What's New for CPAs in Office 2010

By RANDY JOHNSTON

FEBRUARY 2010

Microsoft has updated one of the most important tools in the accountant’s tool kit, Microsoft Office. This article describes the features in the new versions of Excel, Word, Access, PowerPoint and Outlook that are likely to be most important to CPAs when Office 2010 is released in June.

Each module of Office 2010 has received updates to features and improved ease of use. Although many of the changes from Office 2007 are subtle, the theme is one of easier access to many common functions—with buttons consolidated into single menus and the number of steps necessary to accomplish certain tasks greatly reduced, improving productivity. If you don’t want to wait for the retail release to try out the new features, a fully functioning beta version of the software is available free from Microsoft at microsoft.com/office/2010.

This article is based on the technical preview version of Office 2010, which Microsoft provided before the public beta version was released. Although the final retail version is expected to be substantially similar to the technical preview version, keep in mind that Microsoft might make minor changes to the software before the official release date.