Need help with new small business record keeping?

i am just starting a business and don't really know how to do the bookeeping. i'm not making enough money to pay anyone yet. i am providing a service at peoples homes. they pay me depending on how often i come and i need to find a way to set up files about them.

what i think i need:

Name and addresses where i can make notations as to each client with a small paragraph

a way to record payment i receive from them so i can file and pay taxes at the end of the year.

please help with any information you may have. i appreciate it in advance. thanks : o )

I recommend QuickBooks -- It's what I've been using and it's made me feel the least lost. The go-with books are usually pretty helpful, and it's a program you can grow into. It can do simple daily tasks and then produce all your reports and keep track of who owes what, or you can get fancy with it.

Daily tasks, like issuing invoices or statements and recording payments and deposits usually takes under ten minutes on a given day. Month-end reports are probably five.

It has a Customer Detail Centre, into which you can put names, numbers, special notes, tax rates, and it tells you what they've purchased to-date and whether they have outstanding balances.

Really, it's a great program and I highly recommend it, speaking as someone who started with zero bookkeeping experience.