Quickbooks is one accounting software programyou don't want to overlook as a small business owner. When it comes to managing your bookkeeping and accounting, you'll need a worthwhile financial software program to balance and manage your cash flow. Quickbooks is a great way to streamline your accounting processes; you can even handle payroll, invoices, and add credit card processing with various upgrades.

Quickbooks for Windows is available in four different versions. Quickbooks Simple Start is a starter edition, giving you just the basics to get your business up and running. This version can print checks, pay bills, track sales and expenses, provide estimates and invoices, and accept credit cards. Upgrade to the Pro version for additional features such as tracking inventory or determining payroll.

Quickbooks Pro 2007 is a great edition for most small business owners. Key features include importing Microsoft Office contacts, tracking inventory and creating purchase orders, estaimting invoices, and free Quickbooks callback support. An upgrade will give you some enhanced features including tracking costs for assembled products-ideal for home-based manufacturers or retailers.

QuickBooks Premier Edition is designed to help with business planning tools and is available for most industries-Accountants, Nonprofits, Retailers, and Contractors will all find a specialty version that is designed for specific business needs. You can download credit card and bank transactions, track inventory, and create business plans and forecast with the tools readily available. This edition also includes some Google marketing tools that can help with advertising and business listings on the web.

Overall, the key highlights of Quickbooks for small business owners include:

• Bill pay services
• Business Mastercard
• Billing solutions
• Online banking
• Remote access
• Online version
• Quickbooks Time Tracker
• Customer Manager
• Invoice Manager
• Credit Card Processing Kit
• Business Cards
• Point of Sale interface

Making the best investment will involve identifying exactly what the priorities are for your small business; even as a startup, you'll always have the option to upgrade so it's best to highlight what your necessities are, and take it from there!