This post is kicking off a series of articles about the benefits of QuickBooks 2009. With great new features, I’d say this new version of QuickBooks accounting software is one of the best ever release by Intuit. One of the best features is multi-currency support. Data from Intuit shows that by 2018 almost half the small businesses in the U.S. will be participants in global trade. The globalization of small business sourcing and sales has created the need for multi-currency support in accounting software–a problem QuickBooks 2009 solves well. Eliminating the need to manually account for foreign transactions will save for small businesses that do significant trade across international borders. In addition, QuickBooks 2009 users can also connect directly to the QuickBooks international payment service, making it easy to process wire transfers and drafts in more than 100 foreign currencies right from within the QuickBooks accounting software.

“Intuit QuickBooks 2009 is one of our best releases in years, giving small businesses more reasons to be optimistic even in tough economic times,” said Rick Jensen the head of Intuit’s small business division. “The powerful new features help small businesses become more productive while finding new ways to make money and succeed in a global economy.”  Click here for more on QuickBooks 2010 multicurrency.

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Everyone in business must keep records. Keeping good records is very important to your business. Good records will help you do the following:

1. Monitor the progress of your business
2. Prepare your financial statements
3. Identify source of receipts
4. Keep track of deductible expenses
5. Prepare your tax returns
6. Support items reported on tax returns
7. Monitor the progress of your business

You need good records to monitor the progress of your business. Records can show whether your business is improving, which items are selling, or what changes you need to make. Good records can increase the likelihood of business success.

Prepare your financial statements

You need good records to prepare accurate financial statements. These include income (profit and loss) statements and balance sheets. These statements can help you in dealing with your bank or creditors and help you manage your business.

An income statement shows the income and expenses of the business for a given period of time.

A balance sheet shows the assets, liabilities, and your equity in the business on a given date.

Identify source of receipts

You will receive money or property from many sources. Your records can identify the source of your receipts. You need this information to separate business from nonbusiness receipts and taxable from nontaxable income.

Keep track of deductible expenses

You may forget expenses when you prepare your tax return, unless you record them when they occur.

Prepare your tax return

You need good records to prepare your tax returns. These records must support the income, expenses, and credits you report. Generally, these are the same records you use to monitor your business and prepare your financial statement.

Support items reported on tax returns

You must keep your business records available at all times for inspection by the IRS. If the IRS examines any of your tax returns, you may be asked to explain the items reported. A complete set of records will speed up the examination.

The most important list in your accounting system is your Chart of Accounts. You track your flow of money through this list of accounts which includes where your income comes from, where you put it, what your expenses are for, and what you use to pay them. QuickBooks’ EasyStep Interview walks you through setting up your accounts. The system also offers sample business templates that already have accounts set up for you. You can later delete or add any accounts that were initially setup in this interview to make it match your income and expenses better. Keep your chart of accounts SIMPLE! Too many accounts result in messy reports that are hard to read and analyze. Also, use descriptions for your account id’s, not numbers. If you assign account numbers for each account, you will have to memorize the numbers for fast data entry. It is much easier to type in the name of the account when entering transactions. This is a key timesaver and way of making QuickBooks work for you.

If you’ve been contemplating buying small business payroll software for your company here is the latest review from PC World of Intuit Online Payroll.

Stand-alone online payroll preparation service is a good value.

Intuit’s relatively inexpensive (a flat fee of $30 per month) Web-based payroll preparation service is aimed at businesses that don’t use its popular QuickBooks application. To set up Online Payroll, you complete a questionnaire and then take a guided step-by-step tour through the service to pay employees, pay taxes, and file tax forms.

Online Payroll offers 13 types of compensation, from the most common (salary and hourly) to specialized pay types such as piecework, commission, and tips. You can adopt any of four pay intervals: weekly, biweekly, twice per month, or monthly.

Like PayCycle’s competing Payroll Plus 2008, Online Payroll lets you print paper paychecks and pay stubs, and deposit net pay electronically into employees’ bank accounts. Both services also maintain current tax tables, calculate gross pay and deductions, compile your pay and tax records, and can help you prepare your payroll tax forms at filing time.

But Online Payroll provides tax forms for only 19 states; if your state isn’t among these, you’ll have to complete the state tax forms manually. Also, Intuit Online Payroll doesn’t integrate with QuickBooks or any other small-business accounting software. As a result, you’ll have to prepare a manual journal entry after each payroll to specify the payroll and deductions in your accounting records.

This requirement is fine for businesses that keep their books manually, but it’s a significant drawback for businesses that use accounting software. Intuit offers other payroll programs–including Basic Payroll and Enhanced Payroll–that do integrate with QuickBooks.

Despite its shortcomings, Intuit Online Payroll is cost-effective and easy to use.

What are the top things to look for in accounting software for your small business?

Adaptability: Small businesses in particular tend to change over time, and you need to make sure that the software you are buying today will be just as useful tomorrow. Are upgrades offered? How much trouble and expense is required to upgrade? How often are upgrades offered? Today’s software is likely to be obsolete in 5 years.

Support: How much support is offered? How effective is it? Is local service available or will you be restricted to dealing with a call center in India?

Price: Software packages vary greatly in price, not only among brands but also among merchants. Choose an appropriate package and then shop around for the best deal.  Are  there discounts on accounting software available?

User Friendliness: How easy is it to use? If you are a sole proprietor, try using it yourself. Otherwise, have your accountant try using it and get his/her opinion.

Features: Don’t pay for features you don’t need, but look ahead 5 or 10 years when deciding which features you’re likely to need. If you don’t need them now, you can always check and see if your package can be easily upgraded to add features you may need in the future.

QuickBooks is by far the most popular accounting software, but then again there are many versions of Quickbooks available on the market. QuickBooks comes in Basic, Online, Pro, and Premier editions. The Pro Edition features tools such as the Cash Flow Projector and the Vehicle Mileage Tracker. Peachtree offers a premium small business accounting software package with over 125 functions including as in-depth inventory, time and billing and job costing features. Other popular accounting software packages include MYOB Plus Accounting Software and Microsoft Office Small Business Accounting.

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