EDGAR 10-K Filing

Company CIK: 1031308
Filing Year: 2024
Filename: 1031308_10-K_2024_0001031308-24-000002.json

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ITEM 1. BUSINESS
Item 1. Business
Our Business
Bentley Systems is the infrastructure engineering software company.
Our purpose is to advance the world’s infrastructure for better quality of life. We empower people to design, build, and operate better and more resilient infrastructure through the adoption of our intelligent digital twin solutions.
We were founded in 1984 by the Bentley brothers and on September 25, 2020, we completed our initial public offering (“IPO”).
Our enduring commitment is to develop and support the most comprehensive portfolio of integrated software offerings across professional disciplines, project and asset lifecycles, infrastructure sectors, and geographies. Our software enables digital workflows across engineering disciplines, across distributed project teams, and from offices to the field. Moreover, our intelligent digital twin solutions empower our users to achieve sustainable development goals (“SDGs”) by realizing outcomes that are more sustainable and resilient.
Our users design, build, and operate projects and assets across the following infrastructure sectors:
•Public Works/Utilities, which represents approximately 58% of our sector-attributable annualized recurring revenues (“ARR”)(1)(2), includes roads, rail, bridges, tunnels, airports, and ports; federal, state, and municipal agencies; and networks for electricity, gas, water, wastewater, and communications;
•Resources, which represents approximately 26% of our sector-attributable ARR(1)(2), includes mining, oil and gas “upstream,” offshore, pipelines, environmental management, and renewable energy;
•Industrial, which represents approximately 10% of our sector-attributable ARR(1)(2), includes process and discrete manufacturing, oil and gas “downstream,” and power generation; and
•Commercial/Facilities, which represents approximately 6% of our sector-attributable ARR(1)(2), includes campuses, office buildings, retail facilities, and hospitals.
Our Products and Solutions
We serve enterprises and professionals across the infrastructure lifecycle by improving project delivery and asset performance. For projects, our software encompasses conception, planning, surveying, design, engineering, and construction, as well as the collaboration required to coordinate and share the work of interdisciplinary and/or distributed project teams. For assets, our software spans the operating life of commissioned infrastructure assets, allowing our accounts to manage engineering changes for safety and compliance and to model performance and reliability to support operations and maintenance decisions.
(1) Refer to the section titled “Key Business Metrics” included in Part II, Item 7 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information, including our definition and our use of ARR.
(2) Sector-attributable ARR refers to the proportion of our ARR which can be attributed either based on the sector-specific classification of the account and/or the sector-specific classification of the product giving rise to the ARR. The portions of our ARR which cannot be sector-attributed consist generally of ARR within accounts that are diversified engineering firms which work in multiple sectors, and as to that portion of their ARR which are for products that are not sector-specific, such as MicroStation, and structural or geotechnical modeling and simulation applications, and ProjectWise, which are used across any and all sectors.
Our engineering and geoprofessional applications are primarily cloud-connected desktop modeling and simulation applications that support the breadth of engineering and geoprofessional disciplines. Bentley Infrastructure Cloud, provided via cloud and hybrid environments, extends enterprise collaboration during project delivery, and helps manage engineering information during operations and maintenance. Powering these products and solutions is iTwin Platform, our cloud-native technology platform to create, curate, and leverage infrastructure digital twins.
The proportions of our revenue generated respectively from engineering and geoprofessional applications for modeling and simulation, and from Bentley Infrastructure Cloud and its principal offerings, are referenced in the diagram below.
Our comprehensive portfolio of integrated software offerings comprises:
Engineering Applications. We offer an open modeling environment comprising domain-specific authoring applications and an open simulation environment comprising applications to analyze the functional performance of designs that work together to improve engineering quality, streamline production of multi-discipline documentation, and reduce rework. These Bentley Open applications for modeling and simulation support a wide variety of file formats - both Bentley and third-party - and industry standards and design codes, enabling digital workflows across design, simulation, and analysis, and ensuring engineering data is not locked in, but remains open and accessible.
Our engineering applications work together to improve infrastructure engineering quality and productivity, resulting in better project designs and deliverables. We take care to enable compatibility across successive generations of our applications, which enables engineers, throughout their careers, to maintain continuity with their preferred interfaces, formats, and methodologies, while advancing their work at the leading edge of innovation.
Our open modeling applications include:
•MicroStation, for flexible 3D design and documentation, providing the common modeling environment upon which our applications are built;
•OpenBridge, for the 3D design and documentation of bridges;
•OpenBuildings, for the 3D design and documentation of buildings and their integrated structural, HVAC, electrical, and plumbing systems;
•OpenCities, for the design and visualization of cities and campuses;
•OpenComms, for the planning, engineering, construction, and maintenance of fiber, coax, and hybrid fiber-coax networks;
•OpenFlows, for the planning, design, and operation of water, wastewater, and stormwater systems, incorporating hydrological, hydraulic, and flood modeling;
•OpenPlant, for the 2D and 3D design and documentation of process plants;
•OpenRail, for the planning, 3D design, and documentation of rail and transit systems;
•OpenRoads, for the planning, 3D design, and documentation of roads and highways;
•OpenSite, for the planning, 3D design, and documentation of building, residential development, and infrastructure sites;
•OpenTower, for the 3D design and analysis of communication towers;
•OpenTunnel, for the 3D design and analysis of tunnels;
•OpenUtilities, for the design and management of electric, gas, water, wastewater, and district energy networks; and
•OpenWindPower, for the structural analysis and design of fixed and floating offshore wind turbines.
Our open simulation applications include:
•ADINA, for nonlinear simulation and analysis;
•AutoPIPE, for analysis and simulation of pipe stress in industrial process plants;
•CUBE, for multi-modal transportation network modeling and land-use modeling;
•DYNAMEQ, for traffic simulation and dynamic traffic analysis;
•EMME, for multimodal urban, regional, and transport planning;
•LEGION, for pedestrian traffic simulation;
•Power Line Systems (“PLS”), for analysis and simulation of overhead electric power transmission lines and their structures;
•RAM, for analysis and simulation of building structural performance;
•SACS, for analysis and simulation of offshore structural performance;
•SPIDA, for analysis and simulation of utility poles and overhead assets; and
•STAAD, for analysis and simulation of infrastructure.
Geoprofessional Applications. Our geoprofessional applications support modeling and simulation to help engineers and scientists develop a detailed understanding, and take full account of, near and deep subsurface conditions.
These include industry-leading earth modeling, subsurface-data management, and geoprofessional team collaboration software and geotechnical products that supplement visible built-asset representations above ground with more probabilistic modeling of subsurface conditions - deepening the potential of infrastructure digital twins.
Our geoprofessional applications include:
•AGS, for processing, inversion, and visualization of geophysical data;
•Central, for geological model management, to visualize, track, integrate, and manage geoscience data from a centralized, auditable environment;
•GeoStudio, for integrated geotechnical analysis of slope stability, groundwater flow, and heat and mass transfer in soil and rock;
•Imago, for the capture and management of drilling core images;
•Leapfrog, for 3D implicit modeling designed to rapidly integrate, communicate, and interpret geological data;
•MX Deposit, cloud drill hole software for simplifying and controlling how drill and other field data is collected, managed, and shared throughout the lifecycle of an ore deposit from early exploration through to mine production;
•Oasis montaj, for the quality control, correction, visualization, analysis, and interpretation of geophysical, geologic and geochemical data;
•OpenGround, for geotechnical information management for collecting, reporting, managing, visualizing, analyzing, and accessing geotechnical data; and
•PLAXIS, for geotechnical analysis to solve common and complex geotechnical problems, including advanced analysis for excavations, foundations, tunnels, and other infrastructure projects.
Bentley Infrastructure Cloud. Our enterprise information systems span the end-to-end lifecycle and value chain of the world’s infrastructure, helping engineers to produce higher quality deliverables, contractors to execute better with their supply chain, and owners to have a complete picture of their asset as early as possible.
Bentley Infrastructure Cloud encompasses:
•ProjectWise, for project delivery, supporting information and document management, and engineering-specific collaboration and work-sharing for distributed project teams and enterprises;
•SYNCHRO, for construction, spatially and temporally integrating a project’s 3D engineering models into its construction schedules to visualize and assess sequencing strategies; and
•AssetWise, for asset operations, capturing and managing changes to engineering models and enterprise information for compliance and safety, and to model performance and reliability.
By unifying data between engineering applications and enterprise systems, Bentley Infrastructure Cloud helps organizations manage their data in a single environment, enabling integrated workflows, improved collaboration, and increased productivity. Data also can be easily enriched throughout the lifecycle. Powered by the iTwin Platform and Bentley’s infrastructure schemas and thus seamlessly integrating with Bentley Open applications, Bentley Infrastructure Cloud enables better creation, delivery, and ongoing operation of better infrastructure, through complete and evergreen digital twins.
Bentley iTwin Platform. Our iTwin Platform for infrastructure digital twin solutions, leveraging our infrastructure schemas, enables users to create and curate cloud-native 4D/5D digital representations of physical infrastructure assets, incorporating underlying engineering information federated with operational and enterprise data, and then to model, simulate, analyze, synchronize, track, and predict performance over time. Using digital twins, our users can more fully extend digital workflows across the entire infrastructure lifecycle, increasing the value of infrastructure engineers’ work.
Bentley iTwin Platform powers Bentley Infrastructure Cloud to add digital twin capabilities to our offerings for project delivery, construction, and asset operations. It also supports an emerging ecosystem of third-party developers who use iTwin.js, an open-source development library, to develop desktop, mobile, or web apps that leverage the iTwin Platform or that augment our iTwin products or those from third parties.
Some capabilities of the iTwin Platform are offered as discrete iTwin products. These include:
•iTwin Capture, for capturing, modeling, analyzing, and sharing reality data, enabling users to easily create engineering-ready, high-resolution 3D meshes of infrastructure assets using drone video and survey imagery;
•iTwin Experience, for visualizing and navigating digital twins, empowering owner-operators and their constituents with insights into critical infrastructure; and
•iTwin IoT, for acquiring and analyzing sensor data, enabling users to seamlessly incorporate Internet of Things (“IoT”) data created by sensors and condition monitoring devices for real-time safety and risk monitoring in infrastructure operations and construction activities.
Comprehensiveness of Our Offerings
Our offerings are comprehensive across professional disciplines, lifecycle stages, infrastructure sectors, and geographies, resulting in what we believe to be durable competitive advantages:
Professional Disciplines. Each infrastructure project requires seamless and deep collaboration among professional disciplines, which can include civil, structural, geotechnical, subsurface, and process engineers; architects; geospatial professionals; city and regional planners; contractors; fabricators; and operations and maintenance engineers. Our open modeling and open simulation applications facilitate iterative interactions between disciplines and coordination across project participants. Additionally, we believe our collaboration systems lead the market in managing infrastructure engineering firms’ preferred work-in-progress workflows.
Lifecycle Stages. Both project delivery enterprises and owner-operators benefit from our software, which enables digital workflows to extend between project and asset lifecycles, from design to construction and ultimately asset management. This capability allows our users’ digital engineering models to be leveraged as the context for real-time condition monitoring to achieve better and safer operations and maintenance.
Infrastructure Sectors. Most major engineering and project delivery firms pursue an ever-changing mix of projects across the public works/utilities, industrial, resources, and commercial/facilities sectors and for flexibility tend to favor an infrastructure engineering software vendor whose portfolio correspondingly spans their full breadth. This comprehensiveness provides diversification for our own business, as an incidental advantage. For example, when there have been cyclical downturns in the primarily privately-financed industrial, resources, and commercial/facilities sectors, we have historically witnessed offsetting counter-cyclical government investment in public works/utilities.
Geographies. While design codes may vary by country, infrastructure purposes and engineering practices are fundamentally the same throughout the world, which makes it possible for our infrastructure modeling applications to be used globally. Our offerings are available in most major languages, supporting country-specific design codes, standards, and conventions. Our development teams are also globally dispersed, due in part to acquisitions made in various countries, but also to provide any needed last-mile localization of our applications. Our global comprehensiveness enables our project delivery accounts to compete more efficiently across geographic markets, thus also providing global supply-chain sourcing choices for owners.
The Digital Twins Opportunity
Over our company’s history, as computing capabilities have advanced, the scope of infrastructure engineering software has correspondingly increased. However, project and asset lifecycle software markets have developed independently from one another and connecting digital workflows have not been offered. We believe the advancement from siloed project-specific software including for computer-aided design (CAD) and building information modeling (BIM), and asset-specific software including for geographic information systems (GIS), to unified and “evergreen” infrastructure digital twins will have the effect of merging what have been to date separate market spaces as well as enabling new use cases that were not possible or practical with previous technologies.
We believe that the growing adoption of infrastructure digital twins will serve to overcome the factors that have held back the digital advancement of infrastructure engineering and will facilitate the broader use of engineering data in the operation of infrastructure assets. Moreover, we believe that due to the comprehensiveness of our offerings across project and asset lifecycles, infrastructure digital twins and newly enabled digital workflows spanning design, construction, and operations will most particularly benefit our users and enhance our competitiveness.
Our Commercial Offerings
Licensing and Subscriptions
We offer a variety of licensing and subscription options so that users can choose what works best for them, their project, and their organization.
For larger organizations with centralized management of their engineering software portfolio, we offer our Enterprise 365 (“E365”) subscription. Our E365 subscription is an all-inclusive global consumption-based plan which provides access to our comprehensive portfolio of solutions with uniform pricing across all countries. E365 subscriptions require a Cloud Services Subscription (“CSS”) (as described below) and are charged to accounts primarily based upon daily usage or elective subscriptions, dependent on product. They are also inclusive of “Success Plans” (described below). Our ProjectWise and AssetWise enterprise collaboration solutions utilized under E365 are charged based on the total number of users within a calendar quarter, or fixed asset bands, respectively. While the majority of our E365 subscriptions revenue is attributed to daily consumption of our applications, E365 subscriptions can contain floors or collars on usage charges.
A perpetual license for Bentley software is a one-time purchase with an annual maintenance subscription, called SELECT, which includes 24/7 technical support, access to learning resources, and the ability to exchange licenses for other software once a year. In addition, SELECT offers license pooling, which enables software access from multiple computers, and term licenses, which enables users to access software beyond their license entitlements for monthly or quarterly periods to cover short-term surges in their workload.
We also offer a 12-month named-user subscription including license, training, and knowledgeable engineering support procured through our e-store, Virtuosity, which is a convenient and cost-effective way for infrastructure professionals in small- and medium-sized businesses (“SMBs”) to access Bentley software.
We deliver our Bentley Infrastructure Cloud capabilities under our CSS, charged quarterly based on the number of users of various levels of functionality. Pricing includes cloud provisioning, although some accounts elect on-premises and/or hybrid hosting.
CSS streamlines the procurement, administration, and payment process for us and our accounts for cloud offerings, term licenses, and recurring services. Participants in our E365 program use CSS as the funding mechanism for their subscription. At the end of 2023, accounts representing approximately 60% of our total ARR(1) had chosen to institute, for licensing of our software, our commercial models eligible under CSS.
Success Plans and Services
For enterprise accounts, we have transitioned from a traditional paradigm of on-demand technical support, and professional services contracted episodically, to instead delivering proactive and continuous engagement with users and accounts through “Success Plans.” Success Plans are designed with business outcomes in mind, ensuring that accounts receive the best results from our software. Working collaboratively with our accounts, our User Success specialists, consisting of over 600 colleagues, most with domain experience and credentials in infrastructure engineering, deliver Success Plans through structured engagements based on explicit and standardized “Success Blueprints” that include virtual or in-person engagements with subject matter experts. Success Plans, based on allotted credits toward multiple Success Blueprints per calendar quarter, are bundled into our E365 subscription.
We also offer specialized digital integration services and consulting through our Cohesive business unit (described in more detail below), primarily to accounts that use IBM Maximo and our AssetWise solutions for managing their infrastructure asset operations and maintenance.
(1) Refer to the section titled “Key Business Metrics” included in Part II, Item 7 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information, including our definition and our use of ARR.
Our Primary Growth Initiatives
Incremental to our long-standing programmatic acquisition strategy, since 2020 we have determinedly invested internal resources to accelerate organic growth, with increasing success, through the following primary growth initiatives:
•Accretion in Enterprise Accounts: We have established that E365 helps our accounts implement, propagate, and upgrade our solutions more quickly, encouraging greater consumption of our software and stronger account relationships. We intend to continue to expand the reach of our E365 subscription within virtually all of our enterprise accounts;
•Accretion in SMBs: New business from SMB accounts, including from hundreds of new “logos” each quarter, has become a substantial contributor to our overall ARR growth(1), and we are encouraged to continue investment in our Virtuosity business and e-store. Development and deployment of a “low touch” and ultimately “no touch” digital experience will enable this business to further scale and align with the market potential; and
•Catalyzing the Infrastructure Digital Twin Ecosystem: While engineering services firms (which make up approximately half of our existing business) agree that digital twins are fundamental to the evolution of infrastructure engineering, they tend to lack firsthand experience of introducing data-centric offerings to owner-operators or examples of successful business models. Cohesive represents our own investment to create a captive “digital integrator” to prove business models that we can subsequently impart to engineering services firms, accelerating the adoption of intelligent digital twin solutions.
Our Accounts
We provide our software solutions to over 41,000 accounts in 194 countries worldwide. Our revenues are balanced and diversified between engineering and construction contracting firms who work together to deliver the design and construction of capital projects (representing 50%, 50%, and 56% of our 2023, 2022, and 2021 total revenues, respectively), and their clients, the world’s public and private infrastructure asset owners and operators (representing 50%, 50%, and 44% of our 2023, 2022, and 2021 total revenues, respectively).
We bring our offerings to market primarily through direct sales channels, including through our account managers and our Virtuosity inside sales colleagues and e-store, which generated approximately 92% of our 2023 total revenues. We also rely on specialist channel partners in geographic regions where we do not currently have a meaningful presence or where, for some of our offerings, direct sales efforts are less economically feasible. Channel partners accounted for approximately 8% of our 2023 total revenues.
We do not have material account concentration. No account, including any group of accounts under common control or accounts that are affiliates of each other, represented more than 2.0% of our total revenues in 2023 or 2022, or more than 2.5% of our total revenues in 2021.
(1) Refer to the section titled “Key Business Metrics” included in Part II, Item 7 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information, including our definition and our use of ARR growth rate.
Our Acquisitions
Since our founding, we have purposefully pursued a strategy of regularly acquiring and integrating specialized infrastructure engineering software businesses, including 22 acquisitions over the past three years. Most acquired products had already been interfacing with our platform prior to acquisition, and our acquisition purpose is typically to improve their technical and commercial integration.
As a public company, we have been able to make platform acquisitions which appreciably increase our scale and/or the scope of our platform capabilities. Our platform acquisitions have been:
•Seequent Holdings Limited (“Seequent”) (2021), to enable infrastructure digital twin capabilities to incorporate modeling and simulation of full subsurface depths, and advancing infrastructure resilience and sustainability by helping geoprofessionals to understand environmental conditions and to mitigate environmental risks; and
•PLS (2022), to bring design, analysis, and management of overhead electric power transmission lines and structures to our grid digital twin solutions. PLS substantially completes the reach of our comprehensive portfolio for the lifecycle integration of grid infrastructure across electrical transmission, substation, and distribution assets, and communications towers.
Our relatively numerous and frequent programmatic acquisitions, which most often “fill white space” within our ecosystem, add their value principally by enhancing our platform comprehensiveness, and accordingly we consider this programmatic aspect of our growth as characteristically within our mainstream business performance (unlike platform acquisitions). Our average historical ARR growth rate(1) from programmatic acquisitions over the past three years has been approximately 1% measured on a constant currency basis.
Our Competition
The market for our software is highly competitive and subject to change. We compete against large, global, publicly-traded companies that have resources greater than our own, and against small, new, or geographically-focused firms that specialize in developing niche software offerings. While we do not believe that any competitor offers a portfolio as comprehensive as ours, we do face strong competition, varying by infrastructure lifecycle phase and sector:
•our key competitors in Public Works/Utilities applications include Autodesk, Inc., Trimble Inc., and Hexagon AB;
•our key competitors in Resources applications include Hexagon AB, the AVEVA unit of Schneider Electric, and Dassault Systèmes;
•our key competitors in Industrial applications include Hexagon AB, the AVEVA unit of Schneider Electric, and Dassault Systèmes;
•our key competitors in Commercial/Facilities applications include Autodesk, Inc., Nemetschek SE, and Trimble Inc.;
•our key competitors in project delivery systems include Autodesk, Inc. and Oracle Corporation; and
•our key competitors in asset performance systems include Aspen Technology, Inc., the AVEVA unit of Schneider Electric, Esri, and General Electric Company.
(1) Refer to the section titled “Key Business Metrics” included in Part II, Item 7 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information, including our definition and our use of ARR growth rate.
The principal competitive factors affecting our market include:
•product features, performance, and effectiveness;
•reliability and security;
•openness and the ability to integrate with other technologies;
•price, commercial model, and total cost of use; and
•brand awareness and reputation.
We believe we compete favorably against our competitors based on the factors above and that we distinguish ourselves through the comprehensiveness of our software portfolio, our commitment to both integration and interoperability across the entire infrastructure lifecycle, our flexible commercial models, and our direct sales channels.
Our Research and Development
We make substantial investments in research and development because we believe the infrastructure engineering software market presents compelling opportunities for the application of new technologies that advance our current solutions. Our research and development roadmap balances technological advances and new offerings with continuous enhancements to existing offerings. Our allocation of research and development resources is guided by management-established priorities, input from product managers, and feedback from various channels including users and user-facing teams.
As part of our resource allocation process, we also conduct a cost-benefit analysis of acquiring available technology in the marketplace versus developing our own solutions.
Our Intellectual Property
We believe that the success of our business depends more on the quality of our proprietary software, technology, processes, and domain expertise than on copyrights, patents, trademarks, and trade secrets. While we consider our intellectual property rights to be valuable, we do not believe that our competitive position depends primarily on obtaining legal protection for our software and technology. Instead, we believe that our competitive position depends primarily on our ability to maintain a leadership position by developing innovative proprietary software, technology, information, processes, and know-how. Nevertheless, we rely on a combination of copyrights, patents, trademarks, and trade secrets in the United States (“U.S.”) and other jurisdictions to secure our intellectual property, and we use contractual provisions and non-disclosure agreements to protect it. As of December 31, 2023, we had 168 patents granted and 60 patents pending in the U.S., the first of which expires on June 28, 2024, and 33 patents granted and 59 patents pending internationally, the first of which expires on January 12, 2025. In addition, from time to time we enter into collaboration arrangements and in-bound licensing agreements with third parties, including certain of our competitors, in order to expand the functionality and interoperability of our software solutions. We are not substantially dependent upon any one of these arrangements, and we are not obligated to pay any material royalty or license fees with respect to them.
Our patents cover systems and methods relating to various aspects of software for infrastructure design and modeling, collaboration and work-sharing, and infrastructure asset operations. Among other things, our patents address a broad range of issues in infrastructure domains from analyzing building energy usage and structural analysis, railway system maintenance, water network design and operation, and augmented reality, as well as techniques for creating, storing, displaying, and processing infrastructure models.
To innovate and increase our strategic position, our software developers are incentivized to alert our internal patent committee to innovations that might be patentable or of strategic value. In 2023, our patent committee reviewed 16 invention disclosures submitted by our software developers, and filed 15 U.S. and 12 foreign patent applications, while 14 U.S. and six foreign patents were granted. We also plan to assess appropriate occasions for seeking patent and other intellectual property protections for aspects of our technology and solutions that we believe constitute innovations providing significant competitive advantages. We have registered 171 trademarks, including “Bentley,” the Bentley logo, “AssetWise,” “Bentley Infrastructure Cloud,” “Bentley Open,” “iTwin,” “MicroStation,” “ProjectWise,” “Seequent,” “SYNCHRO,” and “Virtuosity,” with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and in several jurisdictions outside the U.S.
Our Production and Suppliers
Our principal supplier of cloud services is Microsoft, with whom we have entered into a multi-year contract for a committed level of expenditures for Azure. We are in negotiations with additional cloud services providers to expand our delivery capabilities and optimize costs.
Environmental, Social, and Governance
In 2023, we continued to build upon our strong commitment to sustainability with an emphasis on goal setting aligned with leading standards and continually improving our reporting. In the third year of our formal Environmental, Social, and Governance (“ESG”) strategy, we continued our regular engagement with stakeholders to solicit feedback on our ESG report. Included in our report were the results of our first materiality assessment, key objectives related to our priority topics, and new disclosure areas aligned with leading reporting frameworks and standards. We have enhanced our disclosures and reporting, including better defining our handprint (i.e., our users’ positive impacts empowered by using Bentley software) and sharing progress on key goals. Regarding our handprint, the United Nations’ SDGs focus on sustainable outcomes, providing a framework and inspiration for business policies and purpose. Combining the concepts of ESG and SDGs, we focus on “ES(D)G,” empowering sustainable development goals, by helping our users realize outcomes that are more sustainable, predictable, and resilient.
We look forward to sharing updates for our full year 2023 performance in our next ESG report, scheduled to be published in the second quarter of 2024. To learn more, visit our ESG website at https://www.bentley.com/company/esg-overview/. The information posted on this website is not incorporated into this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Human Capital Management
Our colleagues are a key success factor in driving our continued growth. Our talent strategy focuses on creating an enriching colleague experience through an inclusive and engaging culture in which colleagues can develop their career while making a positive impact by advancing the world’s infrastructure.
As of December 31, 2023, we had approximately 5,200 full-time colleagues globally, including approximately 2,000 in the Americas (the U.S., Canada, and Latin America, including the Caribbean); approximately 1,500 in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (“EMEA”); and approximately 1,700 in Asia-Pacific (“APAC”). None of our full-time U.S. colleagues are unionized. Outside the U.S., a small overall portion of our colleagues in certain countries are represented by a colleague representative organization, such as a union or colleague association. Our colleagues bring 66 languages to fulfill the needs of our globally dispersed accounts and users. Our colleagues are highly qualified with an average of seven years of total service and advanced academic credentials, including nearly 130 doctoral degrees and over 1,300 master’s-level degrees.
Colleague Experience
We take a colleague-centric approach in all that we do. We achieve a strong sense of belonging through focused efforts to build trust and enhance personal and organizational experiences. We encourage meaningful and continuous feedback through annual performance reviews, quarterly alignment sessions, and engagement surveys, helping encourage colleagues to feel engaged and ensuring they have the resources they need to perform the best and most rewarding work of their career.
A key differentiator in creating a positive experience for our colleagues is our Infrastructure Empowered Workforce Plan (“IEWP”). IEWP is a global strategy that empowers colleagues to take advantage of our physical offices for necessary in-person collaboration, while institutionalizing the flexibility to work remotely otherwise, fully enabled by technology. IEWP allows our colleagues to make the best of remote and in-office work to perform at a higher level and enhances team and business productivity.
Talent Acquisition
We believe our Company’s purpose, mission, and values, as well as our culture, including an intentional commitment to flexible work through IEWP, are drivers for attracting and retaining colleagues. Our talent acquisition strategy leverages best practices to attract, engage, and hire top talent. We enjoy high levels of colleague referrals to supplement our corporate hiring practices, and nurture relationships with universities around the world to hire talented graduates into rotational assignments, all of which provides a strong talent pipeline.
Professional Development
With enhanced capacity to collaborate virtually, colleagues can grow their careers no matter where they are located. We empower colleagues with learning and development resources to support their continuous growth as individual contributors, team managers, or organization leaders. We offer live classroom learning, curated learning pathways, and open access to a powerful learning platform. We also focus on developing the personal and professional skills of our leaders. Our Leadership Excellence and Development (LEAD) Essentials program strives to equip leaders to guide their teams while leveraging Bentley core competencies and a “One Bentley” mindset.
Inclusion and Belonging
We are a global company with colleagues of different cultures, backgrounds, and perspectives based in more than 40 countries worldwide. We strive to build a culture where all colleagues feel a sense of belonging so that they can fully realize their potential and produce their best work. We have developed programs in the workplace and continue to invest in diversity partnerships so that our colleagues and communities can thrive.
Our Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity Alliance (“IDEA”) provides a platform for colleagues from all regions, departments, levels, and demographics to build community. IDEA currently has six focus groups: OpenPride, OpenAbilities, People of Color in the U.S., Women at Bentley, Veterans at Bentley, and IDEA India. Each IDEA focus group is sponsored by a member of our leadership team. We have held interactive sessions with our executives, emerging leaders, and talent acquisition teams in fostering inclusion and belonging and eliminating unconscious bias, and have implemented training for hiring managers to ensure fairness in the interview process.
Additional information on our diversity, equity, and inclusion programs can be found on our website at www.bentley.com/en/about-us/diversity-equity-inclusion.
Corporate Information
Bentley Systems, Incorporated was incorporated in Delaware in 1987 and is headquartered in Exton, Pennsylvania.
Website Access to Reports
Our internet address is www.bentley.com. The information posted on our website is not incorporated into this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Our Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and amendments to reports filed or furnished pursuant to Sections 13(a) and 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, are available free of charge on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov and on the Investor Relations portion of our website at www.bentley.com (or investors.bentley.com) as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the SEC.

