Product Description

QuickBooks Basic 2004 is fast and easy to set up, learn and use - and starts saving you time right away! Enjoy the convenience of having all your financial information organized in one place. With just one click of a mouse, create reports to see how your business is performing. ... Read more

Features

• Financial management system for businesses
• Import data from popular office software
• Tools for invoicing, paying bills and tracking expenses
• Easily create forms and reports
• Simple guides for most common business procedures

Reviews (11)

Interface is NOT intuitive
Although there is no way i would ever try to do my small business accounting with pencil and paper, I wish this software was more intuitive!!I am 20 years old and am very knowledgeable about workign with different types of software.I also have a strong accounting knowledge.All of the microsoft software I use is very intuitive and user-friendly--the entire office suite, internet explorer, windows XP, etc. All of the small things that matter to people who want to get things done fast- are absent in quickbooks.Very very frustrating.Examples-- when generating a quick report to see customer history, the software defaults to last fiscal month to date EVERY TIME. I look through the help menu for 10 minutes and it will not show me how to reset the default.Customer names are not arrangeable by last name first that i can see!! This has happened a dozen times since i bought it.I already paid a quickbooks pro advisor $150 to set me up and answer a few questions!! I will not pay $15 more for each small stupid question that should be intuitive for the user anyway!!!!!!!

I would read the reviews for microsoft money-- it has GOT to be more intutive than this software-- VERY FRUSTRATED but i'm stuck with it now.

Accountant who uses Quickbooks daily
I am amazed at the comments I have read about the popup advertisements and the payroll application in Quickbooks. You unhappy Quickbooks users...find a Quickbooks Pro Advisor on the Quickbooks website!!! Those of you who dislike the popups...turn them off!!! Click the box to not show you this reminder or message again!And those users who do not think they can write a payroll check in Quickbooks without buying the payroll tax service...for heavens sake, YOU CAN WRITE A CHECK AND ENTER THE AMOUNTS AND PAYROLL TAXES MANUALLY.You simply select to prepare your payroll manually instead of buying the payroll tax service.Please, find a Pro Advisor in your area!!!

Customer Service or Used Car Salesman?
The CD that I got from Amazon did not work - would not install despite trying everything - caused some endless loop. I called Intuit and ultimately got connected to someone in India. After spelling my shipping address at least 8 times, received a new disk 2 days later (despite address being mangled).
Installed software and called the 800 number to get a "registration number." This is a ruse by some so-called "customer support" person who obviously has past experience selling used cars, since it was just a charade to try to strong-arm me to sign up for payroll and support services. Entire conversation was offensive, and he ultimately said to me, snidely, "Well, I certainly HOPE you don't get AUDITED." Lucky for him we were separated by a phone line....
Havent' used the software enough to tell if I like it, but it was recommended by our accountant in order to save money on tax prep, so I'm sure it will do what it needs to do.
Was entirely offended by Intuit and would avoid their products in the future.

Endless marketing
I used to like Quickbooks, but all it seems to be now is a cash cow for Intuit.My Quickbooks 2002 works just fine, but it will stop working next year so that I have to buy a new version with absolutely no new features we need.You can't use the payroll function without paying a fortune for periodic updates of the tax tables (even if your state doesn't have an income tax, or if yours doesn't change.

It's a good example of a company rapidly killing the goose which lays the golden egg.If there's a viable alternative out there, I'll buy it in a minute.

The last time I experiences bad software like this was in 93
The last time I experiences bad software like this was in 1993. Second, the nag ware is equal in annoyance as getting locked into a web site that keeps spawning new pages when you attempt to close one. It makes this program a painful and frustrating experience.

(...)

My opinion, why even bother to expose yourself to this potential mess. If you have read this "opinion" and still decide to buy this software, only blame yourself when you want to fling your PC across the room.

Look at all the prior write ups and ask yourself "why am I going to be any different?" ... Read more

Product Description

Microsoft Money 2005 Premium is the automated personal finance solution, providing consumers with a quick and easy way to view, improve and optimize their finances. Completely rebuilt for simplicity, Money makes handling finances easy with speedy setup, automated tools that reduce the need for manual entry, and adaptable Essential and Advanced features that enable a more personal experience. Following is an overview of the software's new and enhanced features. Money has been redesigned to bring more people into the personal finance category. Everyone’s financial wants are different. For the user who doesn’t want to spend time on their finances but just focus on the essentials, they can easily access their account balances online, have their transactions automatically categorized and instantly see where their money is going. They have ALL their financial information in one place, with minimal to no typing. For those people who like to pore over the details, Money gives you more with its advanced views. Money 2005 –one product, different user perspectives. ... Read more

Product Description

Microsoft Money 2004 Standard (Packaged in DVD small Case) .Microsoft Money 2004 Standard provides a quick and easy way to organize and manage your personal finances. Balance your checkbook, create a budget, and reduce debt, simply and easily. Personal finances made easy ... Read more

Reviews (20)

AWFUL PRODUCT!
If I could give this "application" no stars I would.

"Features" within the application are nothing more than a direct link to several of Microsoft's websites.When I inquired about deactivating these "features", Microsoft's reply was essentially "sorry, this is part of the software."

As an avid and loyal user of Money since 2001, I will be switching to another package or trying to find my MS Money 2001 disks.

I already owned Money 2001 Standard Edition and expected similar feature sets in Money 2005 Standard....oops.If you want "retirement accounts", you need to purchase the 2005 Deluxe.If want the monthly Cash Flow forecast (like in Money 2001), that feature is GONE!

This is nothing more than brochure-ware for Microsoft's web sites, YOU have to pay for it, AND M$ has the audacity to actually have pop-up messages built into the product ASKING YOU TO UPGRADE.

[...]

Fair Financial Software
I purchased Microsoft Money to keep track of my monthly budget and a couple of small investments that I had.While there is some good stuff there, Money has quite a few shortcomings which make it much less than what I expected.

The Good
- Connects directly with financial websites such as Ameritrade to download stock portfolio information and banks to get check information which is then seemlessly integrated into your budget/analysis/etc. Very useful.

