Quicken vs. Money
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I used Quicken a long time ago and switched to Microsoft Money in '97 and have been using it since, but lately I'm fed up. I archived some data a while back and it set the opening balances of all my accounts - including the simple bank registers - to incorrect values! Only after did I check the newsgroup and see that it's always been a problem. There's also many other annoyances, like the total amount I specify to spend on dept accounts in the Dept Reduction Planner isn't carried across correctly into my budget so it always tells me to pay more than I should and then shows (fortunately accurately) that I'm over budget. The list goes on... Generally, I'm pretty happy with Microsoft products, but this is messing around with my money (or lack thereof) and I just can't accept it anymore. Even the archiving problem has never been fixed and I can't keep letting my data file increase to the point where doing anything takes forever (and sometimes crashes the app). So I checked out Quicken again after all these years. They finally don't use the stupid X and check-mark buttons anymore (phew!), but they don't provide a demo that I could find on their site and the demo Flash animations don't really show what I want to know. Has anyone else used these two products? What were your likes and dislikes about each? Would you recommend one over the other, and why?
Microsoft MVP, Visual C# My Articles
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I used Quicken a long time ago and switched to Microsoft Money in '97 and have been using it since, but lately I'm fed up. I archived some data a while back and it set the opening balances of all my accounts - including the simple bank registers - to incorrect values! Only after did I check the newsgroup and see that it's always been a problem. There's also many other annoyances, like the total amount I specify to spend on dept accounts in the Dept Reduction Planner isn't carried across correctly into my budget so it always tells me to pay more than I should and then shows (fortunately accurately) that I'm over budget. The list goes on... Generally, I'm pretty happy with Microsoft products, but this is messing around with my money (or lack thereof) and I just can't accept it anymore. Even the archiving problem has never been fixed and I can't keep letting my data file increase to the point where doing anything takes forever (and sometimes crashes the app). So I checked out Quicken again after all these years. They finally don't use the stupid X and check-mark buttons anymore (phew!), but they don't provide a demo that I could find on their site and the demo Flash animations don't really show what I want to know. Has anyone else used these two products? What were your likes and dislikes about each? Would you recommend one over the other, and why?
Microsoft MVP, Visual C# My Articles
I did a Money vs. Quicken comparison several years ago and chose Quicken (I have transactions that go back to 1985). I use it to track all of my (meager) investments. The only thing that seems to be hard to do is in the stocks area - when a company spins off a division to a separate company with its own stock). Regular account stuff (like checking and savings) is a snap. Steve
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I used Quicken a long time ago and switched to Microsoft Money in '97 and have been using it since, but lately I'm fed up. I archived some data a while back and it set the opening balances of all my accounts - including the simple bank registers - to incorrect values! Only after did I check the newsgroup and see that it's always been a problem. There's also many other annoyances, like the total amount I specify to spend on dept accounts in the Dept Reduction Planner isn't carried across correctly into my budget so it always tells me to pay more than I should and then shows (fortunately accurately) that I'm over budget. The list goes on... Generally, I'm pretty happy with Microsoft products, but this is messing around with my money (or lack thereof) and I just can't accept it anymore. Even the archiving problem has never been fixed and I can't keep letting my data file increase to the point where doing anything takes forever (and sometimes crashes the app). So I checked out Quicken again after all these years. They finally don't use the stupid X and check-mark buttons anymore (phew!), but they don't provide a demo that I could find on their site and the demo Flash animations don't really show what I want to know. Has anyone else used these two products? What were your likes and dislikes about each? Would you recommend one over the other, and why?
Microsoft MVP, Visual C# My Articles
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I used Quicken a long time ago and switched to Microsoft Money in '97 and have been using it since, but lately I'm fed up. I archived some data a while back and it set the opening balances of all my accounts - including the simple bank registers - to incorrect values! Only after did I check the newsgroup and see that it's always been a problem. There's also many other annoyances, like the total amount I specify to spend on dept accounts in the Dept Reduction Planner isn't carried across correctly into my budget so it always tells me to pay more than I should and then shows (fortunately accurately) that I'm over budget. The list goes on... Generally, I'm pretty happy with Microsoft products, but this is messing around with my money (or lack thereof) and I just can't accept it anymore. Even the archiving problem has never been fixed and I can't keep letting my data file increase to the point where doing anything takes forever (and sometimes crashes the app). So I checked out Quicken again after all these years. They finally don't use the stupid X and check-mark buttons anymore (phew!), but they don't provide a demo that I could find on their site and the demo Flash animations don't really show what I want to know. Has anyone else used these two products? What were your likes and dislikes about each? Would you recommend one over the other, and why?
