Alight Inc (ALIT) 2023 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, and thank you for holding. My name is Judith, and I will be your conference operator today. Welcome to Alight Third Quarter of 2023 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, today's call is being recorded, and a replay of the call will be available on the Investor Relations section of the company's website.

早安，感謝您的支持。我叫朱迪思，今天我將擔任你們的會議操作員。歡迎參加 Alight 2023 年第三季財報電話會議。 （操作員說明）謹此提醒，今天的電話會議正在錄音，電話會議的重播將在公司網站的投資者關係部分提供。

I would now like to turn it over to Jeremy Cohen, Head of Investor Relations at Alight to introduce today's speakers.

現在我想請 Alight 投資者關係主管 Jeremy Cohen 介紹今天的演講者。

Good morning, and thank you for joining us. Earlier today, the company issued a press release with third quarter 2023 results. A copy of the release can be found in the Investor Relations section of the company's website at investor.alight.com.

早安，感謝您加入我們。今天早些時候，該公司發布了 2023 年第三季業績的新聞稿。新聞稿的副本可在該公司網站 Investor.alight.com 的投資者關係部分找到。

Before we get started, please note that some of the company's discussion today will include forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements due to a variety of factors. These factors are discussed in more detail in the company's filings with the SEC including the company's most recent Form 10-K as such factors may be updated from time to time in the company's periodic filings. The company does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements.

在我們開始之前，請注意，公司今天的一些討論將包含前瞻性陳述。此類前瞻性陳述並非對未來績效的保證。由於多種因素，實際結果可能與前瞻性聲明中明示或暗示的結果有重大差異。這些因素在公司向 SEC 提交的文件（包括公司最新的 10-K 表格）中進行了更詳細的討論，因為這些因素可能會在公司的定期文件中不時更新。該公司不承擔任何更新前瞻性陳述的義務。

Also, during this conference call, the company will be presenting certain non-GAAP financial measures. Reconciliations of the company's historical non-GAAP financial measures to their most directly comparable GAAP financial measures appear in today's earnings press release. On the call from management today are Stephan Scholl, CEO who will provide a business and strategy update; Katie Rooney, Global CFO and COO, who will discuss our financial performance and guidance; and Jeremy Heaton, Operating CFO, who will participate in our question-and-answer session. After their prepared remarks, we will open the call up for questions.

此外，在本次電話會議期間，該公司將介紹某些非公認會計準則財務指標。該公司歷史上的非公認會計原則財務指標與其最直接可比較的公認會計原則財務指標的調節表出現在今天的收益新聞稿中。今天，執行長史蒂芬·紹爾 (Stephan Scholl) 接到了管理層的電話，他將提供業務和策略的最新資訊；全球財務長兼營運長凱蒂·魯尼 (Katie Rooney)，她將討論我們的財務表現和指導；營運財務長傑里米·希頓 (Jeremy Heaton) 將參加我們的問答環節。在他們準備好發言後，我們將開始提問。

I will now hand the call over to Stephan.

我現在將把電話轉給史蒂芬。

Thanks, Jeremy. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us. Nearly 3 years into our transformation journey, we're delivering consistent and durable financial results, reflecting the mission-critical nature of our products, the resilience of our end markets and more importantly, the success of our transformation into a platform company. This quarter, we drove high single-digit revenue growth, double-digit adjusted EBITDA growth, operating cash flow expansion and achieved our second largest quarter ever of BPaaS bookings. At the same time, we are investing in our platform strategy, delivering on our restructuring program and executed our largest quarterly stock buyback to date.

謝謝，傑里米。大家早安，感謝您加入我們。經過近 3 年的轉型之旅，我們提供了一致且持久的財務業績，反映了我們產品的關鍵任務性質、終端市場的彈性，更重要的是，反映了我們向平台公司轉型的成功。本季度，我們實現了高單位數收入成長、兩位數調整後 EBITDA 成長、營運現金流擴張，並實現了有史以來第二大季度的 BPaaS 預訂量。同時，我們正在投資我們的平台策略，實施我們的重組計劃，並執行迄今為止最大規模的季度股票回購。

Turning to the results. Our third quarter included revenue growth of 8.4% and another outstanding quarter from the high-growth category of our business, led by BPaaS solutions, which had revenues increased by 22%. Over the past 3 years, we have prioritized our long-term strategy, shifting the focus from onetime projects into higher quality recurring revenue on our Alight Worklife platform. This is reflected in our $262 million of Q3 BPaaS bookings, representing an increase of 26% year-over-year. In aggregate, we have now booked nearly $2 billion of BPaaS total contract value since 2021, $0.5 billion or over 30% ahead of plan.

轉向結果。我們第三季度的營收成長了 8.4%，這是我們業務高成長類別中又一個表現出色的季度，其中 BPaaS 解決方案的營收成長了 22%。在過去的三年裡，我們優先考慮了長期策略，將重點從一次性專案轉移到 Alight Worklife 平台上更高品質的經常性收入。這反映在我們第三季 2.62 億美元的 BPaaS 預訂中，年增 26%。總的來說，自 2021 年以來，我們已預訂了近 20 億美元的 BPaaS 合約總價值，比計劃提前 5 億美元或超過 30%。

Standardization through our platform strategy also enabled us to drive down our cost of service. For the quarter, adjusted EBITDA was up nearly 19% to $158 million. An year-to-date, operating cash flow increased 25% from the prior year to a record level for Alight since going public. While we delivered great results for the quarter, timing related to project-based revenue as well as the in-year impact from new wins, closing later than expected impacted the quarter. However, we have over 95% of revenue under contract for 2023, $2.7 billion of revenue under contract for 2024 and are $500 million ahead on our 3-year BPaaS bookings target, which enables us to reaffirm our 2023 and midterm guidance. In addition, we are raising our 2023 adjusted EPS guidance range.

透過我們的平台策略實現的標準化也使我們能夠降低服務成本。本季調整後 EBITDA 成長近 19%，達到 1.58 億美元。今年迄今，營運現金流較前一年成長 25%，創 Alight 上市以來新高。雖然我們在本季度取得了出色的業績，但與基於專案的收入相關的時間安排以及新勝利的年內影響、交割晚於預期影響了本季度。然而，我們95% 以上的收入是根據2023 年的合約確定的，27 億美元的收入是根據2024 年的合約確定的，比我們的3 年BPaaS 預訂目標提前了5 億美元，這使我們能夠重申我們的2023 年和中期指導。此外，我們也提高了 2023 年調整後每股盈餘指引範圍。

Turning to product and technology. Our investments are driving a simpler and more effective way to navigate the annual enrollment experience. As of October 25, we are nearly 50% of the way through the process and have seen a tripling in mobile enrollments year-over-year. This is translating into reduced call volumes, which are down 11% over the same period last year. The reduction in call volume is a key element driving long-term profitability as digital care will continue to drive more efficiency and a better experience for our clients. Additionally, we've made great strides integrating the lease management more deeply within the Alight Worklife platform and have added new features to drive better content and decision support.

