NOTE 7. ACCRUED EXPENSES

At March 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, accrued expenses amounted to $5,366,887 and $5,518,823, respectively. Accrued expenses represent expenses that are owed at the end of the period and have not been billed by the provider or are estimates of services provided. The following table details the items comprising the balances outstanding at March 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016.

	March 31, 2017		December 31, 2016
Accrued professional fees	$	317,033	$	220,140
PayOnline accrual		3,509,256		3,784,451
Accrued interest		148,854		183,778
Accrued bonus		1,130,511		774,485
Accrued franchise taxes		-		180,000
Accrued foreign taxes		135,684		131,810
Short term loan advances		80,397		174,376
Other accrued expenses		45,152		69,783
	$	5,366,887	$	5,518,823

The accrual for PayOnline at March 31, 2017 consists of a $0.3 million earn-out accrual and a $1.8 million stock price guarantee obligation pursuant to a settlement agreement entered into in connection with the PayOnline acquisition. Additionally, the accrual includes a $1.4 million obligation for refundable merchant reserves assumed pursuant to an amendment to the PayOnline acquisition agreement. See Note 11 for additional information.

The accrual for PayOnline at December 31, 2016 consists of a $0.3 million earn-out accrual and a $2.0 million stock price guarantee obligation pursuant to a settlement agreement entered into in connection with the PayOnline acquisition. Additionally, the accrual includes a $1.4 million obligation for refundable merchant reserves assumed pursuant to an amendment to the PayOnline acquisition agreement.

Accrued bonuses are attributed to our TOT Group subsidiaries resulting from a discretionary bonus accrual for $1,130,511 and $774,485 at March 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, respectively.