Money matters: personal finance software gets down to business - includes related article on new financial software versions, a brief summary of findings and a glossary - Software Review - Evaluation

Home Office Computing, Nov, 1994 by Wayne Kawamoto

Via modem, MS Money lets you access Bank On-Line (for $7.95 per month) to view your personal and business checking and savings account balances, review transactions, reconcile accounts, and make transfers right from your PC. The downside is that only three banks in the nation--First National Bank of Chicago, Michigan National Bank, and US Bank--currently support this feature.

MS Money also lets you access Pay On-Line, with which you pay your bills electronically, and Quotes On-Line, which updates your entire investment portfolio with recent prices. Pay On-Line costs $9.95 (for up to 20 payments a month), and Quotes On-Line runs $3.95 (for up to four calls a month with an unlimited number of updates per call).

Though weak for business purposes, MS Money is an excellent solution for personal finances, mainly because it is the only program to take full advantage of the latest in on-line banking. $70; Microsoft, (206) 882-8080, (800) 426-9400.

CIRCLE 116 ON READER SERVICE CARD

CheckWriter Pro 6.0

MAC

Rating: ***1/2

If there's a powerhouse personal finance program for the Mac, Aatrix's CheckWriter Pro is it. This program's built-in business features support inventory, depreciation, and invoicing right out of the box. CheckWriter Pro also performs check management and accounting tasks in a rather unusual but excellent entry screen.

CheckWriter Pro memorizes transactions and features a database that lets you select and save transactions. The main entry screen offers the checkbook along the top of the screen, category selections along the bottom, and the database on the right-hand side--everything within easy reach. To record transactions by using a memorized entry in the database, simply drag and drop it onto the workspace or double-click on it.

For business use, CheckWriter Pro offers built-in inventory, depreciation, and invoicing capabilities. There's also a forms designer for customizing your invoices, and you can import images, sound, or even video so you can better identify inventory items.

CheckWriter Pro provides solid investment tracking and can update security prices electronically. CheckWriter Pro's financial planning features can estimate loans and future values, plan for retirement and college, figure a dealer's cost for a new car, evaluate life insurance, and even pick lottery numbers.

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With all this power, you'd expect CheckWriter Pro to be hard to use, but it's not. The intuitive interface is fairly straight-forward, and the well-written documentation covers the topics in an orderly and logical way.

Quicken for Mac is easier to use, but CheckWriter Pro offers stronger business capabilities and works well at a personal level, too. $79; Aatrix Software, (701) 746-6801, (800) 426-0854.

In Brief

Most of these packages are adept at handling your personal finances, but only a handful are equipped to manage your business affairs. Simply Money, which supports entries for accounts payable and receivable, is the strongest package out of the box on the Windows platform. Intuit's Quicken for both Windows and DOS deftly handles business assets and liabilities--but only through the QuickPay add-on software. QuickPay calculates gross wages, taxes, deductions, and tracks employee details.