Description of the Business and Significant Accounting Policies

6 Months Ended

Jul. 31, 2020

Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Description of the Business and Significant Accounting Policies

Description of the Business and Significant Accounting Policies

Business

Splunk Inc. (“we,” “us,” “our”) provides innovative software solutions that ingest data from different sources including systems, devices and interactions, and turn that data into meaningful business insights across the organization. Our Data-to-Everything platform enables users to investigate, monitor, analyze and act on data regardless of format or source. Data is produced by nearly every software application and electronic device across an organization and contains a real-time record of various activities, such as business transactions, customer and user behavior, and security threats. Our Data-to-Everything platform helps organizations gain the value contained in data by delivering real-time information to enable operational decision making. We were incorporated in California in October 2003 and reincorporated in Delaware in May 2006.

Fiscal Year

Our fiscal year ends on January 31. References to fiscal 2021, for example, refer to the fiscal year ending January 31, 2021.

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (“GAAP”) and applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) regarding interim financial reporting. Certain information and note disclosures normally included in the financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP have been condensed or omitted pursuant to such rules and regulations. The condensed consolidated balance sheet data as of January 31, 2020 was derived from audited financial statements, but does not include all disclosures required by GAAP. Therefore, these unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes included in the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2020, filed with the SEC on March 26, 2020.

In the opinion of management, the accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements reflect all normal recurring adjustments necessary to state fairly the financial position, results of operations, comprehensive loss and cash flows for the interim periods, but are not necessarily indicative of the results of operations to be anticipated for the full fiscal 2021.

Reclassifications

Certain reclassifications have been made to prior period balances in order to conform to the current period presentation. “Cloud services” revenues have been reclassified from “Maintenance and services” revenues on our condensed consolidated statements of operations and “Non-cash operating lease costs” have been reclassified from “Accrued expenses and other liabilities” in our condensed consolidated statement of cash flows. These reclassifications had no impact on our previously reported total revenues and net cash flows from operating, investing, or financing activities.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates, judgments 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 and reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting periods covered by the financial statements and accompanying notes. In particular, we make estimates with respect to the stand-alone selling price for each distinct performance obligation included in customer contracts with multiple performance obligations, uncollectible accounts receivable, the assessment of the useful life and recoverability of long-lived assets (property and equipment, goodwill and identified intangibles), the period of benefit for deferred commissions, stock-based compensation expense, the fair value of assets acquired and liabilities assumed for business combinations, income taxes, the discount rate used for operating leases, and contingencies. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

COVID-19

The worldwide spread of COVID-19 has created significant global economic uncertainty and resulted in a global slowdown of economic activity which has decreased demand for a broad variety of goods and services, while also disrupting sales channels, marketing activities and general business operations for an unknown period of time until the disease is contained. At this point, the extent to which COVID-19 may impact our future financial condition or results of operations is uncertain, and as of the date of issuance of these condensed consolidated financial statements, we are not aware of any specific event or circumstance that would require us to update our estimates, judgments or adjust the carrying value of our assets or liabilities. These estimates may change, as new events occur and additional information is obtained, and will be recognized in the condensed consolidated financial statements as soon as they become known. Actual results could differ from those estimates and any such differences may be material to our condensed consolidated financial statements.

Segments

We operate our business as one operating segment: the development and marketing of software solutions that enable our customers to gain real-time business insights by harnessing the value of their data. Our chief operating decision maker is our Chief Executive Officer, who reviews financial information presented on a consolidated basis for purposes of making operating decisions, assessing financial performance and allocating resources.

Principles of Consolidation

The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Splunk Inc. and its direct and indirect wholly-owned subsidiaries. All intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated upon consolidation.

Foreign Currency

The functional currency of our foreign subsidiaries is their respective local currency, with the exception of our United Kingdom and Singapore subsidiaries, for which the functional currency is the U.S. dollar. Translation adjustments arising from the use of differing exchange rates from period to period are included in “Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss)” within the condensed consolidated statements of stockholders’ equity. Foreign currency transaction gains and losses are included in “Other income (expense), net.” All assets and liabilities denominated in a foreign currency are translated into U.S. dollars at the exchange rate on the balance sheet date. Expenses are translated at the average exchange rate during the period. Equity transactions are translated using historical exchange rates.

Revenue Recognition

We generate revenues primarily in the form of software license and related maintenance fees, cloud services and other service fees. Licenses for on-premises software are either term or perpetual licenses and provide the customer with a right to use the software. When a term license is purchased, maintenance is bundled with the license for the term of the license period. Typically, when purchasing a perpetual license, a customer also purchases one year of maintenance for which we charge a percentage of the license fee. Cloud services are provided on a subscription basis and give our customers access to our cloud solutions, which include related customer support. Other services include training and professional services that are not integral to the functionality of the licenses or cloud services.

