What changed in this filing

/stocks — the workspaceLOADING

Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis

2021-05-10 compared with 2020-11-09 · 162 added, 170 removed, 60 unchanged (85% of the section changed)

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CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Certain statements in this Report represent forward-looking statements.

These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results of operations, levels of activity, economic performance, financial condition or achievements to be materially different from future results of operations, levels of activity, economic performance, financial condition or achievements as expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.

Asure has attempted to identify these forward-looking statements with the words “believe,” “estimate,” “continue," "seek," plan,” “expect,” "intend," “anticipate,” “may,” "will," “could” and other similar expressions.

Although these forward-looking statements reflect management’s current plans and expectations, which we believe are reasonable as of the filing date of this report, they inherently are subject to certain risks and uncertainties.

These risks and uncertainties include — but are not limited to — our ability to achieve or sustain profitability;

the impact of COVID-19 on the US and global economy, including business disruptions, reductions in employment and an increase in business failures, specifically among our clients;

adverse changes in the economy, financial markets, and credit markets, including a continuing high unemployment rate and the impact of low interest rates on the interest we receive on our cash, cash equivalents and investments;

delays or reductions in information technology spending;

the development of the market for cloud-based workplace applications;

product development;

market acceptance of new products and product improvements;

This Form 10-Q contains forward-looking statements about our financial results, which may include expected GAAP and non-GAAP financial and other operating and non-operating results, including revenue, net income, diluted earnings per share, operating cash flow growth, operating margin improvement, deferred revenue growth, expected revenue run rate, expected tax rates, stock-based compensation expenses, amortization of purchased intangibles, amortization of debt discount and shares outstanding.

The achievement or success of the matters covered by such forward-looking statements involves risks, uncertainties and assumptions.

If any such risks or uncertainties materialize or if any of the assumptions prove incorrect, the company's results could differ materially from the results expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements we make.

The risks and uncertainties referred to above include -- but are not limited to -- risks associated with possible fluctuations in the company's financial and operating results;

the company's rate of growth and anticipated revenue run rate, including impact of the current environment, the spread of major epidemics (including Coronavirus) and other related uncertainties such as government-imposed travel restrictions, interruptions to supply chains and extended shut down of businesses, reductions in employment and an increase in business failures, specifically among our clients, the company's ability to convert deferred revenue and unbilled deferred revenue into revenue and cash flow, and ability to maintain continued growth of deferred revenue and unbilled deferred revenue;

foreign currency exchange rates;

errors, interruptions or delays in the company's services or the company's Web hosting;

breaches of the company's security measures;

changes in the forgiveness provisions for loans under the Paycheck Protection Program;

our ability to retain or increase our customer base;

security breaches;

errors, disruptions or delays in our services;

privacy concerns and laws;

changes in our sales cycle;

competition, including pricing pressures, entry of new competitors, and new technologies;

intellectual property enforcement and litigation;

our ability to obtain additional capital;

our ability to hire, retain and motivate employees;

our ability to manage our growth;

our ability to realize benefits from acquisitions;

limited or single sources of supply of key components;

the level of our indebtedness;

changes in sales may not be immediately reflected in our operating results due to our subscription model;

changes in U.S and foreign laws and regulations;

changes in the Internet infrastructure;

disruptions in computing and communication infrastructure;

and changes in accounting standards.

Please refer to Part II, Item IA, “Risk Factors” of this Form 10-Q and Part I, Item IA, “Risk Factors” of our most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K for a further description of these and other factors.

Asure is under no obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of this Form 10-Q to conform such statements to actual results.

The following review of Asure’s financial position as of September 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019, and results of operations for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019 should be read in conjunction with our 2019 Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

domestic and international regulatory developments, including changes to or applicability to our business of privacy and data securities laws, money transmitter laws and anti-money laundering laws;

the financial and other impact of any previous and future acquisitions;

the nature of the company's business model, including risks related to government contracts;

the company's ability to continue to release, gain customer acceptance of and provide support for new and improved versions of the company's services;

successful customer deployment and utilization of the company's existing and future services;

changes in the company's sales cycle;

various financial aspects of the company's subscription model;

unexpected increases in attrition or decreases in new business;

the company's ability to realize benefits from strategic partnerships and strategic investments;

the emerging markets in which the company operates;

unique aspects of entering or expanding in international markets, including the compliance with United States export control laws, the company's ability to hire, retain and motivate employees and manage the company's growth;

changes in the company's customer base;

technological developments;

litigation and any related claims, negotiations and settlements, including with respect to intellectual property matters or industry-specific regulations;

unanticipated changes in the company's effective tax rate;

factors affecting the company's outstanding convertible notes, term loan, and revolving credit facility;

fluctuations in the number of company shares outstanding and the price of such shares;

collection of receivables;

interest rates;

factors affecting the company's deferred tax assets and ability to value and utilize them;

the potential negative impact of indirect tax exposure;

the risks and expenses associated with the company's real estate and office facilities space;

and general developments in the economy, financial markets, credit markets and the impact of current and future accounting pronouncements and other financial reporting standards.

