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LCCS Members' Reviews and Articles

Review published in Random Bits, January, 2000

Smart Home Manager, version 2, from Surado Solutions, Inc

Evaluated by Jean Baldwin, LCCS Member

System requirements

IBM PC or compatible with 80486, Pentium or better processor; 8 megabytes of RAM; 18-25 megabytes of storage space; VGA or Super VGA graphics/video card; mouse. (Yes, the book did actually say "mouse." The software is dated 1997.)

Installation: Installing the software followed regular protocol — insert disk, double click installer icon and follow directions. I had no trouble with that.

Operation

Smart Home Manager (as opposed to "dumb" home manager?) does offer a multitude of tools for household management, from finances to personal journals. And you can keep nosy family members out of your journal by using the password system available. Family members can be either users on the family account or have a separate SHM account set up for each of them.

There is a tutorial with this program which is helpful. It describes each function with examples. The instruction book is a little over 150 pages and is actually pretty easy to use. The language seems to me to be user friendly and specific. I particularly liked Appendix A which listed shortcut or "quick" keys which I like to use.

When running the software for the first time, an initialization screen appears where you type in the serial number, household name, full name of user, login name and then the infamous password. I should have paid more attention to the instructions where it says "Since you can ONLY get access to SHM with a valid password, please enter a password that you can remember." I’m sure none of you readers needed to be reminded of this but I couldn’t remember what password I used the second time I opened the program. After several tries of my favorite passwords, I happened on the correct one. Didn’t forget it after that!

Tracking income and expenses.

Income and expenses can either be entered as you would in a checkbook or using an income/payment screen. Once the transactions are recorded, there are 100 pre-defined financial reports available. Expense items are set up in categories and subcategories, e.g., category: utilities; subcategories: gas, water, electric and telephone. This allows you to track total amount of utilities as well as a breakdown of each individual utility. Expenses can also be linked to a tax category. Smart Home Manager comes with default categories and subcategories, but you can add, delete or change them.

When dealing with expenses, you can also set up a payee list so that you do not have to enter their names over and over; they will appear on a drop-down list. This also relates to check writing where the address can also be included. Also expense accounts can be set up to track credit card accounts and have at your fingertips any information you deem important about that account.

Expenses are recorded either through a payment screen or a banking module, the difference being that the banking module is like entering information into the account book, such as a checking account where all the entries and a running balance are displayed.

There are other options regarding expenses but it would take three more pages to describe them all as well as the reports available.

Tracking income works in the same manner as expenses. Recurrent income items can be placed on a scheduler and you will be reminded to post them. Once you set up an income item for your paycheck, each paycheck can be recorded with all the appropriate deductions posted to the different categories.

Once different bank accounts are set up, there are a number of options available including statement reconciliation. Loan accounts can also be set up and tracked.

Writing and printing checks. The procedure is simple to write and print checks if you wish to purchase checks for your computer.

Tax related reports. Smart Home Manager can create reports for your tax planning and tax return if needed. Since I can phone my tax return in, I didn’t spend much time on this section.

Financial calculators. Chapter 9 deals with planning your financial future. Everything from college expenses to retirement is covered. Small projects can be managed and tracked. A budget can be created.

Tracking investment accounts. Smart Home Manager provides a way to keep track of your investments, do projections and access the Internet for all kinds of investment information.

Household activity module. There are available twenty-two database selections, including address/telephone book, medical records, household inventory, warranty records, hobbies and collections, insurance policies, project planning, scheduling, to-do lists, to name just a few. And you do not have to limit yourself to words only. For instance, in Household Activities, you can select Recipe Book and record your recipes on several screens (folders). There is an option through a Smart Links key that allows you to paste a picture of the recipe item if you have the Windows software to create the picture. I tried it out just using a clip art object and it worked easily. The directions advise that you have a minimum of 12 megabytes of RAM and sufficient hard drive space to use Smart Links extensively. The Smart Links option allows you to attach a windows software object to a record in a screen that supports Smart Links.

My favorite activity is the Wine List. You can enter every possible bit of information about your favorite wines, including % alcohol and vineyard, whether it is sweet or dry, and how many bottles you have on hand.

To get to the various activities, you simply click through the screens until you get to the activity you want. Once you get to the record screen, you click on the create new record icon and you are on your way to organizing your household from top to bottom.

Website tracker. This option allows you to organize you favorite web sites by title and category. Once you have organized your sites in Smart Home Manager, you can even launch your site directly from this program.

As with most current software, there is a link to the company’s Web site where you can find information on product updates, tips and frequently asked questions, technical support, SHM news, and links to other financial sites.

Smart Home Manager has an extensive Help menu set up in an orderly and efficient manner. I know, I used it many times. Technical support can also be accessed by fax or e-mail or as a last resort by phone.

Summary

If organizing your household records and getting a handle on where all that money went is a priority for you, this Smart Home Manager will meet your needs. The program is easily understood, at least the basics, with the help of the instruction book. The graphs will visually illustrate what went where which sometimes makes a greater impact than viewing just the numbers. I would recommend this program to both the intermediate and advanced user.

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