Blackbaud (BLKB) 10-Q2022 Q1 Quarterly report

This Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, including the documents incorporated herein by reference, contains forward-looking statements that anticipate results based on our estimates, assumptions and plans that are subject to uncertainty. These "forward-looking statements" are made subject to the safe-harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements consist of, among other things, specific and overall impacts of the COVID-19 global pandemic on our financial condition and results of operations and on the markets and communities in which we and our customers and partners operate, trend analyses, statements regarding future events, future financial performance, our anticipated growth, the effect of general economic and market conditions, our business strategy and our plan to build and grow our business, our operating results, our ability to successfully integrate acquired businesses and technologies, the effect of foreign currency exchange rate and interest rate fluctuations on our financial results, the impact of expensing stock-based compensation, the sufficiency of our capital resources, our ability to meet our ongoing debt and obligations as they become due, cybersecurity and data protection risks and related liabilities, and current or potential legal proceedings involving us, all of which are based on current expectations, estimates, and forecasts, and the beliefs and assumptions of our management. Words such as “believes,” “seeks,” “expects,” “may,” “might,” “should,” “intends,” “could,” “would,” “likely,” “will,” “targets,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “aims,” “projects,” “estimates” or any variations of such words and similar expressions are also intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Accordingly, they should not be viewed as assurances of future performance, and actual results may differ materially and adversely from those expressed in any forward-looking statements.

Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations expressed in forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, those summarized under “Part II, Item 1A. Risk factors” and elsewhere in this report, in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021 and in our other filings made with the United States Securities & Exchange Commission ("SEC"). Forward-looking statements represent our management's beliefs and assumptions only as of the date of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

We are the world’s leading cloud software company powering social good. Serving the entire social good community—nonprofits, higher education institutions, K–12 schools, healthcare organizations, faith communities, arts and cultural organizations, foundations, companies and individual change agents—we connect and empower organizations to increase their impact through cloud software, services, expertise and data intelligence. Our portfolio is tailored to the unique needs of vertical markets, with solutions for fundraising and CRM, marketing, advocacy, peer-to-peer fundraising, corporate social responsibility (CSR) and environmental, social and governance (ESG), school management, ticketing, grantmaking, financial management, payment processing and analytics. Serving the industry for more than four decades, we are a remote-first company headquartered in Charleston, South Carolina, with operations in the United States, Australia, Canada, Costa Rica and the United Kingdom.

The accompanying condensed consolidated interim financial statements have been prepared pursuant to the rules and regulations of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") for interim financial reporting. These consolidated statements are unaudited and, in the opinion of management, include all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring adjustments and accruals) necessary to state fairly the consolidated balance sheets, consolidated statements of comprehensive income, consolidated statements of cash flows and consolidated statements of stockholders’ equity, for the periods presented in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States ("U.S.") ("GAAP"). The consolidated balance sheet at December 31, 2021 has been derived from the audited consolidated financial statements at that date. Operating results and cash flows for the three months ended March 31, 2022 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2022, or any other future period. Certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in annual financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP have been omitted in accordance with the rules and regulations for interim reporting of the SEC. These condensed consolidated interim financial statements should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021, and other forms filed with the SEC from time to time.

The condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Blackbaud, Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiaries. All intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

We report our operating results and financial information in one operating and reportable segment. Our chief operating decision maker uses consolidated financial information to make operating decisions, assess financial performance and allocate resources. Our chief operating decision maker is our chief executive officer.

We are subject to risks and uncertainties as a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic. We believe that COVID-19 may continue to significantly impact our vertical markets and geographies, but the magnitude of the impact on our business cannot be determined at this time due to numerous uncertainties, including the duration of the outbreak, the severity of variants which may develop, travel restrictions and business closures, the effectiveness of vaccination programs and other actions taken to contain the disease and other unforeseeable consequences.

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, as well as the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting periods. On an ongoing basis, we reconsider and evaluate our estimates and assumptions, including those that impact revenue recognition, long-lived and intangible assets, income taxes, business combinations, stock-based compensation, capitalization of software development costs, our allowances for credit losses and sales returns, costs of obtaining contracts, valuation of derivative instruments, loss contingencies and insurance recoveries, among others. Changes in the facts or circumstances underlying these estimates, including due to COVID-19, could result in material changes and actual results could materially differ from these estimates.

