Deal Timeline

Plotted by close date where disclosed, otherwise announcement. Select any marker to jump to the deal entry.

The Rationale That Repeats.

Three patterns show up across Paylocity Holding's deal book — what the team buys, how it pays, and how it integrates. The patterns are the throughline; the deals below are the evidence.

01
Acquisition criteria
Buy the partner, then own the roadmap.
Paylocity repeatedly acquired companies it had already worked with - it ran a video-enabled LMS with VidGrid for years and had partnered with Blue Marble since 2013 - converting proven integrations into owned product. The pattern lowers integration risk: by the time a deal closes, the target's technology is already validated inside Paylocity's suite.
VidGridSamepage Labs Inc.Blue Marble PayrollCloudsnapAirbase Inc.
02
Capital deployment
Tuck-ins that fill product gaps, not buy revenue.
The first four deals (VidGrid, Samepage, Cloudsnap, Blue Marble) were small, all-cash purchases under $61M, each described as immaterial or sub-2% of revenue and each adding a specific capability - video learning, collaboration, integration automation, international payroll - rather than scale. They were funded from cash or short-lived credit draws repaid within the same quarter.
VidGridSamepage Labs Inc.Blue Marble PayrollCloudsnapAirbase Inc.
03
Integration approach
Airbase marks the step-change into the Office of the CFO.
After years of sub-$61M tuck-ins, the ~$325M all-cash Airbase merger in 2024 was an order-of-magnitude larger and strategically different: it pushed Paylocity beyond HCM into finance and spend management, aiming to let its ~40,000 clients manage payroll and non-payroll spend on one platform. It was funded by a revolving-credit draw, signaling a willingness to lever up for a platform-expanding deal.
VidGridSamepage Labs Inc.Blue Marble PayrollCloudsnapAirbase Inc.

The Full Deal Book

5 acquisitions. Each entry carries the deal value, financing structure, target revenue, executive commentary, and the original SEC filing — the evidence behind the patterns above.

01 VidGrid, Inc. · United States $17.3M
Announced Apr 2020 Closed Apr 2020 all cash
Interactive videopeer-to-peer video learningvideo-enabled LMSworkplace video communication

VidGrid is an interactive video platform that goes beyond recording, hosting and sharing to turn video into a two-way conversation, enabling peer-to-peer video learning courses. Paylocity had already worked with VidGrid for several years to deliver a video-enabled learning management system (LMS) to clients before acquiring it. $17.3 million (cash; $17,256 thousand purchase price per FY2020 10-K).

Why it was attractive
  • Existing multi-year partnership powering Paylocity's LMS
  • rising client demand for video communication created a clear path to expand the relationship into ownership
We are constantly looking for opportunities to make our product suite even more useful for our clients. We believe video will play a critical role in transforming workplace communication. VidGrid's approach aligns with our culture of caring deeply for our clients and we couldn't be more excited to welcome their talented and innovative team to Paylocity.Steve Beauchamp — CEO, Paylocity
We couldn't be more proud to join forces with a company like Paylocity. The Paylocity team shares our vision that video has the power to shape the future of workplace communication, and we're looking forward to driving stronger collaboration for organizations everywhere.Nick Stokman — Co-founder and CEO, VidGrid
Post-close · earnings-call commentary

Steve Beauchamp, FY2020 Q4 earnings call: "we also deepened our strength in video communication capabilities via the acquisition of VidGrid in early April, a leading video platform provider that enables peer-to-peer video learning courses. We believe video will play a critical role in transforming workplace communication, and we see an opportunity to leverage VidGrid's video capabilities more broadly."

02 Samepage Labs Inc. · United States $15.0M
Announced Nov 2020 Closed Nov 2020 all cash
Task managementfile sharingreal-time document collaborationscreen sharingteam workspaces

Samepage is an all-in-one team collaboration suite delivering work solutions through a cloud-based platform, combining file sharing, task management, screen sharing and real-time document co-editing for the modern workforce. $15.0 million (cash; $15,018 thousand purchase price per FY2021 10-K).

Why it was attractive
  • Collaboration tooling that extended Paylocity's existing Community module and answered client demand to consolidate the number of daily-use workplace solutions
We've always viewed our clients as the co-creators of our products, and joining forces with Samepage is another way we're responding to their needs. We're thrilled to add Samepage's solutions to our portfolio, as this will provide us the opportunity to offer advanced collaboration capabilities extending beyond what is currently available to our clients in our Community module.Steve Beauchamp — CEO, Paylocity
We are thrilled to join the Paylocity family. The Paylocity team shares our vision that organizations are far more productive when their employees can communicate, manage projects, collaborate and share screens in a single workspace.Scott Schreiman — Founder and CEO, Samepage
Post-close · earnings-call commentary

Paylocity earnings commentary: "in November, we announced our acquisition of Samepage, which provides an all-in-one team collaboration solution that includes task management, file sharing, real-time document collaboration, and more. We are now focused on building the Samepage collaboration functionality into the Paylocity suite."

