Spurred by double-digit spikes in service and subscription revenues, nonprofit software vendor Blackbaud Inc. posted first-quarter profits of $10.9 million for the period ended March 31, versus net income of $4 million for the year-ago quarter.

New York - The American Institute of CPAs has introduced a new Web site for the information technology community. The site, at www.aicpa.org/infotech, is a portal containing resources, tools and guidance for CPAs interested in or performing IT functions.

As financial reporting has progressed from using carbon hard copies and one-write systems to Lotus Notes and eventually online databases, systems-related issues and problems have kept pace.

Redmond, Wash. - Microsoft Corp. has released module extensions for its Great Plains 8.0 Professional Edition - enhancing the areas of business intelligence, industry functionality and expanded customization.

CSI REBRANDS TAX AND ACCOUNTING LINE: Tax and financial software provider Creative Solutions has rebranded its entire product portfolio under the name CS Professional Suite. The company said that the change was enacted to better position each suite and its component products.

If fund accounting were a screenplay, the working title would be "Sarbanes-Oxley Meets the Baby Boomers." It is a curious time for charitable organizations, because they are faced not only with the prospect of enormous growth in endowments and contributions, but with demands for greater accountability and compliance measures to help manage that growth.An estimated $10 trillion will pass from the Baby Boom generation into charitable organizations from now until 2050. Intersecting this increase in giving is a nation with a growing obsession for accountability. In the wake of the stock market bust, the energy scandals, the Internet scandals and a recession, people want an unparalleled level of transparency in every aspect of accounting.

Do partners in your firm have time to think, or are they only focused on their book of business and charge hours?

Intacct Corp., a provider of online financial software, is poised to launch a trio of new programs to its reseller channels. o The Trusted Advisor Reseller Program rests on VARs, system integrators, and accounting firms to resell or refer Intacct's ERP On Demand application suite to mid-market companies. Intacct will train and certify all resellers interested in this sales program. o ISV-in-a-Box is a multi-step program aimed at helping ISVs sell a combined solution of their own product and Intacct's core enterprise resource planning processes to their customers. o Accounting-Outsourcer-in-a-Box is an 11-step-progam intended to assist accounting firms set up outsourcing practices. "Midsize companies have vastly different requirements for managing their business processes," said Robert J. Jurkowski, chief executive officer of Intacct, in a statement. "We surround the market with trusted advisors to give customers the freedom to either buy Intacct's ERP On Demand solution from a certified VAR, or from an ISV that has embedded our applications suite in its industry-specific solution."

Intacct Corp., a provider of online accounting software, unveiled its first multi-entity supply chain management and on-the-fly business analytics additions to its online software suite. The enhanced suite offers small and midsized businesses order-entry management, inventory valuations and purchasing costs. Available on a monthly subscription basis, Intacct's suite includes financial, supply chain, professional services automation and business analytics software. Additional offerings from Intacct scheduled for later this spring include enhanced multiple budgets computation and multi-entity technology that allows users to capture and evaluate real-time business intelligence from individual divisions or an entire enterprise.

-- Officials at Microsoft said that independent software vendors would play a key role in the planned fall launch of its Office Small Business Management Edition. "The reason we continue to grow is because of our ISVs," said Mark Young, developer and general manager of ISV strategy at Microsoft, during a day-long ISV forum titled "Opportunity Knocks." "We understand the power of ISVs." To help ISVs promote and integrate with Microsoft's new application, Dave O'Hara, vice president of business development at the technology giant, set out a roster of six resources available for Microsoft ISVs: free product testing, in-the-box promotion, online catalog inclusion, development support, marketing support and customizable marketing templates. Another feature for ISVs is the software development kit, available now, to encourage and assist them in integrating their existing products and creating new ones within the Small Business Accounting software. In addition, the SDK will help them set the language from C# to whatever code they prefer. "The thing I love about SBA," said Young, "is every map is open. Every vertical to horizontal is open and an opportunity." However, one of the maps that remains closed, said Young, was security -- set at base level for heightened security. "The security was built in at a database layer -- far more secure than at any application layer," said Rajat Taneja, general manager of Small Business Applications at Microsoft Business Solutions. Taneja added that customers would find not only advanced security and a brand-new accounting system, but also an enhanced Outlook 2003 integrated with Business Contact Manager. The Outlook with the contact manager would provide a richer sales and marketing experience by offering such tools as a viewable history of tasks for each client, reporting capabilities, and contact information for all those working with or on a specific account.

