Business Highlight

Accounting Software: Gone are the days when paper-based ledgers were the only option to track key accounting tasks. Now, a plethora of small business accounting software choices are available. Accounting software can help your business in numerous ways: reducing errors, saving time, organizing customer data, streamlining payroll and giving you a complete view of your company's financial status. With a clear picture of your financials, you can make smarter business decisions. Before choosing among software accounting systems, here are some key questions: Can it scale or upgrade if my business grows? Is it easy to learn and easy to use? Does it have all the features I need? Does it have features I don't need? Will it run on my computer? Will it work on an office network? Does the vendor offer online and phone support? Is the price right for my needs?

Parking Cost: As if the soaring cost of driving isn't enough, the cost of parking is also rising, says the 8th annual Parking Rate survey from real estate services company Colliers International. The June survey covered 64 metro areas in North America, and 74 in Europe, Asia and Latin America. Even though the U.S. economy has slowed, office occupancies remain near cyclical peaks, helping push monthly parking rates higher. The cost of parking has increased by 2.8 percent (monthly rates) in the U.S., in response to ongoing demand and only limited new supply. Daily rates also moved higher -- increasing 4.3 percent over the past year. Leading the U.S. was Midtown Manhattan, whose median rate was a remarkable $58 per month. The Midtown high now registers $750 per month. See the complete

SecureZip Security Software : Most small businesses don't protect their emails and attachments with security features. It's a bit of a bother, and who wants to pay for the necessary software? Software firm PKWARE, however, a top provider of data security solutions, has just released new security software called SecureZip 12.1, available free. It's a ZIP archiving utility that makes it easy to secure your email messages and attachments. SecureZip protects the data itself, not the whole computer or email system. Thus, no matter where the file is stored -- on a hard drive, email box, or elsewhere -- it's always protected and encrypted. In addition to being free (for now, at least), it's a flexible small business solution since it requires not changes to your current IT network, and can be deployed instantly