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Description of Business and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

LivePerson, Inc. (“LivePerson”, the “Company”, “we” or “our”) was incorporated in the State of Delaware in November 1995 and the LivePerson service was introduced in November 1998. In April 2000, the company completed an initial public offering and is currently traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market and the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. LivePerson is headquartered in New York City with U.S. offices in Alpharetta (Georgia), Austin (Texas), San Francisco (California) and Seattle (Washington), and international offices in Amsterdam (Netherlands), Berlin (Germany), Delhi (India), London (United Kingdom), Mannheim (Germany), Melbourne (Australia), Milan (Italy), Paris (France), Ra'anana (Israel), Reading (United Kingdom), Singapore (Singapore), Tel Aviv (Israel), and Tokyo (Japan).

LivePerson makes life easier for people and brands everywhere through messaging powered by AI and humans. During the past decade, the consumer has made the mobile device the center of their digital lives, and they have made mobile messaging the center of communication with friends, family and peers. Our technology enables consumers to connect with businesses through these same preferred conversational interfaces, including Facebook Messenger, SMS, WhatsApp, Apple Business Chat, Google Rich Business Messenger and Alexa. These messaging conversations harness human agents, bots and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to power convenient, personalized and content-rich journeys across the entire consumer lifecycle, from discovery and research, to sales, service and support, and even marketing, social and brick and mortar engagements. For example, consumers can look up product info like ratings, images and pricing, search for stores, see product inventory, schedule appointments, apply for credit, approve repairs, make purchases or payments - all without ever leaving the messaging channel. These AI and human-assisted conversational experiences constitute the Conversational Space.

LiveEngage, our enterprise-class cloud-based platform, enables businesses to become conversational by securely deploying messaging, coupled with bots and AI, at scale for brands with tens of millions of customers and many thousands of customer care agents. LiveEngage powers conversations across each of a brand’s primary digital channels, including mobile apps, mobile and desktop web browsers, short message service (SMS), social media and third-party consumer messaging platforms. Brands can also use LiveEngage to message consumers when they dial a 1-800 number instead of forcing them to navigate interactive voice response systems (IVRs) and wait on hold. Similarly, LiveEngage can ingest traditional emails and convert them into messaging conversations, or embed messaging conversations directly into web advertisements, rather than redirect consumers to static website landing pages.

LivePerson's robust, cloud-based suite of rich messaging, real-time chat, AI and automation offerings features consumer and agent facing bots, intelligent routing and capacity mapping, real-time intent detection and analysis, queue prioritization, customer sentiment, analytics and reporting, content delivery, Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliance, cobrowsing and a sophisticated proactive targeting engine. With LiveEngage, agents can manage all conversations with consumers through a single console interface, regardless of which disparate messaging endpoints the consumers originate from; i.e., WhatsApp, Line, Apple Business Chat, IVR, social, email, Amazon Alexa, or WeChat. An extensible application programming interface (API) stack facilitates a lower cost of ownership by facilitating robust integration into back-end systems, as well as enabling developers to build their own programs and services on top of the platform. More than 40 APIs and software development kits are available on LiveEngage.

LivePerson’s Conversational AI offerings put the power of bot development, training, management and analysis into the hands of the contact center and its agents, the teams most familiar with how to structure sales and service conversations to drive successful outcomes. The platform enables what we call “the tango” of humans, AI and bots, whereby human agents act as bot managers, overseeing AI-powered conversations and seamlessly stepping into the flow when a personal touch is needed. Agents become ultra-efficient, leveraging the AI engine to serve up relevant content, define next-best actions and take over repetitive transactional work, so that the agent can focus on relationship building. By seamlessly integrating messaging with our proprietary Conversational AI, as well as third-party bots, LiveEngage offers brands a comprehensive approach to scaling automations across their millions of customer conversations.

LivePerson's consumer services offering is an online marketplace that connects independent service providers (Experts) who provide information and knowledge for a fee via mobile and online messaging with individual consumers (Users). Users seek assistance and advice in various categories including personal counseling and coaching, computers and programming, education and tutoring, spirituality and religion, and other topics.