轉向產品和技術。我們的投資正在推動一種更簡單、更有效的方式來引導年度註冊體驗。截至 10 月 25 日，整個流程已完成近 50%，行動註冊人數較去年同期成長了兩倍。這意味著通話量減少，比去年同期下降了 11%。通話量的減少是推動長期獲利的關鍵因素，因為數位照護將繼續為我們的客戶帶來更高的效率和更好的體驗。此外，我們在將租賃管理更深入地整合到 Alight Worklife 平台中取得了巨大進步，並添加了新功能來推動更好的內容和決策支援。

Our research and client conversations continue to validate that there are gaps in the market around a consumer-grade experience integrated into HR platforms. We have several active client engagements where we're showcasing the powerful combination of leaves with our other administration and engagement offerings and how that can drive significant savings for an employer. We're also excited for how AI is advancing our business, including a number of generative AI use cases underway this year alone. As an example, Alight's AI features are actively driving better outcomes for clients and their employees with personalization emerging as a pivotal tool for enhancing engagement and cost optimization. One Fortune 50 client seeking to boost HSA participation, leveraged a highly efficient AI-driven campaign which resulted in 95% engagement of the eligible population and close to $1 million in employer tax savings.

我們的研究和客戶對話不斷證實，在整合到人力資源平台的消費者級體驗方面，市場存在差距。我們有多個活躍的客戶參與活動，展示休假與其他管理和參與服務的強大組合，以及如何為雇主節省大量費用。我們也對人工智慧如何推動我們的業務感到興奮，包括僅今年就正在進行的許多生成式人工智慧用例。例如，Alight 的人工智慧功能正在積極為客戶及其員工帶來更好的成果，個人化成為增強參與度和成本優化的關鍵工具。一位財富 50 強客戶尋​​求提高 HSA 參與度，利用高效的人工智慧驅動活動，使符合條件的人群參與度達到 95%，並為雇主節省了近 100 萬美元的稅收。

Our product enhancements are differentiating Alight and translating into new wins and expanded relationships that support our future growth. These wins represent a healthy mix of new logo and client expansions across many industries, and our pipeline remains robust. Significant wins this quarter include FedEx, Nielsen IQ, BMW and several Fortune 100 clients. Clients want a digital platform that can be the connective tissue between benefits, payroll and engagement offerings, and we accomplished that by leveraging AI and data analytics to help employees make better decisions. At its core, that is what our platform strategy is producing, a simplified yet comprehensive enterprise offering that can demonstrably improve employee engagement and generate cost savings.

我們的產品增強使 Alight 脫穎而出，並轉化為新的勝利和擴大的關係，支持我們未來的發展。這些勝利代表了新徽標和跨多個行業的客戶擴張的健康組合，並且我們的管道仍然強勁。本季的重大勝利包括 FedEx、Nielsen IQ、BMW 和多家財富 100 強客戶。客戶希望有一個數位平台能夠成為福利、薪資和參與服務之間的結締組織，我們透過利用人工智慧和數據分析來幫助員工做出更好的決策來實現這一目標。從本質上講，這就是我們的平台策略所產生的，一種簡化但全面的企業產品，可以明顯提高員工敬業度並節省成本。

During the quarter, we also made progress simplifying our back-end infrastructure and are on track to deliver on our restructuring program as planned. This includes migrating high-priority applications, including our data lake, which should better enable us to leverage analytics and the latest developments in AI, and deliver $100 million of annual run rate savings when the program is complete in 2024. Finally, let me put into context what our transformational initiatives and investments have meant for the long-term trajectory of Alight.

本季度，我們在簡化後端基礎設施方面也取得了進展，並有望按計劃實現重組計劃。這包括遷移高優先級應用程序，包括我們的資料湖，這應該使我們能夠更好地利用分析和人工智慧的最新發展，並在2024 年該計劃完成時每年節省1 億美元的運行率。最後，讓我說我們的轉型舉措和投資對 Alight 的長期發展軌跡意味著什麼。

In just a few months, we will have successfully concluded our original 3-year plan. The success of BPaaS and our many operational initiatives have laid the groundwork for delivering even more value in the midterm including higher growth through a compelling client value proposition as a result of building our Alight Worklife platform.

再過幾個月，我們將圓滿完成原定的三年計畫。 BPaaS 的成功和我們的許多營運計劃為在中期提供更多價值奠定了基礎，包括透過建立我們的 Alight Worklife 平台帶來的令人信服的客戶價值主張實現更高的成長。

Next, margin expansion. As we move from customization to standardization and simplified decades of tech stack while still offering the all-important personal touch when needed. And finally, enhanced free cash flow generation to reinvest in the business, strengthen our balance sheet and return capital to shareholders. We see the market undergoing a paradigm shift where corporations are looking for a partner to be on the front lines with them to help take costs out while simultaneously providing a better employee experience. As a result of our transformation, we are well positioned to be their partner of choice.

接下來，獲利擴張。隨著我們從客製化轉向標準化，並簡化了數十年的技術堆疊，同時仍然在需要時提供最重要的個人風格。最後，增強自由現金流的產生，以對業務進行再投資，加強我們的資產負債表並將資本返還給股東。我們看到市場正在經歷範式轉變，企業正在尋找合作夥伴與他們一起走在前線，以幫助降低成本，同時提供更好的員工體驗。由於我們的轉型，我們完全有能力成為他們的首選合作夥伴。

With that, Katie, over to you.

凱蒂，接下來就交給你了。

Thank you, Stephan, and good morning, everyone. We showed strength across the Board with our third quarter performance, including robust total revenue, BPaaS revenue, adjusted EBITDA and operating cash flow growth. All while continuing to invest in the business. In addition, we delivered one of our best BPaaS bookings quarters in company history. Starting with our consolidated results. We achieved revenue growth of 8.4%, highlighted by our high-growth category of BPaaS solutions, which advanced 22%. Timing related to project-based revenue as well as the in-year impact from new wins closing later than expected impacted this quarter's revenue growth. Recurring revenue grew 8.3% and comprised over 83% of total revenue.

謝謝你，史蒂芬，大家早安。我們在第三季的業績中展現了全面的實力，包括強勁的總收入、BPaaS 收入、調整後 EBITDA 和營運現金流成長。同時繼續投資業務。此外，我們還實現了該公司歷史上最好的 BPaaS 預訂季度之一。從我們的綜合結果開始。我們的營收成長了 8.4%，其中 BPaaS 解決方案這一高成長類別的營收成長了 22%。與基於專案的收入相關的時間安排以及新合約交割晚於預期的年內影響影響了本季度的收入成長。經常性收入成長 8.3%，佔總收入的 83% 以上。

Adjusted gross profit was up 20%, with significant margin expansion of 340 basis points to 35.3%, driven by productivity savings and higher revenue. Adjusted EBITDA increased 18.8% to $158 million with a margin of 19.4%. This represents a 170 basis point increase from the prior year. Our increasing level of profitability, coupled with working capital improvements are generating stronger cash flow even as we simultaneously execute on our restructuring program.

在生產力節省和收入增加的推動下，調整後毛利增加了 20%，利潤率大幅增加 340 個基點，達到 35.3%。調整後 EBITDA 成長 18.8%，達到 1.58 億美元，利潤率為 19.4%。這比前一年增加了 170 個基點。即使我們同時執行重組計劃，我們的獲利水準不斷提高，加上營運資金的改善，也產生了更強勁的現金流。

Year-to-date, we generated operating cash flow of $251 million, which is $50 million more than the prior year and represents a conversion rate of 54% compared with 48% last year. And as a reminder, spending on our restructuring program will temporarily slow in Q4 as planned during annual enrollment, and we expect to resume activities in the new year with target program completion scheduled during 2024. We expect to start seeing financial benefits in late 2024 with full annual run rate achieved in 2025.

