we used cash from operations to repurchase $ 51 million of common stock and to repay $ 40 million of borrowings under our credit facility in 2017. at september 30 , 2017 , the balance outstanding under our credit facility was $ 218 million and total debt outstanding was $ 718 million . future expectations , strategies and risks our transition to a subscription model has been a headwind for revenue and earnings in 2017 , the effect of which is moderating as the subscription business matures and we exit the subscription trough . a 18 higher mix of subscription bookings is expected to benefit us over the long term , but results in lower revenue and lower earnings in the near term . our results have been impacted , and we expect will continue to be impacted , by our ability to close large transactions . the amount of bookings and revenue , particularly license and subscriptions , attributable to large transactions , and the number of such transactions , may vary significantly from quarter to quarter based on customer purchasing decisions and macroeconomic conditions . such transactions may have long lead times as they often follow a lengthy product selection and evaluation process and , for existing customers , are influenced by contract expiration cycles . this may cause volatility in our results . as we move into 2018 , our three overriding goals continue to be : sustainable growth our goals for overall growth are predicated on continuing to grow in the iot market and continuing to drive improvements in operational performance in our core cad , plm and slm solutions business . expand subscription through 2014 , the majority of our software licenses were sold as perpetual licenses , under which customers own the software license and revenue is recognized at the time of sale . we began offering subscription licensing for our core solutions group products in 2015 and expanded our subscription program in 2016. under a subscription , customers pay a periodic fee to license our software and access technical support over a specified period of time . as part of our expanded subscription program , we also launched a program for our existing customers to convert their support contracts to subscription contracts . a number of customers converted their support contracts to subscriptions in 2016 and 2017 , and we expect there will be continued opportunities to convert existing support contracts to subscription contracts in 2018 and beyond . given the subscription adoption rates we have seen in the americas and western europe , effective january 1 , 2018 , new software licenses for our core solutions and thingworx solutions will be available only by subscription in the americas and western europe . we plan to continue to offer both perpetual and subscription licenses to customers outside the americas and western europe until such time as we believe a change may be appropriate . this could affect customer purchasing decisions , particularly in the affected regions , as customers may accelerate purchases of perpetual licenses before january 1 , 2018 or , conversely , may delay purchases . cost controls and margin expansion we continue to proactively manage our cost structure and invest in what we believe are high return opportunities in our business . our goal is to drive continued margin expansion over the long term . we expect to deliver continued operating margin expansion in 2018 , and we expect further margin expansion in 2019 and beyond , when we expect we will realize the compounding benefit of our maturing subscription model . 19 results of operations revenue , operating margin , earnings per share and cash flow the following table shows the financial measures that we consider the most significant indicators of the performance of our business . in addition to providing operating income , operating margin , and diluted earnings per share as calculated under generally accepted accounting principles ( “ gaap ” ) , it shows non-gaap operating income , non-gaap operating margin , and non-gaap diluted earnings per share for the reported periods . these non-gaap financial measures exclude fair value adjustments related to acquired deferred revenue , acquired deferred costs , stock-based compensation expense , amortization of acquired intangible assets expense , acquisition-related and pension plan termination costs , restructuring charges , certain identified gains or charges included in non-operating other income ( expense ) and the related tax effects of the preceding items , as well as the tax items identified . these non-gaap financial measures provide investors another view of our operating results that is aligned with management budgets and with performance criteria in our incentive compensation plans . management uses , and investors should use , non-gaap financial measures in conjunction with our gaap results . replace_table_token_2_th ( 1 ) costs and expenses in 2017 included $ 7.9 million of restructuring charges . costs and expenses in 2016 included $ 76.3 million of restructuring charges , a $ 3.2 million legal accrual , and $ 3.5 million of acquisition-related costs . costs and expenses in 2015 included $ 73.2 million of pension plan termination-related costs , $ 43.4 million of restructuring charges , a $ 28.2 million legal accrual , and $ 8.9 million of acquisition-related costs . these restructuring , acquisition-related , pension plan termination and legal accrual costs have been excluded from