Principles of Consolidation

The consolidated financial statements reflect the operations of LivePerson and its wholly-owned subsidiaries. All significant intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of the consolidated financial statements in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) requires the Company’s management to make a number of estimates and assumptions relating to the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the consolidated financial statements and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the period. Significant items subject to such estimates and assumptions include revenue recognition, stock-based compensation, accounts receivable, the valuation of goodwill and intangible assets, income taxes and legal contingencies. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

Concentration of Credit Risk

Financial instruments that potentially subject the Company to significant concentrations of credit risk consist primarily of cash and cash equivalents and accounts receivable which approximate fair value at December 31, 2019 because of the short-term nature of these instruments. The Company invests its cash and cash equivalents with financial institutions that it believes are of high quality, and the Company performs periodic evaluations of these instruments and the relative credit standings of the institutions with which it invests. At certain times, the Company’s cash balances with any one financial institution may exceed Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation insurance limits. The Company believes it mitigates its risk by depositing its cash balances with high credit, quality financial institutions.

The Company performs ongoing credit evaluations of its customers’ financial condition (except for customers who purchase the LivePerson services by credit card via Internet download) and has established an allowance for doubtful accounts based upon factors surrounding the credit risk of customers, historical trends and other information. Concentration of credit risk is limited due to the Company’s large number of customers.

Foreign Currency Translation

The Company’s operations are conducted in various countries around the world and the financial statements of its foreign subsidiaries are reported in the applicable foreign currencies (functional currencies). Financial information is translated from the applicable functional currency to the U.S. dollar (the reporting currency) for inclusion in the Company’s consolidated financial statements. Income, expenses and cash flows are translated at weighted average exchange rates prevailing during the fiscal period, and assets and liabilities are translated at fiscal period-end exchange rates. Resulting translation adjustments are included as a component of accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) in stockholders’ equity. Foreign exchange transaction gain or losses are included in Other Income (Expense), net in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

The Company considers all highly liquid securities with original maturities of three months or less when acquired to be cash equivalents. Cash equivalents, which primarily consist of money market funds, are recorded at cost, which approximates fair value.

Accounts Receivable

Accounts receivable are recorded at the invoiced amount and do not bear interest. The allowance for doubtful accounts is the Company’s best estimate of the amount of probable credit losses in the Company’s existing accounts receivable. The Company determines the allowance based on historical write-off experience. The Company reviews its allowance for doubtful accounts monthly. Past due balances over 90 days and over a specified amount are reviewed individually for collectability. All other balances are reviewed on a pooled basis. Account balances are charged off against the allowance after all means of collection have been exhausted and the potential for recovery is considered remote. The Company does not have any off-balance sheet credit exposure related to its customers.

Property and Equipment

Property and equipment are stated at cost, net of accumulated depreciation, and amortization. Depreciation and amortization is calculated using the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the related assets, generally three to five years for equipment and software. Leasehold improvements are amortized using the straight-line method over the shorter of the lease term or the estimated useful life of the asset.

Internal-Use Software Development Costs

In accordance with the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 350-40, ‘‘Internal-Use Software’’, the Company capitalizes its costs to develop its internal use software when preliminary development efforts are successfully completed, management has authorized and committed project funding, and it is probable that the project will be completed and the software will be used as intended. These costs are included in property and equipment in the Company's consolidated balance sheets and are amortized on a straight-line basis over the estimated useful life of the related asset, which approximates five years. Costs incurred prior to meeting these criteria, together with costs incurred for training and maintenance, are expensed as incurred.

Goodwill and Intangible Assets

The Company records goodwill when the consideration paid in a business combination exceeds the fair value of the net tangible assets and the identified intangible assets acquired. Goodwill is not amortized, but instead is required to be tested for impairment annually and whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value of goodwill may exceed its fair value.

