If you have money, or you work for someone who does, you should account for it somehow. While Quicken is adequate for most people, if you run a business, you probably should step up to QuickBooks. Compared to Quicken, the learning curve for QuickBooks is steep. You'll need a tutorial, and I have just the right one for newbies.
Professor Teaches QuickBooks 2009 (and 2008) starts with a definition of accounting, and takes you through balance sheets and the really tough stuff like general ledgers. A voice-over guides you through each step until you realize that you could cook the books if you really had to. I don't recommend it, because if you do any books-cooking, you could wind up in an 8-foot-by-8-foot suite with not much of a view.
You'll learn how to navigate QuickBooks, how to account for inflows and outgoes and how to create a balance sheet. You'll learn how to design and print invoices and do cash-flow projections (boy, am I in over my head). In all, there are more than 150 lessons, and they're all interactive.
If you're serious about tracking where your money is coming from, and where it's going, the professor has all the answers. For the rest of us, a pencil and a notebook should do the trick.
Professor Teaches QuickBooks 2009 and 2008 will run on Vista. Windows7, XP and 2000.To order, send $25, plus $6 for shipping, to WashingtonCD, PO Box 351531, Los Angeles, CA 90035, or online at www.washingtoncd.net .