年初至今，我們的營運現金流為 2.51 億美元，比前一年增加 5,000 萬美元，轉換率為 54%，而去年為 48%。提醒一下，我們的重組計劃支出將按年度招生期間的計劃在第四季度暫時放緩，我們預計將在新的一年恢復活動，併計劃在2024 年完成目標計劃。我們預計將在2024 年末開始看到財務效益2025 年實現全年運作率。

Turning to our bookings performance. We delivered record third quarter BPaaS bookings of $262 million, representing growth of 26% year-over-year. Our value proposition of driving better outcomes is resonating with employers and the intensity of conversations remains elevated. We continue to see strong demand for our solutions, particularly in an environment where employers are more acutely looking to reduce costs and achieve better ROI for their HR spend. As I spend more time with clients in my expanded role, this dynamic is becoming more obvious. The C-suite is more engaged in this budget season in addressing macro pressures, but doing so in a way that doesn't sacrifice the employee experience. This is enabling us to build our pipeline with new logo and upgrade opportunities.

轉向我們的預訂表現。我們第三季 BPaaS 預訂金額達到創紀錄的 2.62 億美元，年增 26%。我們推動更好成果的價值主張引起了雇主的共鳴，對話的強度仍然很高。我們繼續看到對我們的解決方案的強勁需求，特別是在雇主更加迫切地尋求降低成本並實現更好的人力資源支出投資回報率的環境中。隨著我在角色的擴展中花更多的時間與客戶打交道，這種動態變得越來越明顯。在這個預算季，最高管理層更多地參與應對宏觀壓力，但這樣做的方式不會犧牲員工體驗。這使我們能夠建立具有新徽標和升級機會的管道。

With that, let me now turn to our segments, starting with Employer Solutions. Third quarter revenue was up 8.7% with recurring revenue up 8.7% as well. Key drivers of growth include overall net commercial activity from upgrades and new wins, volumes and the impact from the ReedGroup acquisition, which closed in December of 2022. There was no incremental impact from [Thrift] this quarter. While we typically see higher upfront costs in Q3, supporting Q4 growth, we drove better profitability due to our productivity initiatives. As a result, third quarter adjusted gross profit was up 21.5% to $260 million, and adjusted gross margin increased 390 basis points to 37.1%.

現在讓我談談我們的細分市場，從雇主解決方案開始。第三季營收成長 8.7%，經常性營收也成長 8.7%。成長的主要驅動因素包括升級和新勝利帶來的整體淨商業活動、銷售以及於 2022 年 12 月完成的 ReedGroup 收購的影響。本季度 [Thrift] 沒有產生增量影響。雖然我們通常會看到第三季的前期成本較高，從而支持第四季度的成長，但由於我們的生產力計劃，我們提高了獲利能力。因此，第三季調整後毛利成長 21.5%，達到 2.6 億美元，調整後毛利率成長 390 個基點，達到 37.1%。

Turning to our Professional Services segment. Third quarter revenue growth accelerated sequentially and was up 10.5% to a record $105 million. This was driven by a nearly 10% increase in project revenue due in part to the implementation of our GE deal and a nearly 13% increase in recurring revenue. On a profitability basis, adjusted gross profit was up 8% from the prior year, with margins impacted slightly by higher personnel costs to support the growth.

轉向我們的專業服務部門。第三季營收成長季增，成長 10.5%，達到創紀錄的 1.05 億美元。這是由於專案收入成長了近 10%，部分原因是我們與 GE 交易的實施，以及經常性收入成長了近 13%。在獲利能力的基礎上，調整後的毛利比去年增加了 8%，利潤率因支持成長的人員成本上升而略有影響。

Turning to the balance sheet. Our quarter end cash and cash equivalents balance was $276 million and total debt was $2.8 billion. We continue to actively manage our debt, which is 84% fixed through 2024 and 60% through 2025. During the quarter, we completed an opportunistic repricing of our 2028 term loan. The result is an improved interest rate of 25 basis points, equating to $6 million of expected annualized interest expense savings.

轉向資產負債表。我們的季末現金和現金等價物餘額為 2.76 億美元，總債務為 28 億美元。我們繼續積極管理我們的債務，到 2024 年固定 84%，到 2025 年固定 60%。在本季度，我們完成了 2028 年定期貸款的機會性重新定價。結果是利率提高了 25 個基點，相當於預期年化利息費用節省 600 萬美元。

We are updating our expected 2023 interest expense to a range of $130 million to $135 million, down from $140 million to $150 million, given market rates and the repricing. Meanwhile, our net leverage ratio continues to improve, and at the end of the quarter was 3.6x, keeping us on track to achieve our midterm net leverage target of approximately 3x. And lastly, we were also active buyers of our stock, repurchasing $26 million worth of shares during the quarter. Our remaining authorization was $48 million at quarter end. Overall, we continue to be disciplined in our capital allocation priorities and on achieving success across our 3 key pillars: for serving a strong balance sheet, reinvesting in growth opportunities and returning capital to shareholders.

鑑於市場利率和重新定價，我們將 2023 年預期利息支出從 1.4 億美元至 1.5 億美元下調至 1.3 億美元至 1.35 億美元。同時，我們的淨槓桿率持續改善，本季末為 3.6 倍，使我們有望實現約 3 倍的中期淨槓桿率目標。最後，我們也是股票的積極買家，在本季回購了價值 2,600 萬美元的股票。截至季末，我們剩餘的授權額為 4,800 萬美元。總體而言，我們繼續嚴格控制資本配置優先事項，並在三大關鍵支柱上取得成功：保持強勁的資產負債表、對成長機會進行再投資以及向股東返還資本。

Turning to our outlook. As we look to finish out the year, we are closely monitoring the macro environment and sales activity of our nonrecurring solutions. As in prior years, Q4 revenue carries a larger contribution from short-term projects, commissions within our retiree health business and professional services, all of which have a shorter sales cycle through the enrollment season. However, with more than 95% of revenue under contract, we are reaffirming our 2023 revenue, adjusted EBITDA and cash flow conversion guidance. We're also raising our adjusted EPS guidance range. Our adjusted EPS is now in the range of $0.65 to $0.69 compared to the prior range of $0.62 to $0.67 or growth of 14% to 21% and primarily reflects the expected decrease in interest expense.

轉向我們的展望。當我們期待今年結束時，我們正在密切監控宏觀環境和我們的非經常性解決方案的銷售活動。與往年一樣，第四季度的收入來自短期計畫、退休人員健康業務的佣金和專業服務，所有這些在招生季節的銷售週期都較短。然而，由於超過 95% 的收入是合約規定的，我們重申 2023 年收入、調整後 EBITDA 和現金流轉換指導。我們也提高了調整後每股盈餘指引範圍。我們調整後的每股盈餘現在在 0.65 美元到 0.69 美元之間，而之前的範圍是 0.62 美元到 0.67 美元，增幅為 14% 到 21%，主要反映了利息支出的預期下降。

Overall, our third quarter results, which included strong growth, great bookings and even better profitability are a reflection of our transformation has been so important. By developing the Alight Worklife platform, we have set a course to continue winning in the market and delivering sustainable and profitable growth. We look forward to building upon the momentum as we deliver a better experience for our clients and their employees.

總體而言，我們第三季的業績，包括強勁的成長、出色的預訂量和更好的獲利能力，都反映了我們的轉型是如此重要。透過開發 Alight Worklife 平台，我們制定了繼續贏得市場並實現永續和獲利成長的路線。我們期待以此為契機，為客戶及其員工提供更好的體驗。

This concludes our prepared remarks, and we will now move into the question-and-answer session. Operator, would you please instruct participants on how to ask questions.

