As electronic communications have expanded, so has the need for transferring information. There are many methods to transfer files, ranging from email attachments to file transfer services and client portals.
While attaching a document to an email may be quick and easy, it has limitations. Email, without extra protection, is not secure. Additionally, many email accounts are limited in the size of documents that can be sent or received. If you have a document larger than 3 MB, you might have trouble sending it or your recipient might have trouble getting it.
Depending on your specific needs, we recommend looking at services like YouSendIt, SmartVault or Sharefile.
YouSendIt (www.yousendit.com) offers a free account that provides 2GB of storage and allows you to send a file of up to 50MB. For a reasonable fee, more storage, the ability to send larger documents and other features like advanced security become available. YouSendit is easy to use. Just login, choose the files to be send, enter an email address, create a message and send. The recipient receives an email with a link to the document for downloading.
SmartVault (www.smartvault.com) provides simple, secure document storage and file sharing for business. SmartVault's strengths are the ability to setup folders that can be shared with specific individuals and it's integration with many business applications including QuickBooks and Outlook.
ShareFile (www.sharefile.com) offers the ability to securely share, sync and store big files. It also offers an Outlook plug-in to let you work from within Outlook.
In evaluating the numerous solutions in the market don't just look at price. Think about your needs in terms of file sizes and amount of storage. Look at what type of communication you want with your clients and what type of security is necessary. Most products offer a free trial so, ask your peers and then take a test drive or two. 
Sage has recently announced a significant change in upgrade policy for Timeslips users. 
How do you keep track of business expenses and the related receipts? If tracking expenses and submitting expense reports is not your idea of a fun leisure activity you should look at the tools that are available to help.
