Product Description

Intuit QuickBooks Pro 2005 - Complete Product - Financial - 1 User(s) Complete Product - Standard - PCQuickBooks: Pro 2005 includes all the financial management features of Basic, plus improved tools and customization options to help you work more efficiently. Nice electronics is your source for everyday low prices on theIntuit 284178 - QUICKBOOKS PRO 2005 WINand all other Intuit Software - Misc ... Read more

Features

• Exchange data with Microsoft Excel and 325+ other software applications
• Track employee time and job costs; compare estimated costs to actuals
• Financial management software for small businesses
• Easily pay bills, print checks, track expenses, and much more
• Customize 100+ pre-designed forms to create a unique look

Reviews (33)

Dont Buy- this is why;
I've used QuickBooks for 11 or 12 years. I can't wait until there is a reasonable alternative that will allow me to import my QuickBooks data and stop using QuickBooks.

The QuickBooks software is generally user friendly and does a reasonably good job of simplifying small business accounting transactions. However, Intuit has a very poor attitude toward its customers as demonstrated by their business practices. With every upgrade, they force the customer to buy the next version by making it impossible to productively use the old software. They make a lot of money on upgrades.

With every new version, they extract more money out of the customer through other means as well. For example, QuickBooks originally allowed manual payroll accounting, but with every new release it became more difficult to do manual payroll. Now, there is NO manual payroll accounting. There are instead a few options for their payroll accounting services, which start at $200 per year for a company with one employee. That cost has increased steadily, so check for the actual cost to process payroll. The charge seems steep for downloading publicly available payroll tax tables. Intuit obviously sees their customers as captives and they are doing everything they can to squeeze money out of them.

Your accounting data in the proprietary QuickBooks data format is used to keep you upgrading as they shake you down for more money each year. Remember when you'd purchase software? Now you lease software, and it costs more each year. It feels like the software owns me.

Here's another aspect of leased software. I tried to buy a used copy of QuickBooks. This wasn't some pirate deal where you get a CD and nothing else. I purchased the original CD with the user manual, packaging and authorization code. It wouldn't register. I called Intuit and they told me it was already registered. I told them I bought the software from the original owner. They said I couldn't do that, and I needed to buy the $250 shrink wrapped version. QuickBooks is tightly integrated to their online services and won't work without their official approval. Can you think of any other item you purchase that can't be sold as a used item? What would you think if Toyota told you that you couldn't sell your car, or you couldn't buy someone else's car, and the only way to buy a Toyota was to buy a new one from the dealer? You can buy and sell other intellectual property such as books, CDs, and DVDs. Why not QuickBooks? Even after spending a lot of money, you don't own QuickBooks. It's a $250 annual software lease, with other attached leases for payroll services, multiple user licenses, etc.

The large amounts of money paid to Intuit on a yearly basis are bad enough, but you'd at least think that you'd get some customer service. Nope. Their customer service call center is in India. You deal with the language barrier, and generally have people with no direct understanding of western accounting, payroll or taxes. You get the usual call center "support" deal, with a person reading from a troubleshooting sheet that never seems to have anticipated your problem. If it isn't in the manual, it probably isn't going to be answered by the overseas call center either.

If you are just starting out, find another small business accounting solution. I don't have any experience with the others so I can't recommend any of them, but they must be better than QuickBooks, because Intuit believes they own their customers. They essentially act as a non-government agency levying a tax on small businesses. Avoid the QuickBooks tax.

Keep up with Technology in your Accounting Software
I am very sad to read so many insults against Intuit and the "Need to update their software".What people must consider is with each "Update" there are many new features that can be put to use immediately. As for Payroll and the necessary features and updates, we can all thank our current tax system. We have a complicated taxing system, yet Intuit Payroll (especially the Enhanced version) simplifies payroll by populating the many federal and state forms required of the small business person.Should you have an accountant overlook your system?I would say YES, regardless of WHAT system you use. Having a trained accountant, or if you are using Quickbooks, a Quickbooks Certified ProAdvisor. The assurance that your system is setup properly AND you are using all the features are worth the expense.Also, if you have the right accountant you should be getting tax advice and tips. All in all, keeping up with technology should be an integral part of your business plan. I have used many types of software and as an accountant I found QuickBooks is geared for the small to average business and requires minor accounting knowledge. However, saying that I will admit a trained accountant should review the system periodically for accuracy and compliance issues.

