Accounting software startup LeaseQuery plans to expand into other markets and hire more employees as it heads into its 10th year.
LeaseQuery provides accountants with software to help eliminate mistakes in lease accounting. In 2020, the startup landed as the fifth fastest-growing private company in the Atlanta Business Chronicle’s Pacesetter Awards, No. 26 on Deloitte’s 2020 Technology Fast 500 list and No. 29 on the Inc. 5000 list.
Its year of growth started with a $40 million Series A investment from Goldman Sachs in November 2019. That was LeaseQuery’s only formal investment since CEO George Azih founded it in 2011.
In January, the startup plans to release ARO Query, a software to help accountants manage asset retirement obligations. For example, a paper company that enters into an agreement with a landfill company to dispose of its paper waste may have an obligation to make sure there's no environmental damage surrounding the landfill when the agreement expires. Managing the accounting for those types of agreements is complicated, Azih said, which is where ARO Query would help.
LeaseQuery plans to release three more products over the next two years.
“We want to make sure people understand that we’re coming up with different accounting-related products,” Azih said. “We are built for accountants, by accountants, which is what makes us different in the marketplace. LeaseQuery just happens to be our first product.”
Azih said his background as an accountant helped LeaseQuery thrive during the difficult year.
“I’m very conservative when it comes to cash,” Azih said. “Even prior to the pandemic, we had a very healthy balance sheet, which is the reason we didn’t take the PPP loan — we didn’t have to.”
Azih said his employees have been of primary concern throughout the pandemic. The company shifted everyone to remote work, and LeaseQuery helped with tutoring and tuition for the children of employees.
Azih reorganized the company in May in response to the pandemic, cutting the sales team and adding employees to the computer science and engineering departments in order to innovate new products through LeaseQuery Labs.
The company did not lose existing customers, Azih said, but saw a decrease in new customer sales. However, the fourth quarter was LeaseQuery’s best in 2020, and Azih is preparing for even more growth in the coming year.
Azih hired 112 employees in 2020 and plans to hire at least 100 more people in 2021, increasing his team to 300. He said LeaseQuery may raise another round of investments depending on acquisition opportunities, but he has no fundraising plans yet.
“We’re going to experience a ton of growth in 2021,” Azih said. “We want to make sure we’re ready for that, and we don’t let anything fall into the cracks.”
