Amazon.com Product Review

None of us really wants to face the tasks of our own estate planning or writing out our living wills, but sooner or later we all should. If something should happen unexpectedly before we address these issues, our families could be forced to endure serious financial, emotional and even legal hardships.

For years Nolo has been providing top-notch "do-it-yourself" legal solutions for consumers on virtually every legal matter imaginable, and in the process they have saved consumers literally millions of dollars in legal fees. The Quicken WillMaker Plus 2005 with Free eBook, designed by Nolo, is the most comprehensive, user-friendly, stress-free, do-it-yourself software available on the market. This is the perfect software for anyone who wants to take care of their estate issues now.

What sets Nolo products apart from other legal do-it-yourself publishers is the legal breadth of their research and the ease-of-use of their products. WillMaker 2005 extends that reputation by assembling, in one software package, over 40,000 document possibilities for you to consider, and an interface that's intuitive and easy to use. In fact, if you are so determined, your will can be completed quickly in just a matter of minutes.

For most of us, however, we'll want to take our time to consider the weighty issues that estate planning and living wills involve. With that in mind, Nolo has provided extensive online help for you to access. With each step along the way, you can turn to www.nolo.com to access legal dictionaries and get answers to complex legal questions in plain English. (Anyone who's ever worked with lawyers will tell you that the "plain English" by itself will be worth the price of the ticket!) On a monthly basis Nolo also posts changes in state laws that affect any WillMaker 2005 documents on its Web site. With Nolo behind you, you'll always be in sync with the latest legal changes that affect your will.

In addition to saving you hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars by allowing you to create your own legal will, living trust, financial powers of attorney, health care directive (living will), and documents for your executor, WillMaker 2005 also provides you with invaluable estate-planning documents such as promissory notes, notices to terminate credit cards, pet-care agreements, and dozens of others. Nolo has thought of every possible need you'll encounter as you begin your planning process, making it as easy as possible for you to plan your will. Take the time and save your family from the burden of having to resolve your various financial and legal issues.

For each document, WillMaker Plus takes you through a step-by-step interview, and your documents will automatically reflect the laws of your state. Once you've completed your forms, you can print them directly, or export them to an RTF file which can be opened in any word processor. In addition to the online legal support that's available, Nolo also offers any expert technical help you might need.

For years WillMaker has been providing Americans with the power to take estate planning into their own hands, and this software has been consistently rated by leading consumer magazines and reviewers as the best estate software on the market. WillMaker 2005 Plus continues that legacy.

As an added bonus, once you register your new software, you can download the $24.99, 384-page e-book, Get a Life: You Don't Need a Million to Retire Well by Attorney Ralph Warner, for free. In its fifth edition, Warner's guide can show you how to beat the anxiety surrounding retirement by developing a plan to make your golden years the best of your life. ... Read more

Features

• Comprehensive onscreen legal manual; expert tech support available
• Choose from 40,000 legal documents; protect family and assets
• Create a legal will, living trust, financial power of attorney, and more
• Comprehensive and easy to use with step-by-step interviews
• Automatically reflects specific state laws; cuts legal fees

Reviews (1)

Easy to use, saves money, but beyond 2006?
The recent heart-breaking Terri Schiavo case in Florida highlights the importance for everyone to have a living will as well as a regular will.You can go to a lawyer, buy a standard form from a legal stationery store, or use Willmaker Plus 2005.

This latest estate planning and family law software from Nolo Press is distributed by Quicken.Nolo is a company that has been publishing self-help legal books for many years, and their website provides a wealth of information.(Since I'm not a lawyer, I can't comment if their information is always accurate, but it's at least accessible to laypeople like me.)

Willmaker 2005 is for more than just writing your own will.It has many other legal documents which you can fill in, print out, and sign (in front of a notary public in some cases) to make them legally binding.The estate planning section is pretty comprehensive and works in every state except Louisiana.(I wonder why.)Setting up your legal will and living trust is pretty much a hassle-free, expense-free and lawyer-free process.The other types of documents you can create with this program include responses to those dreaded debt collection notices and filing consumer complaints.This is really a "family lawyer" package.(Quicken used to publish their own family lawyer program but has since replaced it with Nolo's more superior Willmaker.)

The software takes an interview approach.You pick a document you want to work on.It asks you a few questions and then drafts the document for you.You review the document and then print it out and follow the simple steps to make it legally binding.The "simple steps" often just involve you and two witnesses (including a notary public in some cases) signing the document; for simple letters such as a reply to a debt collection letter, you don't need witnesses.

While it would have been a lot nicer if the program could automate things a bit more, e.g., asking who you are and then choosing the documents for you, I guess writing a will or any legal document should not be a totally brainless thing; you have to understand what it's all about and what's involved, since we are talking legally binding documents here.(Of course, you must be mentally valid in order to create a will.)

The program comes with a printed user manual.While the manual is a little confusing and makes using the program look more complex than it actually is, it's nice to have printed documentation which you can refer to readily.

I like the software and, being a paranoid that I am, like doing my will and doing it for free.I can also do the wills for my family.

My only concern about using the software stems from this passage from the second page of the manual:

"Product support (including Web update) for Quicken WillMaker Plus 2005 ends on January 1, 2006. ... Please note that legal documents created and signed before January 1, 2006 will remain legally valid and enforceable if you have used Web Update regularly. You will need to upgrade your software only if you want to create new documents or update existing documents."

Does this mean I'll need to buy a new version each and every year from now on?(I fancy my financial and family situation will change over time and thus require additions and/or amendments.)While upgrading the software still beats a trip to the attorney, it would nonetheless be quite an annoyance.

(In all fairness, both Quicken and Microsoft are moving to a subscription-like model for their financial software, so I guess that's the inevitable trend.)

Happy estate planning!
... Read more

Product Description

Intuit Quicken 2005 for Mac - Financial Management - MacWhether you're managing your personal finances, investing for your future, or running a small business - or all three - there's a Quicken product that's right for you.Save, invest and track profits with tools that help you pay bills quickly, balance your checkbook, create a budget, plan for retirement, simplify taxes and manage your investments. Nice electronics is your source for everyday low prices on theIntuit 283646 - QUICKEN 2005 MACand all other Intuit Software - Misc ... Read more

Features

• Track home inventory and value; convenient iCal calendar
• Save, invest, and track profits in minutes
• Download banking, credit card, and brokerage transactions
• Track spending; manage investments; prepare for tax time
• Track portfolio performance; read news stories related to holdings

Reviews (32)

I should have heeded the advise of the other reviewers
I have used Quicken since 1999.During a recent change to MAC from PC I purchased the Quicken 2005.I am very disappointed with the program.It is cumbersome and does not do many of the things that 2004 did and if it does I can't figure out how.I plan on going back to 2004.This was a total waste of money.

Forget .QIF; there are more serious problems with this S/W
I didn't pay for this upgrade but rather got it 'free' when I bought a Mac Mini. Converting my old files seemed to go fine*, and I had no problems with downloads.

*I did notice that my cash balances remained incorrect until I clicked in every transaction and hit Return, thus slapping it upside the head to make it add/subtract the transaction (!)

There are Very Basic Errors in this program that drive me crazy:
1.) It's very difficult to enter stock purchases with a purchase price other than that which Quicken has in mind... You have to bash it over the head again and again.
2.) You will get basic math errors, only some of which could charitably be attributed to rounding, and will end up with a trail of adjusting .o1 entires here and .00045 shares there...
3.)It does not handle stock spinoffs with more than one spinoff-ee.
4.)It does not handle capital gains correctly for stocks that have had spinoff-ee (see Quicken's own forums for this).
5.) For some reason beknownst only to them, the portfolio accounts are horribly crippled compared to the checkbooks.. so.. NO copying of transactions in case you make a mistake, NO scheduled transactions, NO calendar, NO memorized transactions (yeah, I was thrilled to enter 15 years' worth of monthly dividends by hand... I loved typing "$17.11" one hundred and sixty-something times..) uhmmm this is a COMPUTER? right?

Downloading transactions - four stars
Checkbook - four stars
Investment functions - negative ten stars

I have been using Quicken since 1992, and have kept waiting for new versions to address some of the things, like memorized xactions, before plunging in and entering all my old statements. I started anyway with this 2005 version and am sorry I did!

Some smart programmer somewhere should be reading this and firing up his compiler.. The World Deserves Better Software Than This!

Ditto, ditto, ditto... a complete waste of time and money
Balancing your accounts with pencil and paper is easier than using this program. I have a bank account at Bank of America, investment account at TD Waterhouse and a retirement account at Fidelity, hardly obscure institutions. I cannot download transactions directly from ANY of these accounts. I can download my Bank of America and Fidelity transactions as a file to my desktop and then import them: i.e. navagate to the web site, sign in, go to "accounts," select the account I want to download, find the "download" button, select "location" to download to, switch back to Quicken, select "import" from the menu. Let's see now.... one step on the Windows version versus EIGHT on the Mac version. From what I can tell, there's no way at all to import my TD Waterhouse transactions.

I can't believe that Quicken has the audacity to charge money for this. I can't believe Apple includes it already loaded on new Macs (which is how I got mine): doing so will only reinforce the perception that the software that most of the world needs to use just isn't available for Mac. I've ended up buying VirtualPC and using it to run my Windows version of Quicken on my Mac.

Do not buy Quicken 2005
This product is a waste of time. You can not get MAC support from Quicken and Quicken is trying to hold users of Quicken 2002 hostage by disabling the down loading feature from financial institutions. Stop using Quicken now - why pay an extra $10 for the Mac version for an inferior version. Buy Moneydance instead, its only $30.

Worthless
I recently switched from Microsoft to Mac and found that this is just about the only financial software written for Mac.I have found it to be very buggy.Some "features" don't work and customer support is non-existant.Downloading account information is just about as difficult as setting up online features.I really do not trust this software.Each week I sit with a calculator and double check the figures.Often Quicken has made "adjustments" for my accounts and I have to fudge figures to get them correct.Next year I will be going back to Microsoft and one of my first software puchases will be Microsoft Money! ... Read more

Product Description

Intuit Quicken 2005 Deluxe - Financial Management - PCQuicken 2005 Deluxe makes it easier than ever for you to find out what you have and where it's going by helping you with paying bills, saving more money and planning for your future. Quicken 2005 includes over 100 customer driven enhancements, making it easier than ever for you to manage your finances. Nice electronics is your source for everyday low prices on theIntuit 283650 - QUICKEN 2005 DELUXEand all other Intuit Software - Misc ... Read more

Features

• Plan for financial goals by viewing net worth over time
• Over 100 feature improvements on popular tools
• Connect instantly to bank, credit card sites, and 401(k) providers
• Manage finances by setting up automatic transactions
• Quickly and easily track investment holdings

Reviews (103)

Buyer beware!
I have used quicken for years, mostly just to manage my bank account and household expenses. In the past I have encouraged others, including my own children, to buy and use Quicken. But no more! They have taken a wonderful, easy to use product and turned it into a nightmare of captive registration, popup advertising and other annoyances. I hope the managers at quicken read the Amazon reviews and get a clue. They certainly don't make it easy to give them feedback on their web site, so I don't really think they care what their customers think. Potential buyers should note carefully the fact that quicken has only a 1-1/2 star rating. There is a reason for this. Buyer beware. I gave them a two-star rating because once you get everything installed and working, the product does it's job nicely. It is the installation, captive registration and advertising that I objected to. Captive registration? I absolutely could not use the product until I had "registered" on their web site. This was really outrageous! I had already paid my money. I didn't want them to have my name and address email and phone number. But I had to give it to them or the product didn't work. This was not a polite rquest for registration. This was an in your face, you can't get out of this screen until you fill it out ... correctly... registration. Then they tried to force me to keep my data on their web site. No way! Ads would pop up during installation; they dropped commercial icons onto my desktop without permission. I had to remove them. Maybe some folks would appreciate these "features" and use the services of lenders, etc whose icons they conveniently dropped on my desktop. But I didn't appreicate it.

