Amazon.co.uk Review
Like the 10 editions that preceded it,
Money 2003 offers powerful personal finance management for home users. This edition includes all of the features that made previous editions invaluable to those trying to get a handle on their finances.
Money 2003 offers account management, budgeting, planning and spending reports and a lot more. These features form the backbone of the book and have been improved over the last several years. There's little more Microsoft can do to improve these core features.
In recent editions, Microsoft has increased integration with Internet features, linking to MSN Money. The increased dependency on signing into MS Passport continues to baffle users, as the updates it provides can be handled without signing into Passport. In this edition the reliance is even greater: when loading Money Express (the Money-lite) reminder system, it presents a sign-in window when Internet access isn't required, thus slowing down use.
Users upgrading from a previous edition will find very little to write home about apart from some user-interface and report tweaks, a more customisable and detailed homepage, background connection to your banks and more links to MSN Money and FTyourmoney.com. There's a small performance improvement over 2002: users of the Financial Suite edition ( Money 2003 Financial Suite) get improved investing tools for research and portfolio management and Quicken users will as usual find that there is a converter wizard should they want to transfer their Quicken data.
As with all personal finance management products, the benefit users get from this will be determined by the effort they put in. Money 2003 is a high-quality personal finance package that with regular use proves extremely beneficial. --Colin Neal
Manufacturer's Description
Microsoft Money 2003 Standard provides a quick and easy way to organize and manage your personal finances. New features include auto balancing, a bills estimator, spending comparison reports, and investment reminders.
Save time organizing and managing your cash flow and balancing your checkbook. Create and track a budget, pay your bills, organize your finances, and view a complete picture of your financial health all in one place. Achieving your future financial goals is also made simple with Microsoft Money. Reduce your debt, forecast your cash flow, finance an education, or save to buy a house or car. Get a visual picture of income and expenses, category spending, budget, and more.
Money 2003 Standard features improved register reconciliation, better bill management, and the ability to create unlimited custom views of portfolio information and see portfolio values as of specific dates. Automatically balance accounts when they match your downloaded statements. Even define the way payees are matched in downloaded statements to suit your preferences.