我們準備好的演講到此結束，現在我們將進入問答環節。接線員，請指導參與者如何提問。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from Scott Schoenhaus of KeyBanc Capital Markets.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自 KeyBanc Capital Markets 的 Scott Schoenhaus。

I first wanted to talk about the BPaaS bookings, a nice reacceleration and Stephan, clearly, you talked about kind of being lumpy with being pushed out from 2Q into 3Q. I'm just kind of wondering if you can give more commentary and this is also for I guess, for Katie as well since Katie did talk about the strengthening demand for the product offering and given the macro conditions.

我首先想談談 BPaaS 預訂，一個很好的重新加速，Stephan，顯然，你談到了從第二季度推到第三季度的情況。我只是想知道您是否可以發表更多評論，我想這也是針對凱蒂的，因為凱蒂確實談到了對產品供應的需求增強以及考慮到宏觀條件。

But what are you seeing in terms of the pipeline? Is it more accelerated interest on the international side with global enterprises and sort of -- kind of delayed in signing the deals? Or just kind of give us more color on what you're seeing in your pipeline currently, I know you mentioned it's broad-based in the press release, but just kind of looking for more color here as we approach year-end on the BPaaS bookings.

但您在管道方面看到了什麼？國際方面是否對全球企業產生了更大的興趣，並且在簽署協議方面有所延遲？或者只是給我們更多關於您目前在管道中看到的內容的信息，我知道您在新聞稿中提到過它具有廣泛的基礎，但隨著我們在BPaaS 上臨近年底，我們只是在尋找更多的資訊預訂。

Sure thing. Scott, I hope you feel better. And listen, we've talked about this now for the last few years, which is this best-of-breed to enterprise or the platform is really resonating with our clients. And it has to do with the macro environment, every client, every CEO I talk to is looking for ways to consolidate and simplify and take cost out. And as you all know, the HR realm is the last holdout of that big transformation that so many companies have lived through for the last 20 years around how to deal with clients and their customers that never happened in the employee landscape.

當然可以。史考特，我希望你感覺好一點。聽著，過去幾年我們一直在談論這個問題，這是企業或平台的最佳選擇，確實與我們的客戶產生了共鳴。這與宏觀環境有關，我交談過的每一位客戶、每一位執行長都在尋找整合、簡化和降低成本的方法。眾所周知，人力資源領域是過去 20 年來許多公司圍繞如何與客戶及其客戶打交道而經歷的重大變革的最後一個抵制者，而這在員工領域從未發生過。

So when you see some of our biggest deals, it's where they're coming to us and saying, listen, we're coming out to RFP for some of these niche products or what I would call transactions, but we want to take a broad review and that broader view is a platform approach. So how do you consolidate benefits with navigation, global payroll into one overarching approach. So some of our biggest deals last quarter were exactly in that vein. So that's what's exciting for us. And we're seeing a lot more activity from CEOs and especially CFOs and the CIO ranks that are now spending a lot more time with their client -- with their HR constituents to really spend the effort to help drive that enterprise consolidated type of an approach. So that's right in our wheelhouse for us.

因此，當你看到我們的一些最大的交易時，他們就會來找我們說，聽著，我們正在為其中一些利基產品或我所說的交易徵求 RFP，但我們希望採取廣泛的合作審查和更廣泛的觀點是一種平台方法。那麼，如何將導航、全球薪資的優勢整合到一個整體方法中。因此，我們上季度最大的交易正是出於這種考慮。這就是令我們興奮的地方。我們看到首席執行官，尤其是首席財務官和首席資訊長進行了更多的活動，他們現在花更多的時間與他們的客戶以及他們的人力資源部門一起真正花精力來幫助推動企業整合類型的方法。這就是我們的駕駛室。

Yes. And Scott, I think the only thing I'd add is, you're right, like we named Nielsen IQ in the quarter, which was a fantastic opportunity that the team really did an excellent job landing in terms of Nielsen was going through a merger, obviously, with kind of a big acquisition, and they needed a kind of a global view into the payroll landscape, how that all comes together, right, how they have a better experience, drive down cost. And so I do think there's great demand in that space.

是的。史考特，我想我唯一要補充的是，你是對的，就像我們在本季度命名的尼爾森智商一樣，這是一個絕佳的機會，團隊確實做得非常出色，就尼爾森正在經歷的著陸而言顯然，合併是一次大型收購，他們需要對薪資格局有一種全球視野，了解這一切如何結合在一起，對吧，他們如何擁有更好的體驗，降低成本。所以我確實認為這個領域的需求很大。

And I think maybe one more piece is we've beaten our largest competitors on some of these big competes because we've been able to change the narrative from a best-of-breed rather than just a global payroll against global payroll decision or BenAdmin -- for BenAdmin, so it's because the 2 come together, and we're the only ones who have the 2 that has really been a strategic advantage in our win rates coming up as well.

我認為也許還有一點是我們在一些大型競爭中擊敗了我們最大的競爭對手，因為我們已經能夠改變最佳品種的敘述，而不僅僅是針對全球薪資決策或 BenAdmin 的全球薪資——對於BenAdmin 來說，這是因為這兩個因素結合在一起，而我們是唯一擁有這兩個因素的人，這對我們的勝率也確實具有戰略優勢。

And then my follow-up is on margins. Clearly, a great margin quarter. And Stephan, I thought it was interesting you mentioned about the open enrollment season navigating people towards doing it on their mobile phone rather than a call center and saving money. Is that included in these productivity initiatives? Just curious on the breakdown because that obviously should continue in the fourth quarter for the open enrollment. And just kind of wanted to think about how to frame all these cost initiatives into next year, but great margin performance this quarter.

然後我的後續行動是邊緣化的。顯然，這是一個利潤率很高的季度。史蒂芬，我覺得你提到的開放註冊季節很有趣，引導人們透過手機而不是呼叫中心註冊，這樣可以省錢。這是否包含在這些生產力計劃中？只是對細分感到好奇，因為顯然這種情況應該在第四季度繼續進行公開招生。只是想考慮如何將所有這些成本計劃納入明年，但本季的利潤率表現出色。

Yes. And thank you, Scott. And to your point, again, I just talked about the advantage to customers. The advantage to Alight, as you can see, is the tripling of our mobile usage. You can see enroll again, it's halfway through now. But to see double-digit reduction in our call center calls, I mean that's bending the curve on our cost structure. We've talked about that for years. And that was just never possible. Our headcount always went up for the last 30, 40 years to serve that need and to see it now go down and the needs in terms of resources needed to serve a much larger population than we even had 3 years ago because, as you know, with the major wins we've had. We've added millions of participants to our platform, and we have less people servicing that base than we did a few years back, and that is all to do with the front door experience of Alight Worklife and creating a much better experience. So again, early days, but super good progress for us, and we're super excited about it.

是的。謝謝你，斯科特。就你的觀點而言，我剛才談到了對客戶的優勢。正如您所看到的，Alight 的優勢在於我們的行動使用量增加了兩倍。你可以再次看到註冊，現在已經完成一半了。但看到我們的呼叫中心呼叫量出現兩位數的減少，我的意思是這正在彎曲我們的成本結構曲線。我們已經討論這個問題很多年了。但這是不可能的。在過去的30、40 年裡，為了滿足這一需求，我們的員工人數一直在增加，但現在卻下降了，為比3 年前更多的人口提供服務所需的資源，因為如你所知，以及我們所取得的重大勝利。我們已經在我們的平台上增加了數百萬參與者，但與幾年前相比，為該基礎提供服務的人員減少了，這一切都與 Alight Worklife 的前門體驗以及創造更好的體驗有關。再說一次，雖然還處於早期階段，但對我們來說進展得非常好，我們對此感到非常興奮。

And then maybe, Katie, on.