Poor customer service
I have been using Quicken for almost 10 years now and the most recent 2005 really has been a headache although I have used it successfully until today.

The back up system was perfectly fine until this version and now I have my head spinning.Luckily I have managed to wade through that part.

Today I was entering 401k transactions manually as I have done for years and everything was going smoothly until I noticed my balance in the account was double what it should be.I looked over all the transactions and nothing was entered incorrectly.So I deleted them and the balance was still double. HUH!!!???

So I decided to restore from my back up copy and it was back to normal.So I then reentered all my bank transactions and backed it up.:)Then started manually entering each 401k transaction for each of my investment accounts.I got through 6 of the 7 Investments and on the last page I put in the info and everything was accurate and hit enter and bam the balance was double again.I deleted that transaction and it still remained double.ARGH!!!!

I then decide to call Customer Service and chat on line and was informed he was not trained in Investments and I would have to call them for $24.95.I was not happy about having to call for something that was obviously a bug in their own program.

I ended up calling and during the call I explained I didn't want to pay the $25 and she told me I could chat and it wouldn't cost and I informed her that he was unable to help me and told me I would need to call.I decided I was not willing to pay the $25 and now will be looking for other options for my banking.

2005 sucks!!! There is just too much added for someone who wants it for everyday living.

Found a GREAT Alternative to Quicken
MoneyDance 2005 - www.moneydance.com

After years of using an end-of-life proprietary product from my bank, I finally had to breakdown and move from it due to it's lack of interoperability with XP Service Pack 2.I had delayed doing this for years because of the negative reviews I had seen here for Quicken, especially all of the embedded adware.I didn't trust Intuit (or Microsoft either) that a hidden online access point wouldn't be putting my valuable personal financial data at risk in order to promote it's online banking features.And then I found out that I was out of luck, because Quicken 2005 doesn't support .qif anymore *grrr*.

I searched Amazon, and found Moneydance and liked it's customer reviews, although they were a few years old.I went to it's website www.moneydance.com, and discovered that the product is still available and up to date.It also included a free trial, which I immediately downloaded and liked the software so much, I bought the full license within an hour.

If all you want is a reliable banking application with online bank access and NO ADWARE, this software is absolutely for you.The online component is not included by default, so no worries about the software taking you to a proprietary online banking site like quicken's or microsoft's.However, they make it VERY easy to add-on online banking features and support both .qif and Quicken's new .qdf formats.

All of my data transferred over (my old software was able to export to .qif), although I did have to spend a little time re-organizing things.Whether that is a quirk of Moneydance, or the legacy software I was transfering from, I don't know.The software has support for investment accounts, although I've never tracked mine using my banking software, so I haven't tried it.

Another big plus for the software is that it is Java based, and will install on any Java-enabled platform.No more being locked into Windows.

Screwed Over by the Upgrade
Like a dufus I bought Quicken2005.

BIG MISTAKE

The first thing it did was convert all my data to a new format that doesn't work with Quicken2002.Then, I discovered that it stopped support QIF imports.Now I cannot import data from my bank accounts.

So the big improvement after 3 years of work on this product is that you can now manually type everything into Quicken2005.

Wonderful.

So now I've gone back to Quicken2002, after uninstalling Quicken2005, searching backups to recover the data from Quicken2002, and losing all my data for this year.

Gee, to think that I *paid* for this downgrade.

Note: I chose not to spend $24.95 to call Quicken and ask for their help.Funny how every other software company I've used provides phone support for free.Maybe if these guys actually talked to their customers they would know what a colossal mistake they've made.

No problems
It has always amazed me that improvements in Quicken are so slow, the last update worth purchasing was in 95, with Quicken 6. Did all their programmers quit?

That being said, I had none of the problems of the other reviewers. Quicken 2005 installed with no problems, all 5 of the accounts I download, downloaded with no problems, and after a week of use everything works as should.

Quicken is the best home finance program available. If you do not own it, buy today, it will make you money much easier to manage and probably save you money. If you are currently a user, I would recommend you not update until Quicken forces you to! 5 stars if you are a new user, 3 stars if updating. ... Read more

Product Description

Offers advanced tools for businesses that want to manage their finances more effectively and efficiently. Includes tools that help boost productivity and give you more control of your spending, your data and your business forms and much more! ... Read more

Features

• Customize reports, prices and more
• Automatically track information for taxes and reporting
• Financial management system for businesses
• Import data from popular office software
• Easily manage accounts payable and receivable

Reviews (50)

Pocket Quickbook
Quickbook is really a fanastic product although there is much disapprovment on the review site. Quickbook is great, just that Quickbook is trying too hard to squeeze evey cents from the existing customer with their distractive advert. Whatever, Quickbook is one of the best buget accounting software in the market. If you use it enough, you may find something missing in Quickbook. Its usefulness is limited to the office. Now you can extend your Quickbook to PDA such as PocketPC.

If you are in a retail business, Pocket Quickbook enables you enter bill and receive your inventory. You no longer confined to your desktop to use Quickbook. You have the convenience to scan a product and know immediate how many you have sold last night, last week or even last month. And you then make a purchase order. Easy? You can be as information productive as 7 Eleven even if you own only 1 outlet!

If you are in a service business, Pocket Quickbook enables you to issue invoices to customer away from the desktop. Be it at your showroom, your customer site or your favourite Starbuck! Get instant information on your customer payment, balance and contact out in the field.

Visit http://www.doitech.com/member.htm to download the trial version now! It is free. If you like most customer who beg for a similar accounting software but without the "hazard" of Intuit, then write an email to sales@doitech.com They have a accounting software that could import most of Quickbook data. You can tell them what you use most often on your Quickbook. What are the necessary functions that you need. Your input determine the new accounting software that uses your old Quickbook data without all the advert service and priced at only US$49/-. Importantly it make Quickbook PDA convenience...

Thank you...

Improved over 2002 version
For the most part, there has been some negative sentiment and reviewsfrom users regarding their purchases of Quickbooks Pro 2004. It was enough to concern me to think whether I should purchase the program or not. Those reviews were not regarding installation problems or conflicts on their computers. They were complaints regarding Intuit designing the newer programs with traps in the program that would require you to purchase additional services. It is true that there are fees for running payroll annually but I don't use it so no $$$ lost. Actually there are two problems I have come across. The first: when making payments, an icon appears right alongside your payment that wants you to order checks from Intuit. You cannot eliminate this option but have to dig through help and look in a very hidden location to place a proposed check number when you want to be reminded again. I put in 9999 so I probably won't hear from it for a long time. Of course many may find this reminder helpful. I suppose I will, but personally I become offended when I can't turn on or off the preferences. The second problem is inemailing forms and reports. This is another option my 2002 version did not have. The problem is that when you click on emailing the report, a quickbooks browser opens and takes you to an intuit site where you have to login and before things got worse, I disconnected. They should allow you to simply attach to outlook express if anything. What is a plus with this update version is that reports can be saved in pdf format (adobe acrobat) and you can manually email these attachments yourself. I like and have used this option!

This program is a very helpful tool in our real estate business where I can keep track and make reports of all properties. For those not familiar with the software, when you desire to enter an expense, a screen will appear that looks like a check. This check can either be printed on the intuit or third party checks or you can unclick "print" and write out your own check and just use this area to enter the expenses. You enter the payee, $$$, date and information in the lower section of the amount(s) from that same check that you want to enter into one or more categories or across many classes. For example, if I want to pay John the handiman $500 for work on properties, I can allocate $200 to "accounts" for electrical, $100 for painting and $200 for roofing, any accounts which you can personally set up. Further, if a portion of the payment is for another property address, I simply click on the appropriate property I have originally entered way back under "class" and separate the $$$ proportionately. Another column is available for entering the "job" so I can keep track of a specific project. Virtually every conceivable option is available for keeping proper track of expenses. When I deposit rent checks, I simply click on "make deposits" and enter the click on the tenant's name in the dropdown list and allocate the payment to the "class" or property. Again easy to keep complete track of expense and income. At the end of the year, I email the backup program to our accountant and he finshes the tax forms. Bank account balances can be kept and basis for properties for the long term.

Of course, if you are using this program for the first time, you enter a lot of information on various introductory screens to customize the program for your type of business.

As far as installation, I already had Quickbooks Pro 2002 installed. The instructions say to install right over top of the old program so the old information can be converted over. Screens appear that comfortable tell you what is going to happen. I would recommend backing everything up prior to upgrading. All went well.

I am very satisfied with the program. I was reluctant to try Peachtree since they say you can't keep more than 2 years of information readily open to see or modify prior to archiving (there seems to be no limit here unless your backup file gets too big- I'm at 600kb and climbing right now). I will give this rating 4 stars since I am satisfied with the program. If there would be more useful and exciting changes, I would have given it a perfect rating. Feel comfortable in purchasing this program.

Quickbooks 2004 Pro
QuickBooks 2004 Pro is modest improvement over the incredibly lame version that QB2000 was. The problem with the preceding statement is that Intuit is finally, albeit very slowly, brining QuickBooks up to the level of functionality that most professional grade software has had 3-4 years earlier. Given the price they charge for the package one would assume a very polished, professional level package which in my opinion is not the case.

Moreover the requirement of having to integrate with Internet Explorer and the corresponding reduced security settings makes it a significant security issue particularly in professional and business settings. As a professional IT consultant I need a basic package to track my business and have adopted QuickBooks by default early on believing it to be a good package given the popularity. A condition that has proved largely false unfortunately. The best I can say is that the package does get the basics I need done and given at the moment I don't have the time to review and test other alternatives I'm stuck with using this.


Lastly, as others have indicated, I really don't care for the constant self promotion Intuit has integrated into the package. I wouldn't object to something perhaps in the help area that lets on see other offerings etc. by choice. The inclusion of self promoting links within the package that appear as possible links to help areas is both annoying and modestly deceptive.
Intuit has garnered a large market share in the lower end accounting arena. They would do a good service to their longer term prospects and to their clients by making significant improvements in the package and COMPLETELY ELIMINATING the need to integrate with Internet Explorer.

Rebate Info--Don't Be Fooled
Note that the $100Rebate is for UPGRADES only.It is a bit deceiving when you purchase your QuickBooks, it is for those who had previous versionsof QuickBooks only.

Run! Run!! Run for your life!!!
I used this product back when it was in its 1.0 for DOS days. Back then, it was a great application. Designed to make double-entry accounting accessible to those of us who don't really know a credit from a debit, it did everything I needed it to do, simply.

It is now mostly an advertisement for add-on products. It still comes with the basic features, although many are no longer so simple, but so many of the feature buttons just take you to a web-based, "You can buy this add-on here now!" type site.

It's no longer intuitive either. The design is such that many common features (i.e. Receive Payment) are not available on the myriad buttons all over the screen. (Those are reserved for add-on products.) You have to navigate around things to find the simple functions you need.

