Performance is defined in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as a) the execution of an action, or b) something accomplished. The question is: Are people accomplishing the right things in firms today?Charge hours have been the primary measure of performance in many firms. However, the profession is moving from an effort-based to a results-based economy, and charge hours may be only one of many gauges the firm pilot must watch as he flies the plane.

Perhaps the best thing that can be said about Microsoft's much ballyhooed Small Business Accounting program is this--neither a bang nor a whimper.

In what Thomson Elite said is the most significant product launch in its 58 years, the manufacturer rolled out the latest version of its flagship business suite, Elite 3E, a business software platform for practice management.

The pattern was unmistakable: Outlook, Sharepoint, business applications. Outlook, Sharepoint, business applications.

Epicor Software Corp., a manufacturer of business software for midsized companies, announced that it has completed a financial restatement for 2003 and 2004, and said that, separately, it would lower its profit expectations for 2006.

INTUIT'S 2Q REVENUES UP 15 PERCENT: Intuit Inc. announced that its second-quarter revenues for the 2006 fiscal year had increased 15 percent over last year's numbers, to $742.7 million.The company said that growth was driven by strong sales of QuickBooks software and add-on solutions and TurboTax products and services. Revenue growth also benefited from changes in the TurboTax offering and pricing, which shifted approximately $35 million of revenue into the second quarter that in prior years would have been recognized in the third quarter. Without the timing shift, Intuit estimated that revenue would have increased 9 percent.

Microsoft Corp. has unveiled Microsoft Dynamics Snap - a collection of software programs that integrate with Microsoft Office 2003 to help users handle data and business processes.Microsoft's first set of releases from the Snap collection is a group of four programs specifically geared towards users of MS Dynamics AX 3.0 (formerly known as Microsoft Business Solutions Axapta) and customers of MS Dynamics CRM 3.0.

Tax and accounting software provider CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business, has attained Gold Certified Partner status in the Microsoft Partner Program for its CertiTax suite.CCH's CertiTax suite provides integrated real-time sales and use tax calculations that automate tax compliance for accounting and tax departments. Microsoft Gold Certified Partners receive benefits such as access, training and support.

Karl Grass was named vice president and general manager of Sage Abra HRMS and Sage Payroll Services at Sage Software, a manufacturer of accounting software. Grass will be responsible for overseeing the Sage Abra and Payroll Services for Sage throughout North America, and will report directly to Ray Jimison, vice president and general manager of Specialized Business Solutions.Formerly the vice president and general manager of Intuit's Professional Group in Dallas, Grass was also once a partner at defunct Chicago-based CPA firm Arthur Andersen LLP. His time at the former Big Five firm was spent mostly as general manager of Arthur Andersen Technology Enterprises, the firm's software-producing branch.

Warren Ullman and Timothy Hart, co-owners of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based CPA firm Ullman & Hart CPAs, have not had a headache from a back-up issue in four years. Ever since they started using NetSuite, an online accounting software provider, their jobs have been made a little easier and their back-up duties have vanished."I can't think of anything I would change," said Hart. "It's one of their selling tools as an online provider. We don't have to worry about back-up, they worry about back-up."

"You don't have to know how to build the watch, but you had better be able to tell time."I made this statement when I acquired my first IBM personal computer. Not only has a lot happened with technology since that date, but the speed of change has increased significantly. Technology has the ability to excite you and cause you to invest too early, or the ability to lull you to sleep and resist change.

CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business and provider of tax and compliance software, launched seamless integration between its CertiTax product and Microsoft Dynamics enterprise resource planning solutions.

Spurred by a double-digit rise in payroll division revenues, payroll and benefits outsourcing provider Paychex Inc. posted a 23 percent rise in third-quarter profits, to $114.5 million, versus the year-ago quarter for the period ending February 28.

The projection of the composite application--an application that incorporates data from a variety of sources such as a financial software--looked very appealing.

NetSuite Inc., an on-demand business software provider, unveiled NetSuite-Software Edition, a version of its online flagship software system specifically geared for software companies.

For some time, ePartners stood for what was wrong with the merger and acquisition excesses that ran parallel with the excesses of the dot-com era.

SOCIUS BUYS CONSULTING FIRM: Midwest business and technology consulting firm Socius has acquired BC Technology Ltd., the consulting division of Bruner-Cox LLP.Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

While flying cars, human transporters and robots that clean your house remain a long way off, palm-scans to get into buildings, fingertip readings to log on to a computer, and voice-recognition applications as a form of identification are already here.Authentication technologies - those that verify that individuals are who they say they are - are starting to advance to near science-fiction levels, turning remote workplaces from Dragnet into Minority Report.

TimePlus Payroll Inc., a provider of payroll, tax filing and benefit services, announced the acquisition of Los Angeles-based Payroll Perfect Inc.Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Many practitioners use the terms "practice management" and "time and billing" interchangeably.While these applications have some features in common, time and billing is actually a subset of the practice management application. Exactly where to draw the line separating the two isn't easy, simply because they have a lot in common. With each new product generation, the line slips even more, as time and billing vendors continue to add features and functionality.