Small Biz Watch: Account for your software
Still doing your books 1970s style? You know—paper, pen, and a calculator or adding machine? If so, you are not alone.
More than half of all small businesses still do not use any accounting software, according to a survey of small businesses—those with under 100 employees—by Access Markets International in New York. But pressure to electronically exchange info with larger customers and the need to comply with Sarbanes-Oxley and other regulatory requirements will most likely force more and more companies to head to Best Buy or Circuit City and get a copy of accounting software from Intuit (QuickBooks) or Microsoft (Small Business Accounting).
If you are just getting started, AMI recommends Intuit's $99 Simple Start software, which allows easy upgrades to more sophisticated—and expensive—packages as your business grows. Yet the report also suggests that customers who already use Microsoft's Excel software might feel comfortable trying Microsoft's accounting software, since it promises to "require minimal training to get up to speed." If you already use QuickBooks, you can also port in data to Microsoft's offering.