Large Vendors Target SME Accounting Marketplace
By Scott H. Cytron, ABC
The recent American Institute of CPAs Information Technology Conference in Las Vegas, May 3-5, 2004, featured a number of exhibitors, many of whom are typically thought of as more appealing to the large enterprise space. Conversations with them proved otherwise, and given the number of small- to medium-sized CPA firm/consultant attending this conference, many vendors made attempts to enter the smaller space with new programs, offerings and innovations.
For example, HP (Hewlett-Packard) is no stranger to the small- to medium-size space, but made a concerted effort at the conference to showcase its products and services to this market to gain even more market share. HP demonstrated its Compaq Tablet PC, various notebooks, handhelds, and, of course, a variety of printers and peripherals. In the third quarter of 2003, HP announced its new SMB strategy called “Smart Office.”
“HP has great brand appeal among small- to medium-size businesses, and that brand is associated with providing quality and reliable products and services,” says John Brennan, senior vice president of worldwide SMB, HP. “HP’s Smart Office is seen as having a solid foundation for continued, significant growth for our products and services in the SMB market and an edge in the solutions area that its competitors have not addressed.”
SAP Offers CPA Advisor Program
One of the vendors showcasing its products was SAP; visits with representatives attending the conference admitted that the first reaction from attendees was one of surprise, given the reputation of SAP catering to large enterprises.
However, through the new CPA Advisor Program, SAP hopes to build the number of accounting professionals involved with its products, including SAP Business One. CPA Advisor is a free program that provides tools and training on enterprise management software designed just for the small- to medium-size market. | |
Dan Kraus
U.S. Channel Director of SAP |
“Businesses with revenues under $25 million rely on outside business advisors for their advice,” says Dan Krause, U.S. Channel Director of SAP Business One in Waltham, Mass. ”When organizations look at new systems, their CPA firm is one of the places they ping for advice. The CPA Advisor Program gives professionals more information to work with by educating them on what SAP Business One is all about. More importantly, if their clients decided to buy this program, we give them a seat on these systems for CPAs to access.”
The CPA Advisor Program also awards a certificate to participants, along with CPE credit. Initial trainings are scheduled for June 23 in Philadelphia, Pa.; July 7 in Los Angeles, Calif.; and July 14 in Detroit, Mich.
Unlike “My SAP,” Krause says Business One is only available through an authorized reseller channel. With the new CPA Advisor Program, firms partner with local reselling firms.
“All business happens locally, so this approach makes sense because the firm and reseller get to know each other,” he says. “Our goal is to help each of our 80 partners build a network of six to 10 CPA firms with whom they do business.”
Krause says that SAP’s Business One program is specifically targeted to the smaller firm as a means to keep track of a client’s ongoing operations. The company also is trying to dispel the belief that SAP only caters to the large enterprise. In fact, SAP reports that 60 percent of SAP installations are in small and midsize companies.
“The workflow and business alerts inherent in the product put it above the rest,” he says. “For example, if a CPA works on reducing days sales outstanding or gross margin, we can set up the software so that the firm gets an e-mail, SMS or fax whenever something falls outside of a range for a client.”
WSG Pins its Hopes on Empire SUITE
Another vendor working to break ground with the lucrative smaller market is WSG Systems, Corp., whose Empire SUITE addresses all phases of engagement management, from estimating and planning through billing and receivables, as well as staff scheduling and resource management. Compared to other engagement management and ERP systems, WSG reports its Empire SUITE simplifies revenue recognition, revenue sharing, WIP and accounts receivable management.
“WSG is itself a small company; in fact, if you were to view a list of our customers who replaced existing systems with The Empire SUITE in more than 30 countries over the last two years, you would be quite surprised to learn that WSG is as small as it is,” says Barry Elkin, managing director of WSG Systems, Corp. in New York, N.Y.
“We offer the SME market the unique combination of being a smaller company, while having developed the product capability and experience to be accepted as a credible provider of engagement management software products and services,” he says. One of the larger installations was with Deloitte and Touche. “This means that we understand the challenges faced by smaller companies. Yet, we can deliver proven solutions that have been accepted by the most demanding of firms.”
WSG has implemented products that have been proven to require significantly less up-front investment in installation-related consulting services, says Elkin. This savings trickles down to the smaller CPA firm in terms of efficiency and resources.
“Deloitte and other firms that have selected The Empire SUITE for their engagement management needs have demonstrated this to be true,” he says. “If the needs of a complex, global, multi-currency firm can be met using our implementation approach, then we believe that smaller, significantly less complex firms will see even greater benefit. A reduction in implementation complexity means less work, less risk and less expenditure.”
Elkin says the Empire SUITE is different from competitors’ programs for several reasons.
“The ability to be easily customize it to meet a firm’s specific requirements without a significant amount of up-front expense compared to competitive products is our first key differentiator,” says Elkin. “We also meet a broad array of engagement management requirements, including budgeting and estimating, resource management, billing and receivables management, as well as flexible reporting and analysis.”
Lastly, Elkin says Empire SUITE has functional and capacity scalability. “This means that smaller, more focused firms can just as easily use the powerful tools being used by the most complex of firms.”
About Author:
Scott H. Cytron, ABC, is an accredited communications and public relations consultant working in the accounting, health care, high-tech and finance industries. He can be reached at scott@cytronandcompany.com or through his Web site, http://www.cytronandcompany.com .
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