Cost of Revenue
Cost of revenue includes costs to provide SaaS and PaaS services, third-party royalties, amortization of purchased and developed software for resale, the costs of maintaining our software products, as well as the costs required to deliver, install, and support software at customer sites. SaaS and PaaS service costs include payment card interchange fees, amounts payable to banks, and payment card processing fees. Maintenance costs include the efforts associated with providing the customer with upgrades,24-hour help desk, postgo-live (remote) support, and production-type support for software that was previously installed at a customer location. Service costs include human resource costs and other incidental costs such as travel and training required for both prego-live and postgo-live support. Such efforts include project management, delivery, product customization and implementation, installation support, consulting, configuration, andon-site support.
Cost of revenue increased $7.6 million, or 7%, during the three months ended March 31, 2019, compared to the same period in 2018. Cost of revenue was $1.9 million lower for the three months ended March 31, 2019, as compared to the same period in 2018, due to the impact of foreign currencies weakening against the U.S. dollar. Excluding the impact of foreign currency, cost of revenue increased $9.5 million, or 9%, for the three months ended March 31, 2019, as compared to the same period in 2018, primarily due to a $5.1 million increase in payment card interchange and processing fees, a $2.5 million increase in third-party product royalty expenses, and a $1.9 million increase in personnel and related expenses.
Research and Development
Research and development (“R&D”) expenses are primarily human resource costs related to the creation of new products, improvements made to existing products as well as compatibility with new operating system releases and generations of hardware.
R&D expense decreased $0.6 million, or 2%, during the three months ended March 31, 2019, as compared to the same period in 2018. R&D expense was $1.4 million lower for the three months ended March 31, 2019, as compared to the same period in 2018, due to the impact of foreign currencies weakening against the U.S. dollar. Excluding the impact of foreign currency, R&D expense increased $0.8 million, or 2%, for the three months ended March 31, 2019, as compared to the same period in 2018, primarily due to an increase in personnel and related expenses.
Selling and Marketing
Selling and marketing includes both the costs related to selling our products to current and prospective customers as well as the costs related to promoting the Company, its products and the research efforts required to measure customers’ future needs and satisfaction levels. Selling costs are primarily the human resource and travel costs related to the effort expended to license our products and services to current and potential clients within defined territories and/or industries as well as the management of the overall relationship with customer accounts. Selling costs also include the costs associated with assisting distributors in their efforts to sell our products and services in their respective local markets. Marketing costs include costs incurred to promote the Company and its products, perform or acquire market research to help the Company better understand impending changes in customer demand for and of our products, and the costs associated with measuring customers’ opinions toward the Company, our products and personnel.
Selling and marketing expense decreased $2.5 million, or 8%, during the three months ended March 31, 2019, as compared to the same period in 2018. Selling and marketing expense was $1.0 million lower for the three months ended March 31, 2019, as compared to the same period in 2018, due to the impact of foreign currencies weakening against the U.S. dollar. Excluding the impact of foreign currency, selling and marketing expense decreased $1.4 million, or 5%, for the three months ended March 31, 2019, as compared to the same period in 2018, due to a decrease in personnel and related expenses, primarily as the result of a decrease in total bookings.
General and Administrative
General and administrative expenses are primarily human resource costs including executive salaries and benefits, personnel administration costs, and the costs of corporate support functions such as legal, administrative, human resources, and finance and accounting.
General and administrative expense increased $2.9 million, or 10%, during the three months ended March 31, 2019, as compared to the same period in 2018. General and administrative expense for the three months ended March 31, 2019, included $4.7 million of significant transaction-related expenses associated with the planned acquisition of Speedpay. Total operating expenses for the three months ended March 31, 2018, included $4.0 million of significant integration and divestiture-related expenses. General and administrative expense was $0.6 million lower for the three months ended March 31, 2019, as compared to the same period in 2018, due to the impact of foreign currencies weakening against the U.S. dollar. Excluding the significant acquisition and integration expenses and the impact of foreign currency, general and administrative expense increased $2.7 million, or 11%, for the three months ended March 31, 2019, as compared to the same period in 2018, due to an increase in personnel and related expenses.
Depreciation and Amortization
Depreciation and amortization increased $0.5 million, or 2%, during the three months ended March 31, 2019, as compared to the same period in 2018. Depreciation and amortization was $0.4 million lower for the three months ended March 31, 2019, as compared to the same period in 2018, due to the impact of foreign currencies weakening against the U.S. dollar. Excluding the impact of foreign currency, depreciation and amortization increased $0.9 million, or 4%, for the three months ended March 31, 2019, as compared to the same period in 2018.
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