Owning a business can be a rewarding and exciting prospect. As you get deeper into the process however, it can start to be to keep up with everything. The good news is that there is software at your disposable that makes the management and accounting aspects a bit easier to handle. With a quality accounting program you will be able to pay your bills, print out invoices, manage inventory, and pay employees all in one place, which is much more convenient than using several programs to achieve these same exact results.A simple web search will reveal a smorgasbord of accounting programs to choose from. A good software program will let you manage invoices, account receivables and payables, inventory, and manage payrolls. Do your own research and choose the product best tailored to your individual needs.Easily among the best accounting programs is Peachtree Complete Accounting from Sage. There are several suites to choose from, including Peachtree Pro, Peachtree First Accounting, Peachtree Quantum, and Peachtree Premium. The most complete program is Peachtree Complete Accounting.The only problem I could find with this program is the setup and configuration. It’s an extremely in-depth program and the beginner may find it a bit overwhelming. As far as support goes, however, Peachtree stands head and shoulders above the competition. Once you figure out the vast array of tools at your disposable, you’ll quickly realize that Peachtree can handle any task you may require; it’s a fantastic one stop program. It will even handle any reformatting or printing tasks, completely doing away with a jumble of unnecessary programs.I need to keep going back to the many features this program provides. It does the work of two or three employees, allowing you to consolidate your payroll expenses. If your business has multiple locations or stores, it will render individual monthly reports and amass them into one comprehensible display.If you aren’t familiar with accounting programs, you may find it beneficial to have a trained Peachtree technician assist you with the initial setup of the program and guide you through the basic tools and features. Don’t let this deter you from trying out a Peachtree product. With time you’ll feel more comfortable with it and fully realize it’s impressive capabilities. You will find that most of the better accounting programs will take time to fully understand, so don’t sweat it. In the end, you will have more time and energy to improve other areas of your business, and leave the accounting to Peachtree Complete Accounting.

What are the greatest changes in shopping in your lifetime? So asked my 9 year old grandson.

As I thought of the question the local Green Grocer came to mind. Because that is what the greatest change in shopping in my lifetime is.

That was the first place to start with the question of what are the greatest changes in shopping in your lifetime.

Our local green grocer was the most important change in shopping in my lifetime. Beside him was our butcher, a hairdresser and a chemist.

Looking back, we were well catered for as we had quite a few in our suburb. And yes, the greatest changes in shopping in my lifetime were with the small family owned businesses.

Entertainment While Shopping Has Changed
Buying butter was an entertainment in itself.
My sister and I often had to go to a favourite family grocer close by. We were always polite as we asked for a pound or two of butter and other small items.

Out came a big block of wet butter wrapped in grease-proof paper. Brought from the back of the shop, placed on a huge counter top and included two grooved pates.

That was a big change in our shopping in my lifetime… you don’t come across butter bashing nowadays.

Our old friendly Mr. Mahon with the moustache, would cut a square of butter. Lift it to another piece of greaseproof paper with his pates. On it went to the weighing scales, a bit sliced off or added here and there.

Our old grocer would then bash it with gusto, turning it over and over. Upside down and sideways it went, so that it had grooves from the pates, splashes going everywhere, including our faces.

My sister and I thought this was great fun and it always cracked us up. We loved it, as we loved Mahon’s, on the corner, our very favourite grocery shop.

Grocery Shopping
Further afield, we often had to go to another of my mother’s favourite, not so local, green grocer’s. Mr. McKessie, ( spelt phonetically) would take our list, gather the groceries and put them all in a big cardboard box.

And because we were good customers he always delivered them to our house free of charge. But he wasn’t nearly as much fun as old Mr. Mahon. Even so, he was a nice man.

All Things Fresh
So there were very many common services such as home deliveries like:

• Farm eggs

• Fresh vegetables

• Cow’s milk

• Freshly baked bread

• Coal for our open fires

Delivery Services
A man used to come to our house a couple of times a week with farm fresh eggs.

Another used to come every day with fresh vegetables, although my father loved growing his own.

Our milk, topped with beautiful cream, was delivered to our doorstep every single morning.

Unbelievably, come think of it now, our bread came to us in a huge van driven by our “bread-man” named Jerry who became a family friend.

My parents always invited Jerry and his wife to their parties, and there were many during the summer months. Kids and adults all thoroughly enjoyed these times. Alcohol was never included, my parents were teetotallers. Lemonade was a treat, with home made sandwiches and cakes.

The coal-man was another who delivered bags of coal for our open fires. I can still see his sooty face under his tweed cap but I can’t remember his name. We knew them all by name but most of them escape me now.

Mr. Higgins, a service man from the Hoover Company always came to our house to replace our old vacuum cleaner with an updated model.

Our insurance company even sent a man to collect the weekly premium.

People then only paid for their shopping with cash. This in itself has been a huge change in shopping in my lifetime.

In some department stores there was a system whereby the money from the cash registers was transported in a small cylinder on a moving wire track to the central office.

Some Of The Bigger Changes
Some of the bigger changes in shopping were the opening of supermarkets.

• Supermarkets replaced many individual smaller grocery shops. Cash and bank cheques have given way to credit and key cards.

• Internet shopping… the latest trend, but in many minds, doing more harm, to book shops.

• Not many written shopping lists, because mobile phones have taken over.

On a more optimistic note, I hear that book shops are popular again after a decline.

Personal Service Has Most Definitely Changed
So, no one really has to leave home, to purchase almost anything, technology makes it so easy to do online.
And we have a much bigger range of products now, to choose from, and credit cards have given us the greatest ease of payment.

We have longer shopping hours, and weekend shopping. But we have lost the personal service that we oldies had taken for granted and also appreciated.

Because of their frenetic lifestyles, I have heard people say they find shopping very stressful, that is grocery shopping. I’m sure it is when you have to dash home and cook dinner after a days work. I often think there has to be a better, less stressful way.

My mother had the best of both worlds, in the services she had at her disposal. With a full time job looking after 9 people, 7 children plus her and my dad, she was very lucky. Lucky too that she did not have 2 jobs.