I have only three employees in my shop, which sells low-cost merchandise in small lots to many customers. What kind of computer software should I be looking for to handle my receivables, payables, payroll, inventory and taxes?

Your business sounds like it is the right size to computerize simply by buying the small-business upgrade of the super-popular Quicken sold to ordinary folks for their personal finances.

It costs $79 and is called Quicken Premier 2003 for Home and Business. When Quicken executives gave me a dog-and-pony show for this software, I was amazed to see that the same software that can let you bank online from home comes with modules covering every item you said you needed.

In fact, it goes well beyond those relatively modest needs and includes subprograms that will print your bills, create forms to track your sales, chart business graphically and advise you on the best tax strategies.

A fine Web site lays out the landscape of small-business software: www.accountingsoftwarenews.com. It's offered by J. Carlton Collins, a certified public accountant who covers business accounting software with the thoroughness of a very fine bookkeeper.

I have been thinking of networking my computers. I am tempted to use a phone-line networking system. When I checked this, I found that "HomePNA" networks are about to increase their rated speed tenfold. Can you give me any info about when the faster HomePNA networks will come to market?

Because they eliminate the need to string high-speed cables between walls and floors, home phone-line networks remain an ideal way for small enterprises and homes to link maybe a handful of PCs into an instant local area network.

But I fear someone got your hopes up regarding a 100-mbps phone-line network this year,. The HPNA 3.0 specifications were approved in September, and there still must be field trials. That means no rollouts until at least next summer.

Meanwhile, the still-new HPNA 2.0 devices that deliver 10 mbps or even a tad more are adequate for any office or home that wants to share files and printers, access the Internet and play most games.

The 10-mbps devices sold by such networking stalwarts as Belkin, Linksys and D-Link will be just fine for a long time to come. There is a wealth of detail about this at www.homepna.org.

James Coates writes for the Chicago Tribune, a Tribune Publishing newspaper. Send e-mail to jcoates@tribune.com.