Further information on these and other factors that could affect the company's financial results is included in the reports on Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K, and in other filings we make with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time.

These documents are available on the SEC Filings section of the Investor Information section of the company's website at investor.asuresoftware.com

Asure Software assumes no obligation and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

The following description of Asure’s financial position as of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, and results of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020 should be read in conjunction with our 2020 Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 11, 2021.

Asure’s internet website address is http://www.asuresoftware.com.

Our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 are available through the investor relations page of our internet website free of charge as soon as reasonably practicable after they are electronically filed, or furnished to, the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act") are available through the investor relations page of our internet website free of charge as soon as reasonably practicable after they are electronically filed, or furnished to, the SEC.

Asure’s internet website and the information contained in our website or connected to our website is not incorporated into this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.

Asure is a leading provider of cloud-based Human Capital Management (“HCM”) software and services and, until its divestiture in December 2019, Workspace Management software solutions.

Asure helps small and mid-sized companies grow by helping them build better teams with skills that get them to the next level, stay compliant with ever changing federal, state, and local tax jurisdictions and labor laws, and better allocation of cash so they can spend their financial capital on growing their business rather than back-office overhead that suffocates growth.

Asure’s Human Capital Management suite, named AsureHCM, includes cloud-based Payroll & Tax, HR, and Time & Attendance software as well as HR Services ranging from HR projects to completely outsourcing payroll and HR staff.

We also offer these products and services through our network of reseller partners.

Asure’s platform vision is to help clients grow their business and become the most trusted HCM resource to entrepreneurs everywhere.

The Asure product strategy is driven by three primary challenges that prevent businesses from growing:

HR complexity, allocation of both human and financial capital, and the ability to build great teams.

The AsureHCM suite includes four product lines:

AsurePayroll&Tax, AsureHR, AsureTime&Attendance, and AsureHRServices.

For all of Asure’s product lines, support and professional services are key elements of our value proposition and overall solution.

In addition to state-of-the-art hosting platforms and regular software upgrades and releases, Asure gives clients easy access to our skilled support team.

Our services and support representatives are knowledgeable about Asure’s solutions and HR best practices as many staff have professional certifications in payroll (CPP) and human resources (PHR and SPHR).

Our sales and marketing strategy includes both direct and indirect channels to target small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) throughout the United States.

Our direct sales and marketing efforts include marketing directly to SMBs and their trusted advisors which include CPAs, banks, and benefits brokers who frequently refer their clients to HCM vendors.

Our indirect model licenses our HCM software to resellers that provide value-add HCM services to their clients.

These resellers include pure-play payroll providers focused on a geographic or industry niche as well as CPAs, banks, and benefits brokers that want to expand relationships with their clients directly without referring those clients outside their business.

Recent Developments

The COVID-19 outbreak has disrupted businesses on a global scale.

The rapid spread has resulted in authorities around the world implementing numerous measures to contain the virus, such as business shutdowns, quarantines, shelter-in-place orders and travel bans and restrictions.

The pandemic and these containment measures have had, and are expected to continue to have, a substantial negative impact on businesses, especially SMBs.

We expect a COVID-19 related decrease in customer demand across all our markets to negatively and materially impact our revenues for the remainder of 2020, with the most significant impact currently expected in the second and third quarters.

We implemented cost-saving initiatives in the first quarter of 2020.

In April 2020, we entered into a loan under the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) offered by the U.S.

Small Business Administration in a principal amount of $8,856.

In July 2020, we acquired certain assets of a payroll tax business.

We did not record any asset impairments or bad debt reserves related to COVID-19 during the first three quarters of 2020, but future events may require such charges.

We will continue to evaluate the nature and extent of the COVID-19 outbreak’s impact on our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

We are a leading provider of cloud-based Human Capital Management (HCM) solutions, delivered as software-as-a-service (SaaS) for small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs).

From recruitment to retirement, our solutions help more than 80,000

SMBs across the United States grow their businesses.

About 10,000 of our clients are direct and the approximately 70,000 remaining are indirect as they have contracts with Reseller Partners that white label our solutions.

We strive to be the most trusted HCM resource to entrepreneurs and are focused on less densely populated U.S.

metropolitan cities where fewer of our competitors have a presence.

Our solution strategy solves three primary challenges that prevent businesses from growing:

HR complexity, allocation of human and financial capital, and the ability to build great teams.

We have invested in, and we intend to continue to invest in, research and development to expand our solutions.

Asure HCM, our user-friendly solution, reduces the administrative burden on employers and increases employee productivity while managing the complete employment lifecycle.

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic to be updated

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak to be a global pandemic.

