Sage has developed a cloud-based offering for SMEs on the Salesforce platform

Accounting software incumbent Sage has partnered with Salesforce to develop  business software based on the Salesforce’s cloud platform.

The two companies jointly developed Sage Life, which is being pitched as a set of cloud-based, mobile-enabled payroll and accounting tools for small businesses based on the Salesforce1 platform.

“Together with Salesforce, Sage is shaping the future of small business. Small business software no longer has to represent different systems or layers of complexity – it’ll be simple, collaborative, and real time,” Stephen Kelly, chief executive of Sage.

“With Sage Life, we are delivering social, mobile, cloud-based innovation, powered by real-time accounting. Now running a small business can be as easy as updating your Facebook status,” Kelly said.

The company said the software will help give small businesses a consolidated view of their customers, something often difficult to achieve given a fragmented technology landscape (SMEs don’t typically have the cash to spend on strong systems integration).

The move is a positive sign for Salesforce, which has attracted a wide range of new and legacy ISVs to its platform; Sage is quite popular in the UK (where it is based) and while it has its own cloud service in Sage One, developing a Salesforce-based alternative to its legacy solutions could broaden its reach.

The partnership comes as rumours surrounding Salesforce’s potential acquisition continue to swell. Salesforce has repeatedly declined rumours that it is working with financial advisors and fielding acquisition inquiries, with many betting that Microsoft may be one of the suitors in the running.