Summary of Business and Significant Accounting Policies

9 Months Ended

Oct. 31, 2021

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Summary of Business and Significant Accounting Policies

Summary of Business and Significant Accounting Policies

Description of Business

Zoom Video Communications, Inc. and its subsidiaries (collectively, “Zoom,” the “Company,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) provide a communications platform that delivers happiness and fundamentally changes how people interact. We connect people through frictionless and secure video, phone, chat, and content sharing and enable face-to-face video experiences for thousands of people in a single meeting across disparate devices and locations. We were incorporated in the state of Delaware in April 2011, and are headquartered in San Jose, California.

Fiscal Year

Our fiscal year ends on January 31. References to fiscal year 2022, for example, refer to the fiscal year ending January 31, 2022.

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America (“GAAP”) and applicable regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) regarding interim financial reporting, and include the accounts of Zoom Video Communications, Inc., its subsidiaries, and variable interest entities for which we are the primary beneficiary. All intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

The condensed consolidated balance sheet as of January 31, 2021 included herein was derived from the audited financial statements as of that date, but does not include all disclosures, including certain notes required by GAAP on an annual reporting basis. 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’ equity, and 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 or any future period. 

The unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements and notes included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended January 31, 2021, filed with the SEC on March 18, 2021.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of condensed consolidated financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the condensed consolidated financial statements, and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reporting period. Significant items subject to such estimates and assumptions include, but are not limited to, the estimated expected benefit period for deferred contract acquisition costs, the useful lives of long-lived assets, the incremental borrowing rate for operating leases, stock-based compensation expense, sales and other tax liabilities, the fair value of marketable securities, acquired intangible assets and goodwill, the valuation of deferred income tax assets and uncertain tax positions, and accruals and contingencies. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created, and may continue to create, significant uncertainty in macroeconomic conditions, and the extent of its impact on our operational and financial performance will depend on certain developments, including the duration and spread of the outbreak, the availability and distribution of vaccines, and their impact on our customers and our sales cycles. During the three and nine months ended October 31, 2021 and 2020, our estimates and assumptions required increased judgment and carried a higher degree of variability and volatility. As events continue to evolve and additional information becomes available, our estimates may change materially in future periods.

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Our significant accounting policies are discussed in Note 1. “Summary of Business and Significant Accounting Policies” in the notes to consolidated financial statements included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended January 31, 2021, filed with the SEC on March 18, 2021. There have been no significant changes to these policies during the nine months ended October 31, 2021, except as noted below.

Strategic Investments

We hold strategic investments in publicly held equity securities and privately held debt and equity securities in which we do not have a controlling interest. Publicly held equity securities are measured using quoted prices in their respective active markets with changes recorded through gains on strategic investments, net in the condensed consolidated statements of operations. Privately held equity securities without a readily determinable fair value are recorded at cost and adjusted for impairments and observable price changes with a same or similar security from the same issuer (i.e. using the measurement alternative) and are recorded through gains on strategic investments, net in the condensed consolidated statements of operations.

If, based on the terms of these publicly traded and privately held securities, we determine that we exercise significant influence on the entity to which these securities relate, we will apply the equity method of accounting for such investments. Privately held equity securities that are accounted for under the equity method are measured at cost less any impairment, plus or minus our share of equity method investee income or loss, which is reported in gains on strategic investments, net in the condensed consolidated statements of operations.

Privately held debt securities are recorded at fair value with changes in fair value recorded through accumulated other comprehensive income on the condensed consolidated balance sheets.

On a quarterly basis, we assess our privately held debt and equity securities in our strategic investment portfolio for impairment. As of October 31, 2021, we have not recognized any impairments to our privately held debt and equity securities.