Outright.com is a free web-based bookkeeping service ideal for the self-employed, sole proprietors and very small businesses that want to manage their bookkeeping online.  It was created by former Intuit employees in 2008 and is simple to use with a very user-friendly interface.

All the usual accounting tasks can be performed, such as tracking income and expenses, capturing business deductions, and monitoring business performance with reports (e.g. Profit and Loss, Income by Customer, Expenses by Vendor, 1099 ) .

What differentiates Outright the most from other online accounting software is that it calculates estimated quarterly taxes owed and helps meet tax deadlines with the use of timely reminders.  Users can thus avoid tax penalties and also budget ahead of time, knowing how much they’ll need to pay for taxes.

Outright conveniently integrates with other applications and services in the following ways:

• Freshbooks (online invoicing & time tracking service):  imports customer invoices, payment information and expenses
• Shoeboxed.com (mail-in paper receipt scanning service):  converts scanned receipts into business deductions right into your Outright account
• eBay and PayPal:  imports transactions
• Xpenser (mobile expense tracking & management): imports cash expenditures

Outright also provides an easy online 1099 filing solution.   It can automatically track down W-9 information (users need to provide contractor contact information), prepare IRS form 1099-MISC, and file it with the IRS.  Tax deadline: 1099s must be sent to contractors by 1 February  2010.  We can currently offer 50% off the price of the Outright efiling service with our coupon code.

The creators of Outright have recently launched RightTaxesNow.com, a website providing tax advice and information about IRS rules, as well as a platform for people to get involved in the tax legislation process. Online petitions are set up to urge the passing of pending tax relief legislation for small businesses.

Outright online bookkeeping keeps your financial information secure; all data is encrypted and backed up on an hourly basis.  The service remains free to users, with plans to add extra paid services in the future.

The new tax season is starting in a few weeks and TurboTax and H&R Block have just released their new tax preparation software programs. The biggest change for 2010 is that H&R Block have rebranded their TaxCut programs, which will now be known as H&R Block At Home. This decision is taken partly to increase consumer awareness that the tax programs are produced by H&R Block, the trusted and popular US tax preparation company.

H&R Block have also simplified their program selection. Last year each desktop version came either with or without state returns, now state returns will automatically be included. Also, each program will now be tailored to different types of filers (rather than tailored to different levels of tax assistance required), with a new Deluxe version offered.

Intuit’s TurboTax has been the do-it-yourself tax preparation software market leader for a few years now. Users enjoy the clean interface and user friendliness of the programs. We look forward to seeing how H&R Block At Home performs this tax season with its new redesigned programs.