The Bad
- Confusing interface which was hard to transfer from one view to another
- No financial tools to analyze your holdings.No ROI, no NPV, no aggregate betas, nothing beyond stocks current price.
- No way to aggregate accounts of stocks and bonds or to analyze your holdings across accounts.
- The budgeting software was not very effective.It was hard to categorize checks.You had to do it one-by-one in a process that takes a pretty long time.
- If there was an automatic bill-pay mechanism, I didn't figure it out.

Overall
For my needs, I would not buy this product again.I thought about upgrading to the professional version, but did not see that it addressed the problems of the standard version.

There is really nothing in Money that you can't do just as easily in an Excel worksheet and a Yahoo! Finance portfolio.In many ways, Yahoo's free web service is superior to Microsoft's software.

What a deal!
2004 Standard Moneys for under 20 bucks!booya!

-Gnome

The worst software I ever saw...
Microsoft Money has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience...

Please tell Microsoft about this problem...

I just received the product this afternoon. I install it and even restart my PC many times.It still cannot ever start... Really disappointed. DO NO BUY THIS PRODUCT!

M$ Sucks
I just bought this product. After installation, I can not even start it. It really sucks. ... Read more

Product Description

Microsoft® Money 2005 Deluxe Microsoft Money 2005 Deluxe includes everything in Money Standard; plus, it gives you all the help you need to improve credit and reduce debt, organize taxes, and automatically consolidate all of your transactions in one intuitive place. With online connections to more than 5,000 financial institutions, Money 2005 Deluxe makes balancing personal finances effortless. And with Money’s customizable Home Page, you can easily see the finances that matter most to you—from current account balances to where you're spending your money to your cash-flow forecast. Money has been redesigned to bring more people into the personal finance category. Everyone’s financial wants are different. For the user who doesn’t want to spend time on their finances but just focus on the essentials, they can easily access their account balances online, have their transactions automatically categorized and instantly see where their money is going. They have ALL their financial information in one place, with minimal to no typing. For those people who like to pore over the details, Money gives you more with its advanced views. Money 2005 –one product, different user perspectives. ... Read more

Features

• Set up a full budget, or compare actual spending to financial plan
• Personal finance solution with award-winning Portfolio Manager
• Automatically consolidates online bank and credit card information
• Essential tools for improving credit and organizing taxes
• Provides current account balances and transactions in one place

Product Description

The interactive software for effectively managing your budget. With Home Budget for Dummies, you can organize and manage your accounts stress free! Includes a 144-page step-by-step Managing Your Money for Dummies User Guide. ... Read more

Product Description

Microsoft Money 2005 Small Business is the comprehensive finance solution that makes managing your business finances easy. Completely rebuilt for simplicity, Money makes handling finances easy with speedy setup, automated tools that reduce the need for manual entry, and adaptable Essential and Advanced features that enable a more personal experience. Following is an overview of the software's new and enhanced features. Money has been redesigned to bring more people into the personal finance category. Everyone’s financial wants are different. For the user who doesn’t want to spend time on their finances but just focus on the essentials, they can easily access their account balances online, have their transactions automatically categorized and instantly see where their money is going. They have ALL their financial information in one place, with minimal to no typing. For those people who like to pore over the details, Money gives you more with its advanced views. Money 2005 –one product, different user perspectives. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

MS Money 2005 Beware- Bugs, Flaws & General Issues
Money 2003 was an awesome product and I dropped Quicken after 6 years to use it. But the latest version that incorporates business forms and accounts should have remained in beta.

This is a flawed product that is a step back from previous versions. The conversion from earlier versions of Money can cause file corruption problems. The product has a feature to import contacts from Outlook but it is "buggy" and causes problems. When I called MS tech support the support rep said do not use it. They claim youcan share you information with other MS passport Users but it does not work. After two hours on the phone with MS they finally admitted it was a flaw. As the other review says, the invoice feature is a joke. You spend time customizing your invoices and then when you go to save them all images and formatting are taken out and only a text file is saved. There is no PDF capability. And you can not e-mail your newly designed invoice as it also creates a "bland" text file.

When i called Microsoft, American Express and Wells Fargo Tech support ( all support product)all support technicians said they hear nothing but problems with this product.

Money 2003 and 2004 were great. What alet down 2005 Small Business is. Stick to Quicken and Quick books and save your self hours on toll calls to tech support that results in no known fixes and no information in the MS Knowledge base.

Stay away!!
Don't make the mistake of buying this product. Learn from my mistake, I lost my hard earned $90 on this useless buggy piece of software.

I am still no able to digest the idea that you have to keep all your banking information on their servers to be able to receive bank transactions automatically. If you are concerned about security and automatic transaction updates are important to you, do not buy this product.

Other problems:
- Does not updates bank transactions consistently
- Clicking on update creates accounts one more time instead of just downloading the transactions
- Custom invoice template is a big mess. You can create custom templates and save them. But, you cannot edit them or use them to print invoices.

I wonder what kind of dimwit product manager has managed and released this product.

I wish there was some kind of consumer protection law that would let me return this product and get my money back. ... Read more

Product Description

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.

Features:

• Smarter categorization of your spending. Hide categories you don't use; rename downloaded payees; eliminate clutter by expanding, collapsing or merging categoriesand other new customization features.
• Forecast your cash flow with the Monthly View. See upcoming bills and scheduled transactions so you'll know exactly what you need to spend and how much you will have in reserve once bills are paid.
• Pay bills on time.Avoid late feeswhether you use Quicken Bill Pay, write checks, or go directly to your biller's web site.²
• More flexibility with scheduled transactions.Quicken now accommodates more scheduling options for payments and deposits, so you can manage Social Security checks, property taxes, school tuition, paychecks and more.
• Reach financial goals.Dozens of charts and graphs give instant answers to long-term financial questions. Better categorization gives you improved spending report details.
• Monitor your retirement plan.Get your complete retirement picture in minutes by downloading from top 401(K) providers.²
• Easier export into Excel.Now it's easy to move your Quicken data into Excel.
• Back up and archive your Quicken files quickly and easily.

