Three quarters of small businesses in the United States currently have at least one computer. Small businesses especially benefit from software that increases productivity and saves time, such as accounting software that takes simple data entered by the user and converts it into complex and varied reports. For businesses that aren't large enough to hire an in-house accountant, their PC effectively becomes their accountant.
Accounting software is especially effective on computers that are networked.
Networking, put simply, is connecting two or more computers together. Other devices, such as printers and faxes can also be connected with PCs on a network. The group of connected computers and devices is referred to as a LAN, or Local Area Network. Networking computers and peripherals allows users on the LAN to share resources effectively and quickly, without having to swap floppy disks from one computer to another or send files attached to e-mail messages from one computer to another in the same business. Networking also reduces technology costs by allowing users to share the same peripherals and software.