Owning a small business is no cakewalk. It requires risk-taking, hard work, long hours, creativity, and organization. Tim and I actually make the perfect team when it comes to entrepreneurship because I am all about the big ideas and he keeps me grounded in reality. I am all about the relationships...and he reminds me that we actually should think about making money from time to time (Oh, right, money...and here I was just having fun and trying to save the world). Actually, the truth is that Tim is like a business genius. I think he's eventually going to be a millionaire..oh, sweet! I'm married to him...lucky me.
With QuickBooks ($199.95), small business owners can "create invoices, pay bills, manage expenses, and gain insight" into their business. You can personalize forms with your logo (your business will be professionally regarded when you send out company correspondence), synch your contacts with Address Book (an insanely helpful feature), or run over 100 reports to check in on the status of your business. It's thorough and versatile and can expand with you as your business grows. It's a powerhouse of a program, equally well-suited for individual entrepreneurs or small business owners with a group of employees working under them.
If you're a one-woman show, you might want to also consider Quicken Home & Business ($99.99). It's a scaled down version of QuickBooks and not quite as intimidating to use. Unfortunately, they don't currently have a Mac version available...
YOUR TURN: If you have a small business, how do you manage your finances?
WIN IT! One winner will receive a copy of QuickBooks for Mac or Windows ($199.95) by Intuit. To enter, leave any topic-related comment on this post prior to Tuesday, January 19th at 11:59 p.m. (Don’t forget to follow the rules…all generic comments like “Enter me!,” “Love it,” and “Cool stuff!” will be disqualified.).
* I received a product sample for review purposes.
*UPDATE* The winner is #156 R Hicks. Congratulations!
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to use it at work and other programs
My family is so in need of organization with our books to be able to make a good budget plan. this would be a big help.
This would be a great addition for my husband's start up company, he needs financial guidance and a simple way to invoice. I have experience using Peachtree and Quickbooks just seems to be much more popular overall, so I would also love to learn how to use Quickbooks and help him out. Thanks for the opportunity.
Right now I just manage the finances with Excel spreadsheets. I think I need to move up to Quickbooks!
I use a spreadsheet to keep track of my expenses but I really could use a better method.
I am a small business owner who pays the bills and handles all the paperwork. I am not that computer savvy but would like to learn. I'm familiar with Quickbooks but don't have access to it as yet.
The old fashioned way of just checking the bank and balancing the checkbook.
As stated before I have ptsd and am now looking to pursue other business opportunites with flexibility. I could use this from my house and save a lot of money.
I just use a calculator if i'm in the book and a business workbook.. nothing fancy online as of yet!
I'll bet this would really help simplify the budget and make it easier to see what's going in and what's going out.
I have decided to go back to work and take on
some small accounting clients. This software is a necessity in order for me to obtain any clients.
This would greatly help my business.
I'd like to have this to keep track of my spending.
I want to start a small business and this would be great to keep up with my finances.
This would allow me to get my accounting back in order and get my business back on track.
My accountant has been asking me to get the new version of Quickbooks for 5 years, but because of the terrible shape the economy has been in ever since the Bush era, I just haven't been able to afford it. This would help me SOOOO MUCH!
I've heard really good things about Quickbooks and would be thrilled to try it! Thanks.
I repair computers and this would be nice to have to keep up with records. I currently do it the old fashioned way, still!
I currently just manage on a spreadsheet you this would be useful
It's been years since I've had the opportunity to use Quickbooks. Would love to try my hand at it again! Thanks for the great contest!
my husband could use it.
I would love to get Quickbooks to help me keep better track of my finances. I'm very unorganized at the time being.
Thanks for the great contest!
bahjeep@aol.com
I would love to win QuickBooks because I'd love to learn everything about this. It would help so I could get a job doing bookkeeping for people. My friend knows all about QuickBooks and she could teach me.
I don't have a business, but in the prior post on another giveaway i said i'm not organized, this could help as well
dreamcleavers@yahoo.com
I'd love to win this for my mom, who has a small home business selling scarves and blankets she makes -- right now she uses Quicken and Excel, but I think that QuickBooks would make her life a whole lot easier. Thanks for the chance!
We could use this program at home. Thanks!
I just use spreadsheets to keep track of my finances. This would keep me more organized
I do taxes online. This would help me keep my info more organized for tax time!
I would love to try QuickBooks. I have a small business so this would be extremely handy to use. Thanks!
We have a rinkydink accounting program & it's so hard to use we errr, don't really use it!
Quickbooks is perennially on my "must learn" list- To whoever wins, you can often take QB classes through your local Small Business Association.
I just started my ecommerce business. But last year I did most of my accounting by hand in a log.Quickbooks would be wonderful to add to my new website!
