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BOOT CAMP 027
MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS
Having spent the thick end of £1500 on a PC you'll be
pleased to know that there are now programs that can tell you exactly how poor
you are, and how long you will have to go without food, to pay for your shiny
new computer…
After word processing and the Internet, financial management
is one of the most popular applications for a PC. It's something computers are
extremely good at and home finance software packages make it easy to check bank
statements, track your personal and household spending and investments. They
can also help to keep the tax man happy, look after the accounts if you are
self-employed, create invoices, calculate and maintain VAT records. What's
more, the latest generation of software has Internet connectivity built-in,
enabling on-line banking and near-real time share pricing to automatically update
the value of your investments.
Once programmed with your details they can produce reports, graphs
and pie charts showing your current position at a glance. Some programs will automatically
prompt you when payments need to be made.
That's fine and dandy, but for those accustomed to keeping
their financial affairs in their head or on scraps of paper in shoeboxes,
computerisation can seem like an over-complicated and an unnecessary
upheaval. It's needn't be, but it does require
a certain amount of discipline, such as keeping the computer up to date with all
income and outgoings. Nevertheless, that's a small price to pay for the many
benefits. Putting your finances in the hands of your PC will help you to manage
your money much more efficiently. You'll be able to plan for the future more
easily, bills won't come as such a nasty surprise, you can produce an instant
fiscal report at any time and get an up to date valuation of your investment
portfolio.
A lot of people are naturally concerned about safety and
security. What happens if the computer crashes, or your house catches fire, could
someone hack into your PC? You have to ask yourself what would happen to your
present record-keeping system in such circumstances? Computers are no more or
less vulnerable to catastrophe or interference than any other medium. Files are
easily protected by making regular backups on floppy disc, high-capacity disc,
tape and paper printout, which can be kept in a safe place. All packages have
this provision; provided you take sensible precautions at the very worst all
you would loose was the last few entries. Security needn't be an issue either.
Most programs have several levels of password or PIN coded protection, that
prevents access to your records, either on the PC hard disc or backup discs,
it's up to you to use them.
The most time-consuming job is setting up a money management
program for the first time, though you don't have to do it one session. The
best time to start is at the beginning or end of a month, or whenever you get a
bank statement, when you have up to date information to hand. Choose the first
day of the previous month as the start date so you'll be able to reconcile the
first month without any difficulty. You can of course elect to use an earlier start
date, this will involve a lot of extra work, though it will give you a more
complete picture of your past financial record, which might be useful for
long-term planning
Several of the most popular home finance titles are quite
capable of looking after the books for the self-employed or those working from
home. The same general advice applies, though it makes life easier if the start
date coincides with the start of your financial year or the tax year in April,
when you can begin with a more or less clean slate.
Accountants like computerised books, it makes their lives a
lot easier -- particularly if you've got a relaxed attitude towards record
keeping and spidery handwriting -- it might even persuade them to reduce the
size of their annual bills… Unfortunately the Inland Revenue still insist that
personal tax returns be submitted on their own forms. As yet no program is able
to reliably print entries on official stationery, however, it's a simple enough
matter to prepare an IR-friendly return when all the information you need is no
more than a few mouse clicks away.
There's a dozen or more money management programs on the
market, aimed at home users and the self employed, but Microsoft Money 98 Financial
Suite and Intuit Quicken 98 Deluxe are widely acknowledged to be the best
all-rounders. Both packages have a recommended selling price of just under £50,
though they can be brought for less than £40, if you shop around. The latest
versions have integrated Internet features. Both packages will run on a wide
range of Windows 95 PCs, (Quicken will also run under Windows 3.x), from 486's
upwards, though the multimedia content on the supplied CD-ROMs, which includes
tutorials, will look better on Pentium-based machines.
Both programs are reasonably easy to set up and use, with
Wizards to help get you up and running in just a few minutes. Money 98 is a
major revamp of the previous version of MS Money; this one now has an Internet style
browser interface, that looks and works a lot like a web page. Unlike some programs
that were originally written for the US market, this one has been comprehensively
anglicised, with up to date information on UK taxation, mortgages, insurance
and investments. However, it may not be well suited to absolute beginners. The on-line
help has also come in for some criticism though it does benefit from a high
level of customisation.
Intuit has taken a more evolutionary approach with Quicken
98 Deluxe and users of previous versions will find the new interface friendly
and familiar. It has been written for an UK audience though every now and then
it betrays its American origins. However, it is the easier of the two to use
for a first-timer and slightly better equipped for the self-employed. Internet
browsers are included in both programs (MS Explorer 3.02 in both instances),
giving direct access to dedicated home pages on the web, from where you can set
up personal portfolios to automatically update the value of your investments.
If you're still using a pen and paper to look after your
personal finances you should find a PC-based money management package will make
your life a lot easier. It may not make you any richer but at least you'll know
exactly where all your money has gone…
JARGON FILTER
BROWSER
Internet access program
ON-LINE BANKING
A growing number of banks will now allow you to operate your
account by telephone and some (notably Barclays Nationwide, National Westminster
and Royal Bank of Scotland) are now experimenting with direct PC connection,
via the Internet
WIZARD
Simple helper program, used to guide the user through a
program's initial set-up
CONTACTS
Intuit (0800) 585058, www.intuit.co.uk
Microsoft (0345) 0200000, www.microsoft.com
TOP TIP
It doesn't take long for the Taskbar at the bottom of the
screen to fill up with icons; they get smaller as the number increases and it
can be difficult to read the labels. You can easily increase the size of the
taskbar by moving the mouse pointer onto the top edge of the taskbar where it
will turn into a vertical double headed arrow. Click and hold the left mouse
button and you can increase the width of the taskbar by dragging it upwards; it
can be expanded to fill half of the screen if necessary. Clearly this takes up more
room on the desktop, so make the Taskbar disappear, until it is needed. Click
on the Start button, then Settings and Taskbar and check the Auto Hide option.
Form now on the Taskbar will only be shown when the mouse pointer is at the
bottom of the screen.
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