Microsoft Reaches out to Accountants

I’ll make just one more post about Microsoft this week because the topic is important to the SMB market.    Microsoft is reaching out to accountants: 

“…Microsoft announces that Accounting Professionals can officially sign up for the Microsoft Professional Accountants Network (MPAN).A big incentive for Microsoft to create MPAN is because of the release of Microsoft’s Small Business Accounting 2006.”

I think this is a smart and critically important move for Microsoft. 

Earler here at this blog I pointed out how Intuit has achieved such broad penetration in the SMB market in part because it has involved the accountants of small businesses. 

Instead of trying to replace accountants, Intuit has deeply woven the accountant’s role into the software.  QuickBooks has become as much a productivity tool for accountants as it has for the accountants’ clients.

As a result, accountants across America (and probably in other countries) have been instrumental in persuading their clients to adopt QuickBooks or other Intuit products.  Some accountants I know have even developed side businesses helping their clients convert to QuickBooks, training clients how to use QuickBooks, or resolving QuickBooks technical issues.

With one of Microsoft’s strengths being partner relations, look for a concerted and well-organized effort to court accountants.