Quicken is my most favorite software program that I use on a regular basis. I’ve been using Quicken for about six years. It’s a great way to keep track of all your finances – checking, savings, assets and investments. Quicken is perfect for individuals and small businesses.

The only system requirements listed are for Windows 95, 98, NT4 or 2000.

Installation was a breeze. Since I was upgrading from a previous version of Quicken, it also copied all of my previous financial information into the new Quicken program. This is the second time I have upgraded, and there has not been a problem with either upgrade.

Quicken can be as easy or as complex as you would like it to be. I don’t use all the features because there are so many. I keep track of our checking, savings and investments. If there are multiple users on your computer, the first thing I would suggest you do is password protect your data. That way only you will have access to it.

Setting up each of your accounts is very easy. Quicken guides you through the process. Once your accounts are created, you can begin entering data. It’s best with your checking and savings accounts to go back to your last bank statement and begin entering data from there. You can also enter data back to the beginning of the year if you want to take the time to do it.

In your checking account you can enter the data several different ways. If you wish to print checks on your  printer, you can type in the information as if you are writing a check out of your checkbook . Computer checks are more

expensive than regular checks, so I have never used this feature. However, there are now several software products on the market that interface with Quicken so you can print your entire check on your color printer including the background scenes, your bank’s routing number, etc. These are less costly than buying pre-printed checks through Current, Inc or some other check printing company.

I simply enter our checking transactions into Quicken after we have written checks out of our checkbook because it’s still handy for reconciling your bank statement and producing financial reports. One note — if you plan to write checks on your computer, make sure the check numbers don’t coincide with the check numbers in your checkbook. For example, if your checks in your checkbook are in the 4000 series, you may want to start your computer checks in the 7000 series. You can’t get away entirely from writing checks out of your checkbook unless you are a psychic and know how much money you are going to spend at the grocery store before you go.

Reconciling your accounts with Quicken is a breeze. Have you ever spent hours searching for pennies in your checkbook because it doesn’t match the balance on your statement? That doesn’t happen with Quicken because it doesn’t make adding and subtracting mistakes like you do in your checkbook. And if your balance doesn’t match the bank statement, it’s very easy to go back through your reconciled checks in Quicken and find the mistake. That’s because Quicken lists all your checks and their amounts in numerical order. You simply go down through the list and compare it with the numerical list on your statement. I spend no more than 5 minutes reconciling my checkbook each month.

After I’m done reconciling my checking account at the end of each month, I can produce and print out a report showing our income and expenses for the month. Quicken comes with a preset list of categories for income and expenses that you can use and you can also add your own categories. The report is handy for keeping track of where your money is going. You can use reports that are in Quicken, or you can set-up custom reports to show the information you want to see.

One of the features I like most about Quicken is the portfolio, so I can keep track of our investments. When setting up your accounts in your portfolio, I recommend entering data back to the beginning of the year. This will help when you produce a performance report of your investments for the year. You can keep track of stocks, mutual funds, retirement accounts, etc. in the portfolio section. Once you enter ticker symbols for your accounts all you have to do is ask it to update your portfolio and it will go online to update your accounts (see figure below). Then you can print out a performance report anytime to see how your investments have performed for the year or whatever time period you specify.

Another nice feature of Quicken is Quicken.com. You can connect to their Web site to check the value of your stocks and portfolio as well as get breaking news, alerts and expert analysis on your stocks. You can use the step-by-step stock and fund evaluation tools to help you make the best investing decisions. You can check your bank and credit card balances anytime, anywhere. You can view and pay your bills online and you can get insurance quotes, mortgage rates and tax tips on the spot. Another nice feature about Quicken.com is you can upload all your data to their Web site and you can update it from anywhere in the world. This is extremely handy for anyone who travels a lot.

If you like doing your own taxes, then it’s a breeze with Quicken. Their Turbo Tax products allow you to download the information you have entered in Quicken into their tax forms. It makes preparing your taxes easy. Once you have completed your forms you can either print them out and mail them or file online for a nominal charge.

I could go on and on about Quicken’s features, but space does not permit me to do so. I will simply list some of the other features: online banking, mortgage research online, insurance research online, car values download, home value download, retirement planner, college planner, home purchase planner, debt reduction planner, loan calculator, refinance calculator, savings calculator, college savings calculator and retirement calculator.

If you are not a Quicken user, I would recommend you purchase a copy today. There are so many great features that it makes keeping track of your finances a pleasure. If you don’t like crunching numbers, then Quicken is a must. It will make your life so much easier. If you are like me and you enjoy working with numbers, then Quicken is also a must. This is one software program that will definitely make your life simpler!