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Buying Guide: The Best Small Business Accounting Software
Small businesses seeking to ditch the notepads and sticky notes, or to replace aging accounting software, have a number of solid selections to choice in the current crop of money-counting applications. The latest feature-rich accounting software packages let businesses create detailed reports, view purchase histories, track monies owed, and myriad tasks essential to keeping a business profitable.
Besides providing many options to handle business operations, outstanding accounting software also delivers an intuitive, well designed interface. You want to dig right into the important numbers, not wrestle with the UI.
Quickbooks Premiere Edition 2010 deftly balanced all of the most important aspects of accounting and emerged as the Editors' Choice winner in the desktop space, besting AccountEdge and Peachtree 2010. In the Web space, QuickBooks Online is the clear all-around accounting choice. Freshbooks and Outright offer good service in smaller business niches.
If you're in the market for accounting software, you won't go wrong with any of these selections—just make sure you choose the one best suited to your needs.
Desktop Accounting and Tax Software
Peachtree
Price: $349.99
Peachtree by Sage Premium Accounting 2010 is a solid competitor with its robust accounting functionality, exceptional inventory-tracking, and powerful people and item management. Vertical solutions add to its overall excellence.
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AccountEdge 2010 For Windows
Price: $299
Though not as well-known as Peachtree or QuickBooks, AccountEdge (formerly MYOB) is a formidable competitor. Its accounting tools are thorough and accessible, and its speed and interface excellence make it a good choice for new users and old pros alike.
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Quickbooks Premiere Edition 2010
Price: $349 first year; $299/year thereafter. Or $79 for first month, $39/month thereafter.
This is a robust upgrade of QuickBooks for 2010, incorporating changes internally and externally, atop an already capable small business accounting program.
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Online Accounting
Freshbooks
Price: Free to $149 per month
The FreshBooks online service gives small-business owners a drop-dead simple way to send out invoices and estimates.
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Outright
Price: Free
Outright is a unique accounting solution designed for micro-businesses with no need for payroll or inventory.
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Quickbooks Online Plus
Price: $34.95 per month
QuickBooks Online Plus would be an excellent choice for a service-based (or very simple product-based) business that needs mobile access to sales and purchase tools and data, as well as payroll and basic time billing. But it's not a complete accounting solution that way that it's desktop cousin is, however. Still, it's exceedingly easy to use, thanks to an intuitive interface.
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