Rockton Software introduces Connect, an accounting solution within Microsoft Dynamics CRM

Rockton Software has been working in the Microsoft Dynamics GP channel for fifteen years, building both products and relationships. So when they recently added a new product focused on helping small and midsized businesses do accounting within Dynamics CRM, they knew it wasn't going to excite the GP community.

The company's new offering is called Rockton Connect and it is an accounting solution built into Microsoft Dynamics CRM. According to Mark Rockwell, founder and President of Rockton Software, the new product is aimed at small to midsize business customers who feel constrained by entry-level accounting software like QuickBooks but who are not quite in a position to implement an enterprise-level financial package like Microsoft Dynamics GP.

The twist with Connect is that it places finance and accounting features directly inside Dynamics CRM rather than building an integration to a separate accounting or ERP system. This approach has the advantage of tightly coupling customer, vendor, and financial data, enabling you to improve collaboration and manage your entire business in one system, Rockwell says.

Rockton Connect within Dynamics CRM - Click image to enlarge 

But where exactly did the idea of accounting software inside Dynamics CRM come from?

"Five or six years ago, I was in a roundtable with a bunch of CEOs and ISVs and we were talking about product future and vision and we were talking about how CRM was an ...