14. SHARE-BASED COMPENSATION

Share-Based Plans

We have issued share-based awards under the following plans: (1) the 1998 Long-Term Incentive Plan (the "1998 LTIP"), (2) Amendment and Restatement of the 1998 Stock Incentive Plan (2001) (the "Amended LTIP (2001)"), (3) Amendment and Restatement of the 1998 Stock Incentive Plan (2003) (the "Amended LTIP (2003)"), (4) the 2008 Non-Employee Director Long-Term Incentive Plan ("2008 Director LTIP") and (5) the 2008 Employee Long-Term Incentive Plan ("2008 Employee LTIP"). Currently, awards are only issued under the 2008 Director LTIP and the 2008 Employee LTIP. Sections of these plans are summarized below. All the share-based plans require the use of the previous trading day's closing price when the grant date falls on a date the stock was not traded.

Vesting periods varied for the 1998 LTIP, the Amended LTIP (2001), and the Amended LTIP (2003) depending on individual award agreement. Vesting periods for the 2008 Director LTIP and the 2008 Employee LTIP are discussed below.

1998 Long-Term Incentive Plan

The 1998 LTIP was adopted by the Board on July 28, 1998, which is its effective date, and approved by the shareholders on September 16, 1998. The allowable number of shares under the 1998 LTIP was 20% of the outstanding shares, less any shares previously granted and shares purchased through our then-existing employee stock purchase program. It specified that options shall be priced at not less than fair market value. The 1998 LTIP consolidated our pre-existing stock incentive plans and made the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors ("Compensation Committee") responsible for its administration. The 1998 LTIP required that grants be evidenced in writing, but the writing was not a condition precedent to the grant of the award.

Under the 1998 LTIP, options were to be automatically awarded to non-employee directors the day after the annual shareholders meeting to all non-employee directors in service as of that day. No automatic annual grants may be awarded under the LTIP after September 1, 2006. The LTIP also permits for discretionary option awards to directors.

Amended and Restated 1998 Long-Term Incentive Plan

Minor amendments were made to the 1998 LTIP on April 1, April 17 and April 30, 2001. The amendments change the name of the plan from the 1998 Long-Term Incentive Plan to the Amended and Restated 1998 Long-Term Incentive Plan. In addition, provisions were added "to allow the Compensation Committee to delegate to a single board member the authority to make awards to non-Section 16 insiders, as a matter of convenience," and to provide that "no option granted under the Plan may be exercisable for more than ten years from the date of its grant."

The Amended LTIP (2001) was amended on July 15, 2003 by the Board and approved by the stockholders on September 18, 2003. Primarily, the amendment modified the aggregate number of shares available under the plan to a fixed number (3,000,000). Although the language varies somewhat from earlier plans, it permits the Board or Compensation Committee to delegate authority to a committee of one or more directors who are also officers of the corporation to award options under certain conditions. The Amended LTIP (2003) replaced all the prior plans, and covered option grants for employees, executives and outside directors.

On September 15, 2008, our shareholders approved the 2008 Director LTIP and the 2008 Employee LTIP. Both of the plans were adopted by the Board on June 25, 2008. As a result of the approval of these plans, we do not intend to grant any awards under the Amended LTIP (2003) or any earlier plan.

2008 Non-Employee Director Plan

Under the 2008 Director LTIP, 250,000 shares were authorized for grant to non-employee directors. The purpose of the 2008 Director LTIP is to align the economic interests of the directors with the interests of shareholders by including equity as a component of pay and to attract, motivate and retain experienced and knowledgeable directors. In addition, each director will receive an annual grant of restricted stock having a grant-date fair value equal to the cash compensation earned by an outside director during our fiscal year ended immediately before the respective annual grant-date. Directors may elect to receive their cash compensation in restricted stock. These restricted shares are prohibited from being sold, transferred, assigned, pledged or otherwise encumbered or disposed of. Half of these shares will vest on the one-year and second-year anniversary from the date of the grant.

