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Solomon Software's Heritage
Plumbline Solutions has a long-running and rich heritage that sets it apart from other start-up software engineering and consulting service companies. Based in Findlay, Ohio, Plumbline's roots go back 24 years - when co-founders Gary Harpst, Jack Ridge and Vernon Strong, started TLB, Inc. in 1980.

TLB later was renamed Solomon Software, which continued as a leading developer and marketer of accounting software for small and medium-sized companies.

Solomon Software was acquired by Great Plains Software in May 2000. Great Plains was later acquired by Microsoft Corporation in May 2001.

After four years of being an integral part of Microsoft Business Solutions, Solomon software development and priority support was outsourced by Microsoft to the newly created Plumbline Solutions in the summer of 2004.

The History
Founded in 1980 by Gary Harpst, Jack Ridge and Vernon Strong, Solomon Software was initially founded as “TLB, Inc.” TLB, which stands for “The Lord’s Business," was named to remind the founders why the business was started, which was to conduct the business according to biblical principles.

Solomon designed and released its first accounting software products (Solomon I and II) for the CP/M operating system, on Z-80 microprocessors in 1981. In 1982, it began development of its first 16-bit accounting software product, (Solomon III). In 1984, Solomon III was introduced as the first microcomputer accounting software written in C, based on a single integrated relational database management system (MDBS), optimized specifically for the IBM Personal Computer and the MS-DOS operating system.

By 1985, Solomon III was heralded by industry experts as the industry-leading accounting software for small businesses, having won the popular PC Magazine/Price Waterhouse Editors’ Choice award. Solomon III was a well accepted by the market, establishing Solomon Software as one of the leading accounting software companies in the U.S. Solomon III was sold through an exclusive network of computer software resellers, many of whom continue to resell Solomon’s newest software products.

During the 1980’s, Solomon III continued to accumulate more awards and honors than any small business accounting software for its flexibility and feature-strength, including those from computer publications, CPA firms, computer software resellers and consulting organizations. Today, Solomon III continues to be used by thousands of customers, and has been maintained and enhanced over the years to be very stable, feature-rich and Year 2000-compliant.

In July 1991, Solomon began development of its next generation product line (Solomon IV for Windows), a product written in Microsoft Visual Basic, using open architecture, industry standard tools, designed for the Microsoft Windows operating system. Solomon IV was released in February of 1994. By 1995, Solomon IV for Windows continued the award-winning tradition, by once again winning the coveted Editors’ Choice award from PC Magazine/Price Waterhouse. Since 1995, Solomon IV has again won more awards, honors and recognition from value-added resellers, computer publications, CPA and accounting firms, and the programmer/developer community. These reviewers and industry experts specifically heralded Solomon IV’s strengths for customization, flexibility and its use of industry-standard tools.

In August 1997, Solomon began to broaden its product portfolio by acquiring Smith, Dennis & Gaylord (SDG), an independent developer located in Santa Clara, California. Using the Solomon IV Tools for Visual Basic, SDG successfully brought to market a complete suite of project accounting and project management software that integrates seamlessly with Solomon IV financial applications.