The Woodard Report

In the News - July 19, 2021

Written by Cathy Roth | Jul 19, 2021 7:15:35 PM

Today's news includes the latest in accounting software acquisitions, an update on one driver of the human-free vehicle race and the role of AI in data piracy.

Following the June 2021 Bill.com acquisition of Divvy, Bill.com is back at the deal table again. Today, Bill.com announced they have signed an agreement to acquire Invoice2go. The acquisition is designed to accelerate Bill.com's strategy to create a  "one-stop shop solution for businesses to transform their financial operations, make and receive payments, and manage their cash flow," according to RenĂ© Lacerte, Bill.com CEO and Founder. The deal is priced at approximately $65 million with 75% of the purchase price in stock and the rest in cash. The deal is expected to close by the end of the year. You can explore the Invoice2go invoice generator here

Driverless trucks are ahead. One major contributor to the ongoing supply chain disruptions is the shortage of truck drivers. E e-commerce is continuing at pandemic levels and companies are finding themselves competing for drivers, driving labor costs higher. The answer? Self-driving trucks. According to Forbes, "Companies such as AuroraWaymo, EmbarkTuSimplePlus, and Locomation are all testing autonomous trucks, and Walmart, Target, and Amazon as well as other large retailers are potential purchasers." For more information on the trucking industry, Harvard's Kennedy School of Government recently analyzed five studies on the trucking industry workforce.

You are probably tired of hearing leaks of personal data and other cyber attacks. Unfortunately, those stories probably aren't going away. There are many tips for keeping you and your clients safe, but future solutions will likely rely on AI to protect consumers through adaptive multi-factor authentication and segregation of consumers online behavior data from their personal information.