There are no recently issued accounting pronouncements that we expect to have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements when adopted in the future.

There have been no material changes to our significant accounting policies described in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021, filed with the SEC on March 1, 2022.

On December 31, 2021, we acquired all of the outstanding equity securities, including all voting equity interests, of EVERFI, Inc., a Delaware corporation ("EVERFI"), pursuant to an agreement and plan of merger. The acquisition advanced our position as a leader in the rapidly evolving ESG and CSR spaces. We acquired the equity securities for approximately $442.7 million in cash consideration and 3,811,348 shares of the company's common stock, valued at approximately $301.1 million, for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $743.8 million, subject to closing adjustments. The cash consideration and related expenses were funded primarily through cash on hand and new borrowings under the 2020 Credit Facility (as defined below). As a result of the acquisition, EVERFI has become a wholly owned subsidiary of ours. The operating results of EVERFI have been included in our consolidated financial statements from the date of acquisition. In accordance with applicable accounting rules, we determined that the impact of this acquisition was not material to our consolidated financial statements; therefore, revenue and earnings since the acquisition date and pro forma information are not required to be presented.

The fair values assigned to the assets acquired and liabilities assumed in our acquisition of EVERFI are based on our best estimates and assumptions as of the reporting date and are considered preliminary pending finalization. The estimates and assumptions are subject to change as we obtain additional information during the measurement period, which may be up to one year from the acquisition date. The assets and liabilities, pending finalization, include the valuation of intangible assets as well as the assumed deferred income tax balances. During the three months ended March 31, 2022, we recorded an insignificant measurement period adjustment to the estimated fair value of the EVERFI assets acquired and liabilities assumed following the receipt of new information. The adjustment resulted in an increase to net working capital, excluding deferred revenue, with the corresponding offset to goodwill.

The change in goodwill during the three months ended March 31, 2022, consisted of the following:

We compute basic earnings (loss) per share by dividing net income available to common stockholders by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during the period. Diluted earnings (loss) per share is computed by dividing net income available to common stockholders by the weighted average number of common shares and dilutive potential common shares outstanding during the period. Diluted earnings (loss) per share reflect the assumed exercise, settlement and vesting of all dilutive securities using the “treasury stock method” except when the effect is anti-dilutive. Potentially dilutive securities consist of shares issuable upon the exercise of stock options, settlement of stock appreciation rights and vesting of restricted stock awards and units. Diluted loss per share for the three months ended March 31, 2022 was the same as basic loss per share as there was a net loss in the period and inclusion of potentially dilutive securities was anti-dilutive.

The following table sets forth the computation of basic and diluted earnings (loss) per share:

We use a three-tier fair value hierarchy to measure fair value. This hierarchy prioritizes the inputs into three broad levels as follows:

Assets and liabilities that are measured at fair value on a recurring basis consisted of the following, as of the dates indicated below:

We believe the carrying amounts of our cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash, accounts receivable, trade accounts payable, accrued expenses and other current liabilities and due to customers approximate their fair values at March 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021, due to the immediate or short-term maturity of these instruments.

We believe the carrying amount of our debt approximates its fair value at March 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021, as the debt bears interest rates that approximate market value. As LIBOR and SOFR rates are observable at commonly quoted intervals, our debt under the 2020 Credit Facility (as defined below) is classified within Level 2 of the fair value hierarchy. Our fixed rate debt is also classified within Level 2 of the fair value hierarchy.

We did not transfer any assets or liabilities among the levels within the fair value hierarchy during the three months ended March 31, 2022. Additionally, we did not hold any Level 3 assets or liabilities during the three months ended March 31, 2022.

Assets and liabilities that are measured at fair value on a non-recurring basis include long-lived assets, intangible assets, goodwill and operating lease right-of-use ("ROU") assets. These assets are recognized at fair value during the period in which an acquisition is completed or at lease commencement, from updated estimates and assumptions during the measurement period, or when they are considered to be impaired. These non-recurring fair value measurements, primarily for long-lived assets, intangible assets acquired and operating lease ROU assets, are based on Level 3 unobservable inputs. In the event of an impairment, we determine the fair value of these assets other than goodwill using a discounted cash flow approach, which contains significant unobservable inputs and, therefore, is considered a Level 3 fair value measurement. The unobservable inputs in the analysis generally include future cash flow projections and a discount rate. For goodwill impairment testing, we estimate fair value using market-based methods including the use of market capitalization and consideration of a control premium.

