个人财务软件的选择

How to choose and use personal-finance software. By: Mann, Richard O., Compute!, 0194357X, Apr93, Vol. 15, Issue 4

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HOW TO CHOOSE AND USE

PERSONAL-FINANCE SOFTWARE

Contents

1. Basic Checkbook Functions

2. Bank Reconciliation

3. Check Writing

4. Electronic Bill-Paying

5. Reporting and Budgeting

6. Tax Summaries

7. Advanced Functions

8. Quicken 6.0 and Quicken for Windows 2.0

9. Andrew Tobias' Managing Your Money 9.0

10. MoneyCounts 7.0 Personal Edition

11. Microsoft Money 2.0

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COMPUTE'S GETTING STARTED WITH PERSONAL MONEY MANAGEMENT

When it comes to dollars and cents, some of us are fairly

talented operators. However, many more of us find

ourselves at sea when it comes to things financial. Our skills

and understanding vary from the

what-do-you-mean-I'm-overdrawn-I-still-have-checks crowd

to the Wall-Street-Journal-reading, CD-rate-watching gang.

You might be surprised to find all kinds of professionals and

business people in the checkbook-as-a-mystic-experience

group.

Wherever you fall on the scale, your PC can be a financial

lifesaver. Today's personal-finance software practically runs itself. If you can fill out a check and a deposit slip properly,

you can use these programs. In fact, with your basic skills

and the computer's advanced skills, you can accomplish

financial miracles.

What can personal-finance programs do for you? Their

feature lists get longer each year and include some

impressive-sounding functions. Basic features offered by all

the programs include checkbook functions, writing checks,

budgeting, bank reconciliation, tax information

summarization, and electronic bill paying. The more

ambitious programs add investment management, payables

and receivables tracking, and dozens of other snazzy

functions. One program even offers its own Visa card with

electronic statements.

In a nutshell, they can free You from worry about your

financial situation-at least the worries that come from not

knowing where you stand. They can convert confusion to

control, mystery to management, 'and aimless wandering to

unerring progress. You invest time and the software

provides financial expertise. Even those with no math or

money skills can find substantial help here.

Basic Checkbook Functions

Begin by automating the checkbook itself. As you write

checks and make deposits, you record them in your check

register. Every few days, enter the checks and deposits into

the computer's check register. The program draws a virtual

check on the screen-fill it out just like writing a check. Or you

can use the check register screen, which looks just like your

paper check register. Either way, the computer handles all

the arithmetic with its usual flawless accuracy.

If you take a few minutes every few days, you'll always be

accurately up-to-date. Then, when the bank statement

comes, you'll be ready for a new and marvelous experience.

Bank Reconciliation

Once a month, you get a bark statement. Your job is to

reconcile it with your checkbook to ensure that what you've

recorded in your checkbook matches what the bank

processed. This is how you find errors in your checkbook and the less frequent but very real bank errors. Most bank

statements have a printed form on the back that attempts to

walk you through the reconciliation process. It's not fun, and

it's not easy.

If, however, you've been entering your checkbook in the

computer, the process is simplicity itself. It takes about ten

minutes and involves merely following the on-, screen

instructions. You'll love it; I promise.

Check Writing

Next comes writing your checks on the computer. Enter the

information on the screen for a batch of checks, then send

them to the printer. Of course, you'll need to buy pre-printed

checks, which are more expensive than hand-written checks.

If your bill-paying sessions involve a dozen or more checks

at a sitting, the time and effort saved can justify the extra