Finally, gone are the days when you could get some level of decent free support for the software. I'm not talking about, telephone support, or significant hand-holding. I'm talking about things like Newsgroups. Places where people can ask questions and get ideas from other people. Microsoft has that. Intuit doesn't. Instead, if you want to ask anything beyond, "how do I install this?", you have to pay for a freakin' service plan! And it's not just a one-time $100+ fee either. After that, you have to pay them a monthly too!

I'm not sure what I'm going to switch to, but this product just bites. I'm getting out. In short, my advice is stay faaaaar away from these guys. ... Read more

Product Description

Intuit Quicken 2005 Premier Home & Business - Financial Management - PCQuicken 2005 Premier Home & Business includes exclusive features to help you manage your business finances, plus everything in Quicken 2005 Premier. See how your business is doing, track multiple jobs, send out customized invoices, track your taxes, and generate business reports. Over 100 customer-driven improvements make it easier than ever to get what you need out of your Quicken software! Nice electronics is your source for everyday low prices on theIntuit 283652 - QUICKEN 2005 PREMIER HOME & BUSINESS and all other Intuit Software - Misc ... Read more

Features

• Includes all features in Quicken 2005 Premier
• Powerful tool for managing business and personal finances
• Create customizable estimates and invoices
• Generate business reports and graphs, including Schedule C
• Track accounts receivable and payable

Reviews (26)

Not so bad
Having read all the bad reviews and forced to upgrade from Q2002, I had to take the leap in order to continue with my porfolio dounloads and mgt.I knew I didn't want MS Money from an earlier try about 2 yrs ago.Anyway, I use it for checkbook entries/family expense management and investments/portfolio management.It converted everything from Q2002 without a hitch and I haven't had any problems.Unlike some other problem areas, I do not use the bill pay portion of Quicken.I can't download my bank transactions since they still use QIF, but I knew this ahead of time from all the Amazon reviews.In order to get the same functions as Q2002 deluxe, I had to get the Premier Home and Business.One of the other reviewers hit the nail on the head regarding the underhanded way Intuit tries to get our money.I just wish there was another competitor other than MS Money.....maybe there will be soon.

Massive feature creep AND buggy online banking
Like many of the other reviewers, I've been using Quicken for quite some time. I was perfectly happy with Q2002, but Intuit wanted more of my money and started turning off all my online access unless I upgraded.

Q2005 has added any number of useless new "features" and you cannot seem to turn them off. Further, they insist on displaying a number of these "features" on the main register screens, cluttering up the display. I can no longer have my banking browser window open along with Quicken because the Quicken screen has all this extra junk around the register.

Add features fine. But let me ignore them, please. Don't clutter the screen with buttons and panes that I don't want to use. The technical term for this is "feature creep" where a good program is ruined by too many features. This program is becoming as unwieldy and impossible as Microsoft Word.

***One glaring bug***

When I schedule an online payment (using my bank's online banking), the scheduled payment appears in the register's "Num" column WITH A CHECK NUMBER. In my case, this check number happens to be a duplicate of previous check numbers (it's about 200 less than my current check number). Since I write many more online checks than paper ones, it will eventually march through my paper check numbers, creating all sorts of confusion. To fix this, one has to manually change the "Num" field (and can do so only after the payment is sent) to EFT or whatever you usually use to indicate an online (numberless) payment.What a royal pain!!!

Good update, no problems here

The bad reviews given to this product almost made me decide against upgrading from my older version (2002). But I decided to do it anyway, and I'm glad I did.

I encountered no problems and everything works pretty much the way it always did. I don't see any great improvements, and I don't like change, so I wish I hadn't been forced into upgrading (they discontinued support for the old version, including updating).

As in any program upgrade, there appear to be many things they changed for change sake, rather than for improved performance, but these were minor and just take a bit of getting used to.

Perhaps I just don't use the functions that caused problems for everyone else, but I use the portfolio, invoicing, scheduled payments, etc., plus the retirement and savings modules, etc. I do not sych to the Quicken website and use the update feature only to update prices on my portfolio.

Since everyone uses and needs different functions, the problems that other people encounter may not affect you at all. Like me, you may find it a perfectly satisfactory upgrade.

I actually like Quicken 2005....
Ok, I see a ton of bad reviews for Quicken 2005 PH&B, but I actually like it.I think the big difference between me and a lot of other people here is that I have never used Quicken before (or any other Quicken-type software).So I never had to go through an upgrade process or deal with anything like that.If you are starting fresh, I'd have to recommend Quicken 2005 to you.Now, I understand that Quicken is using the new OFX format.My credit cards are using this format, but my banks are not.So I have to enter some stuff in on my own.That's fine with me.Most of my stuff comes through the credit cards anyways.

I've never experienced any bugs or incorrect calculations.The first thing I did after installing the software was update it to Release 3 so maybe that's why.I'd suggest that everybody does the same.

Quicken 2005 is very powerful and very organized and I enjoy using it.

More glitches from Intuit
I'd already purchased Quicken 2005 when I read these reviews, so I put it on my laptop so that it wouldn't mess up my previous versions on the desktop machine.It synced perfectly with my bank--once.Now it says "invalid PIN" for my bank, although the PIN is not invalid; it's still the same one with which I can access the account otherwise.

Chalk up another glitch for this program, and beware: it may work once, but it won't work again.Sigh. ... Read more

Product Description

Microsoft Money 2005 Premium.Microsoft Money Premium is the most complete financial package from Microsoft. This software will help you to optimize your financial future with all the personal finance tools needed to quickly and easily organize and manage your money.Microsoft Money 2005 Premium contains all the features of the Microsoft Money Deluxe edition. Balance your checkbook, pay bills online, download financial statements, create monthly reports and more. There are also tools to help you optimize your investments, maximize tax savings, track your portfolio and more. Also included are free financial services, such as credit reporting from Experian, a capital gains optimizer from GainsKeeper, online tax preparation and e-filing from HR Block and a one-year subscription to Money Magazine.FeaturesBalance your checkbook, pay bills online, download financial statements and more Maximize your tax savings Track and optimize your investments Easy-to-use tools help you achieve your financial goals Access all of your information in one place Bonus financial services include Experian credit reporting, a capital gains tax optimizer from GainsKeeper, online tax preparation from HR Block and a one-year subscription to Money Magazine ... Read more

Features

• Simplify taxes, maximize savings; achieve financial goals
• Personal finance software with award-winning Portfolio Manager
• Automatically consolidates online financial information
• Provides essential tools for planning financial future
• Integrated GainsKeeper for tax-smart investment choices

Reviews (42)

Best value for non-professionals
As a practicing tax attorney, I'm frequently asked to recommend a software package for home users.This is without doubt the most comprehensive, up-to-date, and easy-to-use software for the layman.If you use a CPA or tax attorney, this program helps track and print all the needed documents.If you file by yourself (good luck), it is equally effective in tracking your overall assets.Recommended.

Not bad but buy a reference book for it.
This is my frist try with personal finace software and so far its not bad.I would however recommened getting like a dummies guide to book of some sort with this software.It takes a lot of frustration out of setting it up.The users guide that comes with ths software isnt really a users guide, more like a book of advertisments for other products.The only other guide is in with the software through help and I found that equally as usless.So if you are willing to spend 50 - 70 bucks for this software go out and spend another 20 and get a book.It really helps.Other than that, that is my only complaint.

Not much of an upgrade
My bank is one of the largest in my region, and this thing still cannot synchronize with a simple checking account.I'm glad I tried it out on my friend's computer before I purchased it.MS Money 2004 Premium isn't any better, but at least it's less money.

Terrible product
We bought this software, but could not get it to load with the .NET account or access any of our online bank accounts. Basically useless, the help on microsoft website is tantamount to reloading all your other software to 'migrate' to a new admin account to get it to work. Software is not supposed to this hard.
I wasted a day on this, please don't do the same.

Incredibly Disappointing "Upgrade"
First, let me say that I have been an avid fan, user, and recommender of the Microsoft Money products since I first became acquainted with them after the 1998 version release of the product.

Words cannot express how greatly disappointed I am with the product itself and Microsoft as a company for unleashing this grossly inept, buggy, and endlessly frustrating piece of trash upon its previously contended users.

I have spent countless hours trying to fix problems that Money 2005 has created in my personal financial records, and even more hours with their support people communicating with them via e-mail (a journey in frustration itself - you have to format your messages a certain way for it to even get to them).

I am, as of today, sending a request to Microsoft for a refund of my purchase price and am going to try one of the Quicken products. I've never even used ANY of the Quicken products before, and am already convinced that they are surely head and shoulders above this latest version of Money.

Shame on Microsoft for thinking that nobody would be willing to jump ship and take their business elsewhere. ... Read more

Product Description

Microsoft Money 2005 Deluxe.This software includes all of the basic functions of Microsoft Money Standard, including the ability to download financial statements, automatic account balance, checkbook balance and more. You can also use the additional features, including credit center, debt reduction planner, tax estimator and financial events modeler to get a more in-depth picture of your financial health. Achieve all of your financial goals and manage your money like never before. FeaturesBalance your checkbook, pay bills online, download financial statements and moreVisit the Credit Center to view a summary of debts, learn about credit card management and more Make tax season easier by preparing year round with the Tax Estimator tools to estimate taxes, find hidden deductions, estimate capital gains and more Download banking, credit card and other financial information to make balancing accounts even easier Track your investments using the portfolio tools Achieve your financial goals with the debt reduction planner ... Read more

Features

• Get help with credit and debt; simplify taxes
• Personal finance software with award-winning Portfolio Manager
• Automatically consolidates online financial information
• Essential tools for improving credit and organizing taxes
• Stay up-to-date on accounts and transactions

Reviews (56)

waste of money!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I agree with almost every negative review on this board. In comparison with 2004 edition, this one is just plain HORRIBLE. It looks prettier (kind of), but that's as far as it goes. I've been using MS Money since 2000, and I've enjoyed every upgrade; they've all been quite satisfactory save this monstrous creation. I haven't just used Money only, I've tried out Quicken 3 times, once back 4 years ago, another a year ago, and a week ago. It's too inflexible & the graphs stink.

Every time I do an internet update, it duplicates every account with some generic name (I track 3 checkings, 4 savings, 2 credit cards, 1 cash on hand, & 2 loans). I am NOT going to rename all the accounts again & redo every transaction with all the splits.

As far as MS Money 2005 goes:
I tried to do an update with CapitalOne, and it failed time after time. It also took flipping forever to do any of the updates! I wish I could have let the default setting NOT update news articles. I'm here to balance my checkbook, track settings, & budget, forecast, I don't care about news. I would love to elaborate further, but the arteries in my forhead would explode from my frustration.

Because I couldn't even get the program to KIND OF work, I wish I could give it ZERO stars. I refuse to spend countless hours (more) to try to get this piece of crud working; pen & paper IS BETTER than this program. Back to 2004 I go (until they release a HUGE compilative fix for all this poo).

Works fine for me, better then quicken
I read some of the reviews, and almost didn't by the 2005 but was looking for 2004.Bought 2005 (out of 2004) followed directions and it works like a chirm.

Not Ready For Beta Testing
Imagine if Microsoft Word crashed every time a period or capital letter was used or when opening saved documents some of the paragraphs appeared twice.Such is the state of affairs of Microsoft Money 2005.I have been using Microsoft Money since 1996; while it was never perfect, it basically did what it promised.I have also used the portfolio manager on the MSN website which is a subset of the Money program with a similar interface. Others have written about problems downloading bank and credit card statements; this review will focus on the portfolio manager.

