Accounting FinTech Decimal Buys KPMG Spark

Accounting FinTech company Decimal has acquired assets of KPMG-owned KPMG Spark. 

The purchase will add KPMG Spark’s cloud-based bookkeeping service to Decimal’s suite of automated accounting solutions for small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs), the companies said in a Wednesday (Nov. 30) press release. 

“We will now be able to provide a more innovative bookkeeping platform to a broader set of small business owners, and we’ll be able to add a great team of people who have spent years working with them,” Decimal CEO Matt Tait said in the release. “With this acquisition, Spark clients will also gain enhanced accounting operations capabilities, which will simplify their back-office tasks and allow them to focus on building their businesses.” 

For KPMG — the Big Four tax, accounting and advisory firm — the transaction will allow it to focus on its core business, according to the press release. 

That includes delivering a differentiated experience to its core client segment, KPMG National Managing Partner–Tax Rema Serafi said in the release. 

“Our divestiture of certain Spark assets represents a move to double down on this strategy, while also providing Spark clients, talent and technology with a great home in Decimal, a company with a proven track record of excellent client service and bookkeeping quality,” Serafi said. 

KPMG rolled out KPMG Spark in December 2018 as a tool designed to automate and digitize small business tax services, including tax preparation and compliance, for businesses with annual revenues below $50 million. 

As PYMNTS reported at the time, KPMG Spark deployed technology from Bookly, a company acquired by KPMG earlier that year, and the new product was one of KPMG’s steps into the small business financial services world. 

Decimal’s acquisition of assets of KPMG Spark follows the accounting FinTech company’s $9.2 million seed fundraising round that was announced in June. 

How Consumers Pay Online With Stored Credentials
Convenience drives some consumers to store their payment credentials with merchants, while security concerns give other customers pause. For “How We Pay Digitally: Stored Credentials Edition,” a collaboration with Amazon Web Services, PYMNTS surveyed 2,102 U.S. consumers to analyze consumers’ dilemma and reveal how merchants can win over holdouts.