Amazon.com Review

Whether you work from home or run a small business, Microsoft Money 2003 Deluxe & Business helps you keep track of your income and expenses. A full-featured, easy-to-use financial management solution, Money 2003 has a complete set of personal and business finance tools to keep you in the game.

Installation is simple as a wizard takes you step-by-step through the process. If you're upgrading, the steps are fewer and more easily traversed. Want to switch from Quicken? Money 2003 can do that, too, with a handy file converter. Audio and video help is readily available as well, making the experience even easier for first-timers.

As for features, few things have changed from Money 2002, making upgrading less of a necessity and more of an option. With a new portfolio-customization toolbar and portfolio highlight and analysis reports, most of the added features for personal finance management are aimed at investors. A new online research center is also included, giving you fast access to tools and information such as company reports, earning estimates, market reports, quotes, news, and charts.

On the business side, Money now has payroll support powered by PayCycle, making paydays a little simpler. Some new tax features allow you to get a better handle on things with side-by-side comparisons, capital gains scenarios, and loss carryover features.

What Money continues to do best though is Web integration. Whether you're downloading bank statements, checking stock prices, or paying your bills, all of it can be accessed right in Money. As an additional incentive to take advantage of its Web features, Microsoft has thrown in one year of their online bill paying service, one free online tax preparation and filing, an Equifax credit report, and a consultation with a financial planner.

Money 2003 Deluxe & Business is a great software package for managing your personal and business finances and goals on your Windows PC. While there are only a few reasons for upgrading from 2002, Microsoft continues to give you more bang for your buck. --Josh Goldman ... Read more

Reviews (10)

MUCH Better Than Quicken
Let me first say that I have been a diehard Quicken user for the better part of 9 years, and I am not a particular fan of Microsoft. But I have to give credit where credit is due. I decided to try Microsoft Money because Quicken's interface has recently become so cluttered with advertisements and nonsense that it has become almost impossible to navigate. In addition, my experience with Quicken Deluxe 2003 has been so incredibly bad (support, bugs, crashes, etc.) that I had to try some alternative.

At first I was going to buy Microsoft Money Deluxe 2003. But, for just a little extra, I decided to try the Deluxe & Business version instead. I have a small internet side business and I thought this would be a perfect fit.

First, let me address the home portion of the program:
This is an incredible step-up from the equivalent version of Quicken. The interface is simple, the program is not "buggy", and the online help is more than comprehensive enough to get you through even the toughest of problems. Because I was already using the 2003 version of Quicken, I was not able to automatically transfer my Quicken file, so I cannot comment on how that particular feature works. But I can certainly tell you that setting up all of my accounts from scratch (and I have quite a few) was more than simple. All of the online banking features worked flawlessly, and I was up and running in about 3 hours - start to finish. And with much less frustration than with Quicken.

As for the business portion of the program:
This area is, admittedly, not very advanced. It is good for very small side businesses (such as mine), but for anything more comprehensive, you may want to look elsewhere. I think the problem with marketing these two features together is that a lot of people may be expecting too much out of the business portion of the program, so they tend to write-off the whole thing. This program is intended only for the very smalest home business owner. If you are looking for anything more comprehensive than that, my advice would be to invest in the standard or deluxe versions of Micrsoft Money for your personal finances, and look elsewhere for a more comprehensive accounting program for your business finances. But if you decide to go the frugal route, expect to get what you pay for.

In conclusion, Microsoft Money is, in my estimation, 10x easier to use than Quicken and is laid out in a much nicer fashion. In addition, there are no bugs that I could find, whereas Quicken was giving me constant problems (browser conflicts, lock-ups, etc.) Take it from a long time Quicken user - It's not too late to switch. Go buy Microsoft Money today.

save your money, buy a different program
Frustrating program, frustrating help system. Most features do not work. Worthless for business.

