For most successful small business people, selling and delivering products and services must be their principal focus.  Keeping track of the money, accounting, frequently takes a back seat.  We accountant's used to see receipts and deposit slips in shoeboxes at year-end.  Many small businesspeople had only two goals for their accounting "system": keep a positive checkbook balance and file a tax return with as little tax as possible.  The cost of turning shoebox accounting into tax returns and financial statements was staggering. With the growth of inexpensive, easy to use computerized accounting systems such as QuickBooks, these two goals are easier to achieve, but additional benefits are also within reach.  Real-time reports from these systems enable small business owners to spot trends in sales and costs that can be optimized before year-end, leading to greater profits, better cash flow or lower taxes.  Sending these files to us electronically can hold down the cost of public accounting services.