One of Atlanta's fastest-growing companies is in the midst of a hiring spree following a record first-half of a year for revenues.
Accounting software startup LeaseQuery has hired approximately 100 new employees this year, bringing its total full-time staff to over 350, with plans to add another 50 before the end of the year, said CEO George Azih. The additions come following 100% growth in revenue, according to the company, and after its purchase in May of leasing technology from Crowe LLP, a Chicago-based lease accounting software firm.
Azih, who declined to provide financial details, said the company’s performance in 2021 was its best on record, and that 2022 will be the “best year ever in terms of revenue." Much of that comes from growing demand in lease compliance — stemming from a 2016 rule change that required operating leases to appear on a company's balance sheet, said Azih.
“Companies lease a lot more than real estate," Azih said. "They lease buildings, vehicles, rail cars, etc., and every company that has a lease has to comply with financial standards. Every company leases at least one asset and that’s what is driving our growth.”
Founded in 2011, LeaseQuery provides software aimed at eliminating mistakes in lease accounting — a sector expected to reach $1.53 trillion in 2022 and grow to $2.4 trillion by 2026, according to market research firm The Business Research Co. LeaseQuery's customers include companies outside Georgia, such as Auburn University, Frontier Airlines and U.S. Postal Service Federal Credit Union, and inside, including Sea Island-based resort Sea Island Co. and Fitzgerald's Colony Bank.
The company, which was No. 93 on Deloitte’s 2021 Technology Fast 500 list and No. 5 in Atlanta Business Chronicle's 2020 Pacesetter Awards, launched its LeaseManager software to help tenants manage their leases in February 2021. The company also worked with Microsoft Corp. to provide customers a “more seamless” experience on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Financial and Business Central, the Chronicle previously reported.
Most recently, the 2022 Inc. 5000 list said LeaseQuery has a 304% revenue growth between 2018 and 2021, ranking it No. 1,983 in the annual list of fastest-growing private companies in America.
LeaseQuery raised a $40 million Series A round in November of 2019 from Goldman Sachs. Azih, one of the Chronicle's Most Admired CEOs of 2021, said the company is not currently seeking capital, but is open to future raises in order to acquire other companies.
In November of 2019, LeaseQuery multiplied its office footprint four-fold, moving into a 53,000-square-foot space in Dunwoody. Earlier that year, it opened an office in Birmingham, Alabama, with plans to add over 100 jobs at that location, but ended the lease during the pandemic.