Money 2003 Deluxe& Business weak for business
I purchased Money 2003 Deluxe & Business to include my wife's self-employed service business. The regular 'home' part of the program is fairly good and has lots of feature. The business part lacks quite a bit in several areas. The invoice designer wouldn't save a modified version on my Win 98 machine but works on Win Me on my notebook. Modification are rather limited. Certain fields have to stay in a certain frames within the Invoice. Worse, payment of invoices doesn't allow to enter a check number. When a payment is received and put into an account it becomes divorced from the invoice. The invoice shows having been paid but it is no longer associated with the actual payment entry. Makes it very hard to look and and figure out when problems arise. Also the business reports are almost un customizable except in a few minor things. Very frustrating. Accounts can't be designated as business accounts, distinguished from home accounts. Also 'project' information can not be put on invoices. Fields (such as customer name) are limited in size. Some Businesses have more than 20 or so characters in their name!
Anyway, it looks like we will be buying the Quicken equivalent. From the 'tour' of the Quicken site at least we can enter a check number against an invoice!

Quicken vs. Money: and the winner is...
Well, I don't either program wins on all counts. I tried both and experienced frustrations with each. In the end, I stuck with Quicken only because Money couldn't import my Quicken data as promised.

Both just seem too hard to learn. I am a computer wiz and found them both hard to use -- I can't imagine others trying to get the hang of it. They really need to stop adding features and focus on the usability of the programs. But overall, I would have to say Money did have a cleaner interface that was easier to master.

However, both really fail at invoicing. They both claim you can create custom invoices, but the customization is extremely limited and messes things up so much that you eventually just end up using the defaults.

So why did I stick with Quicken? Well, Money guarantees that it can import your information from Quicken, but it failed to import my data. Microsoft technical support tried a few simple solutions, but then told me "tough luck." I wan't about to reenter a years worth of info, so I retreated back to Quicken since Money wasn't that much better to make it worth my while.

Product not as promised
As a new treasurer for simple homeowners association, I purchased this product to manage the homeowner's fees and to keep track of association bills. I decided to try Money Business 2003 because it advertises that you can create or modify the invoice templates to taper to your business. (I wanted to change the fields from hours to months and quantity to rate... a simple request) No matter how I tried to modify an invoice it would not save. It appears this function does not work, I have read all the help areas, went to the website and all information states you need to click on modify a template to save. A "modify button" does not exist anywhere on the program. In order to get technical assistance from MS you have to pay ...So, I say forget this and buy a copy of Quicken. ... Read more

Features

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

Amazon.com Product Description

Peachtree Accounting can help you better manage your accounting, business, and Internet presence. Packed with all the basics--invoicing, bill paying, in-depth inventory tracking, payroll, order entry, and more than 100 customizable reports--Peachtree Accounting helps you get insight into your numbers.

Get a quick financial snapshot of your business, along with other features, with the My Business Page in Peachtree Today. And with several new Web-related features, Peachtree Accounting can help you establish and capitalize on an Internet presence for your business. Peachtree Accounting can be the perfect tool to help manage your accounting and get the insight needed to make better business decisions.

New features include: customer and vendor credit memos, direct deposit capabilities, online backup, and Peachtree Contact Manager powered by ACT!. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Spend hours doing what should be the simplest tasks
Only an account could love this package. For the rest of us, who find double-entry bookkeeping a bit cryptic, Peachtree does not a bit to shield you from the sharp edges of General Journal Entry. You simply cannot use this program without a solid knowledge of debits and credits and what account flows to where. And while Intuit's marketing is a tad intrusive, Peachtree will charge you for EVERYTHING. Want to graph expenses? Buy the optional Crystal Reports for $200. Much of the clumsiness of the Peachtree interface transcends the requirement to know the details of accounting. If, for example, you wish to enter a Visa receipt from last Tuesday, which happens to be the end of last month, plan on a half a dozen clicks to change accounting periods back and forward again. Along with a couple of "are you sure you want to do this" popup screens. And reconciling now takes more than twice as long as it used to, at least in part because Peachtree will show you only three transactions at a time, and not let you edit transactions during the reconciliation process!