The portfolio manager is the part of Money that keeps track of investment accounts. It is not unusual for multiple income families to own quite complicated investment portfolios including 401Ks, IRAs and college savings accounts.Something went very wrong in the fall of 2004 when Microsoft upgraded their software to Money 2005.Gone is the ability to analyze a single account or groups of accounts; you are forced to analyze your entire portfolio. When entering new equity transactions, Money used to allow you to simply enter the trading symbol and it would quickly find the name of the company and other information, now you must follow a wizard and enter the information by hand.Previously, you could enter a back dated transaction and it would guess a price using the closing price for the day (this is very useful for watch accounts); now you must manually enter the information.

The worse part has been the removal of the associated cash accounts.I never really appreciated the separate cash accounts until Microsoft removed them.For those unfamiliar with software, here is the basic concept.Say you own an account with a discount broker like Fidelity or Vanguard that holds six mutual funds.Associated with that account is a cash account in which you add and remove cash, collect dividends and conduct other transactions into and out of the account.When you sell a mutual fund, the proceeds are put into the cash account; similarly, cash is taken from the account when you buy shares of an investment.Prior versions of Money created a distinct cash account associated with a specific investment account.You could open the account, view the transaction history and correct any errors.In Money 2005, when you create a new account it simply asks for the initial cash balance.Money then automatically mismanages this account by recording dividends twice and mishandling sales proceeds.Furthermore, money will not allow you to record interest dividends, contributions or redemptions.There is no way to view the history at all; Money simply gives you the current value in a little box.When errors occur, the fix from Microsoft is to simply change the amount in the little box to the correct value.If you access the cash account too often it begins to create multiple cash accounts labeled #2, #3 leading to cash account nightmare.

Microsoft did an upgrade to the software this weekend (May 20, 2005).They have added more features and unfortunately more bugs; I have not noticed anything that has been fixed.New problems include: 1) updates are no longer stored on the MSN server preventing you from accessing up-to-date account information from multiple computers (this may be a temporary problem); 2) investments that lack a trading symbol, such as specialty funds available through certain 401Ks or 529 plans, are no longer supported.You can see the investment in your portfolio but you cannot record "buys" or other transactions; 3) information contained in watch accounts, such as year-to-date performance was lost after the upgrade.

I hope once Microsoft is finished adding features to their Money 2005 software they will work on bringing it from Alpha to Beta quality.Perhaps, after a year or two of Beta testing, Microsoft will be ready to release Money 2005 (or 2008) for general sale.Until then, I do not see how they can legally be selling software that fails to perform its basic functions.

stay away!
I bought Microsoft Money 2005 thinking it would help me get a grasp on my post-college finances. And it would, if it ever worked.

For one thing, the auto-update from bank account feature is a joke. It only works maybe 10% of the time, and every once in a while it would stop working for a week or two at a time. When that happened one time, I decided to try to send in an email to MS... they ask for your Product ID but its impossible to get to because of ANOTHER error. And then I tried to delete the accounts I had in there and re-add them but it didnt allow me to do that.

This program is a sad, sorry joke and I am puzzled asto how Microsoft could gain a foothold in this software genre with junk like this. A total waste of money.

WHAT A PIECE OF #$% !!!
I agree with almost every negative review on this board. In comparison with 2004 edition, this one is just plain HORRIBLE. It looks prettier (kind of), but that's as far as it goes. I've been using MS Money since 2000, and I've enjoyed every upgrade; they've all been quite satisfactory save this monstrous creation. I haven't just used Money only, I've tried out Quicken 3 times, once back 4 years ago, another a year ago, and a week ago. It's too inflexible & the graphs stink.

Every time I do an internet update, it duplicates every account with some generic name (I track 3 checkings, 4 savings, 2 credit cards, 1 cash on hand, & 2 loans). I am NOT going to rename all the accounts again & redo every transaction with all the splits.

As far as MS Money 2005 goes:
I tried to do an update with CapitalOne, and it failed time after time. It also took flipping forever to do any of the updates! I wish I could have let the default setting NOT update news articles. I'm here to balance my checkbook, track settings, & budget, forecast, I don't care about news. I would love to elaborate further, but the arteries in my forhead would explode from my frustration.

Because I couldn't even get the program to KIND OF work, I wish I could give it ZERO stars. I refuse to spend countless hours (more) to try to get this piece of crud working; pen & paper IS BETTER than this program. Back to 2004 I go (until they release a HUGE compilative fix for all this poo). ... Read more

Product Description

Make Everyday Tasks Easier with These Six Popular Solutions Works Suite 2005 offers everything you need to help your family be productive while having a great time—six complete Microsoft programs integrated into one affordable package. Everything from school projects to personal finances and vacation planning are at your fingertips with Works Suite. Get more out of every day. ... Read more

Features

• Get those finances in order with Money Standard 2005
• Write like a professional with Word 2002
• Get up and go with Streets & Trips 2005
• Edit and organize your photos with Picture It! Premium 10
• Explore the world with Encarta Encyclopedia Standard 2005

Reviews (4)

Dont think I'll like it as much..........
as my old Works Suite 2002.I tried installing the 2002 suite on my new computer. Kept getting an error message about not being able to display the EULA agreement for me to accept, and thus wont install the Works Task launcher. I tried all the "fixes" but it just wouldnt install, so, I bought the Works Suite 2005 from Amazon.Well, I got an error message after I installed it. This time about not being able to run it on Windows 95, 98 and 2000.Well, I'm using XP Pro.Long story short, I just right clicked on TASK LAUNCHER, THEN COMPATIBILITY, THEN UNCHECKED THE COMPATIBILITY MODE BOX, and the program started up.I also had to uninstall Office 2003, which uses Word 2003 because Works Suite 2005uses Word 2002. This was on the advice of Microsoft Tech support.
I was shocked to find vast changes.They just dont give you as many templates or programs like they did in WS 2002 in my opinion.I was very, very disappointed. Picture It is TOTALLY revamped and looks so much more complicated. Money stayed about the same. Gone from Word ( via task launcher) is the Wizard that would you pre-select styles, fonts, colors, letterheads etc.Calendar is the same....just a different color depending on what desktop motif you use.Anyway, what I did, wastransfer to floppy, my favorite WORKS 2002 templates/programs that worked in Word 2002, from my old computer to the new one, and so far it's worked just fine.
I still like the old version of Works Suite...I think it's more user friendly, and I know it gave you more templates and programs to choose from. Lots of Glitz, Picture It is REALLY different, but I think I've lost more than I gained.

Can't email from MS Word 2002 document
I recently upgraded by computer from Windows 98 to Windows XP. When the computer came from Gateway I assumed it would include MS Word 2000. It included Microsoft Works Suite 2005 that included MS Word 2002, which I assumed would be an enhancement of MS Word 2000.

On my Windows 98 computer with MS Word 2000, on the toolbar there was an icon that permitted me to email a document (and add one or two attachments). I expected that the updated version of MS Word 2002 would include that feature as well. To my amazement, it did not.

Secondly, in MS Word 2000 when I click on "Open" it permits me to view files alphabetically, or in the order of when last modified or created. The MS Word 2002 doesn't permit me to do that.

I write letters and reports and send them through email. Without those features, the entire Windows XP computer with Microsoft Works Suite 2005 that I bought is useless. I don't know what to do to salvage this. Now, my Windows XP computer is sitting on the floor, and I don't know what to do with it.

Why aren't those features included in MS Word 2002 as they were with MS Word 2000 with the ability to email documents from within MS Word, and add one or two attachments?

What Microsoft product must I purchase that includes those features within MS Word?

What is so frustrating about this is that as a customer I have no way of knowing what I am getting when I buy Microsoft products. I couldn't have anticipated that MS Word 2000 was more useful for my purposes than MS Word 2002. This is so unfair on the part of Microsoft and I think is strong evidence of the disadvantages of monopoly control for consumers.

Word 2002 Vastly Improved Compared with Word 97
I purchased Works Suite 2005 because I could no longer receive paid support from Microsoft with a problem I had with Word 97 (it would no longer open or function).I uninstalled the old program and installed Works Suite 2005 and the word processing program is excellent -- it even incorporates the "view codes" feature of WordPerfect!All of my documents were converted to the new verson of Word flawlessly. I haven't installed all of the other components of the suite because I really don't need most of them at this time.(...)

It Really Depends.
This version of Works Suite offers almost the same exact features of version 2004. The only difference is Money, Streets and Trips, Picture It! 10.0, Encarta, they included version 2005 instead. For users who might have stuck with version 2000, 2001 or 2002 of Works Suite, this will suit you more. The collection of software included is amazing for the value at which it is being offered. From powerful and easy to use Word Processing solutions such as Microsoft Word and quality photo-editing with Picture It! My only problem with Word is that they did not include version 2003 instead. Word 2002 is included instead and has been out since May 2001, kind of lame by Microsoft's standards. This is a recommend set of programs for the home user and some businesses who need only the essentials. The package includes Works 8.0, with basic spreadsheet and database applications. You also get great money management solution; Money 2005 makes it a synch to keep your budget on track and in tact. With its online integration you can pay bills online or get further information to better manage your financial data. These applications I still consider not to be as strong enough as Microsoft Excel and Access. The database in Works approach to creating queries is limited and unreliable. The Spreadsheet does not offer the powerful calculation tools found in Excel and integration between both applications is very limited. But if you need only the essential tools for managing the essential aspects of your life whether at home or school Works Suite 2005 is truly a bargain. Getting the latest versions of Encarta is always great and it includes version 2005, so information is once again updated and accurate and you get the benefits of updating it weekly, so your information is never outdated.

Remember if you are a user of Works Suite 2003 or 2004, this update might be unnecessary to you because the majority of the products in version 2003 have not had a drastic overhaul in version 2005. I would probably recommend this to existing users running 2000, 2001, 2002 and persons running versions 99 and really older, I think its time you upgrade!

... Read more

Product Description

Intuit Quicken 2005 Basic.Whether you're managing your personal finances, investing for your future, or running a small business or all three there's a Quicken product that's right for you. Quicken 2005 Basic for Windows includes over 100 customer-driven enhancements that allow you to accomplish what you need with a lot less work.See your complete financial picture in minutes! Find out what you have and where it's going, pay bills, plan for your future, help save more money, and take control of your finances. System Requirements:IBM or compatible Pentium 200 (Pentium II 300 recommended)Windows 98/2000/Me/XP32 MB RAM (128 MB RAM recommended)100 MB Hard Drive Space, plus 45 MB for Microsoft Internet Explorer if IE 6.0 or higher is not already installed (IE 6.0 included on CD-ROM)Double speed CD-ROM (4X or higher recommended for multimedia) ... Read more

Features

• Quickly and easily create a personalized budget
• Powerful, easy-to-use tools for managing personal finances
• Track checking, savings, and credit-card transactions in one place
• Reconcile bank statements and balance checkbook in minutes
• Write and print checks or pay bills online

Reviews (23)

Less than one star - terrible!!!
I've been using excel to track my money for years, and just bought quicken to streamline it.The only way to get any of my historical information in is to type each entry individually!If your bank is not a participating institution (if they didn't pay Quickn/Intuit additional charges) the only way you can enter your transactions is by typing each one individually!What's the point in automating asystem, if you can't automate it?It's not even something you can upgrade - no imports from excel or any other format in any 2005 quicken!Not a good deal.

