How to Choose Personal Financial Management Software

Whether you want to write and print checks with a few mouse clicks or spend some money on paperless banking, a checkbook and financial program will save you considerable time. Various versions of Intuit's Quicken and Microsoft Money dominate the market.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Internet Access
• Computers
• Personal Financial Management Software

1. Check reviews in computer magazines and on the Internet to narrow your choices.

2. Compare features and prices of programs.

3. Stick with the basic versions of programs unless you want to use a program to monitor investments.

4. Compare planning and budgeting features and investment tools if you will use them.

5. Buy Quicken if you want convenient integration with Intuit's TurboTax.

6. Buy Quicken if you want integration with Intuit's QuickBooks, a popular accounting program (mainly used by small businesses).

7. Find out which program your bank recommends or requires if you wish to integrate with your bank.

8. Look for billing, payroll, and invoice features if you need them for business.

9. Compare options for exporting your information.

10. Compare ease of use.

Tips & Warnings

• Microsoft Money is included in Microsoft Works suite (formerly Microsoft Home Essentials), and is bundled with most consumer-model computers.
• Do not buy upgrades of personal finance programs unless they offer a new feature that you will use.
• Make sure your computer meets the system requirements of any program you download or buy.

[dorteeby]

on 1/14/2009 Quicken's hidden bad policy: i have quicken premier home and business 2006. It has some quirks but I have been using it for a year or so and finally learned how to take advantage of its ability to download info from my financial institutions (some still have to be done manually). I just got a pop up telling me that in a few months, I will no longer be able to download this information! What a ripoff! I don't expect to pay good money (not cheap) for a product, put the effort into learning how to use its features and then get a suprise years down the road that some of its features are going to turn off! This should be highlighted in the product's description so the public can make an educated decision when deciding products to buy.
This does not speak well of the Quicken brand so BUYER BEWARE! What else is going to show up as a surprise???

[dorteeby]

on 1/14/2009 Quicken's hidden bad policy: i have quicken premier home and business 2006. It has some quirks but I have been using it for a year or so and finally learned how to take advantage of its ability to download info from my financial institutions (some still have to be done manually). I just got a pop up telling me that in a few months, I will no longer be able to download this information! What a ripoff! I don't expect to pay good money (not cheap) for a product, put the effort into learning how to use its features and then get a suprise years down the road that some of its features are going to turn off! This should be highlighted in the product's description so the public can make an educated decision when deciding products to buy.
This does not speak well of the Quicken brand so BUYER BEWARE! What else is going to show up as a surprise???

[question]

on 1/2/2007 I have recently had a chance of using a Personal Finance Software package by Australian business Parcus Group - Personal Finance Associate.
The product is very good. For the AU$29 it costs, you get budgeting, financial planning templates as well as advanced features that typically cost loads more as separate software packages such as investment real estate calculations (mainly based on rental cash-flow analysis) as well as some value based shares valuations (based on Warren Buffet's stock valuation methodology)
Their website is www.parcusgroup.com
For anyone interested in their own wealth creation this product is definitely worth looking at.

[evolvedguns]

on 12/25/2006 I just went through the process of installing quicken 2007 and i'm discouraged. After some initial success and excitement, I started getting down to actually using the thing and found it to be horrible software. Very disappointed. This software should not be this difficult...i have a degree in computer science and strong background in accounting. If I can't use it easily I don't know who it's designed for.

on 11/22/2005 You cannot reliably transfer information between the PC and Mac versions of Quicken. Most information transfers, but not all, making such a conversion problematic for any serious Quicken user. I'm looking for an alternative that works with both platforms.