For accountants, this may well be the best small business package-I presume they need the powerhouse accounting features it offers. I shifted away from QuickBooks it lacked the inventory sub-assembly capability that Peachtree has. QuickBooks has since added that feature, and I look forward to converting back to that package. Overall, doing the books for my small business took about half the time with QuickBooks.

Great Product - Beware of UPC Removed Copies
The product is great if you understand accounting principles. It's not for the faint hearted.

I bought a copy on eBay with the UPC removed for the rebate. Guess what. Peachtree registers the software to the person who sends in the rebate and WON'T transfer it to a new user.

I had to return it and buy it new.

Peachtree Accounting 2003
Well designed program, fairly easy to use. Helps to know more accounting than the average person, or to know someone that can help you through the accounting jargon.

Good accounting software for small business.
I find this software very useful to run my small business and it tracks and alerts me about payable and receivable invoices due. This is my first accounting software I have started using. I have not used other accounting softwares to make a comparitive review. ... Read more

Features

• Financial management system for businesses
• Import data from popular office software
• Easily manage accounts payable and receivable
• Customize reports, prices and more
• Licensed for five users

Reviews (1)

"Multi-user"??
I have a small business where 3 people need access to Invoices, POs and inventory. It seems, If you want to do anything of any impotence, you have to go to single user mode. For example; importing customers, anything with inventory, anything with vendors. All anyone can do in multi-user mode is create invoices and POs. It was a waist of money for us as we still find ourselves in single user mode most of the time. Oh, and the there are tuns of "OK" buttons to press. Every time you tell it to do something, expect to press at least 2 "OK" buttons before it will do it. Don't tell me "QB is now ready to..." do something, JUST DO IT. All in all, it's pretty much the same thing as the QB Pro. If you are like us, and need more people to access information, I suggest upgrading to something else. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Packed with accounting basics plus powerful business management andInternet tools, Peachtree Accounting helps you better manage youraccounting and gives you insight into your numbers. Just minutesafter installing Peachtree, helpful features such as navigation aids, wizards, and an online tutorial make it easy for you to hit the ground running. To make your startup even faster, you can choose from among 75 examples thecompany profile that most closely resembles your own, and your books areinstantly customized to fit your business. There are also plenty of onlinetutorials.

With Peachtree you can set up to 13 periods in a fiscal year, and keeptransaction detail open for two fiscal and payroll years. You can easilymaintain and report on budgets, and you have the option to show or hide your GLaccounts on task screens. Quickly and easily provide your customers withestimates for their orders by printing quotes. Your quote does not update your accounting information until the quote is converted to a sales order or invoice.

Get a snapshot view of the overall financial performance of your business withPeachtree Accounting's Financial Manager. Unlike other accounting systems that requireyou to create special reports to review your business performance, Financial Manager gives you both a business summary and key balance information so you see the full picture in minutes, without creating reports. You'll review such popular ratios as cost of sales, profit margins, and more, as well as up-to-the-minute balances on cash, accounts receivable, and other vital information.

With the new e-mail alert feature, you can set the system to monitor keyelements of your operations and have a notification e-mail generated when certainconditions are met, to keep you operating efficiently. For instance, yourpurchasing manager can be notified by e-mail when an inventory item dropsbelow a certain level, or your payroll manager can be alerted when anhourly employee exceeds a certain number of hours. Access your Peachtreedata from both your desktop and the Internet using Peachtree WebAccounting. You and your off-site personnel can quickly and securely viewkey desktop accounting data and perform daily tasks such as enteringtransactions and running reports, all from the Internet. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Great except for the Payroll
The peachtree accounting program is rich with features, but it also lacks some very basic features as well. You vitrually cannot use the payroll feature without spending 150.00 more per year for a "optional" tax service.

The program severely restricts your ability to create tax tables on a global basis and it is time consuming to do this be each company set up.

I see this "flawed" marketing approach as the largest weakness. No this is not software for a Fortune 500 company. But it will do the routine bookkeeping functions of a good size company.