Reviews (3)

Believe the bad reviews
Quicken is horrible. Just plain horrible. I've been fighting with this program for the last several years and have finally had enough. No more tech support calls, no more software reloads, I'm done. I just changed laptops, loaded Quicken Deluxe 2005, went to pull up my checking account file that I faithfully back up onto an external hard drive, and poof! It's gone. Oh, there's a version from February there, but that was about umpteen thousand transactions ago. User error? Maybe. But if it's that easy to lose a file, I need a new program. Goodbye, Quicken. You suck.

Stay away
Used Quicken for over 10 years.Always hope the next version will correct the bugs; never happens.If you track a lot of investments the database will get corrupt.Support is fee based even for bugs.Interface is cumbersome.

Don't believe all the bad Reviews!!!
I have used Quicken for 8 years. Have upgraded 3 times.
I read all the bad reviews, wondered if i did the right thing buying this time.
People said there were no opt. out for the online stuff, WRONG, they should read the boxes before they click, YES..
This is Fine, looks clean, works Fine. I installed it clean on another computer to make sure. It converted my old backup just fine.. Yes it uses a different backup file ext. BooHoo
As long as i can back it up, who cares.. I have never had to use the backup anyway.
I say, Install it clean, read the boxes that pop up before you click YES, and you will like this.
Yes it has extra stuff i don't use, but all the others did also.
Nuff Said ... Read more

Features

• Automated tools for staying in control of a busy schedule
• Easy to learn and use; looks and works like a manual day planner
• Schedule daily, weekly, and monthly appointments; keep track of contacts
• Auto-dial phone numbers; create to-do lists; make notes; sort information
• Log on to favorite Web sites; share calendars; set up meetings over the Internet

Product Description

Intuit Quicken 2004 Premier.Quicken 2004 Premier lets you see your financial picture in minutes. New Express Account Setup instantly connects Quicken to your bank, credit card, brokerage and 401(k) accounts to download your transactions and balances, then sets up your accounts for you with your data already up to date.* New features also let you optimize your investments and help maximize your tax savings. Find out how your average annual returns measure up to leading benchmarks like the SP 500 Index and take action if you need to! You'll learn more tax-efficient investing strategies and be able to stay on top of your deductions all year with Schedule A, B and D tax reports. ... Read more

Reviews (38)

Premier not worth it; stick with Deluxe
I upgraded from Quicken Deluxe 2003 to Quicken Premier 2004. I won't address whether or not I think the 2003-2004 upgrade was worth it. What I am addressing is that I don't think the Deluxe-Premier upgrade was worth the extra cost.

Premier gets you some portfolio analysis tools and "insights", which I don't find that helpful (I am not an active or sophisticated investor).

As an aside, I -do- think the Deluxe features (over Basic) are worth the extra money. Deluxe gets you investment tracking (Basic appears to only give you basic checkbook tracking).

In 2001, I switched from Microsoft Money to Quicken. The original motivation was because I thought I might get a Mac, so I wanted my personal financial data to be prepared for the move (Quicken is also available for the Mac, but Microsoft Money is not). The feature set in 2001 was better in Quicken than in Microsoft Money (better tracking of investments like ESPP and 401k).

Recently (Quicken 2003-2004), however, I have been encountering random bugs and inconsistencies (multiple paycheck deposit accounts doesn't work consistently) that lead me to believe that Microsoft Money has probably reached parity with Quicken by now. And I still haven't switched to a Mac.

Since I now have a few years' data tied up in Quicken, I won't be frivolously switching back to Money anytime soon (unless Quicken completely screws something up), but unlike in 2001, I don't think I can unconditionally recommend Quicken over Money anymore.

Not as bad as I've read here -- buy 2004 and not 2005
I was hesitant to buy the product because of all the negative comments.I upgraded from Quicken 98 and it's been a pleasant experience.It was time for me to upgrade.I didn't like having to pay $50 for only minor new features.I bought a 2004 copy of the Premier Home and Business for only $18.Strangely, people are charging $45 for a 2004 Premier.For $27 less you get Home and Business.The upgrade is well worth it if you are still using a very old copy of Quicken.

Moo!
I'm hoping to get a better response here than from Intuit's customer service. Could one of you people who simply love this product please tell me how you produce meaningful reports given:

1. "Exclude internal transfers" includes internal accounts, anyway.
2. Phantom amounts show up on reports. (Intuit has acknowledged this problem since April.It's now July...)

Intuit made me upgrade in '99 because they forgot about Y2K.They made me upgrade again this year because they stopped online services for Quicken '99.Does anybody doubt that in a year or two, this product will no longer work?How else can they keep the cash cow alive?

pay bill nightmares
I've been using Quicken for over a decade and loved it all along the way.I'm a fully advanced user.I was very happy with 2000 but forced to upgrade to be able to continue on-line banking.I have had nothing but problems hooking up to the bank with my new 2004 (I've NEVER had one problem with this before in 5 years).I have used overseas Intuit techs for 3-4 hrs off and on (and they charge you!!!).Sometimes the bill-pay works, sometimes it doesn't.I know it's the new Quicken software as its never been an issue before.I am quiting Quicken.I've had it. There's something wrong with this program.

INVESTORS, DO NOT UPGRADE - FLAWED
I have been happy with Quicken 2003 and I recently purchased Quicken 2004 as an upgrade. Upon installation, all of my investment data was incorrectly converted or not converted at all. ALL of my investment accounts are now inaccurate. I am terribly dissatisfied with this product. Their website seems to attribute conversion problems to "bad data files." I find that extremely hard to believe unless the user was having trouble with cross-linked files prior to the conversion. In my opinion, the suggestion that this type of problem is caused by cross linked/bad data files is lazy, inaccurate and unacceptable. It's a way of saying "we really don't know what causes this bug, but here's our suggestion to throw the blame back on you, Mr. Consumer - we blame your computer system." I've suggested to Intuit that they stop putting so much time and effort into making this product look pretty with all of the bullet point box features and focus on a solid release candidate with no severe bugs. In my opinion, this product is about 3 months shy of being commercially acceptable. This bug will cost me countless hours - probably well over 100 - in sorting and reconciling all of my investments. It's ridiculous really. Based on what I've read in public forums, I would assert that this product is responsible for countless lost hours among many unsatisfied customers. Unfortunately, because of the nature of this problem and the financial dependence I have on this product, I no longer trust this product nor do I trust other products released by Intuit. I will go through the excruciating process of reconciliation simply to get everything back to current/accurate so I can convert to another program - MS Money, etc. I will not purchase another Quicken product and I recommend that others do their homework before purchasing this drink coaster (errr, product) as an upgrade. Personal money management is a serious issue - in my opinion, being accurate and clean should take priority over everything else.

