Getting organized

[Piyono]

Well, I've been living in this apartment for well over a year now and I'm only just starting to put up shelving in my bedroom. Hey, I'm a slow starter, so sue me.
Anyway, With my newfound storage space comes great responsibility: putting things away -- and the thing I have in this room that needs putting away more than anything else... is paper. Paper paper paper.
What kind of paper? Mostly financial documents. Receipts. Invoices. Credit notices. Lawsuits. You know. Paper.

So as I started sifting through the masses of mashed tree pulp and sorting one large mountain into several smaller hills, it struck me that I could be using software to document my personal and business incomes and outgoes with far greater accuracy than I have now.
Lets pretend I'm Obsessive Compulsive and I want to be able to look up on a whim how much I spent at Staples in March 2003 or how many times I ate at Umami Sushi last month. Let's also say that I want to also keep track of my business expenses and calculate how much tax I actually owe, instead of guessing like I currently do.
What software do I buy?

Quicken?
Money?
Quick Books?
Custom Access DB?

I'm new to this world.
Help.


Piyono

[Howell]

I once used Quicken, I now have Money.

Even with the mostly automated downloading of bank balances and charges/credits, I find it's more trouble than it's worth. I'm a bit obsessive but I'm learning there's no time for it. :)

[Will Rickards WT]

Unless you need to bill people, quicken should work fine, otherwise quick books. I'm still using Quicken 2000 Deluxe version. I also use an excel spreadsheet that I call Checking Account Projections to get a handle on what the balance in the checkbook will look like in the future so I can plan months in advance. This means entering stuff twice, once in quicken and once in the spreadsheet.
Quicken is good for tracking account balances and searching as you suggest but the version I have is buggy when it come to future stuff.

I also have a copy of Money but never used it.

Regarding time for it, I tend to do it only when I get paid. Then I enter in everything, figure out the bills, write the checks and I'm done.

[Fushigi]

Re: Quicken

Intuit is pretty evil as far as software companies go. The last version of TurboTax included the c-dilla spyware that ran all the time - even when tt wasn't running. Read the EULA. Not user-friendly in the least. Search for it at http://www.gripe2ed.com for other user reactions.

Personally, I don't find personal finances so complicated that I need a finance package. I use a very basic Excel spreadsheet for my budget. One screen of 60 odd lines runs me for a couple of years.

For business stuff, I did a separate spreadsheet. But that was for me being a 1-man consulting shop and nothing else. If I was a reseller or had more complicated finances to manage, I would defintiely be checking out some sort of package.

Ask yourself how much detail you truly need before you move forward. Do you really care how much you spent at Staples or how much Tuna Maki you ate?

BTW, I believe Peachtree is still around so it may be another to consider.