DEFERRED CONTRACT COSTS

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2019

Deferred Costs, Capitalized, Prepaid, and Other Assets Disclosure [Abstract]

DEFERRED CONTRACT COSTS

DEFERRED CONTRACT COSTS

The Company recognizes an asset for the incremental costs of obtaining a client contract, which relate to sales commissions. The Company expects to benefit from those costs for more than one year, as the Company generally only pays sales commissions on the initial contract and not any subsequent contract renewals. As a result, there are no commensurate commissions paid on contract renewals. Deferred costs are amortized on a straight-line basis over the benefit period, which is on average 5 years.

(in thousands)	September 30, 2019		December 31, 2018
Deferred contract costs (1)	$	67,182	$	64,367

⁽¹⁾ Included in other long-term assets.

	Three Months Ended September 30,				Nine Months Ended September 30,
(in thousands)	2019		2018		2019		2018
Amortization of deferred contract costs (1)	$	8,193	$	4,208	$	22,372	$	11,806

⁽¹⁾ Included in selling and marketing expenses.