account

QuickBooks update offers greater efficiency

The latest version of Intuit's small business accounting software, QuickBooks 2011, focuses on the fact that time is money for entrepreneurs. With that in mind, the update offers a host of new features aimed at streamlining important accounting tasks. Namely, QuickBooks 2011 hopes to make invoicing and collecting payments even faster and easier than before.

The main updates for QuickBooks this year are found in the two most popular versions of the software, Pro and Premier. The first thing seasoned users are likely to notice is a vastly simplified start-up process, thanks to the new Quick Start Center feature, … Read more

Troubleshooting crashes and hangs in Mail

Sometimes, errors can occur in Mail where the program will periodically hang, crash, or freeze, and will require a force-quit. Several things could cause this, including faulty preferences, corrupt mailboxes that need rebuilding, and errors in individual messages that result in odd behavior whenever the message is displayed. In addition to these possibilities, some shared resources that Mail uses could also contribute to crashes and hangs.

Preferences One of the first things to try when a program crashes or does not work properly is to remove its preferences. In this case, Mail's preferences are called "com.apple.Mail.… Read more

Check mate

Small businesses need all the breaks they can get, and anything that can reduce costs and increase productivity by automating a tedious process is welcome. HalfPriceSoft's ezPaycheck 2010 is a payroll management tool designed for small-business owners and accountants. It can manage payrolls for several companies, print checks and reports, and even calculate taxes and print tax forms. It includes tax data for all 50 U.S. states and Washington, D.C., as well as Social Security, Medicare, and FICA withholdings.

The ezPaycheck interface is a simple, efficient dialog that opens with a split display, a sample check facsimile … Read more

QuickBook Inventories

Fishbowl Inventory 2010 is an inventory control application that integrates with QuickBooks, the popular bookkeeping software. However, it can also be run as a standalone inventory management tool, making it especially suitable for distributors, wholesalers, delivery businesses, and even large operations such as manufacturing that maintain lean inventories for just-in-time operations. Among the features it packs are bar coding, parts tracking, shopping cart and Point-Of-Sale integration, multisite operations, administrative tools, and order management and tracking. Development kits, integrated hardware, and additional services are also available.

Fishbowl Inventory's installer lets you select or exclude the Manufacturing Option, which adds specific … Read more

Canon's wireless mouseculator, for the accountant who has everything

Sure, Apple has the Magic Trackpad, but Canon looks like it's got a one-up all its own: the calculator-mouse. Coming in November 2010 to U.K./European markets (and hopefully to the U.S. as well), this funky little wireless Bluetooth mouse is an old-fashioned calculator from the waist down. Called the X Mark 1 Mouse, it aims to replicate most of the features from Canon's X Mark 1 business calculator.

Armed with a scroll wheel and 1,200dpi resolution, the Mac/PC compatible device comes in black or white and boasts its own LCD display. It may … Read more

Google rolling out multi-account sign-in to users

The shuffle of having to log off, then back on to your Google account to open up Google services from different accounts, but in the same browser instance, is soon to be a thing of the past.

As noticed by the Google Operating System blog, and later confirmed to CNET by a Google spokesperson, the company is in the process of rolling out a new feature that lets users cycle through up to three of their registered Google accounts without having to re-identify their credentials. Even better, they'll be able to switch from one to another with a simple … Read more

Free accounting software

For small businesses, reducing expenses is critical. How about starting with the expense of tracking expenses? That's the goal of Adminsoft Accounts, a free single-user accounting package designed for small and midsize businesses. Its numerous features include Customers and Invoicing, Suppliers and Payments, Profit and Loss, and more. It can help you take inventory; manage personnel, clients, contacts, suppliers, and banking; and even answer shipping, discount, tax, and customer relations questions. It's freeware, but you can purchase upgrades for multiuser environments as well as specific businesses.

For such an impressive array of features, Adminsoft Accounts is surprisingly compact … Read more

Excel-ent personal finance tool

Microsoft's Excel spreadsheet program helps keeps the financial world organized. Arixcel Accounts is a nifty Excel add-in that can help keep your financial world spinning on its axis. It's a personal accounting tool that tracks your bank accounts, credit cards, and other expenses and displays them in a single, easy-to-digest overview. It can import online bank statements via the Microsoft Money (OFX) and Quicken (QIF) file formats. It even has tools for tracking and analyzing your income, expenses, and other finances in a variety of categories and time frames, creating budgeting, splitting transactions, and making accruals.

If you'… Read more

Apple helps you protect your iTunes Store account

If you have recently purchased one of Apple's mobile devices (iPhone, iPad, iPod), you most likely have set up an iTunes Store account to easily access music, movies, podcasts, and applications. Occasionally users report phishing attacks (e-mails designed to trick people into giving third-party hackers password information) that target iTunes Store accounts. The following article details what to do if your account is compromised and some best practices for keeping it secure in the future.… Read more