Vertex Q1 2024 Earnings Call Transcript

Quartr
Provided by Quartr
May 8, 2024

There are 12 speakers on the call.

Operator

Greetings, and welcome to Vertex First Quarter 2024 Earnings Conference Call. Please note this conference is being recorded. At this time, all participants are in listen only mode. And now, I'll turn the conference over to Joe Crivelli, Vice President of Investor Relations. Mr.

Operator

Crivelli, you may now begin.

Speaker 1

Hello, and thanks for joining us to discuss Vertex's Q1 financial results. I'm Joe Crivelli, Vice President, Investor Relations David Steffano, our President and CEO and John Schwab, our CFO are also with us today. During this call, we may make forward looking statements about expected future results. Actual financial results may differ due to risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties are described in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Speaker 1

In our remarks today, we will also refer to non GAAP financial metrics. A reconciliation of these metrics to GAAP is provided in today's press release.

Speaker 2

This

Speaker 1

call is being recorded and will be available for replay on our Investor Relations website. I'll now turn the call over to David.

Speaker 3

Thanks, Joe. Welcome, everyone, and thank you for joining us. 2024 is off to a very good start as shown in the Q1 results. Once again, we exceeded the high end of our financial guidance for revenue and adjusted EBITDA. Our consistently solid performance is the result of being crystal clear on where we are going as a company and then being laser focused on executing our plans to get there.

Speaker 3

At Vertex, we have a bold vision to accelerate global commerce. To achieve this, we have built a consistent execution engine that continues to perform quarter after quarter. We deliver end to end capabilities for indirect tax to seamlessly connect systems, solutions and data. This unified approach empowers our customers to confidently navigate indirect tax complexities and manage their need for a continuous compliance process. We're able to support our customers throughout their entire digital transformation journey, wherever they run their business locally, fully in the cloud or somewhere in between.

Speaker 3

We provide value added services that help them efficiently integrate their indirect tax into the infrastructure and stay in compliance. And behind the scenes, we have a world class team dedicated to our customer success at every touch point. This is what enables us to keep delivering differentiated value to our customers and great results for investors. Revenue traction remains strong. Total revenue was up 18.1% in the Q1 and software subscription growth was 18.8%.

Speaker 3

In addition, cloud revenue growth was 28.3%, which is slightly ahead of our target for the full year. Earnings leverage continues to build as expected. Adjusted EBITDA was $36,500,000 or 23.3 percent of revenue. This is up 80% from last year's Q1. I'll also note that we delivered positive free cash flow in the Q1, which is typically our lowest quarter of the year from a cash flow standpoint.

Speaker 3

This bodes well for cash production for the rest of the year. In addition, this quarter ARR was $525,000,000 up 17.5 percent year over year. NRR was 112%, up 2 full percentage points compared to last year's Q1. Average annual revenue per customer increased 17% year over year to $121,720 Scaled customer count, which represents customers delivering annual revenue of over $100,000 grew 13% year over year and GRR was 95% in the Q1, which falls within our targeted best in class range of 94% to 96%. I'm incredibly proud that Vertex's leadership in the indirect tax technology space was recognized by the financial markets last month when we raised $345,000,000 of convertible debt that we can invest in our business.

Speaker 3

Convertible debt investors were extremely enthusiastic about Vertex, our business strategy and our growth prospects. They appreciate our consistent high teens revenue growth as well as our ability to operate profitably and deliver positive adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow. This capital will enable us to be agile, proactive and decisive in seizing growth opportunities whether through organic investments or acquisitions. Our financial flexibility and our balance sheet has never been stronger. Now turning to notable wins in the quarter.

Speaker 3

Our results confirm that the market for indirect tax software is underpenetrated and many companies are still handling their indirect tax needs with homegrown solutions. As the persistent tailwinds of business expansion, regulatory pressures and digital transformations continue to pressure tax departments, we believe that the opportunity to deliver our tax solutions to the market will grow. I will highlight some key new logo wins, which pays this off. In the Q1, we won a mid 6 figure deal with a global provider of power management solutions. This particular deal highlights 2 growth pillars for Vertex.

