Battle Plan Company books on the verge of rebellion? Take command with new accounting software.

It only takes being in business for a few months to realize howimportant it is to know exactly what's going on with yourbooks. Fortunately, there are many accounting programs that helpyou keep track of monies coming in and going out, not to mentionmanaging inventory, setting budgets, analyzing profitability,handling payroll and more.

A few years ago, Intuit's QuickBooks was the only game intown for small-business owners who didn't want to wade througha lot of accounting mumbo-jumbo to computerize their books. NowIntuit's competitors, Peachtree and DacEasy, are catching upwith QuickBooks in terms of ease of use. Both companies are bigplayers in the accounting software arena, but until recently, theirprograms were too complex for novices to grasp.

All the programs reviewed here are designed to run under Windows95 and NT, but they can also work under Windows 3.1; Macintoshversions are available as well.

Common Ground

All three of these programs offer similar functions. They helpyou maintain accurate accounts receivable and accounts payablerecords. You'll be able to create invoices, and customer data,including contact information and purchasing history, will bestored and easily accessible. Check writing and printing featuresare also standard on all three programs, as is an inventoryfunction that shows what's on hand and on order. All three alsohave payroll capabilities and will calculate and deduct federal,state and local taxes--meaning you might be able to do away withyour bookkeeper or payroll service.

Having an accounting program do all your work for the year makestax time much simpler. You'll be able to output data for youraccountant or export data into one of the popular tax preparationprograms on the market (see next month's "BusinessSoftware" for a review of tax software).

Though the accounting functions are great, what really makesthese products exciting are the business management tools forcreating customized reports and financial statements. For example,you'll be able to analyze whether a certain product isprofitable, and there will be no more guessing about who's yourbiggest client or which sales representative is the mostproductive.

Easy Does It

Setting up DacEasy's Accounting & Payroll 95 is simple.You input your company's name and address, and a list of 100different types of businesses appears--from accounting to realestate. Choose the one that best applies to you, and DacEasygenerates the various accounts required for this type of company;you can also opt to create your own.

DacEasy includes an upgrade function for people using otheraccounting programs. You can import data from older DacEasyprograms, as well as from Peachtree and QuickBooks. (No otheraccounting programs are supported, however.) The DacEasy interfaceis fairly standard, with pull-down menus and icons. The icons aredifficult to decipher, but if you hold the mouse over them,descriptions of their functions pop up.

This program is designed to interact with other Windows 95programs, such as Microsoft Word, Excel and Access, which means youcan easily import and export data such as spreadsheets and customerlists.

If you're in the service industry and bill based on hourlyor daily rates, DacEasy recommends integrating its program withTimeSlips Accounting Link, a time-and-billing-system program. Youcan input data in the TimeSlips program and have it automaticallyupdated in your DacEasy--or other accounting program--files.(Intuit offers its own QuickBooks Pro, a program designed for userswho bill for their time.)

Within DacEasy are a few basic contact management functions thatlet you track the contacts you've made with a customer, dialhis or her phone number using the integrated phone dialer, andprint labels and letters.

The Payroll feature in DacEasy lets you track earnings,deductions and liabilities for each employee. You can also useDacEasy to set up a 401(k) deduction plan.

Overall, DacEasy's program suffers from a clunky userinterface laden with difficult accounting jargon.

Just Peachy

Peachtree Complete Accounting for Windows is head and shouldersabove DacEasy when it comes to usability. Setting up a new companyis an easy, though time-consuming, process.

Peachtree's interface is unique but extremely easy tounderstand. A row of standard pull-down menus graces the top of thescreen, while tabs for various functions, such as Receivables,General Ledger and Payroll, line the bottom of the screen. Click onone of the tabs, and a tree of icons unfolds, letting you easilychoose the desired function. A Smart Guide pop-up menu follows youaround as you work, giving tips about the area you're in.

Peachtree Complete offers all the standard accounting functions.It also includes a powerful job-costing function that lets youanalyze job costs and track current job estimates. In addition,Peachtree offers tracking capabilities to keep tabs on back ordersand partial shipments.

Peachtree's contact management features are slightly morerobust than DacEasy's. This program can also alert you wheninventory gets low or you're going over budget. TheAdministration section lets you manage tasks such as creating jobdescriptions and tracking sales reps and handling contactmanagement. Peachtree has numerous easy-to-modify reports that letyou analyze data and includes a form designer so you can createyour own forms.

What makes this program stand out the most, however, is itssupport of multiple users. Peachtree Complete is fullynetwork-ready, which means different sections of your books can beworked on by different users.

Although this program is great, I have a big nit to pick: Itdoesn't import files from common accounting programs. Thatmeans if you're a QuickBooks user, you'll have a difficulttime switching over.

Make It Quick

We were fortunate to get our hands on an early copy ofIntuit's new QuickBooks 5.0, which boasts an amazing number ofupgrades, including improvements to a navigation system that wasalready su-perior to the competition.

The QuickBooks Navigator is a graphical interface designed tohelp inexperienced users easily find their way around. TheNavigator puts QuickBooks' functions into easy-to-follow icons.For example, from the Sales and Customer icon, a diagram leads youthrough doing an estimate, writing an invoice, receiving a paymentand making a deposit. Experienced QuickBooks users will appreciatethe new menu buttons that make it easy to complete tasks withoutleaving certain areas.

Intuit has also improved QuickBooks forms by including a layoutdesigner that lets you create more polished invoices andstatements.

If your company has numerous inactive customers or inventoryitems, you can put them on an inactive list to hide them and theneasily reactivate them if necessary.

If you spend a lot of time paying bills each month--printingchecks, signing them, mailing them--you'll appreciateQuickBooks 5.0's online payment feature, a function all bankssupport. Additionally, many users will be able to take advantage ofonline banking, which lets you view your actual bank accounts andeven transfer money from within QuickBooks.

If you already use QuickBooks for Windows, your old data willautomatically import into version 5.0; if you use anotheraccounting program, however, data importing won't be so easy. Icould find import functions only for Quicken and QuickBooksDOS.

If you're just starting out with computerized accounting orare already a QuickBooks user, QuickBooks 5.0 is my recommendation.If a multiuser platform is important to you, however, Peachtree iscertainly a viable product. (Unfortunately, importing data intoPeachtree is no easy task.) As for DacEasy, it has become much moreuser-friendly, but it still has a way to go.

Hot Disks

New and notable software

• World's Easiest: Deluxe Corp. is on to something.It's created a software program designed to take the hassle outof minor desktop publishing tasks.

I gave World's Easiest a try to generate business cards. Theprocess was absolutely painless. The included paper makes it easyto print a few dozen cards fast. Biggest problem: It was difficultto figure out how to modify the template to include an e-mailaddress. Because the process is so easy, it's also somewhatinflexible.

The software is affordable--about $20. You can also transmityour files via modem to Deluxe Corp. for printing: 250 one-colorbusiness cards are just $14.99. Visit the Web site for moreinformation at (http://www.easiest.com), or call (800)730-EASY.

Cassandra Cavanah is a former executive editor of PC Labtopmagazine and has reported on the computer industry for eightyears.

Contact Sources

DacEasy Inc., 17950 Preston Rd., #800, Dallas, TX 75252,(800) 322-3279;

Intuit Corp., P.O. Box 7850, Mountain View, CA94039-7850, (800) 4-INTUIT;

Peachtree Software, 1505 Pavilion Pl., Norcross, GA30093, (800) 247-3224.