然後也許，凱蒂，繼續。

Yes. And I think -- I mean, how to think about that is remember, we actually talked about this a year ago where we started to see some of that momentum. You almost have to think a year out, right, because then based on the performance last year, we could staff accordingly this year. Now what we're seeing continued reductions plus, obviously, with our restructuring program, we're also changing the infrastructure in terms of how we staff for peak levels. We have more variability, which will help us going into next year as well. So that is definitely a driver of the continued margin improvement.

是的。我認為 - 我的意思是，如何思考這一點是記住，我們實際上在一年前討論過這個問題，當時我們開始看到一些勢頭。你幾乎必須考慮一年的情況，對吧，因為根據去年的表現，我們今年可以相應地配備人員。現在我們看到持續的裁員，而且顯然，透過我們的重組計劃，我們還在人員配置方面改變了基礎設施，以達到最高水平。我們有更多的可變性，這也將有助於我們進入明年。因此，這絕對是利潤率持續改善的驅動力。

the next question comes from Peter Heckmann of D.A. Davidson.

下一個問題來自 D.A. 的 Peter Heckmann。戴維森。

Could you talk a little bit about your implementation schedules. I know you have some very large logos in the pipeline. Some of those go live in '24, some will go live in '25. Are you feeling like you're on schedule with those? Are you finding the right people to hire and retain they can implement those projects?

您能談談您的實施計畫嗎？我知道你們正在醞釀一些非常大的標誌。其中一些將在 24 年上線，一些將在 25 年上線。你覺得這些事情都照計畫進行嗎？您是否找到了合適的人來僱用和保留他們可以實施這些項目？

Yes. It's a great question, and I think it's super important to what we're driving. I'm going to ask Jeremy to touch on that.

是的。這是一個很好的問題，我認為這對我們的駕駛目標非常重要。我要請傑里米談談這個問題。

Yes, we're seeing great progress in terms of implementations. As we've talked about, GE being a very large deal goes live here at the beginning of 2024 for part of it and fully live in 2025. And just the same technology that Stephan just talked about, that's helping us through the annual enrollment period that the tech infrastructure, the standardization we have in the technology is going to continually allow us to create capacity for more larger deals as well as to go live faster. So we're -- everything is on track that we've talked about, and we're continuing to see, again, acceleration in terms of the implementations of our deals.

是的，我們在實施方面看到了巨大的進展。正如我們所討論的，GE 是一項非常大的交易，將於2024 年初在這裡啟用其中的一部分，並在2025 年全面啟用。正是Stephan 剛才談到的相同技術，它正在幫助我們度過年度註冊期技術基礎設施和技術標準化將持續使我們能夠為更多更大的交易創造能力，並更快地上線。因此，我們所討論的一切都在步入正軌，並且我們將繼續看到我們交易的實施正在加速。

Good. That's good to hear. And it feels as if wage inflation has come off a little bit, but I mean, how are you thinking about the measure of employment cost index relative to your ability to pass through some pricing in 2024?

好的。聽起來還不錯。感覺薪資通膨似乎有所回落，但我的意思是，你如何看待就業成本指數相對於你在 2024 年通過某些定價的能力的衡量標準？

Yes, Pete. I mean -- so you're right. As of September 30, the employment cost index was at 4.5%. So still kind of a small benefit in terms of where we're going, but really also a driver of how we're trying to change our pricing model in terms of -- we've talked a lot about, right, getting value for the services and the investments we're making from a technology perspective while also being clear on the importance of our service delivery capability and really bifurcating both of those. So I think it's obviously still impacts the business, but I think is an opportunity for us to continue to drive value for the investments we're making.

是的，皮特。我的意思是——所以你是對的。截至9月30日，就業成本指數為4.5%。因此，就我們的發展方向而言，這仍然是一個小小的好處，但實際上也是我們如何嘗試改變我們的定價模式的驅動因素——我們已經談論了很多，對吧，獲得價值我們從技術角度進行的服務和投資，同時也清楚我們的服務交付能力的重要性，並真正將兩者分開。因此，我認為這顯然仍然對業務產生影響，但我認為這對我們來說是一個繼續推動我們正在進行的投資價值的機會。

The next question comes from Tien-Tsin Huang of JP Morgan.

下一個問題來自摩根大通的黃天欽。

Just the timing of the in-year revenue that impacted the results in the quarter, did you quantify that? And is that a client side issue just with them being a little more cost conscious, curious how broad-based that was as well?

只是影響本季業績的年內收入的時間點，您是否對其進行了量化？這是客戶方面的問題嗎？只是因為他們更注重成本，好奇這有多麼廣泛的基礎？

Let me -- I'll take that one, Jeremy. So just to clarify, as we've seen the notes this morning, just this was -- we were -- the impact, let's call it, $15 million in the quarter is primarily in our nonrecurring project revenue within Employer Solutions. So very minimal really, as you think about really where our focus is on the high-value Employer Solutions revenue, the recurring revenue, very minimal impact in terms of in-year. But this is more of as we ramp through annual enrollment, that nonrecurring base, which again, is a big driver for us as we look and going into Q4 is really where we saw some of that impact.

讓我——我要那個，傑瑞米。因此，澄清一下，正如我們今天早上看到的說明一樣，這就是——我們——我們稱之為影響，本季度的 1500 萬美元主要來自我們雇主解決方案內的非經常性項目收入。所以真的非常小，當你真正考慮到我們的重點是高價值的雇主解決方案收入、經常性收入時，就年內影響而言，影響非常小。但這更多的是隨著我們每年入學人數的增加，這種非經常性基礎，這對我們來說又是一個很大的推動力，進入第四季度我們確實看到了一些影響。

Once again, on the larger transactions, what drives the recurring revenue base, that's really the focus of the 22% that you saw in the BPaaS revenue growth within the quarter. But again, 95% under contract for the year and have a good plan in front of us and what we can see from a visibility standpoint in terms of getting through 2023 and no impact importantly as well as you're thinking through 2024 in the midterm outlook because once again, $2.7 billion under contract, it's a record for us through the third quarter. And so I feel really great in terms of where we are from a bookings perspective there.

再說一遍，在較大的交易中，推動經常性收入基礎的因素確實是本季 BPaaS 營收成長 22% 的重點。但同樣，今年 95% 的人簽訂了合同，我們面前有一個良好的計劃，從可見性的角度來看，我們可以看到 2023 年的情況，重要的是沒有影響，而且您在中期考慮 2024 年展望，因為合約金額達到27 億美元，這再次創下了我們第三季的記錄。因此，從預訂的角度來看，我對我們的處境感到非常滿意。

And when you talk about 95% of the business under contract at this point, we're at November 1, I would imagine that...

當你談論此時 95% 的業務簽訂合約時，我們是在 11 月 1 日，我想…

As of the end of the third quarter.

截至第三季末。

And so I know that year-end has a little bit more in the way the nonrecurring. Any additional comment on visibility there? And I know based on the range of the outlook, it sounds like it's reasonably visible.

