[bakenator]

I think this highlights the distinction between book value and market value. GAAP accounting pretty much tries to value the net value of the company based on the holdings/liabilities that it is legally entitled to at that second. Because a Slack customer can stop paying at any time, it would be wrong to say Slack already had that money in the bank.

However the idea you point out is why on the stock market people value companies completely differently than their book value. It would be pretty interesting if there was a standardized balance sheet like document that could be made with projected value.

[robhunter]

I think a lot of it is historically tied to taxation.

By not depreciating sales and marketing, Slack can claim all of that expense upfront, and delay tax payments since they show a greater loss.