38 veeva systems inc. | form 10-k as of january 31 , 2021 , 2020 , and 2019 , we served 993 , 861 , and 719 , customers , respectively . as of january 31 , 2021 , 2020 , and 2019 , we had 432 , 390 and 335 veeva commercial cloud customers , respectively , and 852 , 715 , and 574 veeva vault customers , respectively . the combined customer counts for veeva commercial cloud and veeva vault exceed the total customer count in each year because some customers subscribe to products in both areas . veeva commercial cloud customers are those customers that have at least one of the following products : veeva crm , veeva clm , veeva crm approved email , veeva crm engage , veeva align , veeva crm events management ( including services delivered via veeva digital events ) , veeva nitro , veeva andi , veeva opendata , veeva link , veeva network customer master , veeva crossix , or veeva data cloud . veeva vault customers are those customers that have at least one vault product . many of our veeva vault applications are used by smaller , earlier stage pre-commercial companies , some of which may not reach the commercialization stage . thus , the potential number of veeva vault customers is significantly higher than the potential number of veeva commercial cloud customers . on november 1 , 2019 , we completed our acquisition of crossix , a provider of privacy-safe patient data and data analytics . crossix brings veeva additional depth in patient data and data analytics . crossix 's existing data analytics offerings are complementary to our existing commercial cloud offerings , and we are utilizing the crossix data platform to build veeva data cloud , our longitudinal patient and prescriber data offering . further , on november 7 , 2019 , we completed our acquisition of physicians world , a provider of speakers bureau services for healthcare professionals . acquiring physicians world makes it easier for our customers to get industry leading cloud software and services from a single vendor . we consider these businesses fully integrated into veeva as of january 31 , 2021. recent development on february 1 , 2021 , we became a delaware public benefit corporation ( pbc ) , and we amended our certificate of incorporation to include the following public benefit purpose : “ to provide products and services that are intended to help make the industries we serve more productive , and to create high-quality employment opportunities in the communities in which we operate . ” when making decisions , our directors have a fiduciary duty to balance the financial interests of stockholders , the best interests of other stakeholders materially affected by our conduct ( including customers , employees , partners , and the communities in which we operate ) , and the pursuit of our public benefit purpose . for more information on our conversion to a pbc and associated risks , see “ business ” and “ risk factors . ” impact of the covid-19 pandemic the worldwide outbreak of covid-19 has had and continues to have a widespread and unpredictable worldwide impact on our business operations , the life sciences industry , healthcare systems , financial markets , and the global economy . while the impact of covid-19 on our operational and financial performance has not been materially negative to date , the future impact is uncertain and will depend on future developments , including the duration and spread of the outbreak , government responses to the pandemic , the impact on our customers , the impact on our employees , the extent of further adverse impacts to the economy , and the scale and pace of economic recovery and resumption of normal business activities , all of which can not be predicted with certainty . in response to the covid-19 outbreak , we shifted most of our customer , employee , and industry events to virtual-only experiences for our fiscal year ending january 31 , 2021. we will continue to monitor events related to the pandemic and plan to continue the same approach for our fiscal year ending january 31 , 2022. we have also implemented employee travel restrictions and , as of the time of this filing , for many of our u.s. offices , including our corporate headquarters in pleasanton , california , we have recommended that most employees work from home and the substantial majority of employees continue to do so . many of our customers have implemented similar measures , which may limit our ability to sell or provide professional services to them over time . customers may delay or cancel purchasing decisions or professional services projects in light of uncertainties to their businesses arising from covid-19 or may renew their subscriptions at lower levels . in our fiscal year ended january 31 , 2021 , our recently acquired crossix and physicians world businesses were negatively impacted by covid-19 , and sales to certain other customer segments were and may continue to be negatively impacted as well , including sales to cosmetics companies . we may also experience requests from customers for lengthened payment terms or less favorable billing terms that could adversely