As you plan your 2006 marketing activities, consider adding networking to your firm-wide marketing mix.Networking is a great way to build your business, and it's something that all members of your firm can do. Networking offers an opportunity to build business relationships, exchange referrals or leads, find potential qualified new hires, and seek advice, ideas and introductions from others.

Doug Burgum, senior vice president of the Microsoft Business Solutions group, will assume the newly created role of chairman of MBS - coinciding with the release cycle for Microsoft Dynamics, the new branding for MBS.Beginning immediately, Microsoft said that it would launch a formal search for a successor to Burgum.

William F. Gurrie & Co. Ltd., a CPA and consulting firm in Oak Brook, Ill., has offered niche accounting services for municipalities over the last 71 years.The founder and namesake started by helping his clients with financial services - i.e. bonds, as well as other services such as payroll - a "total violation of the independent laws back then," said Kelly Zabinski, a CPA and manager at Gurrie. "Obviously, today we only provide financial services for them."

American Institute of CPAs chair Leslie Murphy, in her recent address to Council, stated, "One out of six CPAs left their firms during 2004." The cost to replace these people is estimated at 1.5 times their current salary. Enrollment and graduation are up in accounting programs, according to the most recent statistics published by the AICPA.The bad news is that the percentage of graduates going into public accounting has dropped to 29 percent of the total. When speaking with CPA partners, I typically ask the question: Do you recommend or have you recommended public accounting to a son or daughter? Ninety-five percent generally look at me and either say or demonstrate by body language that their children would not think of going into the profession.

As Accounting Today's Top 100 Products was in its preparatory stages in terms of gathering information, procuring product shots and planning the requisite page layouts, we searched for something that would make this - the 13th edition - stand out from its worthy predecessors.The good news for us is that we didn't have to look very far.

HIGH-END AND MID-MARKET ACCOUNTINGACCOUNTMATE 6.5 FOR SQL

Contact information for the vendors of the Accounting Today 2006 Top 100 Products and Ones to Watch.AccountantsWorld

Paisley Consulting, a business accountability software provider, has upgraded the risk assessment functionality in its J2EE-based Risk Navigator, a software application helping companies comply with Sarbanes-Oxley regulations and establish long-term governance.

ABRA PAYROLL

Microsoft unveiled Microsoft Dynamics CRM Version 3.0, its latest customer relationship management system. Version 3.0 is a full suite of marketing, sales and customer service offered in a Professional Edition or a Small Business Edition.Available now in English, CRM 3.0 will be available in French, German, Dutch and Russian on Jan. 1, 2006. Seventeen other international language editions will follow throughout the upcoming months.

Accounting and financial software publisher Intuit Inc. has launched QuickBooks Online Payroll -- an integrated payroll product designed for users of QuickBooks Online Edition.QuickBooks Online Edition includes a free license for a small business' accountant, allowing ongoing access to client data without the need to exchange files or visit a client's site.

All the lonely people--what are they doing at a bookstore at 9 p.m. on Friday?

Intuit Inc. announced that it has completed the sale of its Intuit Information Technology Solutions business to Boston-based TA Associates, a private equity and buyout firm.

Payroll and benefits outsourcing provider Paychex Inc. has partnered with Mellon Financial and Affiliated Computer Services to offer the Paychex Health Savings Account.

Microsoft Corp. has made available a new piece of software that will allow small business retailers to combine Microsoft Office Small Business Accounting 2006 with the Microsoft Point of Sale or Microsoft Retail Management System.

In many ways, SAP's Business One campaign is much like the site of its technology summit, being held this week at the Mission Bay Convention Center in San Francisco. The facility is so new, it's not listed in phone books and cab drivers need directions.

Microsoft Corp. announced the launch of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0, the company's latest customer relationship management software.

The router seemed to beg from the shelves: Buy me. Freedom awaits in the heaven of wireless computing.

Global financial software publisher Sage Group posted 14 percent increases in its fiscal 2005 revenue and operating profits, to $1.4 billion and $391 million, respectively, for the period ended Sept. 30, versus the same year-ago period.

MYOB Ltd., a developer of small business accounting and management software and services, announced the sale of its U.S. operations to Acclivity LLC, an entity owned by members of the MYOB U.S. Inc. management team.