WASTE OF MONEY
If I am not sure, I play it smart and buy the program used.In short I was not satisfied with what I recieved.If the anecdote, "You get what you pay for." was applicable in this case, this program would be worth it's price, but it's worth less than I paid.Amazon low price of 13 some odd dollars.

Great Product...great price
I've been using Quicken for 5 years and think it is a great product. I just bought this new version to replace Quicken 2000. The new version has a number of improved features. It was really easy to transfer the data from my old computer/old version of Quicken to 2005. I used online chat and found them to be very helpful. Not sure why this product gets such a bad rap.

I thought it would be better than Quickn 2002.I was wrong!
I was perfectly happy with my older deluxe version of Quicken, but found that a)I didn't use most of the deluxe features, b)had several years worth of transactions that I couldn't archive due to a bug, and c)due to a bank change, I could no longer get transaction downloads.So, I bought 2005 basic.BIG MISTAKE! This "new improved" product is so cumbersome and confusing, I've practically stopped using it.When I start it, there are "messages" about my accounts, but I can't read them in the basic version. All I can do is delete them.The "home" page has 8, count them, 8 "Cash Flow Services" options that actually take you to sign-up pages touting for-fee additional services, many of which my bank already provides for free.And there are buttons to quicken.com EVERYWHERE that you have to work to get rid of. (Hellooooo.If I'd wanted to use quicken.com to pay all my bills, I would not have purchased Quicken.) This product is like one of those teaser game CDs that cost $5.00 but only gives you one level.And I don't really want the other levels.All I want is a product that does what it did before in a way that avoids making me relearn everything!

Ok, on the up-side, it does do a pretty good job of keeping track of my bank transactions and it seems like you can tailor it to suit some specific financial priorities, but it's just so incredibly painful to have to relearn EVERYTHING just because the banking industry changed download file formats. Microsoft may be trying to take over the software industry, but at least they don't want to be my bank so much that they totally screw up an otherwise good product.

Good at what it does, but doesn't help to get out of debt
I find Quicken to be good at what it's supposed to do -- track and manage expenses, creating reports to see spending trends, and paying bills. But, I found it was lacking in providing me direction on how to get out of debt. I found this direction, however at www.onepaycheckatatime.com. This web site has interactive that guide you through the process of targeting and paying down debt on a paycheck by paycheck basis. I use it in coordination with Quicken to guide me on which bills to pay, when and how much. Try it! ... Read more

Product Description

Microsoft Money 2005 Small Business is the comprehensive finance solution for small companies. It makes managing your finances easy so you can spend more time with your customers.* Categorize income and expenses Money automatically categorizes all your business and personaltransactions so you can see exactly where your money goes.* Get expert advice The Business Resource Center puts the latest news and useful articles atyour fingertips; Business Reports provide a snapshot of your businessfinances.* Handle billing effortlessly Money makes it easy to keep track of customers stay on top of accountspayable and receivable and create professional-looking invoices.* Simplify taxes Keep up with taxable expenses automatically link categories to yourSchedule C report and find hidden deductions.* Includes free financial services One year of online payroll from PayCycle plus all free financialservices included in Money 2005 Premium (Experian GainsKeeper and H&RBlock). REQUIREMENTS- Multimedia PC with Pentium 166 or faster processor (or compatible); Pentium II 266 (or compatible) processor required for Windows XP (Pentium II 300 recommended).Windows XP: 64 MB of RAM (128 MB recommended); Windows 2000 or Windows 98 SE: 32 MB of RAM (64 MB recommended).130 MB of available hard-disk space plus 60 MB for Internet Explorer 6 SP1 (if not already installed) plus an additional 200 MB while installing product updates.2x or faster CD-ROM drive Super VGA color monitor with minimum 256 colors capable of displaying 800 x 600 resolution 16-bit color recommended.Windows XP Windows 2000 SP3 or later or Windows 98 SE or later.Most online features require Microsoft .NET Passport; for more information see the Microsoft Money 2005 Internet-based services policy.Super VGA graphics card or compatible video graphics adapter.Microsoft mouse or compatible pointing device.28.8 Kbps or faster modem; Internet functionality requires an Internet Service Provider (ISP); local and long distanc... ... Read more

Features

• Free financial services, including 1 year online payroll from PayCycle
• Comprehensive finance solution for small companies
• Categorize income and expenses; handle billing effortlessly
• Get expert advice from current news and useful articles
• Keep up with taxable expenses automatically

Reviews (18)

Microsoft Screwd Up this Version of Money BIG Time!
Hi,

I just started a small website design business, and I was evaluating simple accounting products to keep track of my business.

I really like the interface for Microsoft Money...it is much more intuative and laid out better than Quicken Home and Business 2005....but man, what nerve Microsoft has to require you to have one of those stupid Microsoft Passport accounts....and then to make you always be "online" to create new accounts!

GEEZ...in my opinion, they went too far!

I guess I'm a sticken with a Quicken!


:)

For disappointed in Microsoft Money
Personally, I believe that who ever takes time to post his/her opinion in order to alert others deserves one big thanks from this community. So, thanks to people above:

My Microsoft Money was bundled with my PC but I only needed fast and simple money tracking. Learning to use Microsoft Money was one big waist of my time. I was considering upgrade and naturally, first thing to do was to read reviews.

Search for Money 2005 opened My Money 2005 download page, software created by totally different company. Unlike Microsoft Money, this software was actually easy and full version was only 9.95. If you want to check this out, go to ZPSSoft.com and look for My Money 2005.You may not going to be able to run your corporation or small country with it, but it will do for all your money.

Do Not Upgrade!!
I currently have the 2004 which I upgraded from 2002.Everything was fine, therefore I would only expect 2005 to be better than 2004.It was awful, I returned the product within hours!!2005 is made up entirely of advertisements displayed all over the place, it isn't user friendly and the features that I liked in the previous versions are gone.I am extremely disappointed and highly recommended not getting the 2005 version!

I wish I had bought something else
I bought Money 2005 Small Business Edition to create some basic financial accounting for my small business. The product came with no guide, neither on paper, nor on screen - for anything you need, you need to go online. The product constant encourages you to go online - but do you want to go online with all your financials open? Could a user have Microsoft or anyone else start browsing through his finances? Unfortunately, basic functions, such as decreasing a balance on a client invoice due to a credit, seem impossible to find. I wish I had bought something else.

Incredibly disappointing version "upgrade"
First, let me say that I have been an avid fan, user, and recommender of the Microsoft Money products since I first became acquainted with them after the 1998 version release of the product.

Words cannot express how greatly disappointed I am with the product itself and Microsoft as a company for unleashing this grossly inept, buggy, and endlessly frustrating piece of trash upon its previously contended users.

I have spent countless hours trying to fix problems that Money 2005 has created in my personal financial records, and even more hours with their support people communicating with them via e-mail (a journey in frustration itself - you have to format your messages a certain way for it to even get to them).

I am, as of today, sending a request to Microsoft for a refund of my purchase price and am going to try one of the Quicken products.I've never even used ANY of the Quicken products before, and am already convinced that they are surely head and shoulders above this latest version of Money.

Shame on Microsoft for thinking that nobody would be willing to jump ship and take their business elsewhere. ... Read more

Product Description

Intuit Quicken 2005 Premier for Windows - Financial Management - PCQuicken 2005 Premier includes everything in Quicken 2005 Deluxe, plus exclusive tools to help you manage your investments. Over 100 customer-driven improvements to the most-used Quicken features make it easier than ever to get what you need out of Quicken!Nice electronics is your source for everyday low prices on theIntuit 283651 - QUICKEN 2005 PREMIERand all other Intuit Software - Misc ... Read more

Features

• View average annual return for entire portfolio and individual accounts
• Optimize investments, monitor worth, and view complete financial picture
• Instantly connect to bank and credit card sites with a push of a button
• Easy-to-use investment area looks just like a broker statement
• Track investment holdings; intelligent and tax-smart investing insights

Reviews (28)

it works fine...
I was still on version 2001 when I received an email notice from quicken saying they were discontinuing support for this version, including the download of quotes to my portfolio.

I was rather upset by that, as Q 2001 worked perfectly for me... and also rather impressed. I will suggest this method to my company, i.e. tell to client they have to upgrade version of our applications, because soon we won't send data any more to old versions... that's a very good business model... for the seller anyway.

Having read all the negative reviews about Q 2005, I was a bit anxious when I did the upgrade... But Everything worked fine... the new version managed to import without any problems all the data from Q 2001.. Having move from 2001 to 2005 in one jump, I found that the user interface is drastically better... I like the possibility to call the report directly from the toolbar. and also to rename/aggregate easily vendor names into a single name, as I am using a few online vendors which keep changing their denominations/names...

All in all, a very good product...So far, the only thing missing is the lack of capacity for donwloading/accessing quote/historical price for non US stocks.

Quicken & Quicken support have gone down hill
Quicken used to be an easy product to use but over the last few years each successive upgrade has become more user unfriendly.Methods of entry are changed without notice and with little or no help support.The product is becoming more oriented to Intuit's online businesses and basic, simple features are disappearing.Menus and online pages offer to sell you more Intuit services.

Year-over-year updates delete or change features and leave it to you to figure out what they have done.User support is inadequate and confusing.They even go so far as to label self-serving product changes (capability deletions) as enhancements.A good example is the removal of the QIF format import/export capability for investment data without providing a comparable capability.This results in the loss of an ability to transfer or merge investment transactions.Quicken says that using a QIF file was a "poor customer experience".They changed the product to only use a format that works with their online download despite the fact that it also deleted the ability to move transactions about on your PC. It appears their "poor experience" with having a feature with some cross-product capability was traded for a "feature" that limits you to Quicken at the expense of leaving you a "no capability experience".

Detailed documentation, particularly of changes, is lacking.Online chat user support is limited; personnel are untrained on items and recommend that you call for live telephone help.You quickly find out that live telephone "support" is a profit center at $24.95 a call.Paying them $24.95 to explain that they deleted a useful feature because they didn't think it was needed is a typical Quicken experience.

Every release worse than the last.
I've been a Quicken user from day one.Prior to 2002, I used to upgrade virtually every year.I've done this reluctantly because with each upgrade, some feature or report I use frequently gets axed in the new and improved version.In the last 4 years I've returned two releases (2003 and 2004) because of my disgust with Intuit's penchant for making the program more difficult for me to use.I read most of the reviews posted for Premier 2005 and agree with the consensus that Intuit just can't seem to get it right.

All Intuit seems to have done in the last 4 or 5 releases is to change the look and feel of the software at the expense of ease of use.There's nothing materially "better" in this release but entering investment transactions became a downright pain in the behind.

examples:
Can't cut and paste inside the check writing window (admittedly, not a frequently used feature, but gone).

Stock transactions now pop up a much less user friendly entry window.The older 2002 version of register based entry was much easier to use.

Want to reconcile that brokerage account?You really gotta hunt for this command.Why, for Pete's sake, isn't there a command, button or icon anywhere on the window with the register?