Speaker 3

The anticipated wave of ERP conversions that will happen as a result of SAP's decision to end mainstream support for ECC in 2027 as well as the sales partnership we have built with the SAP direct sales force. In this case, the customer was migrating to S4HANA as part of their digital transformation project. This was a catalyst for them to evaluate indirect tax and determine it was time to replace their homegrown solution as they were previously manually updating rules and regulations in their purchasing system. As we have discussed, one of our growth investments was building a more tightly aligned partnership with SAP on the go to market front and we are seeing ongoing traction from this investment. This deal is an example of how that partnership is bringing new customers to Vertex as we were referred in by the SAP sales team.

Speaker 3

In addition to the credibility boost that we enjoy in this case, the SAP referral enabled us to get an early look at the customer's infrastructure and tailor our solution accordingly. Another new logo we won in the Q1 was a global risk management consulting firm that had grown through hundreds of acquisitions over the past several decades. They were using a homegrown indirect tax calculation and compliance system. But recent audit pressure had made it clear that the company outgrew its old ways of doing things and needed a more sophisticated solution. Due to the acquisitions, the customer systems environment was extremely complex, which competitively gave us an advantage due to our experience connecting multiple platforms to a single tax solution.

Speaker 3

In this case, we integrated with multiple systems including Oracle, Workday, Salesforce and JD Edwards, as well as the customer's homegrown billing systems. We had a great win in the quarter with a cloud native cybersecurity company. After being acquired, our customer underwent a transformation initiative to move their tax solution to the cloud. Even though the new parent currently uses one of our competitors, our cloud solution was chosen because the team was familiar with our proven track record and we were able to meet their accelerated timeline. We also won a mid 6 figure deal with a new customer as a manufacturer of industrial machinery.

Speaker 3

It's another case where an S4HANA transformation led the company to reevaluate how it was handling indirect tax. The company selected Vertex Solutions for tax calculation as well as compliance and reporting solutions for both North America and Europe. They also licensed Vertex Plus tools for SAP and our certificate center. 1 of the biggest sources of new revenue for Vertex and a sustainable driver of NRR growth is increased business with our existing customers, the expand part of land and expand equation. A customer in the consumer product space fueled our Q1 growth with a mid 6 figure revenue addition.

Speaker 3

Their SAP infrastructure upgrade presented an ideal opportunity to move their Vertex solution to the cloud and expand entitlements by $15,000,000,000 They also saw the value of our tax accelerator and Vertex Plus tools for SAP. While they evaluated competitive options as part of their process, our unmatched SAP expertise and solution set ultimately differentiated Vertex. Our unique capabilities delivered a lower total implementation and ownership while minimizing risk. To further optimize their tax processes, our consulting team is collaborating with them to streamline current indirect tax calculations and compliance. Also in the Q1, we expanded our relationship with a long time customer the medical diagnostics industry.

Speaker 3

They advanced their corporate cloud strategy by migrating 2 of our legacy solutions to our modern cloud offering. This in turn consolidated their tax operations onto a single platform, seamlessly integrating with Salesforce Commerce Cloud, PeopleSoft and their internal billing systems. Other fundamental business changes such as M and A, divestitures and adoption of new modes of commerce can also drive new business for Vertex. In the Q1, we landed a new customer in the contract research industry that was being spun out by its parent. In this case, the company needed an indirect tax solution to pair with its implementation of Workday Financials.

Speaker 3

Their Big 4 accounting firm conducted an RFP and Vertex prevailed. Similarly, in the security industry, we want to deal with a company that was being sold to a private equity firm. The customer selected Vertex for indirect tax to integrate Microsoft D365. Finally, on the international front, we had a nice win with a growing marketplace provider. When the customer first looked for an indirect tax solution, they went with a competitor.

Speaker 3

But over the course of their journey, things didn't go well. They didn't get the support they needed. Our competitors' transaction based pricing model led to massive cost overruns. Ultimately, after 18 months of frustration, the customer changed direction and came back to Vertex. A quick word on how we are addressing e invoicing.

Speaker 3

We remain committed to our strategy of delivering a continuous compliance solution, which provides for a single cloud portal to address the e invoicing through to compliance process, of which e invoicing is just one piece. As we noted last quarter after we opted out of the bidding war, in the near term, we continue to utilize Pagaro as a partner in alignment with our commercial agreement. However, we are also evaluating our options in developing partnerships with additional players in the space. We will have more to share on this in the coming quarters. As I look back on the strategic growth investments we made from 2020 through 2023 and how they are helping us better serve our customers, I am thrilled with our position in the market and the opportunity in front of us.

