On the evening of Wednesday 4 October, AccountingWEB celebrated its inaugural Software Satisfaction Awards for small business accounting packages.

Representatives of leading software companies and trade bodies joined AccountingWEB members and staff for a gala dinner to honour the companies who gained the highest ratings from their users in our 2006 Software Satisfaction survey. Visit our photo gallery from the event and download the evening's programme to see who was there.

The AccountingWEB Software Satisfaction Awards covered the key factors that influence user satisfaction with accounting software: how easy and reliable they are to use, and the functionality and value for money they deliver.

More than 1,400 people took part in our 2006 Software Satisfaction survey and more than half of them came from companies that turned over £1 million or less a year. The results comprise the largest qualitative study of small business software to date and offer a representative view of the applications that do the most to help accountants drive their businesses to greater efficiency and profit.

"These awards are not based on software reviews by journalists or the deliberations of a backroom panel, but on feedback from the people who use these programs in real life," said AccountingWEB technology editor John Stokdyk. "This is a very competitive market where word of mouth recommendations and plaudits from users are a huge competitive advantage for software authors. Based on our results, every one of the companies nominated tonight is a winner."

Congratulations are due to the winners and nominees below, who will be proud to display the AccountingWEB Software Satisfaction Award logo on their products. The small business application awards are the first part of a larger exercise, which will survey businesses turning over £1 million-£10million. Results will be announced in the New Year.