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ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
Item 1A. Risk Factors
The following is a discussion of the material factors that make an investment in the Company and its securities speculative or risky. The risks described herein are not the only risks we may face. Additional risks and uncertainties not currently known to us or that we currently deem to be immaterial may also materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, or operating results.
Risks Related to Our Business and Industry
Demand for our software solutions is subject to volatility in our accounts’ underlying businesses, which includes infrastructure projects that typically have long timelines.
Our sales are based significantly on accounts’ demand for software solutions in the following infrastructure sectors: (i) public works/utilities; (ii) resources; (iii) industrial; and (iv) commercial/facilities. Although these sectors are typically countercyclical to one another in nature, each periodically experiences economic declines and may be exacerbated by other economic factors. If participants in any of these sectors reduce spending or allocate future funding in a manner that results in fewer infrastructure improvement or expansion projects, then our accounts’ underlying business may be impacted and demand for our software solutions may decrease or our rate of contract renewals may decrease. A prolonged decrease in such spending may harm our results of operations. Our accounts may request discounts or extended payment terms on new arrangements or seek to extend payment terms on existing arrangements due to lower levels of infrastructure spending or for other reasons, all of which may reduce revenue. We may not be able to adjust our operating expenses to offset such discounts or other arrangements because a substantial portion of our operating expenses is related to personnel, facilities, and marketing programs. The level of personnel and related expenses may not be able to be adjusted quickly and is based, in significant part, on our expectations for future revenues and demand.
Infrastructure projects typically have long timelines and we may invest in building capacity based on expected demand for our software solutions that takes longer to develop than we expect or fails to develop at all. Additionally, government spending on infrastructure may decrease, which could decrease the demand for our software solutions and have a negative impact on our results of operations. We may not be successful in forecasting future demand levels and could fail to win business at the expected rates. If we underestimate the demand for our software solutions, we may be unable to fulfill the increased demand in a timely fashion or at all. If we overestimate the demand for our software solutions, we may incur additional expenses for which we would not have corresponding revenues, negatively impacting our results of operations.
The majority of our revenues and an increasing percentage of our operations are attributable to operations outside the U.S., and our results of operations therefore may be materially affected by the legal, regulatory, social, political, economic, and other risks of foreign operations.
Approximately 58%, 58%, and 59% of our total revenues were from outside the U.S. for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022, and 2021, respectively. We anticipate that revenues from accounts outside the U.S. will continue to comprise a majority of our total revenues for the foreseeable future.
Our international revenues, including from emerging economies, are subject to general economic and political conditions in foreign markets and our revenues are impacted by the relative geographical and country mix of our revenues over time. These factors could adversely impact our international revenues and, consequently, our business. Our dependency on international revenues also makes us more exposed to global economic and political trends, which can negatively impact our financial results. Further, our operations outside the U.S. are subject to legal, regulatory, social, political, economic, and other risks inherent in international business operations, including, without limitation, local product preference and product requirements, trade protection measures, sanctions, quotas, embargoes, import and export licensing requirements, duties, tariffs or surcharges and more stringent regulations relating to privacy and data security and access to, or use of, commercial and personal information, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (the “GDPR”) applicable in the European Union (the “E.U.”), the Personal Information Protection Law (the “PIPL”) applicable in China, and Brazil’s General Data Protection Law (the “LGPD”).
The occurrence of any one of these risks could negatively affect our international business and, consequently, our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Additionally, operating in international markets requires significant management attention and financial resources. We cannot be certain that the investment and additional resources required to operate in other countries will produce desired levels of revenue or profitability.
Decreased investment by APAC, including China, may have a negative effect on our business.
Approximately 18%, 18%, and 19% of our total revenues for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022, and 2021 relate to infrastructure projects in APAC, including China. We cannot assure you that spending in these countries on infrastructure projects will continue at historical levels or increase in the future, or that demand for our software solutions in APAC in general will not be negatively affected by reductions in spending or other limitations.
We are exposed to fluctuations in currency exchange rates that could negatively impact our financial results and cash flows.
We sell our solutions in 194 countries, primarily through a direct sales force located throughout the world. Approximately 58%, 58%, and 59% of our total revenues were from outside the U.S. for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022, and 2021, respectively. As we continue to expand our presence in international regions, the portion of our revenues, expenses, cash, accounts receivable, and payment obligations denominated in foreign currencies continues to increase. Further, we anticipate that revenues from accounts outside of the U.S. will continue to comprise the majority of our total revenues for the foreseeable future.
Because of our international activities, we have revenues, expenses, cash, accounts receivable and payment obligations denominated in foreign currencies. For the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022, and 2021, 35%, 36%, and 47%, respectively, of our total revenues were denominated in a currency other than the U.S. dollar. As a result, we are subject to currency exchange risk. Our revenues and results of operations are adversely affected when the U.S. dollar strengthens relative to other currencies and are positively affected when the U.S. dollar weakens. As a result, changes in currency exchange rates will affect our financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows. In the event that there are economic declines in countries in which we conduct transactions, the resulting changes in currency exchange rates may affect our financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows. We are most impacted by movements in and among the euro, British pound, Canadian dollar, Australian dollar, Chinese yuan renminbi, and New Zealand dollar. For example, the Chinese yuan renminbi has fluctuated against the U.S. dollar, at times significantly and unpredictably, due to changes in foreign exchange for a wide variety of reasons, including actions instituted by China. Because of changes in trade between the U.S. and China, and renminbi internationalization, China may in the future announce further changes to the exchange rate system, and we cannot assure you that the renminbi will not appreciate or depreciate significantly in value against the U.S. dollar in the future.
In addition, countries in which we operate may be classified as highly inflationary economies, requiring special accounting and financial reporting treatment for such operations, or such countries’ currencies may be devalued, or both, which may harm our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
We cannot predict the impact of foreign currency fluctuations and we may not be successful in minimizing the risks of these fluctuations. In addition, the fluctuation and volatility of currencies, even when it increases our revenues or decreases our expenses, impacts our ability to accurately predict our future results and earnings.
We may not be able to increase the number of new subscription-based accounts or cause existing accounts to renew their subscriptions, which could have a negative impact on our future revenues and results of operations.
We may not be able to increase demand for our subscription-based services in line with our growth strategy. Our accounts are not obligated to renew their subscriptions for our offerings, and they may elect not to renew. We cannot assure renewal rates or the mix of subscriptions renewals. Account renewal rates may decline or fluctuate due to a number of factors, including offering pricing, competitive offerings, account satisfaction, and reductions in account spending levels or account activity due to economic downturns or financial markets uncertainty. If our accounts do not renew their subscriptions or if they renew on less favorable terms, our revenues may decline, which could harm our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Consolidation among our accounts and other enterprises in the markets in which we operate may result in a loss of business.
It is likely that some of our existing accounts will consolidate, be acquired, or experience a change in management, which could lead to a decrease in the size of our account base. We expect consolidation among our accounts as they attempt to strengthen or maintain their market positions. If two or more of our accounts consolidate, they may also wish to consolidate the software solutions and services that we provide to them. If an existing account is acquired by another company that uses the solutions of one of our competitors, we may lose business in that account to our competitor. In addition, if an account experiences a change in management, the new management team may be accustomed to the software of one of our competitors, and we could lose that account. Any such consolidation, acquisition, or management change could lead to pricing pressure, erosion of our margins, loss of accounts, and loss of market share, all of which could harm our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
We have in the past and expect to continue in the future to seek to grow our business through acquisitions of or investments in new or complementary businesses, software solutions, or technologies, and the failure to manage acquisitions or investments, or the failure to integrate them with our existing platform and business, could harm us.
Since our founding, we have strategically acquired and integrated numerous software assets and businesses. We may, however, be unable to identify suitable acquisition candidates in the future or, if suitable candidates are identified, we may be unable to complete the business combination on commercially acceptable terms. The process of exploring and pursuing acquisition opportunities may result in devotion of significant management and financial resources.
Even if we are able to consummate acquisitions that we believe will be successful, these transactions present many risks including, among others, failing to achieve anticipated synergies and revenue increases, difficulty incorporating and integrating the acquired technologies or software solutions with our offerings and existing applications, difficulties managing an acquired company’s technologies or lines of business or entering new markets where we have limited prior experience or where competitors may have stronger market positions, the loss of key colleagues, accounts, and channel partners of ours or of the acquired company, and the requirement to test and assimilate the internal control processes of the acquired business in accordance with the requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
Quality problems, defects, errors, failures, or vulnerabilities in our software solutions or services could harm our reputation and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.
Our solutions are, in some cases, highly complex and incorporate advanced software technologies that we attempt to make interoperable with the products of other software providers. Despite testing prior to release, our software may contain undetected defects or errors. Further, the combined use of our software with those of other software providers may cause errors or failures, or it may expose undetected defects, errors, or failures in our software. These defects, errors, or failures could affect software performance and damage the businesses of our accounts, as well as delay the development or release of new software or new versions of software. Further, we cannot guarantee that all of our accounts are using the latest versions of our software solutions with enhanced security features and may be more vulnerable to cyber-attacks. Allegations of unsatisfactory performance in any of these situations could damage our reputation in the market and our relationships with our accounts, cause us to lose revenue or market share, increase our service costs, cause us to incur substantial costs in analyzing, correcting, or redesigning the software, cause us to lose accounts, subject us to liability for damages, and divert our resources from other tasks, any one of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects. We may also be required to provide full replacements or refunds for such defective software. We cannot assure you that such remediation would not harm our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.
Our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects may be harmed if we are unable to cross-sell our solutions.
A significant component of our growth strategy is to increase the cross-selling of our solutions to current and future accounts, however, we may not be successful in doing so if our accounts find our additional solutions to be unnecessary or unattractive. We have invested, and intend to continue to invest, significant resources in developing and acquiring additional solutions, which resources may not be recovered if we are unable to successfully cross-sell these solutions to accounts using our existing solutions. Any failure to sell additional solutions to current and future accounts could harm our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.
There are significant costs and restrictions associated with the repatriation of cash from our non-U.S. operations.
Our cash and cash equivalents balances are concentrated in a few locations around the world, with approximately 95% of those balances held outside of the U.S. as of December 31, 2023 and 2022. Cash repatriation restrictions may limit our ability to repatriate cash held by our foreign subsidiaries. Additionally, the repatriation of cash held by our foreign subsidiaries may result in adverse tax consequences. Any repatriation of cash may be restricted or may result in our incurring substantial costs. As a result, we may be required to seek sources of cash to fund our operations, including through the issuance of equity securities, which may be dilutive to existing stockholders, or by incurring additional indebtedness. There can be no assurance that we will be able to secure sources of financing on terms favorable to us, or at all.
From time to time we realign or introduce new business initiatives, including reorganizing our sales and marketing, research and development, and administrative functions; if we fail to successfully execute and manage these initiatives, our results of operations could be negatively impacted.
We rely heavily on our direct sales force. From time to time, we reorganize and make adjustments to our sales leadership and/or our sales force in response to such factors as management changes, performance issues, market opportunities, and other considerations. These changes may result in a temporary lack of sales production and may adversely impact revenues in future quarters. Market acceptance of any new business or sales initiative is dependent on our ability to match our accounts’ needs at the right time and price. There can be no assurance that we will not restructure our sales force in future periods or that the transition issues associated with such a restructuring will not occur. Similarly, reorganization of our research and development and administrative functions can disrupt our operations and negatively impact our results of operations if the execution is not managed properly. If any of our assumptions about expenses, revenues, or revenue recognition principles from these initiatives proves incorrect, or our attempts to improve efficiency are not successful, our actual results may vary materially from those anticipated, and our financial results could be negatively impacted.
A portion of our revenues are from sales by our channel partners and we could be subject to loss or liability based on their actions.
Sales through our global network of independent regional channel partners accounted for 8% of our total revenues for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022, and 2021. These channel partners sell our software solutions in geographic regions where we do not have a meaningful presence, and in niche markets where they have specialized industry and technical knowledge. Where we rely on channel partners, we may have reduced contact with ultimate users that purchase through such channel partners, thereby making it more difficult to establish brand awareness, ensure proper installation, service ongoing requirements, estimate demand, and respond to the evolving needs of an account. Any of our channel partners may choose to terminate its relationship with us at any time. As a result, our ability to service the ultimate users who were interfacing with that channel partner may take time to develop as we divert resources to service those users directly or find a suitable alternative channel partner to continue the relationship. Any disruption in service may damage our reputation and business. In addition, our channel partners may be unable to meet their payment obligations to us, which would have a negative impact on our results of operations and revenues. Our channel partners may also not have loyalty to our brand and therefore may not be particularly motivated to sell our software solutions or services.
The use of channel partners could also subject us to lawsuits, potential liability, and reputational harm if, for example, any channel partners misrepresent the functionality of our software solutions or services to accounts, fail to comply with their contractual obligations, or violate laws or our corporate policies. Such actions may impact our ability to distribute our software solutions into certain regions and markets, and may have an adverse effect on our results of operations and cash flows.
Risks Related to Information Technology (“IT”) Systems and Intellectual Property
Interruptions in the availability of server systems or communications with Internet, third-party hosting facilities or cloud-based services, or failure to maintain the security, confidentiality, accessibility, or integrity of data stored on such systems, could harm our business or impair the delivery of our managed services.
A significant portion of our software development personnel, source code, and computer equipment is located at operating facilities outside the U.S. We also depend on data maintained on servers running third-party enterprise resource planning, account relationship management, and other business operations systems. We further rely upon a variety of Internet service providers, third-party hosting facilities, and cloud computing platform providers, such as Microsoft Azure, as well as local service providers to support project teams and users in most regions and countries throughout the world, particularly with respect to our cloud service solutions. Failure to maintain the security, confidentiality, accessibility, or integrity of data stored on such systems could damage our reputation in the market and our relationships with our accounts, cause us to lose revenue or market share, increase our service costs, cause us to incur substantial costs, cause us to lose accounts, subject us to liability for damages, and divert our resources from other tasks, any one of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects. Any damage to, or failure of, such systems, or communications to and between such systems, could result in interruptions in our operations, managed services, and software development activities. Such interruptions may reduce our revenue, delay billing, cause us to issue credits or pay penalties, cause accounts to terminate their subscriptions, or adversely affect our attrition rates and our ability to attract new accounts. Our business would also be harmed if our accounts and potential accounts believe our products or services are unreliable.
If our security measures or those of our third-party cloud data hosts, cloud computing platform providers, or third-party service partners, are breached, and unauthorized access is obtained to an account’s data, our data or our IT systems, our services may be perceived as not being secure, accounts may curtail or stop using our services, and we may incur significant legal and financial exposure and liabilities.
As we digitize and use cloud and web-based technologies to leverage account data to deliver a more complete account experience, we are exposed to increased security risks and the potential for unauthorized access to, or improper use of, our and our accounts’ information. Certain of our services involve the storage and transmission of accounts’ proprietary information, and security breaches could expose us to a risk of loss of this information, litigation, and possible liability. Although we devote resources to maintaining our security and integrity, we may not prevent security incidents.
The risk of a security breach or disruption, particularly through cyber-attack or cyber intrusion, including by computer hackers, foreign governments, and cyber terrorists, has increased as the number, intensity, and sophistication of attempted attacks and intrusions from around the world have increased. These threats include but are not limited to identity theft, unauthorized access, domain name system attacks, wireless network attacks, viruses and worms, advanced persistent threat, application centric attacks, peer-to-peer attacks, phishing, backdoor trojans, and distributed denial of service attacks. Any of the foregoing could attack our accounts’ data (including their employees’ personal data), our data (including colleagues’ personal data), our IT systems or those of our accounts and/or critical vendors. It is virtually impossible for us to entirely eliminate this risk. Like all software, our software is vulnerable to cyber-attacks. The impact of cyber-attacks could disrupt the proper functioning of our software solutions or services, cause errors in the output of our accounts’ work, allow unauthorized access to sensitive, proprietary, or confidential information of ours or our accounts, and other destructive outcomes.
Additionally, third parties may attempt to fraudulently induce colleagues or accounts into disclosing sensitive information such as user names, passwords, or other information in order to gain access to our accounts’ data, our data, or our IT systems. Malicious third parties may also conduct attacks designed to temporarily deny accounts access to our services. Any security breach could result in a loss of confidence in the security of our products and services, damage our reputation, negatively impact our future sales, disrupt our business, and lead to regulatory inquiry and legal liability.
Failure to protect our intellectual property rights could impair our ability to protect our proprietary technology and our brand.
Our future success and competitive position depend in large part on our ability to protect our intellectual property and proprietary technologies. We rely on a combination of copyright, patent, trademark, and trade secret laws, as well as confidentiality procedures and contractual restrictions, to secure and protect our intellectual property rights, all of which provide only limited protection and may not currently or in the future provide us with a competitive advantage. Patents or trademarks may not issue from any of our pending or future patent or trademark applications. Patents or trademarks that do issue from such applications may not give us the protection that we seek, and such patents or trademarks may be challenged, invalidated, or circumvented. Any patents or trademarks that may issue in the future from our pending or future patent and trademark applications may not provide sufficiently broad protection and may not be enforceable in actions against alleged infringers.
The steps we take may not be adequate to protect our technologies and intellectual property, our patent and trademark applications may not lead to issued patents or registered trademarks, others may develop or patent similar or superior technologies or solutions, and our patents, trademarks, and other intellectual property may be challenged, invalidated, designed around, or circumvented by others. Furthermore, effective copyright, patent, trademark, and trade secret protection may not be available in every country in which our solutions are available or where we do business.
Increasingly stringent and growing data protection and privacy laws with respect to cloud computing, cross-border data transfer restrictions, and other restrictions may apply to our business and non-compliance with such rules may limit the use and adoption of our services, adversely affect our business, or expose us to increased liability.
As a global software and service provider, we collect and process personal data and other data from our users and prospective users. We use this information to provide solutions and applications to our accounts, to validate user identity, to fulfill contractual duties and administer billing and support, to expand and improve our business, and to communicate and recommend products and services through our marketing and advertising efforts. We may also share accounts’ personal data with certain third parties as described in the privacy policy provided to each account. We may also share accounts’ personal data with certain third parties as described in the privacy policy provided to each account. Further, we collect and otherwise process personal data of our global employees and contractors.
Governments, regulators, privacy advocates, plaintiffs’ attorneys, and our users and accounts are increasingly focused on how companies collect, process, use, store, share, and transmit personal data. Regulation relating to the provision of our solutions and applications, is evolving, as federal, state, and foreign governments continue to adopt new, or modify existing, laws and regulations addressing privacy, data protection, data sovereignty, information security and the collection, processing, storage, sharing, transmission, and use of data generally. This evolving regulatory landscape may be subject to differing interpretations, jurisdiction specific inconsistencies, or may conflict with other rules. We expect the regulatory landscape to remain uncertain for the foreseeable future. Further, our expectation is that there will continue to be new laws, regulations, and industry standards applicable to our collection, processing, storage, sharing, transmission, and use of data generally.
Globally, laws such as the GDPR in the European Economic Area, the LGPD in Brazil, and the PIPL in China, impose obligations directly on us as both a data controller and a data processor, as well as on many of our users. In addition, new and emerging state laws in the U.S. governing privacy, data protection, and information security, such as the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”), the California Privacy Rights Act, the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act, the Colorado Privacy Act, the Utah Consumer Privacy Act, and Connecticut’s Act Concerning
Personal Data Privacy and Online Monitoring have been enacted. These laws and regulations, as well as industry self-regulatory codes, create new compliance obligations and substantially expand the scope of potential liability and provide greater penalties for non-compliance. For example, the GDPR provides for penalties of up to €20 million or 4% of a company’s annual global revenue, whichever is greater, the PIPL provides for penalties of up to 50 million renminbi or 5% of a company's annual revenue and disgorgement of all illegal gains, whichever is greater, and the CCPA provides for penalties of up to $7,500 per violation.
Although, we monitor the regulatory environment and have invested in addressing these developments, operating in an increasingly complex regulatory landscape may impact our innovation and business drivers in developing new and emerging technologies (e.g., artificial intelligence and machine learning). Globally, these and other requirements are causing increased scrutiny amongst users, particularly in the public sector and highly regulated industries, which could restrict the use and adoption of our solutions and applications (in particular cloud services). Further, these developments may require us to take on more onerous obligations in our contracts, restrict our ability to store, transfer and process data or, in some cases, impact our ability or our users’ ability to offer our services in certain locations, to deploy our solutions, or to derive insights from user data globally.
Around the world, there is continued uncertainty in relation to the legal mechanisms supporting cross-border data flows which are subject to evolving guidance, active litigation, and enforcement proceedings in a number of jurisdictions. A number of countries including China, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, and Japan have established specific requirements for cross-border data transfers. Further, a number of countries and states have adopted or are considering adopting data localization policies which would further restrict cross-border data transfers and may require data to be localized in the country of origin (potentially at a state level) which could substantially impact our operations.
Our failure to comply with applicable laws and regulations, or to protect data, could result in enforcement action against us, including fines and public censure, claims for damages by users, accounts, and other affected individuals, damage to our reputation and loss of goodwill (both in relation to existing accounts and prospective accounts), any of which could harm our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Around the world, there are numerous lawsuits in process against various technology companies that process personal data. If those lawsuits are successful, it could increase the likelihood that we may be exposed to liability for our own policies and practices concerning the processing of personal data and could hurt our business.
Our accounts expect us to meet voluntary certification or other standards established by third parties or imposed by the accounts themselves. If we are unable to maintain these certifications or meet these standards, it could adversely affect our ability to provide our solutions to certain accounts and could harm our business. Further, if we were to experience a breach of systems compromising our accounts’ sensitive data, our brand and reputation could be adversely affected, use of our software solutions and services could decrease, and we could be exposed to a risk of loss, litigation, and regulatory proceedings.
The costs of compliance with and other burdens imposed by laws, regulations, and standards may limit the use and adoption of our services and reduce overall demand for them, or lead to significant fines, penalties, or liabilities for any noncompliance.
