Microsoft Money Reviewer's Comments

Though it's not nearly as easy to use as some other accounting software programs, Microsoft Money is good accounting software. The program is divided into nine different categories, including: Home, Business, Banking, Bills, Reports, Budget, Investing, Planning, and Taxes.

Also, this accounting program goes beyond typical small business features to include sections on investing, planning, and budgeting to help you succeed in business and with your personal finances.

Ease of Use:  

Because individual sections aren't clearly labeled, you must hunt around the program to find the features you want. For example, to find Inventory we had to open the Help Section and run a search.

One way Microsoft might improve this program would be to break up each section and label the categories with clear icons such as: Inventory, Accounts Receivable, Payroll, and Job Costing. However, the Banking, Bills, and Reporting Sections are all easy to spot.

This program will run with Vista.

Help/Documentation:  

Microsoft's Help Section is excellent; it comes complete with a search tool and a question mark icon in the corner of your screen so you can find relevant answers quickly.

Accounts Receivable:  

The Accounts Receivable section is substandard. You can make and email invoices, but you can't customize them. Also, you can't track shipments, print shipping labels, or estimate shipping costs. This section has only five reports available.

Accounts Payable:  

This section allows you to make quotes and purchase orders, but you have to go under the Vendor or Customer lists to do so. One hard-to-find feature was the ability to print 1099 tax forms; this is only available in Payroll Service (offered at an extra cost). There are also only two reports available in this category.

Payroll:  

The Payroll Section is another service you must purchase separately. Your first twelve months for this service are free, but all the features for Payroll aren't available unless you purchase this service. You can print W-2, W-3, 941 and 940 tax forms, and there are thirteen payroll reports available.

Inventory:  

The Inventory Section is difficult to locate. We found it by searching the Help Menu. Inventory is under the Products & Services Tool Bar. With this section you can assign a number to each item, set inventory levels, and figure the average cost for each product.

We felt several relevant features were missing from Inventory. For instance, there isn't a way to group items for assemblies (kits, or products that are sold in groups), there are no other accounting cost methods available except for average cost methods, and there isn't a way to specify your stock locations, and you cannot set an item as inactive. We only found one inventory report.

Banking:  

The Banking Section is useful; you can manage all your personal accounts along with all your business assets and invoices. You can add new accounts, sort account lists, and change account details. The only missing tool is the ability to void existing checks. There are six related reports available.

Time Billing:  

The only reference to a Time Billing Section in Microsoft Money is the ability to enter time items. Even though you can enter time billing, there isn't a way to display or track it, and there is only one time report available.

Job Costing:  

We couldn't find a Job Costing Section or reporting capabilities in Microsoft Money.

General Ledger:  

There isn't a General Ledger Section within this program.

Fixed Assets:  

The Fixed Assets Section is only a reporting system for assets and liabilities. Within this section you can view your net worth, account balances, and asset allocation. There are nine different asset and liability reports available.

Summary:  

Microsoft Money is good accounting software, offering personal accounting features alongside the small business features. If you are looking for software that does both, this is the package for you.