#Personal Financial S/W
11 messages in this thread
I currently have a bridgeboard which I only use for my family accounts. I
wonder if there are any lowcost Amiga financial programs (such as
MoneyCounts, Quicken) that would let me forget about the PeeCee side of my
system. I'm aware of the Wordsworth program (forgot the name), how is it?
Are there any others?
Andrew
Andrew,
The best home/business accounting type program I know of is Phasar…been
using it for over 5 years (both for home and business) and it's still the
best around.
I'm not exactly sure who's publishing it now…it was psygosis (the
lemmings people), but I think Oxxi might have it now. Check over in the
AmigaVend section.
Gary
Gary
on AutoPilot from Charlotte, NC
Gary,
Thanks for the reply.
Is phasar more for business or personal accounts? Although I hope to get
a business going within the next year or so at this time all I really need
is something to keep track and budget with. Someone once suggested SBase4
but in my case that would be overkill and would take too long to
implement. I want something *quick* and easy to use and cheap. Does
phasar fit the bill (or cheque, as it may be)?
Andrew
Andrew,
Phasar would be perfect for what you have in mind (checkbook and budget
tracking). It's very easy to use, very intuitive and very expandable
(which is why I am able to use both for my business checkbook needs, as
well as my personal accounts).
It is NOT an accounting program…with all that attendant complexity. If
you can fill out a checkbook you'll have no problem with Phasar. Street
price for Phasar in US is around $55 at most mail order companies.
By the way, I reviewed all these accounting and personal accounts managers
for AmigaWorld a year or so ago, so I've almost all of them…and Phasar
is still my choice.
Gary
on AutoPilot from Charlotte, NC
Gary,
Thanks, I check out Phasar. The price is almost right because I don't
want to break the bank just so I can keep bank records…8^)
I'll check out your review in AW (I always figured there must be a reason
to keep them.) When was the last time it was updated? Do you know who
owns it now?
Andrew
Phasar is now published by Psygnosis (the game people, version 5.0 will
include invading expenses from Mars). I have seen it in several of the
mail order lists. It is mainly designed for Personal accounting and cash
basis accounting. I have used it for years for our family's tax
accounting (not for figuring the taxes. The tax package is only slightly
better than worthless) and for my wife's business. For full scale
accounting, you might want to try a regular accounting package like Best
accounting. SBase4 would require that you not only set up the accounting
package, but then program it in their programming language.
Bill Roberts — Autopilot from Ellettsville, Indiana
Bill,
Thanks Bill. Is Phasar suitable for a small business (real small)? Do
you know much about Best. (Cost, features, interface???) It'd be nice if
I could get something that I could eventually grow into, the cost would be
easier to justify. I wouldn't likely get SB4 just for that although it
would be nice to entirely customize the interface.
I keep wonderin' if I should just stay with the slow BB and PC s/w.
Andrew
Wordsworth is a word processor and won't help yo manage your finances
(unless you're writing to explain your late payments 🙂
I've used Phasar for years and am now moving *to* a BB-based system (using
the new CA-Simply Money they were giving away a couple of months ago for
$7.95 shipping). I'm blown away by the power of the PC-based packages and
Phasar doesn't do half of what they do.
Phasar strictly acts as a check register in a text-based program with
minimal GUI. The IBM programs seem to be much better able to handle
mutual funds and other investments, and offer advice on financial
management. If you care about things, Phasar won't be enough for you, and
I think that's the best on the Amiga so far.
*** jd
John,
Thanks for your response.
I believe the company that puts out WordsWorth also has an accounting
program called HomeAccounts or sum'thin'. I couple years ago I saw a demo
of it but at that time I wasn't interested in such things so I didn't
pursue it further.
Phasar sounds like a step down from what I currently have (MoneyCounts).
Although I don't have any investments or such I would like something to
help with keeping track of where it all goes and budgetting. MC is good
but on my '286 BB it is terribly slow. It also doesn't help much with the
budgetting element.
Have you ever used GoldDisk Budget? I heard it wasn't very good but maybe
I heard wrong.
Andrew
Don't get me wrong, if all you want is checkbook and budgeting, Phasar can
do it and relatively quickly. It doesn't have a flashy modern (graphic)
interface, but it's been around for years so it is stable, I can't speak
for other (newer) programs. For my needs, the investment tracking is not
there, but it is a decent program.
Others here have mentioned using GD Budget and might be able to give you
some answers. It is graphic, but I don't know how it's features compare
to Phasar (e.g., if Budget is more basic).
*** jd
John,
Do you know if there is a demo of the program so I can compare it to
MoneyCounts. As I said my demands aren't that great but I don't want to
make the switch to something that is MUCH less capable (although I'm
willing to sacrifice some power for increased speed).
Thanks, Andrew