Lease accounting Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) provider LeaseAccelerator has acquired Guardian Global Systems, an Australian-based provider of real estate administration SaaS to commercial and government organizations.

Guardian Global will extend LeaseAccelerator’s portfolio of applications with an innovative solution to help real estate leaders manage the complexities of building, land, and property contracts, both leased and owned.

Guardian Global offers a state-of-the-art property management application that is designed to support corporate real estate requirements. The company’s flagship product, Portfolio Manager, enables companies to manage assets, contracts, clauses, options, invoices, payments, forecasting, budgeting, and reporting for all leased, sub-leased, owned, and tenanted properties.

The worldwide market for this type of real estate and building management software will grow from $4.9 billion in 2018 to $7.4 billion in 2022, according to the independent research firm Verdantix. Real estate software is part of the larger Proptech market which has experienced a surge in investment over the past few years, with over $20 billion in investment capital deployed in 2017 and 2018.

“As companies move trillions of dollars of leases onto the balance sheet with IFRS 16 and ASC 842, organizations are realizing that further automation of the real estate lifecycle is required for scalability and success,” said Michael Keeler, CEO of LeaseAccelerator. “The combination of LeaseAccelerator and Guardian Global will enable us to offer a unique suite of applications to meet the needs of both the controller and the corporate real estate organizations. Having a shared database that can be used for both real estate lease administration and accounting will help the CFO’s team drive savings as well as improve the timeliness of the monthly close process.”

“Today’s dynamic digital environment along with the sheer size of markets is driving companies to move away from a widespread use of spreadsheets and adopt technology to better manage real estate portfolios in preparation for the new lease accounting standards,” said Charles Dalrymple-Hay, managing director of Guardian Global Systems. “As part of LeaseAccelerator we can not only bring our customers an integrated lease administration and accounting platform to satisfy financial reporting requirements, but we can add the R&D resources needed to invest in our product roadmap and fulfill our original vision around workplace productivity.”