Diane Offutt
Woodstock, Georgia

No Customer Service Cost Us $$$
Even when Intuit's customer service was located in the United States, I received conflicting information and instructions which caused our company to lose $214.35 with no refund in sight. One representative said we had to purchase another copy of the program in order to have an additional license. Then a different representative said this was incorrect and to send the copy back without opening it. I did this and they refunded the shipping. That's it. No one ever told me that Intuit does not refund extra license fees, they just kept taking my information and promising a refund. Then they changed their customer service to India who have no idea who these people were that I spoke with, but also promised a refund which never arrived. Warning---do not purchase an extra license just on their say-so.

Be prepared to part with a lot of money!
Don't run your business with this software if you are careful with your money - as most small businesspeople are.

Every few years you have to upgrade in order to maintain the ridiculously expensive payroll tax update.I wish I had never upgraded from the early 1990's version.

You used to be able to manually enter the federal and state withholding infomation in the earlier versions, which makes sense for a very small business like ours.But you can't do that anymore. In order to even OPEN the payroll window, you MUST subscribe to the payroll update service!I seem to recall that it's almost $200 per year now, and increases annually!

It is now May, 2005, and I just received a notice that Intuit will no longer be providing tax tables for the 2003 version.I dread opening mail from Quickbooks, because notices like this are not uncommon.

I am looking for a different software program for 2006.

OK Software - Customer Hostile Attitude
I've used QuickBooks for 11 or 12 years. I can't wait until there is a reasonable alternative that will allow me to import my QuickBooks data and stop using QuickBooks.

The QuickBooks software is generally user friendly and does a reasonably good job of simplifying small business accounting transactions. However, Intuit has a very poor attitude toward its customers as demonstrated by their business practices. With every upgrade, they force the customer to buy the next version by making it impossible to productively use the old software. They make a lot of money on upgrades.

With every new version, they extract more money out of the customer through other means as well. For example, QuickBooks originally allowed manual payroll accounting, but with every new release it became more difficult to do manual payroll. Now, there is NO manual payroll accounting. There are instead a few options for their payroll accounting services, which start at $200 per year for a company with one employee. That cost has increased steadily, so check for the actual cost to process payroll. The charge seems steep for downloading publicly available payroll tax tables. Intuit obviously sees their customers as captives and they are doing everything they can to squeeze money out of them.

Your accounting data in the proprietary QuickBooks data format is used to keep you upgrading as they shake you down for more money each year. Remember when you'd purchase software? Now you lease software, and it costs more each year. It feels like the software owns me.

Here's another aspect of leased software. I tried to buy a used copy of QuickBooks. This wasn't some pirate deal where you get a CD and nothing else. I purchased the original CD with the user manual, packaging and authorization code. It wouldn't register. I called Intuit and they told me it was already registered. I told them I bought the software from the original owner. They said I couldn't do that, and I needed to buy the $250 shrink wrapped version. QuickBooks is tightly integrated to their online services and won't work without their official approval. Can you think of any other item you purchase that can't be sold as a used item? What would you think if Toyota told you that you couldn't sell your car, or you couldn't buy someone else's car, and the only way to buy a Toyota was to buy a new one from the dealer? You can buy and sell other intellectual property such as books, CDs, and DVDs. Why not QuickBooks? Even after spending a lot of money, you don't own QuickBooks. It's a $250 annual software lease, with other attached leases for payroll services, multiple user licenses, etc.

The large amounts of money paid to Intuit on a yearly basis are bad enough, but you'd at least think that you'd get some customer service. Nope. Their customer service call center is in India. You deal with the language barrier, and generally have people with no direct understanding of western accounting, payroll or taxes. You get the usual call center "support" deal, with a person reading from a troubleshooting sheet that never seems to have anticipated your problem. If it isn't in the manual, it probably isn't going to be answered by the overseas call center either.

