1. ERGO Comps, LLC
O: 281.756.7178
www.ERGOcomps.com
Backoffice Administration & FaaS Industry Deals Update
YE 2019 summary update
Deal multiples remain consistent with bifurcation based on size,
industry focus, quality of contracts, and industry model type between
professional services vs outsourcing vs FaaS vs FinTech multiples
2. ERGO Comps, LLC
O: 281.756.7178
www.ERGOcomps.com
Industry Updates
Funding M&A
Top 10 Funded B2B Categories
Capital funding for companies with USA HQs as of Dec 20191
Funding over the past few years continues to trend positively
propelled by emerging technologies and capitalizing on newer
cloud computing business models.
2019 funding decreased from the previous two years.
o In 2019 YTD, more than 7,846 firms were funded
across the USA for a total of $213.2B in capital
invested versus
o In 2018, 11,229 firms funded for a total of
$234.4B, compared to
o In 2017, 10,849 deals totaling $184.2B
In 2019, more than $83B invested in the USA alone
In 2019 YTD, 203 USA startups that were founded in 2019
were funded
2019 Top 10 B2B Categories for Acquisition
Industry categories with the most acquisition deals for companies
with USA HQs as of December 2019
4,909 acquisitions in 2019, versus an average of 4,300 per
year over the previous ten years
1 Source: Crunchbase.com. Overlap across categories and industries exists. This list is not
intended to be exhaustive but merely illustrative. The data excludes consumer and B2C.
3. ERGO Comps, LLC
O: 281.756.7178
www.ERGOcomps.com
Industry Deals Snapshot
Subscale deals <$20m in annual revenues across backoffice, accounting, bookkeeping
Illustrative subscale deals reflect <0.5X to 4.3X revenue multiple
2019 – Indinero acquires mAccounting, outsourced accounting and CFO services to SMBs. 0.5x to 1.5x.
“We’ve always felt like the accounting firm that wanted to be a tech company,”
Combines technology with full-stack finance expertise to deliver outsourced accounting & tax.
2019 - CBIZ (NYSE: CBIZ) acquires The Wenner Group (outsourced F&A CPA with 14 EE and $2.4m revenues).
2018 – Cardiff Lexington acquires Platinum Tax Defenders for $2.13m, at 0.68x EV/revenue.
2017 – Accretive Solutions acquired by RGP – Resources Global Professionals, FAO acquired for $19.4m (500 EE, <1X Rev, 4X EBITDA).
2017 – BG Finance & Accounting acquires SmartResources for $8m, 0.6x EV/revenue.
2017 – Gee Group acquires SMI Companies for $86m at 0.8x EV/revenue.
2018 - Alight acquired Carlson Management Consulting (Sage Intacct & AdaptiveInsights partner) with $5.6m in annual revenues and 34 FTE).
2018 – InfoSys Management acquired by SWK Technologies. Reseller of SAGE and Acumatica solutions acquired for $1.7M.
2018 – AcctTwo acquires Leap The Pond ($3.7m, 16 EE).
2016 – RealPage acquires NWP Services provider of backoffice services for $68m at 11.3x EBITDA, 1.2X revenues.
2015 – Willis & Walsh CPAs acquired for .77X EV/Sales, 4.4X SDE and EV/EBITDA multiple on $1.042m in total sales.
2013 - Control Solutions acquired by Staffing 360 (NASD: STAFF) for 0.2x EV/sales and 13.2X EBITDA at $7.24m sales.
2005 – Carpathia Financial Services LLC consulting & staffing acquired for $26m by Chicago Growth Partners LLC, via Peppertree Capital.
Subscale Deals EV Multiple Ranges
FaaS valued at 1.25x to 2.5x versus
Professional Services valued at 0.5x to 1x Ev/Sales multiple for subscale deals
based on 251 deals between 2017 and 2019
Premium paid for scaled assets and industry leaders
4. ERGO Comps, LLC
O: 281.756.7178
www.ERGOcomps.com
Platform Deal Leaders
Companies with multiple M&A acquisitions
FIRM About Deals Snapshot
AcctTwo [$2m, multiple]
2018- acquired Leap the
Pond
$134k Rev/FTE
2018 – acquired LeapThePond (Intacct consolidation, global
expansion)
Addison Group [Odyssey Investment
Partners]
Chicago IL HQ
3+ deals
$354k Rev/FTE
2019 – acquired DLC, F&A
2017 – acquired Bridgepoint Consulting, Texas consulting firm.
Deloitte NYC HQ, Global
Founded 1845
10,000+ EE
39+ acquisitions
2018 – acquires Legacy Advantage, cloud bookkeeping in Western
Canada, adding 20 professionals.
