SquareSum enters into Coda's calculations

Financial software vendor acquires rival for £9m

Financial software vendor Coda has acquired rival accounting software vendor SquareSum for about £9.1m, allowing it to reach into the SME sector.

Coda sells financial intelligence and corporate finance systems to the high end, while SquareSum's flagship product, Dream, is targeted at SMEs, said David Turner, international marketing manager at Coda.

"We focus on the higher end, competing with the likes of Oracle, SAP and JD Edwards, and Dream competes more with Systems Union and Great Plains, so it's a perfect fit," he said.

SquareSum will shed its name and become part of Coda, although the Dream product line will continue. "The merger gives us a product that SMEs already know, and SquareSum already has a small but well established channel. We are aiming to invest further in that," Turner said.

He added that Coda would be looking to take on more resellers. "We are taking on SquareSum's sales team and its channel person will be heading our channel, which means both sets of resellers will be able to take on additional products," he said.

Harry Manley, sales and marketing director at Manchester-based independent software vendor and SquareSum partner Maginus Software Solutions, said the acquisition was a good move.

"SquareSum started to get serious about the channel three or four years ago and Coda has always been more direct, but the two products are quite complementary. Although they address different markets, they will go together well," he said.