In response, federal, state and local governments imposed various restrictions on social and commercial activity to promote social distancing in an effort to slow the spread of the disease, and many such restrictions remain in place.

Beginning in February 2020, we took various actions in order to minimize the risk of COVID-19 to our employees, our clients, and the communities in which we operate, and in March 2020, we prohibited all business-related travel until further notice and began transitioning our employees to work-from-home arrangements.

As of March 31, 2021, more than 70% of our employees were working remotely.

We will continue to actively monitor the situation and may take further actions that alter our business operations as may be required by federal, state or local authorities or that we determine are in the best interests of our employees and clients.

In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the operations of our clients and client prospects and may continue to do so for an indefinite period of time.

Across many industries, temporary and permanent business closures as well as business occupancy limitations have resulted in significant layoffs and employee furloughs since late March 2020.

Because we charge our clients on a per-employee basis for certain services we provide, decreases in the headcounts of our clients as of the onset of the pandemic negatively impacted our recurring revenue during 2020, and we expect that our recurring revenue in future periods will continue to be negatively impacted by such headcount reductions until employment levels among such client base return to pre-pandemic levels.

Further, at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, a limited number of new clients temporarily delayed service implementation.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to create uncertainty and the potential for ongoing business disruptions, we may experience similar client-driven delays in service implementation in the future.

In 2020, we continued to aggressively invest in sales and marketing and in research and development to drive future growth and expand our market share.

Lower headcount at our clients and the other pandemic-related factors described above, which had and may continue to have, a negative impact on recurring revenue, combined with increased sales and marketing and research and development expenses, resulted in a decrease in net income for the year ended December 31, 2020 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2019.

We expect net income to be negatively affected by the impact of the pandemic on our recurring revenue and our deliberate, increased level of investment in sales and marketing and research and development to drive the growth of our business.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, our sales force historically traveled frequently to market our solution set.

The current remote work environment presents a unique opportunity for our sales force because each sales employee is able to meet virtually with a greater number of client prospects in a given day than he or she would if conducting in-person meetings.

Although we have not experienced such challenges to date, if clients and client prospects are not as willing or available to engage by video conference and teleconference, the shift from in-person to virtual sales meetings could negatively affect our sales efforts, impede client acquisition and lengthen our sales cycles, which would negatively impact our business and results of operations and could impact our financial condition in the future.

We are unable to estimate the full impact that the COVID-19 pandemic could have on our business and results of operations in the future due to numerous uncertainties, including the severity of the disease, the duration of the outbreak, actions that may be taken by governmental authorities, the impact it may have on the business of our clients and other factors identified in Part I, Item 1A “Risk Factors” in our Form 10-K.

As a result, the effect of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic may not be fully reflected in our results of operations and overall financial performance until future periods.

RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

($ in thousands)

Three and Nine Months Ended September 30, 2020 Compared to Three and Nine Months Ended September 30, 2019

Three Months Ended March 31, 2021 Compared to Three Months Ended March 31, 2020

The following table sets forth, for the fiscal periods indicated, the percentage of total revenues represented by certain items in Asure's Condensed Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Loss:

Three Months Ended September 30,

Nine Months Ended September 30,

Three Months Ended March 31,

Revenues 100 % 100 %

Gross margin 63 % 59 %

Sales and marketing 18 % 19 %

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Interest expense and other, net (1) % (1) %

Loss from continuing operations before income taxes

Net loss from continuing operations

Our revenue was derived from the following sources:

Three Months Ended September 30,

Increase (Decrease)

Professional services, hardware and other

Nine Months Ended September 30,

Increase (Decrease)

Loss before income taxes (8) % (9) %

Net loss (8) % (9) %

Revenues are comprised of recurring revenues, professional services, hardware, and other revenues.

We expect our revenues to increase as we introduce new applications, expand our client base and renew and expand relationships with existing clients.

As a percentage of total revenues, we expect our mix of recurring revenues, and implementation and other revenues to remain relatively constant.

Recurring Revenues

Recurring revenues include fees for our payroll, payroll tax, time and labor management, and other Asure solutions as well as fees charged for form filings and delivery of client payroll checks and reports.

These revenues are derived from (i) fixed amounts charged per billing period plus a fee per employee or transaction processed or (ii) fixed amounts charged per billing period.

We do not require clients to enter into long-term contractual commitments with us.

Our billing period varies by client based on when each client pays its employees, which may be weekly, bi-weekly, semi-monthly or monthly.

We also generate recurring revenue from our Reseller Partners that license our solutions.

Because recurring revenues are based, in part, on fees for use of our applications and the delivery of checks and reports that are levied on a per-employee basis, our recurring revenues increase as our clients hire more employees.

Recurring revenues are recognized in the period services are rendered.

Recurring revenues include revenues relating to the annual processing of payroll forms, such as Form W-2 and Form 1099, and revenues from processing unscheduled payroll runs (such as bonuses) for our clients.

