I own a small telephone answering service which has been running for 3 years so I now use Sage, and also a business consultancy which isn't complicated so for the last 2 or 3 years I've used a spreadsheet package called easy as 123 accounts. It cost £35 and is really easy to use. For a small business you just record sales and purchases and it gives you a P&L and tells you where to put the figures on your tax return so no more massive accountants bills. Not sure if they do a VAT version but worth a look for the money.
Sue