Microsoft Money 2003 Deluxe & Business

Installation is simple as a wizard takes you step-by-step through the process. If you're upgrading, the steps are fewer and more easily traversed. Want to switch from Quicken? Money 2003 can do that, too, with a handy file converter. Audio and video help is readily available as well, making the experience even easier for first-timers.

As for features, few things have changed from Money 2002, making upgrading less of a necessity and more of an option. With a new portfolio-customization toolbar and portfolio highlight and analysis reports, most of the added features for personal finance management are aimed at investors. A new online research center is also included, giving you fast access to tools and information such as company reports, earning estimates, market reports, quotes, news, and charts.

On the business side, Money now has payroll support powered by PayCycle, making paydays a little simpler. Some new tax features allow you to get a better handle on things with side-by-side comparisons, capital gains scenarios, and loss carryover features.

What Money continues to do best though is Web integration. Whether you're downloading bank statements, checking stock prices, or paying your bills, all of it can be accessed right in Money. As an additional incentive to take advantage of its Web features, Microsoft has thrown in one year of their online bill paying service, one free online tax preparation and filing, an Equifax credit report, and a consultation with a financial planner.

Money 2003 Deluxe & Business is a great software package for managing your personal and business finances and goals on your Windows PC. While there are only a few reasons for upgrading from 2002, Microsoft continues to give you more bang for your buck. --Josh Goldman

Amazon.com Product Description
Microsoft Money 2003 Deluxe & Business is designed for the sole proprietor or small-business owner who wants to manage both personal and small-business finances in one place. Track your inventory and projects, design customer invoices and send them, analyze your businesses' success, and more. New features include auto balancing, a bills estimator, and the creation of spending comparison reports.

Money helps you save time organizing and managing your finances. Easily balance your checkbook, create and track a budget, manage your cash flow, pay your bills, organize your finances, and view a complete picture of your financial health in one place. Achieve your future financial goals such as reducing your debt, forecasting your cash flow, planning for retirement, financing an education, or saving to buy a house or car.

Microsoft Money 2003 Deluxe & Business features improved bill management, an invoice designer with new online templates, and the ability to save up to five scenarios to compare options of realized capital gains. Track equity and index calls, puts, and LEAPs. Even use Money's tracking and prediction tools for business accounts and categories to examine your cash flow. Money 2003 Deluxe & Business is a complete solution for personal and business finance management on your PC.

Product Description
Microsoft Money 2003 Deluxe and Business is the tool you need for managing your day-to-day finances while preparing for a mortgage, taxes, retirement and more! Business accounts and categories Manage your equity options, track puts and LEAPs and calculate gains and losses on your options Try out different money-making scenarioes with the Capital Gains Estimator All the tools you need for financial security and independence are here

At first I was going to buy Microsoft Money Deluxe 2003. But, for just a little extra, I decided to try the Deluxe & Business version instead. I have a small internet side business and I thought this would be a perfect fit.

First, let me address the home portion of the program:
This is an incredible step-up from the equivalent version of Quicken. The interface is simple, the program is not "buggy", and the online help is more than comprehensive enough to get you through even the toughest of problems. Because I was already using the 2003 version of Quicken, I was not able to automatically transfer my Quicken file, so I cannot comment on how that particular feature works. But I can certainly tell you that setting up all of my accounts from scratch (and I have quite a few) was more than simple. All of the online banking features worked flawlessly, and I was up and running in about 3 hours - start to finish. And with much less frustration than with Quicken.

As for the business portion of the program:
This area is, admittedly, not very advanced. It is good for very small side businesses (such as mine), but for anything more comprehensive, you may want to look elsewhere. I think the problem with marketing these two features together is that a lot of people may be expecting too much out of the business portion of the program, so they tend to write-off the whole thing. This program is intended only for the very smalest home business owner. If you are looking for anything more comprehensive than that, my advice would be to invest in the standard or deluxe versions of Micrsoft Money for your personal finances, and look elsewhere for a more comprehensive accounting program for your business finances. But if you decide to go the frugal route, expect to get what you pay for.

In conclusion, Microsoft Money is, in my estimation, 10x easier to use than Quicken and is laid out in a much nicer fashion. In addition, there are no bugs that I could find, whereas Quicken was giving me constant problems (browser conflicts, lock-ups, etc.) Take it from a long time Quicken user - It's not too late to switch. Go buy Microsoft Money today.


save your money, buy a different program   February 24, 2003
Tim Lively (Big Pine Key, Florida USA)
2 out of 11 found this review helpful

Frustrating program, frustrating help system. Most features do not work. Worthless for business.


Money 2003 Deluxe& Business weak for business   February 11, 2003
Edward W. Duhaime (Westminster, Colorado)
I purchased Money 2003 Deluxe & Business to include my wife's self-employed service business. The regular 'home' part of the program is fairly good and has lots of feature. The business part lacks quite a bit in several areas. The invoice designer wouldn't save a modified version on my Win 98 machine but works on Win Me on my notebook. Modification are rather limited. Certain fields have to stay in a certain frames within the Invoice. Worse, payment of invoices doesn't allow to enter a check number. When a payment is received and put into an account it becomes divorced from the invoice. The invoice shows having been paid but it is no longer associated with the actual payment entry. Makes it very hard to look and and figure out when problems arise. Also the business reports are almost un customizable except in a few minor things. Very frustrating. Accounts can't be designated as business accounts, distinguished from home accounts. Also 'project' information can not be put on invoices. Fields (such as customer name) are limited in size. Some Businesses have more than 20 or so characters in their name!
Anyway, it looks like we will be buying the Quicken equivalent. From the 'tour' of the Quicken site at least we can enter a check number against an invoice!


Quicken vs. Money: and the winner is...   January 26, 2003
Well, I don't either program wins on all counts. I tried both and experienced frustrations with each. In the end, I stuck with Quicken only because Money couldn't import my Quicken data as promised.

Both just seem too hard to learn. I am a computer wiz and found them both hard to use -- I can't imagine others trying to get the hang of it. They really need to stop adding features and focus on the usability of the programs. But overall, I would have to say Money did have a cleaner interface that was easier to master.

However, both really fail at invoicing. They both claim you can create custom invoices, but the customization is extremely limited and messes things up so much that you eventually just end up using the defaults.

So why did I stick with Quicken? Well, Money guarantees that it can import your information from Quicken, but it failed to import my data. Microsoft technical support tried a few simple solutions, but then told me "tough luck." I wan't about to reenter a years worth of info, so I retreated back to Quicken since Money wasn't that much better to make it worth my while.