[EddyV]

Hello guys: anyone knows about a simple and economical (not expensive) software to keep expenses and business in general? Thanks in advance.

[GMAN]

If you want general accounting software that is not trucking or industry specific some people use Quick Books Pro. If you want something specific to the trucking industry there are a number available. Most do some of the same things, but some are easier to work with then others. I have written about some of them previously, but I will mention those that I am most familiar. I like Trucknpro (www.foglinesoftware.com). It is easy to work with and isn't all that expensive. The developer is constantly coming out with updates. It will do about everything but calculate your IFTA and payroll. It will do the miles by state, but won't do the actual calculations. He is working on a version that will do the calculations. I like it due to it's simplicity. Another is Easy Trucking (www.easytrucking.com). It isn't quite as simple to use, but will do your fuel taxes and invoicing. You are limited to 5 trucks unless you pay a higher fee for the program. Another that is fairly popular is Truckers Helper (www.truckershelper.com) . They have several versions of this program from a company driver to owner operator to fleet version. The highest version can have 100 trucks, as I recall. Truckers helper does have a version with all the requirements for those running several trucks and their own authority. I believe all of them either have an online demo or trial version you can check out for yourself. There are other packages on the market, but these are the ones that I am most familiar. The owner operator version can be purchased for less than $200. In fact, I believe all of them have something that will work for you for around $125-150. If you are a member of OOIDA you may be able to get a 10% discount. There are software packages on the market that sells for much more than these programs. I see no need to spend a lot of money on software, especially for an owner operator. By the way, there are some who use a spreadsheet, such as Excel, to run their business. The advantage of the industry specific software is that everything is already set up for you and you can access reports in a variety of ways.