2008 Employee Long-Term Incentive Plan

Under the 2008 Employee LTIP, 1,000,000 shares were authorized for grant of incentive stock options, nonqualified stock options, stock appreciation rights, restricted stock, restricted stock units, performance awards, or other share-based awards to ePlus employees. The purpose of the 2008 Employee LTIP is to encourage our employees to acquire a proprietary interest in the growth and performance of ePlus, thus enhancing the value of ePlus for the benefit of its stockholders, and to enhance our ability to attract and retain exceptionally qualified individuals. The 2008 Employee LTIP is administered by the Compensation Committee. Shares issuable under the 2008 Employee LTIP may consist of authorized but unissued shares or shares held in our treasury. Shares under the 2008 Employee LTIP will not be used to compensate our outside directors, who may be compensated under the separate 2008 Director LTIP, as discussed above. Under the 2008 Employee LTIP, the Compensation Committee will determine the time and method of exercise of the awards.

Stock Option Activity

During the year ended March 31, 2012, there were no stock options granted to employees.

A summary of stock option activity during the year ended March 31, 2012 is as follows:

	Number of Shares			Exercise Price Range		Weighted Average Exercise Price		Weighted Average Contractual Life Remaining (in years)		Aggregate Intrinsic Value

Outstanding, April 1, 2011		228,900		$	6.86 - $15.25	$	10.26
Options exercised (1)		(83,900	)	$	6.86 - $7.90	$	7.40
Outstanding, March 31, 2012		145,000		$	7.14 - $15.25	$	11.91		2.2	$	2,908,850

Vested at March 31, 2012		145,000				$	11.91		2.2	$	2,908,850
Exercisable at March 31, 2012		145,000				$	11.91		2.2	$	2,908,850

(1)	The total intrinsic value of stock options exercised during the year ended March 31, 2012 was $1.5 million.

Additional information regarding options outstanding as of March 31, 2012 is as follows:

	Options Outstanding and Exercisable
Range of Exercise Prices	Options Outstanding		Weighted Average Exercise Price per Share		Weighted Average Contractual Life Remaining (in years)

$7.14 - $9.00		25,000	$	7.14		1.0
$9.01 - $13.50		80,000	$	11.74		3.0
$13.51 - $15.25		40,000	$	15.23		1.5

$7.14 - $15.25		145,000	$	11.91		2.2

We issue shares from our authorized but unissued common stock to satisfy stock option exercises. At March 31, 2012, all of our options were vested.

Restricted Stock Activity

We estimate the forfeiture rate of the restricted stock to be zero. As of March 31, 2012, we have granted 87,243 shares under the 2008 Director LTIP, and 357,570 restricted shares under the 2008 Employee LTIP.

A summary of the non-vested restricted shares is as follows:

	Number of Shares			Weighted Average Grant-date Fair Value

Nonvested April 1, 2011		213,689		$	17.54
Granted		152,672		$	23.21
Vested		(89,064	)	$	17.27
Forefeited		(1,167	)	$	20.17
Nonvested March 31, 2012		276,130		$	20.75

Upon each vesting period of the restricted stock awards, participants are subject to minimum tax withholding obligations. The 2008 Director LTIP and 2008 Employee LTIP allows the Company, at the participant's election, to withhold a sufficient number of shares due to the participant to satisfy their minimum tax withholding obligations. For the year ended March 31, 2012, the Company had withheld 18,834 shares of common stock at a value of $463 thousand, which was included in treasury stock.

Compensation Expense

We recognize compensation cost for awards of restricted stock with graded vesting on a straight line basis over the requisite service period and estimate the forfeiture rate to be zero, based on historical experience. There are no additional conditions for vesting other than service conditions. During the years ended March 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010 we recognized $2.4 million, $1.3 million and $474 thousand, respectively, of total share-based compensation expense. At March 31, 2012, there was no unrecognized compensation expense related to non-vested options. Unrecognized compensation expense related to non-vested restricted stock was $4.0 million, which will be fully recognized over the next 27 months.

We also provide our employees with a contributory 401(k) profit sharing plan. Employer contribution percentages are determined by us and are discretionary each year. The employer contributions vest pro-ratably over a four-year service period by the employees, after which, all employer contributions will be fully vested. For the years ended March 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010, our expenses for the plan were approximately $844 thousand, $443 thousand and $377 thousand, respectively.