of available evidence indicates it is more likely than not that the position will be sustained on audit. The second step is to measure the tax benefit as the largest amount, which is more than 50% likely of being realized upon ultimate settlement. The Company recognizes interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits as income tax expense.

Although the Company believes that it has adequately reserved for its uncertain tax positions, it can provide no assurance that the final tax outcome of these matters will not be materially different. The Company evaluates its uncertain tax positions on a regular basis and evaluations are based on a number of factors, including changes in facts and circumstances, changes in tax law, correspondence with tax authorities during the course of an audit, and effective settlement of audit issues.

To the extent that the final tax outcome of these matters is different than the amounts recorded, such differences will affect the provision for income taxes in the period in which such determination is made and could have a material impact on the Company’s financial condition and results of operations.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 ("TCJA") subjects a U.S. shareholder to current tax on global intangible low-taxed income ("GILTI") earned by foreign subsidiaries. The Company accounts for GILTI as a period cost as incurred.

Fair value measurement

The Company applies fair value accounting for all financial assets and liabilities and non-financial assets and liabilities that are recognized or disclosed at fair value in the financial statements on a recurring basis. The Company defines fair value as the price that would be received from selling an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. When determining fair value measurements for assets and liabilities, the Company considers the principal or most advantageous market in which it would transact and the market-based risk measurements or assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability, such as risks inherent in valuation techniques, transfer restrictions, and credit risk. Fair value is estimated by applying the following hierarchy, which prioritizes the inputs used to measure fair value into three levels and bases the categorization within the hierarchy upon the lowest level of input that is available and significant to the fair value measurement:

Level 1—Quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities.

Level 2—Observable inputs other than quoted prices in active markets for identical assets and liabilities, quoted prices for identical or similar assets or liabilities in inactive markets, or other inputs that are observable or can be corroborated by observable market data for substantially the full term of the assets or liabilities.

Level 3—Inputs that are generally unobservable and typically reflect management’s estimate of assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability.

Recently issued accounting pronouncements not yet adopted

In November 2023, the FASB issued ASU 2023-07, Segment Reporting (Topic 280): Improvements to Reportable Segment Disclosures, which requires disclosure of incremental segment information on an annual and interim basis. The amendments are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2023 and interim periods within fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2024. This change requires application on a fully retrospective basis. Early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of this standard on the Company's consolidated financial statement disclosures.

In December 2023, the FASB issued ASU 2023-09, Income Taxes (Topic 740): Improvements to Income Tax Disclosures, to enhance income tax disclosures primarily through changes in rate reconciliation and income taxes paid disclosures. The amendments in ASU 2023-09 are effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2024 on a prospective basis. Early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of this standard on the Company's consolidated financial statement disclosures.

Goodwill

Goodwill represents the excess of the purchase price in a business combination over the fair value of net tangible and intangible assets acquired.Goodwill amounts are not amortized, but tested for impairment on an annual basis.

Net income per share

The Company computes net income per share using the two-class method required for multiple classes of common stock and participating securities. The rights, including the liquidation and dividend rights, of the Class A common stock and Class B common stock are substantially identical, other than voting rights. Accordingly, the Class A common stock and Class B common stock share equally in the Company’s net income and losses.