DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS AND SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES | DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS AND SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES Business On December 10, 2021, Square, Inc. changed its name to Block, Inc. In conjunction with this name change, the Seller business and reportable segment was renamed “Square”. Block, Inc. (together with its subsidiaries, "Block" or the "Company") creates tools that empower businesses, sellers and individuals to participate in the economy. Square enables sellers to accept card payments and also provides reporting and analytics, and next-day settlement. Square’s point-of-sale software and other business services help sellers manage inventory, locations, and employees; access financing; engage buyers; build a website or online store; and grow sales. Cash App is an easy way for people to store, send, receive, spend, and invest money. On March 1, 2021, Square Financial Services, Inc. ("Square Financial Services"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, began its banking operations after its industrial loan company charter was approved by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation ("FDIC") and the State of Utah. On April 30, 2021, the Company completed the acquisition of a majority ownership interest in TIDAL, a global music and entertainment platform that brings fans and artists together through unique music, content, and experiences. In the third quarter of 2021, the Company launched TBD, a bitcoin-focused business established to build an open developer platform with the goal of making it easy to create non-custodial, permissionless, and decentralized financial services. In 2019, the Company launched Spiral, a team solely focused on contributing to bitcoin open source work. The results of operations of TBD and Spiral are immaterial. On January 31, 2022 (February 1, 2022 Australian Eastern Daylight Time), the Company completed the acquisition of Afterpay LTD (“Afterpay”), to strengthen its position to better deliver compelling financial products and services that expand access to more consumers and drive incremental revenue for merchants of all sizes. See Note 8, Acquisitions for further details. Block was founded in 2009 and has offices in the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Spain, Lithuania, and Norway. As of 2021, we do not designate a headquarters location as we have adopted a distributed work model. Basis of Presentation The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America (U.S. GAAP). Our consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Block, Inc. our wholly-owned subsidiaries, and entities for which we control a majority of the entity’s outstanding common stock. We record non-controlling interest in our consolidated financial statements to recognize the minority ownership interest in our consolidated subsidiaries. Non-controlling interest in the earnings and losses of consolidated subsidiaries represent the share of net income or loss allocated to the minority interest holders of our consolidated entities, which includes the non-controlling interest share of net income or loss. We have eliminated significant intercompany transactions and accounts in our consolidated financial statements. Use of Estimates The preparation of the Company’s consolidated financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenue and expenses, as well as related disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities. Actual results could differ from the Company’s estimates. To the extent that there are material differences between these estimates and actual results, the Company’s financial condition or operating results will be materially affected. The Company bases its estimates on current and past experience, to the extent that historical experience is predictive of future performance and other assumptions that the Company believes are reasonable under the circumstances. The Company evaluates these estimates on an ongoing basis. Estimates, judgments, and assumptions in these consolidated financial statements include, but are not limited to, those related to accrued transaction losses, contingencies, valuation of loans held for sale, valuation of goodwill and acquired intangible assets, the determination of allowance for loan loss reserves for loans held for investment, pre-acquisition contingencies associated with business combinations, assessing the likelihood of adverse outcomes from claims and disputes, accrued royalties, income and other taxes, operating and financing lease right-of-use assets and related liabilities, and share-based compensation. While the Company's business continues to be impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, it experienced improvements in 2021 as compared to 2020, as the majority of U.S. markets transitioned to varying states of economic recovery and reopenings. However, the emergence of new and more transmissible variants of COVID-19 such as Delta and Omicron has led to a possible resurgence of the virus, particularly in populations with low vaccination rates, and has resulted in new restrictions in certain geographies and among certain businesses. The Company continues to monitor the carrying values of its assets and liabilities based on estimates, judgments and circumstances it is aware of and consider the effects and trends of COVID-19. The Company's estimates