2009 Awards: Readers Pick the Best&am

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2009 Awards: Readers Pick the Best Small Business Tech Tools

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Accounting / Finance

There are certain things you can count on in life -- death, taxes and Intuit QuickBooks winning the best Accounting / Finance software category in the Small Business Computing Excellence in Technology Awards. This year, QuickBooks Premier defended Intuit's crown, capturing 44 percent of the vote.

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While Intuit still keeps its QuickBooks Online offering separate from its software product, the latest version of QuickBooks now offers online services such as free Web site creation and hosting for one year, improved online banking and integrated access to the QuickBooks online community for support. A new dashboard is designed to let QuickBooks users see in real-time which of their customers owe money, and it also lists outstanding bills and compiles a to-do list.

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Keeping pace with text-messaging world, QuickBooks users can also now instantly communicate with co-workers with the new QuickBooks Messenger. Additionally, they can also IM with their accountants.

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Claiming runners-up honors are two products that have carved out nice niches for themselves. Palo Alto Software's Business Plan Pro has pretty much built a monopoly in the business planning software category. It's earned that status and has never rested on its laurels. Version 11 allows you to quickly switch between financial tables and underlying spreadsheets. And a new progress-tracking feature makes it easier to see where you are in the overall planning process and how much further you have to go.

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Most small businesses want to look larger than they really are. A professional billing system is one way to achieve that goal. Voters gave FreshBooks a thumbs-up for its free Web-based service that lets you can create invoices and estimates in your browser. It also offers fee-based services that let you send printed copies via U.S. Postal Service. The paper invoices even go out with return envelopes that have your address preprinted, making it slightly easier for your clients to pay you.

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Productivity

Last year, Microsoft Office 2007 dominated the Productivity category, which was no surprise. The runner-up, though, was a bit surprising as Adobe Creative Suite 3 Design Premium placed second. This year, the latest in Adobe's sleek graphics suite (Adobe Creative Suite 4) took top honors, capturing 33 percent of the vote.

Rex

Productivity

Last year, Microsoft Office 2007 dominated the Productivity category, which was no surprise. The runner-up, though, was a bit surprising as Adobe Creative Suite 3 Design Premium placed second. This year, the latest in Adobe's sleek graphics suite (Adobe Creative Suite 4) took top honors, capturing 33 percent of the vote.

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Clearly, not every small business needs the professional quality design and graphics software represented by InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash, Acrobat and other applications in an integrated suite. What's just as clear, however, is the fact that those businesses that do use Adobe Creative Suite 4 love it.

Rex

Clearly, not every small business needs the professional quality design and graphics software represented by InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash, Acrobat and other applications in an integrated suite. What's just as clear, however, is the fact that those businesses that do use Adobe Creative Suite 4 love it.