QuickBooks Simple Start - Free Accounting Software

Run a small business like I do? If so, your tax accountant will insist that you use accounting software for record keeping. Last month, Intuit announced that QuickBooks Basic has been replaced by Quickbooks Simple Start 2008.

QuickBooks Simple Start is available free via download or as a Start Plus Pack with a training CD for about $90. You will get everything you need including tutorials with the downloaded version, so I recommend saving your money and using it to upgrade to the Pro version later on.

Are you using Excel spreadsheets to track your sales and expenses? QuickBooks Simple Start allows you to import your existing data from Excel saving time and avoiding the hassle of manually entering your data.

• Replaces QuickBooks Basic
• Simple to learn and use
• Not a trial – no expiration date - no restrictons
• Be ready at tax time
• Grows with your business
• Available internationally
• One-month email support
• Upgradeable to QuickBooks Pro and Premier Editions

QuickBooks Simple Start 2008 also works with QuickBooks Payroll (Basic, Standard, Enhanced, Enhanced for Accountants, Assisted)¹.

Any negatives? There’s no way to deal with multiple currencies in any of the QuickBooks 2008 versions. For some reason, Intuit removed this capability after QuickBooks 2006. There are no easy workarounds. You can set-up a different company for another currency. However, you cannot easily track bank accounts with different currencies within the same company.

Other versions
QuickBooks Pro 2008
Quickbooks Pro 2008 3 User
Quickbooks Premier Edition 2008