Furthermore, concerns regarding privacy, data protection, and information security may cause our accounts’ customers to resist providing the data necessary to allow our accounts to use our services effectively. Even the perception that the privacy of data is not satisfactorily protected or does not meet regulatory requirements could inhibit sales of our software solutions or services, and could limit adoption of our cloud-based solutions.
We license third-party technologies for the development of certain of our software solutions, and, in some instances, we incorporate third-party technologies, including open source software, into our software solutions. If we fail to maintain these licenses or are unable to secure alternative licenses on reasonable terms, our business could be adversely affected.
We license third-party technologies to develop certain of our products, and, in some cases, we incorporate third-party technologies into our own software solutions, including technologies owned by our competitors. If we were to seek to expand the scope of this activity in the future, we could be required to obtain additional licenses and enter into long-term arrangements with third parties on whose technology we could become substantially dependent.
If we are unable to use or license these third-party technologies on reasonable terms, including commercially justifiable royalty rates, or if these technologies fail to operate properly or be appropriately supported, maintained, or enhanced, we may not be able to secure alternatives in a timely manner and our ability to develop and commercialize our own software solutions could be adversely impacted. In addition, licensed technology may be subject to claims that it infringes others’ intellectual property rights and we may lose access to or have restrictions placed on our use of the licensed technology. We also incorporate open source software into our products. While we have attempted not to use open source code in a manner which could adversely impact our proprietary code, the terms of many open source licenses have not been interpreted by U.S. courts, and there is a risk that such licenses could be construed in a manner that could impose unanticipated conditions or restrictions on our ability to market or sell our products or to develop new products.
Assertions by third parties of infringement or other violations by us of their intellectual property rights could result in significant costs and harm our business and results of operations.
Vigorous protection and pursuit of intellectual property rights has resulted in protracted and expensive litigation for many companies in our industry. Although claims of this kind have not materially affected our business to date, there can be no assurance such claims will not arise in the future. Any claims or proceedings against us, regardless of whether meritorious, could be time consuming, result in costly litigation, require significant amounts of management time, result in the diversion of significant operational resources, or require us to enter into royalty or licensing agreements, any of which could harm our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Risks Related to Regulation and Litigation
Recent and potential tariffs imposed by the U.S. government or a global trade war could increase the cost of our products and services and the cost of conducting our business, which could harm our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Recent and potential tariffs imposed by the U.S. government or a global trade war could increase the cost of our products and services and the cost of conducting our business, which could harm our business, financial condition, and results of operations. The U.S. government has threatened substantial changes to trade agreements and has raised the possibility of imposing significant increases on tariffs on goods imported into the U.S., particularly from China. The imposition of additional tariffs by the U.S. could result in the adoption of tariffs by other countries, leading to a global trade war. In addition, certain of these risks may be heightened as a result of changing political climates. For example, the U.S. and China have been levying tariffs on their respective imports. Such tariffs could have a significant impact on our business and the business of our accounts. While we may attempt to renegotiate prices with suppliers or diversify our supply chain in response to tariffs, such efforts may not yield immediate results or may be ineffective. We might also consider increasing prices to the end consumer; however, this could reduce the competitiveness of our products and services and adversely affect revenue. If we fail to manage these dynamics successfully, our gross margins and profitability could be adversely affected.
We are subject to legal proceedings and regulatory inquiries, and we may be named in additional legal proceedings or become involved in regulatory inquiries in the future, any of which may be costly, distracting to our core business and could result in an unfavorable outcome, or harm on our business, financial condition, results of operations, cash flows, or the trading price for our securities.
We are subject to various investigations, claims, and legal proceedings that arise in the ordinary course of business, including commercial disputes, labor and employment matters, tax audits, alleged infringement of intellectual property rights, and other matters. As the global economy has changed, our industry has seen an increase in litigation activity and regulatory inquiries. Like many other high technology companies, on a regular and ongoing basis, we receive inquiries from U.S. and foreign regulatory agencies regarding our business and our business practices, and the business practices of others in our industry. In the event that we are involved in significant disputes or are the subject of a formal action by a regulatory agency, we could be exposed to costly and time consuming legal proceedings that could result in any number of outcomes. Any claims or regulatory actions initiated by or against us, whether successful or not, could result in expensive costs of defense, costly damage awards, injunctive relief, increased costs of business, fines or orders to change certain business practices, significant dedication of management time, diversion of significant operational resources, or otherwise harm our business. In any of these cases, our financial results could be negatively impacted.
Failure to comply with the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) and similar anti-bribery and anti-corruption laws associated with our activities outside the U.S. could subject us to penalties and other adverse consequences.
The majority of our revenues are from jurisdictions outside of the U.S. We are subject to the FCPA, which generally prohibits U.S. companies and their intermediaries from making payments to foreign officials for the purpose of directing, obtaining, or keeping business, and requires companies to maintain reasonable books and records and a system of internal accounting controls. The FCPA applies to companies and individuals alike, including company directors, officers, employees, and agents. Under the FCPA, U.S. companies may be held liable for corrupt actions taken by employees, strategic or local partners, or other representatives. In addition, the government may seek to rely on a theory of successor liability and hold us responsible for FCPA violations committed by companies or associated with assets that we acquire.
We are subject to governmental export and import controls that could impair our ability to compete in international markets or subject us to liability if we violate the controls.
Our offerings may be subject to U.S. export controls and economic sanctions laws and regulations that restrict the delivery of our solutions and services to certain locations, governments, and persons. While we have processes in place to prevent our offerings from being exported in violation of these laws, including obtaining authorizations as appropriate and screening against U.S. government lists of restricted and prohibited persons, we cannot guarantee that these processes will prevent all violations of export control and sanctions laws. We may also decide to acquire companies whose past activities could give rise to potential liability under export control and sanctions laws. Such acquisitions may require substantial time and resources to integrate the acquired company into our compliance processes, to correct potential compliance gaps, and to remediate past potential violations by the acquired company, including through our own internal actions, voluntary self-disclosures, or other measures.
Further, if our channel partners fail to obtain appropriate import, export, or re-export licenses or permits, we may also be adversely affected, for example, through reputational harm, as well as other negative consequences including government investigations and penalties. Complying with export control and sanctions regulations for a particular sale may be time-consuming and may result in the delay or loss of sales opportunities.
Violations of U.S. sanctions or export control laws can result in fines, penalties, denial of export and trading privileges, and seizure of goods and assets. Other consequences include negative publicity and harm to business reputation, increased government scrutiny (including intrusive audits, and increased difficulty obtaining government licenses and approvals), and/or remedial compliance measures as a condition of settling government charges.
We may face exposure to product or professional liability claims that could cause us to be liable for damages.
The use of our software could lead to the filing of product liability claims against us were someone to allege that our software provided inaccurate or incomplete information at any stage of the infrastructure lifecycle or otherwise failed to perform according to specifications. In the event that accounts or third parties sustain property damage, injury, death, or other loss in connection with their use of our software or infrastructure for which our software solutions and services were used to engineer, we, along with others, may be sued, and whether or not we are ultimately determined to be liable, we may incur significant legal expenses, management’s attention could be diverted from operations, and market acceptance of our software could decrease. Our risk of exposure to litigation in these situations could rise as our software solutions and services are used for increasingly complex and high-profile infrastructure projects. Litigation could also impair our ability to obtain professional liability or product liability insurance or increase the cost of such insurance. These claims may be brought by individuals seeking relief on their own behalf or purporting to represent a class. In addition, product liability claims may be asserted against us in the future based on events we are not aware of at the present time.
The limitations of our liability included in our contracts with accounts may not be enforceable or may not otherwise protect us from liability for damages. Additionally, we may be subject to claims that are not explicitly covered by contract, such as a claim directly by a third party. There is no assurance that our insurance coverage will be adequate to cover incurred liabilities or that we will be able to obtain acceptable product and professional liability coverage in the future.
Risks Related to Our Indebtedness
Our credit agreement, as amended, contains restrictive covenants that may limit our operating flexibility, and certain changes in ownership of equity interests in us by the Bentley Family (Barry J. Bentley, Gregory S. Bentley, Keith A. Bentley, Raymond B. Bentley, and Richard P. Bentley, collectively (the “Bentleys”), certain other family members and trusts and other entities controlled by or primarily for the benefit of the Bentleys and their families) constitutes an event of default.
Our amended and restated credit agreement, entered into on December 19, 2017 (the “Credit Facility”), contains certain restrictive covenants that limit our ability to, among other things, incur indebtedness other than amounts under the Credit Facility and specified baskets, incur additional liens, merge or consolidate with other companies or consummate certain changes of control, enter into new lines of business, pay dividends to our stockholders, repurchase our common stock and outstanding indebtedness, make investments in and acquire other businesses, and transfer or dispose of assets. In certain circumstances, the agreement governing the Credit Facility may also limit our ability to transfer cash among our subsidiaries and between us and our subsidiaries, including our foreign subsidiaries. It also contains certain financial covenants, including a covenant requiring us not to permit the net leverage ratio to exceed 3.00 to 1.00 and a covenant requiring the fixed charge coverage ratio for any period of four consecutive fiscal quarters to not be less than 3.00 to 1.00, and financial reporting requirements. Borrowings under the Credit Facility are secured by a first priority security interest in substantially all of our U.S. assets and 65% of the stock of our foreign subsidiaries owned by a party to the agreement governing the Credit Facility.
Further, if the Bentley Family ceases to collectively own equity interests in us representing at least 20% of the aggregate voting power of the Company, then such change in ownership will be an event of default under the agreement governing the Credit Facility and, among other things, the commitments under the Credit Facility may be terminated immediately and the outstanding loans and accrued interest may become due and payable immediately.
In addition, there is no guarantee that we will be able to generate sufficient cash flow or revenues to meet these financial covenants or pay the principal and interest on any debt. Furthermore, there is no guarantee that future working capital, borrowings, or equity financing will be available to repay or refinance any debt. Any inability to make scheduled payments or meet the financial covenants in the agreement governing the Credit Facility would adversely affect our business.
We may incur substantial additional debt, which could exacerbate the risks described above.
We may incur additional debt in the future. Although the agreement governing the Credit Facility contains restrictions on our ability to incur indebtedness, those restrictions are subject to a number of exceptions which permit us and our subsidiaries to incur substantial debt. Adding new debt to current debt levels could intensify the related risks that we and our subsidiaries now face. Refer to the section titled “Liquidity and Capital Resources” included in Part II, Item 7 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Servicing our debt requires a significant amount of cash, and we may not have sufficient cash flow from our business to pay our substantial debt.
Our ability to make scheduled payments of the principal of, to pay interest on, or to refinance our indebtedness depends on our future performance, which is subject to economic, financial, competitive, and other factors beyond our control. Our business may not continue to generate cash flow from operations in the future sufficient to service our debt and make necessary capital expenditures. If we are unable to generate such cash flow, we may be required to adopt one or more alternatives, such as selling assets, restructuring debt, or obtaining additional equity capital on terms that may be onerous or highly dilutive. Our ability to refinance our indebtedness will depend on the capital markets and our financial condition at such time. We may not be able to engage in any of these activities or engage in these activities on desirable terms, which could result in a default on our debt obligations. In addition, any future indebtedness we may incur may contain financial and other restrictive covenants that limit our ability to operate our business, raise capital, or make payments under our other indebtedness. If we fail to comply with these covenants or to make payments under our indebtedness when due, then we would be in default under that indebtedness, which could, in turn, result in that and our other indebtedness becoming immediately payable in full.
Risks Related to Our Class B Common Stock
We issued convertible notes that have rights senior to our Class B common stock.
In January 2021, we issued $690 million aggregate principal amount of convertible senior notes due 2026 (the “2026 Notes”), which will mature on January 15, 2026, unless earlier redeemed or repurchased by us or converted by the holder pursuant to their terms. In June 2021, we issued $575 million aggregate principal amount of convertible senior notes due 2027 (the “2027 Notes”), which will mature on July 1, 2027, unless earlier redeemed or repurchased by us or converted by the holder pursuant to their terms. The 2026 Notes and 2027 Notes rank senior in right of payment to our Class B common stock and any of our indebtedness that is expressly subordinated in right of payment to the 2026 Notes and 2027 Notes; equal in right of payment to any of our liabilities that are not so subordinated; effectively junior in right of payment to any of our secured indebtedness, to the extent of the value of the assets securing such indebtedness; and structurally junior to all indebtedness and other liabilities (including trade payables) of our subsidiaries. In the event of our bankruptcy, liquidation, reorganization, or other winding up, our assets that secure debt ranking senior or equal in right of payment to the 2026 Notes and 2027 Notes will be available to pay obligations on the 2026 Notes and 2027 Notes only after the secured debt has been repaid in full from these assets, and our assets will be available to pay common stockholders only after all debt obligations have been repaid. There may not be sufficient assets remaining to pay amounts due on any or all of the 2026 Notes and 2027 Notes then outstanding or any or all shares of our Class B common stock then outstanding.
The accounting method for convertible debt securities that may be settled in cash, such as the 2026 Notes and 2027 Notes, could have a material effect on our reported financial condition and results.
The accounting method for reflecting the 2026 Notes and 2027 Notes on our consolidated balance sheets and reflecting the underlying shares of our Class B common stock in our reported diluted earnings per share may adversely affect our reported earnings and financial condition.
Under the if-converted method, diluted earnings per share will be calculated assuming that all the 2026 Notes and 2027 Notes are converted solely into shares of Class B common stock at the beginning of the reporting period, unless the result would be anti-dilutive. The application of the if-converted method will reduce our reported diluted earnings per share.
Furthermore, if any of the conditions to the convertibility of the 2026 Notes and/or the 2027 Notes is satisfied, then we may be required under applicable accounting standards to reclassify the liability carrying value of the 2026 Notes and/or the 2027 Notes as a current, rather than long-term, liability. This reclassification could be required even if no noteholders convert their notes and could materially reduce our reported working capital.
The conditional conversion feature of the 2026 Notes and 2027 Notes may adversely affect our financial condition and operating results.
In the event the conditional conversion feature of the 2026 Notes and/or the 2027 Notes is triggered, holders of the 2026 Notes and/or the 2027 Notes will be entitled to convert the 2026 Notes and/or the 2027 Notes at any time during specified periods at their option. If one or more holders elect to convert their 2026 Notes and/or their 2027 Notes, unless we elect to satisfy our conversion obligation by delivering solely shares of our Class B common stock (other than paying cash in lieu of delivering any fractional share), we would be required to settle a portion or all of our conversion obligation through the payment of cash, which could adversely affect our liquidity. In addition, even if holders do not elect to convert their 2026 Notes and/or their 2027 Notes, we could be required under applicable accounting rules to reclassify all or a portion of the outstanding principal of the 2026 Notes and/or the 2027 Notes as a current, rather than long-term, liability, which would result in a material reduction of our net working capital.
Conversion of the 2026 Notes and/or the 2027 Notes will dilute the ownership interest of existing stockholders, including holders who had previously converted their 2026 Notes and/or their 2027 Notes, or may otherwise depress the price of our Class B common stock.
The conversion of some or all of the 2026 Notes and/or the 2027 Notes will dilute the ownership interests of existing stockholders to the extent we deliver shares upon conversion of any of the 2026 Notes and/or the 2027 Notes. Any sales in the public market of the Class B common stock issuable upon such conversion could adversely affect prevailing market prices of our Class B common stock. In addition, the existence of the 2026 Notes and 2027 Notes may encourage short selling by market participants because the conversion of the 2026 Notes and/or the 2027 Notes could be used to satisfy short positions, or anticipated conversion of the 2026 Notes and/or the 2027 Notes into shares of our Class B common stock could depress the price of our Class B common stock. As of December 31, 2023, without giving effect to any potential adjustments to the conversion rate set forth in the indenture or any limits on conversion, and assuming our Class B common stock is trading at or above $64.13 per share for the 2026 Notes and $83.23 per share for the 2027 Notes, 10,725,557 and 6,908,567 shares of our Class B common stock would be issuable upon a full conversion of the 2026 Notes and 2027 Notes, respectively.
The capped call transactions entered into when we issued the 2026 Notes and 2027 Notes may affect the value of our common stock.
In connection with the issuances of the 2026 Notes and 2027 Notes, we entered into capped call transactions with the respective option counterparties. The capped call transactions are expected generally to reduce the potential dilution upon conversion of the 2026 Notes and 2027 Notes, and/or offset any cash payments we are required to make in excess of the principal amount of converted 2026 Notes and 2027 Notes with such reduction and/or offset subject to a cap. In connection with establishing their initial hedges of the capped call transactions, the option counterparties or their respective affiliates entered into various derivative transactions with respect to our Class B common stock concurrently with or shortly after the pricing of the 2026 Notes and 2027 Notes. The option counterparties or their respective affiliates may modify their hedge positions by entering into or unwinding derivatives with respect to our Class B common stock and/or purchasing or selling our Class B common stock or other securities of ours in secondary market transactions prior to the maturity of the 2026 Notes and 2027 Notes (and are likely to do so during any observation period related to a conversion of 2026 Notes and 2027 Notes). This activity could cause or avoid an increase or a decrease in the market price of our Class B common stock.
The dual class structure of our common stock has the effect of concentrating voting control with the Bentley Control Group (the Bentleys and certain of their family members, trusts or other permitted transferees, as well as all other holders of our Class A common stock in respect of such shares of Class A common stock, who collectively are acting as a group).
Our Class A common stock has 29 votes per share, and our Class B common stock, which is the class of common stock that is issuable upon conversion of the 2026 Notes and 2027 Notes, and is the only class that is publicly traded and listed, has one vote per share. The beneficial owners of our Class A common stock together hold approximately 54.0% of the voting power of our outstanding common stock as of December 31, 2023. Moreover, as a result of the 29 to one voting ratio between our Class A and Class B common stock, the Bentley Control Group controls and will continue to control a majority of the combined voting power of our common stock and therefore is able to control all matters submitted to our stockholders for approval, subject to the occurrence of certain events that would reduce the voting power of our Class A common stock or cause the conversion thereof. This concentrated control will limit or preclude stockholders’ ability to influence corporate matters for the foreseeable future and may have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change in control, impeding a merger, consolidation, takeover, or other business combination involving us, or discouraging a potential acquirer from making a tender offer or otherwise attempting to obtain control of our business, even if such a transaction would benefit other stockholders. The Bentley Control Group may also have interests that differ from those of other stockholders and may vote in a way with which other stockholders disagree and which may be adverse to such other stockholders’ interests.
In addition, we are a “controlled company” for the purposes of Nasdaq Listing Rules, which provides us with exemptions from certain of the corporate governance standards imposed by the rules of The Nasdaq Global Select Market. These provisions further allow the Bentley Control Group to exercise significant control over our corporate decisions and limit the ability of the public stockholders to influence our decision making.
The choice of forum provision in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers or colleagues.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that, to the fullest extent permitted by law, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware is the sole and exclusive forum for any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, any action asserting a claim of a breach of fiduciary duty owed by any of our directors or officers, any action asserting a claim against us arising pursuant to Delaware General Corporation Law, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or amended and restated bylaws, or any action seeking to interpret, apply, enforce, or determine the validity of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or amended and restated bylaws, and any action asserting a claim against us that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine. In addition, the choice of forum provision provides that, to the extent permitted by applicable law, claims brought under the Securities Act or the Exchange Act must be brought exclusively in the federal district court for the District of Delaware. Despite the choice of forum provision, investors cannot waive compliance with federal securities laws and rules and regulations thereunder. The choice of forum provision may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers, or other colleagues, which may discourage such lawsuits against us and our directors, officers, and other colleagues. Alternatively, if a court were to find the choice of forum provision contained in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could adversely affect our business and financial condition.
General Risk Factors
Global economic and political conditions may negatively impact our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Our operations and performance depend significantly on foreign and domestic economic and political conditions. Uncertainty regarding economic and political conditions may negatively impact us as accounts defer spending or postpone infrastructure projects in response to tighter credit, higher unemployment, higher interest rates, higher inflation, financial market volatility, government austerity programs, negative financial news, declining
valuations of investments, and other factors. In addition, certain of our accounts’ budgets may be constrained and they may be unable to procure our solutions at the same level as in prior periods. Our accounts’ ability to pay for our software solutions and services may also be impaired, which may lead to an increase in our allowance for doubtful accounts and write-offs of accounts receivable. Since we are exposed to the majority of major world markets, uncertainty in any significant market may negatively impact our performance and results, particularly with respect to our largest geographic accounts. Our accounts include government entities, including the U.S. government, and if spending cuts impede the ability of governments to purchase our products and services, our revenues could decline. In addition, a number of our accounts rely, directly and indirectly, on government spending. We are unable to predict economic conditions or the likelihood of additional economic uncertainty arising in any of our key markets. Changes in economic conditions could result in us not meeting our revenue growth objectives and could harm our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.
Geopolitical trends toward nationalism and protectionism and the weakening or dissolution of international trade pacts may increase the cost of, or otherwise interfere with, conducting our business. These trends have increased levels of political and economic unpredictability globally, and may increase the volatility of global financial markets; the impact of such developments on the global economy remains uncertain. Political instability or adverse political developments, including, without limitation, as a result of or in connection with trade relations between the U.S. and China, as well as terrorist attacks, cyber events, armed conflicts (or the threat or escalation thereof), bank failures, civil unrest, espionage, natural disasters, epidemics, and pandemics in any of the countries in which we do business could harm our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Changes in existing financial accounting standards or practices, or taxation rules or practices may adversely affect our results of operations.
Changes in existing accounting or taxation rules or practices, new accounting pronouncements or taxation rules, or varying interpretations of current accounting pronouncements or taxation practices could have a significant adverse effect on our results of operations or the way we conduct our business. Further, such changes could potentially affect our reporting of transactions completed before such changes are effective.
We are required to evaluate our internal control over financial reporting under Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and any adverse results from such evaluation could result in a loss of investor confidence in our financial reports and have an adverse effect on our stock price.
Pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, we are required to furnish a report by our management on our internal control over financial reporting, including an assessment of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of the end of our fiscal year. This assessment must include a statement as to whether or not our internal control over financial reporting is effective and disclosure of any material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting identified by management. If our management or independent registered public accounting firm identifies one or more material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting, we are unable to assert that our internal control over financial reporting is effective, or our independent registered public accounting firm is unable to express an opinion that our internal controls are effective, investors could lose confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports, which could have an adverse effect on our business and stock price.
If our goodwill or amortizable intangible assets become impaired, then we could be required to record a significant charge to earnings.
U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) requires us to test for goodwill impairment at least annually. In addition, we assess our goodwill and amortizable intangible assets for impairment if events occur or circumstances change that would more likely than not reduce its fair value below its carrying value, including declines in stock price, market capitalization, or cash flows, and slower growth rates in our industry. Depending on the results of our assessment, we could be required to record a significant impairment charge in our consolidated financial statements during the period in which any impairment of our goodwill or amortizable intangible assets was determined, negatively impacting our results of operations.

