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In the ultimate irony of business, counting your money is fun but accounting for it isnt. Fortunately modern accounting software takes most of the pain out of accounting and makes a fast up-to-the minute money count for you too. The problem: how do you pick the program thats right for you?

First you need to decide whether you want to use cloud-based accounting software or traditional, on-premises software. Online accounting software updates automatically (at no extra charge), and you pay a lower monthly subscription, which reduces your up-front costs and makes predicting expenses easier. You buy traditional, on-premises software outright and install it on your network server or PCs. Although you own it forever, it becomes outdated pretty fast.

Yes, its a twist on the lease-versus-buy argument, but when it comes to software, theres no equity and resale value to consider in the equation. Its simply a matter of either paying a little every month for the rest of your business life or paying a lot at once and owning the software outrightuntil you pay a lot again for the next upgrade version.

But thats not the only cost to consider. You may need an actual accountant too (be honest, you know you do), for tax filings and such. And, if you grow big enough, you may need a comptroller too. Gee, who knew having money cost so much money?

If you do use an accountant, check with her first before you buy to see if she has any software preferences. If she does, you might have to fork out a little more cash to play the match-the-accountant's-software game, but you could score big in savings on accounting fees as a result.

However, you may find some accounting software offers more bells and whistles than you can use or afford. What sense does it make to spend more money on software than you earn? None, right? But choosing the cheapest accounting software doesn't make sense if it wont scale as you grow or, worse, leaves you sitting in an IRS auditors office.

The moral of the story here is that you really cant afford to choose your accounting software based on costs alone. Take a serious look at your business accounting needs now, consider what they might be in the future, and then decide on the software based on that information. If youre unsure what those needs are, seek guidance from your accountant.

Let's say youre a freelancer, or you own a company thats a money drain at the moment; or maybe you own a startup in the phase before start or up. In those cases, free accounting software may be your best or only alternative.

Just be aware that when you do start making real money, you might have to bail on the freebie and move to something with more accounting muscle. Or you might not. It depends entirely on your needs. For example, if you own a dead-broke startup and an angel investor shows up with a pile of cash, then you might want to switch to another accounting system first.

If you're in the market for free accounting software, take a serious look at these options.

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A Modern Guide to Small Business Accounting Software