If you are just starting out, find another small business accounting solution. I don't have any experience with the others so I can't recommend any of them, but they must be better than QuickBooks, because Intuit believes they own their customers. They essentially act as a non-government agency levying a tax on small businesses. Avoid the QuickBooks tax. ... Read more

Product Description

Intuit QuickBooks Pro 2005 - Complete Product - Financial - 5 User(s) Complete Product - Standard - PCQuickBooks: Pro 2005 includes all the financial management features of Basic, plus improved tools and customization options to help you work more efficiently. Nice electronics is your source for everyday low prices on theIntuit 284183 - QUICKBOOKS 2005 PRO 5U WIN - and all other Intuit Software - Misc ... Read more

Features

• Exchange data with Microsoft Excel and 325+ other software applications
• Track employee time and job costs; compare estimated costs to actuals
• Financial management software for small businesses
• Easily pay bills, print checks, track expenses, and much more
• Customize 100+ pre-designed forms to create a unique look

Reviews (4)

Software OK - Hostile Atitude Toward Customers
I've used QuickBooks for 11 or 12 years.I can't wait until there is a reasonable alternative that will allow me to import my QuickBooks data and stop using QuickBooks.

The QuickBooks software is generally user friendly and does a reasonably good job of simplifying small business accounting transactions.However, Intuit has a very poor attitude toward its customers as demonstrated by their business practices.With every upgrade, they force the customer to buy the next version by making it impossible to productively use the old software.They make a lot of money on upgrades.

With every new version, they extract more money out of the customer through other means as well.For example, QuickBooks originally allowed manual payroll accounting, but with every new release it became more difficult to do manual payroll.Now, there is NO manual payroll accounting.There are instead a few options for their payroll accounting services, which start at $200 per year for a company with one employee.That cost has increased steadily, so check for the actual cost to process payroll.The charge seems steep for downloading publicly available payroll tax tables.Intuit obviously sees their customers as captives and they are doing everything they can to squeeze money out of them.

Your accounting data in the proprietary QuickBooks data format is used to keep you upgrading as they shake you down for more money each year.Remember when you'd purchase software?Now you lease software, and it costs more each year.It feels like the software owns me.

Here's another aspect of leased software.I tried to buy a used copy of QuickBooks.This wasn't some pirate deal where you get a CD and nothing else.I purchased the original CD with the user manual, packaging and authorization code.It wouldn't register.I called Intuit and they told me it was already registered.I told them I bought the software from the original owner.They said I couldn't do that, and I needed to buy the $499 shrink wrapped version.QuickBooks is tightly integrated to their online services and won't work without their official approval.Can you think of any other item you purchase that can't be sold as a used item?What would you think if Toyota told you that you couldn't sell your car, or you couldn't buy someone else's car, and the only way to buy a Toyota was to buy a new one from the dealer?You can buy and sell other intellectual property such as books, CDs, and DVDs.Why not QuickBooks?Even after spending a lot of money, you don't own QuickBooks.It's a $500 annual software lease, with other attached leases for payroll services, multiple user licenses, etc.

The large amounts of money paid to Intuit on a yearly basis are bad enough, but you'd at least think that you'd get some customer service.Nope.Their customer service call center is in India.You deal with the language barrier, and generally have people with no direct understanding of western accounting, payroll or taxes.You get the usual call center "support" deal, with a person reading from a troubleshooting sheet that never seems to have anticipated your problem.If it isn't in the manual, it probably isn't going to be answered by the overseas call center either.

If you are just starting out, find another small business accounting solution.I don't have any experience with the others so I can't recommend any of them, but they must be better than QuickBooks, because Intuit believes they own their customers. They essentially act as a non-government agency levying a tax on small businesses.Avoid the QuickBooks tax.

I was afraid...very afraid...very very afraid...
..to upgrade to QuickBooks pro 2005 after reading the reviews. Having received an e-mail from Intuit saying that they were `sunsetting' QuickBooks pro 2002from April and I would no longer have access to email for invoices etc... I "decided" to bite the bullet and upgrade.

