Free accounting software is available that may very well meet all of you accounting needs! Be sure that any products used for business purposes will create suitable audit trails to help avoid trying to recreate data at a later date. Also make sure that any accounting software used whether free or paid, will meet all of your needs both today and in the near future to avoid having to go through a possibly cumbersome upgrade down the road.
Look for meta-projects. There are a growing number of companies developing absolutely free accounting software for all types of businesses, usually to support their other marketing campaigns. Take advantage of such opportunities – these freebies are not trial ware and will therefore never expire!
Microsoft Office Accounting Express 2007 Another exciting product is Microsoft Office Accounting Express 2007. Microsoft promotes this new free product as, "Everything you need to make your small business idea flourish. Microsoft Office Accounting 2007 is available in the U.S. only, as a free download or on a CD. An advantage to this product is that if your small business out grows the Express Version you can easily upgrade to the paid Professional Version.
How can you tell if a site is legitimate? Registration is usually optional, and you can choose whether or not you want to receive marketing and notification emails from them. Legal sites, likewise, have a privacy clause that states their pledge never to give out your email address and other particulars to other websites or companies.
Take trial versions out for a drive. If you want to try a specific accounting software you are eyeing, don't be afraid to download a free demonstration first. Use it for a week or so and see if it meets your accounting needs. The best thing about trial freebies is that there's absolutely no commitment on your part. If you find that the software is lacking in essential functionalities or that it isn't user-friendly enough for you, simply download another demo version until you find the right kind.
From all the above talk, you can safely assume that you can have the best accounting software with great features for free. Different functionalities are added to the existing free download-able software by varying manufacturers. Just browse through the different versions as to find out the perfect accounting software compatible with your business.