03 Blue Marble Payroll, LLC · United States headquartered; international payroll operations across 150+ countries $60.0M
Announced Sep 2021 Closed Aug 2021 all cash
International payroll across 150+ countriesglobal payroll compliancehybrid service model with U.S.-based project managers and local payroll experts

Blue Marble Payroll is a global payroll provider whose platform enables U.S.-based companies to manage payroll for employees outside the U.S. across more than 150 countries, serving roughly 450 clients with about 75 employees. Founded in 2013, it had partnered with Paylocity since its start to support shared clients' international payroll needs. $60.0 million in cash at closing ($60,961 thousand total purchase price per FY2022 10-K).

Why it was attractive
  • An eight-year partner already serving Paylocity's shared clients' international payroll needs
  • with a differentiated hybrid service model and reach across 150+ countries
As the hybrid workforce becomes more predominant, there is an opportunity to help companies expand internationally, deliver greater automation, and unify payroll systems. With this move, we have the ability to work with a trusted partner to build an automated, fully integrated customer experience -- with clients able to manage domestic and international payroll in one platform.Steve Beauchamp — CEO, Paylocity
Post-close · earnings-call commentary

Paylocity CFO, FY2022 Q2 earnings call: "we are maintaining the margin percentage guidance despite the roughly 50 basis points of dilutive impact of Blue Marble and Cloudsnap."

04 Cloudsnap, Inc. · United States $50.0M
Announced Jan 2022 Closed Jan 2022 all cash
Low-code API integrationintegration automation (iPaaS)automated data flows across ERPs/CRMs/HCMsseamless system integration

Cloudsnap is a flexible, low-code solution for integrating disparate business applications. Its integration automation platform facilitates development and deployment of API integrations, allowing clients to automate data flows across systems such as HR, ERP, CRM and financial applications. $50.0 million (cash; $50,002 thousand purchase price per FY2022 10-K).

Why it was attractive
  • Low-code integration technology that let Paylocity connect its HCM data to clients' ERP
  • CRM and other mission-critical systems
  • closing a gap legacy HCM vendors had left open
Legacy HCM vendors have not designed their systems to support end-to-end processes and data flows across third-party systems, yet HR touches virtually every part of an organization. This acquisition will accelerate the speed and flexibility with which organizations can connect data and insights from Paylocity to other mission-critical business applications.Steve Beauchamp — CEO, Paylocity
Data drives businesses, but organizations still struggle with multiple systems that don't connect to each other, and integration continues to pose major challenges to business agility. We're thrilled to join Paylocity at a time when the HR function is so instrumental for a company's success.Matt Bradley — CEO, Cloudsnap
Post-close · earnings-call commentary

Paylocity CFO, FY2022 Q3 earnings call: "we've driven scale across our business to more than offset the roughly 50 basis points of dilutive impact of the Blue Marble and Cloudsnap acquisitions."

05 Airbase Inc. · Headquartered in San Francisco; employees in the United States, Canada, India and the Philippines $325M
Announced Aug 2024 Closed Oct 2024 all cash
Bill pay / AP automationexpense managementcorporate cardsprocurementintegration ecosystem (NetSuiteSage IntacctQuickBooks)workflow automation

Airbase is a modern finance and spend management software solution combining bill pay / accounts payable automation, expense management, corporate cards and procurement. Founded in 2017 and headquartered in San Francisco, it had approximately 300 employees across the U.S., Canada, India and the Philippines and more than 500 clients, focused on the 100-5,000 employee segment. Approximately $325 million in cash at announcement ($320.2 million net of cash acquired at close, per FY2025 10-K).

Why it was attractive
  • A modern
  • multi-product spend-management suite serving 500+ mid-market clients that extended Paylocity's reach from HR into finance and the Office of the CFO
  • with a unified payroll-plus-spend value proposition
I'm very excited about the acquisition of Airbase, which we believe will allow us to provide companies with an integrated software platform to manage all aspects of their operational spend. 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.Toby Williams — President and CEO, Paylocity
Post-close · earnings-call commentary

Paylocity earnings Q&A (FY2026): management was asked to "build on the Airbase acquisition, just kind of the strategic rationale and how should investors be thinking about the synergies or the strategic aspects there," tying it to the company's product-expansion growth algorithm and the ability to sell more product across the target market.

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