The Company performs testing for impairment of goodwill in its third quarter, or as events occur or circumstances change that would more likely than not reduce the fair value of the Company’s reporting units below their carrying amounts. A qualitative assessment is first made to determine whether it is necessary to perform the two-step quantitative goodwill impairment test. This initial qualitative assessment includes, among other things, consideration of: (i) market capitalization of the Company, (ii) past, current and projected future earnings and equity; (iii) recent trends and market conditions; and (iv) valuation metrics involving similar companies that are publicly-traded and acquisitions of similar companies, if available. If this initial qualitative assessment indicates that it is more likely than not that impairment exists, a second analysis will be performed, involving a comparison between the estimated fair values of the Company’s reporting unit with its respective carrying amount including goodwill. If the carrying value exceeds estimated fair value, there is an indication of potential impairment, and a third analysis is performed to measure the amount of impairment. The third analysis involves calculating an implied fair value of goodwill by measuring the excess of the estimated fair value of the reporting unit over the aggregate estimated fair values of the individual assets less liabilities. If the carrying value of goodwill exceeds the implied fair value of goodwill, an impairment charge is recorded for the excess.

Intangible assets with estimable useful lives are amortized over their respective estimated useful lives to their estimated residual values, and reviewed for impairment in accordance with ASC 360-10-35, “Accounting for Impairment or Disposal of Long-Lived Assets.”

The Company evaluates for goodwill impairment annually at September 30^th and at the end of the third quarter of 2019, and 2018, the Company determined that it was not more-likely that the fair value of the reporting units is less than their carrying amount. Accordingly, the Company did not perform the two-step goodwill impairment test on both the Company's Business and Consumer segments. The Company assessed qualitative facts while summarizing the totality of events and circumstances and considered the extent to which adverse events or circumstances could affect the reporting unit's fair value as well as the consideration of positive and mitigating events and circumstances that would affect the determination of whether it was more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying amount.

Impairment of Long-Lived Assets

In accordance with ASC 360-10, “Accounting for the Impairment or Disposal of Long-lived Assets,” long-lived assets, such as property and equipment, and purchased intangibles subject to amortization are reviewed for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value of an asset may not be recoverable. The amount of any impairment is measured as the difference between the carrying value and the fair value of the impaired asset.

Revenue Recognition

The majority of the Company’s revenue is generated from monthly service revenues and related professional services from the sale of the LivePerson services. Revenues are recognized when control of these services is transferred to the Company's customers, in an amount that reflects the consideration the Company expects to be entitled to in exchange for those services.

The Company determines revenue recognition through the following steps:

•Identification of the contract, or contracts, with a customer;

•Identification of the performance obligations in the contract;

•Determination of the transaction price;

•Allocation of the transaction price to the performance obligations in the contract; and

•Recognition of revenue when, or as, the Company satisfies a performance obligation.

Total revenue of $291.6 million, $249.8 million, and $218.9 million was recognized during the years ended December 31, 2019, December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively.

The Company has made the following accounting policy election and elected to use a practical expedient specific to certain revenue streams, as permitted by the FASB, in applying Topic 606. The Company utilizes the right-to-invoice practical expedient with regard to the recognition of revenue upon the invoicing of certain revenue streams, as revenue for those streams are billed monthly.

Under Topic 606, the Company defers all incremental commission costs ("contract acquisition costs") to obtain the contract. The contract acquisition costs, which are comprised of prepaid sales commissions, have balances at December 31, 2019 and 2018 of $32.0 million and $13.4 million, respectively. The Company amortizes these costs over the related period of benefit using the customer expected life that the Company determined to be three to five years which is consistent with the transfer to the customer of the services to which the asset relates. The Company classifies contract acquisition costs as long-term unless they have an original amortization period of one year or less.