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ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments
None.

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ITEM 2. PROPERTIES
Item 2. Properties
Our corporate headquarters are located in Exton, Pennsylvania and consist of approximately 107,000 square feet of office space, of which we own approximately 76,000 square feet. We lease the remaining approximate 31,000 square feet of headquarters space with expiration dates occurring in 2024 and 2025. Our headquarters accommodates our principal software engineering, sales, marketing professional services, and administrative activities. In addition to our headquarters, we own one other location in India, which is used for office space, that consists of approximately 31,000 square feet. We lease facilities in an additional 111 locations in the U.S. and internationally through our foreign subsidiaries. See Note 8 to our consolidated financial statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for more information about our lease commitments.
We believe that our current facilities are suitable and adequate to meet our current needs and that suitable additional or substitute space will be available as needed in the future to accommodate our operations.

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ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
Item 3. Legal Proceedings
We are subject from time to time to various legal proceedings and claims which arise in the ordinary course of our business. Although the outcome of these and other claims cannot be predicted with certainty, we do not believe that the ultimate resolution of pending matters will have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows. We currently believe that we do not have any material litigation pending against us.

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ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURE
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures
Not applicable.
PART II

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ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT'S COMMON EQUITY
Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
Market Information for Common Stock
Our Class B common stock is traded on the Nasdaq Stock Market LLC under the symbol BSY. There is no established public trading market for our Class A common stock. See Note 13 to our consolidated financial statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for more information about the terms of our common stock.
Stockholders
As of January 31, 2024, there were 15 holders of record of our Class A common stock and 2,199 holders of record of our Class B common stock. Because many of our shares of Class B common stock are held by brokers or other institutions on behalf of stockholders, we are unable to estimate the total number of Class B stockholders represented by the record holders.
Dividend Policy
The declaration and payment of dividends is within the discretion of our Board of Directors. We paid quarterly dividends of $0.05 per share of common stock during the year ended December 31, 2023 and $0.03 per share of common stock during the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021. While we intend to continue paying quarterly dividends, any future determination will be subject to the discretion of our Board of Directors and will be dependent on a number of factors, including our results of operations, capital requirements, restrictions under Delaware law, and overall financial condition, as well as any other factors our Board of Directors considers relevant. In addition, the terms of the agreement governing the Credit Facility limit the amount of dividends we can pay.
Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans
Refer to Part III, Item 12 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Recent Sales of Unregistered Equity Securities
From October 1, 2023 to December 31, 2023, we issued 564,558 shares of our Class B common stock in connection with distributions from our amended and restated Bentley Systems, Incorporated Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Plan (the “DCP”).
None of the foregoing transactions involved any underwriters, underwriting discounts or commissions, or any public offering. Unless otherwise stated, the sales of the above securities were deemed to be exempt from registration under the Securities Act in reliance on Rule 701 promulgated under Section 3(b) of the Securities Act as transactions by an issuer pursuant to benefit plans and contracts relating to compensation as provided under Rule 701. All recipients had adequate access, through their relationships with us, to information about us. The issuance of these securities were made without any general solicitation or advertising.