Done reconciling and want to check the account value for the date of your statement?In 2002, you were sent to the portfolio view after reconciling with the "As of" date of the view set to the statement date you used in the reconcile.Not anymore.Now you are sent back to the TOP OF the register.Were you needing to enter another transaction, you would have to scroll down to the bottom.So, you click to the Summary Page instead.This displays the current date in the "As of" the Holdings window.You must change the date to go to your statement date.Also, the Holdings window in the Summary Page is annoyingly small and won't allow you to expand it, forcing you to go back to the Portfoio Window anyway to easily see what you need to see.

I'm so heavily entrenched into Quicken that I'm stuck (Money tells me if finds conversion errors - but won't specify what they are).I will have to live with 2005, but would have stayed with 2002 to keep the simplified register based entry for stock transactions.

I could go on and on but you'll see enough complaints posted here.

Prior to 2002 I bought the upgrades every year.Now, I'll stick it out for as many years as possible to prevent further erosion of features I've grown accustomed to.

If you're a casual user and only need to cut checks, get the basic version - or try MS Money.If you're a power user, hold off until the tone of these reviews improves.

Caveat Emptor

Upgraded from Quicken 2002 Deluxe
Since online banking updates were no longer going to be supported past mid-April 2005, even the loyal Quicken customers had to upgrade to the latest version.I can understand it in my case.I needed to upgrade.I upgraded directly from Intuit and supposedly got $20 off (for current customers).All I know is I paid the same price everyone is buying it for here on Amazon.

I've been using Quicken since it's original days in DOS.I have been completely satisfied with the program all these years.The new 2005 interface will take some getting used to, but so far I like it.It was a painless upgrade of my data files from 2002 to 2003, then to 2005 data file version.I have about 10mb in data files and it works flawlessly.I refuse to do a "year-end" each year and start with a new data file.

If you're on the 2003 or 2004 version, I would not recommend upgrading yet.If you are on 2002 or earlier, you'll have to upgrade by mid-April 2005 if you want to continue using account downloads via the Internet directly into Quicken.This is something that I could not live without, so here I am running Quicken 2005 Premiere.

A very flawed product--DO NOT BUY!!!
I had been a very happy camper with Quicken for many years...until Intuit forced the upgrade to the 2005 version.What used to work flawlessly (Quicken 2002)in terms of bank and stock data downloads now would not work.Four calls to the support line got nowhere, with much fumbling around about Quicken not working well on networks, having problems with firewalls and on and on...no solutions.I finally had to just demand a refund and will now spend the money on MS Money...at least one should expect that to work with Windows XP.I guess Intuit has just gotten too greedy and/or too big...beware... ... Read more

Product Description

Microsoft Money 2005 Standard is the personal finance solution that provides fast current answers to your basic financial questions by automatically consolidating all your online financial information.* Get fast answers Money works with your bank s Web site to access your account balancesand transactions automatically--no more visiting multiple sites withmultiple passwords.* Focus on what is important to you Money fits your own financial management style whether you want to seethe big picture at a glance or quickly drill down to details.* Get automatic spending analysis Transactions are automatically categorized so you can easily track yourspending.* Take care of bills automatically Know what is paid and what is due pay bills online and get updatedaccount balances.* Your budget your way Watch a few expenses--such as dining out or utilities--create a completebudget or see all your financial details. REQUIREMENTS- Multimedia PC with Pentium 166 or faster processor (or compatible); Pentium II 266 (or compatible) processor required for Windows XP (Pentium II 300 recommended).Windows XP: 64 MB of RAM (128 MB recommended); Windows 2000 or Windows 98 SE: 32 MB of RAM (64 MB recommended).130 MB of available hard-disk space plus 60 MB for Internet Explorer 6 SP1 (if not already installed) plus an additional 200 MB while installing product updates.2x or faster CD-ROM drive Super VGA color monitor with minimum 256 colors capable of displaying 800 x 600 resolution 16-bit color recommended.Windows XP Windows 2000 SP3 or later or Windows 98 SE or later.Most online features require Microsoft .NET Passport; for more information see the Microsoft Money 2005 Internet-based services policy.Super VGA graphics card or compatible video graphics adapter.Microsoft mouse or compatible pointing device.28.8 Kbps or faster modem; Internet functionality requires an Internet Service Provider (ISP); local and long distance telephone toll charges may apply. www.microsoft.com ... Read more

Features

• View the big picture or quickly drill down to details
• Easy-to-use personal finance software
• Automatically consolidates online financial information
• Works with bank Web site to access account info
• Create budgets; track expenses; pay bills online

Reviews (33)

This Product is AWFUL
Be warned....DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT....especially if you have business accounts that you need to keep separate from personal accounts.When the program updates from the bank, it downloads every account with that User ID....Unlike 2004 or earlier versions, you cannot pick and choose which accounts to download...and if you try to delete one account, you get a message saying deleting one will delete ALL....You CAN set the account to closed...but the stupid program downloads it anyway....

Truly Terrible "Upgrade"
I'm not sure it gets much worse than this, I should have stuck with 2004.When it "converted" my 2004 Money file none of the totals were right.It didn't carry over the starting balances listed in the account settings for each of the accounts, it took me days to figure out that is what the problem was.Occasionally this will happen again when it has trouble connecting to the online services at your bank, it just wipes everything out and starts all over.

Had I known it was going to be this bad I would have never touched it.

Not Ready For Beta Testing
Imagine if Microsoft Word crashed every time a period or capital letter was used or when opening saved documents some of the paragraphs appeared twice.Such is the state of affairs of Microsoft Money 2005.I have been using Microsoft Money since 1996; while it was never perfect, it basically did what it promised.I have also used the portfolio manager on the MSN website which is a subset of the Money program with a similar interface. Others have written about problems downloading bank and credit card statements; this review will focus on the portfolio manager.

The portfolio manager is the part of Money that keeps track of investment accounts. It is not unusual for multiple income families to own quite complicated investment portfolios including 401Ks, IRAs and college savings accounts.Something went very wrong in the fall of 2004 when Microsoft upgraded their software to Money 2005.Gone is the ability to analyze a single account or groups of accounts; you are forced to analyze your entire portfolio. When entering new equity transactions, Money used to allow you to simply enter the trading symbol and it would quickly find the name of the company and other information, now you must follow a wizard and enter the information manually.Previously, you could enter a back dated transaction and it would guess a price using the closing price for the day (this is very useful for watch accounts); now you must manually enter the information.

The worse part has been the removal of the associated cash accounts.I never really appreciated the separate cash accounts until Microsoft removed them.For those unfamiliar with software, here is the basic concept.Say you own an account with a discount broker like Fidelity or Vanguard that holds six mutual funds.Associated with that account is a cash account in which you add and remove cash, collect dividends and conduct other transactions into and out of the account.When you sell a mutual fund, the proceeds are put into the cash account; similarly, cash is taken from the account when you buy shares of an investment.Prior versions of Money created a distinct cash account associated with a specific investment account.You could open the account, view the transaction history and correct any errors.In Money 2005, when you create a new account it simply asks for the initial cash balance.Money then automatically mismanages this account by recording dividends twice and mishandling sales proceeds.Furthermore, money will not allow you to record interest dividends, contributions or redemptions.There is no way to view the history at all; Money simply gives you the current value in a little box.When errors occur, the fix from Microsoft is to simply change the amount in the little box to the correct value.If you access the cash account too often it begins to create multiple cash accounts labeled #2, #3 leading to cash account nightmare.

Microsoft did an upgrade to the software this weekend (May 20, 2005).They have added more features and unfortunately more bugs; I have not noticed anything that has been fixed.New problems include: 1) updates are no longer stored on the MSN server preventing you from accessing up-to-date account information from multiple computers (this may be a temporary problem); 2) investments that lack a trading symbol, such as specialty funds available through certain 401Ks or 529 plans, are no longer supported.You can see the investment in your portfolio but you cannot record "buys" or other transactions; 3) information contained in watch accounts, such as year-to-date performance was lost after the upgrade.

I hope once Microsoft is finished adding features to their Money 2005 software they will work on bringing it from Alpha to Beta quality.Perhaps, after a year or two of Beta testing, Microsoft will be ready to release Money 2005 (or 2008) for general sale.Until then, I do not see how they can legally be selling software that fails to perform its basic functions.

Stick w/ 2004
I've had 2005 on the shelf for a while and finally upgraded from 2004.I've been happy w/ every upgrade since 2001, until now.First, it doesn't upgrade the 2004 installation, it installs separately. In the end, this turns out to be the best feature of 2005, because when you inevitably uninstall 2005, you don't have to reinstall 2004!

The most annoying items for me were:
1.The toolbars at the top take too much space due to an internet navigation toolbar that cannot be turned off.Every other MS product has fully customizable toolbars, what happened here!

2.In many cases, when clicking on something to get to some aspect of your financial info, you are first taken to an MSN MoneyCentral website, which is very intrusive!

3.There is a more complex and nested arrangement of menus for features which makes it harder to find and get to stuff.


I didn't use it much beyond that.#2 was really hard to accept.

Incredibly Disappointing "Upgrade"
First, let me say that I have been an avid fan, user, and recommender of the Microsoft Money products since I first became acquainted with them after the 1998 version release of the product.

Words cannot express how greatly disappointed I am with the product itself and Microsoft as a company for unleashing this grossly inept, buggy, and endlessly frustrating piece of trash upon its previously contended users.

I have spent countless hours trying to fix problems that Money 2005 has created in my personal financial records, and even more hours with their support people communicating with them via e-mail (a journey in frustration itself - you have to format your messages a certain way for it to even get to them).

I am, as of today, sending a request to Microsoft for a refund of my purchase price and am going to try one of the Quicken products. I've never even used ANY of the Quicken products before, and am already convinced that they are surely head and shoulders above this latest version of Money.

Shame on Microsoft for thinking that nobody would be willing to jump ship and take their business elsewhere. ... Read more

Product Description

Microsoft Money 2004 Premium.Microsoft Money 2004 Premium is our most complete financial packaging helping consumers manage their complete financial picture from tracking accounts and paying bills, to 0ptimizing investments and tax-savings opportunities. ... Read more

Reviews (19)

The Utlimate Spyware/Adware Combo
This is the worst software purchase I have made in the past 2 years!The password protection -- Passport vs. standard -- is extremely confusing.The fact that the software talks with Microsoft gives me the creepy feeling that it's collecting data on me.I do not like the idea of an institution like Microsoft having complete access to my monetary data.This idea of remote access is rubbish.In my entire life I have never ever needed to check how my investments were doing while in the middle of a busy day.Not only does it have all my information, it also has a nice little banner that cheerfully asks me to Upgrade Today to Microsoft Money 2005.I paid for this software, and I'd appreciate that, if Microsoft wants real estate on my desktop it should pay for it!!The amazing thing is that, while it uploads my most materially important information to MSN.com and forces an advertisement in my face, the anti-adware/spyware softwares do not even detect this hellish piece of trash.I'm seriously considering going back to Money 99.

having problems converting Quicken files
I'm a longtime Quicken user, but because of the sunset on Quicken 2001 I decided to take a look at Money 2004.Money converted my Quicken files, but ALL of my accounts (bank, IRA, mutual fund, brokerage) had errors.

Money outputs a word file saying there were problems, but gives no details. The file only says "Your Quicken file contained invalid transaction types".It does not list out what transactions had problems.Other accounts have the wrong balances and no explanation at all.Some transactions are missing for no apparent reason.