Hosted Services- Business Revenue

Hosted Services Business revenue is reported at the amount that reflects the ultimate consideration expected to be received and primarily consist of fees that provide customers access to LiveEngage, the Company’s enterprise-class, cloud-based platform. The Company has determined such access represents a stand-ready service provided continually throughout the contract term. As such, control and satisfaction of this stand-ready performance obligation is deemed to occur over time. The Company recognizes this revenue over time on a ratable basis over the contract term, beginning on the date that access to the LiveEngage platform is made available to the customer. The passage of time is deemed to be the most faithful depiction of the transfer of control of the services as the customer simultaneously receives and consumes the benefit provided by the Company’s performance. Subscription contracts are generally one year or longer in length, billed, monthly, quarterly or annually in advance. There is no significant variable consideration related to these arrangements. Additionally, for certain of the Company’s larger customers, the Company may provide call center labor through an arrangement with one or more of several qualified vendors. For most of these customers, the Company passes the fee it incurs with the labor provider and its fee for the hosted services through to its customers in the form of a fixed fee for each order placed via the Company’s online engagement solutions. For these Pay for Performance (‘‘PFP’’) arrangements in accordance with ASC-606, ‘‘Principal Agent Considerations’’, the Company acts as a principal in a transaction if it controls the specified goods or services before they are transferred to the customer.

Professional Services Revenues

Professional services revenue primarily consists of fees for deployment and optimization services, as well as training delivered on an on-demand basis which is deemed to represent a distinct stand-ready performance obligation. Professional Services Revenues are reported at the amount that reflects the ultimate consideration the Company expects to receive in exchange for such services. Control for the majority of the Company’s Professional Services contracts passes over time to the customer and is recognized ratably over the contracted period, as the passage of time is deemed to be the most faithful depiction of the transfer of control. For certain deployment services, which are not deemed to represent a distinct performance obligation, revenue will be recognized in the same manner as the fee for access to the LiveEngage platform, and as such will be recognized on a straight-line basis over the contract term. For services billed on a fixed price basis, revenue is recognized over time based on the proportion performed using inputs as the measure of progress toward complete satisfaction of the performance obligation. Professional service contracts are generally one year or longer in length, billed, monthly, quarterly or annually in advance. There is no significant variable consideration related to these arrangements.

Contracts with Multiple Performance Obligations

Some of the Company’s contracts with customers contain multiple performance obligations. For these contracts, the Company accounts for individual performance obligations separately if they are distinct. The transaction price is allocated to the separate performance obligations on a relative standalone selling price basis. The Company determines the standalone selling prices based on its overall pricing objectives, taking into consideration market conditions and other factors, including the value of its contracts, the cloud applications sold, and the number and types of users within its contracts.

Hosted Services- Consumer Revenue

For revenue from the Company’s Consumer segment generated from online transactions between Experts and Users, revenue is recognized at an amount net of Expert fees in accordance with ASC 606, “Principal Agent Considerations,” due primarily to the fact that the Expert is the primary obligor. Additionally, the Company performs as an agent without any risk of loss for collection, and is not involved in selecting the Expert or establishing the Expert’s fee. The Company collects a fee from the consumer and retains a portion of the fee, and then remits the balance to the Expert. Revenue from these transactions is recognized at the point in time when the transaction is complete and no significant performance obligations remain.

Deferred Revenues

The Company records deferred revenues when cash payments are received or due in advance of its performance. The increase in the deferred revenue balance for the year ended December 31, 2019 is primarily driven by cash payments received or due in advance of satisfying its performance obligations, partially offset by $42.4 million of revenues recognized that were included in the deferred revenue balance as of December 31, 2018.

The following table presents deferred revenue by revenue source (amounts in thousands):



	December 31,
	2019		2018
Hosted services – Business	$	82,892	$	51,689
Hosted services – Consumer	687		543
Professional services – Business	5,172		2,783
Total deferred revenue - short term	$	88,751	$	55,015

Hosted services – Business	$	—	$	19
Professional services – Business	438		203
Total deferred revenue - long term	$	438	$	222

Disaggregated Revenue

The following table presents the Company's revenues disaggregated by revenue source (amounts in thousands):



	December 31,
	2019		2018		2017
Revenue:
Hosted services – Business	$	225,705	$	197,474	$	178,686
Hosted services – Consumer	24,480		19,553		17,450
Professional services	41,424		32,811		22,740
Total revenue	$	291,609	$	249,838	$	218,876