impact our financial performance . such requests to date have not been significant but may increase in the future . due to our subscription-based business model , the effect of covid-19 , and any impact to our sales efforts , may not be fully reflected in our results of operations until future periods , if at all . veeva systems inc. | form 10-k 39 at the same time , covid-19 has necessitated the adoption of digital communication channels and remote working technology within the life sciences industry at a rapid pace . story_separator_special_tag the geographic mix of subscription services revenues was 56 % from north america and 27 % from europe for the fiscal year ended january 31 , 2021 as compared to subscription services revenues of 54 % from north america and 27 % from europe for the fiscal year ended january 31 , 2020. professional services and other revenues for the fiscal year ended january 31 , 2021 increased $ 78 million . the increase was primarily due to new customers requesting implementation and deployment related professional services and existing customers requesting professional services related to expanding deployments or the deployment of newly purchased solutions , and , to a lesser extent , professional services revenues associated with our acquired veeva crossix and physicians world businesses , which only contributed to revenue in the fourth quarter of the fiscal year ended january 31 , 2020. the increased demand for professional services and the resulting increase in professional services revenues was weighted heavily towards implementation and deployments of our veeva vault solutions . the geographic mix of professional services and other revenues was 62 % from north america and 30 % from europe for the fiscal year ended january 31 , 2021 as compared to 60 % from north america and 32 % from europe for the fiscal year ended january 31 , 2020. over time , we expect the proportion of our total revenues from professional services to decrease . costs and expenses replace_table_token_9_th cost of revenues for the fiscal year ended january 31 , 2021 increased $ 106 million , of which $ 48 million was related to cost of subscription services . the increase in cost of subscription services included an increase of $ 14 million in data acquisition costs related to the veeva data cloud product offering . there was also an increase of $ 9 million in employee compensation-related costs ( which includes an increase of $ 2 million in stock-based compensation ) and was primarily driven by the increase in headcount during the period and the full year impact of the headcount from the acquired crossix business . finally , there was an increase of $ 7 million in fees paid to salesforce.com , driven by an increase in the number of end users of our subscription services , and an increase of veeva systems inc. | form 10-k 45 $ 9 million in other computing infrastructure costs , the vast majority of which was for computing infrastructure provided by amazon web services . we expect cost of subscription services to increase in absolute dollars in the near term due to increased usage of our subscription services and increased data costs related to our veeva data cloud offering . cost of professional services and other for the fiscal year ended january 31 , 2021 increased $ 57 million , primarily due to a $ 55 million increase in employee compensation-related costs ( which includes an increase of $ 10 million in stock-based compensation ) . the increase in employee compensation-related costs is primarily driven by the increase in headcount during the period and the full year impact of the headcount from the acquired physicians world business . we expect cost of professional services and other to increase in absolute dollars in the near term as we add personnel to our global professional services organization . gross margin for the fiscal years ended january 31 , 2021 and 2020 was 72 % and 73 % , respectively . the decrease compared to the prior period is largely due to the products and services of our acquired crossix and physicians world businesses , which have lower gross margins than many of our other products and services . operating expenses and operating margin operating expenses include research and development , sales and marketing , and general and administrative expenses . as we continue to invest in our growth through hiring , we expect operating expenses to increase in absolute dollars and may increase as a percentage of revenue in the future . research and development replace_table_token_10_th research and development expenses for the fiscal year ended january 31 , 2021 increased $ 84 million , primarily due to an increase of $ 71 million in employee compensation-related costs ( which includes an increase of $ 27 million in stock-based compensation ) . the increase in employee compensation-related costs is primarily driven by the increase in headcount during the period . the expansion of our headcount in research and development is to support development work for the increased number of products that we offer or may offer in the