My dad wants to start a small business. What accounting/bookkeeping software would be appropriate?

Yes?: My dad wants to start a small business. What accounting/bookkeeping software would be appropriate?
As my dad’s not overly astute in the financial management side of things, I agreed that I would help him out in that respect. I’m a year 11 Accounting student so we’ve covered most of small business bookkeeping. I’m just wondering which accounting method would be most appropriate (and which software).

The business I only likely (at present) to consist wholly of himself (service business). I would probably be listed as an employee in these circumstances though.

Answers and Views:

Answer by jslade1989
Fastrack

Answer by chris_wj_lear
Most small business cease to exist within a year which is usually good for tax avoidance, therefore I would say that minimium accounting should be required – probably the easiest and most understandable would be to build you own using the most well known Spread Sheet program (which I think most people already have loaded in their PC or laptop).
Cash flow is essential to monitor and you could plot some easy to read graphs to show progress – often more revealing than a columns of figures or pages of accounts.

Answer by Michael McCann – CannDoIT
There are a number of different accounting packages for small businesses. Best known are Sage and TasBooks. However, I think that Quickbooks is the easiest to use and most comprehensive particularly for service businesses. It has facilities for quotations and timesheets as well as allowing you to record materials against individual jobs.

Answer by truebluemarie
Quickbooks is the easiest in my opinion but be aware it is for bookkeeping and not a true accounting package. Be aware of common mistakes like voiding transactions and posting transactions in closed periods.

Good luck to your Dad.