Overview: A secure, online financial tracking program for small business owners and entrepreneurs, Outright makes tracking expenses, mileage, sales and more a snap. It integrates with your bank statements, invoicing services, Paypal, eBay accounts, and websites like Shoeboxed, a service that scans and stores all your business receipts.

I like the website’s own description of its target market the best, so I’ll share it here: “Outright is for people who don’t want to record expenses—or miss deductions, deal with bookkeeping, or think about what to send the IRS but DO want to be instantly organized and ready for tax time, have an up-to-the-minute snapshot of how business is going, and use a simple and free accounting solution.”

Sounds good to me.

Outright.com can generate profit and loss statements at the click of a button, track your best customers and most successful income streams, and highlight your biggest expenses. If you hire freelancers or subcontractors, Outright makes tax time easier by helping you generate the appropriate forms, too. Bookkeepers can also use the service for their small business clients.

First, create an online ID with your business name and a password. (Make sure it’s a good one!) The company is certified by VeriSign and claims to use “bank level security,” which probably means it’s as safe as any other major online money management, banking or credit card site. Remember, you can take Internet security into your own hands, too, with responsible use and tracking of your online accounts.

Then, you’ll connect your business accounts to Outright.com, by inputting your bank or credit card company’s name, or selecting from Outright’s list of partners, which include most major credit cards, including Discover and American Express, and top banks like Chase, Citi Capital One and Bank of America.

Then you connect Outright to ecommerce and invoicing websites, including:

• eBay
• FreshBooks
• PayPal
• Shoeboxed
• Harvest

Once all this is done, the handy Outright dashboard provides you with a lot of information that will help you run your business — all at a glance on one screen. You’ll be able to see:

• How much money is in your various bank accounts
• Money you need to collect
• Money you owe

The tabs at the top of this page show:

• Money In
• Money Out
• Reports
• Taxes

When you get to the Reports tab, that’s where things get interesting. You can view your Profit & Loss for the period, Types of Income (great for people like Virtual Assistants; Web experts who do design, hosting, SEO and social media; or Internet Entreprenuers with multiple websites and income streams), your biggest vendors and your best customers.

As a full-time freelance writer, I haven’t logged in all my data yet, but I can already see how useful this site could be, especially if I use a Web-based invoicing system rather than having to enter all this data manually. i could see which clients are really worth my time, who is slow to pay, and where I’m making most of my money so I know where to focus my marketing efforts. I have to say, this isn’t just another techie Website designed for the numbers-obsessed — this tool could really help a small business owner!

When you click the Taxes tab, you’ll find options to file quarterly or annually, as well as to log information for subcontractors you hire, who may require 1099 forms. Outright takes care of it all for you!

What you see is what you get, and I’ve described all the key features of Outright in this review. It really IS that easy to use. Why don’t you check out the site and let me know what you think in the comments section?

• Easy bookkeeping for the numbers-impaired!
• Shows business trends and information that can help small business owners know where to focus their marketing efforts
• Automatically records your credit card charges and payments and your bank balances, purchases, deposits, etc.
• Shows money owed and money due to you at a glance
• Generates profit & loss statements
• Very easy to use

• Does not integrate with major accounting software
• Takes some time to set up initially
• Most effective when combined with online invoicing and receipt-tracking programs