With the release of Office Small Business Accounting 2007 around the corner, Microsoft has gone ahead and made Office Accounting Express 2007 a free download – no strings attached. While not as feature-rich as the Professional version, the Express version is an ideal starter for small businesses looking to integrate basic accounting, invoicing, expense-tracking, and even payroll (through the ADP integrated payroll service). It’s also great for people just looking to make the move from the ubiquitous, but beginning-to-show-its-age, QuickBooks.

Four me, there are four big features that the Professional version will offer that the Express version does not:

• Quotes – So you can create a quote for a job and then later convert it to an actual invoice.
• Multiple price levels – So you can charge different customers different prices for the same job.
• Job Costing – So you can track the material and labor cost for each job and see the actual profit you make on every job.
• 1099 Reports – So I can pay my contractors more easily.

If you don’t need these features, then you have a free, powerful, easy-to-use accounting package to play with.

In the next few weeks, I’m planning to move my business accounting to Office Small Business Accounting Professional 2007, but I’ll give the Express version a whirl first and post a full review. In the meantime, the Express site has a Flash demo you can check out or you can just grab a copy for yourself.