The purchase

I received a discount for upgrading my single user version and use the internet to activate the product. It went smoothly. The installation CD arrived promptly in the mail, well packaged. I also decided to buy the 5 user edition for work since I network qbooksThat arrived promptly [actually the two came together].

The installation

I decided to TEST at HOME fist on backup data and to do a clean install and an upgrade. OK. The clean install was flawless. The internet activation as painless and I was up and running! GOOD.
Next came the 5 user edition; I did an upgrade on the second computer and that went flawless. Next the internet was used to activate the product. No problems!

So far so good; Now to WORK and test it on REAL data! I did this on a day I took off, just in case the horror stories came true!First the server upgrade. Problems...program stuck installing some dot NET program.. took forever [an hour actually]. Hmm. Rebooted, no go. Hmm Shut down and restarted,,..where is the manual? ...AH.I see..!. the ANTIVIRUS software! .. Turned OFF Norton antivirus! Now flawless installation!...[heh heh REAL men don't read manuals].

The activation

Now to product activation... call a number. No problem answered promptly and was directed by prompts to activation, now a REAL live person " Mike" yeah, he had an accent but I guess I had an accent to him as well!He was real pleasant. I explained that I had purchased a 5 user edition, used one activation on my computer at home via the internet and needed to install at least 2 others at work . No problem. He checked my registration, gave me a code..yeah,,but would I have to call back to activate the other computers? No..the code would work for the others..He waited on line while I entered the code. Presto ! Instant activation. No problems.The program installed flawlessly on the other computer and the network worked instantly. The whole process took about 5 minutes! Painless.

The program
The GOOD:
It is significantly faster than QuickBooks pro 2002. There is scheduled backup and the backup process is a lot faster. Passwords are case sensitive; if you forget the caps lock key then problems...this happened to me once.

Joy of JOYS...refunds, write offs and under and over payments are now easy as one click. Issuing refund checks is easy as pie. In the previous 2002 version, to issue a refundor writing off bad debts required several complicated maneuvers that ended up confusing the accountant and me!

The screens are friendlier and better laid out. Easier search for invoices etc. If you have used QB before you will have no problems.

I have not seen any intrusive ads or banners advertising products. The check reminder popped up and I set it to the number that I wanted. It hasn't bothered me since. Yes, I use Intuit checks and they are lovely! Highly recommended.

My accountant loves the program and Invoices estimates etc can be emailed as pdf attachments.

The BAD
No manual payroll. I would have thought that certain editions for businesses would allow the truly small business owner to manually enter payroll say for up to 10 employees. More that that would require subscription to the payroll service.

Invoices when paid should automatically enter the payment method on them. I mean you have already entered the payment by cash, check or credit card to pay the invoice. (...) No multiple currency support.
Yes, we generally use one currency but for truly international sales or customers, they may pay in a different currency and QB should be able to set up foreign currency accounts and automatically convert it to your base currency. As it stands now I have to set up a back account in the foreign currency and manually convert to base currency in a sub account. Tedious , flawed and unnecessary.

Importation of AIF file impossible. My account made some changes and I tried to import the file. The program said that it needed to be the same file with no changes made to the original. In other words, I can do no business until the accountant is finished if I want to import his changes. Ridiculous!!

Overall. 4 stars. It is very good but there is plenty room for improvement for the small business owner. No need to be afraid. Purchase with confidence!

There are better software out there!
I agree with the above users, there are better software out there.Please look around and be more futuristic. QuickBooks is for very small companies only.It slows down when the size of your database goes up. I tested some software and found some really good, with reasonable price: BusinessWorks, Small Business Manager (microsoft.com), Quick Business Manager (bisaim.com),Vision Point 2000 (ACCPAC), BusinessVision 32 (Softline).

Good Luck in your search.

Warning! E-Pay and E-File Removed in Version 2005
After I installed and converted my file to the 2005 format I was informed that the E-File and E-Pay features were removed in version 2005. The support folk in India could not tell me if this was temporary or permanent. The only option to continue E-File and E-Pay was to remove version 2005 and reinstall version 2004. What a way to treat customers! How about some up front disclosure Intuit? I've been using Quickbooks for 7 years. This may be my last upgrade! ... Read more

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

Amazon.com Review

It's a newspaper, it's a Web site--it's all of the information thatcomes rolled up in every edition of The Wall Street Journal and much more,available online. Anyone who wants to stay on top of U.S. and internationalnews, especially economic and technology-oriented stories, will find The WallStreet Journal Online to be a valuable asset. Forbes has called it "simply thebest business news site on the Web."

