By Shasta Clark

Four months after being acquired by Intuit Inc. for $92 million in cash, Management Reports Inc. is enjoying its newfound freedom under new corporate leadership.

Bob Lasser, the former CEO of Beachwood-based MRI who helped to orchestrate the acquisition, said he's "ecstatic" at the progress his company and his employees have made under Intuit's direction. A new, positive energy pulses through MRI's halls because the 303- person staff sees that Intuit is delivering on the promises it made when it acquired the real estate software provider in June, he said.

MRI develops and implements software systems for real estate managers to help them manage such information as lease records and space utilization.

"I'm totally re-energized," said Mr. Lasser, who now serves as general manager and vice president of MRI for Intuit, which is based in Mountain Valley, Calif. "Intuit has given me and our organization as a whole a great deal of focus. That's very invigorating."

Not only has Intuit stuck to its promises of leaving MRI in Beachwood and offering jobs to all MRI employees, it also has adopted a management approach that balances structure with freedom.

"They help us achieve goals as opposed to telling us what to do," Mr. Lasser said of MRI's new parent.

Intuit takes a quasi hands-off management approach with MRI because "they've been doing well without us," said Raymond Stern, senior vice president of corporate development and strategy of Intuit. "I want them to do better, and (I don't want to) screw it up."

Intuit leaves it up to Mr. Lasser to call upon Intuit's expertise when he feels MRI needs it, a strategy that ultimately makes Mr. Lasser accountable for delivering results, Mr. Stern said.

Mr. Lasser said he and his team are up to the challenge.

"Our goal, from a real estate perspective, is still to expand our market both up and down to both larger and smaller organizations," Mr. Lasser said. "But our No. 1 goal is to increase the value (of our real estate software) to our users."

To accomplish that goal, MRI will follow the lead of its new parent, which is known for its easy-to-use signature Quicken and QuickBooks software.

"The most extraordinary thing (that Intuit is giving to MRI) is their ability to execute strategies. Man, they're good," Mr. Lasser said.

While Intuit's approach with MRI might be looser than many acquisition strategies, Intuit still has clear expectations of MRI. Those expectations include "wowing customers," operating cost-effectively, contributing up to $50 million in revenue this fiscal year, and creating an environment where employees are happy to work. However, the words "cost cutting" have never been part of Intuit's expectations of MRI, Mr. Lasser said.

Instead Intuit has encouraged MRI to hire 11 since the acquisition, and MRI plans to hire 14 in the near future. And Intuit already has integrated MRI into its worldwide communication systems.

"It's about growth, not cost cutting," Mr. Stern said. "The company is on track with our expectations. I'm not surprised that (MRI) won the top (CAKI) award. We're delighted with this acquisition and the MRI team."