of accrued transaction losses and valuation of loans held for sale are based on historical experience, adjusted for market data relevant to the current economic environment including COVID-19 trends. The Company will continue to update its estimates as developments occur and additional information is obtained. See Note 5, Fair Value of Financial Instruments , for further details on amortized cost over fair value of the loans, and Note 11 Other Consolidated Balance Sheet Components (Current) , for further details on transaction losses. Cash Flow Adjustment Beginning in the fourth quarter of 2021, the Company adjusted its Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows to include changes in customer funds, and cash and cash equivalents associated with Customer payable as a financing activity. Previously, the changes in customer funds and customer payable were presented within operating activities in the Company's Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows. The adjustment results in the portion of customer funds that is held in cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash and customer funds to be included in the beginning and ending period totals of cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and customer funds. The Company holds customer funds separate from its corporate funds and does not use customer funds for any corporate purposes. Prior period amounts have been adjusted to this presentation. These changes have been concluded to be immaterial to the consolidated financial statements and have no impact on previously reported consolidated statements of operations and balance sheets. The adjusted presentation shows all changes associated with customer funds in the consolidated statements of cash flows instead of in the notes to the consolidated financial statements. The following tables present the effects of the changes on the presentation of these cash flows to the previously reported consolidated statements of cash flows: Year Ended December 31, 2020 Net cash provided by (used in): As Previously Reported (i) Adjustments As Adjusted Operating activities (ii) $ 381,603 $ (208,493) $ 173,110 Investing activities (606,636) — (606,636) Financing activities (iii) 2,315,195 1,361,540 3,676,735 Effect of foreign exchange rate on cash and cash equivalents 12,995 — 12,995 Net increase in cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and customer funds 2,103,157 1,153,047 3,256,204 Cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and customer funds, beginning of the year 1,098,706 438,261 1,536,967 Cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and customer funds, end of the year $ 3,201,863 $ 1,591,308 $ 4,793,171 ___________________ (i) As reported in our 2020 Form 10-K filed with the SEC on February 23, 2021. (ii) Financial statement lines impacted in operating activities were Customer funds and Customers payable. (iii) Financial statement line impacted in financing activities was the addition of a new line called Change in customer funds, restricted from use in the Company's operations. Year Ended December 31, 2019 Net cash provided by (used in): As Previously Reported (i) Adjustments As Adjusted Operating activities (ii) $ 465,699 $ (138,069) $ 327,630 Investing activities 95,193 — 95,193 Financing activities (iii) (98,874) 342,275 243,401 Effect of foreign exchange rate on cash and cash equivalents 3,841 — 3,841 Net increase in cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and customer funds 465,859 204,206 670,065 Cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and customer funds, beginning of the year 632,847 234,055 866,902 Cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and customer funds, end of the year $ 1,098,706 $ 438,261 $ 1,536,967 ___________________ (i) As reported in our 2019 Form 10-K filed with the SEC on February 26, 2020. (ii) Financial statement lines impacted in operating activities were Customer funds and Customers payable. (iii) Financial statement line impacted in financing activities was the addition of a new line called Change in customer funds, restricted from use in the Company's operations. Revenue Recognition Revenue is recognized when control of the promised goods or services is transferred to customers, in an amount that reflects the consideration the Company expects to be entitled to in exchange for those goods or services. Transaction-based revenue The Company charges its sellers a transaction fee for managed payments solutions that is generally calculated as a percentage of the total transaction amount processed. The Company selectively offers custom pricing for certain sellers. The Company collects the transaction amount from the seller's customer's bank, net of acquiring interchange and assessment fees, processing fees, and bank settlement fees paid to third-party payment processors and financial institutions. The Company retains its fees and remits the net amount to the sellers. The Company acts as the merchant of record for its sellers and works directly with payment card networks and banks so that its sellers do not need to manage the complex systems, rules, and requirements of the payments industry. The Company satisfies its performance obligations and therefore recognizes the transaction fees as revenue upon authorization of a transaction by the seller's customer's bank. Revenue is recognized net of refunds, which arise from reversals of transactions initiated by sellers. The