Stock-Based Compensation

9 Months Ended

May 31, 2023

NOTE 7 – STOCK-BASED COMPENSATION

Our stock-based compensation was comprised of the following for the periods presented (in thousands):



		Quarter Ended			Three Quarters Ended
		May 31,		May 31,		May 31,		May 31,
		2023		2022		2023		2022
Long-term incentive awards	$	2,871	$	1,877	$	8,074	$	4,375
Strive acquisition compensation		190		267		556		912
Unvested stock awards		180		165		520		508
Employee stock purchase plan		66		60		207		177
Fully-vested share awards		-		-		-		15
	$	3,307	$	2,369	$	9,357	$	5,987

During the three quarters ended May 31, 2023, we issued 97,468 shares of our common stock under various stock-based compensation arrangements, including our employee stock purchase plan (ESPP).

Fiscal 2023 Long-Term Incentive Plan Award

On October 14, 2022, the Compensation Committee granted a new Long-Term Incentive Plan (LTIP) award to our executive officers and members of senior management. The fiscal 2023 LTIP award was subsequently expanded with new grants for additional participants, which are expensed based on the market value of our common stock on the date of the grants. The fiscal 2023 LTIP award has two tranches, one with a time-based vesting condition and one with a performance-based vesting condition as described below:

Time-Based Award Shares – Twenty-five percent of the 2023 LTIP award shares vest to participants on August 31, 2025. The number of shares that may be earned by participants at the end of the service period totals approximately 27,000 shares. The number of shares awarded in this tranche does not fluctuate based on the achievement of financial measures.

Performance-Based Award Shares – The remaining shares of the fiscal 2023 LTIP award are earned based on the highest rolling four-quarter level of qualified Adjusted EBITDA achieved in the three-year period ending August 31, 2025. The number of shares that will vest to participants for this tranche is variable and may be 50 percent of the award (minimum award threshold) or up to 200 percent of the participant’s award (maximum threshold) depending on the level of qualified Adjusted EBITDA achieved. The number of shares that may be earned for achieving 100 percent of the performance-based objective totals 81,135 shares. The maximum number of shares that may be awarded in connection with the performance-based tranche of the 2023 LTIP totals 162,270 shares.

New Long-Term Incentive Performance and Retention Plan

During the first quarter of fiscal 2023, we introduced a new long-term equity incentive plan for client partners, managing directors, and certain other associates that we believe are critical to our long-term success. These awards are generally based on the achievement of specified sales goals and are expected to be granted annually. One-third of the award shares will vest to participants on each August 31 following the award grant. We granted a total of approximately 42,600 unvested share units in fiscal 2023 to the participants in this long-term incentive plan. The compensation cost of these awards is included in the long-term incentive awards category in the preceding table.

Fiscal 2023 Board of Director Unvested Share Award

Our annual unvested stock award granted to non-employee members of the Board of Directors is administered under the terms of our omnibus incentive plans, and is designed to provide our non-employee directors, who are not eligible to participate in our employee stock purchase plan, an opportunity to obtain an interest in the Company through the acquisition of shares of our common stock as part of their compensation. The annual award is granted in January (following the annual shareholders’ meeting) of each year. For the fiscal 2023 award, each eligible director received a whole-share grant equal to $120,000 with a one year vesting period. Our unvested stock award activity during the three quarters ended May 31, 2023 consisted of the following:



			Weighted-Average
			Grant Date
	Number of		Fair Value
	Shares		Per Share
Unvested stock awards at
August 31, 2022	13,260	$	49.78
Granted	15,882		45.34
Forfeited	-		-
Vested	(13,260)		49.78
Unvested stock awards at
May 31, 2023	15,882	$	45.34

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Employee Stock Purchase Plan

We have an employee stock purchase plan that offers qualified employees the opportunity to purchase shares of our common stock at a price equal to 85 percent of the average fair market value of our common stock on the last trading day of each fiscal quarter. During the quarter and three quarters ended May 31, 2023, we issued 10,495 shares and 28,086 shares of our common stock to participants in the ESPP.