There were no material non-recurring fair value adjustments to our long-lived assets, intangible assets, goodwill and operating lease ROU assets during the three months ended March 31, 2022.

The following table summarizes our debt balances and the related weighted average effective interest rates, which includes the effect of interest rate swap agreements.

In October 2020, we entered into a five-year $900.0 million senior credit facility (the "2020 Credit Facility"). At March 31, 2022, we were in compliance with our debt covenants under the 2020 Credit Facility.

In December 2021, we entered into the First Incremental Term Loan Agreement (the "Incremental Amendment"). The Incremental Amendment amended the 2020 Credit Facility and, among other things, provided for a $250.0 million incremental term loan (the “2021 Incremental Term Loan”).

On January 31, 2022, we entered into the First Amendment to Credit Agreement (the “Amendment”). The Amendment amended the 2020 Credit Facility to, among other things, (i) modify the definition of “Applicable Margin”, (ii) modify the net leverage ratio financial covenant to require a net leverage ratio of (A) 4.00:1.00 or less for the fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2021 and for fiscal quarters ending thereafter through December 31, 2023 and (B) 3.75:1.00 or less for the fiscal quarters ending March 31, 2024 and thereafter, (iii) reset the $250.0 million fixed dollar basket with respect to the accordion feature and (iv) modify certain negative covenants to provide additional operational flexibility.

In August 2020, we completed the purchase of our global headquarters facility. As part of the purchase price, we assumed the seller’s obligations under two senior secured notes with a then-aggregate outstanding principal amount of $61.1 million (collectively, the “Real Estate Loans”). At March 31, 2022, we were in compliance with our debt covenants under the Real Estate Loans.

From time to time, we enter into third-party financing agreements for purchases of software and related services for our internal use. Generally, the agreements are non-interest-bearing notes requiring annual payments. Interest associated with the notes is imputed at the rate we would incur for amounts borrowed under our then-existing credit facility at the inception of the notes.

The following table summarizes our currently effective financing agreements as of March 31, 2022:

We generally use derivative instruments to manage our variable interest rate risk. We have entered into interest rate swap agreements, which effectively convert portions of our variable rate debt under the 2020 Credit Facility to a fixed rate for the term of the swap agreements. We designated each of the interest rate swap agreements as a cash flow hedge at the inception of the contracts.

The terms and notional values of our derivative instruments were as follows as of March 31, 2022:

The fair values of our derivative instruments were as follows as of:

The effects of derivative instruments in cash flow hedging relationships were as follows:

Our policy requires that derivatives used for hedging purposes be designated and effective as a hedge of the identified risk exposure at the inception of the contract. Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) includes unrealized gains or losses from the change in fair value measurement of our derivative instruments each reporting period and the related income tax expense or benefit. Changes in the fair value measurements of the derivative instruments and the related income tax expense or benefit are reflected as adjustments to accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) until the actual hedged expense is incurred or until the hedge is terminated at which point the unrealized gain (loss) is reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) to current earnings. The estimated accumulated other comprehensive income as of March 31, 2022 that is expected to be reclassified into earnings within the next twelve months is $5.7 million. There were 0 ineffective portions of our interest rate swap derivatives during the three months ended March 31, 2022 and 2021. See Note 12 for a summary of the changes in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) by component.

We have operating leases for corporate offices, subleased offices and certain equipment and furniture. As of March 31, 2022, we did not have any operating leases that had not yet commenced.

The term loans under the 2020 Credit Facility require periodic principal payments. The balance of the term loans and any amounts drawn on the revolving credit loans are due upon maturity of the 2020 Credit Facility in October 2025. The Real Estate Loans also require periodic principal payments and the balance of the Real Estate Loans are due upon maturity in April 2038.

We have contractual obligations for third-party technology used in our solutions and for other services we purchase as part of our normal operations. In certain cases, these arrangements require a minimum annual purchase commitment by us. As of March 31, 2022, the remaining aggregate minimum purchase commitment under these arrangements was approximately $31.7 million through 2025.