transaction fees collected from sellers are recognized as revenue on a gross basis as the Company is the principal in the delivery of the managed payments solutions to the sellers. The Company has concluded it is the principal because as the merchant of record, it controls the services before delivery to the seller, it is primarily responsible for the delivery of the services to its sellers, and it has discretion in setting prices charged to sellers. The Company also has the unilateral ability to accept or reject a transaction based on criteria established by the Company. As the merchant of record, Square is liable for the costs of processing the transactions for its sellers, and records such costs within cost of revenue. The Company also charges certain Cash App customers making peer-to-peer transactions using business accounts, or funding transactions with a credit card, a transaction fee that is generally calculated as a percentage of the total transaction amount processed. The Company collects the transaction amount from the customer's Cash App account, net of incurring interchange and assessment fees, processing fees, and bank settlement fees paid to third-party payment processors and financial institutions. The Company retains its fees and remits the net amount to the customers. Subscription and services-based revenue Subscription and services-based revenue is primarily comprised of revenue the Company generates from Instant Deposit and Cash Card, Square Loans (formerly known as Square Capital), website hosting and domain name registration services, TIDAL, and various other software as a service (SaaS) products. Instant Deposit is a functionality within the Cash App and the Company's managed payments solution that enables customers, including individuals and sellers, to instantly deposit funds into their bank accounts. The Company charges a per transaction fee which is recognized as revenue when customers instantly deposit funds to their bank account. The Company also offers Cash App customers the ability to use funds stored in the Cash App via a Visa prepaid card (Cash Card), for which the Company earns a per transaction fee that is recorded as revenue. Beginning in April 2021, the Company started originating loans to customers through Square Financial Services. Prior to April 2021, the Company facilitated loans to customers through a partnership with an industrial bank. The loans are either repaid through withholding a percentage of the collections of the seller's receivables processed by the Company or a specified monthly amount. The Company generally utilizes a pre-qualification process that includes an analysis of the aggregated data of the seller’s business which includes, but is not limited to, the seller’s historical processing volumes, transaction count, chargebacks, growth, and length of time as a Square customer. Generally, the loans have no stated coupon rate but the seller is charged a one-time origination fee based upon their risk rating, which is derived primarily from processing activity. For some of the loans, it is the Company’s intent to sell all of its rights, title, and interest of these loans to third-party investors for an upfront fee when the loans are sold. The Company records as cost of the loans, the amounts advanced to the customers or the net amounts paid to purchase the loans. Subsequently, the Company records a gain on sale of the loans to the third-party investors as revenue upon transfer of title. The Company is retained by the third-party investors to service the loans and earns a servicing fee for facilitating the repayment of these receivables through its managed payments solutions. The Company records servicing revenue as servicing is delivered. For the loans which are not immediately sold to third-party investors or for which the Company has the intent and ability to hold through maturity, interest and fees earned are recognized as revenue using the effective interest method. The Company offers customers website hosting services for a fee that is generally billed at inception. The Company also acts as a reseller of domain names registration services for a registrar for a fee, which is also generally billed at inception. The Company considers that it satisfies its performance obligations over time and as such recognizes revenue ratably over the term of the relevant arrangements, which vary from one month to twenty four months for website hosting, and one year to ten years for domain name registration. TIDAL primarily generates revenue from subscriptions to its customers, and such subscriptions allow access to the song library, video library, and improved sound quality. Customers can subscribe to services directly from the TIDAL website or through the Apple store, for which the Company charges a monthly fee which is recognized ratably as revenue as the service is provided. SaaS represents software products and solutions that provide customers with access to various technologies for a fee which is recognized as revenue ratably as the service is provided. The Company's contracts with customers are generally for a term of one month and renew automatically each month. The Company invoices its customers monthly. The Company considers that it satisfies its performance obligations over time each month as it provides the SaaS services to customers and hence recognizes revenue ratably over the month. Hardware revenue The Company generates revenue through the sale of