Financial Programs Varied And Powerful

"Managing Your Money" MECA Software (800) 288-6322 Windows, DOS, Macintosh $39.95 Shipping in mid-November

"Managing Your Money" is as far behind "Quicken" in popularity as the Macintosh is behind the IBM-compatible PC. That may have more to do with superb marketing by Intuit, or "Quicken's" traditional ease of use, than features.

In fact, until quite recently, "Managing Your Money" was often rated as the most powerful of the personal finance programs, particularly in the way it handled investments beyond checking and savings. Other programs are catching up in the features category, and "Managing Your Money" is working to become easier to use.

This program always has featured the humorous and sound advice of Andrew Tobias, author of best-selling books on finance. Now it has an interface called the SmartDesk. Instead of finding each area of the program through menus (which are still here) or graphic icons and buttons (which are here, too), you click on objects in an image of a typical office. The objects represent such activities as accounts, insurance analysis, investments, entering transactions into the register, printing checks and scheduling payments in a calendar.

SmartDesk appeared in Version 1.0 for Windows, but MECA says it will now be in all three versions: DOS, Windows and Macintosh, which will also have nearly identical abilities.

Underneath this interface is still the long list of features the program has long boasted, though here, too, there are changes to make it easier to understand and use. The checkbook, for instance, looks more realistic than ever. You may not even remember you're using a computer.

The new Home Inventory Manager, where you can note and track the value of your belongings (including software), is useful for keeping contracts and warranties current, and for handling insurance claims. Only "Quicken" competes in this area.

"Managing Your Money" is still a formidable force in investments and planning. You can analyze investments, such as for bond yields or liquidity, and directly generate information for investment taxes. It will even tackle puts and calls and collectibles without a separate utility.

Mortgage refinancing, tuition, life insurance, three-year budgeting and retirement are more thoroughly planned than in most competing programs. And the answers include Tobias' suggestions and advice. That's a big plus.

What the program didn't have in its previous version was on-line strength. The new version adds some. There's CheckFree for paying bills. You'll also find QuoteLink, which works through CompuServe to automatically update stock prices. You still don't find on-line banking or on-line credit-card accounts.

But MECA is working with other software makers to create add-ons that will handle these and other sophisticated chores. Successful developments here could push "Managing Your Money" ahead of "Quicken" in more niches.

"Microsoft Money," Version 3.0 Microsoft Corp. (800) 426-9400 Windows $29.95 Shipping now

"Microsoft Money," Version 3.0, looks a lot like "Quicken." Previous versions of "Quicken," that is.

"Money" has the on-screen checkbook (for entering transactions, then printing the checks), as well as registers for tracking the transactions and balances in all other types of accounts: cash, credit card, and so on. These can come from your own typed entries or from imported "Quicken" files.

Financial Wizards step you through loan, mortgage, savings, interest and retirement planning, asking you to enter basic details and then calculating, displaying and explaining the results.

You can view lists of your accounts in "Money," and of your payees, expense categories, loans, investments, and even of currency exchange rates. A "classifications" feature lets you allocate expenses by projects, clients or properties, not just by their main categories.

Reports on transactions, income and expenses, budget, net worth, loan payments and taxes are quick to come by, as are investment reports on transactions, capital gains, market value, performance and price history. Previous versions of "Money" were weak here.

The program's flair is its on-line features. There's an on-line bill-payment option that's something like CheckFree. On-line updates of stocks, bonds and other securities are also available.

Microsoft has announced that it also will start shipping "Reuters Money Network Lite" with "Money." This is a starter kit for the well-known investors' program that allows the user to receive on-line quotes, research, analysis and even investment alerts (such as price changes) and trading through on-line discount brokers. This version will let you sign on for a free month of Reuters, after which you have to pay the monthly fees of $13 to $20 or more for continuing service.

On-line banking is where "Money" tries to be unique. I say "tries" because "Money" may be ready, but the banking world isn't. "Money" lets you check your balance, transfer money between accounts, do pretty much anything except pull cash out of your printer. The clinker is that it works with only four banks so far: Chase Manhattan, First National Bank of Chicago, Michigan Nationalbank and U.S. Bank.

