New Accounting Software for Startups

Does the world — and, do you, particularly — really need another accounting-software package? Well, it depends on which half of this country's small businesses you belong to: Around 50% of the millions of small businesses in this country are currently not using any accounting software.

Now that some of the biggest suppliers of business products and services are finally focusing on the needs of entrepreneurs like you, and offering great, easy-to-use software solutions, there's really no good excuse not to get the "nitty gritty" of accounting handled so you can turn your focus to the strategic priorities of your company.

Microsoft, for example, has just introduced its new software aimed squarely at relieving the specific pressure points of startup entrepreneurs.

Office Small Business Accounting 2006 is fully integrated with the entire Office suite that you may already use. It brings the ease of use of household programs like Word and Excel to the prickly function of accounting; leapfrogs the competition with its contact-management capabilities; and adds integration with other Office functions at the deepest levels.

Office Small Business Accounting 2006 also provides you with a single picture of your company's finances, your customer relationships and your employees' growth-enhancing activities.

"We know our customers don't love shiny new technology for shiny new technology's sake," says Cindy Bates, general manager of U.S. small business at Microsoft Corp. "We have to connect the dots and clearly demonstrate how technology helps them reach their business objectives — such as making payroll on Friday, building their customer base and increasing the satisfaction of current customers."

And because Microsoft is a sponsor of ours, we've gotten an extremely close-up, real-life, day-in, day-out look at Office Small Business Accounting 2006. We've had the opportunity to beta test the product and probe its inner workings to see if it performs as advertised — to judge for ourselves whether it's really the robust tool that you need. So we're not just drinking the Kool Aid, as it were.

Going back a long ways to its entrepreneurial roots, Microsoft had developed concerns similar to ours about the lack of products that were aimed at the business-management needs of fledgling entrepreneurs. The company conducted extensive research with thousands of small businesses and accounting professionals who advise them, and overwhelmingly they told Microsoft that there was a big gap in what was available in the market.

"They wanted a simple-to-use, integrated way to manage their businesses, with financial, sales and marketing data easily accessible and offering views of data that could help them run their businesses more effectively," says Bates.

Using the program, we found it easy to get our salespeople the most updated sales and payment information for their customers using Office Small Business Accounting 2006, and then create new quotes and invoices through Outlook. We also liked how you can use appointments on the Outlook calendar to track billable time. You can even open up your books selectively to the rest of the staff if they're running the contact-manager version of Outlook 2003 with the new accounting program.

The thing we liked above all, though, was the learning curve. Office Small Business Accounting 2006 required little or no training because the program was created in a way that's so familiar—we, like most businesses, use Microsoft Office and understand how this family of software works. This saves your—and your employees'—precious time so you can be far more productive.

You might want to ask your accountant for additional thoughts about the merits of the product—you'll still need to work closely with an accountant to get your accounting work done in the most professional way. We know that many experienced tax accountants have already become familiar with the Microsoft software and have given it the "thumbs up" in terms of what this program can do.

At the same time, Office Small Business Accounting 2006 is a program that can grow with your business, to help you with all that nitty-gritty in the future. It's got all the bells and whistles and robustness that can address the needs of your business if you grow up to be not so small.

Lastly, at a price of $149 for the standalone product (or $399 for an entire Office suite that includes the new program), it seems like it's in range for most entrepreneurs' budgets.

Forum discussions about this article

Posted By FreshMikeThanks MonteChristo.As for payroll services, I think the question of "at what stage of business do you need it" varies from business to business.  I'd say it's ...
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Posted By montechristo    Wow your product sounds very novel and I will actually want to use it in about 4 months once my moving company is registered etc. Also would you be familiar ...
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Posted By FreshMikeGood question, and thanks for asking I wasn't expecting anyone to ask .  Honestly we do not compare to QuickBooks or MSB.  We describe our services they are all ...
>> continue in the forum

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