In the ordinary course of business, we provide certain indemnifications of varying scope to customers against claims of intellectual property infringement made by third parties arising from the use of our solutions or services. If we determine that it is probable that a loss has been incurred related to solution or service indemnifications, any such loss that could be reasonably estimated would be recognized. We have not identified any losses and, accordingly, we have not recorded a liability related to these indemnifications.

We are subject to legal proceedings and claims that arise in the ordinary course of business, as well as certain other non-ordinary course proceedings, claims and inquiries, as described below. We make a provision for a loss contingency when it is both probable that a material liability has been incurred and the amount of the loss can be reasonably estimated. If only a range of estimated losses can be determined, we accrue an amount within the range that, in our judgment, reflects the most likely outcome; if none of the estimates within that range is a better estimate than any other amount, we accrue the low end of the range. For proceedings in which an unfavorable outcome is reasonably possible but not probable and an estimate of the loss or range of losses arising from the proceeding can be made, we disclose such an estimate, if material. If such a loss or range of losses is not reasonably estimable, we disclose that fact. We review any such loss contingency provisions at least quarterly and adjust them to reflect the impacts of negotiations, settlements, rulings, advice of legal counsel and other information and events pertaining to a particular case. We recognize insurance recoveries, if any, when they are probable of receipt. All associated costs due to third-party service providers and consultants, including legal fees, are expensed as incurred.

Legal proceedings are inherently unpredictable. However, we believe that we have valid defenses with respect to the legal matters pending or threatened against us and intend to defend ourselves vigorously against all claims asserted. It is possible that our consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows could be materially negatively affected in any particular period by an unfavorable resolution of one or more of such legal proceedings.

As previously disclosed, we are subject to risks and uncertainties as a result of a ransomware attack against us in May 2020 in which a cybercriminal removed a copy of a subset of data from our self-hosted environment (the "Security Incident"). Based on the nature of the Security Incident, our research and third party (including law enforcement) investigation, we have no reason to believe that any data went beyond the cybercriminal, was or will be misused, or will be disseminated or otherwise made available publicly. Our investigation into the Security Incident by our cybersecurity team and third-party forensic advisors remains ongoing.

We recorded expenses and offsetting probable insurance recoveries related to the Security Incident as follows:

The following summarizes our cumulative expenses, probable insurance recoveries and insurance recoveries paid as of:

Based on our analysis of the factors described above, we have not recorded a liability for a loss contingency related to the Security Incident as of March 31, 2022 because we are unable at this time to reasonably estimate the possible loss or range of loss.

Lawsuits that are putative class actions require a plaintiff to satisfy a number of procedural requirements before proceeding to trial. These requirements include, among others, demonstration to a court that the law proscribes in some manner our activities, the making of factual allegations sufficient to suggest that our activities exceeded the limits of the law and a determination by the court—known as class certification—that the law permits a group of individuals to pursue the case together as a class. If these procedural requirements are not met, the lawsuit cannot proceed as a class action and the plaintiff may lose the financial incentive to proceed with the case. Frequently, a court’s determination as to these procedural requirements is subject to appeal to a higher court. As a result of these uncertainties, we may be unable to determine the probability of loss until, or after, a court has finally determined that a plaintiff has satisfied the applicable class action procedural requirements.

Furthermore, for putative class actions, it is often not possible to estimate the possible loss or a range of loss amounts, even where we have determined that a loss is reasonably possible. Generally, class actions involve a large number of people and raise complex legal and factual issues that result in uncertainty as to their outcome and, ultimately, making it difficult for us to estimate the amount of damages that a plaintiff might successfully prove. This analysis is further complicated by the fact that the plaintiffs lack contractual privity with us.

On September 28, 2021, the Information Commissioner's Office in the United Kingdom under the U.K Data Protection Act 2018 (the "ICO") notified us that it has closed its investigation of the Security Incident. Based on its investigation and having considered our actions before, during and after the Security Incident, the ICO issued our European subsidiary a reprimand in accordance with Article 58(2)(b) of the U.K. General Data Protection Regulation ("U.K. GDPR") due to our non-compliance, in the ICO's view, with the requirements set out in Article 32 of the U.K. GDPR regarding the processing of personal data. The ICO did not impose a penalty related to the Security Incident, nor did it impose any requirements for further action by us.

