Recently, we wrote about John Silvani's Gravity Software which is peddling a financial application built on top of Dynamics CRM. Silvani is not the only one. Last fall, Rockton Software launched Rockton Connect. "Some in Microsoft question why we'd go through the trouble of writing a new accounting application in the Dynamics space when GP, AX, NAV, and SL exist," says owner Mark Rockwell. "My standard reply is 'because GP, AX, NAV and SL exist.'" And the product is for those outgrowing QuickBooks.

SilverSun Technologies, parent of SWK Technologies, continues to be on the hunt for other Sage VARs and wants to double its revenue. In a recent investor presentation, SilverSun CEO Mark Meller said the company's parameters for targets are more than $1 million in annual revenue and resellers that are cash flow and income positive. "The company is actively reviewing additional acquisitions ," he told listeners.

Epicor Software has spun off its Retail Solutions division effective June 1. For the moment, the company is named Spinco—a new partnership of investors, but remains under the same ownership funds advised by Apax Partners as all the assets were transferred to the same parent that owns Epicor. Information about the retail business remains on the Epicor website, but I assume that will change when the company receives a real name.

Avalara has launched Avalara Returns Excise Pro, an online service. The sales-and-use tax company says the application enables small to mid-sized fuel distributors, suppliers, and terminal operators to file accurate fuel tax returns. Excise Pro utilizes a four-step process. Those steps start when the user enters fuel sales data into a return-specific spreadsheet template. Next, schedules are imported via spreadsheets with errors detected by the system's data validation.