-- For its work on information security, national CPA and business advisory firm Crowe Chizek has been named the 2004 Security Partner of the Year for the Midwest by Microsoft Corp. The firm edged out some 900 Microsoft partners in Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin. Over the past year, more than 85 Crowe professionals have been involved in developing and enhancing clients' Microsoft security posture. The firm also participated in three Microsoft security summits in Chicago, Detroit and Orlando. Crowe is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner in four competencies -- information worker productivity solutions, integrated e-business solutions, business solutions and security solutions. Crowe ranked No. 12 on Accounting Today's 2005 Top 100 Firms list, with annual revenues of $286.2 million.

Most often, the phrase "brain drain" refers to the mass exodus of a nation's smartest and most talented people to countries that can offer them better opportunities. But there's a new definition today, one that is expected to change the nature of business as we know it in as few as three years.

* PAISLEY UNVEILS INTEGRATION: Paisley Consulting, a provider of business accountability software, has launched The Paisley Solution, an integration of two Paisley products, including the new JavaScript-based AutoAudit, in an effort to ease the auditing process. The company's newly released J2EE AutoAudit, a JavaScript version of its formerly Lotus Notes-based AutoAudit product, and the existing Risk Navigator can now be used together as one to optimize auditing efficiency, Paisley said. The integration of the two applications creates a common platform for internal auditors, risk management personnel, compliance personnel and business managers.

On-demand accounting software that is accessible without an in-house server may still be relatively young and growing, but as far as it being the wave of the future, don't get out your surfboards just yet, say users and consultants.Many small and midsized businesses are still attached to their multi-dimensional, server-based software and are not yet ready to make the jump into the Web. But not all the hold-up is the fault of the users - the software producers admit that their products are good, but in some cases could be improved. Missing integration to add-ons and a lack of features within the on-demand systems leave some work to be done.

For many of the 5,000 or so attendees at Convergence 2005, it was not so much new technology or keynote speeches by titans such as Bill Gates, but the catch-phrase "evolution versus revolution" that circulated throughout the three-day user confab.

When you mention "soft skills" training, many accountants roll their eyes and discount the importance of such efforts. This may appear to be a reasonable reaction, but is it good business? If you think for a moment, the answer is that it is not.

The data storage market in midsized enterprises is projected to grow by 35 percent in 2005, according to IT researcher and consultancy Info-Tech Research Group. Meanwhile, spending on data storage will outpace spending on servers, telephony and even security software, according to the results of a poll of more than 1,400 IT decision makers. Info-Tech said that storage area networks are currently the hottest segment of the storage market, and it expects them to grow roughly 40 percent within midsized enterprises in 2005. IT decision-makers participating in the survey cited regulatory pressures such as Sarbanes-Oxley and HIPAA, continuity planning, and the popularity of multimedia as drivers of data storage growth. "We expect the demand for SANs to increase sharply as vendors move down-market from their current Fortune 1,000 focus," said Dr. Curtis Gittens, senior research analyst at Info Tech. "As prices continue their sharp decline and SAN products become more commoditized, storage technology becomes increasingly accessible to midsized companies."

Financial management software provider Serenic Corp. has unveiled Version 4.0 of its flagship Serenic Navigator product for nonprofits. The enhanced offering features a redesigned menu pane (graphical user interface) that mirrors Microsoft Outlook's menu system, thus easing navigation, as well as the addition of industry-specific applications, including time- and-effort reporting, integrated fund-raising/donor management, and utility billing. The latest version also provides advanced Web services and XML support, which allows for the rapid deployment of Microsoft .Net portal applications for non-accounting users using Microsoft's Sharepoint services.

Integrated online solutions provider NetSuite Inc. named Best Software veteran Adam Ross to the post of vice president of channel sales. In his new role, Ross will spearhead the company's channel sales initiatives for its NetSuite, NetSuite Small Business, NetCRM, NetERP and NetCommerce products. Prior to coming aboard at NetSuite, Ross served as national sales director for Best's customer relationship management division. He also was manager of strategic accounts. NetSuite's channel program was launched in 2002.

Nearly 95 percent of information technology departments are delivering IT projects either late or below satisfaction, according to a recent study by the Info-Tech Research Group. The companies that participated in the survey listed unrealistic time frames, inadequate staff and poorly defined project scope as the top three reasons for the poor response. As a result, just 11 percent of those polled view technology as a "strategic weapon." "While 95% is a high percentage, it is sobering that this number is not surprising to many business leaders," says Frank Koelsch, executive vice president of Info-Tech Research Group, based here. "The fact that almost every IT department is failing on some of their projects is both a major contributor to, and a major symptom of, the misalignment of business and IT." The poll included responses from 1,400 midsized companies throughout the U.S., Canada and the U.K.