future . we expect research and development expenses to increase in absolute dollars and may increase as a percentage of revenue in the future , primarily due to higher headcount as we continue to invest in our product offerings . sales and marketing replace_table_token_11_th sales and marketing expenses for the fiscal year ended january 31 , 2021 increased $ 45 million , primarily due to an increase of $ 44 million in employee compensation-related costs ( which includes an increase of $ 13 million in stock-based compensation ) . the increase in employee compensation-related costs is primarily driven by the increase in headcount during the period . there was an additional increase of $ 7 million in amortization of purchased intangibles related to our acquired crossix and physicians world businesses . these increases were partially offset by a $ 10 million decrease in travel and entertainment costs primarily related to travel and meeting restrictions associated with covid-19 . we expect sales and marketing expenses to grow in absolute dollars in the future , primarily due to employee-related expenses as we increase our headcount to support our sales and marketing efforts associated with our 46 veeva systems inc. | form 10-k product offerings , the impact of changes to our sales compensation plans , and our continued expansion of our sales capacity across all our solutions . additionally , we expect travel and

cash flows from operating activities our largest source of operating cash inflows is cash collections from our customers for subscription services . we also generate significant cash flows from our professional services arrangements . the first quarter of our fiscal year is seasonally the strongest quarter for cash inflows due to the timing of our annual subscription billings and related collections . our primary uses of cash from operating activities are for employee-related expenditures , expenses related to our computing infrastructure ( including salesforce.com and amazon web services ) , building infrastructure costs ( including leases for office space ) , fees for third-party legal counsel and accounting services , data acquisition costs , and marketing program costs . note that our net income reflects the impact of excess tax benefits related to equity compensation . net cash provided by operating activities was $ 551 million for the fiscal year ended january 31 , 2021 compared to $ 437 million provided by operating activities for the fiscal year ended january 31 , 2020. the $ 114 million increase in operating cash flow was primarily due to net income for the period of $ 380 million driven by increased sales and the related impact to deferred revenue , partially offset by cash collections and the related impact to accounts receivable . additionally , operating cash flow benefited from a non-cash adjustment for stock-based compensation . cash flows from investing activities the cash flows from investing activities primarily relate to cash used for the purchase of marketable securities , net of maturities . we also use cash to invest in capital assets to support our growth .


 Write a concise suspicious activity report of the following text delimited by triple backquotes. Return your response as a formal report which covers the key points highlighting the location,dates,entity names and account holder information in chronological order of the text.
     ```cash flows from operating activities our largest source of operating cash inflows is cash collections from our customers for subscription services . we also generate significant cash flows from our professional services arrangements . the first quarter of our fiscal year is seasonally the strongest quarter for cash inflows due to the timing of our annual subscription billings and related collections . our primary uses of cash from operating activities are for employee-related expenditures , expenses related to our computing infrastructure ( including salesforce.com and amazon web services ) , building infrastructure costs ( including leases for office space ) , fees for third-party legal counsel and accounting services , data acquisition costs , and marketing program costs . note that our net income reflects the impact of excess tax benefits related to equity compensation . net cash provided by operating activities was $ 551 million for the fiscal year ended january 31 , 2021 compared to $ 437 million provided by operating activities for the fiscal year ended january 31 , 2020. the $ 114 million increase in operating cash flow was primarily due to net income for the period of $ 380 million driven by increased sales and the related impact to deferred revenue , partially offset by cash collections and the related impact to accounts receivable . additionally , operating cash flow benefited from a non-cash adjustment for stock-based compensation . cash flows from investing activities the cash flows from investing activities primarily relate to cash used for the purchase of marketable securities , net of maturities . we also use cash to invest in capital assets to support our growth .