OK, so I resigned myself to stepping through each account to try and find the problem transactions.I found the problem in one of my mutual fund accounts:Money defaults to average cost basis for mutual funds, and I had used FIFO in Quicken.It was a challenge to find a way to correct this.Just reentering the transaction doesn't work. Even though the program allows you to select the lots to be sold, it still calculates the account basis using average costs.After much searching, I found that going into the security detail page and changing the tax lot accounting there would correct the problem.Not an obvious place to find a solution to a transaction problem.

Now, when I change my "home view" to "Investing", the program crashes.There's probably some way to tiptoe around to make the program happy, but I don't really want to invest the time.Luckily I had a backup I could restore.

Money 2004 has many nice features, but I need a stable product.


Note that Money 2004 Deluxe has a sunset inSept 2007.Money 2004 Standard has a sunset in Sept 2006.

it won't run on xp
I installed the product.and it won't run on my XP professional!!!
don't waste your money.

better than the Money/Quicken 2005 crop
Been using since 2003 because it has better customized graphing/reports than Quicken.

MS Money 2004, despite its major and minor quirks, is at least still usable everyday without much fuss.

The debt planner is fairly useless except to schedule payments, and to "guess" when you'll be out of debt, unlike Quicken 2003.Mortgage accounts don't allow you to switch between arbitrary frequency of payments per month, as well as always predicting the WRONG interest/principal payment split.

However, I still like the fair ability to customize; from page displays toreports although I prefer Quicken's more modal interface over Money's free flowing "browser" interface.

Looking forward, Money 2005 is a horrible new product that doesn't carry over any of the "it just works" philosophy of 2004 especially with the even more "browser" interface that leaves huge tracts of white screen space (in advanced mode) compared to 2004.Combined with the huge amount of complaints about Quicken 2005's new 'forced' "upgrade" features, Money looks golden.

Stay with 2004.. it's the lesser of many evils.Until maybe 2006.

Glad it's not just me....
Microsoft just continues to top itself year after year with the continual poor quality of it's software. In that one regard, Money 2004 does not disappoint.

As other reviewers have noted, many previously functional parts of the (mostly well-designed) program have been crippled, or do not work at all. A prime example that I can site is the Debt Reduction Planner... the whole point of the tool is to allow the user to create a program to automatically pay-off the highest interest debt first. It no longer does this--- or much of anything else! When you set up a debt program, the tool used to schedule all of your payments in your Bills and Deposits listing to present an accurate cash-flow forecast. Now it only presents the most immediate payments... USELESS!!!

Add to this sporadic unexplainable data corruption and a complete absence of I/O load balancing in the "background banking" sub-app and you get a software tool that destabilizes and imperils your critical financial data. Oh yeah, and you're paying out the nose for that privilege!

MS Money used to be the only reason I stopped thinking about switcing to the Mac. At this point, Quicken is beginning to sound appealing.

I recently was subjected to inane blather from a financial number-cruncher about how MS is going to eventally conquer everything and everyone in the distributed computing arena.... I say it won't happen. They are committing the one sin that all companies have paid for eventually... arrogance and distain for the needs of their customers. Yeah, Windows will still be around in 30 years. But not much else... and who knows if MS will still be the owners. ... Read more

Product Description

Track bank accounts and more in one place! Reports show you where your money goes. Makes tax time easier with these easy to use tools. Also connects Quicken to your bank, brokerage and 401k accounts! ... Read more

Features

• Easy-to-use software for managing your finances
• Track spending, manage investments, plan for the future, and more
• Easily download financial data directly into Quicken
• Works with 2,000+ banks, credit card, brokerage, and 401(k) companies
• View net worth by cash, property, or stocks; revealing charts and graphs

Reviews (182)

Save your money and data and computer
As with other users I have been a quicken user for years.The 2004 and 2005 are in shortest phrase; worse ever, bugges loaded with, and if use with xp media edition make sure you save all data, or when closing quickensome times you will lost you drive drivers.

Be afraid, be very afriad!
I've been using Intuit products over 10 years, both at home and work.I was recently forced to upgrade Quicken because my bank no longer supported imports into my existing version.Ever since I have had nothing but trouble.I have lost hours, even days of my time working with customer support, I even spent $30 to pay for support for a "fix" that lasted all of 2 days.I am so frustrated with the software and support that I have sworn off purchasing an Inuit product again, ever.

Save yourself some time, money and frustration by staying away from this product!

Quicken 2005 is the WORST yet
After being forced to upgrade to 2005, I'm feeling lucky that I haven't completed lost all my data.This is the buggiest software I've ever encountered.I can't seem to use it without my system hanging up about 90% of the time.Their customer support is a joke too.Last year, Turbo Tax incorrectly included a deduction on my taxes twice, and after hours with their phone support folks and no help, I refused to pay for the software, and re-filed on another (practically free) site in less than 1 hour.Needless to say, I haven't even bothered to go that route with this product.I'm just going to find a replacement for it.

This company doesn't have a clue.Stay away from their products.If you think Quicken 2004 is bad, 2005 will make you wish you were still on 2004.It has gotten worse with every upgrade -- I believe I've been using it since 1999.

Makes me wonder about the VERY FEW users here that don't seem to be having problems.Maybe they work on Quicken's "Help Desk."

LOST 4 YEARS OF FINANCIAL DATA
I have been using quicken since 1995. Never had any problems with the 2001 edition. But watchout for the 2004 version. It is by far the worst software I have ever purchased. Do not upgrade if you have older versions of quicken.

Don't upgrade!
There are a lot of negative reviews here about Quicken 2004, and they're all true. I despise Microsoft for it's arrogant behavior, and it pains me greatly to thrash a product like Quicken knowing that the only alternative is Microsoft Money (which I have never used). But Quicken 2005 is a horrid piece of software. I have used and loved Quicken since 1995 and I would hope that Intuit could fix this. But Quicken 2004 and 2005 are wretched, dangerous programs that can lose all of your fiancial data and Intuit doesn't seem to care one cent.

First, Quicken - which never used to have any problems whatsover - is now unstable. Numerous users report errors, crashes, and the like. Mine hasn't been able to backup the data file since a month after installing. I have reinstalled Quicken several times, copied my data files, etc... I have twice reformatted my HDD and started from scratch and this problem still reappears. Quicken tech support is no help at all. Not being able to trust your financial software and not being able to autoamtically make backups disqualifies this software from consideration by anyone but fools.

On top of all this, every corner of this application seems to be a come-on for an Intuit service. I don't buy software to be barraged with ads or sales portending to be features.

Finally, Quciken kept crashing every time I tried to exit the program. Scary. After tech support was no help, I figured out that it was conflicting with MS Office 2003's speech-to-text software engine (even though I never intended to install this). When I called Intuit support to tell them what I found they didn't care.

I dislike Microsoft, but I don't see any choice. It has to be better than this.

... Read more

Amazon.com Review

For most small business owners, keeping up with the accounting is the worst part of the job. A small investment of effort--installing QuickBooks Pro 2002 or a similar accounting package--will almost always save time and hassle in the long run.

QuickBooks is best for those with fairly simple needs--while it's comparatively inexpensive and easy to install, its breadth of features and technical support don't quite stack up against Peachtree or MYOB. That said, there are still plenty of businesses that can make good use of QuickBooks; consultants and others with little or no inventory, for example.

The 2002 version doesn't bring a brand-new paradigm, but does offer some new and helpful features: improved form customization, better report functions, and customer tracking, to name a few. Easy integration with Microsoft Office, Act!, and other key software packages makes QuickBooks attractive to many users; data transfer is especially straightforward. Invoicing, cutting checks, projecting next year's revenue, and just keeping the books in order is much easier with a computer doing the drudge work.

QuickBooks Pro 2002 is the best bet for budget-minded sole proprietors and microbusiness owners. --Rob Lightner ... Read more

Reviews (25)

I purchased A Product From Inuit Software and Scanning
I purchased the software at Stapples (Hamilton Ontario) the software with the cashbox and scanning software for barcodes came to $4,000.00 now I did not know that the suport was for 30 days and that after that I would have to pay over $130.00 per moth (yes I did get a credit for $800.00 not in cheque) but for technical support and after those $800.00 are over my staff told me that we have to pay for it (I was amazed) that a product that cost over $4,000.00 does not even have more extended technical support, correct me if I am wrong but when you purchase a computer and some computers are dirt cheap lets say $1,500.00 you would get technical support for a year or sometimes more.I am not impressed at all with there so called "customer service" I am in the process of opening more stores and I will go look at other providers for software and scanning bar code mechanism.

Probably very powerful but needs some simplifying
This may be the best small business accounting software available, but it could still use some streamlining.I started a small corporation on a limited investment.I am not an accountant, so I didn't expect to ace the software on the first day.That said, this version of QuickBooks probably only has about 18 features that I have any use for out of hundreds of available features.The screen is not laid out in a way that is self-explanatory, so finding those features is not automatic.Even those who have used Quicken (Intuit's home finance software) in the past are unlikely to find the interface self-evident.Efficiency is also a concern.QuickBooks opens too many internal "windows" without closing the source window, thus the software eats up memory very quickly.It would be as if every last time you click on a hyperlink while surfing the internet, a new browser window opens automatically.Not good.

How much does QB intimidate?Well, it is April 14th, and I've been putting off doing my taxes because I don't want to have to find and decipher all of QuickBooks' tax related features, side notes, suggestions, and other fringe information.

All of this said, it is fairly powerful software, and I am probably remiss for purchasing one of the more advanced versions of QuickBooks for such a small business.If you have tens of thousands of dollars in extra cash and can afford to automate your accounting processes (such as payroll) through QB's add-on-for-an-additional-investment options, this is probably the software to buy.It is established, it is advanced in its abilities, and it is the industry standard.However, if you're small potatoes, (even if it's hard to admit it), then you might want to consider something a little less involved, like a "dumbed down" version of QuickBooks or maybe MYOB.

Horible Support, Even Worse product
Do not buy this software unless you have deep pockets and don't mind spending lots of money on support. I don't want to sound paranoid but this software has bugs built into it to force you to call support. (did I mention the software come with 0 support) not 60 days not 30 days not even 1 day of support is included with the purchase.
And all the great services that the product tells you about cost additional with monthly fees.

If you like fustration you'll love this
Quickbooks 2002 is a halfway decent accounting program for small business. Unfortunetly Intuits ridiculus company policy of releasing buggy software and then charging you for them to fix it is most fustrating. Then there are the yearly upgrades that you have to pay for. No , you don't HAVE to pay for a new version each year... it's just that your old version stops working if you have to reinstall it. It will then ask to for a special activation key that you can only get if you ring them up and then fill in a 10 page document( and get it signed by a j.p!!!).
When you vent your fustration and anger, the ever so helpful phone support person will suggest that it would just be easier to upgrade to the latest version for a large sum of money. Yeah, thanks...

