
LessAccounting, the Startup That Challenged QuickBooks, Sold - paulca
https://mixergy.com/interviews/lessaccounting-allan-branch-steven-bristol/
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fredleblanc
I met Allan at a conference a couple of years ago, and after meeting him, I
recall skipping most of the sessions just to pick his brain about all things
business — marketing, structure, etc. He's still one of the nicest folks I've
ever met.

Months later, was connected with him again on Skype, and he remembered just
about everything about our interaction, and once again, was super nice and
helpful with all of my questions.

I also met Steven quite briefly at the same conference this year. Although we
didn't talk for hours on end, he was also very kind, and very approachable.

Anyway, really happy for both of them. It's great to read that nice guys don't
always have to finish last.

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djloche
News Summary:

They used FE International to sell the LessAccounting assets to American SMB
Services. Took about 6 months to close the deal all together. They declined to
disclose any $ numbers, but it was an all cash up front deal.

The interview is actually a really interesting interview to read.

~~~
andycroll
The Wayback Machine is your friend.

[https://web.archive.org/web/20160127001734/http://feinternat...](https://web.archive.org/web/20160127001734/http://feinternational.com/buy-
a-website/)

Third listing.

A really solid, profitable business.

~~~
andrewtbham
Yearly revenue $432,000 Yearly net profit $289,000 Asking price $950,000

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rrggrr
We use Xero.com. Its considerably "less shitty" than QB was for us. But I
still struggle to wrap my head around basic accounting concepts and therefore
require a bookkeeper.

~~~
daveguy
If you're a programmer/CS type, then this is an excellent explanation of
accounting principles in terms of graphs:

[https://martin.kleppmann.com/2011/03/07/accounting-for-
compu...](https://martin.kleppmann.com/2011/03/07/accounting-for-computer-
scientists.html)

~~~
rrggrr
Thank you!

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mikeryan
As a long time QuickBooks online user it should be noted that about 2 years
ago QuickBooks did one of the best online reboots I've ever seen. The new
website is way simpler to use and understand.

~~~
SOLAR_FIELDS
Intuit must have gotten some good web people because I've seen massive
improvements in Turbotax's online product over the past couple years as well.

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spIrr
I've seen their prospectus on FE International, and was surprised by some
numbers. Interesting to listen to the founder's reflection now.

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ThomasSmale
Congratulations to Steven and Allan! Was an honor for the FE International
team to be part of the process!

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pmichaud
Man, this is great. When I lived in Florida, I had a chance to hang out and
cowork with Steve a time or two (this was perhaps 7 years ago?). Incredibly
nice, very talented. I'm super happy for them!

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fencepost
Interesting, I suspect this is why the interview posting went up last week but
was presumably very quickly removed (before I looked at podcast episode
listings and attempted to download it).

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mariusc23
For those wondering, they sold to American SMB Services.

~~~
bhouston
Given that American SMD Services has 8 employees on Linkedin, I assume it was
a low value deal.

~~~
pbreit
According to:
[https://web.archive.org/web/20160127001734/http://feinternat...](https://web.archive.org/web/20160127001734/http://feinternational.com/buy-
a-website/)

Asking was $950k which I gather was the ceiling. Did they have any investors?

~~~
simonswords82
Somebody might correct me but I'm pretty sure they were bootstrapped

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kylecordes
Allan and Steven are fantastic guys. Great to see them finish a successful
exit.

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djloche
Can we change the URL to the actual mixergy link:
[https://mixergy.com/interviews/lessaccounting-allan-
branch-s...](https://mixergy.com/interviews/lessaccounting-allan-branch-
steven-bristol/)

~~~
dang
Sure. URL changed from
[https://twitter.com/Mixergy/status/739866196246290432](https://twitter.com/Mixergy/status/739866196246290432).