Our contracts with customers often contain multiple performance obligations, which may include a combination of on-premise software licenses, related maintenance and support services, cloud services and professional services including training. We apply significant judgment in identifying and accounting for each performance obligation, as a result of evaluating the terms and conditions in contracts. For these contracts, we account for on-premise licenses, maintenance and support, cloud services and other services as separate performance obligations as they are each distinct. Revenue is recognized when the performance obligations are satisfied. We satisfy our obligation and recognize revenue for on-premise licenses upon transfer of control of the software, which occurs at delivery of the license key to customers, or when the license term commences, if later. We satisfy our cloud service performance obligation over the associated contract term and recognize the associated revenue ratably over the term of the contract once access is provided to the customer, consistent with the pattern of benefit to the customer of such services. We satisfy our maintenance and support performance obligations and recognize revenue ratably over the maintenance and support term, consistent with the pattern of benefit to the customer of such services. Professional services and training are either provided on a time and material basis or over a contract term. We satisfy our professional services and training performance obligations and recognize the associated revenue as services are delivered. With respect to contracts that

include customer acceptance provisions, we recognize revenue upon customer acceptance. Our policy is to record revenues net of any applicable sales, use or excise taxes.

Customers can purchase our products under different pricing options. Regardless of the pricing option selected, the consideration for our license and cloud contracts is fixed and does not result in variable consideration. The transaction price is allocated to the separate performance obligations on a relative standalone selling price (“SSP”) basis. We determine the SSP based on an observable standalone selling price when it is available, as well as other factors, including the price charged to customers, our discounting practices, and our overall pricing objectives, while maximizing observable inputs. In situations where pricing is highly variable, we estimate the SSP using the residual approach.

A receivable is recorded when we have an unconditional right to payment, either because we satisfied a performance obligation prior to receiving payment from the customer or we have a non-cancelable contract that has been invoiced in advance in accordance with our standard payment terms. Most of our multi-year on-premises term license and cloud services contracts are invoiced annually. A receivable for multi-year cloud services is generally recorded upon invoicing. A receivable for multi-year on-premises term licenses is recorded upon delivery, whether or not invoiced, to the extent we have an unconditional right to receive payment in the future related to those licenses. The non-current portion of these receivables, primarily consisting of unbilled receivables from on-premises term licenses, is included in “Accounts receivable, non-current” on our condensed consolidated balance sheets.

Payment terms and conditions vary by contract type, although our standard payment terms generally require payment within 30 to 60 days. In instances where the timing of revenue recognition differs from the timing of payment, we have determined our contracts do not generally include a significant financing component. The primary purpose of our invoicing terms is to provide customers with simplified and predictable ways of purchasing our products and services, not to receive financing from our customers or to provide customers with financing.

Deferred revenue is recorded when we invoice a contract or deliver a license prior to recognizing revenue. It is comprised of balances related to maintenance, cloud services, training and professional services invoiced at the beginning of each service period, as well as licenses that we delivered prior to the license term commencing.

Recently Adopted Accounting Standards

Standard	Description	Effective Date	Effect on the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements (or Other Significant Matters)
Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2016-13 (Topic 326), Financial Instruments - Credit Losses	The amendments in this update require a financial asset (or a group of financial assets) measured at an amortized cost basis to be presented at the net amount expected to be collected. The new approach to estimating credit losses (referred to as the current expected credit losses model) applies to most financial assets measured at amortized cost and certain other instruments, including trade and other receivables, loans and available-for-sale securities.	We adopted this new standard as of February 1, 2020, using the modified prospective method recognized as of the date of initial application. Under this method, we are not required to restate or disclose the effects of applying Topic 326 for comparative periods.	The adoption of this new standard did not have a material impact on our condensed consolidated financial statements. Under the new standard, we assess credit losses on accounts receivable by taking into consideration past collection experience, credit quality of the customer, age of the receivable balance, current economic conditions, and forecasts that affect the collectability of the reported amount. With respect to available-for-sale debt securities, when the fair value of a security is below its amortized cost, the amortized cost will be written down to its fair value if it is more likely than not that management is required to sell the impaired security before recovery of its amortized basis, or management has the intention to sell the security. If neither of these conditions are met, we determine whether the impairment is due to credit losses by comparing the present value of the expected cash flows of the security with its amortized cost basis. The amount of impairment recognized is limited to the excess of the amortized cost over the fair value of the security. An allowance for credit losses for the excess of amortized cost over the expected cash flows is recorded in Other income (expense), net on our condensed consolidated statements of operations. Non-credit related impairment losses are reported as a separate component on our consolidated statements of comprehensive income (loss).

Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements

Standard	Description	Effective Date	Effect on the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements (or Other Significant Matters)
ASU No. 2020-06, Debt - Debt with Conversion and Other Options (Subtopic 470-20) and Derivatives and Hedging - Contracts in Entity's Own Equity (Subtopic 815 - 40)	This ASU amends the guidance on convertible instruments and the derivatives scope exception for contracts in an entity's own equity, which reduces the number of accounting models for convertible debt instruments and convertible preferred stock. This ASU also amends the related EPS guidance for both Subtopics and is part of the FASB's simplification initiative, which aims to reduce unnecessary complexity in U.S. GAAP.	First quarter of fiscal 2023. Early adoption is permitted beginning in fiscal 2022.	We are currently evaluating the impact of this standard on our condensed consolidated financial statements.
ASU No. 2019-12, Income Taxes (Topic 740), Simplifying the Accounting for Income Taxes	The amendments in this ASU simplify the accounting for incomes taxes by removing certain exceptions to the general principles in Topic 740 and clarifying and amending existing guidance to improve consistent application. Most amendments within this standard are required to be applied on a prospective basis, while certain amendments must be applied on a retrospective or modified retrospective basis.	First quarter of fiscal 2022.	We are currently evaluating the impact of this standard on our condensed consolidated financial statements.