Contract Balances

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2021

Contract Balances

Contract Balances

12. Contract Balances

Our valuation and qualifying accounts as of September 30, 2021 were as follows:

Allowance for credit losses	Balance at Beginning of Period		Current Period Provision for Expected Credit Losses		Write-offs Charged Against Allowance		Balance at End of Period
	(In thousands)
For the nine months ended September 30, 2021	$	43,233	$	32,224	$	(39,457)	$	36,000

Contract liabilities arise when we bill our customers and receive consideration in advance of providing the service. Contract liabilities are recognized as revenue when the service has been provided to the customer. Contract liabilities are recorded in “Deferred revenue and other” and “Long-term deferred revenue and other long-term liabilities” on our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets.

	As of
	September 30,		December 31,
	2021		2020
	(In thousands)
Contract liabilities	$	556,895	$	593,797

Our beginning of period contract liability recorded as customer contract revenue during 2021 was $586 million.

We apply a practical expedient and do not disclose the value of the remaining performance obligations for contracts that are less than one year in duration, which represent a substantial majority of our revenue. As such, the amount of revenue related to unsatisfied performance obligations is not necessarily indicative of our future revenue.