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 Suspicious Activity Report : 38 veeva systems inc. | form 10-k as of january 31 , 2021 , 2020 , and 2019 , we served 993 , 861 , and 719 , customers , respectively . as of january 31 , 2021 , 2020 , and 2019 , we had 432 , 390 and 335 veeva commercial cloud customers , respectively , and 852 , 715 , and 574 veeva vault customers , respectively . the combined customer counts for veeva commercial cloud and veeva vault exceed the total customer count in each year because some customers subscribe to products in both areas . veeva commercial cloud customers are those customers that have at least one of the following products : veeva crm , veeva clm , veeva crm approved email , veeva crm engage , veeva align , veeva crm events management ( including services delivered via veeva digital events ) , veeva nitro , veeva andi , veeva opendata , veeva link , veeva network customer master , veeva crossix , or veeva data cloud . veeva vault customers are those customers that have at least one vault product . many of our veeva vault applications are used by smaller , earlier stage pre-commercial companies , some of which may not reach the commercialization stage . thus , the potential number of veeva vault customers is significantly higher than the potential number of veeva commercial cloud customers . on november 1 , 2019 , we completed our acquisition of crossix , a provider of privacy-safe patient data and data analytics . crossix brings veeva additional depth in patient data and data analytics . crossix 's existing data analytics offerings are complementary to our existing commercial cloud offerings , and we are utilizing the crossix data platform to build veeva data cloud , our longitudinal patient and prescriber data offering . further , on november 7 , 2019 , we completed our acquisition of physicians world , a provider of speakers bureau services for healthcare professionals . acquiring physicians world makes it easier for our customers to get industry leading cloud software and services from a single vendor . we consider these businesses fully integrated into veeva as of january 31 , 2021. recent development on february 1 , 2021 , we became a delaware public benefit corporation ( pbc ) , and we amended our certificate of incorporation to include the following public benefit purpose : “ to provide products and services that are intended to help make the industries we serve more productive , and to create high-quality employment opportunities in the communities in which we operate . ” when making decisions , our directors have a fiduciary duty to balance the financial interests of stockholders , the best interests of other stakeholders materially affected by our conduct ( including customers , employees , partners , and the communities in which we operate ) , and the pursuit of our public benefit purpose . for more information on our conversion to a pbc and associated risks , see “ business ” and “ risk factors . ” impact of the covid-19 pandemic the worldwide outbreak of covid-19 has had and continues to have a widespread and unpredictable worldwide impact on our business operations , the life sciences industry , healthcare systems , financial markets , and the global economy . while the impact of covid-19 on our operational and financial performance has not been materially negative to date , the future impact is uncertain and will depend on future developments , including the duration and spread of the outbreak , government responses to the pandemic , the impact on our customers , the impact on our employees , the extent of further adverse impacts to the economy , and the scale and pace of economic recovery and resumption of normal business activities , all of which can not be predicted with certainty . in response to the covid-19 outbreak , we shifted most of our customer , employee , and industry events to virtual-only experiences for our fiscal year ending january 31 , 2021. we will continue to monitor events related to the pandemic and plan to continue the same approach for our fiscal year ending january 31 , 2022. we have also implemented employee travel restrictions and , as of the time of this filing , for many of our u.s. offices , including our corporate headquarters in pleasanton , california , we have recommended that most employees work from home and the substantial majority of employees continue to do so . many of our customers have implemented similar measures , which may limit our ability to sell or provide professional services to them over time . customers may delay or cancel purchasing decisions or professional services projects in light of uncertainties to their businesses arising from covid-19 or may renew their subscriptions at lower levels . in our fiscal year ended january 31 , 2021 , our recently acquired crossix and physicians world businesses were negatively impacted by covid-19 , and sales to certain other customer segments were and may continue to be negatively impacted as well , including sales to cosmetics companies . we may also experience requests from customers for lengthened payment terms or less favorable billing terms that could adversely impact our financial performance . such requests to date have not been significant but may increase in the future . due to our subscription-based business model , the effect of covid-19 , and any impact to our sales efforts , may not be fully reflected in our results of operations until future periods , if at all . veeva systems inc. | form 10-k 39 at the same time , covid-19 has necessitated the adoption of digital communication channels and remote working technology within the life sciences industry at a rapid pace . story_separator_special_tag the geographic mix of subscription services revenues was 56 % from north america and 27 % from europe for the fiscal year