Bottom Line: '98 Versions of Quicken, Money Both Good

By LAWRENCE J. MAGID

Nov. 3, 1997 12 AM PT

Thirteen years ago, when I bought my first house, I came to the painful realization that I was financially disorganized. I wasn’t a deadbeat, but I had some 30- and 60-day late payments on my credit report. I had no idea of my bank balance and thought IRA stood for Irish Republican Army.

OK, I exaggerate, but I really did have trouble keeping track of my finances. Somewhere between that first house and my second child, though, I got religion, and now I have a pretty good grasp of what I earn; what I spend; and what I have put away for retirement, my kids’ education and that inevitable “rainy day.”

Some of the credit goes to necessity, but much of it also goes to Quicken, the best-selling personal money management program that I’ve been using for several years.

Every year about this time, Quicken’s publisher, Intuit, issues a new version. So does rival Microsoft with Microsoft Money, software that has evolved into a worthy competitor.

Quicken 98 Deluxe (Windows/Mac, $59.95) and Money 98 Financial Suite (Windows, $59.95) are both excellent full-featured personal finance programs. Both do an excellent job of helping you keep track of what you earn and what you spend. Both have features for budgeting, forecasting, online banking and everything else you need for basic personal accounting.

As you might expect, both firms have added Internet features to their programs in an effort to lure consumers into using the software for home banking and to track credit card and investment accounts.

In the past, both programs let you pay your bills and track your credit cards by dialing into a proprietary service, but that’s passe. If you’re connected to the Internet, you can use either program without having to dial a special number.

Intuit and Microsoft might be competitors, but they’re also business partners. Intuit has integrated Microsoft’s Internet Explorer directly into Quicken. When you use the software to request information about financial institutions, for example, a Web browser opens in the middle of Quicken with the requested information.

Microsoft also has links to the Web, but it brings them up in your Internet browser. Money comes with Internet Explorer 3.02 but also works with Explorer 4.0 and Netscape Navigator.

In general, Microsoft has done an excellent job making its program easy to understand and use. Whereas Quicken lets you open up several windows at a time, Money is organized like the Web--you see one screen at a time and can easily move back to the previous screen by pressing the “Back” button.

You can also navigate by using pull-down menus. And the ease of use extends to providing information that’s easy to understand, such as the new summary report that gives you a monthly snapshot of how your finances are shaping up.

Both programs retain their ease of use when it comes to setting up and managing accounts. Money presents all of your accounts as icons in a Web-like screen. Quicken retains its traditional account display, which is organized by type of account (bank, credit card, investment, etc.).

The Money display is prettier, but, by dividing accounts by type, Quicken makes navigation for people with a lot of accounts simpler.

Quicken also did a better job when it comes to helping you find financial institutions that provide online services. With Money, you type in the name of the institution to determine whether it offers online banking. Quicken pops up a Web page that displays a list of participating institutions. Microsoft has a similar page on its Web site, but you have to find it on your own.

For obvious reasons, Microsoft made it very easy to import Quicken files into Money. There is also an area in the “Help” menu especially for Quicken defectors. Intuit didn’t reciprocate.

Both programs allow you to download free security quotes from the Internet to update the value of your portfolio. In addition, Intuit has formed relationships with several investment houses so you can use the Internet to tap into their records about your personal account. This saves an enormous amount of time and greatly reduces the chances of error when you consider the amount of detail that’s involved with investment tracking. Participating financial institutions include Charles Schwab, Fidelity Investments, E-Trade, Smith Barney and Waterhouse Securities.

Money has a similar feature, which currently works only with Schwab accounts. Microsoft plans to add other investment firms soon, according to product manager Margie Miller.

Both programs provide extensive links to information on the Web. Quicken software also has a feature that takes you to a Web page with information about mortgage and insurance rates. There is some good general information as well as marketing material from institutions with a business relationship with Intuit.

Microsoft also offers information about mortgage rates but, to its credit, doesn’t promote specific lenders. There are lots of other online links. In both products, for example, you can get detailed information about any security in your portfolio by clicking on the security and jumping directly to a Web site with updated quotes and news. You don’t have to own either of these programs to access this financial information--both are also available via the Web.

The Quicken Financial network is at https://www.quicken.com. Microsoft Investor is at https://investor.msn.com. Microsoft also offers its Money Insider magazine at https://www.moneyinsider.com. You can download a free trial 90-day copy of Money at https://www.microsoft.com/money

Microsoft, which used to lag Quicken in the area of planning and goal-setting, has improved these features with its new “Planning” menu that lets you budget for “lifetime goals and events,” to “get out of debt” and “make a budget and savings plan.” For each goal, you answer some simple questions posed by a “wizard,” which, at the end, recommends what to do to accomplish your goal.

The big news for Quicken this year is its new home and business edition ($89.95), which includes everything in Quicken Deluxe plus several features intended for small businesses. Although it’s billed as a personal accounting program, a lot of sole proprietors and other small businesses have been using Quicken to manage their businesses. This special edition of Quicken allows those people to create and track invoices and reimbursements and print business reports such as Schedule C reports and accounting reports on both a cash and an accrual basis.

A reimbursement-flagging feature lets you capture reimbursable expenses directly from your check, cash or credit account registers.

With the improvements in Money, choosing a financial program is no longer such an easy decision. Both programs are excellent, and either will get the job done. Because of its small-business features, Quicken’s Home and Small Business edition is the better choice for people running a business from home.

Either product would be a good choice for personal accounting. Despite Microsoft’s efforts to lure Quicken users, however, I see no reason to change programs if you’re already a Quicken user.

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Finances Online

If you’re looking for financial information on the Internet, there’s plenty out there. Here’s a look at 10 of the financial sites listed in Lycos Top 5% at www.pointcom.com:

Site name: FILL: Financial Information Link Library

Web address: https://www.mbnet.mb.ca:80/~russell/

Site name: Financial Times

Web address: https://www.ft.com/

Site name: Quicken Financial Network

Web address: https://www.qfn.com/

Site name: The Financial Mail

Web address: https://www.atd.co.za/fm/

Site name: Financial Scandals

Web address: https://www.ex.ac.uk/~RDavies/arian/scandals.html

Site name: Financial News Center

Web address: https://www.finnews.com/