所以我知道年底有更多的非經常性問題。關於那裡的可見性還有什麼其他評論嗎？我知道，根據前景的範圍，聽起來它是相當明顯的。

Correct. Correct. Yes, again, like the shorter sales cycle, as Katie mentioned, so there's really 3 aspects within the fourth quarter, which drive that nonrecurring base, which is the project work within Employer Solutions, our Professional Services Deployments as well as the Retiree Health business. But again, we've got the pipeline. We've got a track record of being able to execute within the fourth quarter. And really, those are the elements for us in terms of reaffirming the '23 guidance.

正確的。正確的。是的，就像凱蒂提到的更短的銷售週期一樣，第四季度確實有3 個方面推動了非經常性基礎，即雇主解決方案內的專案工作、我們的專業服務部署以及退休人員健康業務。但同樣，我們已經有了管道。我們有能夠在第四季內執行的記錄。事實上，這些是我們重申「23」指導方針的要素。

I think one key piece just to pull that out is within Employer Solutions, the high-value ARR type business that has continued to see really good strength. And that's what gives us the confidence into not only Q4, especially but into '24 and our midterm guidance to continue to support that.

我認為，要實現這一目標，關鍵在於雇主解決方案，這是一項高價值的 ARR 類型業務，一直保持著良好的實力。這不僅讓我們對第四季度，特別是對 24 年充滿信心，而且讓我們的中期指導繼續支持這一點。

Right, just a quality side. I get it. So just one more, if you don't mind. I apologize for the third question. Just on the BPaaS bookings side. I know it was asked, but it looks like you need about the same amount you saw in the third quarter to get to midpoint for the full year. So same question on visibility there, and I can't recall how fourth quarter from a seasonality standpoint is important here, including what happened last year in the fourth quarter?

是的，只是品質方面。我得到它。所以，如果你不介意的話，就再來一張吧。我對第三個問題表示歉意。就在 BPaaS 預訂方面。我知道有人問過這個問題，但看起來您需要與第三季度相同的金額才能達到全年的中點。關於可見性的同樣的問題，我不記得從季節性角度來看第四季度在這裡有多重要，包括去年第四季發生了什麼？

Sure. Sure. Yes. So typically, what we've seen is there is a ramp through the second half of the year in terms of bookings. Last year, obviously, we had the large GE transaction, which drove Q4 but again, pipeline is robust for us. We feel great in terms of performance and what we saw in the third quarter, and there's plenty of deals and opportunities that are out there and what we're seeing from an overall demand environment in terms of feeling good -- going into the fourth quarter and where we're at. It's tough to see -- every deal is binary and it can -- days or weeks can determine what goes within the quarter for an actual -- the bookings number itself. Typically, we do see it kind of step up into the fourth quarter. But again, we'll take it deal by deal, but the pipeline is strong.

當然。當然。是的。通常情況下，我們看到下半年的預訂量會呈現上升趨勢。顯然，去年我們進行了大規模的通用電氣交易，這推動了第四季度的發展，但同樣，管道對我們來說很強勁。我們在業績和第三季度看到的情況方面感覺很好，並且有大量的交易和機會，而且我們從整體需求環境中看到的感覺良好 - 進入第四季度以及我們現在的處境。很難看出——每筆交易都是二元的，而且它可以——幾天或幾週可以決定季度內的實際情況——預訂數量本身。通常情況下，我們確實會看到它在第四季度有所進展。但同樣，我們會逐一處理，但管道很強大。

Yes, the price is strong U.S. domestically and internationally. So I think it's a good -- what we're seeing is a good cross-section of strong pipeline around the world. And what I think is exciting for us, Tien-Tsin, is again, you know our footprint, right? We deal with a lot of large scale Global 1,000 clients. And what's exciting to see at Board level and CEO level is a continued trend towards saying stopping the rogue spending by division or by department or by geography. So you're seeing a lot of senior executives saying, stop the U.S. making their own decisions or international.

是的，美國國內和國際的價格都很堅挺。所以我認為這是一個很好的——我們所看到的是世界各地強大管道的良好橫截面。我認為對我們天進來說最令人興奮的是，你知道我們的足跡，對吧？我們與許多大型全球 1,000 家客戶打交道。令人興奮的是，在董事會和執行長層面上，我們看到一種持續的趨勢，即按部門或按地區制止流氓支出。所以你會看到很多高階主管說，阻止美國做出自己的決定或國際決策。

So we're playing that real strength into the more enterprise platform consolidated sales campaign, which plays to our strength because as you know, most of our competitors can't really do a lot of international capability like we can. So that's our strength. The harder part, of course, on that is as Jeremy just said, these are lumpy and these are really big deals, and it takes a lot of the individuals, not just the CHRO and the divisional department involved. You now have CFO and CIO and CEO in many cases, heavily involved, but the pipeline is stronger than we've seen in a long time.

因此，我們正在將這種真正的優勢融入更多企業平台的整合銷售活動中，這發揮了我們的優勢，因為如您所知，我們的大多數競爭對手無法像我們一樣真正具備很多國際能力。這就是我們的優勢。當然，更困難的部分是，正如傑里米剛才所說，這些都是不穩定的，而且這些都是非常大的交易，並且需要很多人，而不僅僅是涉及的首席人力資源官和部門。現在在許多情況下都有財務長、資訊長和執行長的大力參與，但管道比我們長期以來看到的更強大。

The next question comes from Kyle Peterson of Needham & Company.

下一個問題來自 Needham & Company 的 Kyle Peterson。

Wanted to touch and surround on macro. Obviously, good to see strong bookings quarter. But maybe if you could just touch on like -- maybe how macro is kind of factoring into whether it's client conversations or time line to get some of these bookings across the finish line? Any more color as to kind of how that's playing into quiet decision-making would be helpful?

想要在宏觀上觸摸和包圍。顯然，很高興看到季度預訂量強勁。但也許你可以談談——也許宏觀因素是如何影響客戶對話或完成某些預訂的時間表的？關於如何影響安靜決策的更多顏色會有所幫助嗎？

I think we haven't seen a significant change in the demand environment is what I'd say overall, you kind of heard that in both Jeremy and Stephan's comments earlier. There's a continued need and I said it in some of my remarks earlier as well that we're seeing with the C-suite, especially going into budget season next year that they are taking, right, kind of a full broader look at their spend, at the employee experience, how do we continue to improve that while also being conscious of the outcomes they need to drive, and that's a real opportunity for us. So we're spending a lot of time with making and improving those use cases that enable our clients to move.

我認為總體而言，我們還沒有看到需求環境發生重大變化，您在傑里米和史蒂芬之前的評論中都聽到了這一點。有持續的需求，我在早些時候的一些言論中也說過，我們看到最高管理層，特別是進入明年的預算季節，他們正在對自己的支出進行更全面的審視在員工體驗方面，我們如何繼續改進，同時意識到他們需要推動的成果，這對我們來說是一個真正的機會。因此，我們花費了大量時間來製定和改進那些使我們的客戶能夠移動的用例。

So these are tougher conversations. You've seen our sales cycle is longer. But in terms of overall demand, kind of the large deals we see in the pipeline, those continue to build. It's now about execution and getting them over the line.

