Okay, it was $23 Cdn. Still, it was well worth it.
As a very disorganized person who dreads collecting receipts, when all I had to look forward to was a nightmare in Excel, I started to look for accounting software for Mac. I came across SmartLedger, downloaded it for a trial and was immediately hooked. I had tried trial versions of other programs and all of them gave me headaches.
Sure, it might not be the most aesthetically pleasing program out there, but I'll take functionality over appearance any day. SmartLedger is very easy to use. Setting up the taxes, GST and PST, was a snap. I actually enjoy inputting my data now. I printed out a report to see how that works -- again, very easy. I've also been able to tailor a couple of the functions to my own specific needs (I am both employed and self-employed in the arts).
As a further note, I emailed Alex, the developer, this evening with a couple of questions regarding functions that weren't screaming "Here I am!" at me. Within two hours I'd received a reply with detailed instructions. For such an immediate and attentive response, I say bravo!