OVER 2 YOU 217 (08/02/05)

TAX CALC ALTERNATIVES

I have just received a letter from Intuit stating that they are withdrawing Quicken and TaxCalc from the UK market and ceasing support next year. I have looked at Microsoft Money, my attempt to convert a Quicken file to Money failed (a very simple set of records of a Charity for which I am a trustee and treasurer). My own records are more complex with the usual array of PEPS, unit trusts standing orders etc.

Can anyone suggest an alternative to Microsoft Money developed for the British market? An Internet interface with banks and financial institutions is now virtually essential as is a good technical help line.

Rodney Newth, (retired chartered accountant), via email

I suggest Rodney Newth tries PTP Tax Return (www.ptpgroup.co.uk/), which I know a lot of accountants use to prepare tax returns for their clients. It is fully featured and links to other packages, including PTP Accounts. It is also easy to use with on-screen warnings if you make a mistake, it has a built in Dividend database, calculator, tax return summary and Inland Revenue help sheets and multi-layer security. A single user licence costs £99, the entry-level version, limited to 25 returns sells for £199.

Josh Davies, via email

I was livid when I heard that Intuit was dropping TaxCalc, presumably as a cost cutting measure. I have been using it for the past four years, and been very pleased with it, fortunately it will still be possible to complete 2004 returns. At least one company has stepped into the breach and Rodney Newth and other TaxCalc exiles might be interested in the announcement on the Tax Checker web site (www.taxchecker.co.uk/news/taxcalc_users.asp).

Paul Gere, via email

I would advise anyone wishing to change from using Quicken or Microsoft money (or any other accounting or payroll program) to look at following website: www.moneysoft.co.uk. I have been using Moneysoft programs for about three years and I have nothing but praise for them. They are adaptable to various situations and their technical help is free! It is very quick to input data, and the programs will produce an extensive range of reports.

Janet James, Cheam

Rodney Newth should look at www.data-developments.co.uk and its 'Cashcall' program.

They have a charity accounting package that while primarily designed for churches works well for other charities. I used it for some years for two charitable organisations.  It is a bit longwinded but it does provide for legal reporting requirements and has a number of other useful reporting functions

Albert Webb, via email

Your correspondent might try Moneybox available from www.moneybox.ai/. Moneybox is almost identical to a program that I formerly used on my old Windows 95 Desktop, once sold by Eurosoft under the brand "Personal Home Finance".  It served my accounting needs quite well for several years.  There was just one minor annoyance as regards monthly standing orders set after the 28th day of the month, which I haven't tested in Moneybox. The fact that Moneybox is free for personal use should surely warrant giving it a try.

David F Haslam, via email

Gnucash has the ability to import Quicken files. However, though I don’t think it has a web banking interface. The good news is that it is free and Open Source software, so you can add one if you know how (or know someone who does). It comes bundled in Mandrake Linux, which you can download free (and burn to CD.) It is not much more difficult to install than a big Windows program. You just need reasonable space on the hard disk.

Pete Woods, Ilkeston

STRIKING A CHORD

I am a jazz musician and spent many hours putting our band repertoire of chord charts on a Lotus 1-2-3 Spreadsheet. I did this using the Opus Chords font. This enabled me to use the standard chord symbols such as an equilateral triangle for a major 7th chord, a proper flat symbol rather than a lower case "b" and various other standard symbols. I had to reformat my hard drive and the font has simply disappeared. I've gone through every font I have and none of them support the full range of symbols.  I've looked on the net but can find nothing that completely fits the bill. Can anyone help?

Sandy Barclay, via email

Have a look at: http://cgm.cs.mcgill.ca/~luc/music.html, this has links to a wide variety of music fonts.

Robert Meikle, via email

A font called Musicalsymbols is available from: www.developingwebs.net/flash/sequence.php. I have only tried the flat symbol from this ttf file, it's a bit small but it is better than nothing.

Enrico Cecconi, New Ash Green

You'll find Opus Chords here: www.haxles-paradise.de/fonts/FONTS14.HTM

Nick Jenni, via email

I think that the font is proprietary, i.e. it comes (came?) bundled with a commercial music

Program. I am also a jazz musician and I use the Arial Chords font, which does have a triangle symbol (for major 7th chords), although this particular character does not work seem to work properly on the version of the font that I have.  Unfortunately I don't know of any other fonts that have the triangle symbol.

David Aspinwall, via email

CAN YOU HELP?

I run a Christmas Club collecting savings from its members on a weekly basis. Members can contribute variable amounts on variable dates. The Club bank account accrues interest on contributions and also adds to this occasionally by means of fund raising activities. Can anyone suggest an application or spreadsheet formula by which this income can be fairly divided at Christmas time according to the individual total amounts paid in and the varying time these are on deposit?

Tony Rogers, via email

I wish to potter with some ultra-simple programming, as I did many years ago on the BBC Micro. Does anyone know of a way that I can get back to BASIC on a modern PC? I really mean something like "for x = 1 to 5, y = 1 to 10, print x + y, next y, next x", and preferably something that comes with easy to follow instructions.

Bernard Harrison, via email