I'm so burned, if I could rate this product a big fat zero or go into negative territory I would - but if you're read this far, you now know that my rating of '1' is really a z-e-r-o. ... Read more

Product Description

Intuit Quicken 2004 Premier Home and Business.Quicken 2004 Premier HomeBusiness includes all the business features you need with the ease you want. And because it's from Quicken, Premier HomeBusiness provides familiar, user-friendly approaches to manage your business finances:Quicken 2004 Premier HomeBusiness includes all the business features you need with the ease you want. And because it's from Quicken, Premier HomeBusiness provides familiar, user-friendly approaches to manage your business finances: Create customizable estimates and invoices See where your business stands at a glance Generate business reports and graphs, including Schedule C Automatically track taxes for Schedule C Track accounts receivable and payable Track vehicle mileage, jobs and projects Write checks, print checks, or pay bills online* And more! Also includes everything in Quicken 2004 Premier to help you optimize your personal finances: Instantly set up and connect all of your financial accounts to Quicken to quickly and easily download your financial data directly into Quicken. Quicken 2004 works with over 2,000 banks, credit card, brokerage and 401(k) companies, so you avoid manually entering your financial transactions. You can be sure that Quicken is always up-to-date with your latest financial data. Schedule when you want Quicken to download your financial data so that Quicken is always up-to-date with your latest financial data. Track your investment holdings without taking the time to enter every historical transaction. You can decide to add in transaction details later for tax purposes or performance analysis. See your net worth over time with the Net Worth Monitor. View the breakdown of your net worth by cash, property, or stocks. See the average annual return for your entire portfolio and individual accounts compared to seled benchmarks for key periods (e.g. 1, 3, or 5 ... ... Read more

Reviews (26)

support
The support of this product is very poor. The first question from the company is about the customer's credit card number even if the product was just bought and it does not do what is described in the manual. I was trying to point out the problem with the program and the standard answer was: "Our product is flawless; the problem is with you". I am familiar with financial programs and accounting but after trying to use the program for two weeks I gave up and decided to return it.

Perfect for home based consulting business
I have a simple home-based consulting business with 2 employees and a small number of customers. Quicken Home & Business is the perfect accounting system for me. I was a financial officer for several companies and have used several high end systems. This is the easiest and most efficient accounting system ever made - an excellent product. If it covers your needs, you should consider yourself lucky.

Here are some highlights and pointers:

1. Data entry is extremely fast. As soon as you start typing, Quicken guesses what you are going to enter and fills it in for you. Check book entries are effortless. This is the most important feature of any accounting system because sole proprietors should not waste time with data entry.
2. Credit card transactions are automatic. Get yourself a separate credit card for business transactions and download directly into Quicken. I have used 4 different cards and the best integration is the with Quicken Master Card. It also earns you about 1% in airline awards or gift certificates. Just click on "one step update" and you have all new transactions ready to review.
3. Bank reconciliation is completely done for you. You never need to go through a bank statement again, matching up transactions. Quicken "one step update" downloads new transactions and finds the corresponding entry in your check register. You just confirm or add if it is a new transaction. When the monthly statement comes, you enter the ending balance and Quicken figures out which transactions cleared. You rarely need to even look at the bank statement.
4. Reporting is simple. Just choose from dozens of pre-designed reports and make small adjustments if needed. You can also export any report to modify it in Excel or Word if you prefer.
5. Invoicing is simple and quick. Just create descriptions for each service you offer and invoicing is a snap. Quicken tracks which invoices have been printed and tracks receivables effortlessly.
6. Tax reporting is easy. You can instantly produce a Schedule C and if you also purchase TurboTax (which I highly recommend), you can import data directly into your tax forms.
7. Manage cash between multiple bank accounts. If you choose a bank that is supported by Quicken, you can easily move funds between checking and savings.

A few pointers for using the product.
1. Don't confuse this product with other Quicken products such as Quicken Deluxe or Quicken Premier.
2. Intuit also produces QuickBooks, which is not a product I recommend. If you need the power of QuickBooks, there are other applications available that may be better.
3. Don't combine your personal and business financial data in one file. Quicken recommends you do this but you definitely should not. Instead, set up your personal Quicken file first. Then from the main menu, select File/New/New Quicken File. It is very easy to switch between your personal file and your business file and you will not have any problems with reports, tax forms etc. if you keep them totally separate. You do not need to purchase additional software licenses to have multiple files. I have 3 businesses and one personal file on my copy of Quicken Home & Business.
4. Create a liability account called "owners draw". Quicken does not explain this well, but this will become your owners equity account on your balance sheet. When you draw funds from the business (unless you do it through payroll), you assign the check or transfer to "owners draw" and this will accumulate on your balance sheet to show the true net worth or your business.

I wish that I read the reviews first
I tried to install this program a couple of days ago and was prompted to uninstall the previous version (Quicken 2002 Deluxe). I chose to do so. At the end of the installation process, I got the error message "Your program files may have been damaged. You will need to reinstall Quicken." I uninstalled using Add/Remove Programs and reinstalled with exactly the same result.

At that stage, having looked in vain for help on the Intuit site -- the solution to this error message did not work for me -- I went elsewhere and found dozens of negative reviews. Intuit seem to have hit rock bottom with this product.

So I decided to go back to using Quicken 2002, but of course it had been uninstalled and I can't find my original CD. So I chose to use the Windows XP System Restore function to roll back the clock. But although Quicken 2002 reappeared, my Quicken file no longer seems to work properly. The screen freezes and flashes when I switch from one account to another.

I called Intuit this morning and described my scenario. They offered to replace my Quicken 2002 at a total cost of $20 plus. It would take them two days to get it out of the warehouse and a further 7-10 days for shipping. Shouldn't they provide a free downgrade when their buggy software doesn't work?