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ITEM 6. SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA
Item 6. [Reserved]

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ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS
Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
The following discussion should be read in conjunction with our audited consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. In addition to historical information, this discussion contains forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties, and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from management’s expectations. Factors that could cause such differences are set forth in Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Refer to Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations in our 2022 Annual Report on Form 10-K for management’s discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations for the year ended December 31, 2022 compared to the year ended December 31, 2021.
During the fourth quarter of 2023, we changed our definitions of constant currency and constant currency growth rates. In reporting period-over-period results, we calculate the effects of foreign currency fluctuations and constant currency information by translating current period results on a transactional basis to our reporting currency using prior period average foreign currency exchange rates in which the transactions occurred. Our prior definition of constant currency calculated the effects of foreign currency fluctuations and constant currency information by translating current period results of our subsidiaries from their functional currencies to our reporting currency by using prior period average foreign currency exchange rates in reporting period-over-period results.
Prior period amounts have been revised to conform to the current period presentation using the updated constant currency and constant currency growth rates definitions. We are providing what our constant currency and constant currency growth rates results would have been pursuant to the prior definition for the applicable periods so that investors and potential investors that have analyzed these non-GAAP financial measures historically using our prior definitions can compare our historical results to our current results with respect to these non-GAAP financial measures using the prior definitions. Refer to the section titled “Non-GAAP Financial measures” for reconciliations of constant currency non-GAAP financial measures and their most directly comparable GAAP financial measures under the current and prior definitions.
All amounts presented in this Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, except share and per share amounts, are presented in thousands. Additionally, many of the amounts and percentages have been rounded for convenience of presentation. Minor differences in totals and percentage calculations may exist due to rounding.
Overview:
Bentley Systems is the infrastructure engineering software company. Our purpose is to advance the world’s infrastructure for better quality of life. We empower people to design, build, and operate better and more resilient infrastructure through the adoption of our intelligent digital twin solutions. We manage our business globally within one reportable segment, the development and marketing of computer software and related services, which is consistent with how our chief operating decision maker (“CODM”) reviews and manages our business.
Executive Summary:
•Total revenues were $1,228,413 for the year ended December 31, 2023, up 11.8% or 11.9% on a constant currency basis(1) compared to the prior year;
•Subscriptions revenues were $1,080,307 for the year ended December 31, 2023, up 12.5% or 12.5% on a constant currency basis(1) compared to the prior year;
•ARR(2) was $1,174,774 as of December 31, 2023, compared to $1,036,548 as of December 31, 2022, representing a constant currency ARR growth rate(2) of 12.5%;
•Last twelve-month recurring revenues dollar-based net retention rate(2) was 109% as of the year ended December 31, 2023, compared to 110% as of December 31, 2022;
•Operating income was $230,542 for the year ended December 31, 2023, compared to $208,612 for the prior year;
•Adjusted operating income inclusive of stock-based compensation expense (“Adjusted OI w/SBC”)(1) was $324,677 for the year ended December 31, 2023, compared to $273,929 for the prior year; and
•Cash flow from operations was $416,696 for the year ended December 31, 2023, compared to $274,324 for the prior year.
(1)Constant currency and Adjusted OI w/SBC are non-GAAP financial measures. Refer to the “Non-GAAP Financial Measures” section for additional information, including our definitions and our uses of constant currency and Adjusted OI w/SBC.
(2)Refer to the “Key Business Metrics” section for additional information, including our definitions and our uses of ARR, ARR growth rate, and recurring revenues dollar-based net retention rate.
(3)Adjusted OI w/SBC is a non-GAAP financial measure. Refer to the “Non-GAAP Financial Measures” section for additional information, including our definition and our use of Adjusted OI w/SBC.
Results of Operations:
Impact of Foreign Currency
Our results of operations have been, and in the future will be, affected by changes in foreign currency exchange rates. For the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022, and 2021, approximately 35%, 36%, and 47%, respectively, of our total revenues and 45%, 46%, and 42%, respectively, of our total operating expenses were denominated in foreign currencies from outside the U.S. including most significantly: euros, British pounds, Canadian dollars, Australian dollars, Chinese yuan renminbi, and New Zealand dollars. Other than the natural hedge attributable to matching revenues and expenses in the same currencies, we do not currently hedge foreign currency exposure.
We identify the effects of foreign currency on our operations and present constant currency growth rates and fluctuations because we believe exchange rates are an important factor in understanding period-over-period comparisons and enhance the understanding of our results and evaluation of our performance. Refer to the “Non-GAAP Financial Measures” section for additional information, including our definition and our use of constant currency.
Revenues
We generate revenues from subscriptions, perpetual licenses, and services. Our total revenues are diversified by account type, size, and geography. Our sources of revenue growth, excluding the impact from acquisitions, come from additional subscriptions revenues from existing accounts using the same products and represent the majority of our revenue growth, additional subscriptions revenues from existing accounts using new products, and subscriptions revenues from new accounts. We believe that we have a loyal account base, with over 70% of our total revenues for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022, and 2021 generated from organizations that have been our accounts for over ten years.
In addition to our results of operations discussed below, the following is supplemental data of our revenues:
Year Ended December 31,
(as a percentage of total revenues) 2023 2022 2021
Revenues from:
Direct sales channels 92 % 92 % 92 %
Indirect channel partners 8 % 8 % 8 %
Revenues from:
Subscriptions 88 % 87 % 84 %
Recurring services 1 % 2 % 2 %
Total recurring revenues 89 % 89 % 86 %
Perpetual licenses and other services 11 % 11 % 14 %
Largest account represents no more than 2.0 % 2.0 % 2.5 %
The volume, mix, and duration of contract types starting or renewing in any given period may have a material impact on revenue in the period, and as a result can impact the comparability of reported revenue period-over-period. Our subscriptions, perpetual licenses, and services offerings are recognized pursuant to applicable GAAP guidance. See Note 3 to our consolidated financial statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information on our revenues. We believe that subscription revenues will continue to comprise a majority of our total revenues.
Consolidated Revenues
Current Definition of Constant Currency:
% Change % Change
2022 to 2023 2021 to 2022
Constant Constant
Year Ended December 31, Currency Currency
2023 2022 2021 % %(1)
% %(1)
Subscriptions $ 1,080,307 $ 960,220 $ 812,807 12.5 % 12.5 % 18.1 % 22.0 %
Perpetual licenses 46,038 43,377 53,080 6.1 % 7.3 % (18.3 %) (14.1 %)
Subscriptions and licenses 1,126,345 1,003,597 865,887 12.2 % 12.3 % 15.9 % 19.8 %
Services 102,068 95,485 99,159 6.9 % 7.5 % (3.7 %) (0.1 %)
Total revenues $ 1,228,413 $ 1,099,082 $ 965,046 11.8 % 11.9 % 13.9 % 17.7 %
(1)Constant currency is a non-GAAP financial measure. Refer to the “Non-GAAP Financial Measures” section for additional information, including our current definition and our use of constant currency, and for a reconciliation of constant currency growth rates.
Prior Definition of Constant Currency:
% Change % Change
2022 to 2023 2021 to 2022
Constant Constant
Year Ended December 31, Currency Currency
2023 2022 2021 % %(1)
% %(1)
Subscriptions $ 1,080,307 $ 960,220 $ 812,807 12.5 % 11.7 % 18.1 % 24.3 %
Perpetual licenses 46,038 43,377 53,080 6.1 % 5.9 % (18.3 %) (12.1 %)
Subscriptions and licenses 1,126,345 1,003,597 865,887 12.2 % 11.4 % 15.9 % 22.1 %
Services 102,068 95,485 99,159 6.9 % 7.5 % (3.7 %) 0.4 %
Total revenues $ 1,228,413 $ 1,099,082 $ 965,046 11.8 % 11.1 % 13.9 % 19.8 %
(1)Constant currency is a non-GAAP financial measure. Refer to the “Non-GAAP Financial Measures” section for additional information, including our prior definition and our use of constant currency, and for a reconciliation of constant currency growth rates.
The increase in total revenues for the year ended December 31, 2023 was primarily driven by increases in subscriptions revenues, and to a lesser extent, services and perpetual licenses revenues.
Subscriptions. For the year ended December 31, 2023, the increase in subscriptions revenues was primarily driven by improvements in our business performance of approximately $115,786 ($116,406 on a constant currency basis) and the impact of our platform acquisition of approximately $4,301 ($4,111 on a constant currency basis). Our business performance excludes the impact of our platform acquisitions and includes the impact from programmatic acquisitions, which generally are immaterial, individually and in the aggregate. The platform acquisition impact relates to our acquisition of PLS and is inclusive of PLS’ organic performance.
The improvements in business performance were primarily driven by expansion from accounts with revenues in the prior period (“existing accounts”), and growth of 3% attributable to new accounts, most notably small- and medium-sized accounts. Improvements in business performance for the year ended December 31, 2023 were led by our engineering applications, geoprofessional applications, and our Bentley Infrastructure Cloud for project delivery.
Perpetual licenses. For the year ended December 31, 2023, the increase in perpetual licenses revenues was primarily driven by improvements in business performance of approximately $2,661 ($3,181 on a constant currency basis).
Services. For the year ended December 31, 2023, the increase in services revenues was primarily driven by improvements in our business performance of approximately $6,583 ($7,138 on a constant currency basis).
For the year ended December 31, 2023, the improvements in business performance were primarily driven by contributions from Cohesive digital integrator services of approximately $8,684 ($8,834 on a constant currency basis).
Revenues by Geographic Region
Revenue from external customers is attributed to individual countries based upon the location of the customer.
Current Definition of Constant Currency:
% Change % Change
2022 to 2023 2021 to 2022
Constant Constant
Year Ended December 31, Currency Currency
2023 2022 2021 % %(1)
% %(1)
Americas $ 650,926 $ 584,794 $ 483,087 11.3 % 11.4 % 21.1 % 21.2 %
EMEA 353,550 312,804 300,123 13.0 % 12.1 % 4.2 % 12.9 %
APAC 223,937 201,484 181,836 11.1 % 13.0 % 10.8 % 16.3 %
Total revenues $ 1,228,413 $ 1,099,082 $ 965,046 11.8 % 11.9 % 13.9 % 17.7 %
(1)Constant currency is a non-GAAP financial measure. Refer to the “Non-GAAP Financial Measures” section for additional information, including our current definition and our use of constant currency, and for a reconciliation of constant currency growth rates.
Prior Definition of Constant Currency:
% Change % Change
2022 to 2023 2021 to 2022
Constant Constant
Year Ended December 31, Currency Currency
2023 2022 2021 % %(1)
% %(1)
Americas $ 650,926 $ 584,794 $ 483,087 11.3 % 11.0 % 21.1 % 22.1 %
EMEA 353,550 312,804 300,123 13.0 % 11.1 % 4.2 % 15.4 %
APAC 223,937 201,484 181,836 11.1 % 11.2 % 10.8 % 21.1 %
Total revenues $ 1,228,413 $ 1,099,082 $ 965,046 11.8 % 11.1 % 13.9 % 19.8 %
(1)Constant currency is a non-GAAP financial measure. Refer to the “Non-GAAP Financial Measures” section for additional information, including our prior definition and our use of constant currency, and for a reconciliation of constant currency growth rates.
Americas. For the year ended December 31, 2023, the increase in revenues from the Americas was primarily driven by improvements in our business performance of approximately $62,442 ($63,450 on a constant currency basis) and the impact from our platform acquisition of approximately $3,690 ($3,237 on a constant currency basis).
The improvements in business performance for the year ended December 31, 2023 were primarily due to expansion of our subscriptions revenues from existing accounts in the U.S.
EMEA. For the year ended December 31, 2023, the increase in revenues from EMEA was primarily driven by improvements in our business performance of approximately $40,297 ($37,345 on a constant currency basis).
The improvements in business performance for the year ended December 31, 2023 were primarily due to expansion of our subscriptions revenues from existing accounts in the United Kingdom (“U.K.”), and the Middle East and Africa, partially offset by reductions in Russia due to exiting our operations beginning in the second quarter of 2022.
APAC. For the year ended December 31, 2023, the increase in revenues from APAC was primarily driven by improvements in our business performance of approximately $22,291 ($25,930 on a constant currency basis).
The improvements in business performance for the year ended December 31, 2023 were primarily due to expansion of our subscriptions revenues from existing accounts in India, Australia, and Southeast Asia, partially offset by declines in China.
Total revenues in China for the year ended December 31, 2023 increased as compared to the same period in the prior year, primarily due to expansion of our perpetual licenses revenues. The future results in China remain uncertain as a result of continued geopolitical challenges, the obstacles there to cloud-deployed software, and the financial timing impact of the preference there for license sales, rather than subscriptions.
Cost of Revenues and Operating Expense (Income)
Headcount-Related Costs
For the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022, and 2021, approximately 80% of our aggregate cost of revenues, research and development, selling and marketing, and general and administrative expenses were represented by what we refer to herein as “headcount-related” costs. These costs primarily include salaries, benefits, bonuses, stock-based compensation expense, employment taxes, travel, training, and realignment of our colleagues, and third-party personnel expenses and related overhead. Our headcount-related costs are variable in nature. We actively manage these costs to align to our trending run rate of revenue performance, with the objective of enhancing visibility and predictability of resulting operating profit margins.
During the fourth quarter of 2023, the Company approved a strategic realignment program to better serve our accounts and to better align resources with the strategy of the business, including reinvestment in go-to-market functions, as well as in AI product development. The realignment program resulted in realignment costs of $12,579, which represent termination benefits for colleagues whose roles were impacted (less than five percent of total headcount). See Note 21 to our consolidated financial statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information. The realignment program activities have been broadly implemented across our various businesses with the intention that substantially all actions, including payment of the termination benefits, will be fully completed by mid-2024. The impact of the realignment program on headcount-related costs for the year ended December 31, 2023 is included in our discussion below.
Cost of Revenues
Current Definition of Constant Currency:
% Change % Change
2022 to 2023 2021 to 2022
Constant Constant
Year Ended December 31, Currency Currency
2023 2022 2021 % %(1)
% %(1)
Cost of subscriptions and licenses $ 169,406 $ 147,578 $ 124,321 14.8 % 15.1 % 18.7 % 22.2 %
Cost of services 96,677 89,435 92,218 8.1 % 9.0 % (3.0 %) 2.0 %
Total cost of revenues $ 266,083 $ 237,013 $ 216,539 12.3 % 12.8 % 9.5 % 13.6 %
(1)Constant currency is a non-GAAP financial measure. Refer to the “Non-GAAP Financial Measures” section for additional information, including our current definition and our use of constant currency, and for a reconciliation of constant currency growth rates.
Prior Definition of Constant Currency:
% Change % Change
2022 to 2023 2021 to 2022
Constant Constant
Year Ended December 31, Currency Currency
2023 2022 2021 % %(1)
% %(1)
Cost of subscriptions and licenses $ 169,406 $ 147,578 $ 124,321 14.8 % 14.7 % 18.7 % 24.5 %
Cost of services 96,677 89,435 92,218 8.1 % 9.0 % (3.0 %) 2.3 %
Total cost of revenues $ 266,083 $ 237,013 $ 216,539 12.3 % 12.5 % 9.5 % 15.1 %
(1)Constant currency is a non-GAAP financial measure. Refer to the “Non-GAAP Financial Measures” section for additional information, including our prior definition and our use of constant currency, and for a reconciliation of constant currency growth rates.
Cost of subscriptions and licenses. Cost of subscriptions and licenses expenses primarily include headcount-related costs, as well as depreciation of property and equipment and amortization of capitalized software costs associated with servicing software subscriptions, amortization of intangible assets associated with acquired software and technology, channel partner compensation for providing sales coverage to users, as well as cloud-related costs incurred for servicing our accounts using cloud provisioned solutions and our license administration platform.
For the year ended December 31, 2023, on a constant currency basis, cost of subscriptions and licenses increased primarily due to an increase in headcount-related costs of approximately $14,407, mainly due to an increase in headcount and annual compensation costs, and an increase in cloud-related costs of approximately $4,949.
Cost of services. Cost of services expenses primarily include headcount-related costs, as well as depreciation of property and equipment and amortization of capitalized software costs, used for providing training, implementation, configuration, and customization services to accounts.
For the year ended December 31, 2023, on a constant currency basis, cost of services increased primarily due to an increase in headcount-related costs of approximately $7,991, mainly due to third-party personnel costs, and to a lesser extent, increases in headcount and annual compensation costs, partially offset by lower acquisition-related retention incentives.
Operating Expense (Income)
Current Definition of Constant Currency:
% Change % Change
2022 to 2023 2021 to 2022
Constant Constant
Year Ended December 31, Currency Currency
2023 2022 2021 % %(1)
% %(1)
Research and development $ 274,619 $ 257,856 $ 220,915 6.5 % 7.5 % 16.7 % 21.8 %
Selling and marketing 224,336 195,622 162,240 14.7 % 14.9 % 20.6 % 25.8 %
General and administrative 180,738 174,647 150,116 3.5 % 3.6 % 16.3 % 19.1 %
Deferred compensation plan 13,580 (15,782) 95,046 NM NM NM NM
Amortization of purchased intangibles 38,515 41,114 25,601 (6.3 %) (6.3 %) 60.6 % 67.5 %
Total operating expenses $ 731,788 $ 653,457 $ 653,918 12.0 % 12.5 % (0.1 %) 3.8 %
Percentage changes that are considered not meaningful are denoted with NM.
(1)Constant currency is a non-GAAP financial measure. Refer to the “Non-GAAP Financial Measures” section for additional information, including our current definition and our use of constant currency, and for a reconciliation of constant currency growth rates.
Prior Definition of Constant Currency:
% Change % Change
2022 to 2023 2021 to 2022
Constant Constant
Year Ended December 31, Currency Currency
2023 2022 2021 % %(1)
% %(1)
Research and development $ 274,619 $ 257,856 $ 220,915 6.5 % 7.5 % 16.7 % 22.1 %
Selling and marketing 224,336 195,622 162,240 14.7 % 15.0 % 20.6 % 26.3 %
General and administrative 180,738 174,647 150,116 3.5 % 3.5 % 16.3 % 19.7 %
Deferred compensation plan 13,580 (15,782) 95,046 NM NM NM NM
Amortization of purchased intangibles 38,515 41,114 25,601 (6.3 %) (6.1 %) 60.6 % 67.2 %
Total operating expenses $ 731,788 $ 653,457 $ 653,918 12.0 % 12.5 % (0.1 %) 4.2 %
Percentage changes that are considered not meaningful are denoted with NM.
(1)Constant currency is a non-GAAP financial measure. Refer to the “Non-GAAP Financial Measures” section for additional information, including our prior definition and our use of constant currency, and for a reconciliation of constant currency growth rates.
Research and development. Research and development expenses primarily include headcount-related costs, as well as costs to develop software products or the software component of products to be sold, leased, or marketed to external accounts, before technological feasibility is reached, which is generally shortly before the release of such products. Our research and development roadmap balances technology advances and new offerings with continuous enhancements to existing offerings. Our allocation of research and development resources is based on a cost-benefit analysis of acquiring available technology in the marketplace versus developing our own solutions. We anticipate that we will continue to make substantial investments in research and development because we believe the infrastructure engineering software market presents compelling opportunities for the application of new technologies that advance our current solutions.
For the year ended December 31, 2023, on a constant currency basis, research and development expenses increased primarily due to an increase in headcount-related costs of approximately $18,730, mainly due to an increase in annual compensation costs and headcount, and to a lesser extent, realignment expenses, partially offset by a decrease in stock-based compensation expense primarily related to the April 2023 retirement of founder and former Chief Technology Officer, Keith Bentley. The retirement of Mr. Bentley contributed to a deceleration of research and development expenses growth during 2023.
Selling and marketing. Selling and marketing expenses primarily include headcount-related costs, as well as the expense of online marketing, product marketing and other brand-building activities, such as advertising, trade shows, and expositions, and various sales and promotional programs. We anticipate that we will continue to make strategic investments in our global business systems and methods to enhance major account sales activities and to support our worldwide sales and marketing strategies, and the business in general.
For the year ended December 31, 2023, on a constant currency basis, selling and marketing expenses increased primarily due to an increase in headcount-related costs of approximately $27,584, mainly due to an increase in headcount and annual compensation costs, and to a lesser extent, realignment expenses.
General and administrative. General and administrative expenses primarily include headcount-related costs for our finance, human resources, and legal functions, as well as professional fees for legal and accounting services. General and administrative expenses also include acquisition costs, which consist of costs related to legal, accounting, valuation, insurance, and other consulting and transaction fees. Additionally, acquisition costs will drive fluctuations in general and administrative expenses depending on the timing of business combinations.
For the year ended December 31, 2023, on a constant currency basis, general and administrative expenses increased primarily due to an increase in headcount-related costs of approximately $18,248, mainly due to an increase in headcount and annual compensation costs, and to a lesser extent, third-party personnel costs. Partially offsetting these increases were lower non-income related taxes of approximately $6,001 and lower acquisition expenses of approximately $5,777.
Deferred compensation plan. Deferred compensation plan reflects the expense (income) recorded related to changes in deferred compensation plan liabilities, which are marked to market at the end of each reporting period.
For the year ended December 31, 2023, deferred compensation plan expense (income) was attributable to the marked to market impact on deferred compensation plan liability balances period over period.
Amortization of purchased intangibles. Amortization of purchased intangibles includes the amortization of acquired non-product related intangible assets, primarily customer relationships, trademarks, and non-compete agreements recorded in connection with completed acquisitions.
For the year ended December 31, 2023, on a constant currency basis, amortization of purchased intangibles decreased primarily due to previously acquired intangible assets that continue to become fully amortized and lower acquisition activity as compared to the prior year.
Interest Expense, Net
% Change
Year Ended December 31, 2022 2021
2023 2022 2021 to 2023 to 2022
Interest expense $ (41,331) $ (35,056) $ (11,527) 17.9 % NM
Interest income 1,538 421 306 NM 37.6 %
Interest expense, net $ (39,793) $ (34,635) $ (11,221) 14.9 % NM
Percentage changes that are considered not meaningful are denoted with NM.
Interest expense, net primarily represents interest associated with the Credit Facility, the 2026 Notes, the 2027 Notes, amortization and write-off of deferred debt issuance costs, and interest income from our investments in money market funds. The majority of our debt is protected from rising interest rates, through either very low fixed coupon interest on our convertible notes or our $200,000 interest rate swap, which expires in 2030.
For the year ended December 31, 2023, interest expense, net increased primarily due to a higher weighted average interest rate on borrowings under the Credit Facility, partially offset by lower weighted average debt outstanding.
Other (Expense) Income, Net
Year Ended December 31,
2023 2022 2021
(Loss) gain from:
Change in fair value of interest rate swap $ (5,038) $ 27,083 $ 9,770
Foreign exchange (1)
2,497 (9,901) 827
Sale of aircraft - 2,029 -
Change in fair value of acquisition contingent consideration - 1,427 (550)
Receipts (payments) related to interest rate swap
8,803 1,947 (1,270)
Other (expense) income, net (2)
(13,484) 1,713 1,184
Total other (expense) income, net
$ (7,222) $ 24,298 $ 9,961
(1)Foreign exchange gain (loss) is primarily attributable to foreign currency translation derived mainly from U.S. dollar denominated cash and cash equivalents, account receivables, customer deposits, and intercompany balances held by foreign subsidiaries. Intercompany finance transactions primarily denominated in U.S. dollars resulted in unrealized foreign exchange gains (losses) of $3,163, $(7,369), and $(779) for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022, and 2021, respectively.
(2)Other (expense) income, net includes investment impairment and other charges of $(16,988), partially offset by gains on investments of $2,360 for the year ended December 31, 2023.
(Benefit) Provision for Income Taxes
Year Ended December 31,
2023 2022 2021
Income before income taxes
$ 183,527 $ 198,275 $ 93,329
(Benefit) provision for income taxes
$ (143,241) $ 21,283 $ (3,448)
Effective tax rate (78.0) % 10.7 % (3.7) %
(Benefit) provision for income taxes includes the aggregate consolidated income tax expense for U.S. domestic and foreign income taxes.
For the year ended December 31, 2023, the effective tax rate was lower as compared to the year ended December 31, 2022 primarily due to the discrete tax benefit recognized as a result of the internal legal entity restructuring described below. The benefit of the internal legal entity restructuring was partially offset by an increase in the effective tax rate impact of the Global Intangible Low-Taxed Income (“GILTI”) inclusion due to the mandatory capitalization of research and development expenses for U.S. tax purposes and a decrease in discrete tax benefits related to stock-based compensation, net of the impact from officer compensation limitation provisions, recognized during the current year. For the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, we recorded discrete tax benefits of $14,648 and $20,501, respectively, associated with windfall tax benefits from stock-based compensation, net of the impact from officer compensation limitation provisions.
During the fourth quarter of 2023, we recognized a net discrete income tax benefit of $170,784 attributable to internal legal entity restructuring and related intra-entity transactions as part of our continuing efforts to align intellectual property ownership with our business operating model. These transactions resulted in the recognition of deferred tax benefits arising from the net increase in deferred tax assets related to intangibles and goodwill of $171,622. The deferred tax assets represent the undiscounted future anticipated cash tax impacts of basis differences, which are expected to be realized through tax amortization over the next 13 years. See Note 16 to our consolidated financial statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information.
Key Business Metrics:
In addition to our results of operations discussed above, we believe the following presentation of key business metrics provides additional useful information to investors regarding our results of operations. To the extent material, we disclose below the additional purposes, if any, for which our management uses these key business metrics. Our key business metrics may vary significantly from period to period for reasons unrelated to our operating performance and may differ from similarly titled measures presented by other companies.
December 31,
2023 2022 2021
ARR $ 1,174,774 $ 1,036,548 $ 921,218
Last twelve-months recurring revenues $ 1,096,677 $ 978,024 $ 834,150
Twelve-months ended constant currency (1):
ARR growth rate 12.5 % 15 % 26 %
Account retention rate 98 % 98 % 98 %
Recurring revenues dollar-based net retention rate 109 % 110 % 109 %
(1)Constant currency is a non-GAAP financial measure. Refer to the “Non-GAAP Financial Measures” section for additional information, including our definition and our use of constant currency.
Recurring Revenues
Recurring revenues are the basis for our other revenue-related key business metrics. We believe this measure is useful in evaluating our ability to consistently retain and grow our revenues within our existing accounts.
Recurring revenues are subscriptions revenues that recur monthly, quarterly, or annually with specific or automatic renewal clauses and professional services revenues in which the underlying contract is based on a fixed fee and contains automatic annual renewal provisions.
ARR
ARR is a key business metric that we believe is useful in evaluating the scale and growth of our business as well as to assist in the evaluation of underlying trends in our business. Furthermore, we believe ARR, considered in connection with our last twelve-month recurring revenues dollar-based net retention rate, is a leading indicator of revenue growth.
ARR is defined as the sum of the annualized value of our portfolio of contracts that produce recurring revenues as of the last day of the reporting period, and the annualized value of the last three months of recognized revenues for our contractually recurring consumption-based software subscriptions with consumption measurement durations of less than one year, calculated using the spot foreign currency exchange rates. We believe that the last three months of recognized revenues, on an annualized basis, for our recurring software subscriptions with consumption measurement period durations of less than one year is a reasonable estimate of the annual revenues, given our consistently high retention rate and stability of usage under such subscriptions.
ARR resulting from the annualization of recurring contracts with consumption measurement durations of less than one year, as a percentage of total ARR, was 47%, 43%, and 38% as of December 31, 2023, 2022, and 2021, respectively, with our E365 subscription offering representing 41%, 35%, and 29% of total ARR as of December 31, 2023, 2022, and 2021, respectively.
In March 2022, in response to the Russia-Ukraine war, we announced a pause of sales in Russia and Belarus, in addition to our strict compliance with applicable sanctions, regimes, and other regulatory restrictions on business activities in those countries. As a result of the conflict, we deemed our overall business recurrence in the affected countries to have been reduced by approximately 50%, and accordingly, reduced our related ARR by $5,190 as of March 31, 2022. During the second quarter of 2022, the marked shifts in the Russian business environment and economic outlook led us to conclude it was no longer viable for us to continue operations in Russia. Accordingly, we made the decision to wind down business and exit the Russian market, which resulted in a further reduction in our ARR by $6,000.
Constant currency ARR growth rate is the growth rate of ARR measured on a constant currency basis. We believe that ARR growth is an important metric indicating the scale and growth of our business.
Our ARR growth rate was favorably impacted by the ARR onboarding from our platform acquisition of PLS by 2.5% for the year ended December 31, 2022.
Last Twelve-Months Recurring Revenues
Last twelve-month recurring revenues is a key business metric that we believe is useful in evaluating our ability to consistently retain and grow our recurring revenues. We believe that we will continue to experience favorable growth in recurring revenues primarily due to our strong account retention and recurring revenues dollar-based net retention rates, as well as the addition of new accounts with recurring revenues.
Last twelve-months recurring revenues is calculated as recurring revenues recognized over the preceding twelve-month period.
The last twelve-months recurring revenues for the periods ended December 31, 2023, 2022, and 2021 compared to the last twelve-months of the comparative twelve-month period increased by $118,653, $143,874, and $137,488, respectively. This increase was primarily due to growth in ARR, which is primarily the result of growing our recurring revenues within our existing accounts as expressed in our recurring revenues dollar-based net retention rate, as well as additional recurring revenues resulting from new accounts and acquisitions, including the favorable impact from our platform acquisitions of PLS and Seequent. For the twelve months ended December 31, 2023, 2022, and 2021, 89%, 89%, and 86%, respectively, of our revenues were recurring revenues.
Account Retention Rate
Account retention rate is a key business metric that we believe is useful in evaluating the long-term value of our account relationships and our ability to retain our account base. We believe that our consistent and high account retention rates illustrate our ability to retain and cultivate long-term relationships with our accounts.
Account retention rate for any given twelve-month period is calculated using the average foreign currency exchange rates for the prior period, as follows: the prior period recurring revenues from all accounts with recurring revenues in the current and prior period, divided by total recurring revenues from all accounts during the prior period.
Recurring Revenues Dollar-Based Net Retention Rate
Recurring revenues dollar-based net retention rate is a key business metric that we believe is useful in evaluating our ability to consistently retain and grow our recurring revenues.
Recurring revenues dollar-based net retention rate is calculated, using the average exchange rates for the prior period, as follows: the recurring revenues for the current period, including any growth or reductions from existing accounts, but excluding recurring revenues from any new accounts added during the current period, divided by the total recurring revenues from all accounts during the prior period. A period is defined as any trailing twelve months. Related to our platform acquisitions, recurring revenues into new accounts will be captured as existing accounts starting with the second anniversary of the acquisition when such data conforms to the calculation methodology. This may cause variability in the comparison.
Given that recurring revenues represented 89%, 89%, and 86% of our total revenues for the twelve months ended December 31, 2023, 2022, and 2021, respectively, this metric helps explain our revenue performance as primarily growth from existing accounts.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures:
In addition to our results determined in accordance with GAAP discussed above, we believe the following presentation of financial measures not in accordance with GAAP provides useful information to investors regarding our results of operations. To the extent material, we disclose below the additional purposes, if any, for which our management uses these non-GAAP financial measures and provide reconciliations between these non-GAAP financial measures and their most directly comparable GAAP financial measures. Non-GAAP financial information should be considered in addition to, not as a substitute for, or in isolation from, the financial information prepared in accordance with GAAP, including operating income, or other measures of performance. Our non-GAAP financial measures may vary significantly from period to period for reasons unrelated to our operating performance and may differ from similarly titled measures presented by other companies.
