Sage today announced the acquisition of Mateo, cloud savings and loan software from MAS Integrated Solutions. The move deepens Sage’s commitment to helping nonprofit and faith-based organisations manage programmes that involve a revolving loan fund. The intent is to extend the software capabilities beyond the Roman Catholic church to other nonprofits and faith-based organisations that require revolving loan funds. Terms were not disclosed. MAS is the sister company of Michaud Accounting Solutions. It was created after its Diocesan customers highlighted the need for a cloud-based solution to manage their Savings and Loan and Investment Pool alongside their Sage Intacct software. Mateo was born. Mateo is listed on the Sage Intacct marketplace. Dean Michaud, CPA founder and CEO of MAS Integrated Solutions, will join Sage as part of the acquisition. Michaud is also the President and founder of Michaud Accounting Solutions. It is not clear what will happen to this firm, its remaining employees, and its customers. Michaud commented: “For over half a decade, we’ve had a sole focus on helping faith-based organisations digitally transform their operations and make the most of their savings and loans programmes. We couldn’t be more excited about the opportunity that joining with Sage will provide in scaling our expertise and the reach for our Mateo software. We would have never agreed to work with an organisation which didn’t share our commitment to the local faith-based community.”
Strengthening nonprofit
This acquisition is not likely to have cost Sage a huge amount. It makes sense for both parties. For MAS, it will enable access to a far wider pool of developers. They will help drive the product forward. Notably one suspects, to extend the capabilities to enable it to support the wider nonprofit community quickly. This gives Sage a competitive advantage over its rivals in the segment, with Mateo providing additional functionality to Sage Intacct. It isn’t known whether Sage will embed the solution into Sage Intacct for nonprofits or continue to sell it as a standalone module. Dan Miller, Sage’s EVP for Sage Intacct, noted: “The acquisition of Mateo is a natural fit for our vertical strategy and will enable us to deliver added value to organisations in the nonprofit sector – one of the key vertical markets for Sage. By automating processes and improving insights that faith-based nonprofits need around their savings and loan programmes, we are knocking down the barriers to their growth and ensuring they can focus on the outcomes that further their missions.”
Enterprise Times: What does this mean
In acquiring Mateo, Sage Intacct has strengthened its appeal to dioceses and other nonprofits. It can now provide a single solution to manage their finances. There is no detail of what Mateo customers can expect. However, the future looks positive with a greater chance of more enhancements. The press release also noted that it “provides Mateo customers with increased support as part of Sage’s trusted network”. Will existing Michard Accounting Solutions Sage Intacct customers be supported directly by Sage or passed to another partner?
