Accrued Expenses And Other Current Liabilities

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2021

Accrued Expenses And Other Current Liabilities

ACCRUED EXPENSES AND OTHER CURRENT LIABILITIES

Accrued expenses and other current liabilities consisted of the following at:


	September 30,		December 31,
(In thousands)	2021			2020
Employee compensation and benefits	$	95,870		$	62,555
Deferred acquisition payments and contingent consideration*	53,637			16,627

Current portion of accrued warranty	30,436			32,451
Customer rebates	7,206			23,670
Other	96,573			52,897
Accrued expenses and other current liabilities	$	283,722		$	188,200

* Includes current portion of contingent consideration (Note 11) and deferred consideration and holdback payments related to acquisitions (Note 4).

Estimated costs related to product warranties are accrued at the time products are sold. In estimating its future warranty obligations, the Company considers various factors, including the Company's (i) historical warranty costs, (ii) current trends, (iii) product mix, and (iv) sales. The following table provides a reconciliation of the activity related to the Company's accrued warranty, including both the current and long-term portions, for the nine months ended September 30:


(In thousands)	2021		2020
Balance at beginning of period	$	47,091	$	47,167
Provision for warranty expense	18,798		14,443
Warranty liability from acquired businesses	5,611		—
Warranty costs paid	(22,054)		(16,568)
Balance at end of period	49,446		45,042
Less long-term portion	19,010		15,320
Current portion of accrued warranty at end of period	$	30,436	$	29,722

Warranty costs paid for the nine months ended September 30, 2021 include $3.0 million of payments related to a specific warranty issue known at the time of acquisition of CURT Acquisition Holdings, Inc. (with its subsidiaries, "CURT") in December 2019. These payments will be reimbursed to the Company by the sellers of CURT under the terms of the stock purchase agreement.