所以這些都是更艱難的對話。您已經看到我們的銷售週期更長。但就整體需求而言，我們在管道中看到的大型交易仍在繼續增加。現在的重點是執行並讓他們越過界限。

And maybe, Kyle, I mean, I've said a lot of it to tension earlier, but maybe a different element to it is -- I had a CEO dinner a couple of weeks ago. And what was interesting how one CEO of a large company framed it up and says, "Listen, I spend about $300 million of administrative systems spend across Workday and Alight and the vendor community. " But that $300 million spend actually equals $2 billion of impact to my company. That's the TAM we're dealing with. When you start thinking about employee engagement, the cost of employees, it's claims data, attrition data, most of our clients are -- that cost begins with [beat]. And so if you're thinking about solving that $300 million problem. That's more transaction oriented. The platform approach is what solves the $2 billion problem.

也許，凱爾，我的意思是，我早些時候已經說過很多話來緩解緊張情緒，但也許其中一個不同的因素是——幾週前我參加了一次首席執行官晚宴。有趣的是，一家大公司的一位CEO 是這樣表述的：「聽著，我在Workday 和Alight 以及供應商社群的管理系統上花費了大約3 億美元。」但這3 億美元的支出實際上相當於20 億美元的影響到我的公司。這就是我們正在處理的 TAM。當你開始考慮員工敬業度、員工成本、索賠數據、人員流失數據時，我們的大多數客戶都是——成本從[beat]開始。因此，如果您正在考慮解決 3 億美元的問題。這更加面向交易。平台方法解決了 20 億美元的問題。

So we're connecting the dots a lot better for a CEO on where is your spend going? Why is the attrition happening? A lot of our clients are dealing with really big attrition in their first year of having employees on board, why is that? And the category of well-being and benefits and support is a big topic that's kind of not so clear to a CEO. So it's really solving that $2 billion problem has been really exciting for us because, again, it puts us in a unique position because of our capability to bring so much of the content to bear, but do it in the context of Alight Worklife. And I think that's been what's unique for us.

因此，我們可以更好地幫助執行長了解您的支出去了哪裡？為什麼會出現磨損？我們的許多客戶在僱用員工的第一年都面臨巨大的人員流失，這是為什麼呢？福祉、福利和支持是一個大話題，但執行長卻不太清楚。因此，它真正解決了20 億美元的問題，這對我們來說非常令人興奮，因為它再次使我們處於獨特的地位，因為我們有能力帶來如此多的內容，但在Alight Worklife 的背景下做到這一點。我認為這對我們來說是獨一無二的。

Got it. That's really helpful color. Just a follow-up on kind of use of cash here. Great to see you guys stepped up the buyback a little bit in third quarter, but how should we think about how you guys are balancing whether it's the buyback and what the stock, where it is? Or has the M&A pipeline and how are you balancing those opportunities?

知道了。這真是有用的顏色。這裡只是現金使用方式的後續討論。很高興看到你們在第三季加大了回購力度，但我們應該如何考慮你們如何平衡回購和股票是什麼、在哪裡？或有併購管道嗎？您如何平衡這些機會？

We're looking at all, as we always do, right? And we're taking a return on capital approach as we think about the best opportunities for us. You saw in the quarter that not only did we strengthen the balance sheet with repricing our debt, we obviously bought back shares more aggressively than we have in any quarter. And at the same time, we will continue to look at investing into the business. That's a key priority for us, but we know we have to get that trade-off right. And we've obviously been very disciplined this year, as you've seen from an M&A perspective given where valuations sit and what we think we can do in terms of partnerships and kind of some of the organic builds we're doing across our product pipeline. So we'll continue to focus on getting that balance right and coming at it from a return perspective.

我們一如既往地專注於一切，對嗎？當我們考慮對我們來說最好的機會時，我們正在採取資本回報率的方法。您在本季看到，我們不僅透過重新定價債務來加強資產負債表，而且顯然我們比任何季度都更積極地回購股票。同時，我們將繼續考慮對該業務進行投資。這是我們的首要任務，但我們知道我們必須做出正確的權衡。今年我們顯然非常自律，正如你從併購的角度看到的那樣，考慮到估值的位置以及我們認為我們在合作夥伴關係方面可以做的事情以及我們在產品中所做的一些有機構建管道。因此，我們將繼續專注於實現這種平衡，並從回報的角度來實現這一平衡。

Our next question comes from Pete Christiansen of Citi.

我們的下一個問題來自花旗銀行的皮特·克里斯蒂安森。

We're actually getting a bunch of questions. I think it's really the one gap at least versus consensus estimates was on the recurring ES recurring revenue side. I realize it was a tough comp, but it did decline sequentially. Just was wondering if you could provide a bit more context on the performance there. And then as my follow-up, I know Stephan, you called out some interesting stats on the enrollment season so far certainly on the operating side, but just wondering if you had any early color on benefit attachment rate and any changes there?

我們實際上收到了很多問題。我認為，至少與共識估計相比，這確實是經常性 ES 經常性收入的一個差距。我意識到這是一個艱難的競爭，但它確實連續下降。只是想知道您是否可以提供更多有關那裡表演的背景資訊。然後，作為我的後續行動，我知道史蒂芬，您提到了到目前為止招生季的一些有趣的統計數據，當然是在運營方面，但只是想知道您是否對福利附加率有任何早期的了解以及那裡的任何變化？

This is Jeremy. I'll take the first part of your question. So just to clarify again on the revenue question, within Employer Solutions, what we saw was we were a bit lighter on the nonrecurring side of it, just as you think about expectations and what you're seeing and possibly getting notes in on is in the nonrecurring project revenue business sitting within employer solutions. So that's the important piece there.

這是傑里米。我將回答你問題的第一部分。因此，為了再次澄清收入問題，在雇主解決方案中，我們看到的是，我們在非經常性方面稍微輕一些，就像您考慮期望以及您所看到的和可能得到的註釋一樣雇主解決方案中的非經常性項目收入業務。這就是其中重要的部分。

Sequentially, again, what we talked about, right, is just in the plan that we had this year was growth year-over-year was front-end loaded, driven by the thrift contract which had its 1-year anniversary last quarter. And so that's the driver of sequential change, but again, all within our plan and internal expectations and part of the guidance that we gave for the year. Is that helpful?

接下來，我們再次討論的是，我們今年的計劃是，在上個季度迎來一周年紀念日的儲蓄合約的推動下，同比增長是前端加載的。因此，這是連續變化的驅動力，但同樣，所有這些都在我們的計劃和內部預期之內，也是我們今年給出的指導的一部分。有幫助嗎？

Yes. Thank you.

是的。謝謝。

And then just -- because I said a lot -- I'm not sure I fully understand the second question. Say it again, benefits attach, I'm not sure understood that part?

然後只是 - 因為我說了很多 - 我不確定我是否完全理解第二個問題。再說一遍，福利附上，不知道你明白那部分嗎？

Sure, yes. So I mean, obviously, the 50% through the enrollment season. You called out some neat things on the operating side, reduced call volumes, so on and so forth. Just curious if you're seeing any other changes, at least on, I guess, the revenue side with benefit attachment rates, some of the other payroll providers have called out weaker health insurance attachment and those types of things. Perhaps related to inflation, those types of things. Just curious if there's any takeaways that you've noticed already from the enrollment season so far?

當然，是的。顯然，我的意思是，整個招生季的 50%。你在操作方面提出了一些巧妙的事情，減少了通話量，等等。只是好奇您是否看到任何其他變化，至少在我猜，在福利附加率的收入方面，其他一些工資提供者已經指出了較弱的健康保險附加和此類事情。也許與通貨膨脹之類的事情有關。只是想知道到目前為止您在招生季中是否已經注意到任何要點？

Yes. I think what the tripling of mobile really speaks to taking something that's really complicated. Listen, we're all employees at the end of the day, right? So when you log in, this is not intuitively the last 30, 40 years in an easy experience. My goal and the team's goal here with product engineering has been to really simplify the experience. So maybe to your point, if I'm answering this the right way, let me know, but the tripling of mobile use and the ability to have our call center reduction by double digits speaks to now making that experience a much more intuitive, easier experience for employees.

