Ideally, the computer should be used as a tool to reduce the time you spend performing tasks you performed in some other way and to possibly do them better. From a business perspective, the days of maintaining manual billing and expense records are gone. Many software packages can be used to automate your entire practice in one program. At the same time, the software developers are continuing to design programs with the end user in mind. With finance software, the person entering the bills to be paid and collected may not need to be as astute in the area of accounting as they may have needed to be in the past.
Several products provide an interface for the user that looks very similar to their check book.
Despite its simple appearance, the owner of the practice will be able to get very detailed reports and save many hours when it comes time to prepare their tax return for the year. When you look for a business or personal accounting package, make sure that it will perform all of the tasks you would like while maintaining a good sense of usability. A good software package will have on-line help with the click of a button. Some will even provide detailed help and suggestions for specific types of businesses. Be sure that additional help is also available by phone directly with the software vendor.