Microsoft has acquired Great Plains accounting software. Microsoft is a major backer of the AICPA's soon-to-be-unveiled CPA2Biz Web site. Apparently Microsoft's penetration into the accounting profession is not over yet.

At the Gartner Group's annual Windows conference in Los Angeles this week, the future strategies of Microsoft were a topic of discussion. "In the first year post-antitrust, we expect Microsoft to spend $4 billion on acquisitions," said Tom Bittman, a Gartner analyst.

Bittman went on to speculate that a potential target for Microsoft would be one of the Big Five management and consulting firms. "It's a role they need to be in if they are to grow in the enterprise," Bittman said of Microsoft.

Microsoft has announced an interest in expanding its consulting business - although currently representing only three percent of Microsoft's business, consulting is the fastest growing sector of the company.