Because payroll forms are typically processed in the first quarter of the year and many of our clients are subject to ACA form filing requirements in the first quarter, first quarter revenues and margins are generally higher than in subsequent quarters.

We anticipate our revenues will continue to exhibit this seasonal pattern related to ACA form filings for so long as the ACA (or replacement legislation) includes employer reporting requirements.

In addition, we often experience increased revenues during the fourth quarter due to unscheduled payroll runs for our clients that occur before the end of the year.

Therefore, we expect the seasonality of our revenue cycle to decrease to the extent clients utilize more of our non-payroll applications.

This revenue line also includes interest earned on funds held for clients.

We collect funds from clients in advance of either the applicable due date for payroll tax submissions or the applicable disbursement date for employee payment services.

These collections from clients are typically disbursed from one to 30 days after receipt, with some funds being held for up to 120 days.

We typically invest funds held for clients in money market funds, demand deposit accounts, commercial paper, fixed income securities and certificates of deposit until they are paid to the applicable tax or regulatory agencies or to client employees.

The amount of interest we earn from the investment of client funds is also impacted by changes in interest rates.

Professional Services, Hardware and Other Revenues

Professional Services, Hardware and Other Revenues represents implementation fees, one-time consulting projects, on-premise maintenance, and hardware devices to enhance our software products.

Our revenue was derived from the following sources (Amounts in thousands):

Three Months Ended March 31, Increase

Recurring 19,242 18,436 806 4.4 %

Professional services, hardware and other 560 511 49 9.6 %

Total 19,802 18,947 855 4.5 %

Total revenue represents our consolidated revenues, including sales of our payroll and tax services, time and attendance and human resource software, as well as complementary hardware devices to enhance our software products.

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Professional services, hardware and other revenue consists of hardware revenue, on-premise software license revenue as well as installation services and other professional services revenue.

While revenue mix varies by product, recurring represents over 95% of total revenue.

Revenue for the three months ended September 30, 2020 was $16,015, a decrease of $1,839, or 10.3%, from $17,854 for the three months ended September 30, 2019, which excludes revenue from discontinued operations.

Recurring revenue decreased primarily due to the impact of COVID and lower interest rates.

Revenue for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 was $49,076, a decrease of $6,462, or 11.6%, from $55,538 for the nine months ended September 30, 2019, which excludes revenue from discontinued operations.

Recurring revenue decreased primarily due to the impact of COVID and lower interest rates.

Although our total customer base is widely spread across industries, our HCM sales are concentrated in small to mid-size businesses.

While revenue mix varies by product, recurring represented over 95% of total revenue in the first quarter.

Revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2021 was $19,802, an increase of $855, or 4.5%, from $18,947 for the three months ended March 31, 2020.

Recurring revenue increased primarily due to an increase in clients due to our acquisitions in 2020 and higher account balances in funds held for clients partially offset by impact of COVID.

Revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2021, increased sequentially $3,371 or 20.5%, from $16,430 for the three months ended December 31, 2020 primarily due to year end W-2/ACA revenue.

Although our total customer base is widely spread across industries, our sales are concentrated in small to mid-size businesses.

We continue to target small and mid-sized businesses across industries as prospective customers.

Geographically, we sell our HCM products primarily in the United States.

Geographically, we sell our products primarily in the United States.

In addition to continuing to develop our workforce solutions and release of new software updates and enhancements, we continue to actively explore other opportunities to acquire additional products or technologies to complement our current software and services.

Gross Profit and Gross Margin

Consolidated gross profit for the three months ended September 30, 2020 was $9,073, a decrease of $1,695 or 15.7%, from $10,768 for the three months ended September 30, 2019.

Gross margin as a percentage of revenue was 56.7% for the three months ended September 30, 2020 as compared to 60.3% for the three months ended September 30, 2019.

Our decline in gross margin is primarily attributable to lower sales volumes, a growing investment in HCM service resources and personnel, maintaining COVID related tax codes, employment levels are also down due to COVID, a migration to secure cloud hosting services and an increase in the amortization of capitalized software costs.

Consolidated gross profit for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 was $28,269, a decrease of $6,870 or 19.6%, from $35,139 for the nine months ended September 30, 2019.

Gross margin as a percentage of revenue was 57.6% for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 as compared to 63.3% for the nine months ended September 30, 2019.

Our decline in gross margin is attributable to lower sales volumes, a growing investment in HCM service resources and personnel, maintaining COVID related tax codes, employment levels are also down due to COVID, increased amortization of capitalized software costs as well as migration to secure cloud hosting services.

Consolidated gross profit for the three months ended March 31, 2021 was $12,492, an increase of $1,385 or 12.5%, from $11,107 for the three months ended March 31, 2020.

Gross margin as a percentage of revenue was 63.1% for the three months ended March 31, 2021 as compared to 58.6% for the three months ended March 31, 2020.

