IRIS Software Group has agreed to acquire KashFlow, the cloud-based bookkeeping software developer.
With a joint subscriber base of more than 60,000 accountancy firms and SMEs across the UK, the combined business has a strong foot in the market in supplying cloud-based accountancy, payroll and bookkeeping solutions to SMEs and accountants.
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
KashFlow was founded in 2006 by Duane Jackson, and the company has pioneered the development and delivery of cloud-based bookkeeping software-as-a-service (SaaS).
KashFlow will provide IRIS with ‘enhanced’ domain knowledge in the cloud-based bookkeeping sector, whilst KashFlow will receive the IRIS’s nationwide sales, marketing and support teams. This will enable it to bring its products to a wider audience, including 30,000 SMEs that already use IRIS payroll solutions, and half of all UK accountancy practices that rely on IRIS.
Phill Robinson, CEO of IRIS Software Group, said: "I am thrilled to announce that the KashFlow team will become part of the wider IRIS Software Group, since there is so much we can achieve together for the millions of SMEs who wrestle every day with their payroll, bookkeeping and accountancy needs. KashFlow’s superb cloud services are the perfect fit with our existing suite of products and I am confident that this will enable IRIS to strengthen its leading position in cloud software for UK SMEs and accountancy firms."
Duane Jackson, founder and CEO of KashFlow added: "IRIS clearly understands the importance of the cloud and the benefits it can bring to small business owners. Being part of the wider IRIS Software Group not only gives us direct access to a significant section of the UK accountancy and SME sector but it also makes us part of a wider suite of cloud offerings.
"This will help us deliver on our vision of further automating and simplifying the process of running a small business, enabling entrepreneurs to cut through the red tape and get on with doing what they do best: winning clients and growing their businesses. Around half of all UK accountancy firms already use IRIS to run their business, now they will be able to collaborate with their clients through tight integration with the KashFlow cloud bookkeeping system."
Lord Young of Graffham, KashFlow’s Chairman and a founder investor in the business, added: "I am really pleased for Duane and his team. When I backed the business seven years ago I could see they were offering something truly revolutionary to small businesses. By combining with IRIS they can now take their products to the wider world, with all the marketing and technical support the larger business can bring."
IRIS will continue to provide its current IRIS OpenBooks product, which is supplied through a partnership with FreeAgent, to its existing customers but expects to provide even deeper levels of functionality for accountants and SMEs in the future through the close tie-in between the IRIS Accountancy Suite and KashFlow bookkeeping in the cloud.
