Financial (Accounting) software is probably the single most used application  in SMB sector after spreadsheets.

I find this you tube video very  useful for the the small businesses  pondering over the choices they have for business accounting. It covers Quickbooks,  PeachTree, MS Accounting Professional and leads  one towards MS Dynamics GP 10.

All these options are subscription based. They are not free but when compared to cost of live accountants , I guess they offer a very good return on investment.

Accounting being the core  business application, I  recommend going with a commercial software even if it costs something upfront. Here are the reasons

• Software should meet many regulatory requirements.
• Should be widely used and reached a bug free status
  
• Avoid using the latest (beta) releases. You dont need to be at the cutting edge for your financials.
  
• Support should be available in the event you lose data or any other system issue.
  

On the open source side the  popular choice is LedgerSMB

I will be adding "Industry specific" accounting solutions as we go along.