Our increase in gross margin is primarily attributable to the increase in revenue and more efficient operations.

Our cost of sales relates primarily to direct product costs, compensation for operations and related consulting expenses, hardware expenses, facilities and related expenses and the amortization of our purchased software development costs.

We include intangible amortization related to developed and acquired technology within cost of sales.

Sales and Marketing Expenses

Sales and marketing expenses primarily consist of salaries and related expenses for sales and marketing staff, including stock-based expenses, commissions, as well as marketing programs, which include events, corporate communications and product marketing activities.

Selling and marketing expenses for the three months ended September 30, 2020 were $3,573, an increase of $328 from $3,245 for the three months ended September 30, 2019.

The increase in sales and marketing is primarily due to increased personnel costs as we focus on hiring direct sales personnel.

Sales and marketing expenses as a percentage of revenue increased to 22.3% for the three months ended September 30, 2020 from 18.2% for the same period in 2019.

Selling and marketing expenses for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 were $9,916, an increase of $908 from $9,008 for the nine months ended September 30, 2019, primarily due to increased personnel costs as we focus on hiring direct sales personnel.

Selling and marketing expenses as a percentage of revenue increased to 20.2% for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 from 16.2% for the same period in 2019.

Sales and marketing expenses primarily consist of salaries and related expenses for sales and marketing staff, including stock-based expenses and commissions, as well as marketing programs, which include events, corporate communications and product marketing activities.

Selling and marketing expenses for the three months ended March 31, 2021 were $3,611, an increase of $36 from $3,575 for the three months ended March 31, 2020.

The increase in sales and marketing is primarily due to increased personnel costs offset by lower discretionary marketing spend as we focus on hiring direct sales personnel.

Sales and marketing expenses as a percentage of revenue decreased to 18.2% for the three months ended March 31, 2021 from 18.9% for the same period in 2020.

We continue to expand and increase selling costs as we focus on hiring direct sales personnel, expanding recognition of our brand, and lead generation.

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General and administrative expenses primarily consist of salaries and related expenses, including stock-based expenses for finance and accounting, legal, internal audit, human resources and management information systems personnel, legal costs, professional fees, and other corporate expenses such as transaction costs for acquisitions.

General and administrative expenses for the three months ended September 30, 2020 were $5,947, a decrease of $1,025 from $6,972 for the three months ended September 30, 2019, primarily attributable to reduced personnel costs and reduced rent expenses associated with closures of certain facilities we had acquired due to acquisition.

General and administrative expenses as a percentage of revenue decreased to 37.1% for the three months ended September 30, 2020 from 39.1% for the same period in 2019.

General and administrative expenses for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 were $17,580, a decrease of $4,199 from $21,779 for the nine months ended September 30, 2019 primarily attributable to a reduction in professional fees that were incurred in the nine months ended September 30, 2019, as well as reduced rent expenses associated with closures of certain facilities we had acquired due to acquisition.

General and administrative expenses as a percentage of revenue decreased to 35.8% for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 from 39.2% for the same period in 2019.

We continue to drive efficiencies within our payroll operations and execute vendor rationalization with the sale of the Workspace Management business in the fourth quarter of 2019.

General and administrative expenses for the three months ended March 31, 2021 were $6,498, an increase of $976 from $5,522 for the three months ended March 31, 2020, primarily attributable to the income from the transition services agreement with FM:Systems in relation to the sale of the Workspace business in 2019 as well as increased personnel costs.

General and administrative expenses as a percentage of revenue increased to 32.8% for the three months ended March 31, 2021 from 29.1% for the same period in 2020.

We continue to drive efficiencies within our payroll operations and continually reevaluate our vendor relationships.

Research and Development Expenses

Research and development (“R&D”) expenses consist primarily of salaries and related expenses, including stock-based expenses for employees supporting our R&D activities.

R&D expenses for the three months ended September 30, 2020 were $1,805, an increase of $534, or 42.0%, from $1,271 for the three months ended September 30, 2019.

The increase in R&D expense is primarily attributable to increased personnel costs as well as COVID-19 related initiatives in order to comply with the CARES Act legislation.

R&D expenses as a percentage of revenues increased to 11.3% for the three months ended September 30, 2020 from 7.1% for the same period in 2019.

R&D expenses for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 were $4,356, an increase of $795, or 22.3%, from $3,561 for the nine months ended September 30, 2019.

The increase in R&D expense is primarily attributable to increased personnel costs as well as COVID-19 related initiatives in order to comply with the CARES Act.

R&D expenses as a percentage of revenues increased to 8.9% for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 from 6.4% for the same period in 2019.

We will continue to enhance our products and technologies through expansion of our technological resources by increasing headcount and development partnership, as well as through organic improvements and acquired intellectual property.

R&D expenses for the three months ended March 31, 2021 were $1,124, a decrease of $50, or 4.3%, from $1,174 for the three months ended March 31, 2020.