But when you add the cost of the "annual" tax service. There are better programs in the 300 to 500 price range that will give you more felxability.

So for the price its a good value if you dont have a large payroll.

Feeble and Buggy
PeachTree Accounting has been a disappointment on a number of fronts.

To start, it has bugs. The program has made GJ entries on its own. The entries are locked in some way. I can not open them to view, edit, or delete them. As a result, my numbers are not accurate.

Secondly, the documentation is atrocious. For example, there is a button labeled "prepayment" on the receipts window. There is no explanation anywhere, in PeachTree documentation or otherwise, describing how this button works. In fact the button is very counter-intuitive and seems to have nothing to do with prepayments/deposits. I have yet to figure it out. Unfortunately, the program doesn't let me reverse entries that have been made using this button. Again, my books are not accurate.

Thirdly, the search function does not allow seaching by Payee. It only allows searches by Vendor, which is a separate field. Therefore, if you write a check to Pep Boys, but do not enter PB as a vendor, it is not easily possible to find the transaction.

Fourth, the program forces you to close all windows and change accounting periods every time an entry for a month outside of the current period must be recorded.

Lastly, it is obvious that this company is trying to make its living selling support contracts. Every time you call while under warranty, they push the extended support is pushed hard. The lack of documentation and general opaqueness of the product make it hard to use without the support contract. There must be a better product out there.

Sincerely,

Gary Kulp

Inexpensive professional accounting package
In the quest to find a decent accounting solution for my sole-proprietorship (start-up), I tried and evaluated several trial versions of accounting software. Of the commercial accounting packages I evaluated, Peachtree accounting 2002 is most inexpensive, given the features. Unlike QuickBooks, it uses heavy-duty double-entry accounting.

Unfortunately it is not always the most intuitive accounting package to use. I would go so far as to say there is a degree of difficulty in using this package. Luckily, Peachtree includes a tutorial and several help files. I found myself referring to them often in the beginning, then less frequently as time progressed.

Using the included setup wizard, I was able to setup the books in about 30 minutes. Unfortunately, my business doesn't neatly fit into the example companies, so I had to do some customization. In any event, I was soon able to generate purchase orders, with a minimum of effort. Like QuickBooks, it can print out deposit slips.

Peachtree Accounting 2002 is a full-featured accounting package, with better inventory management than QuickBooks. It has good scalability and can grow with your company, but be warned, time will have to be invested in order to conquer the learning curve before you can become productive.

But don't take my word for it. You can download a trial version from (...) to try it out yourself. I would recommend spending a day putting in the numbers and seeing if it is right for you.

An Easy-to-use Integrated Management Software
I first encountered Peachtree Accounting (then called PAW) in 1995 when I started off a company. Being NOT an accounting major, I found it pretty handy and was pleased that it provided us with good info about the company (so were other shareholders). I pulled out from the company shortly, and my partner, an engineer by training, picked up the accounting work with my several hours' tutoring and several sheets of additional manual. He survived and got not much problems with auditors.

This year I started my own company distributing appliances. I chose Peachtree Accouting 2002. With 2 weeks' dedicated working (to back tracked two months+ of transactions), I finally set up the system, putting all company activities, including inventory movements, into the system. It went very well. Now that I felt truly comfortable, knowing I can get timely and meaningful insights of the company. Truly a worthy-of-praise software. If they are talking about ERP, I think that's it. We tried to use some ERP software in my former company, we bumped onto difficulty just trying to work with one module.

Like any good software, Peachtree Accounting is great. What causes failure is the implementation. In my last company, I asked the financial controller to use Peachtree with a newly established subsidiary. She and her accounting manager tried to persuaded me to wait for a soon-to-come heaven-sent ERP system. I stood firm, nominating an accounts supervisor to champion the project. She ended up giving us the year end financial report two working days after closing. So don't let your kingdom-builder accountant talked you out. How good it is you can get timely information from the system, without having to ask your accountant who could store his/her precious numbers down in scattered Excel files? Ask them,"If they can make it, why can't you?"

