Money 2003 provides a good starting point for anyone who wants to manage their finances.

Close links with MSN Money, Microsoft’s online finance guidance site, mean that there’s also plenty of up-to-date information on share prices and financial products on hand. Online access is closely integrated within the package, which will benefit broadband users. However, those on slower dial-up connections may be frustrated by the extent to which the package relies on Web-based information. In addition to financial information, MSN Money also provides access to online bill payment services through a third-party supplier, Clear. There are also features for sending money between email addresses.

When you first create a new set of accounts with Money, the software guides you through the process of setting up bank details, entering earnings and regular outgoings as well as offering security features. If you’re a fan of Microsoft’s .NET Passport features, you can use these details to password-protect your Money files. The introductory steps also provide a prompt for converting Quicken files for anyone switching between the two packages. During our testing, we successfully converted a Quicken 2001 file to Money’s format.

As a part of the setup process, Money 2003 also identifies financial priorities. These generally relate to major life events, such as saving for retirement or to support children, rather than short-term financial needs. Once you’ve selected some priorities, Money can guide you through tools within the package that will help to fulfil those goals. This is a useful approach that enables you to gain from the product over time as well as in the short term.

Money 2003 does support online banking, but the list of institutions that fully support this facility is even paltrier than Quicken 2002’s. Only Nationwide and Woolwich offer completely integrated banking, although there’s a wide selection of institutions that offer Money-compatible QIF files for download. A list is available here.

Like Quicken 2002, Money 2003’s new innovations are in the area of portfolio management. New tools include the ability to view snapshots of your portfolio on a series of specific dates using downloaded information from MSN Money. The product’s reports have also been extended to include Quicken-style comparison charts showing expenditure over time, for example.

Money 2003 uses Microsoft’s wide-ranging online knowledge base for technical support. This is certainly superior to Intuit’s patchy FAQ for Quicken 2002, and you also have the added advantage of phone support at the standard national call rate of 8 pence per minute.

Overall, Money 2003 is a more complete package than its rival from Intuit. Better online support, clearer goal definition and improved integration with online content all benefit this version of Money. However, there’s little in the way of truly new features, so existing users may not gain much from an upgrade.

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