Microsoft recently revealed that it would not be offering
Continuing Professional Education (CPE) credits for sessions at their
Convergence 2011 conference coming to Atlanta in April. It felt like Microsoft
was abandoning a core set of Microsoft Dynamics users – accountants.

But faced with growing and vocal displeasure from both partners
and customers, Microsoft has changed its tune.  While the credits that will now be offered
leave some uncertainty depending on the state in which you do business – more details
on that below – the change highlights the fact that the network of partners and
customers that forms the basis of the Dynamics community can make a difference
for their own best interests.

Certified Public Accountants are required to obtain a certain
number of hours of continuing education each year to maintain their license.
For Florida, where I live, it’s 80 hours every two years. Most other states are
similar, with requirements of around 40 hours a year.

For many users of Dynamics GP, Convergence is an important part of
their CPE strategy. The availability of CPE credits at past conferences allowed
CPA’s to get roughly half of their required credits for a year.

CPAs need continuing education, but they don’t have to go to
Convergence. By providing CPE credits Microsoft gave accountants the chance to
kill two birds with one budget line. It made selling the cost and time
commitment of Convergence to management easier as well.

When the bad news broke, a number of partner firms and bloggers
reached out to their customers. My customers reacted very negatively. I’ve
mentioned before that I have a customer who worked to ensure that her upcoming
wedding didn’t interfere with Convergence this year. She needs the CPE credits
and was, well, we’ll …