The big news with "Money," of course, is that Microsoft is unloading it by selling the program to software giant Novell. That was part of Microsoft's deal in acquiring Intuit and its software powerhouse "Quicken." A Microsoft spokesman says, "Money" will continue to operate as in the past until the deal is consummated.

"Kiplinger's Simply Money," Version 2.0 Home Productions-Computer Associates (800) 225-5224 Windows $39.95 Shipping now

In "Kiplinger's Simply Money," Version 2.0, you'll find all the basics - check printing, savings, credit-card accounts, reconciling and balancing, budgeting and importing - from "Quicken."

You won't feel shorted in the reports area, where you can choose from table or graph reports on income and expense, assets and liabilities, investments, and so on, with options in each area.

You'll also find advanced features such as auto-budgeting, portfolio tracking and updating - through your modem to an on-line 900 quotes service - and even a scheduler for setting dates for transactions, such as reminders that it's time to write a check. CompuServe customers can avoid the per-minute charges for investment quotes. CheckFree's on-line bill payment service is also available.

Check out the calculators for loans, refinancing, interest, dividends, investments, adjustable-rate mortgages, life insurance and college funding. I like the extension of expense categories to larger groupings of expense classifications, which lets you separate what comes in and goes out for different projects or areas of your life.

For example, you don't have to just lump all "supplies" expenses into one category, but can subdivide them into supplies for your home-computing business, supplies for your travel-writing business and supplies for your personal use.

That's solid stuff but very similar to the competition. What is unusual about "Simply Money" crops up in interface and advice. There are few menus. Instead, almost every command or option or account is represented by a stamp-sized icon on the screen. You can drag and drop information from one area to another, pulling it around on screen with your mouse, instead of looking for special menu commands to cut and paste it here and there.

At first this seems friendlier, and some may prefer it to the standard look of the other programs. I find it frequently annoying because it forces me to scroll through screens full of icons when the one I want doesn't show up at first glance.

Advice comes in the form of suggestions and explanations from Kiplinger, a company famous for its financial magazines and newsletters. Kiplinger's computer genies are always in the background of "Simply Money," watching what you do.

When they have a good idea related to your actions, a note pops up on screen offering several pages of suggestions and warnings on everything from automobiles and budgeting to mortgages and taxes.

CA won market share last year by offering "Simply Money 1.0" for

about $8. The company claims to have shipped 400,000. It's not a giveaway this year.

"Money Counts," Version 8.0 Parsons Technology (800) 223-6925 DOS, Window $29 Shipping now

"Money Counts" started as a bare-bones checkbook program for PCs running DOS. By last year it had grown into a robust entry in the personal-finance market, available in both DOS and Windows versions. Parsons Technology also makes other software, including the tax-preparation programs "Personal Tax Edge" and "Tax Mate."

Although "Money Counts," Version 8.0, doesn't have the latest virtual-office interface, nor the on-line bill payment or credit-card information services, it does have all the basics: an on-screen checkbook for transactions, check printing, automatic register balancing, a variety of account types, reconciling, budgeting and lots of reports. You'll even find business cash flow and general ledger reports.

A unique facet to these business reports is that "Money Counts" comes with expense categories for not just general home and business use, but also for church, farm and rental property business.

Though you can't monitor your investment status on-line with "Money Counts," you can produce investment reports on earnings, valuation, sales, market value and history, return on investment and maturity dates. "Money Counts" also comes with an Address Book program that lets you record and sort people's names and numbers.

What "Money Counts" doesn't have is a clear future. When Computer Associates started plastering the country with nearly free copies of "Simply Money," Parsons fought back with "Money Mate," an $8 version of "Money Counts" minus the more advanced features.

Meanwhile, "Quicken" and "Managing Your Money" prices dropped significantly, to about $35 at some discount outlets.

Last month, Intuit completed its purchase of Parsons, and now Microsoft is purchasing Intuit. There's no real price difference between "Quicken" and "Money Counts." The same company owns both, but "Quicken" represents the bigger investment and dominates the market. "Quicken" offers more advanced features. "Money Counts" had just fought its way into a competitive position, but you have to suspect it'll disappear in the next several years. That may be the part of the why behind the buy.