Yendo Accounting: Almost Absurdly Powerful

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NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- This might just go down as the year Intuit(INTU) lost its lock on the accounting software market.

Assuming you are still in business, chances are sales are up over the disaster that was 2009. And we all know that with increased sales comes increased expenses, payroll and, yes, taxes. One tough lesson I have learned over the years is that it's important to get a feel for the taxes you'll be facing next April before this year ends. That way you still have time to reconcile your accounts, invest in new products and work with your accountant to get your business on the right side of the tax code.

If you think you are limited to well-known accounting tools such as Intuit's QuickBooks software, think again. A startling number of excellent, low-cost accounting packages are on the market these days. I have been particularly impressed with small, Irish accounting software firm Yendo (free for a single user and limited features, $9 per month for more users and robust functions), which brings a unique blend of powerful accounting and budgeting tools to small businesses.

What you get
Yendo is an almost absurdly powerful and easy-to-use accounting tool for not a lot of money.

At first blush, Yendo looks like an entry-level Web-based accounting package. It has a bland, tab-based layout of pages such as Home, Sales, Contacts and Tasks. But behind the boring look is some serious accounting and budgeting power. Yendo supports a solid invoicing app that manages bills. It has a clever Purchases concept that lets you tag your spending by who does it, when and for what -- effectively bringing the notion of the purchase order to even a tiny firm. I especially liked the Reports sections, which breaks out Profit and Loss, Trial Balances and a surprisingly accurate Balance Sheet. It's sort of a hallelujah moment for bean counters trying to manage a small firm.

In all, if you want to get a feel for what Uncle Sam will take out of your pocket, Yendo is a darn impressive way to do it.