3. LONG-LIVED ASSETS

Goodwill. The changes in the carrying amount of goodwill for the nine months ended September 30, 2018, were as follows (in thousands):


January 1, 2018 balance	$	210,080
Business Ink acquisition		3,314
Effects of changes in foreign currency exchange rates		(2,697	)
September 30, 2018 balance	$	210,697

See Note 5 for discussion regarding the Business Ink acquisition.

Other Intangible Assets. As part of the adoption of ASC 606, at January 1, 2018, we reclassified our investments in client contracts and capitalized costs related to conversion/set-up activities from “client contracts” to “client contract costs” on our Balance Sheet. As of September 30, 2018, our intangible assets subject to ongoing amortization consist of acquired client contracts and software. As of September 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017, the carrying values of our other intangible assets were as follows (in thousands):

	September 30, 2018							December 31, 2017
	Gross							Gross
	Carrying		Accumulated			Net		Carrying		Accumulated			Net
	Amount		Amortization			Amount		Amount		Amortization			Amount
Investments in client contracts	$	-	$	-		$	-	$	26,616	$	(9,782	)	$	16,834
Capitalized costs		-		-			-		26,811		(10,039	)		16,772
Acquired client contracts		121,149		(81,286	)		39,863		87,308		(77,288	)		10,020
Total client contracts		121,149		(81,286	)		39,863		140,735		(97,109	)		43,626
Software		148,714		(116,761	)		31,953		135,892		(108,986	)		26,906
Total intangible assets	$	269,863	$	(198,047	)	$	71,816	$	276,627	$	(206,095	)	$	70,532

Other intangible assets as of September 30, 2018 include assets acquired in the Business Ink business acquisition (see Note 5).

The total amortization expense related to other intangible assets for the third quarters of 2018 and 2017 were $4.6 million and $6.7 million, respectively, and for the nine months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017 were $13.4 million and $20.0 million, respectively. Based on the September 30, 2018 net carrying value of our other intangible assets, the estimated total amortization expense for each of the five succeeding fiscal years ending December 31 are: 2018 – $18.0 million; 2019 – $16.1 million; 2020 – $13.2 million; 2021– $9.2 million; and 2022 – $6.8 million.

Client Contract Costs. As of September 30, 2018, the carrying values of our contract cost assets, related to those contracts with a contractual term greater than one year, were as follows (in thousands):

	September 30, 2018
	Gross
	Carrying		Accumulated			Net
	Amount		Amortization			Amount
Client contract incentives (1)	$	28,366	$	(18,053	)	$	10,313
Capitalized costs (2)		37,313		(17,485	)		19,828
Capitalized commission fees (3)		6,943		(1,500	)		5,443
Total client contract costs	$	72,622	$	(37,038	)	$	35,584

The aggregate amortization related to our client contract costs include in our operations for the quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2018 was as follows (in thousands):

	Quarter Ended		Nine Months Ended
	September 30,		September 30,
Client contract incentives (1)	$	2,781	$	8,272
Capitalized costs (2)		2,658		7,495
Capitalized commission fees (3)		583		1,518
Total client contract costs	$	6,022	$	17,285

(1)

Client contract incentives consist principally of incentives provided to new or existing clients to convert their customer accounts to, or retain their customer’s account on, our outsourced solutions and are amortized ratably over the contract period to include renewal periods if applicable, which as of September 30, 2018, have termination dates that range from 2019 to 2025. The amortization of client contract incentives is reflected as a reduction in cloud and related solutions revenue in our Income Statement.

(2)

Capitalized costs are related to client conversion/set-up activities and direct material costs to fulfill long-term cloud-based or managed services arrangements. These costs are amortized over the contract period based on the transfer of goods or services to which the assets relate, which as of September 30, 2018 range from 2019 to 2023, and are included in cost of cloud and related solutions in our Income Statement.

(3)

Capitalized commission fees are incremental commissions paid as a result of obtaining a customer contract. These fees are amortized over the contract period based on the transfer of goods or services to which the assets relate, which as of September 30, 2018, range from 2019 to 2025, and are included in selling, general and administrative expenses in our Income Statement. Incremental commission fees incurred as a result of obtaining a customer contract are expensed when incurred if the amortization period of the asset that we otherwise would have recognized is one year or less (a practical expedient allowed under ASC 606).