I have been very impressed with this software.
This is first time I have used Quicken, and I am impressed with the sophistication of the software.It is very cool.Balancing my check book is easier then I thought, as well as, updating my investment portfilio. I did have to upgrade to a preffered online bank account to get automatic updates though. That cost about $3/month, but worth it.For my bank, online bill pay is another $3 more for 10 bills per month.Some investment accounts will not download to your quicken but the quotes will.Also, you definetly need to read Quicken 2004 for Dummies.It can take about 20 some hours to learn the majority of the programs with the book.I wouldn't even try without it.Once you learn it, if you have the time, it is worth it.At least so far for me.I just put in about 20 plus hours with it so far, and I haven't done too much on the business side, such as payroll.Good luck.

Intuit Stumbles on Quicken 2004
A major player in the personal finance software arena for years, Intuit and Quicken has helped thousands keep track of their personal finances.I have been a Quicken user since the early days (Quicken 1 and 2), have upgraded to new releases over the years and have always been very satisfied with the Quicken product.

Quicken 2004 Premier changed all that.

The release of Quicken 2004 was advertised as allowing you to get instant answers to questions like "Are my investments outperforming the market?" and "What is my return for the past 1,3 and 5 years?"Unfortunately, after upgrading from Quicken 2003 to Quicken 2004 Premier, the question I was asking most was "What happened to my data?"

Quicken 2004 has corrupted my personal finance information on four separate occasions (I know, "fool me once shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me" ... I don't want to even think about "fool me four times...").

My financial books include four checking accounts, several credit card accounts, some loans, several investment accounts, and a smattering of other accounts.No account type is immune to corruption.

In my checking accounts, one major problem is that Quicken 2004 insists on making up numbers (really, really, BIG numbers, like as big as your computer can handle), creating transactions with random dates to go along with the made-up numbers, and then inserting these transactions in the register.At one time my calculated net worth was too large to display (I wish ...); another time I owed more than the United States GDP. On another occasion Quicken 2004 erased all of the transactions from one checking account, strangely keeping a balance that looked to be about right. In another account, I have been overdrawn once due to a Quicken 2004 error.

In the investment accounts Quicken 2004 decided to change the ticker symbols of some stocks in the investment accounts to unknown symbols on more than one occasion.It's not clear when this happened; it may have been during the updating process when prices are downloaded into Quicken.This caused trouble not only in evaluating the portfolio, but the reconciliations of the accounts were very challenging, because I was never sure if the difference was due to my error, or if Quicken had changed a symbol in one of the dividend re-investment transactions (which it did on two occasions).

A few of the shortcut keys that Quicken power users have grown accustomed to, no longer work in Quicken 2004 (hitting the space bar to select a check during reconciliation, for example).These are known errors and "will be fixed in the next release".At least that's what I was told when I discovered the issue in Release 1.It has not been fixed as of Release 5.

I was given the above information on one of my several attempts to get help by calling customer service.I was helped by "Jennifer", although I suspect her name was really Neeraja, or Srividya or something similar.Customer service appears to consist of very bored people, who are very far away, reading answers in OK English off of scripts to solve problems you did not call with.I was told once to reload Windows (I did not).Most of the time, I was told to run the File/File Operation/Validate option within Quicken 2004 (I did several times).I don't remember ever having to run that option on earlier versions of Quicken; I'm not sure it even was an option with Quicken 2003.On another occasion, I was questioned quite closely about the type of printer I had.Apparently, printers have become notorious corruptors of data in Quicken 2004.So, who knew? (I'm joking -- they're not).In no case, did the call to customer support solve my immediate problem.

Sending in questions via email was better in the sense that I did not receive any wrong or useless information.In fact, I received no information at all.All emails went unanswered.Bug reports are never acknowledged, but they never have been.

Running Quicken 2004 requires some serious horsepower.Intuit will tell you Quicken 2004 can run on a Pentium 200 or higher machine with 32 MB RAM and 75MB hard drive space.I originally installed Quicken 2004 on a spare Pentium 233 MHZ machine with 100MB hard drive.Big mistake.When I fired up the software, the lights in the house didn't exactly dim, but I bet they wanted to.Quicken 2004 is unbearably slow on machines below the recommended 300MHZ limit, and I wouldn't put it on anything less than 700Mhz.Quicken 2004 seems to be doing a lot of disk I/O and window rendering and all of that thrashing around costs performance points.My copy of Quicken is now installed on a Dell Dimension 4600, 2.79GHz, 512RAM, 111GB free hard drive, Windows XP Professional.As you might expect, speed is no problem.

On the plus side, Quicken has done a nice job with the charts and reports.So, even if the numbers are wrong, they look marvelous.The screen gets real busy, though, what with the Menu Bar, the icon bar, the Quicken Home side window, the main register window, the transaction window and the maddening Inuit advertisements (`Try Turbo Tax - the #1 tax solution year after year") at the bottom, all showing up at once.Intuit will tell you that Quicken 2004 works with a Super VGA (800 x 600).It will, but the recommended 1024 x 768 with 16 bit color monitors will make your life more pleasant.Again, the numbers might be wrong, but at least you'll have a shot at seeing them.

So, what's a body to do?Well, I'm digging through my files looking for my copy of Quicken 2003.I'll revert back to that.It worked fine, no funny stuff, had almost all of the features of Quicken 2004 and it was stable.In the meantime, I'll keep watching Intuit to see if they fix the new version, and begin to understand what customer service is all about. ... Read more

Product Description

Intuit Quicken 2003 Basic.Organize your finances with Quicken 2003 Basic. Quicken 2003 Basic works just like your checkbook. Balance your checkbook and pay bills easily. Bank online conveniently. You can track where your money goes with reports and graphs. ... Read more

Reviews (29)

Problems With Quicken 2003 Are Now Overcome
In the spring of 2003, I upgraded from Quicken 2000 to Quicken 2003.I have used various versions of Quicken since the DOS days.Immediately after this upgrade I had many problems running the reports.My entire computer would freeze and I would need to shutdown and restart Quicken.I most cases I was unable to get the information I need from Quicken.Recently, I purchased a new laptop with Microsoft Money was installed on it.I moved the Quicken 2003 data file onto the laptop and used Microsoft Money to gather some of the detailed information I needed to prepare my tax return and the financial aid application for my kids.I was about ready to trash Quicken and use Microsoft Money until this week when I upgraded the operating system of the computer that the Quicken 2003 was installed on.After upgrading from Windows 98 second edition to Windows XP Home edition, all of the reports work and work well, apparently the functionality of Quicken 2003 on Windows 98 is not as compatible as desired or expected based upon the wording on the Quicken 2003 product packaging.Since all is now working well I am going to stay with Quicken for now.

this software sucks.
This software does a terrible job to match the short sale and cover short transactions in my brokerage account. I have to manually specify those transactions to the right types ONE BY ONE and it still couldn't calculate the trasaction proceeds correctly. It is so frustrating. It wastes both money and time to use this software to track capital gains.

Ok So Far
I am all too familiar with software disasters.I have developed a philosophy of staying away from new releases because of this.I decided on Q3 B because my bank advised that they were no longer supporting Q2k.I went with the basic version due to in the past not really using the features from the deluxe packages.I am running a 1.8 Gb, 512mb ram, W2K machine.The install went well although it took a while to convert the files.Apparently there is an encryption process that occurs which I will research later. The interface is a little more cluttered, but overall I was up and running in about 90 minutes.Also, the online update downloaded a software patch (expected) to update the app with the latest an greatest.Problem was, it turned my screen grey and did not give me any notice or status of what it was doing or the progress until completion.I worked with another machine for a while and when the drive settled down and the CPU utilization was at three percent, I rebooted.Everything came up fine.Hopefully by the time I have to upgrade again they'll have Quicken 2006 fully debugged. :)

Risks Using Quicken
Before you give Quicken such a favorable review, you might want to check the 4 month problem they have had with Credit Card downloads.These have compromised the integrity of customer financial records. Their final solution has been to have customers manually check 4 months of statements and enter missing transactions by hand.

In the course of this problem they gave out incorrect information stating how soon the problem would be fixed, and stating that when fixed one would be able to download the missing transactions. For months they did not even inform customers that the problem continued past the original June 24 deadline.

Howard Sloane

Not User Friendly
I guess I am just too dumb, but I did not find Quicken easy to use. The help menu is useless.The screens are hard to understand and the menu names do not make sense.

I used to use an Excel spreadsheet and I think I will just go back to this. ... Read more

Product Description

Create Checks and Manage Finances - For Home and Business! Works stand-alone and with Quicken, QuickBooks, Money and other accountingsoftware!

• One-pass check printing from Quicken™, Quickbooks™ and Money®
• Check Designer Pro™ - Unlimited Design Capabilities
• Create drafts and checks by phone and fax
• Checks sent by email feature!
• Schedule your bill payments
• Financial reports for home and business
• Create personal and business-size checks
• American CheckBooks templates & refills included
• Includes 100 blank checks!

Features

• Manage your finances more efficiently - Schedule your bill payments, collect recurring payments or service fees, or create a check draft for immediate deposit
• Track all accounts, check payments and receipts online from one location
• Import records from financial software or print filled out checks directly through QuickPass
• Send checks by email, or create new drafts by phone and fax
• Draw from 300 hand-crafted images to add to your checks, with Check Designer PRO

Product Description

Microsoft® Money 2005 Standard There's so much more to life than managing finances. Microsoft Money 2005 Standard makes it simple to see where your money is going by automatically consolidating all your transactions in one convenient place. It's like an always-current snapshot of your spending and budget. Money has answers to all your financial questions, so you can get on with your life. Money has been redesigned to bring more people into the personal finance category. Everyone’s financial wants are different. For the user who doesn’t want to spend time on their finances but just focus on the essentials, they can easily access their account balances online, have their transactions automatically categorized and instantly see where their money is going. They have ALL their financial information in one place, with minimal to no typing. For those people who like to pore over the details, Money gives you more with its advanced views. Money 2005 –one product, different user perspectives. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Whether you're calculating a lease payment or yield to maturity,splitting a restaurant bill, or simply comparing the prices of different sizedpackages, the Financial Assistant will help evaluate financial problems quicklyand accurately.

If you know how to fill out a paper form, you already know how to use the MoneyMagazine Financial Assistant. Whether you work on Wall Street or are gettingready to buy your first home, the Financial Assistant will help you makeinformed decisions.

The Financial Assistant includes a collection of 45 problem-solving worksheets,conveniently grouped into 8 categories. Manage over 150 different financialdecisions including loans, leases, mortgages, marketing and investment analysis,personal finance, everyday math, savings, tuition, and retirement planning. There's no need to memorize obscure keystrokes or to understand complexfinancial terminology. Simply select the appropriate worksheet and fill in theblanks--the answers are instantly calculated for you.

The Financial Assistant provides customizable schedules for savings, mortgages,loans, depreciation, and more. At your desk or on the road, the FinancialAssistant can compare loans and interest rates as well as help you make informedleasing, renting, or buying decisions.

The Financial Assistant includes an optionally installable set of electroniclessons ("Money 101") created by the editors at Money magazine to helpyou invest, save, borrow, and spend more wisely. If you're interested in thebasics of banking and investing in mutual funds, or you just want to controlyour debt, the essentials of each lesson can be absorbed in just 10 minutes. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

AnyTime Deluxe allows you to organize all of your activities. Keep track of your calendars, schedules, to-do lists, addresses, and notes. Whether you're at the office, at home, or on the road, working alone or in a group, AnyTime Deluxe is a flexible and easy-to-use organizer.

Manage and prioritize tasks, check off items as they are completed, and sort by due date or priority. A new feature allows you categorize and view all to-do items from one location. Use the calendar management features to schedule all appointments, events, and meetings quickly and easily. For repeating events, schedule regular meetings, monthly events, holidays, birthdays, and to-do items with just one entry. Even set alarms and reminders so you're never late and never miss another appointment or deadline again.