Revenue by Geographic Location

The Company is domiciled in the United States and has international operations in the United Kingdom, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and Western Europe, particularly France and Germany. The following table presents the Company's revenues attributable to domestic and foreign operations for the years ended (amounts in thousands):



	December 31,
	2019		2018		2017
United States	$	170,815	$	146,702	$	137,433
Other Americas ⁽¹⁾	11,462		7,315		6,987
Total Americas	182,277		154,017		144,420
EMEA ^{(2) (4)}	78,301		71,318		56,310
APAC ⁽³⁾	31,031		24,503		18,146
Total revenue	$	291,609	$	249,838	$	218,876

⁽¹⁾ Canada, Latin America and South America

⁽²⁾ Europe, the Middle East and Africa (“EMEA”)

⁽³⁾ Asia-Pacific (“APAC”)

⁽⁴⁾Includes revenue from the United Kingdom of $50.4 million, $46.5 million, and $38.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2019, 2018, and 2017, respectively. and from the Netherlands of $10.0 million, $8.7 million, and $2.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2019, 2018, and 2017, respectively.

Information about Contract Balances

Amounts collected in advance of services being provided are accounted for as deferred revenue. Nearly all of the Company's deferred revenue balance is related to Hosted Services- Business Revenue.

In some arrangements, the Company allows customers to pay for access to LiveEngage over the term of the software license. The Company refers to these as subscription transactions. Amounts recognized as revenue in excess of amounts billed are recorded as unbilled receivables. Unbilled receivables, anticipated to be invoiced in the next twelve months, are included in accounts receivable on the consolidated balance sheet. The opening and closing balances of the Company's accounts receivable, unbilled receivables, and deferred revenues are as follows (amounts in thousands):



	Accounts Receivable		Unbilled Receivable		Contract Acquisition Costs noncurrent		Deferred Revenue (current)		Deferred Revenue (long term)
Opening Balance as of December 31, 2018	$	34,211	$	11,812	$	13,361	$	55,015	$	222
Increase (decrease), net	36,107		5,490		18,604		33,736		216
Ending Balance as of December 31, 2019	$	70,318	$	17,302	$	31,965	$	88,751	$	438

As of December 31, 2019, the Company expects to recognize the long term performance obligations in 2020.

Advertising Costs

The Company expenses the cost of advertising and promoting its services as incurred in the sales and marketing expense on the consolidated statement of operations.

Stock-based Compensation

In accordance with ASC Topic 718 -10, ‘‘Stock Compensation’’, the Company measures stock based awards at fair value and recognizes compensation expense for all share-based payment awards made to its employees and directors, including employee stock options.

The Company estimates the fair value of stock options granted using the Black-Scholes valuation model. This model requires the Company to make estimates and assumptions including, among other things, estimates regarding the length of time an employee will retain vested stock options before exercising them, the estimated volatility of its common stock price and the number of options that will be forfeited prior to vesting. The fair value is then recognized on a straight line basis over the requisite service period of the award, which is generally three to four years. Changes in these estimates and assumptions can materially affect the determination of the fair value of the stock-based compensation and consequently, the related amount recognized in the consolidated statement of operations.

Deferred Rent

The Company records rent expense on a straight-line basis over the term of the related lease. The difference between the rent expense recognized for financial reporting purposes and the actual payments made in accordance with the lease agreement is recognized as deferred rent liability included in other liabilities on the Company’s consolidated balance sheets.