Adjusted OI w/SBC
Adjusted OI w/SBC is a non-GAAP financial measure and is used to measure the operational strength and performance of our business, as well as to assist in the evaluation of underlying trends in our business.
Adjusted OI w/SBC is our primary performance measure, which excludes certain expenses and charges, including the non-cash amortization expense resulting from the acquisition of intangible assets, as we believe these may not be indicative of our core business operating results. We intentionally include stock-based compensation expense in this measure as we believe it better captures the economic costs of our business.
Management uses this non-GAAP financial measure to understand and compare operating results across accounting periods, for internal budgeting and forecasting purposes, to evaluate financial performance, and in our comparison of our financial results to those of other companies. It is also a significant performance measure in certain of our executive incentive compensation programs.
Adjusted OI w/SBC is defined as operating income adjusted for the following: amortization of purchased intangibles, expense (income) relating to deferred compensation plan liabilities, acquisition expenses, and realignment expenses (income), for the respective periods.
Adjusted Operating Income
Adjusted operating income is a non-GAAP financial measure that we believe is useful to investors in making comparisons to other companies, although this measure may not be directly comparable to similar measures used by other companies.
Adjusted operating income is defined as operating income adjusted for the following: amortization of purchased intangibles, expense (income) relating to deferred compensation plan liabilities, acquisition expenses, realignment expenses (income), and stock-based compensation expense, for the respective periods.
Reconciliation of operating income to Adjusted OI w/SBC and to Adjusted operating income:
Year Ended December 31,
2023 2022 2021
Operating income
$ 230,542 $ 208,612 $ 94,589
Amortization of purchased intangibles (1)
51,219 53,592 34,001
Deferred compensation plan (2)
13,580 (15,782) 95,046
Acquisition expenses (3)
17,866 25,398 34,368
Realignment expenses (4)
11,470 2,109 -
Adjusted OI w/SBC 324,677 273,929 258,004
Stock-based compensation expense (5)
71,470 74,566 48,152
Adjusted operating income $ 396,147 $ 348,495 $ 306,156
Further explanation of certain of our adjustments in arriving at Adjusted OI w/SBC and Adjusted operating income are as follows:
(1)Amortization of purchased intangibles. Amortization of purchased intangibles varies in amount and frequency and is significantly impacted by the timing and size of our acquisitions. Management finds it useful to exclude these non-cash charges from our operating expenses to assist in budgeting, planning, and forecasting future periods. The use of intangible assets contributed to our revenues earned during the periods presented and will also contribute to our revenues in future periods. Amortization of purchased intangible assets will recur in future periods.
(2)Deferred compensation plan. We exclude Deferred compensation plan expense (income) when we evaluate our continuing operational performance because it is not reflective of our ongoing business and results of operation. We believe it is useful for investors to understand the effects of this item on our total operating expenses. Deferred compensation plan liabilities are marked to market at the end of each reporting period, with changes in the liabilities recorded as an expense (income) to Deferred compensation plan in the consolidated statements of operations.
(3)Acquisition expenses. We incur expenses for professional services rendered in connection with business combinations, which are included in our GAAP presentation of general and administrative expense (see Note 4 to our consolidated financial statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K). Also included in our acquisition expenses are retention incentives paid to executives of the acquired companies. We exclude these acquisition expenses when we evaluate our continuing operational performance as we would not have otherwise incurred these expenses in the periods presented as part of our continuing operations. For the year ended December 31, 2022, $9,804 of our acquisition expenses related to our platform acquisition of PLS. For the year ended December 31, 2021, $16,557 and $1,644 of our acquisition expenses related to our platform acquisitions of Seequent and PLS, respectively.
(4)Realignment expenses. We exclude these charges and subsequent adjustments to our estimates when we evaluate our continuing operational performance because they are not reflective of our ongoing business and results of operations. We believe it is useful for investors to understand the effects of these items on our total operating expenses. For the year ended December 31, 2023, Realignment expenses were primarily associated with a strategic realignment program to better serve our accounts and to better align resources with the strategy of the business during the fourth quarter of 2023. In connection with these actions, we recognized $12,579 of realignment costs related to termination benefits for colleagues whose roles were impacted (see Note 21 to our consolidated financial statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K). Partially offsetting these costs was income associated with the continued wind down of our Russian entities. For the year ended December 31, 2022, Realignment expenses were comprised of asset impairments and termination benefits as a result of our decision to wind down business and exit the Russian market beginning in the second quarter of 2022.
(5)Stock-based compensation expense. We exclude non-cash stock-based compensation expenses from certain of our non-GAAP measures because we believe this is useful to investors in making comparisons to other companies.
Constant Currency
Constant currency and constant currency growth rates are non-GAAP financial measures that present our results of operations excluding the estimated effects of foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations. A significant amount of our operations is conducted in foreign currencies. As a result, the comparability of the financial results reported in U.S. dollars is affected by changes in foreign currency exchange rates. We use constant currency and constant currency growth rates to evaluate the underlying performance of the business, and we believe it is helpful for investors to present operating results on a comparable basis period over period to evaluate its underlying performance.
During the fourth quarter of 2023, we changed our definitions of constant currency and constant currency growth rates. In reporting period-over-period results, we calculate the effects of foreign currency fluctuations and constant currency information by translating current period results on a transactional basis to our reporting currency using prior period average foreign currency exchange rates in which the transactions occurred. Our prior definition of constant currency calculated the effects of foreign currency fluctuations and constant currency information by translating current period results of our subsidiaries from their functional currencies to our reporting currency by using prior period average foreign currency exchange rates in reporting period-over-period results.
We made this modification in order to better align with how we manage the business, to better reflect our performance during a reporting period, and to make the effects of foreign currency fluctuations and constant currency information more easily comparable on a period-over-period basis. Prior period amounts have been revised to conform to the current period presentation using the updated constant currency and constant currency growth rates definition. We are providing what our constant currency and constant currency growth rates results would have been pursuant to the prior definition for the applicable periods so that investors and potential investors that have analyzed these non-GAAP financial measures historically using our prior definitions can compare our historical results to our current results with respect to these non-GAAP financial measures using the prior definitions. Reconciliations of constant currency non-GAAP financial measures and their most directly comparable GAAP financial measures under the current and prior definitions are included below.
Reconciliation of consolidated revenues to consolidated revenues in constant currency:
Current definition:
Constant Currency % Change 2022 to 2023:
Year Ended December 31, 2023 Year Ended December 31, 2022
Actual Impact of Foreign Exchange at 2022 Rates Constant Currency Actual Impact of Foreign Exchange at 2022 Rates Constant Currency
Subscriptions $ 1,080,307 $ 1,239 $ 1,081,546 $ 960,220 $ 809 $ 961,029
Perpetual licenses 46,038 563 46,601 43,377 43 43,420
Subscriptions and licenses 1,126,345 1,802 1,128,147 1,003,597 852 1,004,449
Services 102,068 684 102,752 95,485 129 95,614
Total revenues $ 1,228,413 $ 2,486 $ 1,230,899 $ 1,099,082 $ 981 $ 1,100,063
Constant Currency % Change 2021 to 2022:
Year Ended December 31, 2022 Year Ended December 31, 2021
Actual Impact of Foreign Exchange at 2021 Rates Constant Currency Actual Impact of Foreign Exchange at 2021 Rates Constant Currency
Subscriptions $ 960,220 $ 31,064 $ 991,284 $ 812,807 $ (19) $ 812,788
Perpetual licenses 43,377 2,220 45,597 53,080 (2) 53,078
Subscriptions and licenses 1,003,597 33,284 1,036,881 865,887 (21) 865,866
Services 95,485 3,545 99,030 99,159 (11) 99,148
Total revenues $ 1,099,082 $ 36,829 $ 1,135,911 $ 965,046 $ (32) $ 965,014
Prior definition:
Year Ended December 31, 2023 Year Ended December 31, 2022
Actual Impact of Foreign Exchange Constant Currency Actual Impact of Foreign Exchange Constant Currency
Subscriptions $ 1,080,307 $ (8,095) $ 1,072,212 $ 960,220 $ 50,030 $ 1,010,250
Perpetual licenses 46,038 (107) 45,931 43,377 3,269 46,646
Subscriptions and licenses 1,126,345 (8,202) 1,118,143 1,003,597 53,299 1,056,896
Services 102,068 538 102,606 95,485 4,102 99,587
Total revenues $ 1,228,413 $ (7,664) $ 1,220,749 $ 1,099,082 $ 57,401 $ 1,156,483
Reconciliation of revenues by geographic region to revenues by geographic region in constant currency:
Current definition:
Constant Currency % Change 2022 to 2023:
Year Ended December 31, 2023 Year Ended December 31, 2022
Actual Impact of Foreign Exchange at 2022 Rates Constant Currency Actual Impact of Foreign Exchange at 2022 Rates Constant Currency
Americas $ 650,926 $ 242 $ 651,168 $ 584,794 $ (313) $ 584,481
EMEA 353,550 (2,841) 350,709 312,804 151 312,955
APAC 223,937 5,085 229,022 201,484 1,143 202,627
Total revenues $ 1,228,413 $ 2,486 $ 1,230,899 $ 1,099,082 $ 981 $ 1,100,063
Constant Currency % Change 2021 to 2022:
Year Ended December 31, 2022 Year Ended December 31, 2021
Actual Impact of Foreign Exchange at 2021 Rates Constant Currency Actual Impact of Foreign Exchange at 2021 Rates Constant Currency
Americas $ 584,794 $ 860 $ 585,654 $ 483,087 $ 115 $ 483,202
EMEA 312,804 25,696 338,500 300,123 (348) 299,775
APAC 201,484 10,273 211,757 181,836 201 182,037
Total revenues $ 1,099,082 $ 36,829 $ 1,135,911 $ 965,046 $ (32) $ 965,014
Prior definition:
Year Ended December 31, 2023 Year Ended December 31, 2022
Actual Impact of Foreign Exchange Constant Currency Actual Impact of Foreign Exchange Constant Currency
Americas $ 650,926 $ (1,594) $ 649,332 $ 584,794 $ 5,218 $ 590,012
EMEA 353,550 (6,099) 347,451 312,804 33,524 346,328
APAC 223,937 29 223,966 201,484 18,659 220,143
Total revenues $ 1,228,413 $ (7,664) $ 1,220,749 $ 1,099,082 $ 57,401 $ 1,156,483
Reconciliation of cost of revenues to cost of revenues in constant currency:
Current definition:
Constant Currency % Change 2022 to 2023:
Year Ended December 31, 2023 Year Ended December 31, 2022
Actual Impact of Foreign Exchange at 2022 Rates Constant Currency Actual Impact of Foreign Exchange at 2022 Rates Constant Currency
Cost of subscriptions and licenses $ 169,406 $ 382 $ 169,788 $ 147,578 $ (45) $ 147,533
Cost of services 96,677 772 97,449 89,435 (53) 89,382
Total cost of revenues $ 266,083 $ 1,154 $ 267,237 $ 237,013 $ (98) $ 236,915
Constant Currency % Change 2021 to 2022:
Year Ended December 31, 2022 Year Ended December 31, 2021
Actual Impact of Foreign Exchange at 2021 Rates Constant Currency Actual Impact of Foreign Exchange at 2021 Rates Constant Currency
Cost of subscriptions and licenses $ 147,578 $ 4,246 $ 151,824 $ 124,321 $ (47) $ 124,274
Cost of services 89,435 4,635 94,070 92,218 (9) 92,209
Total cost of revenues $ 237,013 $ 8,881 $ 245,894 $ 216,539 $ (56) $ 216,483
Prior definition:
Year Ended December 31, 2023 Year Ended December 31, 2022
Actual Impact of Foreign Exchange Constant Currency Actual Impact of Foreign Exchange Constant Currency
Cost of subscriptions and licenses $ 169,406 $ (149) $ 169,257 $ 147,578 $ 7,253 $ 154,831
Cost of services 96,677 823 97,500 89,435 4,932 94,367
Total cost of revenues $ 266,083 $ 674 $ 266,757 $ 237,013 $ 12,185 $ 249,198
Reconciliation of operating expense (income) to operating expense (income) in constant currency:
Current definition:
Constant Currency % Change 2022 to 2023:
Year Ended December 31, 2023 Year Ended December 31, 2022
Actual Impact of Foreign Exchange at 2022 Rates Constant Currency Actual Impact of Foreign Exchange at 2022 Rates Constant Currency
Research and development $ 274,619 $ 2,592 $ 277,211 $ 257,856 $ (36) $ 257,820
Selling and marketing 224,336 427 224,763 195,622 (48) 195,574
General and administrative 180,738 182 180,920 174,647 (6) 174,641
Deferred compensation plan 13,580 - 13,580 (15,782) - (15,782)
Amortization of purchased intangibles 38,515 88 38,603 41,114 68 41,182
Total operating expenses $ 731,788 $ 3,289 $ 735,077 $ 653,457 $ (22) $ 653,435
Constant Currency % Change 2021 to 2022:
Year Ended December 31, 2022 Year Ended December 31, 2021
Actual Impact of Foreign Exchange at 2021 Rates Constant Currency Actual Impact of Foreign Exchange at 2021 Rates Constant Currency
Research and development $ 257,856 $ 11,118 $ 268,974 $ 220,915 $ (15) $ 220,900
Selling and marketing 195,622 8,407 204,029 162,240 (9) 162,231
General and administrative 174,647 4,190 178,837 150,116 (8) 150,108
Deferred compensation plan (15,782) - (15,782) 95,046 - 95,046
Amortization of purchased intangibles 41,114 1,758 42,872 25,601 - 25,601
Total operating expenses $ 653,457 $ 25,473 $ 678,930 $ 653,918 $ (32) $ 653,886
Prior definition:
Year Ended December 31, 2023 Year Ended December 31, 2022
Actual Impact of Foreign Exchange Constant Currency Actual Impact of Foreign Exchange Constant Currency
Research and development $ 274,619 $ 2,491 $ 277,110 $ 257,856 $ 11,791 $ 269,647
Selling and marketing 224,336 615 224,951 195,622 9,274 204,896
General and administrative 180,738 (11) 180,727 174,647 4,979 179,626
Deferred compensation plan 13,580 - 13,580 (15,782) - (15,782)
Amortization of purchased intangibles 38,515 95 38,610 41,114 1,680 42,794
Total operating expenses $ 731,788 $ 3,190 $ 734,978 $ 653,457 $ 27,724 $ 681,181
Liquidity and Capital Resources:
Cash and Cash Equivalents
December 31,
2023 2022
Cash and cash equivalents held domestically $ 3,693 $ 3,883
Cash and cash equivalents held by foreign subsidiaries 64,719 67,801
Total cash and cash equivalents $ 68,412 $ 71,684
Our primary source of operating cash is from the sale of our subscriptions, perpetual licenses, and services. Our primary use of cash is payment of our operating costs, which consist mainly of headcount-related costs. In addition to operating expenses, we also use cash to service our debt obligations, to pay quarterly dividends, to repurchase our Class B common stock and convertible debt, and for capital expenditures in support of our operations. We also use cash to fund our acquisitions of software assets and businesses, and other investment activities, including our iTwin Ventures initiative which makes seed, early, and growth stage investments in technology companies with promising and emerging opportunities for infrastructure digital twin solutions potentially relevant to our business.
During the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, we made cash repatriations to the U.S. of approximately $93,000 and $150,000, respectively, from earnings generated by our foreign subsidiaries. In 2023, the repatriations were used to supplement our domestic working capital requirements and to pay down our Credit Facility. In 2022, the repatriations, along with available cash and borrowings under our Credit Facility, were used to fund the acquisition of PLS in January 2022.
We believe that cash generated from operations, together with existing cash and cash equivalent balances, and external borrowings including available liquidity under the Credit Facility, will be sufficient to meet our domestic and international working capital and capital expenditure requirements. We regularly review our capital structure and consider a variety of potential financing alternatives and planning strategies to ensure that we have the proper liquidity available in the locations in which it is needed and to fund our operations and growth investments with cash that has not been permanently reinvested outside the U.S. Our future capital requirements may be materially different than those currently planned in our budgeting and forecasting activities and depend on many factors, including our strategy of regularly acquiring and integrating specialized infrastructure engineering software businesses, our rate of revenue growth, the timing and extent of spending on research and development, the expansion of our sales and marketing activities, the timing of new product introductions, market acceptance of our products, competitive factors, our discretionary payments of dividends or repurchases of our Class B common stock and convertible debt, fund of our purchase commitments, currency fluctuations, and overall economic conditions, globally. To the extent that current and anticipated future sources of liquidity are insufficient to fund our future business activities and requirements, we may be required to seek additional equity or debt financing. The sale of additional equity would result in additional dilution to our stockholders, while the incurrence of additional debt financing, including convertible debt, would result in additional debt service obligations. Such debt instruments also could introduce new or modified covenants that might restrict our operations and/or our ability to pay dividends, consummate acquisitions, or otherwise pursue our business strategies. We cannot provide assurance that we could obtain additional financing on favorable terms or at all.
Cash Flow Activity
Year Ended December 31,
2023 2022 2021
Net cash provided by (used in):
Operating activities $ 416,696 $ 274,324 $ 288,024
Investing activities (60,504) (770,127) (1,056,603)
Financing activities (359,074) 243,034 982,582
Operating Activities
For the year ended December 31, 2023, compared to the prior year, net cash provided by operating activities was higher by $142,372 due to an increase in net income of $152,007 and an increase in net cash flows from the change in operating assets and liabilities of $112,542, partially offset by a net decrease in non-cash adjustments of $122,177. Both the increase in net income and the net decrease in non-cash adjustments were impacted by the fourth quarter of 2023 internal legal entity restructuring and related intra-entity transactions as part of our continuing efforts to align intellectual property ownership with our business operating model. The net impact of the internal legal entity restructuring was a net discrete tax benefit of $170,784. See Note 16 to our consolidated financial statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information. The increase in cash flows from the change in operating assets and liabilities was primarily due to changes in accounts receivable period over period due to timing of collections from customers, higher CSS deposits, and an increase in deferred revenues period over period.
In addition, we expect cash payments of approximately $12,500 for termination benefits to colleagues in connection with our fourth quarter of 2023 strategic realignment program by mid-2024. See Note 21 to our consolidated financial statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information related to realignment costs.
Investing Activities
Net cash used in investing activities was lower by $709,623 for the year ended December 31, 2023, compared to the prior year, primarily due to lower acquisition related payments, as three acquisitions were completed in 2023 compared to six acquisitions, including our platform acquisition of PLS for $695,968 in 2022.
Financing Activities
Net cash used in financing activities was $359,074 for the year ended December 31, 2023, as compared to net cash provided by financing activities of $243,034 for the year ended December 31, 2022, primarily due to the net paydown of the Credit Facility of $258,569 in 2023 as compared to an increase in net borrowings under the Credit Facility of $340,598 in 2022. Payments for shares acquired were lower during the year ended December 31, 2023 by $12,874, as compared to the prior year. The year ended December 31, 2022 payments for shares acquired includes $28,250 of share repurchases under the BSY Stock Repurchase Program (the “Repurchase Program”), whereas no repurchases were made under the Repurchase Program during 2023. Refer to the section titled “Stock Repurchases” below for further detail. Payments of dividends were higher during the year ended December 31, 2023 by $24,263 as compared to the prior year, primarily due to an increase in our quarterly dividend per share to $0.05 from $0.03.
Long-Term Debt
December 31,
2023 2022
Current portion of long-term debt $ 10,000 $ 5,000
Long-term debt 1,518,403 1,775,696
Total debt $ 1,528,403 $ 1,780,696
As of December 31, 2023, we had $757,822 available under the Credit Facility. We were in compliance with all covenants in its Credit Facility, the 2026 Notes, and the 2027 Notes as of December 31, 2023. Any failure to comply with such covenants under the Credit Facility would prevent us from being able to borrow additional funds under the Credit Facility, and, as with any failure to comply with such covenants under the 2026 Notes and the 2027 Notes, could constitute a default that may cause all amounts outstanding to become due and immediately payable in full.
Our Credit Facility, 2026 Notes, and 2027 Notes are described in Note 10 to our consolidated financial statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Stock Repurchases
BSY Stock Repurchase Program
Our Board of Directors has authorized us to repurchase up to $200,000 of our Class B common stock and/or outstanding convertible senior notes through June 30, 2024 under the Repurchase Program. We may use available working capital and cash provided by operations to make repurchases.
For the year ended December 31, 2023, we did not repurchase shares under the Repurchase Program. For the year ended December 31, 2022, we repurchased 896,126 shares for $28,250, and $2,170 aggregate principal amount of our outstanding 2026 Notes for $1,998.
The timing, as well as the number and value of shares and/or notes repurchased under the Repurchase Program, will be determined at our discretion and will depend on a variety of factors, including our assessment of the intrinsic value of our shares, the market price of our Class B common stock and outstanding notes, general market and economic conditions, available liquidity, compliance with our debt and other agreements, and applicable legal requirements.
Withholding Taxes on Certain Equity Awards
We have the right to require that certain equity awardees receive gross or net quantities of shares of our Class B Common Stock, including in connection with share issuances under the amended and restated Bentley Systems, Incorporated Bonus Pool Plan (the “Bonus Plan”) and distributions from the DCP. In the case of a gross issuance or distribution, an awardee is required to reimburse promptly to us the cash required for his or her tax withholding amounts. Conversely, under a net issuance or distribution, shares are withheld in consideration of remitting withholding taxes on behalf of an equity awardee, thereby requiring us to remit cash for the tax withholdings. During the year ended December 31, 2023, we allowed impacted equity awardees the option to receive net quantities of shares of our Class B common stock during the first, second, and third quarters, but exercised our right to require that these awardees receive gross quantities of our Class B common stock during the fourth quarter. During the year ended December 31, 2022, we permitted impacted awardees to elect to receive net quantities of shares of our Class B common stock in the first quarter, but exercised our right to require that these awardees receive gross quantities of our Class B common stock during the second, third, and fourth quarters. We will continue to evaluate whether share awards will be required to be received by awardees on a gross basis, or if net settlement may be elected by awardees.
Dividend Payments
The declaration and payment of dividends is within the discretion of our Board of Directors. We paid quarterly dividends of $0.05 per share of common stock during the year ended December 31, 2023 and $0.03 per share of common stock during the year ended December 31, 2022. While we intend to continue paying quarterly dividends, any future determination will be subject to the discretion of our Board of Directors and will be dependent on a number of factors, including our results of operations, capital requirements, restrictions under Delaware law, and overall financial condition, as well as any other factors our Board of Directors considers relevant. In addition, the terms of the agreement governing the Credit Facility limit the amount of dividends we can pay.
Contractual Obligations and Other Commitments:
The following table summarizes our most significant contractual obligations as of December 31, 2023:
Total Short-Term Long-Term
Debt Obligations (1)
$ 1,544,858 $ 10,000 $ 1,534,858
Purchase Obligations 127,000 50,000 77,000
DCP Obligations 90,536 2,355 88,181
(1)Amounts represent the face value of debt and exclude interest payments.
Our largest contractual obligations relate to our outstanding debt, which include convertible notes due in 2026 and 2027. We typically fund and expect to continue to fund debt maturities and interest payments with cash flows generated from operations, existing cash and cash equivalents, or proceeds from additional financing. If an early conversion notice is received, we have the option to pay cash, deliver shares of our Class B common stock, or a combination thereof. See Note 10 to our consolidated financial statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information on our debt obligations.
We have non-cancelable future cash purchase commitments for services related to the provisioning of our hosted software solutions and for other software costs. Our purchase obligations are in addition to amounts included in our consolidated balance sheets. We have funded and expect to continue to be able to fund our purchase obligations with cash flows generated from operations or existing cash and cash equivalents. See Note 18 to our consolidated financial statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information on our purchase obligations.
Our DCP obligations represent DCP participants’ holdings in phantom investment funds, which are classified as liabilities as they will be settled in cash upon eventual distribution. We have funded and expect to continue to be able to fund our DCP obligations with cash flows generated from operations or existing cash and cash equivalents. See Note 12 to our consolidated financial statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information on our DCP obligations.
Our other future contractual obligations were related to leases (see Note 8), and contingent and non-contingent consideration from acquisitions (see Note 4). For information about those obligations, see the above referenced notes to our consolidated financial statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Critical Accounting Estimates:
The preparation of our consolidated financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires us to make estimates that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenue and expenses, and the related disclosure of contingent assets and contingent liabilities. We base our judgments on our historical experience and on various other assumptions that we believe are reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making estimates about the carrying value of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions.
Revenue Recognition
Our contracts with customers may include promises to transfer licenses (perpetual or term-based), maintenance, and services to a user. Judgment is required to determine if the promises are separate performance obligations, and if so, the allocation of the transaction price to each performance obligation. When an arrangement includes multiple performance obligations which are concurrently delivered and have the same pattern of transfer to the customer, we account for those performance obligations as a single performance obligation. For contracts with more than one performance obligation, the transaction price is allocated among the performance obligations in an amount that depicts the relative standalone selling price (“SSP”) of each obligation. Judgment is required to determine the SSP for each distinct performance obligation. In instances where SSP is not directly observable, such as when we do not sell the product or service separately, we determine the SSP using information that may include market conditions and other observable inputs. We use a range of amounts to estimate SSP when we sell each of the products and services separately and need to determine whether there is a discount that should be allocated based on the relative SSP of the various products and services.
Our SELECT agreement provides users with perpetual licenses a right to exchange software for other eligible perpetual licenses on an annual basis upon renewal. We refer to this option as portfolio balancing and concluded that the portfolio balancing feature represents a material right resulting in the deferral of the associated revenue. Judgment is required to estimate the percentage of users who may elect to portfolio balance and considers inputs such as historical user elections. This feature is available once per term and must be exercised prior to the respective renewal term. We recognize the associated revenue upon election or when the portfolio balancing right expires. This right is included in the initial and subsequent renewal terms and we reestablish the revenue deferral for the material right upon the beginning of the renewal term. Portfolio balancing exchange rights are included in Deferred revenues in the consolidated balance sheets.
Business Combinations
We allocate the fair value of the consideration transferred to the assets acquired and liabilities assumed, including trademarks, customer relationships, in-process research and development, and acquired software and technology, based on their estimated fair values at the acquisition date. Any residual purchase price is recorded as goodwill. The purchase price allocation requires us to make significant estimates and assumptions, especially at the acquisition date, with respect to intangible assets.
Although we believe the assumptions and estimates we have made are reasonable, they are based in part on historical experience and information obtained from the management of the acquired companies and are inherently uncertain. Examples of critical estimates used in valuing certain of the intangible assets we have acquired or may acquire in the future include but are not limited to:
•future expected cash flows from total revenues and acquired developed technologies;
•the acquired company’s trade name and customer relationships as well as assumptions about the period of time the acquired trade name and customer relationships will continue to be used in our product portfolio;
•expected costs to develop the in-process research and development into commercially viable software and estimated cash flows from the projects when completed; and
•discount rates used to determine the present value of estimated future cash flows.
These estimates are inherently uncertain and unpredictable, and if different estimates were used the purchase price for the acquisition could be allocated to the acquired assets and liabilities differently from the allocation that we have made. In addition, unanticipated events and circumstances may occur, which may affect the accuracy or validity of such estimates, and, if such events occur, we may be required to record a charge against the value ascribed to an acquired asset or an increase in the amounts recorded for assumed liabilities.
Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets
Intangible assets arise from acquisitions and principally consist of goodwill, trademarks, customer relationships, in-process research and development, and acquired software and technology. Intangible assets, other than goodwill and in-process research and development, are amortized on a straight-line basis over their estimated useful lives, which range from three to ten years.
Goodwill consists of the excess of cost over the fair value of net assets acquired in business combinations. Goodwill is not amortized but instead is tested annually for impairment on October 1, or more frequently if events occur or circumstances change that would more likely than not reduce its fair value below its carrying amount. We allocate goodwill to reporting units on a relative fair value basis.
In testing for goodwill impairment, we may first qualitatively assess whether it is more likely than not (a likelihood of more than 50 percent) that a goodwill impairment exists. If it is determined that a quantitative assessment is required and the carrying amount exceeds its fair value, we will recognize goodwill impairment in the amount in which the carrying amount of the reporting unit exceeds its fair value, but not to exceed the carrying amount of goodwill within the reporting unit. There was no impairment of goodwill as a result of our annual impairment assessments conducted for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022, or 2021.
Income Taxes
We account for income taxes under the asset and liability method, which requires the recognition of deferred tax assets and liabilities for the expected future tax consequences of events that have been included in the consolidated financial statements. Under this method, deferred tax assets and liabilities are determined based on net operating loss (“NOL”) carryforwards, credit carryforwards, and temporary differences between the financial statement and tax basis of assets and liabilities using enacted tax rates in effect for the year in which the items are expected to reverse. The effect of a change in tax rates on deferred tax assets and liabilities is recognized in income in the period of the enactment date.
We perform a quarterly assessment of the recoverability of the net deferred tax assets. We consider all available evidence, both positive and negative, in determining whether all or a portion of a deferred tax asset is more likely than not to be realized. In the event we determine that all or a portion of the deferred tax assets is not more likely than not to be realized, an adjustment to the valuation allowance would be recorded that would increase the provision for income taxes. To the extent that the realization of a deferred tax asset is based upon forecasted future earnings, our judgment regarding future profitability may change due to future market conditions and other factors. Assumptions about future taxable income require significant judgment and, while these assumptions rely heavily on estimates, such estimates are consistent with the plans we are using to manage the underlying business. Any change in future profitability may require material adjustments to these net deferred tax assets, resulting in a reduction in net income in the period when such determination is made. Additionally, future changes in tax laws and rates, including administrative or regulatory guidance, could affect recorded deferred tax assets and liabilities. Any adjustments to these estimates will generally be recorded as an income tax expense or benefit in the period the adjustment is determined.
We are subject to income taxes in the U.S. and in numerous foreign jurisdictions. The calculation of our tax liabilities often involves dealing with uncertainties in the application of complex tax laws and regulations in a multitude of jurisdictions across our global operations. There are many transactions and calculations about which the ultimate tax outcome is uncertain. A benefit from an uncertain tax position may be recognized when it is more likely than not that the position will be sustained based upon the technical merits of the position. This may include expected resolutions upon examination, any related appeals, or through a litigation processes. As a result, our calculations involve estimates by management. Due to the complexity of some of these uncertainties, the ultimate resolution may result in a payment, potentially including interest and penalties, that is materially different from our current estimates of the unrecognized tax benefit liabilities. These differences, along with any related interest and penalties, will generally be reflected as increases or decreases to income tax expense in the period in which new information becomes available. We review the tax reserves as circumstances warrant and adjust the reserves as events occur that affect our potential liability for additional taxes. We follow the applicable guidance on derecognition, classification, interest and penalties, accounting in interim periods, disclosure, and transition with respect to uncertain tax positions. We recognize interest and penalties related to income taxes within the (Provision) benefit for income taxes line in the consolidated statements of operations. Accrued interest and penalties are included within the related tax liability line in the consolidated balance sheets.

