bizness software

Hi... My "insignificant other" and myself have recently started a small bizness... I have been keeping the numbers myself on paper because my computer skills are limited. Can anyone advise me on an inexpensive EASY TO USE program that works like a spread sheet? Daily expenses categorized, daily "sales", sales tax etc. Something that I can total weekly, monthly etc. Thanks for any help.

I'm not sure I understand. Do you have a spreadsheet program like Excel? If not, I would suggest going out and buying something like Quickbooks. It might a little more than you need at first, but it's not overly expensive and can easily handle what you're looking to do.

"Quicken" would serve the purpose (not "Quickbooks"). Quicken is what I use. It also makes taxes very easy because everything is recorded and categorized in any way you want and you can print reports from easy to access menus. It is not expensive. It will take a little learning. Not so much how to operate it, but how to set it up and learn what it will do.


Alden

I have a small businees and I've used both Peachtree and One Write Plus, and have finally settled on Quickbooks. I've found it works well for me and can even handle payroll. Also important, is that most accountants are familiar with it.

I misread your first post. Quickbooks would do it ok. If there is billing to do, it would be better.

Judging from you post, you really do just want to use a spread sheet for this. However, if your business grows at all you are going to want a real accounting oriented package (like Quickbooks, mentioned in other posts).


I've used M.Y.O.B. on my Macintosh for years. (The Mac version is now called AccountEdge, but the Windows version is still MYOB.)

You can find out about it at http://www.myob.com if you are interested.


Chuck

Thanks for help all. I use windows ME... Right now I am doing expenses/debits with pencil on paper, and calculations with my calculator. Guess if I had been more specific it would have helped. We have a "hotdog cart". No employee expenses to show. Just want to show daily/weekly/monthly expenses vs. sales. Can anyone tell me what is the difference between quickbooks and quicken is? and which is better for computer dummies like us?


An afterthot - forums like this are wonderful. Where else can you get free advise from those who have "been there/done that". Not only about our first love, "poker", but about all aspects of life. I thoroughly enjoy reading most of the forums here, and have gleaned much knowledge about aspects of the world that I never even realized I wanted or needed to know. Thanks again for your advice.

Why did you pick this software over quickbooks?

Best for your situation is Excel. I think it should already be on your computer. click on the Start button on the lower left hand part of the screen. On the pop-up menu click on Programs. from the programs list you should be able to see Excel.

When I was first looking for an accounting package (I think in the

early 1990's) the only decent one for the Mac was MYOB. Quickbooks either didn't exist or didn't do enough at the time. At one point I considered switching to Quickbooks (or at least evaluating it) but by then I discovered that Intuit had stopped developing the Mac version.


Chuck