Top 5 Accounting Files
Manage your checking account, create invoices, and track loans.PCWorld.com Downloads Team
1. Personal Finances 2000: Manage up to five checking and savings accounts with this free program. The interface is a little dated (the icons look like they came from an inexpensive clip art collection), but the program is powerful and accurate--and free. Personal Finances 2000 works much in the same way as a spreadsheet program does, letting you add, modify, and remove entries. You can also do more-sophisticated manipulations, including configuring the program to remember recurring events, such as monthly rent or utility bills.
As you enter recurring entries, the program uses the data to forecast your future financial situation. In addition, you'll find a spreadsheet-style, one-year forecast that you can use as a budget. The program lets you generate reports and graphs, as well as import files from other financial software.
2. The Lender's ToolBox: Are you trying to pay off a loan but getting that sinking feeling that it will never disappear? The Lender's Toolbox will amortize your loan, showing how you are gradually paying off your debt. This tool (really a set of tools) is also suitable for lenders, who can use it to compute monthly payment and interest schedules. You can set your payments for virtually any time period (weekly, biweekly, monthly, quarterly), and you can calculate interest using a fixed rate or variable rate option. You can also produce balloon payment schedules.
The program's loan calculator lets you mull over some what-if scenarios to properly structure a loan request. Print payment coupons for any amortization schedule and easily collate them into a "payment booklet" for your borrowers.
3. Cash Organizer 2000: Knowledge is power, and you'll have both when you manage your money with this program, which works on your handheld PC. You can use it for keeping track of your personal finances, as well as a corporate expense account. The interface has Date, Description, and Amount columns; on the left side you can enter deposits and payments.
Use this program to perform simple tasks such as converting dollars to pounds (it supports 168 currencies), or put it to work on more-sophisticated operations such as scheduling lease payments. It can export data into Quicken, Microsoft Money, and Excel. You can protect your data with a password as well.
4. Exl-Plan: If buying lottery tickets hasn't panned out for you, consider this method of financial planning. This Excel add-on allows you to use worksheets that would otherwise take dozens of hours of programming and require you to figure out Excel's formulas. The worksheets let you prepare financial projections, budgets, and business plans. You can plan ahead for just six months or as far as seven years. You can also use this tool for business restructuring and all types of financial appraisals.
"Concentrate on the planning, rather than the programming," the program's author proclaims. In our opinion, Exl-Plan lives up to its mission.
5. Easy Invoicing: Take some of the hassle out of record-keeping and invoicing for your business. This program is designed modularly for easy customization, and it includes user-defined color schemes and letterheads that will help you give your documents a professional look. You can track customer actions and calls, and make comprehensive reports. You can also create quotes on project costs and track your mileage and expenses. Minor upgrades and bug fixes for the system files are provided free of charge.