The decrease in R&D expense is primarily attributable to an increase in investment costs offset by an increase in capitalization costs.

R&D expenses as a percentage of revenues decreased to 5.7% for the three months ended March 31, 2021 from 6.2% for the same period in 2020.

We will continue to enhance our products and technologies through expansion of our technological resources by increasing headcount and development partnerships, as well as through organic improvements and acquired intellectual property.

We will continue to expand the breadth of integration between our solutions, allowing direct clients and resellers the ability to easily add and implement components across our entire solution set.

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We have also made significant investments outside of core R&D into compliance and certifications, including SOC I Type 2 and SOC II Type 2 certifications, GDPR, CCPA, and other initiatives.

In the second quarter of 2020, we launched the new Simple Payroll Entry cloud solution for providing clients self-service payroll entry capabilities, with a modern user experience appropriate for small companies.

For Asure HR, we developed a new product tier for Advanced HR called Essential HR.

Asure Time & Attendance launched our next major release 12.4.

Mid-Market HCM released the Asure Mobile app in the Google and Apple stores.

The app provides employees quick access to key payroll and benefit information.

Amortization of Intangible Assets

Amortization expense for the three months ended September 30, 2020 was $2,424 an increase of $102 from $2,322 for the three months ended September 30, 2019.

Amortization expense as a percentage of revenue was 15.1% and 13.0% for the three months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively.

Amortization expense for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 of $7,123 was consistent with amortization expense of $7,143 for the nine months ended September 30, 2019.

Amortization expense as a percentage of revenue was 14.5% and 12.9% for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively.

Amortization expense for the three months ended March 31, 2021 was $2,528 an increase of $179 from $2,349 for the three months ended March 31, 2020.

Amortization expense as a percentage of revenue was 12.8% and 12.4% for the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively.

Interest Expense and Other, net

Interest expense and other, net for the three months ended September 30, 2020 was a loss of $408 compared to a loss of $2,712 for the three months ended September 30, 2019.

Interest expense and other as a percentage of revenue was at (2.5%) and (15.2%) for the three months ended September 30, 2020 and September 30, 2019, respectively.

Interest expense and other for the three months ended September 30, 2020 is composed of interest expense on notes payable.

Interest expense and other for the three months ended September 30, 2019 is composed primarily of interest expense on notes payable.

Interest expense and other, net for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 was a gain of $302 compared to a loss of $8,495 for the nine months ended September 30, 2019.

Interest expense and other as a percentage of revenue was at 0.6% and (15.3%) for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 and September 30, 2019, respectively.

Interest expense and other for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 is composed of income from the transition services agreement with FM:Systems in relation to the sale of the Workspace business in 2019, offset by interest expense on notes payable.

Interest expense and other for the nine months ended September 30, 2019 is composed primarily of interest expense on notes payable.

For the three months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019, we recorded an income tax benefit attributable to continuing operations of $(325) and $(130), respectively, an increase of $195, or 149.6%.

For the nine months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019, we recorded an income tax expense attributable to continuing operations of $71 and $512, respectively, a decrease of $441, or 86.2%.

Loss From Continuing Operations

We incurred a loss from continuing operations of $4,759, or $0.30 per share, during the three months ended September 30, 2020, compared to a loss from continuing operations of $5,624, or $0.36 per share, during the three months ended September 30, 2019.

Loss from continuing operations as a percentage of total revenues was 29.7% and 31.5% for the three months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively.

We incurred a loss from continuing operations of $10,475, or $0.66 per share, during the nine months ended September 30, 2020, compared to a loss from continuing operations of $15,359, or $0.99 per share, during the nine months ended September 30, 2019.

Loss from continuing operations as a percentage of total revenues was 21.3% and 27.7% for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively.

Interest expense and other, net for the three months ended March 31, 2021 was $224 compared to $235 for the three months ended March 31, 2020.

Interest expense and other as a percentage of revenue was at 1.1% and 1.2% for the three months ended March 31, 2021 and March 31, 2020, respectively.

Interest expense and other for the three months ended March 31, 2021 and March 31, 2020 is composed primarily of interest expense on notes payable.

For the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020, we recorded an income tax expense attributable to continuing operations of $105 and $19, respectively, an increase of $86, or 450.6%.

Loss From Operations

We incurred a loss from operations of $1,598, or $0.08 per share, during the three months ended March 31, 2021, compared to a loss from operations of $1,767, or $0.11 per share, during the three months ended March 31, 2020.

operations as a percentage of total revenues was 8.1% and 9.3% for the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively.

We intend to continue to implement our corporate strategy for growing our software and services business by investing in areas that directly generate revenue and positive cash flows for the Company.

