Intacct eyes more verticals
Like many of its peers and rivals in the cloud financial management and accounting services space, Intacct is attracting significant investor interest.
The company in February closed a round of $45 million in financing, which includes both venture capital and a debt package. Over the past 10 years, it previously raised approximately $100 million.
The new money will be devoted to deeper analytics and reporting capabilities, as well as encouraging additional vertically focused editions of its services, according to Rob Reid, CEO of the developer, based in San Jose, Calif.
Those strategies sound similar to those espoused by many of the players in the cloud accounting space, but what makes Intacct stand out is its focus on midsize growth organizations, rather than smaller businesses, and its attention to compliance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). "You need these for a loan, or investors, or to help you build your business," Reid said.
Accordingly, Intacct's software includes the sort of multi-ledger accounting features that professionals need but it also focuses on helping link related financial processes, helping cut down on manual exports or duplicate data entry.
The company has approximately 7,300 customers. Many are migrating off desktop accounting software and looking for cloud services that let them access their financial information from virtually anywhere and that also let them share that information more easily with their financial advisors. "We expect that there will be a CPA involved but people want things to be intuitive," Reid said.
The Intacct system handles contract management, revenue recognition processes, project and fund accounting, inventory management, purchasing and many of the other back-office business processes that go into running a company.
Since many of these processes are slightly different depending on quirks on an individual business, Intacct has built up a network of about 120 active ISVs that are developing add-ons as well as approximately 80 VARs that help with migration and customization. Approximately 600 different applications that extend the Intacct platform are available. "An app could be an enhancement or a customization, all the way to someone creating an app specific for their business," Reid said.
Intacct and its partners are focused on several core vertical markets, including software developers, not-for-profit organizations and healthcare companies. Looking forward, the company plans to add addition verticals but it hasn't announced its focus yet, Reid said.
In addition, the company will continue to add analytics features that help managers run reports digging into key performance indicators that can help them assess progress or identify potential financial issues within their operations.
Helping fund these initiatives will be the $45 million recently secured by Intacct, which includes $30 million in venture funding from Battery Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, Costanoa Venture Capital, Emergence Capital, Sigma Partners, Split Rock Partners and Morgan Creek Capital Management. The company has also arranged a $15 million debt package with Silicon Valley Bank.
In its last-reported fiscal quarter ended Dec. 31, 2013, Intacct posted a 40 percent increase in year-over-year customer bookings.
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