non-gaap operating income , non-gaap operating margin and non-gaap diluted eps . ( 2 ) income taxes for non-gaap diluted earnings per share reflect the tax effects of non-gaap adjustments which are calculated by applying the applicable tax rate by jurisdiction to the non-gaap adjustments described in non-gaap financial measures , and also exclude certain non-operating income and tax items . story_separator_special_tag million in 2016 compared to $ 7.9 million in 2017 ; and a decrease in professional services costs primarily due to a decrease in headcount as we migrated more service engagements to our partners and we delivered products that required less consulting and training services . the decreases above were partially offset by increases due to : an increase of $ 18.1 million in total cost of license , subscription and support compensation costs primarily driven by increased headcount ; 27 an increase of $ 8.7 million in cloud services hosting costs due to an increase in saas revenue and related expenses and an increase in applications hosted in the cloud that support our it infrastructure . an increase of $ 5.0 million in total research and development compensation costs primarily driven by increased headcount ; and annual merit salary increases . 2016 compared to 2015 costs and expenses in 2016 compared to 2015 decreased primarily as a result of the following : cost savings from restructuring actions in 2016 and 2015 ; acquisition and pension termination-related costs , which were $ 75.4 million lower in 2016 compared to 2015 due to costs associated with terminating our u.s. pension plan which totaled $ 73.2 million ( including a $ 66.3 million settlement loss ) in 2015 ; a $ 28.2 million accrual recorded in 2015 related to an investigation in china ; and foreign currency rates which favorably impacted costs and expenses of 2016 by $ 24.1 million . the decreases above were partially offset by increases due to : cash-based incentive compensation expense , which was higher by $ 30.3 million in 2016 compared to 2015 ( as a result of over performance on subscription mix in 2016 and because 2015 incentive targets were not achieved in full ) ; costs from acquired businesses ( coldlight , vuforia , and kepware added approximately 255 employees at the date of the acquisitions ) ; an increase in stock-based compensation expense of $ 15.8 million in 2016 , compared to 2015 , due in part to a modification of performance-based awards previously granted under our long-term incentive programs ; investments in our iot business ; and annual merit salary increases . cost of license and subscription revenue replace_table_token_8_th our cost of license and subscription includes cost of license , which consists of fixed and variable costs associated with reproducing and distributing software and documentation , as well as royalties paid to third parties for technology embedded in or licensed with our software products , and amortization of intangible assets associated with acquired products , and cost of subscription , which includes our cost of cloud services and software as a service revenue , including hosting fees . costs associated with providing post-contract support such as providing software updates and technical support for both our subscription offerings and our perpetual licenses are included in cost of support revenue . cost of license and subscription revenue as a percent of license and subscription revenue can vary depending on the subscription mix percentage , the product mix sold , the effect of fixed and variable royalties , headcount and the level of amortization of acquired software intangible assets . costs in 2017 compared to 2016 increased primarily as a result of a $ 15.0 million increase in total compensation , benefit and travel expense due to increased headcount , primarily associated with supporting our cloud products , and a $ 3.4 million increase in cloud services hosting costs . costs in 2016 compared to 2015 increased primarily as a result of a $ 5.2 million increase in total compensation , benefit and travel expense due to increased headcount , a $ 4.9 million increase in cloud services hosting costs and $ 1.9 million increase in amortization of acquired purchase software . 28 cost of support revenue replace_table_token_9_th cost of support revenue consists of costs such as salaries , benefits , and computer equipment and facilities associated with customer support and the release of support updates ( including related royalty costs ) associated with providing support for both our perpetual licenses and subscription licenses . costs and expense in 2017 compared to 2016 increased primarily due to an increase of $ 3.1 million ( 5 % ) in total compensation , benefit and travel costs . costs and expense in 2016 compared to 2015 increased primarily due to an increase of $ 3.0 million ( 5 % ) in total compensation , benefit and travel costs . cost of professional services revenue replace_table_token_10_th our cost of professional services revenue includes costs such as salaries , benefits , information technology costs and facilities expenses for our training and consulting personnel , and third-party subcontractor fees . in 2017 compared to 2016 , total compensation , benefit costs and travel expenses decreased by $ 18.8 million . the cost of third-party consulting services was $ 4.7 million lower in 2017 compared to 2016. in 2016 compared to 2015 , total compensation , benefit