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US software giant Microsoft has begun the process of localising its Small Business Accounting (SBA) package for the UK market and is looking to British practitioners to help define the product spec and marketing strategy.
Launched last year in the US, SBA caters for companies with up to 49 employees. The program is based on Microsoft's SQL Server database engine and has an Outlook-like interface displaying a selection of reminders, reports and a set of task buttons that lead the user into different accounts modules.
While the core functions and interface are set, SBA needs to be localised to cope with things like sales tax (VAT) and accounting cultures in different territories. For the UK, Microsoft is working with tax and practice software house Digita - one of its long-term partners in this country. Microsoft executives were at Digita's annual user conference in Stratford this week partly to solicit feedback and suggestions from UK accountants.
As part of its product roll-out, Microsoft is planning a beta test programme and encouraged Digita users at the event to try out test versions when they become available. Details of the programme will be announced on Microsoft's bCentral website in the near future.
Digita managing director Jeremy Rihll explained that SBA was a part of the Office suite and expected the new accounts system to arrive alongside Office 2007. From Microsoft's most recent product announcements, the software is likely to reach the consumer market around February 2007.
Digita provides Microsoft with an interesting route to market when it brings out SBA to challenge Sage on its home territory. SBA has a very clean, simple to understand interface - but then so does Sage Line 50. As part of its development work with Microsoft, Digita has integrated SBA with its Accounts Pro and Taxability applications. At the Stratford conference, Digita demonstrated how Accounts Pro could import SBA figures at the touch of a button that, via a quick mapping process, took the data straight through to a final accounts report.
Adjustments made to journals within Accounts Pro were then beamed into business and personal tax modules. More impressively, the adjusted journals were then exported back to the client's SBA system.
"The fact is, we don't have a bookkeeping application and our competitors do. Having a close relationship with Microsoft is very advantageous," said Rihll.
"We're happy to be associated with the UK launch of SBA and think it is significant that Microsoft chose our conference to preview the product and is looking to Digita users to act as beta testers for the software."