Quickbooks
While Quickbooks is a great product for writing checks, we have had nothing but trouble with the Do It Yourself Payroll.We have it on two computers and recently downloaded an update and ended up with a virus that knocked out our network for three days!In spite of our antivirus program. The customer support is terrible.Get this product for check writing and invoices but stay away from the payroll products! ... Read more

Features

• Reminder System showing tenants who are late paying rent, lease expirations and to do list
• Send mailings to tenants with merge fields, keep record of letters sent
• Complete Work Order System included
• Extensive Reporting features for every important aspect of property management
• Keep track of Late Rent - make a list of tenants that have not yet paid

Reviews (1)

Old, Clumsy Software
Believe it or not, this is a 16-BIT APPLICATION.I kid you not.It is slow and old-looking.There are no OK or Enter buttons, which adds to the clumsiness.There is a 50-unit license.Need to cover 51 units?Too bad - you have to buy a license for 125!Support ain't cheap. ... Read more

Features

• Financial management system for businesses
• Import data from popular office software
• Easily manage accounts payable and receivable
• Create business plans using existing data
• Advanced accounting, inventory and asset tools

Product Description

Microsoft Money 2004 Deluxe (Packaged in DVD small Case) .Microsoft Money 2004 Deluxe provides a quick and easy way to organize and manage your personal finances. Powerful, yet easy-to-use tools for financial planning, balancing your checkbook, managing credit and debt, simplifying taxes, and more. ... Read more

Reviews (43)

WTF?
Don't DO IT!! If you have 2003, stick with it.Nothing really new except more commercials. When you go to balance your check book, you get only ONE amt if you are off. No more are the separated amounts as to deposits/withdrawals in the left column.And don't even get me started on performance...like trying to get a snail to run.

Unhappy with Product
I have been using Money 2003 Deluxe for almost two years and found it to be a very helpful program.Because I was so happy with this program I decided to upgrade to the 2004 edition.

This is where I get unhappy with the product.Unlike the 2003 version I couldn't get the 2004 version to update my stock prices.I contacted Microsoft's technical services which told me that if the portfolio you are trying to update contains American Depository Receipts (ADRs), because of some bug your portfolio will not update.BTW, I don't think all ADRs are effected, just the ones that trade Over-The-Counter or on the Pink Sheets.

This astounds me.How could a previous edition do something perfectly and the updated version not?This is also not a small bug, since I can't be the only one trying to use this program with ADRs in my portfolio.In any event,I uninstalled 2004 Deluxe and reinstalled 2003 Deluxe.Now all fine, but for the fact I am out of the money for costs of Money 2004.

Go ahead, ask me if I'm going to buy the 2005 version?!?!

Awful product. Cannot connect to accounts. Over-complex.
First, some background on us. We are very experienced computer users who setup the computer systems used by some of the largest banks around. Yet we cannot get Microsoft Money 2004 to connect to our own personal accounts.

One bug: Money will pull account data from a popular online brokerage, then five minutes later the data will be gone from the UI, even if you force Money to reconnect to the online brokerage.

Another issue: your regular username and password that you use to access an account online, fequently will NOT work with Money. So you need to call each financial institution individually to get connect. Since this is something that few financial institutions deal with on a regular basis, their regular customer support cannot help you and you need to call during special times of the day.

Calling Microsoft Money technical support puts you into India. How would you feel about discussing your personal financial account data with someone in India, where security laws are much more lax compared to the US?

More on security: can you trust Microsoft Money to be without security flaws given all the recent IE issues?

The user interface is incredibly complex and unintuitive. The issue is that all features are thrown at the user at once, rather than being phased-in. There is a deluge of options to scan through. Of course, none of these features work since we can't get basic account info.

Frustrating and poorly designed
I have been using checkbook software for over fifteen years, starting with the Mac and Quicken, moving on to various versions of Quicken on the PC.I switched to Money from Quicken at the turn of the year for three reasons:frustration with Quickens bloating features and pop-ups (too much getting in the way), Intuit's policies with Turbo Tax (a protest), and Quicken BillPays interfaces and clunky operation.

Big mistake.Money 2004 was even worse.

I download my statements from my bank using a web and .qif file interface.Money is abysmal at this - it makes almost random matches, it tries to match electronic downloads with DIFFERENT amounts, it does not read or use the information in the .qif file such as payee, and more.It makes more work trying to clean it up than it saves.Not using the data in the .qif file (like payee name) is TOTALLY INEXCUSABLE.

Reconciling is also tons of fun.Reconciling is an important task, since Money's statement download is so prone to errors.First, it tries to clear everything Ihave downloaded for me - have to go through and manually unreconcile everything then start over.

The Help file does not appear to be written for this version of Money - the information just does not match what I see on the screen.

The Payee list gets unweildy and there is no efficient way to prune it - deleting payees you have used only once more than a year ago, for instance.

The list goes on.In a nutshell, Microsoft has ignored the basics of good design needed to maintaining a number of accounts in favor of useless features, strange sound effects and confusing glitz.

I am looking for a replacement ....

Isn't this amazing
So you're wondering whether to buy MS Money or Quicken. So you look at this page and read the reviews that say this is the worst piece of software ever written and how they wished they'd bought Quicken. The you go to the Quicken reviews, and surprise surprise, you read essentially the same nonsense from people wishing they'd bought Money. Now, I'm willing to accept there may be some preference, but both pieces of software were given 5-stars by PC Magazine. They said there's little difference between the two, and that both do an good job. I think what we're seeing here is a battle between the software Talaban, not real reviews, similar to the fight between those who swear by PC vs. those who swear by Macs. I've used both Quicken and Money 2004. Both work fine. ... Read more

Reviews (22)

Very very poor quality product
I agree with the other reviewer. I had been a quicken user for a long time.Since I upgraded, I have had nothing but problems!Their program is buggy as heck and they make you pay for their garbage. I am looking into alternative programs as we speak.Do not waste your money on this product. The $24 some odd you may pay for the product is nothing compared to the technical support you will be paying!

Thank you for the warnings
I was all set to upgrade to Quicken 2004. The only reason? So I could make backup files easier by burning to cd's.I too, have used Quicken for many years and would upgrade every other year.Well, after reading all the reviews, I think for the time being I will stick with my 2002 version. I can still backup on cd's the long way around. What can these companies be thinking of when they cheapen their products, hire people who can't speak with you for support, etc.
Thank you all for the warnings.I believe my money will be better spent somewhere else.

Worst Version of Quicken ...........EVER!!!!!!!
I have used Quicken since the DOS versions, this one is the worst! You cannot change any colors, period, end of discussion! You cannot remove unused, useless toolbars/frames, period, end of discussion! You will have to call tech support! You will have to endure repeated uninstalls/reinstalls! Download a trial version before you upgrade, if you can't configure it the way you want, delete it and move on!

Displeased with discontinuation of support
I have a very minor problem with Quicken 2000.It is very functional for all my needs and I am quite perturbed that to get technical support, I am forced to update.I don't need an update.I do need a very minor fix to my present system.Quite simply, the system somehow changed the opening screen and I can find no way of putting it back where it is when you first start using Quicken.I reloaded with the old disc and got the screen I want, but I have to the accounts list under the old load to find prior transactions.As for help, even the 900 number has been changed, so I can't even pay to get this rectified.What a rip-off.

What a Piece of Garbage
I have been using Quicken since "Quicken 4" on my Mac.It WAS a great program.This version is okay except for the investment portfolio.It is full of bugs, and is not at all intuitive (ironic, eh?).Further, you cannot simply "fudge" and enter your historical transactions ... so my cash balance is wrong, and impossible to correct. After researching online, it is clearly a bug that Inuit will not even acknowledge.

Hopefully they will get their act together for 2005, otherwise, I'm out of there!! ... Read more

Product Description

Microsoft Money 2004 Small Business.Microsoft Money 2004 Small Business provides the small business or sole proprietor with the tools they need to manage their small business finances. ... Read more

Reviews (13)

needs a little help
I've been using MS Money for my personal accounts for years. I like it, and now after starting my own business, I especially like the price of Money Small Business compared to alternatives.

The user from Western North Carolina (mmj...) pointed out correctly that the except for printing, the Invoices are not very professionally looking. He's absolutely correct unless you have the FREE PrimoPDF (from download.com) utility installed.

This extremly handy utility (did I mention it is free!) allows you to save your invoice as a PDF file, that looks just the way you layed it out!

Just select PrimoPDF as your printer, select the name and location of your desired output file, screen or file quality option and you're ready to rock and roll!

This just made my day!!!

"Report" functionality sucks
The reporting feature does not always reflect accurate information. Say, I selected ALL categories to be reported on my Monthly Income and Expense Report, the report came out missing including several categories, and so the total on the report were all screwed-up. If I were not paying attention to that details, I would have been sued by clients for inaccurate billing.

MS Money Small Business 2004 -
Was I excited that "MONEY" was finally going to make the transition to the Small Business Community?

Absolutely! I have been too busy to want to learn a REAL Accounting program. And I have been using "Money" since the early 90's to balance my checkbook and surely one of the first to use online banking; so the idea that I could integrate invoicing was icing on my cake.

Now for the disappointing reality. While you can make and email invoices and they will be tracked in a receivables account, you will need to create a cash account to receive the money into and then transfer that amount into the account that you download your banking transactions into if you deposit more than one check at a time. Otherwise, you will have double entries in your account. This makes for many extra steps, shuffeling payments here and there.

I would have appreciated this information prior to purchasing yet another version of Money, I could have done this without the Small Business edition. (I think this puts me in the position of Beta testor, and I had to pay for the job.)

Also, I was very disappointed not to find ANY information in either the help files or online. That search in itself was exhaustive.

The help from Microsoft was indeed good. But, I was required to sign up for a "PassPort Account" to communicate with them (not opting for the toll call).

They indicated that it was indeed a problem, and they are working hard to fix it. My wish is that the repair is not a "version upgrade" as this is a definite flaw to a Business package.

Effectively, the only thing that was added to the previous version of Money (I was using Deluxe) was an invoice template, and the ability to change your fiscal year end. (This is something I complained about in Money in the 2002 version.)

I will, of course, continue to use it and I am quite sure that eventually it will be a great ENTIRE solution for a small business, since it already integrates with Excell and TaxCut.

It just needs to do it sooner...

Get Quicken Home & Business 2002 or 2003 instead
I tried this software for the first time after getting tired of Quicken's quirks.But after four months of infuriation, frustration, and wasted time, Quicken seems like heaven to me.If this is common for Money, I'll never use it again.
As other reviews have stated, there is no customization at all.If it isn't a selection, you don't get it.Just trying to set up a simple home budget is infuriating enough.You cannot select your catagories if they do not appear in their selection.Instead of being able to make layers of catagories like in Quicken (for detailed budget breakdowns), you are stuck with only one.As for downloading account information, it decides what account and where the download should go and refuses to let you change it--even though it is very wrong.You have to search out where it went and remove every single incorrect transaction one at a time.In sum, I hate this software and it has cost me more lost time than it was ever worth.

Business functionality lacking
I run a small consulting company from my home. (Small meaning, just me.) I purchased the Small Business version of this software to help with my business as well as manage my personal finances.

My business is consulting, I sell my time to customers. Although the software supports creating time items for customers, there is no reporting for time items other than create an invoice to print out the current uninvoiced time activity for a customer. This is unacceptable to me. I need to provide detailed time reporting to my customers, as well as a summarized invoice for payment. I'll have to continue to track my time in a spreadsheet.

Regarding invoices, although the software offers "emailing invoices" as a feature, what it emails is a text invoice, and there is no way to print the invoice to a file or word document to email something a bit more professional. Being in the computer consulting business, text invoices would appear a bit tacky.

So, for me, the two main things I do, track my time on consulting projects and invoice my customers via email, are not possible in this software. I have to continue to use spreadsheets to track my time, and word processing to create the invoices to email to my customers.

The personal finances functionality seems to be the same as previous versions of this software, but be very wary about paying the extra $ for the small business feature set. It seems quite lacking to me. ... Read more