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LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES (Amounts in thousands)

September 30, 2020

December 31, 2019

March 31, 2021 December 31, 2020

Working capital $ 7,340 $ 8,206

Cash and cash equivalents $ 24,290 $ 28,577

Nine Months Ended September 30,

Net cash (used in) provided by operating activities

Net cash (used in) provided by investing activities

Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities

Three Months Ended March 31,

Net cash used in operating activities $ (1,235) $ (3,403)

Net cash provided by investing activities $ 65,158 $ 24,806

Net cash used in financing activities $ (68,210) $ (29,449)

Working Capital .

We had working capital of $477 at September 30, 2020, a decrease of $17,377 from working capital of $17,854 at December 31, 2019.

Working capital as of September 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019 includes $3,585 and $5,500 of short-term deferred revenue, respectively.

We had working capital of $7,340 at March 31, 2021, a decrease of $866 from working capital of $8,206 at December 31, 2020.

Working capital as of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020 includes $1,605 and $4,343 of short-term deferred revenue, respectively.

Deferred revenue is an obligation to perform future services.

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Operating Activities .

Net cash used in operating activities of $1,717 for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 was primarily driven by a net loss of $10,475.

Non-cash adjustments to our net loss by approximately $87 due to a reduction in the amortization of our deferred financing costs.

Changes in operating assets and liabilities resulted in an increased use of cash of $6,295.

Net cash used in operating activities of $1,235 for the three months ended March 31, 2021 was primarily driven by a net loss of $1,598.

Non-cash adjustments to our net loss increased by approximately $5,038 due to primarily due to depreciation and amortization.

Changes in operating assets and liabilities resulted in a use of cash of $4,675.

Investing Activities .

Net cash used in investing activities of $64,687 for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 is primarily due to the net change in funds held for clients and our acquisition of a payroll tax business during the quarter.

Net cash provided by investing activities of $36,552 for the nine months ended September 30, 2019 is primarily due to the net change in funds held for clients offset by the acquisition from first quarter of 2019.

Net cash provided by investing activities of $65,158 for the three months ended March 31, 2021 is primarily due to the net change in funds held for clients.

Net cash provided by investing activities of $24,806 for the three months ended March 31, 2020 is primarily due to the net change in funds held for clients.

Financing Activities .

Net cash provided by financing activities was $50,517 for the nine months ended September 30, 2020, which primarily consisted of a net increase in client fund obligations of $53,465 and payments of notes payable of $12,171 offset by proceeds of notes payable of $8,856.

Net cash used in financing activities was $43,310 for the nine months ended September 30, 2019.

We incurred $8,000 of indebtedness, resulting in a source of cash.

This was offset by debt financing fees of $1,102 and the net change in client fund obligations of $49,964.

Net cash used in financing activities was $68,210 for the three months ended March 31, 2021, which primarily consisted of a net decrease in client fund obligations of $66,337 and payments of notes payable of $1,981.

Net cash used in financing activities was $29,449 for the three months ended March 31, 2020 primarily due to a net change in client fund obligations of $27,751.

Sources of Liquidity .

As of September 30, 2020, Asure’s principal sources of liquidity consisted of approximately $12,939 of cash and cash equivalents, cash generated from operations of our business over the next twelve months, and $4,500 available for borrowing under our Wells Fargo revolver.

Due to the effects of Covid-19 on our business, we were not in compliance with our minimum EBITDA financial covenant as of March 31, 2020.

This covenant was set in December 31, 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic and its possible effects on our business were known to our senior lender or us.

On July 10, 2020, our senior lender issued a reservation of rights letter related to our failure to comply with the minimum EBITDA financial covenant, along with other technical defaults.

See Part II, Item 3 for more information about this default and our senior lender’s reservation of rights letter.

Following this default, we negotiated and entered a waiver and amendment to our Credit Agreement and our Amended and Restated Guaranty and Security Agreement (the “Amendment”) on August 10, 2020.

The Amendment reduced our facility from $30,000 to $15,000, consisting of $10,000 in term loans and a $5,000 revolver.

As a result, we were required to make a principal payment of $9,750 on our outstanding term loans.

The Amendment provides for an accordion feature to our term loan that would allow us to borrow up to an additional $15,000 in term loans subject to certain conditions following the Covenant Conversion Date, which is described below.

The Fourth Amendment also reset our financial covenants and added a new financial covenant for minimum recurring revenue.

The Amendment does not require that we meet our fixed charge ratio or leverage ratio covenant until the Covenant Conversion Date.

The Coverage Conversion Date is the earlier of August 10, 2022 or the date in which we have satisfied the fixed charge coverage ratio and leverage ratio for two consecutive reporting periods.

Until such time, we are only obligated to comply with our minimum EBITDA and minimum recurring revenue covenants.

In addition to the requirement that we pay $9,750 on our outstanding term loans, we were also required to pay our senior lender an amendment fee of $225.

Our senior lender waived any prepayment penalty that would have otherwise been due on the $9,750 payment toward our term loan and agreed that we would not owe a prepayment penalty if we were to refinance our facility before December 31, 2021.