Indinero [$9.9m]
Portland OR HQ
20k customers
150 LinkedIn EE
2019 – acquired MAccounting
2018 – acquired TempCFO
KPMG Spark NJ GQ + Global
10,000+ EE
Founded 1987, KPMG
Spark launched Dec 2018
20+ deals
2017 – KPMG acquires Bookly, tech platform for cash-basis
accoutnign for small business (Salt Lake City Utah)
Right
Networks
[BV Investment Partners]
Boston MA HQ
Founded 2002
150k customers (150k
users per LinkedIn)
200 LinkedIn EE
Leading QB Hosting
provider
3+ deals focused on QBO, MSFT
2018 – acquires Propelware, eCommerce and CRM connector for
QBO
2018 – acquires Transaction Pro, automation for QBO
2017 – acquires Xcentric, IT solutions for accounting firms
RKL [private]
PA HQ
450 USA professionals
100 LID EE
Accounting firm RKL
2018 – acquired 50 person CPA firm Padden, Guerrini
2016 – acquires SAGE partner Baesis, adding 8 people in MA
2015 – acquires SAGE partner Accuvar, adding 12 employees in CA
and 170 SAGE customers
VACO [Olympus Partners]
12+ deals
Founded 2003
1k FTE, 4500 consultants,
40 global markets
$82k Rev/FTE
2019 – acquired MorganFranklin Consulting, DC HQ + national F&A
(Kirkland Ellis),
2019 – acquired Aventine Hill, Texas F&A.
2017 – acquired Lannick Group, Toronto F&A
2016 – acquired Richmond VA Momentum Resources
5. ERGO Comps, LLC
O: 281.756.7178
www.ERGOcomps.com
Funded Players
Targeting small business
Firm Stats About
Backoffice.co [$1.8m, Series]
West Palm Beach FL HQ
<1k customers
16 Linkedin EE
Bookkeeping, accounting & Finance suite
The easiest way for businesses to manage their
accounting & finance. Only Back Office gives you a full
accounting & finance suite that allows your business to
grow stress free.
Bench [$53m]
Vancouver Canada HQ
Thousands of customers
300 LinkedIn EE
Online bookkeeping for your small business
Join thousands of small business who trust Bench – try is
for free one month bookkeeping + financial statements.
Get a professional at a price you can afford, with
powerful fianncial reporting, and zero learning curve
Bookkeeper360 [$1m]
NYC HQ 30 FTE $85k Rev/FTE
Xero Accounting & Bookkeeper solution
Running your business just got easier, accounting and
advisory solutions tailored just for you
Botkeeper [$22.5m]
Boston MA HQ
Thousands of customers
148 LinkedIn EE
Automated Bookkeeping with a Human Touch
The Future ofg Bookeeping
Ceterus [$20m, multiple]
Charleston SC HQ
1k+ customers
125 LinkedIn EE
2017 – acquires Sandwich Math
Accounting & Benchmarked Reporting
An acocunting solution built to empower you
Consero [$55m, BV]
TX HQ + MA
$200k Rev/FTE
High Performance Finance
Financial clarity and efficicny made easy. Beyond
outsourced accoutning for growing companies
Kashoo [$40m]
Vancouver Canada HQ
NA customers, but most
downloaded accounting app
on Apple
15 LinkedIn EE
Automated Accounting Software for Small Business
Pilot [$58.3m, Index Ventures]
San Fran CA HQ
NA customers (263 Gusto
clients)
96 LinkedIn EE
Startup bookkeeping service
Pilot takes care of your bookkeeping from start to finish
so you can focus 100% on making your business suceed.
Get your books right with Pilot.
Roger.ai [$7.4m]
Denmark HQ, 51 LID EE
Stop accounting, start contorilling
Automate your finance tasks
ScaleFactor [$43m] $62k Rev/FTE
Austin, TX HQ
2018 stats / customers
220 LinkedIn EE
Your Essentail Busienss OS
Accounting and fiancnail software to power your
business
Signature
Analytics
[$9m, Tide Rock Holdings]
CA HQ
$134k Rev/FTE
Outsourced accounting & financial services
Your poartner for growth. We go beyond the numbers to
help you improve performance and achieve your goals.
VIC.AI [$12.7m], NYC HQ, founded
2016,. 27 LID EE
The AI platform for Accounting Firms and Enterprise Finance
Departmetns
Xendoo [$4.7m]
FL HQ
22 LID EE
fin-tech company that provides monthly subscription
bookkeeping and accounting services
Online bookeeping, accounting, and tax services
The above list is merely illustrative and not indended to be exhaustive.
6. ERGO Comps, LLC
O: 281.756.7178
www.ERGOcomps.com
Backoffice Administration & FaaS Deal Stats
Historical Funded Stats by Category Group
o FinTech outpaced traditional professional services in both number of total
deals and capital funded.
Financial and AI outpacing Internet and other B2B categories over
past 3 years
Internet services and Professional services deal count is flat or
minimally decreasing over the past few years
Historical M&A Deal Acquisitions Stats by Category Group as of
December 1st 2019
o More deals in 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 than the avg # of deals for the
previous decade.
Capital # Capital $
Avg # Capital
Deal per Year
No of Capital
Deals
Capital Amount
2010 to date
Industry Categories 2019 2019 2010 to 2019 2010 to 2019 2010 to 2019
FinTech 403 $35,586,543,445 157 1414 $64,201,546,726
Accounting 30 $995,203,367 14 130 $2,804,854,648
Consulting 88 $2,966,968,534 80 716 $13,588,071,751
Acqui # Acqui # Acqui # Acqui # Acqui # Acqui # Acqui # Acqui # Acqui # Acqui # Acqui #
Acqui # Avg
Per Year
Industry Categories 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019* Avg per year
FinTech 14 11 20 16 29 44 52 62 72 53 374 42
Accounting 4 5 9 6 4 11 24 34 32 29 159 18
Consulting 98 119 114 102 129 188 243 241 297 271 1784 198
total