Would love to try this program. Thanks
mightynaynay(at)cs.com
I have an Avon business, I work as a PRN (part-time, as needed) nurse, and I always have something going on. I use envelopes to keep my expenses, etc. organized. It's a mess, but with so many irons in the fire, I don't know what else to do. I'd love to give this a try. Thanks!
I just lost my job. This would help me get some side work doing bookkeeping.
Thanks for the giveaway >^..^<
If I own a small business, I manage my finances defenitely by using some software and an online scheduler and calender for appointments and important dates.
I have a very small coffee roasting business I run from home, I'd love to get my hands on some software that would help me keep my books in order. Thanks for offering this u!
I would LOVE this for my business. I have an Etsy shop and it did a little better than expected...time to get organized!
Thanks!
we own a small business, i have quick books 2007 and im looking to upgrade... i like quick books alot.
i have to do the ordering for my job and we have no system for it, so i think this program would really help. (along with a tutorial)
I'd like to have the chance to learn QuickBooks because it's used in so many businesses. It would be a useful software to add to my résumé. Our personal finances are not complicated, but I'm sure that it would help us budget throughout the year and aid us at tax time.
Thank you for this wonderful giveaway
fancyfeet45@earthlink.net
I would love to try this!
I currently keep my small business organized with a large file cabinet. I really need to get with the times and get Quickbooks!
this is on my list of things to get to get my own business started!! hoping to start this spring!
I would love to own Quickbooks. Not only do I do my own personal finances, I am also treasurer of a voluteer Canine Search & Rescue Unit who searches for lost and missing persons. This software would really help me do our finances.
I would love to incorporate this into our law firm!
Thanks! :)
my husband has his own law firm. this would be invaluable to him!
Right now we are just using our own graphs that we made without an actual program so getting QuickBooks would be completely awesome.
Quickbooks is quickly becoming an essential bookeeping product for the home business owner. It is easy to learn and with the updated versions the product just gets better and better.
I run my own small business and I absolutely love Quickbooks; however, business has not been great enough to afford non-necessities lately and I'm still running on a 2006 version of Quickbooks and could seriously use a newer version!
My significant other is incorporating a business this year so the software would be a huge help in keep tracking of his business!
I really need this to be more organized because I do not like keeping paper records.
I am the book keeper for my husbands small business and could really use a program like this to make my work easier. It would be a huge help at the end of the year for compiling all the info for the accountant.
This would be perfect for us, my husband just started his very small business, and as his secretary,manager,bookkeeper,accountant this would help me out a lot.
I'm in the process of setting up a business and I don't have anything like this yet, it would be perfect!
Quickbooks could help me organize all my spreadsheets. Thank you for the giveaway!
I would love to win this. I am looking to get a side job and several of them require experience with Quickbooks.
txhottie_86 at yahoo dot com
I am a consultant who has not done so well. I could use quickbooks to manage my business better.
I could really use this.
I recommend QuickBooks to everyone! It simplyfies so many businesses well.
right now we still use a ledger (it's a very 'small' small business)
I don't have a small business as of yet but I will soon hopefully! I want to run my own IT business, I love to fix computers :D
I have a small business and also am recruiting right now! I could really use this!
I hear this advertised on my am radio station all the time and would love to get it. I'd really like to start a small business and this would be unbelievably useful.
i need all the help i can get to keep track of all this financial stuff
I AM RETIRED, NOT BY CHOICE.
I INTEND TO START A SMALL BUSINESS OF MY OWN WITH
LITTLE CAPITAL.
QUICKBOOKS WILL BE A NECESSITY.
I HOPE I CAN WIN IT INSTEAD OF HAVING TO PURCHASE
IT.
I do not have a small business... yet. But I have been having a difficult time finding a new job since being laid off from my old job of 9 years, and I have been seriously thinking about starting a small business of my own. This software would come in very handy. Thank you for the chance to win.
this would help with our rental properties
As much as I try I can never get orga nized so this m ay help
I use Microsoft Small Business Accounting which was the product they introduced to compete with the QuickBooks customer base. Unfortunately, as of 11/09 they discontinued selling the product, but will continue support until 12/10. Therefore, I am not sure what I am going to switch over to when the time comes.
I am in the process of trying to start my own home-based recruiting business...and QuickBooks would be so incredibly useful!! Thanks!
This is a terrific way to get my finances in order for my Ranch business. I would love it!
Very cool! We chart our net worth every month, but that's really it. It would be great to have something like this to help keep us on track, and to help us make goals.
My son has started a janitorial service & this would be great to get his book keeping off to the right start.
Would love to win this !!!
I do run a small business, but I would like this for my home use. We use Quick Books and I cannot tell you the difference it has made in my finances and reports. Thank you
This would be great for my husband.
This would be great to use for our year round finances. I've wanted to try it. Thanks.
I'm still using a version of Peachtree from the nineties. This is a great upgrade from that.
I've always wanted to learn Quickbook.
