Microsoft have decided to withdraw their accounts package, Microsoft Office Accounting. It was launched a couple of years ago, and, as I wrote at the time, it appeared likely to cause Sage and QuickBooks some real problems, particularly as the basic version was free.
Well, it didn't work out that way. Firstly, Microsoft never really seemed to push it too hard. Although I'm sure it was available, I didn't notice it coming through any of the channels I would have expected to see it. And, although they launched an accountants' "club" to try and promote the software via firm like Fizz, after initially giving us an MS Office licence as an incentive to join, they just went completely silent.
Secondly, the thing that has actually caused problems is the rise of online accounting services, like our own FizzBooks. They meant that the market for traditional accounting software has been gradually contracting anyway, so not only did Microsoft not get as big a slice of the pie as they hoped, but the pie was shrinking at the same time.
Fortunately, we've no clients using the package. For companies that are using it, there should be minimal disruption if they want to continue using it for accounting - ongoing support is being provided, and you often don't need support or upgrades for accounts software anyway - I'm still happily monitoring my personal finances on a copy of Microsoft Money 1999. For companies using Microsoft Office Accounting for their payroll, there is a problem, as the use of that is just being withdrawn in December, in the middle of the PAYE year. So users will have to process the remaining three months and the year-end of their payroll some other way.