The Company recognizes all stock-based compensation to employees and directors, including awards of stock options and restricted stock units or restricted stock awards, in the financial statements as compensation cost over the applicable vesting periods based on the fair value of the awards on the date of grant.

The Company recorded stock-based compensation expense of $13.4 million, $14.6 million, and $4.3 million in the consolidated statements of operations for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021, and 2020, respectively.

As a result of forfeitures of non-vested stock awards prior to the completion of the requisite service period or failure to meet requisite performance targets, the Company recorded benefits for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021, and 2020 of $1.0 million, $0.5 million, and $0.2 million respectively.

The Company has 2.7 million shares of common stock reserved for stock-based awards under its Amended and Restated PAR Technology Corporation 2015 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2015 Plan”). The 2015 Plan provides for the grant of several different forms of stock-based awards including:

•Stock options granted under the 2015 Plan, which enable the recipient to purchase shares of the Company's common stock may be incentive stock options or non-qualified stock options. Generally, stock options are nontransferable other than upon death. Stock options generally vest over a one to four year period and expire ten years after the date of the grant. The Compensation Committee has authority to administer the 2015 Plan and determine the material terms of option and other awards under the 2015 Plan.

•Restricted Stock Awards (“RSA”) and Restricted Stock Units (“RSU”) can have service-based and/or performance-based vesting. Grants of RSAs and RSUs with service-based vesting are subject to vesting periods ranging from one to three years. Grants of RSAs and RSUs with performance-based vesting are subject to a vesting period of one to four years and performance targets as defined by the Compensation Committee. The Company assesses the likelihood of achievement throughout the performance period and recognizes compensation expense associated with its performance awards based on this assessment in accordance with ASC Topic 718, Stock Compensation. Other terms and conditions applicable to any RSA or RSU award will be determined by the Compensation Committee and set forth in the agreement relating to that award.


(in thousands, except for exercise price)	Number of Shares	Weighted Average Exercise Price		Aggregate Intrinsic Value
Outstanding at Outstanding at January 1, 2022	1,306	$	11.95
Options exercised	(135)	9.98
Options canceled/forfeited	(142)	10.75
Outstanding at Outstanding at December 31, 2022	1,029	$	12.82	$	13,645
Vested and expected to vest at December 31, 2022	1,028	$	12.82	$	13,622
Total shares exercisable at December 31, 2022	937	$	12.87	$	12,321
Shares remaining available for future grant	2,169


(in thousands, except for grant date fair value)	2022		2021		2020
Option expense recorded, in thousands, for the year ended December 31,	$	5,664	$	9,585	$	1,386
Weighted average grant date fair value	$	—	$	60.48	$	13.82
Total intrinsic value of stock options exercised, in thousands, for the year ended December 31,	$	4,000	$	6,000	$	1,900
Cash received for options exercised	$	1,286	$	1,156	$	675

The fair value of options at the date of the grant was estimated using the Black-Scholes model with the following assumptions for the respective period ending December 31:


	2021		2020
Expected option life	3.1 years		4.4 years
Weighted average risk-free interest rate	0.4	%	0.4	%
Weighted average expected volatility	56.5	%	47.6	%
Expected dividend yield	None		None

For the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021, and 2020 the expected option life was based on the Company’s historical experience with similar type options. Expected volatility is based on historic volatility levels of the Company’s common stock over the preceding period of time consistent with the expected life. The risk-free interest rate is based on the implied yield currently available on U.S. Treasury zero coupon issues with a remaining term equal to the expected life. Stock options outstanding at December 31, 2022 are summarized as follows:


(in thousands, except weighted average fair value)	Shares	Weighted average grant-date fair value
Balance at January 1, 2022	27	$	25.42
Vested	(27)	25.42
Balance at December 31, 2022	0


(in thousands)	2022		2021		2020
Service-based RSA	$	2	$	62	$	210
Performance-based RSA	147		776		786
Total stock-based compensation expense related to RSAs	$	149	$	838	$	996

For the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021, and 2020, the Company recognized compensation expense related to performance awards based on its estimate of the probability of achievement in accordance with ASC Topic 718. In 2022, the only outstanding performance awards were in the Restaurant/Retail segment and the Company determined the achievement of performance based awards to be probable. In 2021, the Company determined the achievement of performance based awards to be probable for both segments. In 2020, the performance based awards were achieved for the Government segment, but not for the Restaurant/Retail segment.

The fair value of RSAs is based on the closing price of the Company’s common stock on the date of grant. The below table presents information with respect to RSAs:


(in thousands, except weighted average grant date fair value)	2022		2021		2020
Weighted average grant date fair value of RSAs granted during the year	$	—	$	22.30	$	30.96
Number of shares released during the year in accordance with the terms of the RSA agreements	27		34		112
Number of RSA shares canceled during the year	—		2		5
Number of above RSA shares canceled which were performance-based	—		1		4


(in thousands, except weighted average fair value)	Shares	Weighted Average grant- date fair value
Balance at January 1, 2022	418	$	34.08
Granted	379	37.90
Vested	(168)	28.41
Canceled/forfeited	(117)	45.79
Balance at December 31, 2022	512	$	35.96


(in thousands)	2022		2021		2020
Service-based RSU	$	6,775	$	3,353	$	1,587
Performance-based RSU	836		839		282
Total stock-based compensation expense related to RSUs	$	7,611	$	4,192	$	1,869