Baan 'loses' Sydney office.

Financial management at fallen accounting software giant Baan was so weak that the company was unaware it had an office in Australia, Accountancy Age has learned.

Invensys, the UK engineering and IT giant, took control of Baan in August, axing most of Baan’s management team. The development came to light when Baan carried out its due diligence on subsidiary Coda as it attempted to sell the company to Science Systems.

The procedure failed to take into account the existence of Coda’s Sydney office, despite it actively servicing a 40-strong customer base. Coda officials informed its parent group of the error, enabling it to confirm the absentee belonged to the company. A Coda spokesman told Accountancy Age this week: ‘The Sydney office was not included in the package and the management team did not give the impression they were in control of their operations.

‘The management had to go away and confirm with Baan Australia that Coda Australia did exist and we had to tell them who to ring to find out the situation. The Baan team also came to us to ask what the office maintenance stream included’.

A Invensys spokeswoman added: ‘This situation reflects the management approach that existed before the takeover and is indicative of the changes we have made since’.

Invensys buys Baan www.accountancyage.com/IT/1108007

www.coda.com.