Global software provider SAP is working to shed its reputation of being inaccessible to the small-and-midsized market.The Walldorf, Germany-based company, known for its enterprise relationship planning software system, is targeting what it termed a $15 billion "untapped" global SMB market with a new business model that will cost an estimated $500 million over two fiscal years.

Microsoft Office Accounting Express 2007, a stripped-down version of the company's Accounting Professional 2007 software, recently passed the 1 million mark in downloads during its first three months as a free application.Microsoft released the stripped-down version last October, targeting businesses that are late adopters and rely on pencil and paper, or Excel. Start-ups and eBay sellers were among the intended audience, and Microsoft bundled a number of third-party services with the free download.

Kintera Inc. has unveiled its first software-as-a-service fund accounting system for nonprofits.Kintera Sphere Fundware will allow nonprofit and government organizations to track end-to-end flow of funds, integrating with business applications such as e-commerce, utility billing, and management for grants and donors. Aside from a new inventory module with an e-commerce operation, the accounts receivable features were also upgraded.

A training and learning culture is key to retaining and attracting bright employees. What is a training and learning culture? It's a culture in which the firm grows smarter and more productive. Mediocrity is unacceptable to firms that embrace it, and the alternative results in a downward spiral as the entire firm grows ineffective.Training and learning is a two-way street: Everyone learns and everyone trains. Firms that don't incorporate it as a culture will face increasing difficulty retaining and attracting Generation X and Y employees.

And so, there won’t be the era of Satya Nadella at Microsoft Dynamics, as the product line is called, or Microsoft Business Solutions, the fading name of the business unit built around the former Great Plains is called.Just before Microsoft Convergence, the company’s giant business software user show was being held in San Diego from March 11 through 14, Microsoft’s top management approached Nadella about leading the search engine and ad group. That is the group responsible for fending off the likes of Google.

Party-goers and conference attendees want similar things: to meet people, have fun and feel comfortable. Lessons can be taken from each and applied to the other so that even accounting software events can leave guests smiling. Microsoft’s Convergence 2007 conference, held in San Diego last week, provided a great venue for observing what works and what doesn’t as more than 8,500 Dynamics customers, partners and Microsoft employees gathered to share ideas, see product demos, network and well, party. The company must be doing something right to keep attendance rising. The first event took place in 1997 with a whopping 47 people. Total attendance at last year’s event was 7,404, of which 97 percent reported being “completely satisfied” with their experience, and 98 percent said they would attend again. Not surprisingly, the software giant provided some testimonials on its Web site, but hearing feedback straight from the techie’s mouth somehow seems more believable. Following are some lessons and observations gathered from various venues during the conference -- from the San Diego Convention Center to Embarcadero Marina Park to SeaWorld: Connection is Key. Someone conjured up the idea of creating buttons people could wear to indicate what type of industries they serve (manufacturing, healthcare, etc.) and therefore actually connect with people who might help them improve their business instead of searching for needles in a software stack. In theory, the more buttons they had in common, the better the connection would be. Think how well that could work in a bar, except for the poor guy with the big fat “Other” button pinned to his chest. Cocktails Help Start Conversations. Under “Alcohol Policy,” Microsoft’s conference guide clearly states: “Attendees are expected to manage their own level of alcohol consumption responsibility … You are responsible for your own behavior during the event and after leaving the event facility.” But we are all adults, and therefore adult beverages were flowing freely. After all, they help relax tense guests enough to strike up conversations and build better connections. Executives had tasked attendees with asking random strangers a total of roughly 10 questions throughout the conference and by the Monday morning session reported that the most progress had been made between midnight and 3 a.m. Let There Be Light. Prior to the early morning keynote, a percussion and dance troupe called The Rhythmics put on a high-energy Stomp-style performance -- turning everyday office supplies into musical instruments -- to demonstrate how Microsoft Dynamics can bring new life to businesses. After the spectacular, however, the lights remained low for the next hour as the people who were conducting those late-night Q&A sessions struggled. Have Fun. Kudos to Avalara for standing out from the surrounding black and blue booths in the Expo Center with a tiki bar. Next year the on-demand sales tax services vendor may search for a male model to lay in the hammock (Fabio’s name was mentioned.) Who said accounting technology couldn’t be sexy? Early Bird Gets the Bagel. Arriving to breakfast at 8:31 a.m. when it ended at 8:30 triggered an extra large guard to block the door, refusing entrance. Luckily, extra small speedy types were able to run past him and grab to-go containers filled with fresh fruit and bagels. Microsoft was sure to stock tables throughout the convention center with snacks and beverages throughout the day for those of us too busy to actually sit down for scheduled mealtimes, however. Bigger Isn’t Always Better? This statement holds true for the XXL T-shirts many of the vendors provided prospects and customers -- were they trying to tell them something? But when it comes to caffeine, the more the merrier. Guests who did not want to wait on the Starbucks line that wrapped around the convention hall like an anaconda were subjected to coffee cups so small that one sleep-deprived patron commented they “can’t hold enough caffeine to give a jolt to a field mouse.” He also worried that because they get really hot and they’re flimsy, if he became really excited about something and “squeezed really hard” he’d be in trouble. It’s the Little Things That Count. Forget the surf simulator, Venice Beach boardwalk arcade and live musical entertainment at the opening night reception along the bay: Surfin’ San Diego. What several of the female guests appreciated the most during this outdoor spectacular was the lack of lines for the women’s restroom. Men were waiting a dozen deep as ladies walked right in and waved. Several mentioned it feeling like Christmas, and one even said she was going to note her satisfaction on her comment card. Free Stuff Rocks. Speaking of Christmas, the vendors who provided freebies to interested parties may not have won over those customers, but at least they attracted their attention. From candy and pens to stuffed whales at Tectura’s SeaWorld reception, giveaways attract prospects of all ages. One guest played with an oddly shaped rubber item for a few moments and asked whether anyone knew what it was. When no one did, he put it back in his bag. Hey, one man’s junk is another man’s treasure.

