A third of UK businesses already use Sage financial software so the company has something of a problem when it comes to finding new customers.

One approach is to catch budding entrepreneurs before they actually start their business - and then hold on to them for life. The latest weapon in this campaign is Sage Start-Up.

For £149 you get a program that embodies a simplified bookkeeping system and time manager, plus a web browser for access to online business services that include planning tools, legal advice and a business reference library. The price tag covers unlimited telephone and email support for one year.

If you're thinking of starting a business based on any of the 200 trades or professions covered by Sage Start-Up, you can easily produce a professional-looking business plan, estimate your capital costs and devise a convincing profit-and-loss forecast to present to your bank manager.

For those who've already started in business, the program provides a streamlined bookkeeping system that throws jargon out of the window in favour of understandable screens through which users can generate quotations and invoices, receive payments, pay business expenses and record banking transactions.

Sage Start-Up also displays your current financial position at the push of a button, but it's assumed you'll work hand-in-hand with a Sage-registered accountant who'll use your data to perform more complicated tasks on your behalf.

At the end of the year you email a backup of your transactions to an accountant, who imports it into one of Sage's more sophisticated accounting programs. Corrections are emailed back to you for incorporation into an end-of-year option within Sage Start-Up.

As your company grows, Sage Start-Up can be used to access the same web-based business information that is freely available to all on the government's Business Link website.

Sage Start-Up stops working after a year unless an annual subscription of £99 is paid, and accountants don't work for nothing. Therefore, the program is by no means a cheap option, but it does leave you free to concentrate on the business of making money instead of worrying about it.

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Intuit QuickBooks regular 
Overall: Simplified accounting for beginners, packed with help and no ongoing charges
Rating: 5/5
Price: £129