Property, Plant and Equipment

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2012

8. Property, Plant and Equipment

Property, plant and equipment, net consisted of the following at December 31 (in thousands):


	Estimated Useful Lives (in Years)	2012			2011
Computer hardware and software	3 to 7	$	65,988		$	72,920
Card-reading equipment	5		10,218			6,960
Furniture, fixtures, and vehicles	3 to 6		7,986			5,236
Buildings and improvements	10 to 30		9,710			8,264

Property, plant and equipment, gross			93,902			93,380
Less: accumulated depreciation			(48,706	)		(60,656	)

Property, plant and equipment, net		$	45,196		$	32,724

Depreciation expense related to property and equipment for the years ended December 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010 was $14.1 million $11.5 million and $11.3 million, respectively. Depreciation expense includes $5.7 million, $4.1 million and $3.9 million, for capitalized computer software costs for the years ended December 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010, respectively. At December 31, 2012 and 2011, the Company had unamortized computer software costs of $19.0 million and $13.8 million, respectively.

- Definition

The entire disclosure for long-lived, physical assets that are used in the normal conduct of business to produce goods and services and not intended for resale. Examples include land, buildings, machinery and equipment, and other types of furniture and equipment including, but not limited to, office equipment, furniture and fixtures, and computer equipment and software. This disclosure may include property plant and equipment accounting policies and methodology, a schedule of property, plant and equipment gross, additions, deletions, transfers and other changes, depreciation, depletion and amortization expense, net, accumulated depreciation, depletion and amortization expense and useful lives, income statement disclosures, assets held for sale and public utility disclosures.

+ References+ Details