For accounting firms, the term "practice management" covers a range of definitions that includes virtually everything from codes of practice to the assignment of parking spaces. But when it comes to software, the term rapidly focuses on four capabilities that the management of any accounting firm needs to have available:1. The accurate collection of time, expense and billing data, with the added ability to integrate this information into the firm's internal accounting system.

INTUIT TAPS HALVORSEN AS CTOTax and financial software provider Intuit remained "in-house" in filling the role of chief technology officer: Per-Kristian Halvorsen, who previously worked as the company's chief innovation officer, and who has served as acting CTO since September, has been elevated to the post on a permanent basis.

Great leaders develop successors. Where is your firm's intelligence? Is it in the partner group? Is it in your staff? Or is it in both your staff and partner group?The answer is a significant indicator of your firm's destiny.

Sage Software has named its Chairman’s Club members for 2007, the group representing its top-selling business partners in North America.Chairman’s Club members represent the top two partners in each of Sage Software’s six business units of MAS Accounting Solutions, Accpac Accounting Solutions, Construction and Real Estate, Nonprofit, Specialized Business Solutions and CRM Solutions, as well as the next three highest revenue partners outside of that ranking, said Taylor Macdonald, executive vice president, channel and sales operations for Sage . Membership is based on product revenue.

Every so often, the death of the small software reseller is predicted.

The use of database systems to manage financial information is a common practice in today's accounting profession. Using database systems is an efficient and effective way to manage and store all sorts of information, from birth dates to sales figures to account balances.While the benefits of using a database system are numerous, people rightly wonder about the potential risk of using such systems to contain sensitive financial information. In the same way that a database can make your job more efficient, it can also make an attacker's job easier - by providing a wealth of sensitive information in one place.

SAGE UNVEILS TAX UPDATE FOR FASSage Software has unveiled its annual tax update release for its Sage FAS Fixed Assets product line. Sage FAS V. 2007.1 includes enhancements and a number of changes to assist with tax law, Internal Revenue Service compliance, and forms such as Form 4562.

Firms are starting to revisit the issue of sourcing, and rightfully so. The availability of quality talent in the U.S. continues to decline, and the technological requirements to leverage global resources are increasing in number, i.e., bandwidth and Web-based workflow tools.I must admit that I have been a proponent of globalization, even though I have not and do not currently have any financial interest in it. I have, however, spent time overseas for the express purpose of enlarging my worldview and capturing an informed opinion.

OPENPAGES RELEASES ENHANCED GOVERNANCE PLATFORMOpenPages, a provider of governance, risk and compliance management software, released its OpenPages Governance Platform 5.0, an upgraded solution that features operational risk management, financial controls and IT governance modules.

Acct1st Technology Group LLC, which began as a partnership between a Dallas CPA firm and a Seattle software development company, has forged a niche over the past four years as an accounting firm-centric vendor catering to CPAs and their clients.Through the unique management synergy and strategies of CPAs and software developers, Acct1st currently offers imaging, document management, tax workflow and client portals through internal or hosted systems. And its product suite, Acct1st EDRMS (an acronym for Electronic Document Records Management System) is designed to offer CPA firms a host of tax and document management products.

The figures looked familiar, but out of place. Things made no sense. Yes, I had moved from Windows 2000 and Office 2000 to XP Professional and Office 2003.This was unexpectedly difficult. Office 2003 was on my desktop machine at home. But still the laptop version of the Microsoft operating system for work looked and felt different. It was as if I had had a minor stroke and needed to relearn some cognitive and verbal skills.

Susan Sheridan-Austin, 51, passed away on Feb. 13, after a two-and-half year battle with brain cancer. Prior to her August 2004 diagnosis, she had risen to the post of general manager at Sage Accpac.She began her career in the accounting software industry in 1996, joining SBT Accounting Systems in Marin County, Calif., as vice president of marketing. Sheridan spent five years building a strong reputation with the SBT value-added reseller channel as a marketing wizard, and was invited to continue that role when Accpac (then a division of Computer Associates) acquired SBT in 2000.

In the business boom of the late 1990s, software for preparing business plans was itself a big business. With plenty of venture capital available, a good-looking boilerplate plan could mean the difference between a company being founded or an idea foundering for lack of financial support.Then the bottom fell out of the venture capital market, and business plan software languished, though the need for business plans for obtaining credit kept this application from vanishing completely.

SAGE LAUNCHES ACCPAC HR SYSTEMSage Software recently launched Sage Accpac HRMS, a new human resources management system for Sage Accpac ERP and Sage Pro ERP users. Based on the company's Sage Abra HRMS, the latest version is designed specifically for small and midsized businesses - offering attendance and training modules for HR management, benefits administration, information tracking, reporting and legislative compliance.