Paylocity to Add Spend Management Software Solution With Airbase Acquisition

Paylocity plans to create a consolidated platform for all business-related spend by acquiring Airbase.

The planned acquisition will add Airbase’s finance and spend management software solution to Paylocity’s human resources (HR) and payroll software platform, Paylocity said in a Wednesday (Sept. 4) press release.

Subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals, the transaction is expected to close in the first or second quarter of fiscal 2025, according to the release.

“Many companies use disparate software solutions or manual processes to manage their labor costs and non-labor vendor and procurement spend, and we expect this acquisition will give us the ability to provide a comprehensive solution and modern client experience for managing all spend on a single integrated platform,” Paylocity President and CEO Toby Williams said in the release.

Airbase Founder Thejo Kote said in a Wednesday post on LinkedIn that he was convinced to sell the business by the opportunity to create a unified human capital management (HCM) and finance platform for mid-market companies.

“Airbase’s mission has always been to improve the lives of those who work in the office of the CFO and help companies control their destiny with better management of their non-payroll spend,” Kote said in the post. “By joining forces with Paylocity, we now have an opportunity to deliver a unified experience to manage 100% of the spending that happens in a business.”

Paylocity’s software solutions help businesses automate and streamline HR and payroll processes, according to the release.

Airbase’s platform features bill pay and accounts payable automation, expense management, corporate cards, procurement process automation, and workflow automation across key spend and business process systems, per the release.

The planned integration of these solutions will enable companies to see payroll and non-payroll spend “through a single pane of glass,” the release said.

“Airbase represents an exciting opportunity to expand our relationship with our nearly 40,000 clients to offer an integrated software platform for running their business operations, while also offering a very compelling value proposition for prospects across our target market,” Williams said in the release.

This news comes about nine months after Paylocity acquired headcount planning firm Trace. Paylocity said in December 2023 that the addition of that firm will enable it to expand its platform and offer labor planning tools to model, forecast, implement and analyze headcount decisions.