Financial and nonprofit software publisher Serenic Corp. has entered into an agreement with Microsoft Corp. in which Serenic will be the Industry Solutions Vendor for payroll software and related services for users of Microsoft Dynamics NAV in North America.Terms for the pact, which became effective July 1, were not disclosed.

A year ago, payroll processing remained a class of software striving to serve both accountants and their customers. Still making the transition from service bureaus to the desktop and on to the Internet, the focus was less on how to help accountants than on how to get directly to their clients.There were exceptions, of course - AccountantsWorld, which worked only through accountants, and Payroll CS. But for the most part, the software reflected the ambivalence of the accounting industry itself in approaching payroll. For many accounting firms, payroll was a mechanical, time-intensive and low-margin business that was best outsourced. Three factors changed all that.

While the time sheet is an integral part of most accountants' lives, it is not the measurement of performance that many believe it to be. A time sheet is nothing more than an accountability tool.In my opinion, the profession has erred, because the time sheet was never intended to be a measure of value or a pricing tool. Value is defined as the monetary worth of a good or service. The time sheet is simply a historic record of the cost of delivering a service.

With one move, the nature of the game in the consolidation of the accounting software reseller market has changed.

When Sage Ltd. organized its customer relationship management business on a global basis last fall, it broke with one of its long-standing strategies.

Cartesis, a provider of finance and performance management software, announced that for the 2006 fiscal year, the company saw its software revenues growth 28 percent -- including a 61 leap internationally and a 57 percent rise in North America.

* MICROSOFT LAUNCHES DYNAMICS AX 4.0: Microsoft Corp. has unveiled its North American launch of Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0, an automated and streamlined business management tool. Unveiled at the recent TechEd 2006 conference in Boston, Dynamics AX 4.0 contains a number of upgrades and enhancements, such as RFID, Web Services and a role-based user experience, designed for increased flexibility and visibility for businesses. A new service-management function automates manufacturing service processes, enabling efficient scheduling of servicing of complex machines and equipment on a periodic or call-initiated basis.Ray Ozzie, Microsoft's chief technical officer, said that Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 is a composite application, using Web Services to span the boundaries between structured and unstructured data from different sources, and tying together formal processes with ad hoc workflows. Ozzie said that that capability enables Microsoft Dynamics AX to work across multiple systems to show a complete view of a customer's business processes.

Running a successful and efficient help desk can be a matter of thinking outside the box and taking advantage of initiatives elsewhere in your firm, said Greg Davis, information technology director and principal at Salina, Kan.-based CPA and business advisory firm Kennedy and Coe.Running such a desk, however, requires forethought, especially in hiring the right people, standardization of procedures, clarifying objectives and measurement systems, understanding clients, and securing the support of a firm's management, Davis said.

For Newport News, Va.-based CPA firm Carmines, Robbins and Co., installing a document management system took care of four problems at once: a significant reduction in the amount of room needed for client files; a secure loss-prevention system for files; a savings of roughly $6,000 in costs associated with paper products and accessories such as printer ink; and retaining one of their most prized accountants, even after she moved to Alaska."As long we can gain a secure connection, employees can be anywhere in the world and still work for me," said Rob Carmines, a partner at the firm. "Next we're moving to get a Net portal. For clients it can be a real godsend."

In June, Paisley Consulting, which provides solutions for Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, operational risk management and audit automation announced a partnership with Lombardi Software Inc., a manufacturer of software for management, audit and compliance applications.Paisley will embed Lombardi OEM Edition within its Risk Navigator, AutoAudit and Paisley Solution applications to deliver improved business process management functionality.

The principal of Information Technology Group Inc., David Cieslak, will serve as the chairman of the Sage Accpac Business Partner Advisory Council.The BPAC is a select group of Sage Accpac Business Partners that meets twice a year with Sage executives to provide feedback and perspective on product features and development, corporate strategy, industry trends and the competitive landscape. Chosen for the position by his peers, Cieslak will serve a one-year term.

QuickBooks parent and tax and small business software provider Intuit Inc. has become the latest in a series of companies to have the Securities and Exchange Commission question their stock-option grants.The regulator served Intuit with an informal inquiry notice in June, after a Center for Financial Research and Analysis report questioned Intuit's granting policies, and the company later announced that it had implemented a self-review.

Who is responsible for IT in your firm? Do you have a written technology plan and budget? Is technology viewed as a strategic asset, or as overhead? Are you adequately staffed in the IT department, and in the firm as a whole? Do you have the right people on your IT team?These are all important questions, and your firm should be able to provide definitive answers if you expect to compete in a rapidly changing digital and global economy. Many traditional services are being commoditized, and profit margins are under pressure. With the right technology, you can compete, as well as offer new, higher-value services.

A sure sign of problems on the floor of a trade show exhibit hall is having lots of exhibitors talking to each other.

Thomson Tax & Accounting, part of The Thomson Corp., announced the upcoming release of its InSource WorkFlow Manager solution.

Another round has been fired in the war at the low end of the mid-market.

Sage Software has announced the availability of its time and billing program, Timeslips by Sage 2007.

Several months after offering new incentives for companies to furnish their financial information in computer-readable interactive data format, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced that another trio of firms has joined the initiative.The new companies - General Electric Co., PepsiCo Inc. and Banco Itaú Holding Financeira SA - bring the number of participating firms to 20. Only nine companies joined the SEC's first Extensible Business Reporting Language initiative in 2005.

SAGE UNVEILS WAREHOUSE AUTOMATION MODULEBusiness software developer Sage Software unveiled a new Warehouse Automation module for its Sage MAS 500 enterprise resource planning software.

Would your company survive a devastating disaster or business interruption? This is a question that has been at the forefront of most business' concerns for a few years now, and one that needs to be continually asked in the future.The foundation for developing a continuity and disaster recovery program lies in developing a method for the protection and preservation of vital records. All businesses, especially small and midsized organizations, should facilitate a proactive, rather than a reactive, approach to disaster preparation - especially with regard to vital records. This article focuses on developing a vital records protection strategy in the greater context of continuity and disaster recovery.