Lession learnt: if possible, always go for Peachtree Complete. It allows multi-user access. You could have someone input customers' info, then another staff line up servicing schedule from another workstation. The best is the value pack which allows unlimited users' access. You've got to planned for growth and division of labor - with you overlooking the big picture using such an integrated software. I gave it a 4-star because it didn't support Chinese characters input in my area. Otherwise, 5-star is truly beyond doubt. ... Read more

Features

• Create and print your own custom business and personal checks -- including bank code number on the bottom
• Manage your finances to view your net worth, upcoming payables and receivables, schedule your bill payments, exchange transaction files and synchronize your financial data and bank account information
• Obtain your customer's bank details via the Internet, phone or fax to create a check draft for immediate deposit
• Automatically collect recurring payments or service fees
• Built-in payee database, address book and contact manager for keeping important information at your fingertips

Amazon.com Review

Managing your personal finances always has been a game of give and take,and Intuit Quicken 2001 Suite gives you all of the players in one user-friendly,fully integrated package. New and improved features such as Smart Reconcile,better 401(k) tracking, and integrated Web browsing make this software acomprehensive way to organize your personal finances. Plan your investments andfinances with Quicken 2001 Deluxe, prepare and file your taxes with TurboTaxDeluxe, and protect your family's assets with Quicken Family Lawyer 2001.

Quicken 2001 Deluxe is designed to control seven major areas of your personalfinances: banking, investing, taxes, planning, spending and saving, loans, andinsurance. Improved Activity Centers link these sections together, whileenhanced Alerts let you stay on top of investment opportunities. Travelers willappreciate the ability to view banking and investments online through a secureWeb page at Quicken.com. However, if you are new to online banking or feeluncomfortable with the idea of being able to access personal information on theWeb, you might need some time to adjust to this new feature.

TurboTax Deluxe will guide you through the process of filing your taxes withstep-by-step interviews, careful checks to catch errors, and personalizedmoney-saving features. A TurboTax State manufacturer's rebate lets you file yourtaxes electronically (one free State program per rebate, along with a freeFederal return). If you prefer to file the old-fashioned way, you also can printyour return onto IRS-approved forms that are integrated into the software.

Finally, Quicken Family Lawyer 2001 will walk you through the preparation oflegal documents from start to finish. Get help deciding on the documents thatyou need and preparing them (based on step-by-step interviewing), then prepareand print your legal documents.

People who have not used personal-finance software in the past should beprepared to spend a few hours entering relevant financial data. However, QuickenSuite 2001 comes with a slew of handy setup assistants and a formidable helpsection. All things considered, this is a comprehensive, relatively easy-to-usesuite of products that is designed to make planning of your finances easier,which is always a good investment. --Gisele Toueg ... Read more

Reviews (7)

DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME
I am incredibly disappointed with Quicken. I am a first time quicken user and was expecting far more from this software. In fact, it seems to me to be the poorest software i have ever seen. When you open the box, there is no instruction manual. The program is slow and crashes continually. The screen and options are redundant and set up in no logical way, giving you the feeling, as you are fooling around, hitting every button (because there is no instruction manual so you are on your own), that there are about 50,000 things quicken can do for you, where really there are only about 8. Preferences and customize options are annoying, and for anyone adept at computers, this program will drive you nuts because it is so rigid -- there are so few options for REALLY customizing quicken to satisfy your needs -- and my needs are the most basic -- i am still a student!!!!!!!!! I wish i had never bought quicken and just set up a spreadsheet on excel for my finances. you can do more on excel than you can do on quicken, and make all the same charts, and do what you want without waiting 8 years for the program to respond every time you push a button and without having to go through a rigamarole to set up loan accounts. use your time learning how to use excel's beginner and advanced features, NOT quicken's useless ones!!!

