After nearly four years of rapid growth under the leadership of CEO David Boyar, Brisbane-based accountancy-firm software provider ChangeGPS has been acquired by UK-based The Access Group, which is already pouring in resources to accelerate the pace.
ChangeGPS, which was founded by Timothy Munro in 2008 in partnership with Count Financial Group, is the fourth accounting technology company acquired by Access in Australia and New Zealand in the past three years.
Boyar, a chartered accountant who joined ChangeGPS as CEO in 2020, says the company’s technology complements the suite of software currently in the Access portfolio, including Handisoft, Reckon and APS.
Access acquired Reckon’s (ASX: RKN) Accountants Practice Management Group in 2022 for $100 million, but the price paid for ChangeGPS has not been disclosed.
“Access Group lodges over 40 per cent of all individual tax returns in Australia through these software products,” Boyar tells Business News Australia.
ChangeGPS is a bolt-on acquisition that is said to helps accountants improve business efficiency.
“But unlike any other product in the accountancy ecosystem, we also help them to make more money,” Boyar says.
“Accountants are increasingly doing more for clients and clients themselves are asking for more.
“They want clear explanations of their tax position, and they want to understand their options more clearly so they can make decisions about their lifestyle.
“Access is able to do that with the core products that are traditional compliance products.”
Boyar says ChangeGPS helps accountants explain the impacts of tax changes to clients through its automated advice reports.
“Accountants are phenomenal with numbers, but English is not the skill we are known for,” he says.
“Change GPS helps accountants explain to clients why they need different accounting services.”
) 480w, https://assets.cdn.thewebconsole.com/S3WEB6082/images/Kerry-Agiasotis–The-Access-Group—edited-5170ea.jpg?m=e9043409ccb650ef11764244a9a811d2&geometry(640>) 640w, https://assets.cdn.thewebconsole.com/S3WEB6082/images/Kerry-Agiasotis–The-Access-Group—edited-5170ea.jpg?m=e9043409ccb650ef11764244a9a811d2&geometry(768>) 768w, https://assets.cdn.thewebconsole.com/S3WEB6082/images/Kerry-Agiasotis–The-Access-Group—edited-5170ea.jpg?m=e9043409ccb650ef11764244a9a811d2&geometry(1024>) 1024w, https://assets.cdn.thewebconsole.com/S3WEB6082/images/Kerry-Agiasotis–The-Access-Group—edited-5170ea.jpg?m=e9043409ccb650ef11764244a9a811d2&geometry(1280>) 1280w, https://assets.cdn.thewebconsole.com/S3WEB6082/images/Kerry-Agiasotis–The-Access-Group—edited-5170ea.jpg?m=e9043409ccb650ef11764244a9a811d2&geometry(1920>) 1920w”/>