On September 24, 2021, we received notice from the Spanish Data Protection Authority that it has concluded its investigation of the Security Incident, pursuant to which our European subsidiary paid a penalty of €60,000 in relation to the alleged late notification of two Spanish data controllers regarding the Security Incident.

On January 15, 2021, we were notified by the Data Protection Commission of Ireland that it has concluded its investigation of the Security Incident without taking any action against us.

We continue to cooperate with all ongoing inquiries and investigations, which include various requests for documents, policies, narratives and communications, as well as requests to interview or depose various Company-related personnel. As noted above, each of these separate governmental inquiries and investigations could result in adverse judgements, settlements, fines, penalties, or other resolution, the amount, scope and timing of which we are currently unable to predict, but could have a material adverse impact on our results of operations, cash flows, or financial condition.

Our income tax (benefit) provision and effective income tax rates, including the effects of period-specific events, were:

The decrease in our effective income tax rate for the three months ended March 31, 2022 when compared to the same period in 2021 was primarily attributable to the impact of stock based compensation. The 2022 effective tax rate was negatively impacted by increased tax expense attributable to stock based compensation against pre-tax loss for the period.

The changes in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) by component, consisted of the following:

As of March 31, 2022, approximately $984 million of revenue is expected to be recognized from remaining performance obligations. We expect to recognize revenue on approximately 60% of these remaining performance obligations over the next 12 months, with the remainder recognized thereafter.

We applied the practical expedient in ASC 606-10-50-14 and have excluded the value of unsatisfied performance obligations for (i) contracts with an original expected length of one year or less (one-time services); and (ii) contracts for which we recognize revenue at the amount to which we have the right to invoice for services performed (transactional revenue).

Our contract assets as of March 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021 were insignificant. Our opening and closing balances of deferred revenue were as follows:

We sell our cloud solutions and related services in three primary geographical markets: to customers in the United States, to customers in the United Kingdom and to customers located in other countries. The following table presents our revenue by geographic area based on the address of our customers:

The following table presents our revenue by market group:

The following table presents our recurring revenue by type:

We are the world’s leading cloud software company powering social good. Serving the entire social good community—nonprofits, higher education institutions, K–12 schools, healthcare organizations, faith communities, arts and cultural organizations, foundations, companies and individual change agents—we connect and empower organizations to increase their impact through cloud software, services, expertise and data intelligence. Our portfolio is tailored to the unique needs of vertical markets, with solutions for fundraising and CRM, marketing, advocacy, peer-to-peer fundraising, corporate social responsibility (CSR) and environmental, social and governance (ESG), school management, ticketing, grantmaking, financial management, payment processing and analytics. Serving the industry for more than four decades, we are a remote-first company headquartered in Charleston, South Carolina, with operations in the United States, Australia, Canada, Costa Rica and the United Kingdom.

Total revenue increased by $37.9 million during the three months ended March 31, 2022, when compared to the same period in 2021, driven largely by the following:

Income from operations decreased by $12.6 million during the three months ended March 31, 2022, when compared to the same period in 2021, driven largely by the following:

We are continuing to make critical investments in the business in areas such as digital marketing, engineering, security, customer success and our continued shift of cloud infrastructure to leading public cloud service providers. Our profitability through the first quarter reflects the addition of EVERFI and some of these incremental investments that were pushed from 2021 into 2022, particularly in areas where we are increasing headcount.

During the three months ended March 31, 2022, we generated $24.5 million in cash from operations, had a net increase in borrowings of $25.6 million and had aggregate cash outlays of $16.9 million for purchases of property and equipment and capitalized software development costs.

We have included the results of operations of EVERFI in our consolidated results of operations from the date of acquisition. We determined that the EVERFI acquisition was not material to our consolidated financial statements; therefore, separate presentation of revenue and earnings since the acquisition date is not required.

Recurring revenue is comprised of fees for the use of our subscription-based software solutions, which includes providing access to cloud solutions, hosting services, payment services, online training programs, subscription-based analytic services. Recurring revenue also includes fees from maintenance services for our on-premises solutions, services included in our renewable subscription contracts, retained and managed services contracts that we expect to have a term consistent with our cloud solution contracts, and variable transaction revenue associated with the use of our solutions.