The contact manager can be used to organize names, addresses, e-mails, phone numbers, and personal information including birthdays, anniversaries, spouse and children names, special dates, and more. It is also fully integrated with your calendar. Drag contacts to your calendar to schedule appointments and meetings or assign tasks. Even send e-mail to multiple contacts or connect directly to Web sites directly from your address book. ... Read more

Reviews (12)

Great Networked Calendar
We have owned this product in Versions 7 and 9 for our law office for several years. If you need for more than one user to access the program simultaneously, as we do in the office, the program networks seamlessly.You could pay a fortune for a multi-user calendar like this from other vendors. If you have more than two users needing access, you can buy a license. I have seen many complaints in these reviews about technical support; I have e-mailed a couple of times and received a thorough response within 24 hours. The interface for the calendar and address book is easy to use. I highly recommend the program because of features, ease of use, and price.

Works well
Have been using this (actually version 9) for a week or so.It seems to do everything you'd want, and is very similar to the paper day-timer I used years ago.

No problems. No complaints.

Do not buy if you want support
Anytime Deluxe 9.0 sounds good for the money.Mine quit working on WinXP after 2 days, and tech support did not reply to my complaint for over a week, when I was given the address to their FAQ page.It contained no helpful information. After calling them, the tech support person admitted there was a problem, and had me modify my registry.The software ran for about 2-3 days, and then stopped working again.I have called and written emails and tech support has not responded in over a week.Even at its best, the software is mediocre - so save your money and buy some software that works and that the company will support.

Uncooperative and Annoying
I bought Anytime because I already had version 2.0.I liked the earlier version, but many of the things the older version had were either missing or less user friendly in 8.0.I couldn't load the files from version 2.0 directly into the new, (fortunately the old computer is still running so I could manually copy one to the other.)The entry process had a lot of unecessary steps which slowed down the process.Version 2.0 reminds you of missed date entries, the new one doesn't.

The version 8.0 has a lot of bells and whistles, like fax/cell/watts numbers, direct connection to e-mail, and a few others.The technical assist to Anytime is non-existant, either by 3 no-responce e-mails or 45 minutes on the phone.I'd stick with version 2.0 if you can load it into your computer, otherwise stick with Outlook.

This software is very good for the price
I have looked all over for some good organizer software.Places like IBM want 80 bucks for lotus organizer.This software is only 30 bucks and does everything i need, sets alarms for appointments, keeps track of my to do list, and keeps addresses.If you want some good organizational software that wont break your piggybank but has a nice looking easy to use interface, this software is great. ... Read more

Product Description

Help protect your family and property, quickly and easily! Create a legal will, make final arrangements, and access extensive legal information. As an added bonus, included Free on your disc is the Nolo's Encyclopedia of Everyday Law. Get answers to all those questions you couldn't afford to ask! ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Solid and User Friendly, Great for Straightforward Situation
BOTTOM LINE:Quicken Lawyer Wills (`QLW') is a great, low-cost alternative to hiring a lawyer to prepare your will, which will run you a minimum of several hundred dollars.It takes just minutes to prepare a will, but its legal manual/support resources are extensive enough for those that want to spend much more time understanding the what/why behind their document.

QLW is published by Nolo Press, a well established publisher of self-help legal books.When creating a will, the software creates all of the legal language for you - you do not write a single word of legalese - and docs are tailored to each state's requirements.To get information from you and have you make decisions about the content/structure of your documents, QLW follows the typical "interview" format - easy to use and informative along the way.My wife and I each created wills in literally 20 minutes (but you probably have to put a bit of forethought into it, especially if you are married).

PROS:
- Ease of use:idiot-proof interview format
- Legal help:good offline manual, good resources at Nolo website
- Clear execution information:tells you exactly how to execute the will
- Address book: enter a person's info (i.e. you spouse) and don't need to enter again in other parts of same doc
- Ease of use for married people:prepare one spouse's will and QLW has a function to flip the names to create the other spouse's will without starting from scratch

COMPETITORS:Kiplinger and Broderbund also publish estate planning software but I've had a chance to look at them (pre-installed on my computer when I bought it) and I'd stick with Quicken.

GET A LAWYER IF:While QLW functions well as an advisor, guiding you through the specific provisions within a will, it has its limits and is candid enough to admit it during the interviews/tutorials.Get a lawyer for situations like: you expect to owe federal estate taxes ($1.5 million limit in 2003 and going up rapidly), you own a small business or you expect to have a messy family situation upon death (i.e. an ex-spouse or children that don't get along) or live in a community property state.

THINK ABOUT QUICKEN LAWYER PERSONAL:If you have the sense to prepare a will and are in a life situation to start preparing a will, you probably could stand to have a few other basic estate planning documents like a living will/healthcare directive and a power of attorney (especially if you're married).So for a few bucks more, I might check out Quicken Lawyer Personal instead which will do all of this plus prepare a will for you (see my review of Quicken Lawyer Personal for more info). ... Read more

Product Description

Especially for Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows NT. Allows you to pay bills, download your bank statements, calculate financial planning, manage your investments, simplify taxes and more. ... Read more

Features

• Organize Your Finances
• Reduce Debt Now
• Easiest Way to Get Help
• Electronic Checkbook
• Save and Budget

Reviews (1)

My Favorite Version of Microsoft Money
I used to own this version of Money and recently upgraded to Money 2003. I have since gone back to the 99 version. Firstly, the 99 version has many planning tools on it, such as a budget planner, many different calculators, such as a rent vs. buy calculator to see if you are ready to buy a home, a savings planner, interest calculators, and many more comprehensive calculators and planners that are easy to use and helpful. When I started using Microsoft Money 2003 Standard, I was very dissapointed to find that there are absolutely no calculators or planners on it besides a budget planner. And not only that, but it is full of ads! When I start Money, I get a pop-up ad to invest or buy something, and there is always an ad on the side margin. I never had a problem with Money 99 and for anyone interested in the Money software, 99 is your best bet. ... Read more

Reviews (18)

I Am Disappointed
I just purchased Quicken Home and Small Business Legal Suite 2003.I am surprised that the software is no longer supported and that no updates are available.I am also surprised that there is not a residential lease document.There was a residential lease document in Quicken Business Lawyer 2000.

There are also far fewer legal forms available in the software than were available in earlier versions of the software.

