Idea #17 – Free Accounting Software

If you’re a business owner you need accounting software. Period. It doesn’t matter if you’re running a multinational software company or a handyman service out of your garage, you need a formalized but intuitive way to manage your business.

Microsoft recently released Office Accounting 2007 Express, which is a free download and suits the small to mid size business just fine. I’ve been using Microsoft Small Business Accounting (SBA) since its beta 18 months ago and it appears that 2007 Express has most of the same features.

Before going with SBA I tried Quickbooks and Quickbooks Hosted and I have to say the Microsoft version is far easier to use. It even has features to send tax files to your accountant at the end of the year. And let’s face it, FREE is good. Very Good.

-Chris

-part of the 60 ideas in 60 days series-