Cost of recurring revenue is primarily comprised of compensation costs for customer support and production IT personnel, hosting and data center costs, third-party contractor expenses, third-party royalty and data expenses, allocated depreciation, facilities and IT support costs, amortization of intangible assets from business combinations, amortization of software development costs, transaction-based costs related to payments services including remittances of amounts due to third-parties and other costs incurred in providing support and recurring services to our customers.

Our customers continue to prefer cloud subscription offerings with integrated analytics, training and payment services. Recurring subscription contracts are typically for a term of three years at contract inception with one to three-year renewals thereafter. We intend to continue focusing on innovation, quality and integration of our cloud solutions, which we believe will drive future revenue growth.

Recurring revenue increased by $37.9 million, or 18.3%, during the three months ended March 31, 2022, when compared to the same period in 2021, driven primarily by the following:

Cost of recurring revenue increased by $23.3 million, or 26.2%, during the three months ended March 31, 2022, when compared to the same period in 2021, driven primarily by the following:

Recurring gross margin decreased by 2.9% for the three months ended March 31, 2022, when compared to the same period in 2021, primarily due to the increase in cost of recurring revenue outpacing the increase in recurring revenue.

One-time services and other revenue is comprised of fees for one-time consulting, analytic and onsite training services, fees for retained and managed services contracts that we do not expect to have a term consistent with our cloud solution contracts, revenue from the sale of our software sold under perpetual license arrangements, and third-party software referral fees.

Cost of one-time services and other is primarily comprised of compensation costs for professional services and onsite training personnel, other costs incurred in providing onsite customer training, third-party contractor expenses, data expense incurred to perform one-time analytic services, third-party software royalties, allocated depreciation, facilities and IT support costs and amortization of intangible assets from business combinations.

One-time services and other revenue during the three months ended March 31, 2022 remained relatively consistent with the same period in 2021, and included the following activity:

Cost of one-time services and other decreased by $3.3 million, or 22.9%, during the three months ended March 31, 2022, when compared to the same period in 2021, driven primarily by the following:

One-time services and other gross margin increased by 26.9% during the three months ended March 31, 2022, when compared to the same period in 2021, primarily due to the significant reductions in compensation costs discussed above.

Sales, marketing and customer success expense includes compensation costs, variable sales commissions, travel-related expenses, advertising and marketing materials, public relations costs, variable reseller commissions and allocated depreciation, facilities and IT support costs.

We see a large market opportunity in the long-term and will continue to make investments to drive sales effectiveness. We have also implemented software tools to enhance our digital footprint and drive lead generation. The enhancements we are making in our go-to-market approach are expected to significantly reduce our average customer acquisition cost as well as the related payback period while increasing sales velocity.

Sales, marketing and customer success expense increased by $6.4 million, or 13.2%, during the three months ended March 31, 2022, when compared to the same period in 2021, primarily driven by the following:

Research and development expense includes compensation costs for engineering and product management personnel, third-party contractor expenses, software development tools and other expenses related to developing new solutions or upgrading and enhancing existing solutions that do not qualify for capitalization, and allocated depreciation, facilities and IT support costs.

We continue to make investments to delight our customers with innovative cloud solutions. Research and development expenses increased by $10.8 million or 36.9%, during the three months ended March 31, 2022, when compared to the same period in 2021, primarily driven by the following:

Not included in research and development expense for the three months ended March 31, 2022 and 2021 were $13.8 million and $9.1 million, respectively, of qualifying costs associated with software and content development activities

General and administrative expense consists primarily of compensation costs for general corporate functions, including senior management, finance, accounting, legal, human resources and corporate development, third-party professional fees, insurance, allocated depreciation, facilities and IT support costs, acquisition-related expenses and other administrative expenses.

General and administrative expense increased by $13.2 million, or 43.1%, during the three months ended March 31, 2022, when compared to the same period in 2021, primarily driven by the following:

The increase in interest expense in dollars and as a percentage of total revenue during the three months ended March 31, 2022, when compared to the same period in 2021, was primarily due to the new borrowings used to finance our acquisition of EVERFI. We currently expect interest expense for the full year 2022 to be approximately $30 million to $33 million although our interest expense in connection with the variable rate portion of our outstanding debt could increase in a rising interest rate environment. See Note 9 to our condensed consolidated financial statements in this report for more information regarding our derivative instruments, which we use to manage our variable interest rate risk.

The table below compares the components of deferred revenue from our consolidated balance sheets: