"The progress in North America was below where what we want it to be. We are addressing this, but it will take time," Kelly said in an appearance after 21 days on the job with the United Kingdom-based Sage Group.

In terms of the competition, Sage's slow performance with a cloud product is the same issue reported by Exact, the Netherlands-based parent of Macola software, in its efforts to sell Exact Online in the United States. Sage's views are also similar to those of Intuit, whose CFO Neil Williams this week said accountants are the key to migrating QuickBooks desktop users to the online version.

And as the dominant player in the low-cost accounting market with its strong ProAdvisor program, Intuit could be the reason Sage and Exact's plans are lagging.

Kelly did not spell out how Sage plans to increase its use of accountants. But he noted, "We have some work to do around the channel, which is less developed in the United States than it is in the United Kingdom."

The new chief executive expressed his belief that the strategy set by his predecessor, Guy Berruyer, has worked. Kelly said the company needs to increase the "pace of execution" and his comments about elements that will be continued include "product rationalization and shift in investment towards investment in growth."