Income Taxes

Income taxes are accounted for under the asset and liability method. Under this method, deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the future tax consequences attributable to differences between the financial statement carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases and operating loss and tax credit carryforwards. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the years in which those temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. The effect on deferred tax assets and liabilities of a change in tax rates is recognized in results of operations in the period that the tax change occurs. In evaluating our ability to recover our deferred tax assets in the jurisdiction from which they arise, we consider all available positive and negative evidence, including scheduled reversals of deferred tax liabilities, projected future taxable income, tax-planning strategies, and results of recent operations. We include interest accrued on the underpayment of income taxes in interest expense and penalties, if any, related to unrecognized tax benefits in general and administrative expenses. Valuation allowances are established, when necessary, to reduce deferred tax assets to the amount expected to be realized

Comprehensive Loss

In accordance with ASC 220, ‘‘Comprehensive Income’’, the Company reports by major components and as a single total, the change in its net assets during the period from non-owner sources. Comprehensive income (loss) consists of net income (loss), and accumulated other comprehensive income (loss), which includes certain changes in equity that are excluded from net income (loss). The Company’s comprehensive loss for all periods presented is related to the effect of foreign currency translation.

Recently Issued Accounting Standards

In June 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (‘‘ASU’’) 2016‑13, “Financial Instruments-Credit Losses: Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments,” which changes the impairment model for most financial assets. The new model uses a forward‑looking expected loss method, which will generally result in earlier recognition of allowances for losses. In November 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018‑19, “Codification Improvements to Topic 326, Financial Instruments- Credit Losses,” which clarifies that receivables arising from operating leases are not within the scope of Topic 326, Financial Instruments-Credit Losses. Instead, impairment of receivables arising from operating leases should be accounted for in accordance with Topic 842, Leases . In April 2019, the FASB issued ASU 2019-04, ‘‘Codification Improvements to Topic 326, Financial Instruments-Credit Losses, Topic 815, Derivatives and Hedging, and Topic 825, Financial Instruments,’’ which clarifies treatment of certain credit losses. In May 2019, the FASB issued ASU 2019-05, ‘‘Financial Instruments - Credit Losses (Topic 326): Targeted Transition Relief,’’ which permits an entity, upon adoption of ASU 2016-13, to irrevocably elect the fair value option (on an instrument-by instrument basis) for eligible financial assets measured at amortized cost basis. These ASUs are effective for annual and interim periods beginning after January 1, 2020, and early adoption is permitted. The Company does not expect the adoption of this standard to have a material effect on our consolidated financial statements.

In August 2018, the FASB issued ASU No. 2018-15, ‘‘Customer’s Accounting for Implementation Costs Incurred in a Cloud Computing Arrangement That Is a Service Contract; Disclosures for Implementation Costs Incurred for Internal-Use Software and Cloud Computing Arrangements’’ (“ASU 2018-15”). This standard aligns the accounting for implementation costs incurred in a hosting arrangement that is a service contract with the accounting for implementation costs incurred to develop or obtain internal-use software under Accounting Standards Codification (‘‘ASC’’) 350-40, in order to determine which costs to capitalize and recognize as an asset. ASU 2018-15 is effective for annual reporting periods, and interim periods within those years, beginning after December 15, 2019, and can be applied either prospectively to implementation costs incurred after the date of adoption or retrospectively to all arrangements. The Company is currently in the process of evaluating the impact of the adoption of ASU 2018-230 on its consolidated financial statements.

In January 2017, FASB issued ASU No. 2017-04, ‘‘Intangibles -Goodwill and Other (Topic 350): Simplifying the Test for Goodwill Impairment’’ (“ASU 2017-04”). This update addresses concerns over the cost and complexity of the two-step goodwill impairment test. The amendments in this update remove the second step of the test. An entity will apply a one-step quantitative test and record the amount of goodwill impairment as the excess of a reporting unit's carrying amount over its fair value, not to exceed the total amount of goodwill allocated to the reporting unit. The new guidance does not amend the optional qualitative assessment of goodwill impairment. ASU 2017-04 is effective for financial statements issued for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2019, and interim periods within those annual periods. The Company does not expect the adoption of ASU 2017-04 will have a material effect on its financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements

In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-02, “Leases” (“ASU 2016-02”). ASU 2016-02 requires lessees to recognize the following for all leases (with the exception of short-term leases) at the commencement date: a lease liability, which is a lessee’s obligation to make lease payments arising from a lease, measured on a discounted basis; and a right-of-use asset, which is an asset that represents the lessee’s right to use, or control the use of, a specified asset for the lease term. Under the new guidance, lessor accounting is largely unchanged. Lessees (for capital and operating leases) and lessors (for sales-type, direct financing, and operating leases) may apply a modified retrospective transition approach for leases existing at, or entered into after, the beginning of the earliest comparative period presented in the financial statements. The modified retrospective approach would not require any transition accounting for leases that expired before the earliest comparative period presented.