The interactive Journal delivers stock quotes on demand, continually updatednews, a customized news- and portfolio-tracking service, access to extensivearchives, and "briefing books" for 22,000 companies and more than 7,000 U.S.mutual funds.

Readers who are familiar with the print edition will not be surprised by theinteractive Journal's personality: it looks a lot like the paper version, andit's just as staid as its paper counterpart. Navigation is intuitive and ease ofuse is... easy.

Unlike the print journal, this version follows you to work and around the world.All you need is your password and laptop to carry this invaluable businesspartner to any meeting, anywhere. --Stefanie Durbin ... Read more

Reviews (17)

Know what's going on in the financial world
Know what's going on in the financial world and also get overwhelmed with lots of useless statistics that you don't really care about.I read the WSJ all the time now, I filter through the articles and only read what I think is really useful, since there is really so much information in this paper.

The pricing model is rather like a fast food value pricing model.Pay more but understand that you are getting more than you need.At times you will probably find yourself just looking at the headlines and throwing the thing out at the end of the day because at the end of the day, the news has suddenly become old news.

If you want to get the WSJ, get it for a briefer on the news that is interesting to you, the analysis and the opinions.For these things, it might be worth it.Obviously it helps if you have a morning commute on public transportation with nothing to read (those in cities who have bus and subways will enjoy intellectual reading material), this kills the time quickly.Once you're done reading most of the paper, you'll be at your destination.

this is supposed to be a review of wsj online not amazon!
this is the only subscription I would pay for. Easiest to activate, just use the supplied password and then you can change it later.

Can't "ship" it overseas
I tried to buy this package but in the ordering process was told that since I'm in New Zealand, the item cannot be "shipped" to my destination.Any system that maladroit deserves to choke on its own emissions -- and while it's probably more a reflection on Amazon than the Journal, someone at the paper should be more awake to these sorts of issues.

Minus 1 star for customer service
Customer service sucks, but i put up with it because you just can't beat the content.

Slow & Overloaded Website, cannot cancel
Website is slow and overloaded.Sometimes takes minutes to get into site or to get an article to load up (this on a high-speed connection).WSJ always claims that it's a problem on my end, even though all other sites I go to load up in 2 seconds or less.

Also, they go up on charges without warning.My original subscription was $29.Now it's $79, but they never warned that the charge was going to $79; they just charged my credit card. ... 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

Intuit, Inc (292582) TURBOTAX PREMIER V2004 WIN/MAC $20 IN-BOX REBATE, OFFER VALID FOR PURCHA ... Read more

Features

• Maximize 401(k) contributions without decreasing take-home pay
• Tax preparation software with step-by-step guidance and free electronic filing
• Help and advice for investments, Schedule C businesses, and rental property
• Extra guidance on business asset depreciation and home-office deductions
• Assistance with reporting stocks, bonds, and mutual funds

Reviews (32)

Intuit Customer Support Lacking
Received TurboTax Premier disc from Amazon.During installation, kept getting different installation errors.Intuit website posted SEVERAL options as work-arounds.Spent too much time trying to fix what ended up being a defective disc.On-line chat w/ Intuit rep was frustrating, at best.Intuit would not ship replacment disc direct since Amazon is not an "authorized" seller.Amazon shipped replacement disc (took too many days, Amazon).
Response on Intuit's website about TurboTax completely unacceptable.Defective product and not ready for market.Have used TT for 15 years - won't be using it next year.

turbo tax premier 2004
Bummed I couldn't find the home and business (guess their not making it anymore) This program wouldn't allow me to import information from previous years. I've always been able to transfer from last years Turbo tax home and business forms. I had to re-type everything manually. No prompt to do it and when I went to the pull down menu I couldn't prompt it to import data. Not user friendly, it used to be better.