Quicken Lawyer Bundle 2003
This is exactly what every small business person, good neighbor and informed consumer needs!! Excellent product, simply has everything we wanted and more...easy to use...very self-explanatory and has great on-screen guides.

No support?
I bought this software a few months ago but didn't get around installing it until today. When I tried to register the software I got the message that the software is no longer supported! I was asked to call an 800 number to get a discount on an upgrade. This is the first time I ever ran across a name-brand software package that discontinues support before the software is even one year old! While I may still use the software I found it appalling that the publisher of this software dares to force customers to pay for an "upgrade" immediately upon installation of software that they just purchased.

Support ended after just a year and a half????
I am an owner of Quicken Lawyer 2002 Personal Deluxe. I had to reinstall the software when my computer quit. I bought a new one and installed QLP2002. When I went to use the automatic web update of the software, I was informed that "This version is no longer supported, and Web Update is not available... we recommend that you upgrade... for only $29.99. It is an outrage that Nolo has revoked patches they had previously made available. The lack of any support is the reason I will NEVER purchase another Quicken Lawyer product.

No long-term support?
I am an owner of Quicken Lawyer 2002 Personal Deluxe, which according to Amazon is just ONE VERSION BACK from this one.When my computer went south last week, I bought a new one and installed QLP2002.When I went to use the automatic web update of the software, I was informed that "This version is no longer supported, and Web Update is not available... we recommend that you upgrade... for only $29.99."

While, yes, I'm sure that legal things do change, they do not change that much, and I find it reprehensible that Nolo has revoked patches they had previously made available.Imagine any other manufacturer doing that -- "sorry, Office 2000 is no longer supported, so you can't download the patches we previously made available to you.Either use Office 2000 with none of the bugs corrected, or pay $400 for Office 2003."Ridiculous.So, while I did like the software, the lack of any longer-term support is a real turn-off for me. ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

Handmark's PocketMoney is the perfect system for PDA users who want to keep track of their expenses with up-to-the-minute specificity. Whether you need to track outgoing expenses while on the road, figure out just how much gas your car is guzzling, or divide a restaurant bill evenly between diners, this program can handle it all.

PocketMoney is a quick and easy way to track your incoming deposits and categorize your spending. PocketMoney supports all kinds of global currencies for the PDA user who spends money across multiple international borders. This program is easy to synchronize with your desktop and can export directly into Excel or Quicken. Additionally, you can update multiple PDA units by beaming information back and forth.

PocketMoney also comes bundled with a fantastic program called CheckPlease. For anyone who has ever had a long dinner with friends, you know what happens when the bill comes. Calculating the tip and each person's portion is always a problem. Well, this problem is solved with CheckPlease. Simply enter the information from the bill, what percentage you'd like to leave for a tip, and the number of people paying, and CheckPlease will spit out an indisputable, bottom-line number.

PocketMoney is also any commuter's best friend. MPG, another program included with PocketMoney, keeps track of your gas bill and tells you exactly how your vehicle is performing. By entering the type of car you drive and how much you spent on your last pit stop, and keeping a record of how far you've driven, your gas budget will be a mystery no longer. --Kendra Hayden ... Read more

Reviews (5)

This product is misrepresented
The product works well as a stand alone application, but does not work with MS Money.It is completely useless for those looking to something that will transfer back and forth.

The one Palm app I use daily!
I am a HUGE fan of PocketMoney and have been for a year and half ever since I tried out the demo version.This simple little program is easy to use and will help you to keep your finances in line with minimal effort!I have tried Pocket Quicken as well and I'm happy to say that Pocket Money 2.1 is easier to use and more powerful (as well as less expensive!) than even Pocket Quicken.And as I mentioned in my title, this the only Palm app that I use on a daily basis..aside from the Datebook!

I use this in place of Quicken or MS Money.You heard me right...this little app is robust enough to be your stand alone financial software.Even better is that it's portable and does many of the things the desktop money managers do.Of course you can use it as a supplement for Quicken/MS Money as it does export QIF files, but on it's own, PM has the power and features to do everything you need.

Setting up accounts is easy as is doing the actual tracking of debits/credits and so on.You can set up recurring payments, regular deposits, and so on.You can set up which accounts are counted as part of your total net worth on the overview screen so that you always have a snapshot of just how much money you really have.The portability factor is great...stop at an ATM or purchase something and you can quickly record the transaction with a minimum of stylus taps and not have to worry about entering the receipts in your desktop PC when you get home.

The app is stable (never crashes), small in size (only a few hundred Kilobytes) and the password screen is a welcome basic safety feature.Plus, all your card info and bank contact data can safely be stored in this app in the event that you lose your wallet or need to call your bank!

If you buy just one Palm application or if you feel the need to organize your finances (and keep them organized), Pocket Money is a worthwhile purchase.I can't say enough about this great product!

2 accounts at once!
Both my wife and I like to keep track of our expenses on the road.PocketMoney allows us to both track expenses on our Palms and beam account changes to one another when we return.Really a time saver.

Pocket Money
This product has a great format on the Palm, however as one who is not a wiz on the computor I gave up after spending about 6 hours trying to get it to interface with my Quicken.Might be a great product for those who are very computor literate but if your of the load and use nature, stay away.Also when I went to the Pocket Money support group I got a whole lot of instructions that may or may not have been in English for all the good they did.

Amazing product!Exactly what I bought my Visor for!
Pocket Money is an amazing product.

The program works very cleanly.Within 1 hr of playing around with it, I actually had, for the first time in one place, a listing of what my net worth was!To me, that's an amazing feat.I've got my 401k totals there, stock holdings, checking accts, savings accts, home equity, credit cards, the amount of change sitting in my drawer, and even the amount of money sitting in my pocket!

It took only a few minutes, and the results are truly a peace of mind, because, with every transaction, whether ATM, or in a store, or wherever, I can open up the program, and quickly add the amount of the purchase or deposit or transfer, give it a category if I want, and who it went to, and that's it.Done.I can forget about it until my next transaction takes place.

Now I don't have to wonder if I'll have enough for this item or that.Just by putting in bills that I know are coming in at the beginning of the month, I can see how much I *really* have, rather than the tempting figure that sometimes prints out on an ATM receipt.

Thanks makers of Pocket Money! ... Read more