Quickbooks is an accounting software program many small business owners use to keep track of their business finances. Even if you do not own a business, you can still use Quickbooks to get a better grasp of where your money goes every month and where you can cut expenses and pay bills off faster. Quickbooks online is the software program available through multiple sources on the internet. Here is how you can get your copy of the basic software package for free.

Quickbooks Free Trial

The company that produces the software has an internet site where you can download a free trial of the program. If you watch and wait, you can snap up the offer to get it for an entire month for free, but this only happens once or twice a year. The rest of the time, you may only be able to try the basics of the program for a week or so. Still, it will give you a pretty good idea of how the software operates.

Part of Your Online Tax Package

Some online companies that provide internet tax preparation and e-filing offer Quickbooks free as an enticement to use their service and/or as part of the price of tax prep services. It is a nice added perk that will help you get better organized for next year. Additionally, using the software via these tax prep sites allows you to quickly upload ALL pertinent tax information for next year directly into your tax forms, decreasing the amount of time it takes you to prepare and file your taxes.

Student Accounts

If you are an adult returning to college for an advanced education, or if you have a college student in your family, there are links that provide discounted and free software to you. These are often referred to as "student accounts", but you could use the links if you have a valid and current student ID. Professors and instructors in accounting classes would have the necessary information regarding these links and be able to guide you to them if you wanted to access the software this way.

Public Libraries

Some public libraries now offer access to tax and financial software programs. Anything you enter into the programs may not be saved since it is a public service. Still, if you are willing to sit down for a few hours to use the service for free, you can enter your information and then print your accounting "books" for a few cents a page. You may also be able to email the "books" to yourself before you close out the program.

For more tips on how to use Quickbooks, check out a company like Blueback Accounting today!