ended january 31 , 2021 as compared to subscription services revenues of 54 % from north america and 27 % from europe for the fiscal year ended january 31 , 2020. professional services and other revenues for the fiscal year ended january 31 , 2021 increased $ 78 million . the increase was primarily due to new customers requesting implementation and deployment related professional services and existing customers requesting professional services related to expanding deployments or the deployment of newly purchased solutions , and , to a lesser extent , professional services revenues associated with our acquired veeva crossix and physicians world businesses , which only contributed to revenue in the fourth quarter of the fiscal year ended january 31 , 2020. the increased demand for professional services and the resulting increase in professional services revenues was weighted heavily towards implementation and deployments of our veeva vault solutions . the geographic mix of professional services and other revenues was 62 % from north america and 30 % from europe for the fiscal year ended january 31 , 2021 as compared to 60 % from north america and 32 % from europe for the fiscal year ended january 31 , 2020. over time , we expect the proportion of our total revenues from professional services to decrease . costs and expenses replace_table_token_9_th cost of revenues for the fiscal year ended january 31 , 2021 increased $ 106 million , of which $ 48 million was related to cost of subscription services . the increase in cost of subscription services included an increase of $ 14 million in data acquisition costs related to the veeva data cloud product offering . there was also an increase of $ 9 million in employee compensation-related costs ( which includes an increase of $ 2 million in stock-based compensation ) and was primarily driven by the increase in headcount during the period and the full year impact of the headcount from the acquired crossix business . finally , there was an increase of $ 7 million in fees paid to salesforce.com , driven by an increase in the number of end users of our subscription services , and an increase of veeva systems inc. | form 10-k 45 $ 9 million in other computing infrastructure costs , the vast majority of which was for computing infrastructure provided by amazon web services . we expect cost of subscription services to increase in absolute dollars in the near term due to increased usage of our subscription services and increased data costs related to our veeva data cloud offering . cost of professional services and other for the fiscal year ended january 31 , 2021 increased $ 57 million , primarily due to a $ 55 million increase in employee compensation-related costs ( which includes an increase of $ 10 million in stock-based compensation ) . the increase in employee compensation-related costs is primarily driven by the increase in headcount during the period and the full year impact of the headcount from the acquired physicians world business . we expect cost of professional services and other to increase in absolute dollars in the near term as we add personnel to our global professional services organization . gross margin for the fiscal years ended january 31 , 2021 and 2020 was 72 % and 73 % , respectively . the decrease compared to the prior period is largely due to the products and services of our acquired crossix and physicians world businesses , which have lower gross margins than many of our other products and services . operating expenses and operating margin operating expenses include research and development , sales and marketing , and general and administrative expenses . as we continue to invest in our growth through hiring , we expect operating expenses to increase in absolute dollars and may increase as a percentage of revenue in the future . research and development replace_table_token_10_th research and development expenses for the fiscal year ended january 31 , 2021 increased $ 84 million , primarily due to an increase of $ 71 million in employee compensation-related costs ( which includes an increase of $ 27 million in stock-based compensation ) . the increase in employee compensation-related costs is primarily driven by the increase in headcount during the period . the expansion of our headcount in research and development is to support development work for the increased number of products that we offer or may offer in the future . we expect research and development expenses to increase in absolute dollars and may increase as a percentage of revenue in the future , primarily due to higher headcount as we continue to invest in our product offerings . sales and marketing replace_table_token_11_th sales and marketing expenses for the fiscal year ended january 31 , 2021 increased $ 45 million , primarily due to an increase of $ 44 million in employee compensation-related costs ( which includes an increase of $ 13 million in stock-based compensation ) . the increase in employee compensation-related costs is primarily driven by the increase in headcount during the period . there was an additional increase of $ 7 million in amortization of purchased intangibles related to our acquired crossix and physicians world businesses . these increases were partially offset by a $ 10 million decrease in travel and entertainment costs primarily related to travel and meeting restrictions associated with covid-19 . we expect sales and marketing expenses to grow in absolute dollars in the future , primarily due to employee-related expenses as we increase our headcount to support our sales and marketing efforts associated with our 46 veeva systems inc. | form 10-k product offerings , the impact of changes to our sales compensation plans , and our continued expansion of our sales capacity across all our solutions . additionally , we expect travel and

