¹ Diluted weighted average shares were 87,431.

	Three Months Ended
(in thousands)	March 31, 2024				March 31, 2023
Net cash provided by operating activities	$	282,817			$	260,766
Cash paid for interest		11,939				10,606
Tax benefit		(2,089	)			(1,856	)
Unlevered operating cash flows	$	292,667			$	269,516

/ Use of Non-GAAP Measures

We provide non-GAAP gross profit, non-GAAP gross profit margin, non-GAAP operating income, non-GAAP operating profit margin, non-GAAP net income, non-GAAP diluted earnings per share and unlevered operating cash flows as supplemental measures to GAAP regarding our operational performance. These financial measures exclude the impact of certain items and, therefore, have not been calculated in accordance with GAAP. A detailed explanation of each of the adjustments to these financial measures is described below. This press release also contains a reconciliation of each of these non-GAAP financial measures to its most comparable GAAP financial measure, as applicable.

We use non-GAAP financial measures (a) to evaluate our historical and prospective financial performance as well as our performance relative to our competitors, (b) to set internal sales targets and spending budgets, (c) to allocate resources, (d) to measure operational profitability and the accuracy of forecasting, (e) to assess financial discipline over operational expenditures and (f) as an important factor in determining variable compensation for management and employees. In addition, many financial analysts that follow us focus on and publish both historical results and future projections based on non-GAAP financial measures. We believe that it is in the best interest of our investors to provide this information to analysts so that they accurately report the non-GAAP financial information. Moreover, investors have historically requested, and we have historically reported, these non-GAAP financial measures as a means of providing consistent and comparable information with past reports of financial results.

While we believe that these non-GAAP financial measures provide useful supplemental information to investors, there are limitations associated with the use of these non-GAAP financial measures. These non-GAAP financial measures are not prepared in accordance with GAAP, are not reported by all our competitors and may not be directly comparable to similarly titled measures of our competitors due to potential differences in the exact method of calculation. We compensate for these limitations by using these non-GAAP financial measures as supplements to GAAP financial measures and by reviewing the reconciliations of the non-GAAP financial measures to their most comparable GAAP financial measures.

The adjustments to these non-GAAP financial measures, and the basis for such adjustments, are outlined below:

Amortization of intangible assets from acquisitions. We incur amortization of intangible assets, included in our GAAP presentation of amortization expense, related to various acquisitions we have made. We exclude these expenses for the purpose of calculating non-GAAP gross profit, non-GAAP gross profit margin, non-GAAP operating income, non-GAAP operating profit margin, non-GAAP net income and non-GAAP diluted earnings per share when we evaluate our continuing operational performance because these costs are fixed at the time of an acquisition, are then amortized over a period of several years after the acquisition and generally cannot be changed or influenced by us after the acquisition. Accordingly, we do not consider these expenses for purposes of evaluating our performance during the applicable time period after the acquisition, and we exclude such expenses when making decisions to allocate resources. We believe that these non-GAAP financial measures are useful to investors because they allow investors to (a) evaluate the effectiveness of the methodology and information used by us in our financial and operational decision-making, and (b) compare our past reports of financial results as we have historically reported these non-GAAP financial measures.

Stock-based compensation expense. We incur expense related to stock-based compensation included in our GAAP presentation of cost of maintenance and service; research and development expense; and selling, general and administrative expense. This non-GAAP adjustment also includes excess payroll tax expense related to stock-based compensation. Although stock-based compensation is an expense and viewed as a form of compensation, we exclude these expenses for the purpose of calculating non-GAAP gross profit, non-GAAP gross profit margin, non-GAAP operating income, non-GAAP operating profit margin, non-GAAP net income and non-GAAP diluted earnings per share when we evaluate our continuing operational performance. Specifically, we exclude stock-based compensation during our annual budgeting process and our quarterly and annual assessments of our performance. The annual budgeting process is the primary mechanism whereby we allocate resources to various initiatives and operational requirements. Additionally, the annual review by our Board of Directors during which it compares our historical business model and profitability to the planned business model and profitability for the forthcoming year excludes the impact of stock-based compensation. In evaluating the performance of our senior management and department managers, charges related to stock-based compensation are excluded from expenditure and profitability results. In fact, we record stock-based compensation expense into a stand-alone cost center for which no single operational manager is responsible or accountable. In this way, we can review, on a period-to-period basis, each manager’s performance and assess financial discipline over operational expenditures without the effect of stock-based compensation. We believe that these non-GAAP financial measures are useful to investors because they allow investors to (a) evaluate our operating results and the effectiveness of the methodology used by us to review our operating results, and (b) review historical comparability in our financial reporting as well as comparability with competitors’ operating results.