Finally, as a condition to the amendment, our senior lender required that we agree to obtain lender consent for any acquisitions until the later of August 10, 2021 or the Covenant Conversion Date.

Previously certain types of acquisitions were deemed permitted acquisitions, which did not require our lender’s consent.

We do not anticipate an issue with obtaining consent from our lender for accretive acquisitions.

We had sufficient cash on hand to make the required payment of $9,750 in connection with the Fourth Amendment and expect to have enough cash on hand to meet our future business needs.

Further, we expect to comply with our financial covenants in future quarters under the Credit Agreement, as amended by the Fourth Amendment.

Due to the effects of Covid-19 on our business and the related need to support our operations, we applied for and received a loan from Pinnacle Bank under the Paycheck Protection Program during the second quarter of 2020.

As of March 31, 2021, Asure's principal sources of liquidity consisted of approximately $24,290 of cash and cash equivalents, cash generated from operations of our business over the next twelve months, and $4,500 available for borrowing under our Wells Fargo revolver.

In March 2014, we entered into a credit agreement (the “Credit Agreement”) with Wells Fargo, as administrative agent, and the lenders that are party thereto.

The Credit Agreement contains customary events of default, including, among others, payment defaults, covenant defaults, judgment defaults, bankruptcy and insolvency events, cross defaults to certain indebtedness, incorrect representations or warranties, and change of control.

In some cases, the defaults are subject to customary notice and grace period provisions.

In March 2014 and in connection with the Credit Agreement, we and our wholly owned active subsidiaries entered into a Guaranty and Security Agreement with Wells Fargo Bank.

Under the Guaranty and Security Agreement, we and each of our wholly owned active subsidiaries have guaranteed all obligations under the Credit Agreement and granted a security interest in substantially all of our and our subsidiaries’ assets.

The Credit Agreement has been amended and restated multiple times, with the most recent amendment and restatement effective December 31, 2019.

As described below, the Credit Agreement was amended during 2020, with the most recent amendment effective August 10, 2020.

Following the amendment, the Credit Agreement provided for $10,000 in term loans and a $5,000 revolver and provided for new applicable margin rates for determining the interest payable on loans and amended certain of our financial

covenants as described in our Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 9, 20121.

We expect to be in compliance with these amended financial covenants over the next twelve months.

As of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, no amount was outstanding and $4,500, respectively, was available for borrowing under the revolver.

Due to the effects of COVID-19 on our business and the related need to support our operations, we applied for and received a loan from Pinnacle Bank under the PPP during the second quarter of 2020.

Under the terms of our note with Pinnacle Bank, principal payments would have begun in November 2020.

However, the Small Business Administration, who administers loans issued under the Paycheck Protection Program, has issued guidance, deferring all payments that would be owed on this loan until the Small Business Administration makes a decision on our loan forgiveness application.

While we expect that the entire loan will be forgiven, we cannot be certain that the Small Business Administration will grant forgiveness of our entire loan.

However, the SBA, who administers loans issued under the PPP, has issued guidance, deferring all payments that would be owed on this loan until the SBA makes a decision on our loan forgiveness application.

While we expect that the entire loan will be forgiven, we cannot be certain that the SBA will forgive our entire loan.

If we do not receive forgiveness of our entire loan, we will be obligated to begin repaying the portion of the principal and interest that is not forgiven such that it is fully paid no later than April 15, 2022, unless we are able to negotiate new payment terms with Pinnacle Bank.

We intend to apply for forgiveness of this loan in the fourth quarter of 2020.

Given this, we expect that payments we may owe, if any, would not start until second quarter of 2021.

We applied our initial application for forgiveness of this loan in December 2020 and completed this application in early February 2021.

As a result, we expect that payments we may owe, if any, would not start until second or third quarter of 2021.

Under GAAP, we are required to report this entire loan as outstanding debt in our financial statements and further identify the current portion of this debt (e.g.

amounts which would be payable in the next 12 months) with reference to the actual terms of our note with Pinnacle Bank.

Notwithstanding how this loan is reported in our financial statements, we do not expect to make any payments on this note until at least second quarter of 2021, and then only to the extent that any portion of this note is not forgiven in accordance with the terms of the Paycheck Protection Program.

Thus, we do not anticipate our obligations to Pinnacle Bank to have a material effect on our liquidity needs in the next twelve months.

OFF-BALANCE SHEET ARRANGEMENTS

As of September 30, 2020, we did not have any off-balance sheet arrangements, as defined in the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

As of March 31, 2021, we did not have any off-balance sheet arrangements, as defined in the rules and regulations of the SEC.

COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

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Compared sentence by sentence after normalising whitespace, quotation marks, case and digits, so re-formatting and restated figures do not read as changed language. Wording changes appear as one removal and one addition. The current filing and the prior one are authoritative.

What changed 10-Q

Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis