A young couple considering the purchase of their house needs to know how much they can afford and what they may have to do without if they want a "bigger" house.

A $2M engineering firm needs an operating line of credit to cover the A/R collection period to ensure they make payroll every time. What can they afford? What terms would be best? What collateral should be given?

These questions can be answered quickly and easily if the young couple and the small business just had a system of keeping track of their financial health.

The choices today of packaged accounting systems at very affordable prices make it a no-brainer to decide to buy one. The real issue is how that system is used. Too often, that software is loaded onto the computer, the box put on the shelf and then we wing our way through it. More often than not, that powerful piece of programming ends up as nothing more than a glorified spreadsheet!

The most common personal and small business accounting software is undeniably Quickbooks. Even this very reasonably priced package can, when properly set up, provide functionality found in systems like Oracle and Peoplesoft. In fact most of the small to mid sized accounting programs have built-in features that can change your business decision making from "testing the wind" to fact supported analysis.

The key to success in implementing an effective accounting system is in the setup. As that overused phrase says "Well begun is half done", it is no less true when dealing with accounting. A properly configured system insulates the layman user from having to know anything about "accounting". The system will provide in-depth information on the profitability of all your products and services as well as your business as a whole. You can determine the best course of action to reach your goals.