Office Accounting Meets The Needs Of Growing Hispanic Market

By Lynn Yoffee

Usted habla español? Microsoft is ready to meet the needs of the growing Hispanic small business market with its 2008 Spanish bilingual version of Office Accounting – the only mainstream accounting product out there for the Latino market.

The Spanish Bilingual edition of Office Accounting Professional.

According to the Small Business Administration, Hispanics or Latinos constitute the largest minority business community in the U.S. and own 6.6 percent of all U.S. firms, 3.7 percent of employer firms, and 7.4 percent of non-employer firms.

“Small businesses recognize that managing their finances is a vital task that can be overwhelming,” said Jose Pinero, director of Diversity and Multicultural Marketing for Microsoft. “Products such as Office Accounting 2008 help small businesses by offering easy, affordable and comprehensive solutions to effectively perform everyday financial tasks in both Spanish and English.”

The bilingual editions include the exact same functionality as their English counterparts, with the additional capability of displaying menus and forms, as well as printing invoices and other documents in English or Spanish. And they can print invoices and other documents in either language.

According to recent studies, by 2010, there are expected to be 3.2 million Hispanic firms generating $465 billion in revenues. Hispanic-owned firms are continuing to grow at higher rates than the average U.S. firms, and they are expecting higher growth in revenue and labor force than non-Hispanic firms. Demographic trends point to an even greater Hispanic business presence in the future.

“We know that the U.S. small-business market is very diverse, and we want to make sure that Office Accounting 2008 meets the needs of all small businesses in the U.S. That is why we now offer the product in Spanish to help the over 2 million Hispanic small businesses based in the U.S.,” Pinero said.

Both the free Express and paid Professional versions of Office Accounting 2008 are available in either English or Spanish-language versions. Bilingual businesses can easily toggle between English and Spanish from within the software.

Both Office Accounting Express and Professional enable Latino users to conform to U.S. accounting standards.

Anyone using Office Accounting in a multi-user environment can choose between English or Spanish, so users can share accounting records while using the software in their primary language. This unique capability clearly sets Office Accounting apart from the competition.

Selecting display language.

The users can also send invoices and other documents in either language by using different word templates, should they have customers or vendors in both languages.

As with previous versions, Office Accounting Express, whether in English or Spanish, is free for anyone to use. This version includes these basic features:

* General ledger

* Accounts Receivable

* Accounts Payable

* Invoicing

* Bill payment

* Online banking

* A Resource Center to help with common questions

 

Office Accounting Professional retails for $199.95, and adds these capabilities:

* More than 40 additional reports

* Multi-user access

* Job costing and class tracking

* Inventory tracking and valuation

* Sales orders

* Purchase orders

* Cash flow forecasting

* Recurring transactions

* Finance charges

* Fixed asset manager

* Integration with Microsoft Point of Sale

* Multi-currency support

 

Bilingual businesses can find the Spanish version downloads at these sites and get started right away:

* Express Spanish Language Edition (Free): This single-user edition is a free download from www.ideawins.com/espanol.

* Professional Spanish Language Edition ($199.95): This multi-user capable edition can be purchased online at www.ideawins.com/espanol. A free 60 day trial is also available.

* Spanish Language Upgrade Edition ($149.95): This version provides a discount to existing users of Small Business Accounting 2006 and Office Accounting 2007, and can be purchased online at online at www.ideawins.com/espanol.

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Microsoft.