costs and travel expenses decreased by $ 24.8 million . the cost of third-party consulting services was $ 2.6 million lower in 2016 compared to 2015. as a result of decreases in professional services revenue in 2017 , 2016 and 2015 , we have reduced headcount , resulting in lower compensation-related costs . the decreases in 2017 and 2016 compared to the prior years in the cost of third-party consulting services is a result of our strategy to have our strategic services partners perform services for customers directly , which has decreased revenue and improved services margins . sales and marketing replace_table_token_11_th our sales and marketing expenses primarily include salaries and benefits , sales commissions , advertising and marketing programs , travel , information technology costs and facility expenses . in 2017 compared to 2016 , event costs increased $ 3.1 million due to our liveworx event held in may 2017. our compensation , benefits and travel costs were $ 3.5 million lower in

liquidity and capital resources replace_table_token_21_th 42 cash and cash equivalents we invest our cash with highly rated financial institutions and in diversified domestic and international money market mutual funds . cash and cash equivalents include highly liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less . in addition , we hold investments in marketable securities totaling approximately $ 50.3 million with an average maturity of 18 months . at september 30 , 2017 , cash and cash equivalents totaled $ 280.0 million , compared to $ 277.9 million at september 30 , 2016 , reflecting $ 134.6 million in operating cash flow , $ 15.2 million of proceeds from sales of investments , $ 10.8 million of proceeds from issuance of common stock under our employee stock purchase plan , offset by $ 51.0 million used for repurchases of common stock , $ 40.0 million of net repayments under our credit facility , $ 26.7 million used to pay withholding taxes on stock-based awards that vested in the period , $ 25.4 million used for capital expenditures , $ 11.1 million used for payment of contingent consideration and $ 5.0 million used for acquisitions . cash provided by operating activities cash provided by operating activities was $ 134.6 million in 2017 compared to $ 183.2 million in 2016 and $ 179.9 million in 2015 . the decrease in 2017 is primarily due to an increase in bonus and commission payments of approximately $ 33 million , lower cash collections from accounts receivable of $ 27 million ( due to higher 2016 collections of receivables with extended payment terms and a higher subscription mix in 2017 ) , higher interest payments of approximately $ 26 million , and a $ 12 million payment related to a korean tax audit , partially offset by a $ 35 million increase in cash flows from accounts payable and accrued expenses due to renegotiations with vendors , and more effective utilization of available payment terms , $ 18 million of lower restructuring payments and $ 28 million paid in 2016 to resolve the regulatory investigation with respect to our china business .


 Write a concise suspicious activity report of the following text delimited by triple backquotes. Return your response as a formal report which covers the key points highlighting the location,dates,entity names and account holder information in chronological order of the text.
     ```liquidity and capital resources replace_table_token_21_th 42 cash and cash equivalents we invest our cash with highly rated financial institutions and in diversified domestic and international money market mutual funds . cash and cash equivalents include highly liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less . in addition , we hold investments in marketable securities totaling approximately $ 50.3 million with an average maturity of 18 months . at september 30 , 2017 , cash and cash equivalents totaled $ 280.0 million , compared to $ 277.9 million at september 30 , 2016 , reflecting $ 134.6 million in operating cash flow , $ 15.2 million of proceeds from sales of investments , $ 10.8 million of proceeds from issuance of common stock under our employee stock purchase plan , offset by $ 51.0 million used for repurchases of common stock , $ 40.0 million of net repayments under our credit facility , $ 26.7 million used to pay withholding taxes on stock-based awards that vested in the period , $ 25.4 million used for capital expenditures , $ 11.1 million used for payment of contingent consideration and $ 5.0 million used for acquisitions . cash provided by operating activities cash provided by operating activities was $ 134.6 million in 2017 compared to $ 183.2 million in 2016 and $ 179.9 million in 2015 . the decrease in 2017 is primarily due to an increase in bonus and commission payments of approximately $ 33 million , lower cash collections from accounts receivable of $ 27 million ( due to higher 2016 collections of receivables with extended payment terms and a higher subscription mix in 2017 ) , higher interest payments of approximately $ 26 million , and a $ 12 million payment related to a korean tax audit , partially offset by a $ 35 million increase in cash flows from accounts payable and accrued expenses due to renegotiations with vendors , and more effective utilization of available payment terms , $ 18 million of lower restructuring payments and $ 28 million paid in 2016 to resolve the regulatory investigation with respect to our china business .
