Quicken: Powerful All Encompassing Accounting Software
Quicken has every feature you could want to track money inflows, outflows, bills, budgets and more. You need this ability to track these aspects of your finances to keep you from financial ruin. While Quicken is an effective tool it is not for everyone. If you are a contractor or someone who works on multiple jobs, tracks time, and deals with invoices you should check out FreshBooks instead.
If you want to be financially successful you must take control of your finances. Taking control of your finances can take many shapes but we recommend using accounting software. Some people can use Excel sheets but a turn-key program will save you a lot of headaches and provided features you did not anticipate needing. Enter Quicken.
Quicken is a software program that is purchasable and downloadable from Quicken.com. The program helps businesses and individuals track their finances. It centers on easy-to-use templates that follow cash added or expenses deducted. My statement above is an elementary summary of the functions you can access in Quicken. Not only does Quicken track your cash flow, but it can track your credit cards and provide up-to-date banking information, loans, bills, assets, investments, 401(k), brokerages, trusts, and more.
While that may sound like overkill, I assure you it is but in a good way. The software is competent and can handle almost any financial situation you can track. You may not need most of these features now but may need them as you grow in your financial career. You want space to grow since you will likely use a single accounting software for years. I always enjoy having features that may become useful as I grow in my financial life. I recommend this program to anyone, regardless of where you are in your financial career. If you want to see what this can look like, visit Quicken.com and check out their home page. They show you what it looks like to manage your monthly expenses, view and manage your bills, and track your investment. They also offer a 30-day risk-free trial, so you can check it out before committing to anything.
We covered the program's capabilities, but I want to return and focus on how easy it is to set up and use. When you enter the program, there will be a simple interface. Everything is labeled and easy to navigate. You click a "plus" sign in the top left. A menu will appear that asks you to find the type of financial institution you want to link to or click an offline account, allowing you to select which template you want to add. If you connect to a financial institution, it will ask you to enter your online login information for that platform. For example, if you have an online account with your bank, Quicken will prompt you to use that online information to link your accounts. It is that simple. Once you've connected them, Quicken will create a specific page for that account which is displayed and accessible on the homepage.
If you create your listing, it will ask you to label the listing you want, ranging from loans, assets, investments, and more. There will be a drop-down menu that asks you to select which type of template you want to use. It will create a tab on the homepage, and you can click that tab to help you set up the specific details. If it is an asset, then you click asset. If it is a loan, click the loan tab; once you click the template type, you're all set. For a loan, it will prompt you to enter your loan terms. It is that simple.
If you create your listing, it will ask you to label the listing you want, ranging from loans, assets, investments, and more. There will be a drop-down menu that asks you to select which type of template you want to use. It will create a tab on the homepage, and you can click that tab to help you set up the specific details. If it is an asset, then you click asset. If it is a loan, click the loan tab; once you click the template type, you're all set. For a loan, it will prompt you to enter your loan terms. It is that simple.
On the topic of simplicity, the program makes it easy to access reports about your finances. If you want a quarterly report, you got it. Do you want a yearly report? You got it. A section on the homepage lets you click and access any account you wish to. There are premade templates you click, and it generates the rest. These templates include cash flow and categories comparisons by month/year (including rental income, wage income, cash income, and any category you want). Long story short, this program makes it very easy to see whatever you want.
On the topic of simplicity, the program makes it easy to access reports about your finances. If you want a quarterly report, you got it. Do you want a yearly report? You got it. A section on the homepage lets you click and access any account you wish to. There are premade templates you click, and it generates the rest. These templates include cash flow and categories comparisons by month/year (including rental income, wage income, cash income, and any category you want). Long story short, this program makes it very easy to see whatever you want.
A final aspect I want to touch on is the ability to create budgets and track bills and income. On the top of the homepage is a tab you can click to create a budget. You click it, and it will automatically populate a page showing your income and expenses. It will show you how much you spend on entertainment, medical bills, groceries, and other monthly costs. These reports will help you see where your money is going and whether or not you want to continue down this road with your spending habits. This feature and the bill and income feature are worth their weight in gold. These will help you see what you do with your money each month.
I realize I can only detail some of what this software can do, but it is straightforward. It is very versatile and has every feature you want in accounting software. I have used it for the last eight years with my property business because creating a listing for each property is easy, allowing me to track purchase prices, monthly income, expenses, and taxes. Each morning I can open Quicken to see a list of my properties, their profitability, missed payments, and much more.