Saturday, December 29, 2007

Quicken (R TM) & Quickbooks (R TM)

I am an avid user of Quicken, financial software by Intuit that came pre-loaded with my Gateway computer back at the top of the millennium in 2000. My goodness, that's eight years ago. Prior to that, James and I used the old-fashioned Budget Sheet (visit http://www.rollingenterprises.com/MEDIA___RESOURCES.html to download your Personalized Budget Sheet for FREE) and Excel. We still use the Budget Sheet--established in our household in the mid-1990's--when payday rolls around; and the Excel spreadsheet when organizing our tax information for our Accountant.

As for Quicken, I don't know how our home would have been able to fiscally operate without it. In my opinion, it is user-friendly and has so many features that help me to stay financially organized. I like it because:
• it's similar to inputting entries into a transaction register;
• it automatically calculates my balances once I input an entry; so long as I keep the entries updated (e.g., debit transactions),
• it reflects a more accurate "real-time" balance than my bank. I could download Quicken data with my bank records, but I haven't gotten that far. Instead, I place my Quicken screen side-by-side to the bank's online screen so I can compare figures, see which checks have not yet been cleared, and reconcile my records to match that of the bank;
• I can create summaries, pie charts and graphs (e.g., how much money spent on gas and groceries in 2007);
• And much more!
Since I am also a small business owner, I have long wanted to become familiar with Quickbooks. I understand that it's integrative. If so, this is appealing to me, because right now, when I have a book sale, I go into my address book to add a book patron; my inventory spreadsheet to update the inventory; and Quicken to log in the revenue.

The South Side Innovation Center (SSIC) is providing training on Quickbooks for four sessions in January 2008. Cost: $40, but $20 for Southside Entrepreneur Association (SSEA) members (see 12-12-07 entry). Savings: $20. The benefit will far, far outweigh the cost for me.