Basis of Presentation (Policies)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2023

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Bentley Systems, Incorporated and its wholly-owned subsidiaries (“Bentley Systems, Incorporated” or the “Company”), and have been prepared in accordance with United States generally accepted accounting principles (“U.S. GAAP”) and in accordance with the rules and regulations of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) regarding interim financial reporting. Accordingly, they do not include all the information and notes required by U.S. GAAP for annual financial statements.

Consolidation

These unaudited consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in the Company’s 2022 Annual Report on Form 10‑K. In management’s opinion, the accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements contain all adjustments (consisting of normal, recurring and non-recurring adjustments) that were considered necessary for the fair statement of the Company’s financial position, results of operations, and cash flows as of the dates and for the periods indicated. The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect reported amounts in the financial statements and accompanying notes. Actual results could differ materially from those estimates. The December 31, 2022 consolidated balance sheet included herein is derived from the Company’s audited consolidated financial statements.

Reclassification

Certain reclassifications of prior period amounts have been made to conform to the current period presentation. For the three months ended March 31, 2023, payments related to the Company’s interest rate swap were recognized in Other income (expense), net in the consolidated statements of operations and the corresponding prior period amounts, which were previously recognized in Interest expense, net, were reclassified to conform to the current period presentation. For the three months ended March 31, 2022, the amounts reclassified were not material, and Income before income taxes and Net income in the consolidated statements of operations did not change as a result of these reclassifications.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

Recent Accounting PronouncementsIn March 2020, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2020‑04, Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848): Facilitation of the Effects of Reference Rate Reform on Financial Reporting (“ASU 2020‑04”), which provides optional expedients and exceptions for applying U.S. GAAP to contracts, hedging relationships, and other transactions affected by reference rate reform if certain criteria are met. ASU 2020‑04 applies only to contracts, hedging relationships, and other transactions that reference the London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) or another reference rate expected to be discontinued because of reference rate reform between March 12, 2020 and December 31, 2022. In December 2022, the FASB issued ASU No. 2022‑06, Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848): Deferral of the Sunset Date of Topic 848, which provides optional guidance to ease the potential burden in accounting for (or recognizing the effects of) reference rate reform on financial reporting by extending the sunset date of Topic 848 to December 31, 2024. The expedients and exceptions provided by these ASUs do not apply to contract modifications made and hedging relationships entered into or evaluated after December 31, 2024, except for hedging relationships existing as of December 31, 2024, that an entity has elected certain optional expedients for and that are retained through the end of the hedging relationship. The Company had no transactions that were impacted by these ASUs during the three months ended March 31, 2023.

Revenue Recognition

As of March 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022, the Company’s contract assets relate to performance obligations completed in advance of the right to invoice and are included in Prepaid and other current assets in the consolidated balance sheets.Deferred revenues consist of billings made or payments received in advance of revenue recognition from subscriptions and services. The timing of revenue recognition may differ from the timing of billings to users.

Fair Value Measurements

A financial asset or liability classification is determined based on the lowest level input that is significant to the fair value measurement. The fair value hierarchy consists of the following three levels:

Level 1 inputs are quoted prices (unadjusted) in active markets for identical assets or liabilities.

Level 2 inputs are quoted prices for similar assets and liabilities in active markets or inputs that are observable for the asset or liability, either directly or indirectly through market corroboration, for substantially the full term of the financial instrument.

Level 3 inputs are unobservable inputs based on management’s own assumptions used to measure assets and liabilities at fair value.

The Company’s financial instruments include cash equivalents, account receivables, certain other assets, accounts payable, accruals, certain other current and long‑term liabilities, and long‑term debt.

Current assets and current liabilities — In general, the carrying amounts reported on the Company’s consolidated balance sheets for current assets and current liabilities approximate their fair values due to the short‑term nature of those instruments.

The following methods and assumptions were used by the Company in estimating its fair value measurements for Level 2 and Level 3 financial instruments as of March 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022:

Acquisition contingent consideration — The fair value of these liabilities is generally determined using a cost or income approach and is measured based on significant inputs not observable in the market, which represents a Level 3 measurement within the fair value hierarchy. The valuation of contingent consideration uses assumptions the Company believes would be made by a market participant.

Interest rate swap — The fair value of the Company’s interest rate swap asset or liability is determined using an income approach and is measured based on the implied forward rates from the U.S. dollar one‑month LIBOR yield curve. The Company considers these valuation inputs to be Level 2 inputs in the fair value hierarchy.Long-term debt — The fair value of the Company’s borrowings under its Credit Facility approximated its carrying value based upon discounted cash flows at current market rates for instruments with similar remaining terms.he estimated fair value of the 2026 Notes and 2027 Notes is based on quoted market prices of the Company’s instrument in markets that are not active and are classified as Level 2 within the fair value hierarchy. Considerable judgment is necessary to interpret the market data and develop estimates of fair values. Accordingly, the estimates presented are not necessarily indicative of the amounts at which these instruments could be purchased, sold, or settled.Deferred compensation plan liabilities — The fair value of deferred compensation plan liabilities, including the liability classified phantom investments in the DCP, are marked to market at the end of each reporting period.