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ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK
Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
Market risk represents the risk of loss that may impact our financial condition due to adverse changes in financial market prices and rates. Our market risk exposure is primarily a result of fluctuations in foreign currency rates, although we also have exposure due to potential changes in interest rates. We do not hold financial instruments for trading purposes.
Foreign Currency Exchange Risk
Our revenues, earnings, cash flows, receivables, and payables are subject to fluctuations due to changes in foreign currency exchange rates. We regularly evaluate our foreign currency positions in the context of the natural hedging of revenues and expenses and corresponding exposure. We have concluded that our naturally hedged positions support our strategy and no incremental hedging strategies have been deployed. The primary currencies for which we have exchange rate exposure are the U.S. dollar versus euros, British pounds, Canadian dollars, Australian dollars, Chinese yuan renminbi, and New Zealand dollars. For the year ended December 31, 2023, approximately 58% of our total revenues are derived from outside of the U.S. and approximately 35% of our revenues are denominated in foreign currencies. In 2023, 65%, 10%, 6%, 4%, and 15% of our total revenues were denominated in U.S. dollars, euros, British pounds, Canadian dollars, and other currencies, respectively, and 55%, 12%, 8%, 7%, and 18% of our aggregate cost of revenues and operating expenses were denominated in U.S. dollars, euros, British pounds, Canadian dollars, and other currencies, respectively. Financial results therefore are affected by changes in foreign currency rates. We estimate that a 10% strengthening of the U.S. dollar versus our other currencies would have lowered our 2023 annual operating income by approximately $1.5 million.
Interest Rate Risk
We had cash and cash equivalents of $68.4 million and $71.7 million as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively, which consisted of bank deposits and money market funds maintained at various financial institutions. The cash and cash equivalents are held primarily for working capital purposes. Such interest-earning instruments carry a degree of interest rate risk. To date, fluctuations in interest income have not been significant. The primary objective of our investment activities is to preserve principal while maximizing income without significantly increasing risk. The interest rates on our Credit Facility also fluctuate based on various market conditions that affect the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (“SOFR”), the prime rate, or the overnight bank funding effective rate. The cost of borrowing thereunder may be impacted as a result of our interest rate risk exposure. Effective on April 2, 2020, we entered into an interest rate swap with a notional amount of $200.0 million and a ten-year term to reduce the interest rate risk associated with our Credit Facility. Under the terms of the interest rate swap, we pay a fixed interest rate of 72.9 basis points (“bps”), and will receive a floating interest rate equal to daily SOFR plus an Alternative Reference Rates Committee (“ARRC”) spread adjustment of 11.448 bps. We do not enter into investments or derivative instruments for trading or speculative purposes. The fair value of our 2026 Notes and 2027 Notes is subject to interest rate risk, market risk, and other factors due to the conversion feature. The capped call options that were entered into concurrently with the issuance of our 2026 Notes and 2027 Notes were completed to reduce the potential dilution from the conversion of the 2026 Notes and 2027 Notes. The fair value of the 2026 Notes and 2027 Notes will generally increase as interest rates fall and decrease as interest rates rise. In addition, the fair value of the 2026 Notes and 2027 Notes will generally increase as our Class B common stock price increases and will generally decrease as the common stock price declines. The interest and market value changes affect the fair value of the 2026 Notes and 2027 Notes, but do not impact our financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows due to the fixed nature of the debt obligation. Due to the short-term nature of our investments, we have not been exposed to, nor do we anticipate being exposed to, material risks due to changes in interest rates. A hypothetical 10% change in interest rates during any of the periods presented would not have had a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.
Inflation Risk
We do not believe that inflation has had a material effect on our business, financial condition, or results of operations.

