14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft targets a pool of in excess of 20 million potential customers with Office Accounting Professional 2008. The Redmond company revealed, by citing statistics from AMI-Partners 2005, that the 20+ million small businesses in the U.S. were still not adequately equipped in terms of accounting software. In this context, Office Accounting 2008 comes to fill in the gap. Microsoft is offering it in two versions, one free of charge dubbed Office Accounting Express 2008 and one for just under $200, Office Accounting Professional 2008.
"Office Accounting is one of the most modern applications available to help small businesses not only do their bookkeeping but also gain deep insight about their operations, such as profitability and cash flow. Office Accounting Express 2008 was built to help small businesses move from paper and pencil and shoebox receipts to a more comprehensive business management solution. The software also includes migration tools to enable users of Quickbooks, Sage and Money move their data to Office Accounting", explained Rajat Taneja, general manager of Small Business Applications and Services at Microsoft.
But Microsoft is in fact offering both the Express and the Professional versions of Office Accounting 2008 as free downloads. The only caveat in this respect is the fact that Office Accounting Professional 2008 is available only as a free trial. In this manner, users will be able to test drive the Professional SKU of Office Accounting 2008 for a total of 60 days, a period more than sufficient to convince them if the solutions are worth it or not. You will be able to grab your own copy of Office Accounting Professional 2008 (here), and Office Accounting Express 2008 via this link, right here on Softpedia.
"Office Accounting Express is the product meant for companies just starting up who have simpler needs and business processes, and don?t face the same constraints and regulatory issues as those small businesses that are more established. It provides an easy and simple interface to invoice customers, receive payments, manage P&L and balance sheets, and conduct banking transactions. The Professional version includes enhanced features, appropriate for more established companies, including the concepts of sales orders, financial charges, inventory management and fixed-asset management, to name a few. Office Accounting Professional 2008 also contains several additional financial reports that can be customized and are more applicable to growing businesses", Taneja added.