Recordkeeping software

There are a number of financial management software available today, such as Intuit's Simple Start, Quickbooks, Microsoft Money, and others. These programs enable you to do at least four very important things:

- Collect and account for your business activity
- Create important financial statements and reports to help you manage your business
- Manage cash
- Prepare tax records and forward that data to your tax professional.

Before choosing a program, talk with your accountant, financial advisor or tax preparer. Quite often, with the right software program, you can email your records directly to them, and they can work with the file to prepare your documents.