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 Suspicious Activity Report : we used cash from operations to repurchase $ 51 million of common stock and to repay $ 40 million of borrowings under our credit facility in 2017. at september 30 , 2017 , the balance outstanding under our credit facility was $ 218 million and total debt outstanding was $ 718 million . future expectations , strategies and risks our transition to a subscription model has been a headwind for revenue and earnings in 2017 , the effect of which is moderating as the subscription business matures and we exit the subscription trough . a 18 higher mix of subscription bookings is expected to benefit us over the long term , but results in lower revenue and lower earnings in the near term . our results have been impacted , and we expect will continue to be impacted , by our ability to close large transactions . the amount of bookings and revenue , particularly license and subscriptions , attributable to large transactions , and the number of such transactions , may vary significantly from quarter to quarter based on customer purchasing decisions and macroeconomic conditions . such transactions may have long lead times as they often follow a lengthy product selection and evaluation process and , for existing customers , are influenced by contract expiration cycles . this may cause volatility in our results . as we move into 2018 , our three overriding goals continue to be : sustainable growth our goals for overall growth are predicated on continuing to grow in the iot market and continuing to drive improvements in operational performance in our core cad , plm and slm solutions business . expand subscription through 2014 , the majority of our software licenses were sold as perpetual licenses , under which customers own the software license and revenue is recognized at the time of sale . we began offering subscription licensing for our core solutions group products in 2015 and expanded our subscription program in 2016. under a subscription , customers pay a periodic fee to license our software and access technical support over a specified period of time . as part of our expanded subscription program , we also launched a program for our existing customers to convert their support contracts to subscription contracts . a number of customers converted their support contracts to subscriptions in 2016 and 2017 , and we expect there will be continued opportunities to convert existing support contracts to subscription contracts in 2018 and beyond . given the subscription adoption rates we have seen in the americas and western europe , effective january 1 , 2018 , new software licenses for our core solutions and thingworx solutions will be available only by subscription in the americas and western europe . we plan to continue to offer both perpetual and subscription licenses to customers outside the americas and western europe until such time as we believe a change may be appropriate . this could affect customer purchasing decisions , particularly in the affected regions , as customers may accelerate purchases of perpetual licenses before january 1 , 2018 or , conversely , may delay purchases . cost controls and margin expansion we continue to proactively manage our cost structure and invest in what we believe are high return opportunities in our business . our goal is to drive continued margin expansion over the long term . we expect to deliver continued operating margin expansion in 2018 , and we expect further margin expansion in 2019 and beyond , when we expect we will realize the compounding benefit of our maturing subscription model . 19 results of operations revenue , operating margin , earnings per share and cash flow the following table shows the financial measures that we consider the most significant indicators of the performance of our business . in addition to providing operating income , operating margin , and diluted earnings per share as calculated under generally accepted accounting principles ( “ gaap ” ) , it shows non-gaap operating income , non-gaap operating margin , and non-gaap diluted earnings per share for the reported periods . these non-gaap financial measures exclude fair value adjustments related to acquired deferred revenue , acquired deferred costs , stock-based compensation expense , amortization of acquired intangible assets expense , acquisition-related and pension plan termination costs , restructuring charges , certain identified gains or charges included in non-operating other income ( expense ) and the related tax effects of the preceding items , as well as the tax items identified . these non-gaap financial measures provide investors another view of our operating results that is aligned with management budgets and with performance criteria in our incentive compensation plans . management uses , and investors should use , non-gaap financial measures in conjunction with our gaap results . replace_table_token_2_th ( 1 ) costs and expenses in 2017 included $ 7.9 million of restructuring charges . costs and expenses in 2016 included $ 76.3 million of restructuring charges , a $ 3.2 million legal accrual , and $ 3.5 million of acquisition-related costs . costs and expenses in 2015 included $ 73.2 million of pension plan termination-related costs , $ 43.4 million of restructuring charges , a $ 28.2 million legal accrual , and $ 8.9 million of acquisition-related costs . these restructuring , acquisition-related , pension plan termination and legal accrual costs have been excluded from non-gaap operating income , non-gaap operating margin and non-gaap diluted eps . ( 2 ) income taxes for non-gaap diluted earnings per share reflect the tax effects of non-gaap adjustments which are calculated by applying the applicable tax rate by jurisdiction to the non-gaap adjustments described in non-gaap financial measures , and also exclude certain non-operating income and tax items . story_separator_special_tag million in 2016 compared to $ 7.9 million in 2017 ; and a decrease in professional services costs primarily due to a decrease in headcount as we migrated more service engagements to our partners and we delivered products that required less consulting and training services . the decreases above were partially offset by increases due to : an increase of $ 18.1 million in total cost of license , subscription and support compensation costs primarily driven by increased headcount ; 27 an increase of $ 8.7 million in cloud services hosting costs due to an increase in saas revenue and related expenses and an increase in applications hosted in the cloud that support our it infrastructure . an increase of $ 5.0 million in total research and development compensation costs primarily driven by increased headcount ; and annual merit salary increases . 