hardware through e-commerce and through its retail distribution channels. The Company satisfies its performance obligation upon delivery of hardware to its customers which include end user customers, distributors, and retailers. The Company allows for customer returns which are accounted for as variable consideration. The Company estimates these amounts based on historical experience and reduces revenue recognized. The Company invoices end user customers upon delivery of the products to customers, and payments from such customers are due upon invoicing. Distributors and retailers have payment terms that range from 30 to 90 days after delivery. The Company offers hardware installment sales to customers with terms ranging from three to twenty four months. The Company allocates a portion of the consideration received from these arrangements to a financing component when it determines that a significant financing component exists. The financing component is subsequently recognized as financing revenue separate from hardware revenue, within subscription and services-based revenue, over the terms of the arrangement with the customer. Pursuant to practical expedients afforded under ASC 606, the Company does not recognize a financing component for hardware installment sales that have a term of one year or less. Bitcoin revenue The Company offers its Cash App customers the ability to purchase bitcoin, a cryptocurrency denominated asset, from the Company. The Company satisfies its performance obligation and records revenue when bitcoin is transferred to the customer's account. The Company purchases bitcoin from private broker dealers or from Cash App customers and applies a marginal fee before selling it to its customers. The sale amounts received from customers are recorded as revenue on a gross basis and the associated bitcoin cost as cost of revenues, as the Company is the principal in the bitcoin sale transaction. The Company has concluded it is the principal because it controls the bitcoin before delivery to the customers, it is primarily responsible for the delivery of the bitcoin to the customers, it is exposed to risks arising from fluctuations of the market price of bitcoin before delivery to customers, and has discretion in setting prices charged to customers. Cost of Revenue Transaction-based costs Transaction-based costs consist primarily of interchange and assessment fees, processing fees and bank settlement fees paid to third-party payment processors and financial institutions. Subscription and services-based costs Subscriptions and services-based costs consists of costs associated with Cash Card, Instant Deposit, and TIDAL costs. Prior to 2020, subscription and services-based costs consisted primarily of Caviar-related costs. The Caviar business was sold in the fourth quarter of 2019. Hardware costs Hardware costs consist of all product costs associated with contactless and chip readers, chip card readers, Square Terminal, Square Stand, Square Register, and third-party peripherals. Product costs consist of third-party manufacturing-related overhead and personnel costs, certain royalties, packaging, and fulfillment costs. Bitcoin costs Bitcoin cost of revenue comprises of the amounts the Company pays to purchase bitcoin, which will fluctuate in line with the price of bitcoin in the market. Other costs Generally, other costs such as employee costs, rent, and occupancy charges are not allocated to cost of revenues and are reflected in operating expenses and are not material. Sales and Marketing Expenses Advertising costs are expensed as incurred and included in sales and marketing expense in the consolidated statements of operations. Total advertising costs for the y ears ended December 31, 2021, 2020, and 2019 were $435.8 million, $224.7 million, and $142.7 million, respectively. In ad dition, services, incentives, and other costs to customers that are not directly related to a revenue generating transaction are recorded as sales and marketing expenses, as the Company considers these to be marketing costs to encourage the usage of Cash App. These expenses include, but are not limited to, Cash App peer-to-peer processing costs and related transaction losses, card issuance costs, customer referral bonuses, and promotional giveaways, and w ere $778.3 million, $635.3 million , and $279.7 million, for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020, and 2019, respectively. Share-based Compensation Share-based compensation expense relates to stock options, restricted stock awards (RSAs), restricted stock units (RSUs), and purchases under the Company’s 2015 Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) which is measured based on the grant-date fair value. The fair value of RSAs and RSUs is determined by the closing price of the Company’s common stock on each grant date. The fair value of stock options and ESPP shares granted to employees is estimated on the date of grant using the Black-Scholes-Merton option valuation model. This share-based compensation expense valuation model requires the Company to make assumptions and judgments regarding the variables used in the calculation. These variables include the expected term (weighted average period of time that the options granted are expected to be outstanding), the expected volatility of the Company’s stock, expected risk-free interest rate and expected dividends. The Company uses the simplified calculation of expected term, defined as an