Renamed FinQuery tackles CFOs’ SaaS pain points

Dive Brief:

Software provider LeaseQuery, which historically focused on lease accounting automation, is rebranding itself as the company expands into software-as-a-service management.
The newly renamed company, FinQuery, intends to differentiate itself from some of its competitors by catering to the SaaS management needs of finance — not just information technology — departments, according to Justin Smith, the Atlanta, Georgia-based company’s CFO.
“Finance needs to have a seat at the table,” Smith said in an interview.

Dive Insight:

The rebranding, announced last week, follows the company’s acquisition of SaaS management startup Stackshine last August.

Smith said the impetus for the company’s expansion into SaaS management began earlier — two years ago — as it tried to tackle its own challenges in this area.

“It was an incredibly painful manual process that involved a motley of stakeholders and multiple Excel spreadsheets that became out of date,” he said.

Out-of-control SaaS spending at many companies is putting a strain on corporate IT and finance departments, according to a 2023 study by Big Four accounting firm KPMG.

With the cloud, software use is decentralized, making it difficult for finance and IT departments to exert control over the costs, the report said.

“The sometimes adversarial relationship between IT and finance, especially when the latter is tightening the corporate purse strings, doesn’t help because it discourages cooperative planning,” it said.

SaaS management has traditionally been viewed as an issue belonging to IT departments, but that is changing as the problem becomes more complex and costly, according to Smith.

“The pain points have grown along with the proliferation of SaaS spenders” within organizations, he said.

LeaseQuery, now FinQuery, was founded in 2011 with a focus on lease accounting automation. The company’s lease accounting software is designed to provide calculations and reports necessary to comply with accounting standards for leases, including a Financial Accounting Standards Board standard adopted last year known as ASC 842.