Employee Stock-Based Compensation Expense

Employee stock-based compensation expense under the Company’s Incentive Plan, net of the amount capitalized in internally developed software, is as follows (in thousands):


	Year Ended December 31,
	2020		2019		2018
Expense from time-based awards^(a)	$	12,224	$	7,554	$	5,189
Expense from performance-based awards^(a)(b)		2,150		(179)		4,126
Expense from bonus to be settled in shares^(c)		1,925		3,788		—
Equity-based compensation capitalized		(32)		(229)		(139)
Equity-based compensation expense		16,267		10,934		9,176
Tax deficit / (benefit) from equity-based compensation		(2,308)		(1,548)		(1,297)
Deficit / (excess) tax benefit from equity-based compensation		378		55		(145)
Net compensation cost	$	14,337	$	9,441	$	7,734

(a)	Includes awards granted to booj, First, wemlo and Gadberry employees and former owners at the time of acquisition.

(b)

Expense recognized for performance-based awards is re-assessed each quarter based on expectations of achievement against the performance conditions. For the year ended December 31, 2019, the Company reversed expense that had been recognized in 2018 for awards granted for certain booj work deliverables. This reversal was primarily a result of modifying the awards to extend the due date of the performance conditions, primarily through December 31, 2019, as the achievement of the goals at the previous date was no longer probable. Accounting for these modifications resulted in the reversal of the cumulative expense previously recognized and expensing the modified awards over the new vesting period resulting in a net $0.3 million recognized in 2019. Also, for the year ended December 31, 2019, certain conditions were no longer deemed probable of being met for other performance awards tied to the achievement of a revenue target measured over a three-year performance period. The cumulative expense previously recognized was reversed in the current period, resulting in a negative expense of ($0.5) million in 2019.

(c)

In 2019, the Company revised its annual bonus plan so that a portion of the bonus for most employees would be settled in shares if the Company met certain performance metrics. While the normal bonus plan was eliminated earlier in the year, the Board of Directors agreed to pay a discretionary bonus in December 2020 given the performance of the Company in the second half of the year and opted to pay a portion in shares. The exact share amounts to be issued will be determined based on the stock price at the time of vesting in early 2021. These amounts are recognized as “Accrued liabilities” in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets and are not included in “Additional paid-in capital” until the shares are issued.

Restricted Stock Units


	Shares	Weighted average grant date fair value per share
Balance, January 1, 2020	455,452	$	46.15
Granted^(a)	769,750	$	33.05
Shares vested (including tax withholding) ^(b)	(189,354)	$	44.41
Forfeited	(17,840)	$	35.94
Balance, December 31, 2020	1,018,008	$	36.74

(a)	The weighted average grant date fair value per share for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018 were $38.43 and $53.04, respectively.

(b)	Pursuant to the terms of the Incentive Plan, shares withheld by the Company for the payment of the employee's tax withholding related to shares vesting are added back to the pool of shares available for future awards.

Restricted Stock Units

The following table summarizes equity-based compensation activity related to PSUs:


	Shares	Weighted average grant date fair value per share
Balance, January 1, 2020	139,964	$	45.31
Granted^{(a) (b)}	205,188	$	29.90
Shares vested (including tax withholding)	(6,331)	$	38.49
Forfeited ^(c)	(57,086)	$	49.08
Balance, December 31, 2020	281,735	$	23.37

(a)	The weighted average grant date fair value per share for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018 were $38.87 and $55.38, respectively.

(b)	Represents the total participant target award.

(c)	Includes forfeiture of the performance awards granted in 2018 that were set to vest on December 31, 2020 as the performance conditions were not met.