Microsoft MVP, Visual C# My Articles
In my opinion Microsoft are not really application developers. They are OS and tool developers that enable other, more focused and competent houses to develope business applications. Last time I heard they themselves were running SAP, which would be a tad overkill for a small business, but I would really look for an accounting package from an accounting software firm. I don't know what is available worldwide, but locally Pastel and AccPac seem to be the most common choices. "Since we don't know where we're going, we have to stick together in case someone gets there." - Ken Kesey 1935 - 2001
My blog. -
I used Quicken a long time ago and switched to Microsoft Money in '97 and have been using it since, but lately I'm fed up. I archived some data a while back and it set the opening balances of all my accounts - including the simple bank registers - to incorrect values! Only after did I check the newsgroup and see that it's always been a problem. There's also many other annoyances, like the total amount I specify to spend on dept accounts in the Dept Reduction Planner isn't carried across correctly into my budget so it always tells me to pay more than I should and then shows (fortunately accurately) that I'm over budget. The list goes on... Generally, I'm pretty happy with Microsoft products, but this is messing around with my money (or lack thereof) and I just can't accept it anymore. Even the archiving problem has never been fixed and I can't keep letting my data file increase to the point where doing anything takes forever (and sometimes crashes the app). So I checked out Quicken again after all these years. They finally don't use the stupid X and check-mark buttons anymore (phew!), but they don't provide a demo that I could find on their site and the demo Flash animations don't really show what I want to know. Has anyone else used these two products? What were your likes and dislikes about each? Would you recommend one over the other, and why?
Microsoft MVP, Visual C# My Articles
I've never used Money, and thanks to your information, I'm glad of it. I have used Quicken, Quickbooks, and Quickbook Pro though, and they all drive me nuts. Having learned traditional double-entry accounting I find the Quicken line completely unintuitive and frustrating to use. For most, however, they do a perfectly adequate job, and probably simplify life a great deal for the majority of folks who have trouble just balancing a checkbook. On the plus side of the ledger, I've never caught any of them in an error.:-D And just as a side note, they have licensing and upgrade policies now that make Microsoft seem benevolent by comparison. Check out Ed Foster's Gripe Line articles and website for details. Some people think of it as a six-pack; I consider it more of a support group.
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I used Quicken a long time ago and switched to Microsoft Money in '97 and have been using it since, but lately I'm fed up. I archived some data a while back and it set the opening balances of all my accounts - including the simple bank registers - to incorrect values! Only after did I check the newsgroup and see that it's always been a problem. There's also many other annoyances, like the total amount I specify to spend on dept accounts in the Dept Reduction Planner isn't carried across correctly into my budget so it always tells me to pay more than I should and then shows (fortunately accurately) that I'm over budget. The list goes on... Generally, I'm pretty happy with Microsoft products, but this is messing around with my money (or lack thereof) and I just can't accept it anymore. Even the archiving problem has never been fixed and I can't keep letting my data file increase to the point where doing anything takes forever (and sometimes crashes the app). So I checked out Quicken again after all these years. They finally don't use the stupid X and check-mark buttons anymore (phew!), but they don't provide a demo that I could find on their site and the demo Flash animations don't really show what I want to know. Has anyone else used these two products? What were your likes and dislikes about each? Would you recommend one over the other, and why?
Microsoft MVP, Visual C# My Articles
Heath Stewart wrote: Has anyone else used these two products? What were your likes and dislikes about each? Would you recommend one over the other, and why? I could *shoot* you over a copy of Quicken 2002 if your interesting in playing with it before you buy anything, let me know. ;) - Nick Parker
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One thing that I absolutely hate about Money is that you cannot select multiple transaction and reconcile them with one click. It is so annoying and time consuming to click on each transaction to do this.
If you use the balance wizard when you get your bank statements, that's all pretty much automated (if your register is current, which online banking really helps).
Microsoft MVP, Visual C# My Articles