by Don Simkovich

Created on: February 14, 2009

Accounting software that works effectively for home businesses should have the following traits:

Ease of use the software should not have a high learning curve for those who don't have an accounting background.

Easily import and export data bringing in information already entered in Microsoft Excel or other similar formats should occur easily.

Flex with business growth a home business may grow in complexity and scope such as using sub-contractors. The software should account for future changes without having to purchase expensive upgrades.

Allow ease of emailing or online sharing the file size to email data to an accountant, business partner in another location or vendor should be relatively small; the software may even offer a web-based alternative.

Makes tax reporting simple a good package will make it easy to file quarterly or annual taxes.

The packages that fit these requirements are companies that have built a reputation serving home businesses:

#1 Quickbooks Accounting Pro Edition, an Intuit company, enables a home business to begin with Quickbooks Pro starting at $ 199. Quickbooks can be tailored for any industry, offers a thorough set-up feature to get a good, clean start to create new accounts.

#2 NolaPro is a web-based software that's free and is flexible enough to run on different systems. The free version does not carry ads and is spyware free. The features offer a business to easily track inventory and vendors. Paid support packages are inexpensive and add-on modules are completely optional.

#3 Goldenseal is software that serves general small business use. Home-based business owners who invest in rental properties may find this package useful since there's a module for tracking all information related to rental properties and tenants. It begins at $ 395 for a single user and an upgraded version costs $ 695.

#4 Peachtree Complete Accounting 2009 is rated highly by PCmag.com and is software that may be most useful for home business owners who bill on an hourly rate since it has an in-depth time-billing feature that's more in-depth than competitors. It costs $ 269.99.

Microsoft Office Accounting Professional and MYOB Premier Accounting 2008 are additional home based business software solutions worthy of consideration. Microsoft Office has a look and feel of similar products such as Outlook and it's a package that costs $ 199.95. MYOB has a clean interface that's easy to navigate and it's priced at $ 299.

Investing in an accounting system is a must for any home business. The purpose of a business is to make money. Efficiently tracking income and expenses, then reconciling with a bank, is the only way to know and project financial health.

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