Business owners looking to automate their company’s accounting system are in for a treat. How does a US$150 software package sound? A back-office solution that incorporates GL, AP/AR, inventory, banking, payroll… could something so comprehensive cost only $150? Actually, on Amazon.com it retails for only $72.99!
It’s the Microsoft Office Small Business Accounting 2006 — I’ll call it SBA from here on. It’s a business solution that’s unbelievably inexpensive, it’s bound to kill off competing products like Peachtree, Quickbooks and MYOB. And get this: there’s even a free edition, called the Microsoft Office Accounting 2007. The only main difference being, the free edition comes without the inventory and payroll modules.
Rodney Jao, CEO of Lane Systems, was kind enough to demonstrate the full edition of SBA to me. I only took an elective in Accounting 101 back in university, but SBA posed no difficulties for me at all. To quote Jao, this software is "user-friendly, not just accountant-friendly."
Without exaggerating, SBA could be any SME company’s modern solution to keeping track of stocks, bank records, sales, vendors (i.e., suppliers), even customer accounts, among other things. And then some. 
What made it very easy for me to follow the program were the available wizards and how-to’s. There’s even a task guide that assists users in the suggested step-by-step procedures for each module. Aside from that, the program comes with Microsoft’s ubiquitous sample company, Northwind Traders, and tons of pre-populated data with which to play around.
SBA was originally developed for Microsoft Business Solutions (the erstwhile GreatPlains), but was later made a part of the MS Office family. 
Which is awesome because SBA integrates beautifully with Excel, Access and Word. And the program itself feels very much like using any MS Office application.
For most businesses, the basic SBA program will already suffice. But I almost forgot to mention: it’s also bundled with an analysis tool to help decision-makers make sense of financial data generated by the software. Yes, you read me right: $150 — no extra zeros there.
Does your store have an existing point-of-sale system? Microsoft has supplied SBA complete with an SDK (to the layman: software development kit). Which means to say, any neighborhood programmer who’s worth his salt can develop a bridge program that will let your POS communicate with SBA. Same goes for, say, your computerized Bundy clock. You might have to shell a bit more for customization, but the savings you get from purchasing SBA can well make up for it!
This piece of software has impressed me so much that I’m thinking of organizing a training seminar on SBA deployment and usage. Together with Lane Systems, whose CEO is a Microsoft MVP, we will endeavor to bring this cost-effective and highly recommendable business application to Davao’s SMEs.
In the meantime, why not download your copy of the MS Office Accounting 2007 (the free one)? Take it for a test drive and you’ll soon appreciate what I’ve been raving about all this blog long.
A friend of mine suggested that I write an article about how Davao IT professionals spend Valentine’s…. Intriguing, but I’ll have to do some research on that. Meantime, why don’t you check this out and send a Valentine’s Day gift to someone special? Maybe one of us IT professionals here in the South? 
May I know if there’s is upcoming seminar for I.T. here in Tagum City or Davao
Hello David!
Pls check back here from time to time. When there are upcoming I.T. seminars in Davao City, I try to announce them here. Better yet, you could subscribe to the blog’s feeds via Feedburner.