Considerations Unique to Acquiring a Software Company (Financial)
October 28, 2021
by an investor from Harvard University - Harvard Business School in Toronto, ON, Canada
All- As aspiring CEOs, I know that many of you have considered (or are actively considering) acquiring a software company. If this describes you, then I hope that you'll find this week's blog post to be especially relevant.
As you are likely already aware, over the past few years buyers have been acquiring software companies at record acquisition multiples. Though acquisitions of any sort tend to share many common characteristics, there are certain considerations that I think are unique to acquiring software companies, and specifically those that operate within the small-to-medium-sized business ecosystem.
In this week's blog post, I present a curated list of certain non-obvious considerations for the prospective software acquiror to consider based on my own experience acquiring, running, and selling a small- to medium-sized software company over the course of many years. Specifically, for every topic that I profile, I discuss why it’s important to dig one level deeper than the simple “headline” numbers and conclusions.
If you're considering acquiring a software company, then I hope something contained within is useful for you! Check out the link below to read or listen to the post:
Considerations Unique to Acquiring a Software Company (Financial)
from Harvard University in Omaha, NE, USA
I would add one additional consideration for revenue recognition of software -- ASC###-###-#### Big things here are right to access vs right to use and how the professional service revenue is tied to that software. ASC 606 can have a material impact on Rev Rec, taxes, and deferred revenue on the balance sheet. I would say that almost all small, founder-led tech businesses I've encountered either don't know this rule or don't have a good grasp on it--and it shows in their books.
Again, excellent post!
from INSEAD in Wien, Österreich