2016 compared to 2015 costs and expenses in 2016 compared to 2015 decreased primarily as a result of the following : cost savings from restructuring actions in 2016 and 2015 ; acquisition and pension termination-related costs , which were $ 75.4 million lower in 2016 compared to 2015 due to costs associated with terminating our u.s. pension plan which totaled $ 73.2 million ( including a $ 66.3 million settlement loss ) in 2015 ; a $ 28.2 million accrual recorded in 2015 related to an investigation in china ; and foreign currency rates which favorably impacted costs and expenses of 2016 by $ 24.1 million . the decreases above were partially offset by increases due to : cash-based incentive compensation expense , which was higher by $ 30.3 million in 2016 compared to 2015 ( as a result of over performance on subscription mix in 2016 and because 2015 incentive targets were not achieved in full ) ; costs from acquired businesses ( coldlight , vuforia , and kepware added approximately 255 employees at the date of the acquisitions ) ; an increase in stock-based compensation expense of $ 15.8 million in 2016 , compared to 2015 , due in part to a modification of performance-based awards previously granted under our long-term incentive programs ; investments in our iot business ; and annual merit salary increases . cost of license and subscription revenue replace_table_token_8_th our cost of license and subscription includes cost of license , which consists of fixed and variable costs associated with reproducing and distributing software and documentation , as well as royalties paid to third parties for technology embedded in or licensed with our software products , and amortization of intangible assets associated with acquired products , and cost of subscription , which includes our cost of cloud services and software as a service revenue , including hosting fees . costs associated with providing post-contract support such as providing software updates and technical support for both our subscription offerings and our perpetual licenses are included in cost of support revenue . cost of license and subscription revenue as a percent of license and subscription revenue can vary depending on the subscription mix percentage , the product mix sold , the effect of fixed and variable royalties , headcount and the level of amortization of acquired software intangible assets . costs in 2017 compared to 2016 increased primarily as a result of a $ 15.0 million increase in total compensation , benefit and travel expense due to increased headcount , primarily associated with supporting our cloud products , and a $ 3.4 million increase in cloud services hosting costs . costs in 2016 compared to 2015 increased primarily as a result of a $ 5.2 million increase in total compensation , benefit and travel expense due to increased headcount , a $ 4.9 million increase in cloud services hosting costs and $ 1.9 million increase in amortization of acquired purchase software . 28 cost of support revenue replace_table_token_9_th cost of support revenue consists of costs such as salaries , benefits , and computer equipment and facilities associated with customer support and the release of support updates ( including related royalty costs ) associated with providing support for both our perpetual licenses and subscription licenses . costs and expense in 2017 compared to 2016 increased primarily due to an increase of $ 3.1 million ( 5 % ) in total compensation , benefit and travel costs . costs and expense in 2016 compared to 2015 increased primarily due to an increase of $ 3.0 million ( 5 % ) in total compensation , benefit and travel costs . cost of professional services revenue replace_table_token_10_th our cost of professional services revenue includes costs such as salaries , benefits , information technology costs and facilities expenses for our training and consulting personnel , and third-party subcontractor fees . in 2017 compared to 2016 , total compensation , benefit costs and travel expenses decreased by $ 18.8 million . the cost of third-party consulting services was $ 4.7 million lower in 2017 compared to 2016. in 2016 compared to 2015 , total compensation , benefit costs and travel expenses decreased by $ 24.8 million . the cost of third-party consulting services was $ 2.6 million lower in 2016 compared to 2015. as a result of decreases in professional services revenue in 2017 , 2016 and 2015 , we have reduced headcount , resulting in lower compensation-related costs . the decreases in 2017 and 2016 compared to the prior years in the cost of third-party consulting services is a result of our strategy to have our strategic services partners perform services for customers directly , which has decreased revenue and improved services margins . sales and marketing replace_table_token_11_th our sales and marketing expenses primarily include salaries and benefits , sales commissions , advertising and marketing programs , travel , information technology costs and facility expenses . in 2017 compared to 2016 , event costs increased $ 3.1 million due to our liveworx event held in may 2017. our compensation , benefits and travel costs were $ 3.5 million lower in