average of the vesting term and the contractual term to maturity. Expected volatility is based on a weighted average of the historical volatilities of the Company's common stock along with several entities with characteristics similar to those of the Company. In May 2020, the Company began using its own volatility, as the Company uses its own historical stock price information, such that a peer group is no longer considered necessary. The expected risk-free rate is based on the U.S. Treasury yield curve in effect at the time of grant for periods corresponding with the expected life of the option. Generally, share-based compensation expense is recorded on a straight-line basis over the requisite service period. The Company accounts for forfeitures as they occur. Interest Income and Expense, net Interest income consists of interest income from the Company's investment in marketable debt securities and interest expense relating to the Company's long-term debt. Interest income for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020, and 2019 were $25.0 million, $18.3 million, and $23.4 million, respectively. Interest expense for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020, and 2019 were $58.1 million, $75.2 million, and $44.9 million, respectively. Income and Other Taxes The Company reports income taxes under the asset and liability approach. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the future tax consequences attributable to differences between the financial statement carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases, as well as net operating loss and tax credit carryforwards. Deferred tax amounts are determined by using the enacted tax rates expected to be in effect when the temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. The effect on deferred tax assets and liabilities of a change in tax rates is recognized in income in the period that includes the enactment date. A valuation allowance reduces the deferred tax assets to the amount that is more likely than not to be realized. The Company considers historical information, tax planning strategies, the expected timing of the reversal of existing temporary differences, and may rely on financial projections to support its position on the recoverability of deferred tax assets. The Company’s judgment regarding future profitability contains significant assumptions and estimates of future operations. If such assumptions were to differ significantly from actual future results of operations, it may have a material impact on the Company’s ability to realize its deferred tax assets. At the end of each period, the Company assesses the ability to realize the deferred tax assets. If it is more likely than not that the Company will not realize the deferred tax assets, then the Company establishes a valuation allowance for all or a portion of the deferred tax assets. The Company recognizes the effect of uncertain income tax positions only if those positions are more likely than not of being sustained. Recognized income tax positions are measured at the largest amount that has a greater than 50% likelihood of being realized. Changes in recognition or measurement are reflected in the period in which the change in judgment occurs. The Company records interest and penalties related to uncertain tax positions in the provision for income tax expense on the consolidated statements of operations. Cash and Cash Equivalents and Restricted Cash and Customer Funds Cash and Cash Equivalents: The Company considers all highly liquid investments, including money market funds, with an original maturity of three months or less when purchased to be cash equivalents. Restricted Cash: Restricted cash represents pledged cash deposits in savings accounts at the financial institutions that process the Company's sellers' payment transactions and collateral pursuant to various agreements with banks relating to the Company's loan products. The Company uses the restricted cash to secure letters of credit with the financial institution to provide collateral for cash flow timing differences in the processing of payments. The Company records amounts as a current asset on the consolidated balance sheets if the restriction expires in less than 12 months, or as a non-current asset if the restriction is 12 months or longer. If there is no minimum time frame during which the cash must remain restricted, the nature of the transactions related to the restriction determine the classification. Additionally, this balance includes certain amounts held as collateral pursuant to multi-year lease agreements that we expect to become unrestricted within the next year, as discussed in the paragraph below. As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, restricted cash for these purposes was $18.8 million and $30.3 million, respectively. As of December 31, 2021, the remaining restricted cash of $71.7 million is primarily related to collateral as required by the FDIC for Square Financial Services. As of December 31, 2020, the remaining restricted cash of $13.5 million is primarily related to cash held as collateral pursuant to multi-year lease agreements (Note 18). The Company has recorded these amounts as non-current assets on the consolidated balance sheets as the terms of the related leases extend beyond one year, and the requirement by the FDIC specifies a time frame of 12 months or longer during which the cash must remain restricted. Customer funds: Customer