Speaker 3

Our product portfolio, tax content database, go to market expertise and scalable infrastructure has us well positioned for a nice run of revenue growth, increasing profitability and solid cash flow to reward our investors. John will now take you through the financials.

Speaker 4

John? Thanks, David, and good morning, everyone. I'll now review our Q1 financial results and provide guidance for the Q2 and full year of 2024. In the Q1, revenue was $156,800,000 up 18.1% compared to last year's Q1 and exceeding the upper end of our quarterly guidance. Subscription revenue increased 18.8 percent period over period to $131,800,000 Our services revenue grew at 14.8 percent to $25,000,000 And cloud revenue was $61,800,000 in the 1st quarter.

Speaker 4

This represents 28.3 percent year over year growth, which is slightly ahead of our guidance for the full year. Annual recurring revenue or ARR was $524,500,000 at quarter end. This is up 17.5% year over year. Net revenue retention or NRR quarter end within our targeted range of 94% to 96%. And our average annual revenue per customer or AARPC, which is based on our direct customer account, was $121,720 in the Q1 of 2024, up from $118,910 in the Q4 of 2023.

Speaker 4

For the remainder of the income statement discussion, I will be referring to non GAAP metrics. All of these non GAAP metrics are reconciled to GAAP results in the earnings press release that was issued this morning. Gross profit for the Q1 was $113,700,000 and gross margin was 72.5%. This compares with gross profit of $95,300,000 and a 71.8% gross margin in the same period last year. Gross margin on our subscription revenue was 78.6% compared to 78.4% in last year's Q1 and 76.8% in the Q4 of 2023.

Speaker 4

Gross margin on services revenue was 40.5% compared to 37.9% in last year's Q1 and 38.2% in the Q4 of 2023. Turning to operating expenses. In the Q1, research and development expense was $13,500,000 compared to $13,600,000 last year. With capitalized software spend included, R and D expense was $28,800,000 for the Q1, which represents 18.4 percent of revenue as compared to 17.9% of revenue in the prior year period. Selling and marketing expense was $35,700,000 or 22.8 percent of total revenues, an increase of $3,600,000 and approximately 11.2% from the prior year period.

Speaker 4

And our general and administrative expense was $27,600,000 down $1,700,000 from last year. Adjusted EBITDA was $36,700,000 an increase of $16,500,000 or 82% year over year and exceeding our quarterly guidance. As we noted in April when we launched our convertible debt offering, approximately $2,000,000 of the adjusted EBITDA outperformance was driven by expenses that were delayed from the Q1 to future quarters in 2024 and another $2,000,000 was driven by higher percentage of capitalized R and D costs compared to expensed R and D costs in the Q1. But even excluding these items, adjusted EBITDA would have exceeded the high end of our Q1 guidance. We saw a positive year over year improvement in cash flow.

Speaker 4

Our operating cash flow was $24,600,000 in the 1st quarter, a $21,100,000 improvement compared to last year's Q1. And free cash flow was a positive $4,500,000 in the 1st quarter compared to a negative free cash flow of $10,600,000 in last year's Q1. Normally, our cash flows in the Q1 are seasonally lower than they are in the remaining calendar quarters due to annual bonus payments, payroll taxes and sales and marketing expenses that are typically elevated to start the New Year. We are encouraged by the performance and anticipate that our free cash flow will follow our standard seasonality trend. We ended the Q1 with $56,100,000 in unrestricted cash and cash equivalents.

Speaker 4

Our total bank debt was $46,300,000 and investment securities totaled $9,100,000 I'll note that with the proceeds of our convertible debt offering, our cash and investment balances now stand at approximately $350,000,000 For additional liquidity, we also have $200,000,000 of unused availability under our existing line of credit. And now turning to guidance. For the Q2 of 2024, we expect total revenue in the range of $159,000,000 to $162,000,000 which would represent a solid 15% year over year growth at the midpoint. And adjusted EBITDA in the range of $31,000,000 to $33,000,000 at the midpoint would represent an increase of approximately $10,000,000 or 45% over the prior year. This would also represent our Q3 in a row with adjusted EBITDA margins over 20% and will fuel ongoing cash flow improvement to further strengthen our balance sheet.

