Tech news: Accounting tech space sees major deals

August 9, 2024 10:27 AM

Accounting tech space sees major acquisitions this week; Bitwave releases Data Fusion tool for digital assets; TaxValet gains B-corp status; and other accounting tech news.

Accounting tech space sees major acquisitions this week

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Tax solutions provider Vertex announced its acquisition of Germany-based e-invoicing software specialist Ecosio. The terms of the acquisition include an upfront cash payment of $69 million as well as a targeted earn-out of $76 million in cash and $35 million of Vertex shares. The terms are based on Ecosio achieving certain financial performance targets over the next three years, subject to adjustments pursuant to the terms of the purchase agreement. Vertex will utilize cash on hand to fund the upfront cash payment. See our story for more details.

Also, Top 25 firm Cherry Bekaert announced that it has acquired accounting software and cloud services company Kerr Consulting, the 57th largest value added reseller in 2024. Kerr Consulting is a top North American Sage partner and represents the entire suite of Sage products, with an emphasis on industry verticals such as construction, manufacturing, distribution, healthcare and family offices. With this move, Cherry Bekaert has become one of the largest Sage providers in the US. See our story for more details.

Finally, B2B payments software provider Flywire has acquired Invoiced, a SaaS platform for automating the order-to-cash process by managing invoices, communicating with payers, and reconciling payments to their enterprise resource planning systems. Invoiced does this through deep integrations with leading accounting systems and ERPs, including Oracle's NetSuite, Sage Intacct and Microsoft Business Dynamics. Flywire expects Invoiced to add approximately $2 million in revenue with software-like gross margins in FY 2024. While Invoiced has healthy adjusted EBITDA margins, Flywire expects to reinvest the majority of the margin dollars this year to grow the combined business. The combination of Invoiced's AR automation software with Flywire's proprietary global payment network — which supports diverse payment methods in more than 140 currencies across 240 countries and territories around the world — is expected to provide the B2B payments industry with a combined full-suite software and payments solution that streamlines workflows for finance departments.

Bitwave releases Data Fusion tool for digital assets

Digital asset solutions provider Bitwave released its new Data Fusion tool, built for financial data management for digital assets. The tool allows the ability to combine internal sources (like Snowflake) with third-party pricing engines, external data warehouses, and more. Then users can create custom processing actions (like aggregations, exclusions and inclusions) and automatically sync it all to Bitwave for financial reporting and analysis. The software first aggregates data sources from every corner, across internal ledgers, external warehouses, databases, exchanges and more. Then, it processes the data into a clean, usable format that can be further enriched with custom touches, like internal order IDs, pricing data, or pre-tagged transaction info. Finally, users can then integrate their processed data right into Bitwave, and set up automatic syncing on an hourly, daily or weekly basis for complete financial reporting and analysis.

TaxValet gains B-corp status

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Fractional sales tax solution provider TaxValet has achieved B Corp certification. As a B Corp, it's now part of a global community of businesses that meet high social and environmental impact standards. TaxValet scored 91 on the B Impact Assessment, surpassing the required score of 80. This score is based on five impact areas: governance, workers, environment, community and customers. TaxValet particularly excelled in the Workers category — which measures commitment to employees' financial security, health and safety, wellness, career development, and engagement — with a score of 36.5. TaxValet also highlighted its Governance score, which measures ethical practices and transparency, of 18.2, at least partially due to its "Mission Locked" status that integrates its social and environmental commitments into the corporate structure.

Partnerships and integrations

Top 25 Firm CohnReznick announced Tuesday that its digital advisory practice has formed an alliance with payments software provider Tipalti. Through Tipalti's platform, the Top 100 Firm will help its clients improve their global payables processes by implementing accounts payable and mass payment automation, integrating payee portals and establishing fraud prevention measures. (see story for more details) ... Accounting and payroll solutions provider IRIS Software Group and accounting and financial management software company AccountsIQ are partnering on an integrated suite of cloud-based payroll, HR and finance solutions meant to help streamline operations, facilitate cross-departmental collaboration, and make data-driven decisions (see story for more details) ... Top 75 Firm Blue and Co., based in Indiana, and Tennessee-based IT solutions provider Pioneer Technology announced a strategic partnership under the name of Blue Pioneer Consulting. The collaboration focuses primarily on cybersecurity and IT support services to clients, through an approach built around stewardship. Blue Pioneer Consulting offers cybersecurity, IT support and assessments, as well as other technology consulting services. The joint venture will utilize the expertise of more than 50 IT consulting experts, all based in the U.S. and available 24/7 (see story for more details).

New hires and appointments

Ivix, an AI-powered financial crime detection platform, added Stephen Ryan as chief revenue officer along with Andrey Shomer as chief technology officer, Linoy Fradkin as vice president of finance, and Melissa Anderson as vice president of marketing to its executive team. Ryan brings over 30 years of experience in the security, cryptocurrency and payments markets, including as an executive at Mastercard. Shomer is a seasoned technology leader with extensive experience in cybersecurity and R&D. Fradkin is a certified accountant with a rich background in finance and operations within the high-tech sector. Anderson brings over 30 years of marketing expertise, having led global strategies for IBM and various tech startups. … Top 25 firm EisnerAmper announced that partner Sean P. Linton has been named chair of the American Institute of CPAs SOC 2 Working Group. The mission of the SOC 2 Working Group is to establish, maintain and interpret audit standards for SOC 2 engagements as well as preserve the SOC 2 brand, enhance audit quality for SOC 2 reports, and ensure that practitioners have timely answers to their SOC 2 questions or issues. Linton is an audit partner who specializes in SOC examinations, risk assessments and information systems advising and strategy.

Other news

CloudPay, an independent provider of global payroll and payment solutions, announced the closing of a $120 million funding round led by Blue Owl Capital with the participation of existing shareholders Rho Capital Partners, the Olayan Group and Hollyport Capital. The funding further strengthens CloudPay's capital base and provides flexibility for future growth opportunities. The funding will allow strengthening of the customer product and technology solutions such as deploying AI within data management, automating and scaling of processes, and improving connectivity. … Accounting solutions provider Patriot Software has been named "Most Affordable Payroll Solution" by USA Today Blueprint. USA Today Blueprint gave Patriot a 4.7 out of 5-star rating, saying, "For the price, it's hard to beat the simplicity and efficiency Patriot provides its payroll customers." The online newspaper also highlighted a few of Patriot's value-added features such as unlimited payrolls and a free employee portal.