I was using TurboCash for almost a year. At first, I thought it was great but as time went on, I noticed more and more inconsistencies/mistakes in reports. The data got screwed up on me a couple of times, which was the last straw.
I did accounting at school so I'm quite well up on the general theory, and I liked that there was a 'hardcore' double entry viewer available in TurboCash
But, it was only because my business was so small and that I knew when figures looked wrong, that I was able to sort things out. Otherwise, the reports could have been way off and I would have had no idea.
So, I knew I could not continue with TurboCash. I have been using Quickbooks Simple Start 2008 for the last few months, and it is like a dream in comparison. Unlike TurboCash, you don't need to have a clue about accounts theory to use it - I think it would make sense to anyone, and the help files are really good if you are a bit confused. Everything is very visual. The main screen has a chart with icons on it showing the path of money through your business e.g. you have a invoices button pointing to a payments received button pointing to a bank account button. You just click on the button you want to do something with - so simple.
The cool/strange thing is, I just came across QuickBooks Simple Start by googling and it was a free download [broken link removed]
But at quickbooks.ie it costs 72 euro + VAT!?
http://www.quickbooks.ie/quickbooks/Main/Prices.htm Perhaps, it's a localised version - a couple of reports in mine relate to the US tax system I think, but that's not the focus of the program so I don't think I'm losing out on anything...