Expert’s Rating
Pros
Cons
Our Verdict
There ’s no well covering than Quicken for manag - ing your personal pecuniary resource . With a slew of features that permit you track everything from how much money you spend on Pop - Tarts to your current net worth or how much you ’ve racked up in ATM fees , Quicken can tackle the ordinary , the strange , and everything in between .
As is often the face with applications that already seem to do everything , there ’s little in the latest release that will entice existing user to kick upstairs . But if you ’re still balancing your checkbook with a pen and a calculator , Quicken 2005 has just made it much easier to move to digital account statement .
Fast Account Setup
Before this version , the bane of any new Quicken user ’s cosmos was the account setup summons , which require that you collect all your money box statements and manually record past transactions to bring your Quicken checkbook up - to - date . With this firing , setting up accounts is as wide-eyed as come home on a button , as long as your bank is one of the more than 1,100 bank that indorse Quicken . Using the New Account Assistant characteristic , I was able to choose my bank , choose each of the coin bank accounts that I want to track in Quicken — eight in all — and import all my banking data in less than five minute . ( mark that the New Account Assistant feature requires a subscription to your depository financial institution ’s online banking system , which may leave in a service fee . )
There were some minor tasks to do : I had to categorise each of the import transactions and switch the payee data on some newspaper - check transaction . But , overall , the account setup process was completely painless , and all future updates can be set to download automatically .
Plans for the Future
Unless you were filing a 1040 EZ form , late translation of Quicken ’s revenue enhancement planner were fairly circumscribed when it occur to prognosticate your next tax indebtedness . Quicken 2005 now admit several improvements that make it easy to estimate your taxes , especially if you have a home clientele ( Schedule C ) or a variety of cap gains ( Schedule D ) and losses . However , while the programme does allow for entering more - detailed information , Quicken ’s tax planner is no replacement for a trip to the comptroller , specially if your tax site is even a piffling bit complicated .
When it comes to budgeting , Quicken still go along the process simple . Use the Quick Budget lineament , and Quicken will look at all the transactions you ’ve accede and create a budget for you based on your current spending . you may then well aline your budget by enter or alter dollar amounts according to what you really want them to be . Once your budget entropy is entered , Quicken ’s budget account will compare your actual disbursement to what you intended to spend .
Housekeeping
Another of Quicken ’s Modern feature film is the redesigned Home Inventory app , accessible from within Quicken . This program lets you produce a detailed list of all the important particular you own , so you may track their purchase prices , current economic value , replacement monetary value , and serial numbers , and whether they ’re covered by your insurance policy . you could also drop back photos from your iPhoto depository library to any database item , and create a detailed pic catalog of your possessions .
For all you neatniks , Intuit has made it well-situated to polish off unnecessary category from the political program ’s across-the-board list . Once you ’ve arrogate category to your exist minutes , simply select Remove Unused Categories from the Lists menu , and Quicken will remove all the categories that you do n’t utilise .
In a past review , we mentioned that Quicken 2004 (; April 2004 ) had a hemipteran in the room it account capital gains when you short - sold stock . We ’re pleased to report that this issue has been remedied . The program no longer misreports Das Kapital gain . If you ’re currently using Quicken to give chase stock transaction , you ’ll desire to make the upgrade .
Macworld’s Buying Advice
There ’s little in Quicken 2005 that will make it a must - have rise for all current Quicken user . But if you ’re just begin to loose your traveling bag on your theme check registers , Quicken ’s new account frame-up process has made the move to digital finance cover much well-heeled . In the end , Quicken continue the hands - down good elbow room to dog your personal finances .
