Research and Development. In the nine months ended September 30, 2019, research and development expense decreased by $682,000, or 3% compared to the nine months ended September 30, 2018 primarily due to a decrease in employee-related expense of $1.3 million resulting from an increase in capitalized software development costs and to a lesser extent, an increase in contractor expense of $231,000. These decreases were offset in part by increases in recruiting, computer maintenance and support and travel expenses of $361,000, $324,000, and $109,000, respectively. We expect our research and development expense to remain relatively unchanged.
Sales and Marketing. In the nine months ended September 30, 2019, sales and marketing expense increased by $3.1 million, or 7%, compared to the nine months ended September 30, 2018 primarily due to increases in employee-related, travel, and intangible amortization expenses of $1.3 million, $1.2 million, and $617,000, respectively. There were also increases in conference, computer and maintenance, and training expenses of $293,000, $206,000, and $202,000, respectively. These increases were offset in part by decreases in stock-based compensation, recruiting, and contractor expenses of $473,000, $170,000, and $131,000 respectively. We expect that our sales and marketing expense will increase in absolute dollars along with our revenue, as we continue to expand sales coverage and build brand awareness through what we believe are cost-effective channels.
General and Administrative. In the nine months ended September 30, 2019, general and administrative decreased by $571,000 or 3%, compared to the nine months ended September 30, 2018 primarily due to decreases in contractor, employee-related, amortization, and partner commissions expenses of $982,000, $395,000, $176,000 and $117,000, respectively. These decreases were offset by increases in bad debt expense, outside accounting and legal fees, computer maintenance and support, and consultant expenses of $461,000, $417,000, $123,000 and $118,000, respectively. In future periods, we expect general and administrative expense to remain relatively unchanged.
Merger-Related. In the nine months ended September 30, 2019, merger-related expenses increased by $8.1 million primarily due to costs incurred in connection with the acquisition of the online video platform assets of Ooyala, the transition of Ooyala customers to our offering and the August Acquisition. In future periods, we expect merger-related expense related to these acquisitions to decrease.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Cash and cash equivalents.
Our cash and cash equivalents at September 30, 2019 were held for working capital purposes and were invested primarily in money market funds. We do not enter into investments for trading or speculative purposes. At September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018, we had $13.0 million and $9.9 million, respectively, of cash and cash equivalents held by subsidiaries in international locations, including subsidiaries located in Japan and the United Kingdom. These earnings can be repatriated to the UnitedStates tax-free but could still be subject to foreign withholding taxes. On April 1, 2019, we completed the acquisition of the online video platform assets of Ooyala in exchange for 1,056,763 unregistered shares of our common stock and $2.6 million in cash. On August 1, 2019, we completed the acquisition of a company in exchange for 270,686 unregistered shares of our common stock and $2.8 million in cash. We believe that our existing cash and cash equivalents will be sufficient to meet our anticipated working capital and capital expenditure needs over at least the next 12 months.
| | | | | | | | |
| | Nine Months Ended September 30, | |
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flow Data | | 2019 | | | 2018 | |
| | (in thousands) | |
Cash flows provided by (used in) operating activities | | | 629 | | | | (234 | ) |
Cash flows used in investing activities | | | (10,266 | ) | | | (3,849 | ) |
Cash flows provided by financing activities | | | 3,007 | | | | 5,012 | |
Accounts receivable, net.
Our accounts receivable balance fluctuates from period to period, which affects our cash flow from operating activities. The fluctuations vary depending on the timing of our billing activity, cash collections, and changes to our allowance for doubtful accounts. In many instances we receive cash payment from a customer prior to the time we are able to recognize revenue on a transaction. We record these payments as deferred revenue, which has a positive effect on our accounts receivable balances.
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