Speaker 4

As in the past years, we have not changed our full year guidance based on our Q1 results. And accordingly, for the full year, we continue to expect total revenue in the range of $650,000,000 to $660,000,000 representing annual revenue growth of 14% at the midpoint adjusted EBITDA in the range of $130,000,000 to $135,000,000 representing an increase of $32,000,000 at the midpoint. And we believe that cloud growth will accelerate to approximately 28% in 2024. We expect to reevaluate our full year guidance in August when we announce our Q2 results. David will now make some closing comments before we open up for Q and A.

Speaker 4

David?

Speaker 3

Thanks, John. I want to reiterate that I'm very pleased with our performance in the Q1. Pertex went public in mid-twenty 20. We have now been a public company for 15 quarters. We are proud that during that time, our strong base of recurring revenue has enabled us to provide financial guidance that investors can depend on.

Speaker 3

The Q1 of 2024 was the 14th time we exceeded the high end of our revenue guidance and the 11th time we exceeded the high end of our adjusted EBITDA guidance. And this was achieved during a time when many other SaaS companies struggled. The growth investments we made from 2020 through 2023 are only helping us to build on that track record. Our customer success organization is now mature and driving great results with the expansion of existing customer accounts. Our broader and deeper go to market team, including our fully developed partner channel are finding new opportunities for us to add customers in the largely underpenetrated enterprise space.

Speaker 3

And the new products we launched over the past several years are gaining traction, differentiating Vertex when we compete for new business. With those investments behind us, job 1 is execution. And with the world class team we have in place all throughout the organization, I'm confident we have our eye on the ball and can continue to deliver great results for shareholders again in 2024. With that, operator, please go ahead and open the call for questions.

Operator

And we are going to start the Q and A session now. Our first question comes from Chris Quintero from Morgan Stanley. Chris, please go ahead.

Speaker 2

Great. Hey, guys. Thanks for taking the questions here. Maybe for you, David, I wanted to ask about the pipeline conversion rates within the SAP channel. You mentioned that you haven't benefited yet from some of the ECC migration efforts that will occur over the next 3 years.

Speaker 2

And now you've got SAP recently with seemingly greater willingness to push those migrations through. So just curious what you're seeing with that large pipeline turning into close deals here?

Speaker 5

Yes, sure. Sure, Chris. I think what we're seeing is, which is pretty typical for other migrations we've seen over the years, the largest companies go first because they've got the longest timeline that they're going to need to evolve their ERP infrastructure. And smaller companies will continue to push for as long as they can delay before they'll go and then there'll be sort of a flood of activity. And we're really seeing that behavior play out.

Speaker 2

Got it. That's super helpful. And then for John, I want to ask about free cash flow conversion and how we should think about that for the rest of the year given that Q1 is usually that low point that you mentioned. And then do you have any thoughts on like the long term conversion rate and if there are any blockers for you to get there?

Speaker 4

Yes. Pardon me. Thanks, Chris,

Speaker 6

for the question. Let me take the last one first. What we saw when we were before the investment cycle started as we're becoming as we're coming public, our cash flow conversion rate was about 65% to 70% from adjusted free cash flow was 60% to 75% of adjusted EBITDA. We expect that we'll certainly get back there over some time. We did have a very good quarter as you pointed out in terms of our free cash flow.

Speaker 6

We were a generator of free cash flow in the Q1, which is the first time in the last 4 years that we've done that. So very good and very positive in terms of how that goes. We expect that that will continue to ramp through the period, but it will still take us a couple of years to get to that kind of that 65%, 70% conversion rate. So again, we feel like we've made real good strides. The investment cycle is behind us.

Speaker 6

And as you can see from the results, the cash is going to start to come into the business very significantly.

Speaker 2

Excellent. Thanks so much guys. Congrats. You bet.

Operator

Our next question comes from Daniel Jester from BMO Capital. Daniel, please go ahead.

Speaker 7

Great. Thanks for taking my question. Maybe you called out that your typical process is to not raise the full year guidance or adjust the full year guidance to this point of the year. Maybe you can just kind of compare and contrast the pipeline and your visibility today to other periods so we can get sense of your confidence level in 2024?

Speaker 5

Yes. Thanks, Dan. I think the pipeline remains solid. I think the progress we're seeing in some of our other markets like Microsoft, other ERP focused Microsoft, Workday, NetSuite remains really positive. With the rollout of our TCS solution in Microsoft.

Speaker 5

I'm seeing traction there that's very encouraging. And then again, the SAP and Oracle stuff is a very a consistent one that gives us confidence as we look forward for

Speaker 3

the rest of the year.

Speaker 7

Great. And then you touched on this briefly in the prepared remarks, but maybe we can expand a little bit more about how you're viewing inorganic opportunities today. Maybe the landscape that you see kind of areas that you're interested in, an update there would be great. Thank you.

Speaker 5

Yes, sure. We want to continue to be strategic in our thinking there and disciplined in our approach. Obviously, the new source of funding we've raised gives us additional flexibility to be assertive where we need to be, but we're not going to lose sight of being thoughtful with shareholder capital. Obviously, opportunistically in certain areas that we're focused on in our strategy like e invoicing, we continue to watch for opportunities here. The good news is we've had a number of good acceleration in partnership discussions there.

Speaker 5

So I'm feeling very confident in our overall solution in that space with flexibility if the right opportunity comes forward.

Speaker 4

Great. Thank you very much.

Operator

And our next

Speaker 8

All right. Thanks for taking my questions.

Speaker 2

So you've come out with

Speaker 8

a number of new products over the last 12 to 18 months. I think it would be good to get an update on how much are these new products helping you with net the how much can you attribute to that the product innovations versus just the normal course of business?

Speaker 5

Yes, sure, Josh. So Josh, the track record in new product rollouts is pretty much proven out over time. We've been doing this for 45 years and we roll out new products. It all follows the same pattern. You typically need to get your early adopters.

Speaker 5

They need to go live with the product. You need to get referenceability and then you see sort of that tail. It takes a couple of years to do that and we're seeing that progress. So the products we released a couple of years ago are starting to show more of an uptick.

Speaker 3

The ones we released

Speaker 5

in the a couple of years ago are starting to show more of an uptick. The ones we've released in the last 12 to 18 months are following

Speaker 2

that same pattern. So, I

Speaker 5

think, I'm encouraged by what the team has brought forward. I think I'm encouraged by what the team has brought forward like the Edge solution, some of the SAP tools and the SAP Accelerator have really been nicely embraced by the market. As for the NRR growth, which we're really pleased because it's already put us in a good position for as we go forward for the rest of the year relative to where we started NRR in 2023. I would say it's really a combination. It's a combination of some of the new offerings and I do want to emphasize the customer success organization.

Speaker 5

We've really focused investment there and we're seeing nice throughput from that team.

Speaker 8

Got it. That's helpful. And then while we know you left the EBITDA guidance unchanged kind of per the normal course of business for you guys after Q1, is there anything investors should be considering in terms of investments during the second half that need to be made for the balance of the year? Thanks guys.

Speaker 5

I think the continued focus is in the R and D space. We've talked about that. I'm really comfortable with how we've lined up go to market team relative to demand cycles. So I think we're well positioned there and we're continuing to work through the implementation. We're on the other side of our ERP implementation and we're continuing to drive leverage through our G and A as we go forward.

Operator

Our next question comes from Adam Hodges from Goldman Sachs. Adam, go ahead please.

Speaker 9

Great. Thanks for taking the questions. I guess, David, I'd be first curious to hear about the acceleration in revenue actually on the on prem side. I think we all like to talk about cloud and the success there, but that channel was up for over 10% for the first time in a while. And I think we've been hearing that it's been a bit of a differentiator for you as competitors step back from on prem.

Speaker 9

So I'm just wondering how you think about your continued support for customers that aren't yet ready to move to cloud and how that's driving more business and new relationships for you, if at all?

Speaker 5

Sure, sure. It's a good question there, Adam. I think, few things. First of all, remember, we do lead cloud first in everything we do. All of our new logos over 90 plus percent of all of our new logos remain cloud.

Speaker 5

But in that cross sell market, which oftentimes is some of our largest historical customers, we've enjoyed long LTV with, about 50% of the time, they're going to expand wallet share with more on prem. So we remain exceptionally committed to that. And I think the other thing it's really important to appreciate is, while we say on prem, the reality is most of that software is hosted in an individual cloud environment that the customer has, especially some of the largest customers. So we're very committed to support that. It is clearly a competitive differentiator.

Speaker 5

And as you may recall, we modified our pricing to align cloud and on prem to be the same. So it's actually turned out to be very successful when we can deliver that in terms of our gross margin and overall profitability.

Speaker 9

Okay, great. That's really helpful. And then I'd be curious on the partner side. I know you've called out a number of large ones as drivers of success. But would you say there's any 1 or 2 that have really outperformed your expectations heading into the year that you're most excited about future drivers of growth for you?

Speaker 5

Obviously, we've highlighted a number of times the SAP and Oracle, but I'm really encouraged this year with the Some of Some of our ecosystem relationships there I think are going to pay up well. And we've also seen really nice traction across both Shopify and NetSuite. Shopify was a newer partnership for us and we've seen some nice as their move up market is coincided well with the space that we lead in. It's really working well for us.

Speaker 9

Okay. Really helpful. Thanks, David.

Operator

Welcome. Our next question comes from Brad Reback from Stifel. Brad, you may proceed.

Speaker 4

Great. Thanks very much. David, following up on that last comment on Shopify, can you maybe remind us how you price on the e commerce side specifically and just broadly given some of the weakness out there on consumer spending recently? Thanks.

Speaker 6

Yes, Brad, I'll start. And what I would say is pricing is consistent from an e commerce side as it is with the rest of our business. Again, we base it on revenue bands and we set that up in advance and bill in advance and recognize the revenue ratably. So that really hasn't changed. So we kind of set it with where we expect the customer is going to operate and then we adjust from there.

Speaker 4

That's great. And then on cloud specifically, the obviously years off to a really good start there, But the absolute dollars that you need to add this year to get to the 28% somewhat higher than you've added historically. So maybe what informs the confidence on that 28? Thanks.

Speaker 5

Yes. I think, again, everything we're leading with continues to be the focus. Cloud continues to be the focus, number 1. And 2, we brought out a number of new offerings, as you know, over the past several years. And the fact that they're all focused on the cloud just gives us more revenue opportunities to continue to drive cloud as our growth as a key part of our growth going forward.

Speaker 5

So absolutely no change in our guidance there. I'm pleased that it's increased over 2023 overall and don't see any reason to back off of that.

Speaker 4

Perfect. Thank you very much.

Operator

And our next question comes from Steve Enders from Citi. Steve, go ahead please.

Speaker 2

Hi, this is George

Speaker 10

Caruso on for Steve. Good morning. Thanks for taking the questions. I appreciate the comments on the update on e invoicing and exploring some different opportunities potentially for the future. But maybe you can just talk about what kind of volumes you've seen so far from the Piguero partnership and based on regulation timing when you kind of expect the bulk of opportunities to come about?

Speaker 5

Yes. We don't go into specifics on it. I will say in general, very comfortable with the way the performance of the relationship is working still. I still think that we're in the 1st or second inning of true e invoice adoption because some of the larger economies in Europe haven't moved yet. And so we're I think we're in a very good position for what's coming and opportunities to accelerate that as we move forward here in 2024 and more importantly, probably 2025 is where you'll see the real, I think, uptick there as companies start making that global decision and move away from point solutions.

Speaker 5

And that's really what we're positioned for.

Speaker 10

Okay, that's helpful. And then I think you made a comment about your own internal ERP migration now being in the rearview mirror. Was there any kind of catch up in terms of cash Yes, this

Speaker 6

Yes, this is John. I'll start by just saying, listen, I think we called that out in the Q4. And again, we saw nice cash collections come in, in the Q1. And we're continuing to see nice flow through coming from there. So we feel that that's in pretty good shape.

Speaker 6

It's getting better. We can always go to improve and we're continuing to do so. I think we talked about trying to get a lot of that behind us by the end of the second quarter. And so we feel like we're very well positioned. Again, you can see from the results of some of the cash flows how that worked out.

Speaker 6

So we feel pretty good about that. We feel good about how we've been able to move that along.

Speaker 10

Great. Thanks for taking the questions.

Speaker 2

You bet.

Operator

And the next question comes from Brad Sills from Bank of America. Brad, please go ahead. Hey, this is Natalie Howe on for Brad. Thanks for taking my question. I wanted to ask where you guys are investing in the business and if there's any capabilities you guys are really focusing on in 20 24 that will continue to drive strength in the cross selling for the year?

Speaker 5

Yes. Thanks, Natalie. There's a few areas that we continue to advance. Obviously, we're continuing to expand our compliance and reporting focus. We've highlighted our single cloud portal that's going to have the both the invoicing all the way through to that compliance.

Speaker 5

I still think that's a critical part of what the market is looking for. AI, we've talked about this on a couple of past calls. We continue to see opportunity there. We're making some really nice progress. Our emerging tech team has done some really nice work in bringing that forward and we're going to continue to be pretty disciplined in what we're doing there.

Speaker 5

So those are 2 areas I would highlight.

Operator

Got it. Thank you. And our next question comes from Alex Sklar from Raymond James. Alex, please go ahead.

Speaker 11

Great. Thank you. Dave, just wanted to follow-up on kind of the invoicing and broader international momentum. You talked about the nice marketplace win in the prepared remarks. Can you just kind of update us on the mix of your pipeline today coming from international opportunities relative to a year ago?

Speaker 11

And as you've matured kind of that international go to market motion, I'm curious kind of the opportunity to accelerate that business going forward? Thanks.

Speaker 5

Yes. Obviously, international is a small part of our business, particularly in Europe and we're very excited about what we're doing. In fact, next week I'll be over in Europe for our EU customer conference and have a great turnout of customers and partners lined up for that session. So, really excited about the momentum the team is building in that space, in particular the number of prospects that are coming to it. So I think our brand continues to expand in Europe and it's giving us opportunity to grow that pipeline.

Speaker 5

Obviously, still working off of a small base, but it will be a growth vector up for us for years to come. And as we continue to watch the e invoicing space evolve around it, I think it'll only accelerate.

Speaker 11

Okay, great color there. And then just maybe one more for you Dave. Just in terms of the SAP migration catalyst, has anything changed in terms of when you're being brought into those discussions, but the prepared remark when maybe suggest that you're being brought in earlier in the cycle? I just want to see how prevalent that was across your pipeline. Thanks.

Speaker 5

Yes. That's a really exciting development for us, Alex. As we've talked about, we have a differentiated relationship than we've had with SAP in the past. We're working with their sales teams and really have appreciated the partnering that they're doing with us much earlier in the sales process to allow us to work with their reps who are actually getting quota relief. So there is a nice win win for all in this process.

Speaker 5

And more importantly, we're able to deliver higher customer value. And so I think we're seeing it we're going to see it in the win rates going forward and that earlier visibility will allow us to further differentiate with all the SAP tools and accelerator that we've created over the past several years, it really positions us well.

Speaker 11

Great. Thanks for the color.

Speaker 2

Sure.

Operator

And our next question comes from Patrick Walravens from Citi. Patrick, please go ahead.

Speaker 7

Hi, thanks for taking my question. This is Austin Cole on for Pat Walraven. I'd love to get your take on where you guys see kind of at a high level where the greatest regulatory tailwinds are coming from in the U. S. And Europe and then especially in fast growing economies like Brazil and India.

Speaker 7

Are there tax compliance products that are best positioned to satisfy each of those trends? And are there opportunities more opportunities to address those different trends in those different regions for Vertex? Thank you.

Speaker 5

Yes. Austin, last year was a record number changes here in the U. S. So it obviously remains a fertile market for regulatory change. But I think the more seismic changes, as you note, are happening outside the U.

Speaker 5

S. And we've highlighted a little bit around e invoicing being 1. That in the digital age is an important legislation piece that's going forward in Europe right now. There's an important vote coming up on May 14 around that. And all those things line up to the persistent and consistent regulatory changes.

Speaker 5

Governments look for new ways of seeking revenue. And so when we think about our product set, part of the reason we've been highlighting this importance of this cloud portal linking e invoicing all the way through the VAT compliance is in direct response to those regulatory tailwinds. I think over time with generative AI, data management is going to become increasingly important and data insights for businesses as they're doing broad and that's fueling some of the next generation investment that we're thinking about for products.

Speaker 1

Great. Thanks so much.

Operator

And this concludes our question and answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Joe Grivali for some closing remarks.

Speaker 1

Thank you everybody for joining us today. If you have any follow-up questions or if you'd like to schedule additional time with the team, please send me an email at investorsvertexinc.com. A great rest of your day and we look forward to speaking with you in the coming weeks.

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Earnings Conference Call
Vertex Q1 2024
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