But another observer said the company's efforts are familiar music and likely won't shift the landscape too dramatically.
"Whenever a vendor wants to move down from wherever they are and start going into the smaller businesses, Intuit is a very dominant player, so this is the natural thing to do," said Laurie McCabe, an analyst with AMI Partners. "Everybody tries to go after QuickBooks because, face it: This is the big installed base," she said.
Part of the problem is that "a lot of small businesses stay small" and therefore aren't looking to upgrade their software, she asserted.
Microsoft's deep channel program and overall understanding of the small-business market, however, will help it present "a serious challenge," McCabe added.
"I think we can't underestimate their ability to chip away at what Intuit has. On the other hand, the vast majority of the Intuit installed base, they aren't thinking of going anywhere. ... It's not going to be a big avalanche of business."
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