Microsoft Money 2003 Deluxe

That aside, one glaring problem still remains from the 97 version. When entering a new buy transaction for an investment, MS Money calculates the shares purchased out to six decimal points, yet we all know that financial institutions round up or down to only three decimal points. As a result, when you correct the transaction to reflect the actual amount of shares purchased, the investment amount will often change to a penny above or below the actual amount, forcing you to enter the transaction separately in you checking register. On another downside, the cashflow forecaster is completely useless. Whatever AI the program uses for this calculation is quite flawed. But I probably wouldn't use it even if it worked, so I can't complain too much.

All said, this is probably the best software available for tracking your investments and spending. I thought of giving Quicken a shot, but I just can't do it with all the negative reviews.


Money 2003 is a disaster   November 18, 2003
Money 2002 had problems, but 2003 is far worse. The initial install refused to use the Money 2002 backups, or archival files. Worse yet, when we deleted 2003 and reinstalled 2002, we found that 2003 had corrupted all of our backup files, and none of the 2002 backups (5 of them) could be read. As usual, Microsoft support was useless... they said what we already knew.... Yes thats a known bug, and you'll have to recreate everything from the beginning. Big help. Stay far away from Money!


A nightmare of false assumptions   November 5, 2003
 5 out of 5 found this review helpful

I have been a user of Microsoft Money for a number of years, and have finally decided to return to Quicken after spending countless hours (on more than one occasion) debugging bizarre issues and unwinding transactions that Money has decided (often mysteriously) to name or categorize FOR me. I spent three days tracking down a vendor who had apparently charged me $490 over the course of a month only to discover that the transactions were normal ATM withdrawals that Money had just decided to import from the online bank as being from that particular vendor. As a small business owner, that sort of stuff is just way too scary to tolerate in any software package. Stay away unless you are a super-basic user, or super, super advanced and willing to deal with it.


I had trouble printing a partial sheet of checks.   September 2, 2003
 3 out of 3 found this review helpful

After purchasing Money 2003, I had difficulty printing one or two wallet size checks remaining from an 8.5 x 11 inches sheet of three checks. Money requires a sheet containing three checks to be inserted in a normal portrait configuration and a sheet with one or two remaining checks to be inserted in a landscape manner or at 90 degrees. In addition the checks must be aligned so that the left side of the sheet (or the top of the remaining one or two checks) is against the left side of the paper tray as viewed from the front of the printer. My printer is a HP OfficeJet R80 and requires envelopes to be placed in a slot on the right side of a paper tray. This places the paper feed mechanism on the viewer's right side. Money's check printing software requires the paper feed mechanism to be on the left or center of the paper tray. After speaking to member of Microsoft's "Escalation Team", a work around for the problem is: (1) Insert the remaining checks in a portrait configuration (same as a sheet with three checks). (2) Limit the number of checks to be equal to or less than the number of checks remaining on the sheet. Print additional checks in accordance the procedure for a full sheet of checks.

I decided to resume using Quicken (which has no check printing problem), and received a refund for the purchase of Money. Upon the release of Money 2004, I have downloaded an evaluation copy and found that the problem is still not resolved. Prior to my check printing attempt, I was impressed with the Money program which converted my Quicken data and offered features that were desirable. I was even ready to tackle the Quicken charge card transition, which didn't appear real easy. As long as I have this printer I won't have to.