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ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA
Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data
The information required by this item is included at the end of this report beginning on page.

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ITEM 9. CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS
Item 9. Changes in and Disagreements With Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure
None.

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ITEM 9A. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
Item 9A. Controls and Procedures
Evaluation of Effectiveness of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
Our management maintains disclosure controls and procedures as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”) that are designed to provide reasonable assurance that information required to be disclosed in our reports filed or submitted under the Exchange Act is processed, recorded, summarized, and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms, and that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer (our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, respectively), as appropriate, to allow for timely decisions regarding required disclosure.
We evaluated, under the supervision and with the participation of management, including our principal executive and principal financial officers, the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures as of the end of the period covered by this report. Based on this evaluation, our principal executive officer and principal financial officer concluded that, as of December 31, 2023, our disclosure controls and procedures were effective at the reasonable assurance level.
Our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, does not expect that our disclosure controls and procedures or our internal control over financial reporting will necessarily prevent all errors and all fraud. A control system, no matter how well conceived and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives of the control system are met. Because of the inherent limitations in all control systems, no evaluation of controls can provide absolute assurance that all control issues and instances of fraud, if any, within Bentley Systems, Incorporated have been detected.
Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting
Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rule 13a-15(f) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended). Our management assessed the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2023. In making this assessment, our management used the criteria set forth by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (“COSO”) in Internal Control - Integrated Framework (2013).
Our management has concluded that, as of December 31, 2023, our internal control over financial reporting was effective to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.
Our independent registered public accounting firm, KPMG LLP, has issued an audit report on our internal control over financial reporting, which is included in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting
There was no change in our internal control over financial reporting identified in management’s evaluation pursuant to Rules 13a or 15d of the Exchange Act that occurred during the quarter ended December 31, 2023 that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

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ITEM 9B. OTHER INFORMATION
Item 9B. Other Information
Rule 10b5-1 Trading Plans
Effective November 8, 2023, Keith A. Bentley, Director, adopted a trading plan established pursuant to Rule 10b5-1 of the Exchange Act, which is intended to satisfy the affirmative defense conditions of Rule 10b5-1(c), to sell an aggregate of 1,000,000 shares of our Class B common stock through June 30, 2024.
During the three months ended December 31, 2023, there were no other Company directors or executive officers who adopted or terminated any contract, instruction or written plan for the purchase or sale of Company securities that was intended to satisfy the affirmative defense conditions of Rule 10b5-1(c) or any “non-Rule 10b5-1 trading arrangement.”
Dividends Declared Subsequent to December 31, 2023
On February 21, 2024, our Board of Directors declared a $0.06 per share dividend for the first quarter of 2024. The cash dividend will be payable on March 28, 2024 to all stockholders of record of Class A and Class B common stock as of the close of business on March 20, 2024. The Company publicly announced the dividend declaration on February 27, 2024.

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ITEM 10. DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance
The information required by this item is incorporated by reference to our 2024 Proxy Statement, which will be filed with the SEC not later than 120 days subsequent to December 31, 2023.
Information About Our Executive Officers
The following sets forth certain information as of February 27, 2024, regarding our executive officers.
Name Age Position
Gregory S. Bentley 68
Chief Executive Officer and President
Werner Andre 54 Chief Financial Officer and Chief Accounting Officer
Brock Ballard
Chief Revenue Officer
Michael M. Campbell
Chief Product Officer
Nicholas H. Cumins
Chief Operating Officer
David R. Shaman 58 Chief Legal Officer and Secretary
Gregory S. Bentley has served as our President since June 1996 and Chief Executive Officer since August 2000. Prior to joining us in 1991, Mr. Bentley founded and served as chief executive officer of Devon Systems International, Inc., a provider of financial trading software, which was sold to SunGard Data Systems, Inc. in 1987. Mr. Bentley served as a director of SunGard and a member of its audit committee from 1991 through 2005. He holds a B.S. in Economics and an M.B.A. in Finance and Decision Sciences from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.
Werner Andre has served as our Chief Financial Officer since January 1, 2022 and is responsible for all aspects of finance including worldwide accounting, financial planning and analysis, tax, and treasury. Mr. Andre joined us in 2015 as Global Corporate Controller and serves as our Chief Accounting Officer since 2020. Prior to joining us, Mr. Andre served as the assistant corporate controller, international accounting and reporting, for Rockwood Holdings, Inc. from 2010 to 2015, and held several roles with PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP from 1995 to 2010. He is a Certified Public Accountant in the state of Pennsylvania, and holds B.S. and M.B.A. degrees in Accounting and Financial Reporting from the University for Economics and Business Administration in Vienna.
Brock Ballard has served as our Chief Revenue Officer since January 1, 2023 and is responsible for leading all of our accounts globally. Mr. Ballard joined us in 2020 as Vice President and Regional Executive, Americas. Prior to joining us, Mr. Ballard served in sales leadership positions with Dassault Systèmes, Autodesk, Inc., and Océ. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communication and Information Sciences from the University of Alabama.
Michael M. Campbell has served as our Chief Product Officer since joining us in September 2022. Mr. Campbell is responsible for defining our product strategy and for managing product development to advance our leadership in infrastructure engineering software. Prior to joining us, Mr. Campbell held various positions with PTC Inc. managing product development, product strategies, and entire software businesses. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Boston University.
Nicholas H. Cumins has served as our Chief Operating Officer since January 1, 2022. Mr. Cumins is responsible for our sales and marketing, products, user success, and business operations globally. Mr. Cumins previously served as our Chief Product Officer since 2020. Prior to joining us, Mr. Cumins served as general manager of SAP Marketing Cloud, a comprehensive marketing automation platform, from 2018 to 2020. Mr. Cumins also served as chief product officer of Scytl, a platform for online voting, in Barcelona from 2016 to 2018, and senior vice president of product with OpenX, a pioneer in programmatic advertising, in Los Angeles from 2013 to 2016. He holds Maîtrise de Droit (Law) and Maîtrise de Sciences de Gestion (Business) degrees from University Paris II Panthéon-Assas, Paris, France.
David R. Shaman, our Chief Legal Officer, has led our legal team since 2015 and is responsible for legal, regulatory compliance, government relations, and license compliance activities. Mr. Shaman previously served as Deputy General Counsel from 2006 to 2015. Prior to joining us in 1998, Mr. Shaman was an associate at the law firm Covington & Burling LLP. Mr. Shaman’s international experience includes eight years leading our legal operations outside the United States, as well as tenures at the European Commission, Directorate-General for Informatics in Brussels and Harlequin Limited, a software company in Cambridge, United Kingdom. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from the University of Pennsylvania, a J.D. from Harvard Law School, and a Diploma in Mathematical Statistics from Cambridge University.

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ITEM 11. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
Item 11. Executive Compensation
The information required by this item is incorporated by reference to our 2024 Proxy Statement, which will be filed with the SEC not later than 120 days subsequent to December 31, 2023.

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ITEM 12. SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS
Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters
The information required by this item is incorporated by reference to our 2024 Proxy Statement, which will be filed with the SEC not later than 120 days subsequent to December 31, 2023.

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ITEM 13. CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS
Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence
The information required by this item is incorporated by reference to our 2024 Proxy Statement, which will be filed with the SEC not later than 120 days subsequent to December 31, 2023.

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ITEM 14. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING FEES AND SERVICES
Item 14. Principal Accountant Fees and Services
The information required by this item is incorporated by reference to our 2024 Proxy Statement, which will be filed with the SEC not later than 120 days subsequent to December 31, 2023.
PART IV

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ITEM 15. EXHIBITS, FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES
Item 15. Exhibit and Financial Statement Schedules
(a) The following documents are filed as part of this report:
1. Financial Statements:
Page
Reports of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm (KPMG LLP, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, PCAOB ID: 185)
Consolidated Balance Sheets
Consolidated Statements of Operations
Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income
Consolidated Statements of Stockholders’ Equity
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
2. Financial Statement Schedules:
Financial statement schedules have been omitted since they are either not required, not applicable, or the information is included in the consolidated financial statements or notes thereto.
3. Exhibits:
Exhibit
Number
Description
3.1 Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation of Bentley Systems, Incorporated (filed as Exhibit 3.1 to our Current Report on Form 8-K filed on September 25, 2020 (File No. 001-39548) and incorporated herein by reference)
3.2 Amended and Restated Bylaws of Bentley Systems, Incorporated (filed as Exhibit 3.2 to our Current Report on Form 8-K filed on September 25, 2020 (File No. 001-39548) and incorporated herein by reference)
4.1 Form of Bentley Systems, Incorporated Class B common stock certificate (filed as Exhibit 4.1 to our Registration Statement on Form S-1/A filed on September 18, 2020 (File No. 333-248246) and incorporated herein by reference)
4.2 Indenture, dated as of January 26, 2021, between Bentley Systems, Incorporated and Wilmington Trust, National Association, as trustee (filed as Exhibit 4.1 to our Current Report on Form 8-K filed on January 26, 2021 (File No. 001-39548) and incorporated herein by reference)
4.3 Form of 0.125% Convertible Senior Note due 2026 (included as Exhibit A in Exhibit 4.1 to our Current Report on Form 8-K filed on January 26, 2021 (File No. 001-39548) and incorporated herein by reference)
4.4 Indenture, dated as of June 28, 2021, between Bentley Systems, Incorporated and Wilmington Trust, National Association, as trustee (filed as Exhibit 4.1 to our Current Report on Form 8-K filed on June 29, 2021 (File No. 001-39548) and incorporated herein by reference)
4.5 Form of 0.375% Convertible Senior Note due 2027 (included as Exhibit A in Exhibit 4.1 to our Current Report on Form 8-K filed on June 29, 2021 (File No. 001-39548) and incorporated herein by reference)
4.6 Description of Bentley Systems, Incorporated Securities (filed as Exhibit 4.4 to our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on March 2, 2021 (File No. 001-39548) and incorporated herein by reference)
Exhibit
Number
Description
10.1 Form of Capped Call Confirmation relating to the 0.125% Convertible Senior Note due 2026 (filed as Exhibit 10.1 to our Current Report on Form 8-K filed on January 26, 2021 (File No. 001-39548) and incorporated herein by reference)
10.2 Form of Capped Call Confirmation relating to the 0.375% Convertible Senior Note due 2027 (filed as Exhibit 10.1 to our Current Report on Form 8-K filed on June 29, 2021 (File No. 001-39548) and incorporated herein by reference)
10.3 Amended and Restated Credit Agreement, dated as of December 19, 2017, by and among Bentley Systems, Incorporated, PNC Bank, National Association, as administrative agent, and the lenders party thereto (filed as Exhibit 10.1 to our Registration Statement on Form S-1 filed on August 21, 2020 (File No. 333-248246) and incorporated herein by reference)
10.4 First Amendment to Amended and Restated Credit Agreement, dated as of September 2, 2020, (filed as Exhibit 10.10 to our Registration Statement on Form S-1/A filed on September 8, 2020 (File No. 333-248246) and incorporated herein by reference)
10.5 Second Amendment to Amended and Restated Credit Agreement, dated as of January 25, 2021 (filed as Exhibit 10.2 to our Current Report on Form 8-K filed on January 26, 2021 (File No. 001-39548) and incorporated herein by reference)
10.6 Third Amendment to Amended and Restated Credit Agreement, dated as of June 22, 2021 (filed as Exhibit 10.1 to our Current Report on Form 8-K filed on June 22, 2021 (File No. 001-39548) and incorporated herein by reference)
10.7 Fourth Amendment to Amended and Restated Credit Agreement, dated as of December 22, 2021 (filed as Exhibit 10.1 to our Current Report on Form 8-K filed on December 29, 2021 (File No. 001-39548) and incorporated herein by reference)
10.8 Fifth Amendment to Amended and Restated Credit Agreement, dated as of December 14, 2022 (filed as Exhibit 10.1 to our Current Report on Form 8-K filed on December 15, 2022 (File No. 001-39548) and incorporated herein by reference)
10.9 Sixth Amendment to Amended and Restated Credit Agreement, dated as of June 21, 2023 (filed as Exhibit 10.1 to our Current Report on Form 8-K filed on June 23, 2023 (File No. 001-39548) and incorporated herein by reference)
10.10† Bentley Systems, Incorporated 2015 Equity Incentive Plan, as amended and restated effective as of May 29, 2018 (filed as Exhibit 10.6 to our Registration Statement on Form S-1 filed on August 21, 2020 (File No. 333-248246) and incorporated herein by reference)
10.11† Bentley Systems, Incorporated 2020 Omnibus Incentive Plan (filed as Exhibit 10.1 to our Current Report on Form 8-K filed on September 25, 2020 (File No. 001-39548) and incorporated herein by reference)
10.12† Amendment No. 1 to the Bentley Systems, Incorporated 2020 Omnibus Incentive Plan (filed as Exhibit 10.10 to our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on March 1, 2022 (File No. 001-39548) and incorporated herein by reference)
10.13† Form of Restricted Stock Unit Award Agreement under the Bentley Systems, Incorporated 2020 Omnibus Incentive Plan (as amended) (filed as Exhibit 10.12 to our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on February 28, 2023 (File No. 001-39548) and incorporated herein by reference)
10.14† Bentley Systems, Incorporated Global Employee Stock Purchase Plan (filed as Exhibit 10.2 to our Current Report on Form 8-K filed on September 25, 2020 (File No. 001-39548) and incorporated herein by reference)
10.15† Bentley Systems, Incorporated Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Plan, as amended and restated effective as of September 22, 2020 (filed as Exhibit 10.3 to our Current Report on Form 8-K filed on September 25, 2020 (File No. 001-39548) and incorporated herein by reference)
Exhibit
Number
Description
10.16† Amendment No. 1 to the Bentley Systems, Incorporated Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Plan, as amended and restated effective as of September 22, 2020 (filed as Exhibit 10.1 to our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed on November 9, 2021 (File No. 001-39548) and incorporated herein by reference)
10.17† Bentley Systems, Incorporated Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Plan for Non-Employee Directors, as amended and restated effective as of January 1, 2015 (filed as Exhibit 10.7 to our Registration Statement on Form S-1/A filed on September 8, 2020 (File No. 333-248246) and incorporated herein by reference)
10.18† Bentley Systems, Incorporated Bonus Pool Plan, as amended and restated effective as of September 22, 2020 (filed as Exhibit 10.4 to our Current Report on Form 8-K filed on September 25, 2020 (File No. 001-39548) and incorporated herein by reference)
10.19† Amendment No. 1 to the Bentley Systems, Incorporated Bonus Pool Plan, as amended and restated effective as of September 22, 2020 (filed as Exhibit 10.1 to our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed on November 8, 2022 (File No. 001-39548) and incorporated herein by reference)
10.20 Common Stock Purchase Agreement, by and among Bentley Systems, Incorporated, Siemens AG, and the persons listed as “Key Holders” therein, dated September 23, 2016, as amended on October 28, 2016, and April 23, 2018 (filed as Exhibit 10.2 to our Registration Statement on Form S-1 filed on August 21, 2020 (File No. 333-248246) and incorporated herein by reference)
21* List of Subsidiaries
23* Consent of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
31.1* Certification of CEO pursuant to Rule 13a-14(a) and Rule 15d-14(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended
31.2*
Certification of CFO pursuant to Rule 13a-14(a) and Rule 15d-14(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended
32* Certification of CEO and CFO Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as Adopted Pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
97* Bentley Systems, Incorporated Incentive Compensation Clawback Policy, as Adopted on August 17, 2023 Pursuant to Nasdaq Rule 5608
101.INS Inline XBRL Instance Document-the instance document does not appear in the Interactive Data File as its XBRL tags are embedded within the Inline XBRL document
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104 Cover page formatted as Inline XBRL and contained in Exhibit 101
† Management contract or compensatory plan or arrangement.
* Filed or furnished herewith. The certification attached as Exhibit 32 that accompanies this Annual Report on Form 10-K is not deemed filed with the SEC and is not to be incorporated by reference into any filing of Bentley Systems, Incorporated under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, whether made before or after the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, irrespective of any general incorporation language contained in such filing.
(b) Exhibits:
We hereby file the exhibits listed in the attached Exhibit Index.
(c) Financial Statement Schedules:
None.