是的。我認為行動裝置數量的增加確實意味著要處理一些非常複雜的事情。聽著，我們歸根究底都是員工，對吧？所以當你登入時，直覺上這並不是過去 30、40 年的輕鬆體驗。我和團隊在產品工程上的目標是真正簡化體驗。因此，也許就您的觀點而言，如果我以正確的方式回答這個問題，請告訴我，但是移動設備使用量增加了三倍，並且呼叫中心數量減少了兩位數，這說明現在的體驗變得更直覺、更輕鬆。提供員工經驗。

That has to be the goal because our point of -- our platform is engaging these employees not on an annualized basis, but on a weekly basis or a daily basis, when we start connecting more of the data sets across the clinical elements, the payroll elements, the retirement components, that's the value of our platform. Our goal is not to make just BenAdmin a simpler and better experience. It's making it that, but it's connecting the dots across a multitude of different transactions. So it's a fulsome experience for an employee because remember, our #1 objective as a company is to help employees keep them healthy and financially secure.

這必須是我們的目標，因為我們的平台不是以年度為基礎，而是以每週或每天為基礎來吸引這些員工，當我們開始連接更多跨臨床要素、工資單的數據集時元素，退休組件，這就是我們平台的價值。我們的目標不僅僅是讓 BenAdmin 成為更簡單、更好的體驗。它正在做到這一點，但它正在將眾多不同交易中的點連接起來。因此，這對員工來說是一次充實的經歷，因為請記住，作為一家公司，我們的首要目標是幫助員工保持健康和財務安全。

And to do that, you need to aggregate all the data and you need to be able to engage employees on a regular basis, and that has to be a beautiful, easy and simple experience. It has to be a consumer-grade experience. So the proof points of what you see now in the stats I just mentioned. And you're seeing the impact of that already in the 340 basis points of adjusted gross profit increase is largely because we need less people then. And it is a more technology-oriented capability. So I hope it's a long answer, but I hope I answered what you're looking for there.

為此，您需要匯總所有數據，並且需要能夠定期吸引員工，這必須是一種美妙、輕鬆且簡單的體驗。它必須是消費者級的體驗。所以你現在在我剛才提到的統計數據中看到的證據。您會看到，調整後毛利增加了 340 個基點，這很大程度上是因為我們需要的人員減少了。而且是一種更以技術為導向的能力。所以我希望這是一個很長的答案，但我希望我能回答你在那裡尋找的東西。

Our next question comes from Heather Balsky of Bank of America.

我們的下一個問題來自美國銀行的希瑟‧巴爾斯基。

This is (inaudible) on for Heather Balsky. I guess my first question would be, given where product revenue is now, how much visibility do you have into that? And how should we be thinking about that going into 2024 with the beginning the rollout of GE?

這是希瑟·巴爾斯基（Heather Balsky）的（聽不清楚）。我想我的第一個問題是，考慮到目前產品收入的情況，您對此有多少了解？進入 2024 年，隨著 GE 開始推出，我們該如何考慮這一點？

Yes. I mean I think we've all hit it here a little bit, which is -- and I'm not sure why it needs to be clarified so much based on what's out there. But the high-value segments of our business, which is the recurring business process as a service, so the BPaaS components, which show up in Employer Solutions is strong, and we feel really good about the high-quality book of business and that's what feeds us into not only finishing '23, but more importantly, for everybody as investors, they all want to understand, obviously, what's the midterm continue to look like. Our midterm guidance is strong because of that 26% BPaaS bookings, 22% BPaaS revenue growth.

是的。我的意思是，我認為我們都已經觸及了一點，那就是——我不確定為什麼需要根據現有的情況進行如此多的澄清。但是我們業務的高價值部分，即重複出現的業務流程即服務，因此雇主解決方案中顯示的 BPaaS 組件很強大，我們對高品質的業務手冊感到非常滿意，這就是不僅讓我們結束了23 年，更重要的是，對於每個投資者來說，他們都想了解，顯然，中期繼續是什麼樣子。我們的中期指引非常強勁，因為 BPaaS 預訂量成長了 26%，BPaaS 收入成長了 22%。

The air pocket, if you want to call it anywhere, is $15 million of kind of lower value onetime business that is in segments that do not really have a lot of impact in the '24 through '26 midterm guidance. So even though some of that revenue shows up in Employer Solutions, it still is that onetime category within Employer Solutions versus the higher category recurring revenue. So that's what gives us the confidence in '24 and beyond.

空氣袋，如果你想在任何地方稱呼它的話，是一種價值1500 萬美元的低價值一次性業務，其所在的細分市場對24 世紀到26 世紀的中期指導並沒有真正產生很大的影響。因此，儘管其中一些收入出現在雇主解決方案中，但與更高類別的經常性收入相比，它仍然是雇主解決方案中的一次性類別。這就是我們對 24 年及以後充滿信心的原因。

Okay. And then following up, how should we think about pricing given the new modules coming out semiannually? How should we think about pricing going into 2024?

好的。接下來，考慮到每半年推出一次的新模組，我們該如何考慮定價？我們該如何考慮 2024 年的定價？

Sure. So from a pricing standpoint, so we are out to market with the model that we've talked about which has been well received and allows us to monetize as you think about the 2 rollouts of new technology from a product standpoint each year. So it gives us an ability to monetize that in. Of course, it will take time over the life of the renewal cycles that we have in the business for that to take hold.

當然。因此，從定價的角度來看，我們將我們已經討論過的模型推向市場，該模型受到了好評，並且使我們能夠實現貨幣化，就像你從產品的角度考慮每年推出的兩次新技術一樣。因此，它使我們有能力將其貨幣化。當然，我們需要在業務更新周期的整個生命週期中花費一段時間才能實現這一點。

But it is a part of what we see as we look in the midterm outlook, both on revenue and then how we think about that specific SKU level standardization, which is driving what you're seeing already today in some of the margin profile and then the expectations, although we haven't given guidance for next year of what we expect to see. So it's going very well and will continue to drive. But again, over a period of time for us.

但這是我們在中期展望中所看到的一部分，包括收入以及我們如何看待特定的 SKU 水平標準化，這正在推動您今天在一些利潤狀況中看到的情況，然後儘管我們還沒有給出明年的預期指引。所以一切進展順利，並將繼續行駛。但對我們來說，又過了一段時間。

Ladies and gentlemen, we have reached the end of question-and-answer session. I will now hand over to Stephan Scholl for his remarks.

女士們、先生們，問答環節已經結束。現在請史蒂芬·紹爾發表演說。

Thanks, everybody. I really appreciate you all joining us today, and we look forward to building on our momentum and finishing the year strong. So I look forward to seeing you all in the future. Thank you.

謝謝大家。我非常感謝大家今天加入我們，我們期待繼續保持我們的勢頭，並以強勁的勢頭結束這一年。所以我期待將來見到大家。謝謝。

Thank you, sir. Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes today's event. Thank you for attending, and you may now disconnect your lines.

謝謝你，先生。女士們、先生們，今天的活動到此結束。感謝您的出席，您現在可以斷開線路了。