My sister could use this for her home business.
I have a friend who owns a small business who could definitely use this. Right now, they pretty much use a paper based system
I could use a better system. Now I just keep a folder of everything for business. So not good LOL I could definitely use a more professional system and hubs would be so happy ha!
I have my own ecommerce business & I have been using my own system (just a simple spreadsheet & invoices that I created). I would love to have a more professional system!
Thisis what I need to keep track of all my finances.
We currently have our business and personal finances mixed up together in quicken - I really need to get them separated and organized more
Our work is Considered a small business and are filing methods are a total wreck..Tax time is not fun for us at all..
My husband owns a small business and I do the bookkeeping for it. We are using Quickbooks 2006. It would be great to have the newest version.
My husband and I started a seasonal business last summer and I just used excel spreadsheets to manager everything. It was such a pain.
My sister would love this for her laptop. Please accept my entry. Thank you.
I really need this! I've just been using excel spreadsheets for the last couple years. I really need to go back to small business software though.
My wife does our books and I'm sure this would make her life easier.
I use Quickbooks 2000 now. It's a good program, but it would be nice to have a more up to date version with all of the enhancements they have made in the last 10 years.
I use Quickbooks at work and would like to use it for my home business. Thanks for the chance.
mogrill@comcast.net
it would be nice to have a newer version of this software
Seriously - I was just talking to hubby last night about this product! He has a plumbing business that I help with and a software tool like this is so desperately needed!
I manage finances with software. It's absolutely indispensable, also try to make regular backups in case of a disaster.
How do I manage my finances? In a word: poorly. Luckily every once in a while my accountant father-in-law will give us a hand.
Spreadsheets and folders galore. Sadly there is also as system involving zip lock baggies to wrangle receipts.
Christian Louboutin|Louboutin shoes|Louis Vuitton
My husband does the books for our small business, and he's always wishing for the full version of quickbooks! We use the free version, which is fine for something free, but I'd still love to give him this prize! Keeping my fingers and toes crossed.
i would like to win this
This would really help me out quite a bit. It would definitely help me to get more organized and free up some of my time.
I hope this would be good for my ebaying ventures, thanks
Anything that is easy to use would be great for me - I'm just not too computer literate!
I am in charge of all financial reporting in my house........this would help me out a lot......
This would really help me get organized. Thanks for the chance.
My husband is starting his own business, and this would be great for him. Thank you.
I plan on taking a Quickbooks class in school this year-winning this would save me from buying it!
smchester at gmail dot com
I've used Quickbooks simple start, and it was OK. But I really like Outright.com, free and does everything I need including mileage tracking and tax calculations.
sign me up
My son has a lawn business and mows 55 lawns per week during the summer. I take care of his "books" for him. A guy I work with made a program for me in Access that helps me keep track and do billing, but it is kind of cumbersome and I'm very limited what I can do with it.
I am currently working towards my associates degree in business and this would be a great addition to my software collection for when I start my own business.
I am working at having a small business. We are putting in a home orchard and I am still a few years away from getting a harvest. Having Quickbook to help me would be fantastic when I start selling our fruits at the local farmers market.
My husband has used Quicken and Turbotax for many years, but is trying to get additional part time work as a bookkeeper and build a business doing the financials for some local small business owners. Quickbooks is a must-have to jumpstart this side-line business.
Just started a new business with my dad. This would come in handy!
I am trying to get my finances more organized so this would help.
I keep my budget on a simple spreadsheet - this would definitely be useful.
As a leader of a small Union Local we have wanted to try quickbooks for a long time but could not justify the cost. This would be great.
I use this at the small office I work at and would love it at home to help me stick to a budget and make all payments on time.
I could really use this. I'm so disorganized when it comes to my finances. I really need something to keep me on track.
courteneycourteney@yahoo.com
This would be great for my small business.
An accountant and a filing cabinet and a pile.
I hate the pile.
About a year ago my sister and I opened a store through ebay. We're currently looking into options to take it to the next level. This looks like it will eventually become a very needed (and incredibly useful) business expense!
We use some awesome home made spreadsheets to keep track of the company's finances, really really frustrating when it comes to taxes. Didn't know they had the smaller version of quickbooks, might need to get that.
I haad an older version which is no longer supported. I do books for 2 of our family businesses and this would be great.
We have Quicken for PC but hubby rally needs a copy for his mac. We had no idea that the one we bought couldn't be used for both
My husband has used this program before at work and we would love to try organizing our small business finances at home with Quickbooks.
My dad's a CPA. At the end of the year he hands me a packet that I'm supposed to fill out. I inevitably go cross eyed when I look at it. So, every year he gets a mostly blank packet back with a pile of receipts, forms, and jotted down notes. He never fails to make sense of the mess. I suppose that's what he gets for raising an artist. Amazingly, he doesn't even charge me.
I would love this for my small business and managing expenses.
I operate an online clothing company and honestly, I do a very sloppy job of keeping track of finances. This would definitely help!
I really want to open a coin and laundry business this would really help me.
I've had a home business for a few years and I'm also a single mother to twin boys! I always have to do things the hard way because I can't afford to spend a ton on software and stuff. This would be a lifesaver!
More small businesses is what we need to boost the economy! A great accounting software will keep independent business owners above water!
Your absolutely right having a small business is risk-taking. Its great that Tim and you work so well together.
quick books would be a lifesaver for our little at home business. With help like this we'll be a large formadble business before you know it.
very carefully
This is a fantastic giveaway. We are using Quickbooks for my husband's eBay business and it is very powerful! I would like to have my own updated version to start my business off with.
I could really use this. I teach piano lessons on the side and would love to use this for bills, etc. Thank you!
I am steadily growing my part time selling of items on ebay so I would like a program that can track my business.
With our recent home purchase and a baby on the way budgeting is going to be a must and this hopefully can help.
this would be FABulous for Moo G! i currently use Quicken for MAC, but it's not the best for business. I use QuickBooks for my job (work PC laptop) as a bookkeeper and know how to use it. would love to have it for Moo G! thanks!
i could give this to my son mverno@roadrunner.com
I don't have a small business but this would be great for a friend.
this would be cool carrots!
i would love to be organized....
I've used notebooks and sticky pads for years. I would love to try actually being organized.
all the bookeeping for the business is done the old way off line
I don't own a business but I sell on ebay, half.com, and Amazon so this would be helpful.
I don't but I would probably use a combo of something like this software and an accountant.
I switched over to QuickBooks a year ago from Microsoft Money. As a business owner newbie I weighed up some of the web based products but decided it would be better to have the offline option. I'm glad I did, I often take my laptop along while waiting for the kids to finish their various activities so I can just get on with my book keeping while I'm sitting in the car. Quickbooks was pretty easy to understand and get to grips with.
My husband is self-employed as an artist and his organizational skills could use some refining! His wadded-up invoices and receipts are frightening...
My husband has a small home business and I take care of his paperwork. At least, I try to take care of it. We have tried an older (outdated) version Quicken, but it just didn't work for us. Currently, we use NolaPro.
I must admit, this is one area where I lack severally. I'm horrible with record keeping and I really need to get better. Something like this would help. I used to work with quickbooks outside of the home, so it shouldn't be too hard to remember how it all goes.
Nell
Since I was laid off right before Christmas, I have been exploring the possibility of working for myself, in my area of expertise. This would certainly be a positive addition to that goal. QuickBooks has very good reputation for it's ease of use and versitility.
Thank you for this opportunity. :-)
My husband and I are opening a business next month this would be wonderful to have.
:) Thank you for the wonderful giveaway! :)
I've always been intimidated by financial software, but whenever year when tax time comes around, I kick myself for not having a better system for keeping things organized. I think it's probably time to turn over a new leaf!
I have never owned my own business but my husband did and I helped him with his books (this was before we were married - yes I was dating the boss!). But we used Quickbooks and I currently help another small business in town with their books and they use Quickbooks. I have always loved how easy it is to use. I enjoy being able to run a report and if I see something on the report I want to look at in more detail I can just click on it and it takes me to either a different report or the actual check or deposit. Quickbooks is very user friendly.
I really could use this becuase my Husband owns a small business and I just recently took over handling the finances and they were all a mess because the person handling it before could not balance a checkbook! So I've been thinking about getting this to make things a lot easier. This would especially help around tax time!
i wish i could say i had a good method but right now I don't and I think I need something to help me!
We aren't quite running our own business yet, however my husband does quite a few side jobs for friends (he is a carpenter) and we always create an invoice with his company name, contractor's license number and details for them to have for their records. I have yet to start charging for my invitations/announcements/letters, etc. Maybe one day!
I do not own a business YET, but would love to have this program. Organization is key to starting a great and successful business and I know that this would help me to stay on track with my business plan.
I could use this for my business.My businees is constantly growing and I could use all the needed help.
I love this program!
use this at work. Would love my own copy so I can become more efficient using it
Quickbooks is an excellent program - I have a different system that works for me right now, but do highly recommend this software to people!
Would love to try this program
My hubby and I have homemade spreadsheet after spreadsheet going. There is no way in heck I could explain our system to anyone.
I could really use Quickbooks! I handle my father-in-laws financial affairs ever since my mother-in-law passed away almost five years ago. Thanks for the chance!
I do not have a small business but my dad does, and I want to win this for him to get him organized.
right now I manage with quicken and my tax programs, not totally efficient, would love to use quickbooks. Its so important to keep up on the day to day income and expense picture to improve the bottom line!
I need this, my accountant is constantly urging me to be better organized.