Wayne Kawamoto

In the accounting world series, Microsoft’s Small Business Accounting 2006 (SBA) is a late entry that offers an impressive array of features and powerful integration with Microsoft Office applications. In part one of this review, we evaluated SBA on its own merits. And in this story, we contrast and compare SBA against its fortified, dug-in […]

Everyone knows that an 800-pound gorilla sits wherever it likes. And when a gargantuan software giant such as Microsoft demands a seat at the table, its entrenched competitors have little choice but to acknowledge it. Today, Microsoft entered the accounting business with its Small Business Accounting 2006, a viable solution for companies with fewer than […]

Ask any small business owner about his or her least favorite task and most will say — without having to fire a synapse — payroll. This tedious process requires you to identify and fill out forms, keep up with ever-changing regulations and understand cryptic abbreviations. Then there are those killer deadlines, complete with significant fines […]

A venerable accounting program, Sage’s Peachtree has long battled Intuit’s Quickbooks. In its latest 2006 edition, Peachtree adds online banking, bill-payment features and specialty versions for construction firms and non-profits. The software is better than ever and provides keen competition for QuickBooks. While Sage has made the titles of its 2006 products rather unwieldy by […]

Long the underdog, bridesmaid and runner-up, WordPerfect Office has always provided scrappy competition for Microsoft Office. Corel‘s latest version, WordPerfect Office 12 – Small Business Edition (WPO), offers useful innovations that make it easier to use. It has new e-mail client software and excellent compatibility with Microsoft Office, and it’s even undergone plastic surgery to […]

Small businesses looking to save money on a variety of office equipment and supplies can now turn to the Internet for bottom-line, bargain-basement deals. Whether you’re looking for computers, phone systems, copiers, payroll services, credit card processing, office furniture or just about anything else, eProcurement services can potentially save time and money. Sites such as […]

From business letters to color transparencies, to memos, employee handbooks, personnel directives and color brochures, Dell’s Laser Printer 3100cn is a powerful print solution that easily handles the needs of small businesses and offices. And with a color laser printer of this quality available for under $600 (the lower-end 3000cn starts at only $449), there’s […]

Whether you rely on Google, Yahoo!, MSN, or another search engine, most major search sites now offer toolbars that you can add to your browser in order to quickly search for keywords from any Web page that you happen to visit. And beyond keywords, the toolbars offer specific search options for stock quotes, movies, news […]

If your business is cruising the Web at slow dial-up speeds, you’ve either eschewed the lure of fast DSL or cable, or lack access to conventional broadband in your area. But when DSL and cable aren’t options, you can literally look to the skies to receive broadband Internet through satellite providers such as DIRECWAY (Hughes […]

With fewer accounting programs on the market and even fewer developers making them, the software choices for small businesses continue to shrink. But now the venerable Simply Accounting — recently purchased by Best Software, maker of Peachtree — arrives in a new 2005 version. While the upgrade offers decent new features and enhancements, it still […]

Anything that detects and deletes viruses, stops obnoxious ads and halts nosy spyware and invasive cookies is a welcome thing to most PC users. However, to affiliate marketers — those e-commerce sites that display ads for vendors and collect commissions for leads — products such as Norton Security and McAfee Internet Security Suite are effectively […]

Bigger and better; new and improved. Accounting applications promise the world each year and amazingly, have long delivered useful new features in their annual updates. This year, however, the long evolution has apparently peaked. When you kick the tires and test drive Intuit’s latest QuickBooks 2005, you’ll find a product that is much like last […]