Microsoft Professional Accountant Network Conference

For our Accountant customers that are part of the MPAN program. Now in addition to thousands of dollars of office and server software you have an opportunity to earn CPE credits, attend a conference in the place known as the "mothership" and coolest of all tour the Microsoft House with its Microsoft Research technology. Microsoft is hosting their first MPAN conference and it's Free, once you get yourself there.

Speaking as one that has attended a few Microsoft conferences I can say with confidence that it will be worth your time. Microsoft always sends out the top brass to these events to collect direct feedback from you on what works and what doesn't about their program and products. So at this conference you're guaranteed to meet the person that "owns" the MPAN program and the person that "owns" any particular feature you can name in Office Accounting and they'll be seriously ready to listen to you and if you engage them enough you'll see your input directly reflected in the next release. You can bet that since this conference is free, Microsoft employees will be there in full force seeking your input to make the program better.

Here are the details.

Microsoft is hosting the first Professional Accountants Network conference. CPE credits are provided for many of the sessions.

MPAN Membership Conference sessions

Thursday, September 27

8:30-9:00 Welcome

9:00-10:50 Office Accounting: Accountant features & MPAN update

Part One will be an interactive session to learn what’s new with the MPAN program, including the new certification training initiative and proactive leads distribution. We encourage your feedback and ideas, as this is your program!

Part Two will cover the product from the professional accountant’s point of view, including some of the most popular features. We’ll also discuss best practices in leveraging Office Accounting Express to gain new clients and provide additional services.

10:50-11:00 Break

11:00-12:00 Office Accounting: Client features, training resources and more

Session will cover advanced feature topics including forms and invoice customization, creating and customizing reports for use in Access and Excel and available product training.

12:00 -1:00 Lunch

1:00-1:50 Office Accounting: Client features, training resources and more –session continues

2:00-2:50 Payroll Center for Accountants

Discuss best practices using the Payroll Center for Accountants to easily help you provide more service for your clients and add revenue to your firm. New pricing structure makes it a great time to discover how the Payroll Center adds value to your offerings.

3:00-4:00 Tour of Microsoft Home / Group One (20 people)

Microsoft Home is the premier venue for communicating Microsoft's vision for technology in the home. Get a complimentary tour of this unique facility. Tours limited to first 40 conference registrants.

Add-on Solutions to Office Accounting / Group Two

Add-On Software Partner – BQE Software Inc.
Learn about add-on solutions that make Office Accounting even more powerful and customized to your industry. BillQuick delivers time tracking, project management and billing to professional services and supports virtually every billing arrangement.

Add-On Software Partner – dpdynamics
Learn about this product which enables users to easily and accurately import and integrate their existing data into the Office Accounting database.

4:00-4:50 Office Accounting Integration with Office Outlook with Business Contact Manager

Clearly a differentiator from other accounting software packages, this integration enables users to share and update a single database of customers across an organization, book and bill their time, launch marketing campaigns, and much more.

5:00-6:00 Tour of Microsoft Home / Group Two (20 people)

Add-on Solutions to Office Accounting / Group One
BQE Software Inc. and dpdynamics

6:00-7:00 Cocktails


Friday, September 28

8:30-9:20 Keynote: Vision for Small Business - Rajat Taneja, GM Small Business Software & Online Services

9:30-10:20 Office Accounting 2008 Product Demo

Get a sneak peak of some of the exciting new features planned for the latest version of Office Accounting.

10:20-10:30 Break

10:30-11:20 Product Roadmap Discussion

Here’s your opportunity to provide Microsoft Product Managers with feedback and ideas. Discuss and brainstorm innovative features not yet available in the marketplace, and Microsoft’s role in developing for the future.

11:30-12:00 Add-On Solutions – Better Idea Group

Microsoft Office Accounting integration with Quick-Payment 2007 makes it easy for users to conduct daily accounting activity and process credit card transactions directly through one simple and secure application. Plus, with Quick-Payment 2007,users have access to the leading credit card processors and most competitive rates.

12:00-1:00 Lunch

1:00-1:50 Microsoft Dynamics Point of Sale Integration: A True Solution Suite

Point of Sale now includes Office Accounting Professional, offering a true solution suite for managing retail and accounting information and tasks. Learn more about this powerful integration.

1:50-2:00 Break


2:00-2:25 Office Accounting Integration with eBay

Session will include a demonstration of this popular add-on feature which enables users to list their inventory on eBay, download and process orders all within Office Accounting.

2:30-2:55 Add-On Solutions – more to come

3:00-3:50 Small Business Server & Office Accounting Integration

Microsoft Windows Small Business Server (SBS) is the award-winning server solution designed to meet the networking needs of smaller companies. Discover how Office Accounting and Outlook with Business Contact Manager integrated with Small Business Server can improve security, scalability, back up procedures, remote access, team collaboration and much more.


Saturday, September 29

Special Offer for MPAN Members: $99 Registration for Day 1 of SMB Nation 2007
SMB Nation 2007 is the fifth annual edition of the world’s original and largest SMB channel partner-focused conference. This gathering is essential to all IT consultants that serve small- and medium-business (SMB) customers. This is THE annual convention for Small Business Specialists, registered partners, TS2 attendees, resellers, SMB consultants, VARs and VAPs. It’s also THE event for those who want to become Small Business Specialists.
There will be a special MPAN track on the first day of the SMB Nation conference. This MPAN track will bring together MPAN Members and other Microsoft Partners to share best practices on using Office Accounting with Small Business Server and the resulting client consultation opportunities.
Visit www.smbnation.com for more information on the SMB Conference and to register for this track.
Accommodations

Please call hotels directly for reservations. Here are a few hotels that are close to the Microsoft campus.

Courtyard by Marriott
11010 NE 8th Street
Bellevue WA 98004
425-454-5888

Hyatt Regency Westin Bellevue
900 Bellevue Way NE 600 Bellevue Way
Bellevue WA 98004 Bellevue WA 98004
425-462-1234 425-638-1000


Register today for this FREE conference-- space is limited! Get your tour of Microsoft Home!**

For questions on this conference, and to register, please contact Tracey Cummings , phone 425-704-7300 or Bob Lewis, phone 425-706-8149.

See you in Redmond!

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* Free conference only. Microsoft does not provide personal travel, entertainment or other expenses.
** Microsoft Home tour limited to the first 40 registrants