The Company adopted ASU No. 2016-02, ‘‘Leases’’ (Topic 842), as of January 1, 2019 using the modified transition approach. The modified transition approach provides a method for recording existing leases at adoption. As a result, the Company was not required to adjust its comparative period financial information for effects of the standard or make the new required lease disclosures for periods before the date of adoption (i.e. January 1, 2019). For its long-term operating lease, the Company recognized a right-of-use asset and a lease liability on its balance sheet. The lease liability is determined as the present value of future lease payments using an estimated rate of interest that the Company would have to pay to borrow equivalent funds on a collateralized basis at the lease commencement date. The right-of-use asset is based on the liability adjusted for any prepaid or deferred rent. The lease term at the commencement date is determined by considering whether renewal options and termination options are reasonably assured of exercise. Rent expense for the operating lease is recognized on a straight-line basis over the lease term and is included in operating expenses on the statements of operations. Variable lease payments include lease operating expenses. The adoption of the new standard resulted in the recording of additional net lease assets and lease liabilities of approximately $10.0 million. The standard did not materially impact the Company's consolidated net earnings and had no impact on cash flows.

In June 2018, the FASB issued ASU No. 2018-07, ‘‘Compensation -Stock Compensation (Topic 718) - Improvements to Nonemployee Share-Based Payment Accounting’’ (‘‘ASU 2018-07’’). This new standard expands the scope of Topic 718, Compensation-Stock Compensation (which currently only includes share-based payments to employees) to include share-based payments issued to non-employees for goods or services. Consequently, the accounting for share-based payments to non-employees and employees will be substantially aligned. ASU 2018-07 is effective for public companies for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, including interim periods within that fiscal year. The standard did not materially impact the Company's consolidated net earnings and had no impact on cash flows.

Impact on Previously Issued Financial Statements for the Correction of an Error

During the quarter ended December 31, 2019, the Company identified and corrected an immaterial error that affected previously issued consolidated financial statements for the quarters ended March 31, June 30, and September 30, 2019 and 2018, respectively, and for the year ended December 31, 2018. The error related to the misapplication of U.S. generally accepted accounting principles relating to the classification of its contract acquisition costs for sales commissions. The Company previously recorded contract acquisition costs, a non current asset, as a component of prepaid expenses and other current assets.

The effects of the above correction on the Company’s consolidated balance sheets is as follows (amounts in thousands):



	2019
	As of March 31,			As of June 30,			As of September 30,
Prepaid expenses and other current assets
As previously reported	$	29,290		$	35,317		$	41,806
Adjustment	(16,808		)	(19,995		)	(25,993		)
As revised	12,482			15,322			15,813

Current assets
As previously reported	318,362			311,511			300,746
Adjustment	(16,808		)	(19,995		)	(25,993		)
As revised	301,554			291,516			274,753

Contract acquisition costs
As previously reported	—			—			—
Adjustment	16,808			19,995			25,993
As revised	16,808			19,995			25,993



	2018
	As of March 31,			As of June 30,			As of September 30,			As of December 31,
Prepaid expenses and other current assets
As previously reported	$	13,194		$	16,885		$	18,722		$	22,613
Adjustment	(5,539		)	(7,852		)	(10,880		)	(13,361		)
As revised	7,655			9,033			7,842			9,252

Current assets
As previously reported	116,787			124,957			136,800			135,085
Adjustment	(5,539		)	(7,852		)	(10,880		)	(13,361		)
As revised	111,248			117,105			125,920			121,724

Contract acquisition costs
As previously reported	—			—			—			—
Adjustment	5,539			7,852			10,880			13,361
As revised	5,539			7,852			10,880			13,361