A quicken user since version 2.0
I've used Quicken since 1994 when I bought my first computer and Quick 2.0 came preinstalled. Since then I've tried MS-Money twice. I keep going back to Quicken. It's intuitive, logical and makes reconciling the check book a breeze. I admit that my finaces are fairly simple and others may need the deluxe or small business versions of the program, but I think for the average person the basic program is perfect. I don't upgrade every year. I don't think there's a need to. I moved from version 2.0 to Quicken 98 to the current version. The program is very stable. I haven't had problems with bugs or crashes in any version. I recommend it.

Intuit does not stand behind its product anymore
Having been a Quicken user for many years I upgraded to Quicken 2001 for the internet downloading features. Be very careful if you do this! Although the regular banking seems OK, the investment price history updating puts in the WRONG NUMBERS. Mine even added security prices for the year 2003! All the software support options are charged for at ~$10/query.

Intuit has hit on a good way of making money: write a sloppy product, don't test it and charge your customers for finding the problems. Oh, and make yourselves very difficult to contact.

Check out the forums on the Quicken web site to get a flavour for what to expect if you are seriously considering a purchase.

A Very Good Suite of Products For Home
All three of these items have proven very useful for home use. I have been a Quicken user for years, and the 2001 edition is well worth the purchase. Turbo Tax Deluxe is worth the extra cost over standard Turbo Tax because one electronic filing and one individual state filing is included. You have to pay additional money in the standard package for those features. Plus, in the deluxe version there is great and useful tax information and assistance. The Family Lawyer is also well worth the investment. My wife and I saved the expense of hiring a lawyer to draft our wills, plus we were able to develop a few other legalese forms for childcare and the like. No telling how much money that saved us. This suite is worth dishing out a few bucks to have in your office.

Quicken Basic is very basic
The Basic version of Quicken 2001 appears to be a tickler only. This version was purchased for the simple task of printing checks (due to my poor handwriting), but there is insufficient flexibility in formatting the print to (1)change the memo, and (2)align the fields on my checks. I am sure that with Quicken check forms it would do better, but that should have been mentioned in the specifications. The Help instructions seem to be written for a different version of Quicken, as they mention course and fine print-field adjustments that were not available on the Basic version of 2001. E-mail help, which is now fairly standard at other software publishers, is not (yet) available. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A bargain at half the price!
As a result of the low price I was not expecting much but sadly I was still disappointed. I had the opportunity to see the product's package at a local store. If the product only delivered the functionality displayed on its package it would be worth the price. Add in free tech support, how could you go wrong? You start by missing one of your primary objectives then you add some bugs and weak tech support. The package displays a beautiful printed bid, the product doesn't. The bid lacks formatting, has no grand totals and can't be tied to the customer database. Tech support acknowledged that the developers were unable to get the customer data on the bid but that they hoped they would be able to figure it out at some time in the future. As for bugs, if you try to print with your printer off you get a runtime error and the program ends. If you have a broadband Internet connection and you attempt to update the database you will spend some time closing a multitude of update complete message boxes before you can exit the program. Tech support couldn't answer questions about the product and despite promises never called back with the answer. There are other strange things such as "drop and drag" functionality that is implemented by selecting a record and clicking a button on the tool bar. On the bright side I guess it will save wear and tear on your mouse. ... Read more

Features

• Turns your handheld into an entertaining tool for children ages 3-7
• Requires a password to exit application, ensuring your data stays safe
• 6 classic childhood games help kids learn and encourages creativity
• Games include Match, Paint, Draw, FollowMe, ScratchOff, and PuzzlePath
• Perfect for car trips, waiting rooms, or unexpected snippets of time

Features

• Add on or create your own templates to match the way you work.
• Carry a single computer for all your needs without losing your calculator's functionality.
• Calculate the way you prefer: RPN, order and chain input modes; quick access to routine functions.
• Templates appear like mini-spreadsheets, making it easy to verify your information, show clients, and work with colleagues.
• Save calculations for later review; print calculations for your own or your client's files.