Microsoft has previewed Project Madeira, which introduces accounting within Office 365. Madeira, a code name, targets businesses with roughly 10 to 99 employees. The company says the cloud-based product, which does not have a public release date, will not compete with its Dynamics software products.

Sage has introduced Sage50c, a product spanning three of its low-cost accounting packages. The product lets desktop users push files to the cloud and work remotely. The packages included include Sage 50c Pro, Premium and Quantum with both subscription and perpetual license pricing available.

We would all love to have a crystal ball, and as the phrase goes, hindsight is 20/20. But trends are easy to spot. So what are the trends in accounting software that are the most important during 2016?

The question of what's ahead in technology in 2016 for accounting firms, compared to what's looming for consumers and other businesses are probably two different things. That was shown at last fall's Thomson Synergy conference when  company talked about plans for the roll out its Onvio cloud tax and accounting suite. A lot of attendees were more worried about moving from the Creative Solutions CS application to the not-exactly new Accounting CS.