funds represent customers' stored balances that customers would later use to send money or make payments, or customers cash in transit. Under the terms of service associated with these funds, the Company is restricted from using the funds from use in the Company's operations. The Company invests a portion of these stored balances in short-term marketable debt securities (Note 4). The Company determines the appropriate classification of the investments in marketable debt securities within customer funds at the time of purchase and reevaluates such designation at each balance sheet date. Concentration of Credit Risk For the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, the Company had no customer that accounted for greater than 10% of total net revenue. The Compa ny had two third-party payment processors that represented approximately 52% and 30% of settlements receivable as of December 31, 2021. As of December 31, 2020, there were two parties that represented approximately 59% and 27% of settlements receivable. All other third-party processors were insignificant. Financial instruments that potentially subject the Company to concentrations of credit risk consist primarily of cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash, marketable debt securities, settlements receivable, customer funds, loans held for sale, and loans held for investment. The associated risk of concentration for cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash is mitigated by banking with creditworthy institutions. At certain times, amounts on deposit exceed federal deposit insurance limits. The associated risk of concentration for marketable debt securities is mitigated by holding a diversified portfolio of highly rated investments. Settlements receivable are amounts due from well-established payment processing companies and normally take one two Investments in marketable debt securities The Company's short-term and long-term investments include marketable debt securities such as government and agency securities, corporate bonds, commercial paper and municipal securities. The Company determines the appropriate classification of its investments in marketable debt securities at the time of purchase and reevaluates such designation at each balance sheet date. The Company has classified and accounted for its marketable debt securities as available-for-sale and carries these investments at fair value, reporting the unrealized gains and losses, net of taxes, as a component of stockholders’ equity. The U.S. government and U.S. agency securities are either explicitly or implicitly guaranteed by the U.S. government and are highly rated by major rating agencies. The corporate bonds are issued by highly rated entities. The foreign government securities are issued by highly rated international entities. The Company has the ability and intent to hold these investments with unrealized losses for a reasonable period of time sufficient for the recovery of their amortized cost bases, which may be at maturity. The Company determines any realized gains or losses on the sale of marketable debt securities on a specific identification method, and records such gains and losses as a component of other expense (income), net. Investments in equity securities The Company holds marketable and non-marketable equity investments, over which the Company does not have a controlling interest or significant influence. Marketable equity investments are measured using quoted prices in active markets with changes recorded in other expense (income), net on the consolidated statements of operations. Non-marketable equity investments have no readily determinable fair values and are measured using the measurement alternative, which is defined as cost, less impairment, adjusted for observable price changes from orderly transactions for identical or similar investments of the same issuer. Adjustments are recorded in other expense (income), net on the consolidated statements of operations. Non-marketable equity investments are valued using significant unobservable inputs or data in an inactive market and the valuation requires our judgment due to the absence of market prices and inherent lack of liquidity. The carrying value for these investments is not adjusted if there are no observable transactions for identical or similar investments of the same issuer or if there are no identified events or changes in circumstances that may indicate impairment. The Company will adjust for changes resulting from observable price changes in orderly transactions for an identical or similar investment in the same issue. Valuations of non-marketable equity investments are inherently complex due to the lack of readily available market data. In addition, the determination of whether an orderly transaction is for an identical or similar investment requires significant management judgment, including understanding the differences in the rights and obligations of the investments and the extent to which those differences would affect the fair values of those investments. The Company assesses the impairment of its non-marketable equity investments on a quarterly basis. The impairment analysis encompasses an assessment of the severity and duration of the impairment and a qualitative and quantitative analysis of other key factors including the investee’s financial metrics, market acceptance of the investee’s product or technology, other competitive products or technology in t |