A new report from research firm AMI-Partners, titled "Cashing in on the U.S. Small Business Accounting Market," takes an in-depth look at the prognosis for Microsoft Small Business Accounting.
The report details current adoption, trends and brand preferences in the small business accounting market, and provides a comprehensive analysis of market leader Intuit Inc.'s QuickBooks product line and Microsoft's strategy, offerings, marketing and channel initiatives.
Microsoft overhauled its product and re-launched the offering to great fanfare last year, but word is that sales and reception from the industry have been lukewarm.
AMI has forecasted that small businesses annual spend on accounting software will grow by more than 5 percent through 2009. The firm noted that while the small business accounting market is a relatively mature one, it still offers vendors room for growth
The report says the trio of key battlegrounds Microsoft will take Intuit on in include:
- First time accounting software users, heavily concentrated in the one to four employee segment, in which more than 25 percent of firms still use basic checkbook accounting and manual processes;
- The one third of small businesses that upgrade or change their accounting solution annually; and,
- The 550,000 new small businesses created in the U.S. each year
More information about the study, which retails at $1,995, is available at
