As someone that LOATHS QuickBooks, the idea of Microsoft coming up with an alternative to this software is being met with a wary curiosity at this point. Having been so disillusioned by QuickBooks, Microsoft is going to have to really work to impress me.

Who knows, they might come up with software that really wows me. It is possible, after my experience with the Xbox, I know that they are capable of offering quality when it suits them.

In the realm of small business accounting, Intuit’s QuickBooks has long reigned supreme. That will change, if Microsoft has anything to say about it. Code-named Magellan, a new small business office suite from Microsoft will include Office stalwarts such as Excel, PowerPoint, and Word. Along with those will be an enhanced version of Outlook with an improved contacts manager for tracking customer accounts, and a new application called Office Small Business Accounting.

Office Small Business Accounting will include capability for managing accounts payable, accounts receivable (Herbert Kornfeld represent!), generating invoices, and payroll. It also has a tie-in with payroll processor ADP. In other words, it’s aimed squarely at Intuit’s market-leading QuickBooks. To make the transition easier, Magellan will include tools to allow switchers to migrate data from QuickBooks into Office SBA. The small business finance application is the fruit of Microsoft’s US$2.5 billion acquisition of Great Plains Software.