Microsoft Money 2006 Standard Description:

Microsoft Money 2006 Standard review:
4 stars (MS Money '06 Std) - The interface between MS Money '06 and your bank/credit union is much improved (meaning it doesn't hang in limbo like it used to). It also shows the statement balance and the bank balance, which can vary due to credit card charges and other e-payments that haven't posted to the account. The initial charge categories have been simplified, with room to expand as you need to (I usually categorize Automobile Fuel separately, due to the cost and budget accordingly). All in all, an improvement over the 2007 version I was using.
1 stars (2006 or 2007?) - I just bought and loaded 2006 Standard. It is identical to 2007, matter of fact I thought the install failed and was still on '05.

Save your money if you already have 2007.
3 stars (Needs some obvious improvements) - Microsoft went with an interface that looks more Web-like than Windows-like. I think I would have preferred a Windows look and feel but I think I'll be able to get used to it.



I was able to down-load data from my credit union and AMEX card quickly and easily. That is very cool. If it were not for this labor saving feature I never would have bought the software.



Now for the bad news: Once you download all the data you have to assign it to a category. There is nothing wrong with that but Microsoft could have made it easier. For instance, I buy a lot of gas from the same place and I charge it to my AMEX. It would be really nice if I could tell Money, "When you see a charge from this place add it to this category". According to Microsoft's press package there is an "Auto-Categorization" function but it doesn't appear to be customizable and it didn't work for the vast majority of my transactions. If there is a way to customize it I haven't discovered it yet but I've only used the software a couple of nights.



On the other hand, I spent a good bit of time looking around the on-line help with no success. I realize that Microsoft doesn't like to ship manuals with their software and I really don't have a problem with that as long as I can buy a book or there are good on-line resources. The only book that I've seen that covers Money 2006 is for dummies. Not being a dummy, I don't buy those. As far as I can tell Microsoft Press doesn't even have one. That's weak.



The on-line resource doesn't even have a search option and the index is pretty thin. Actually, the on-line manual seems pretty thin. Or perhaps it is the software that lacks depth.



Another problem is when you download bank account and credit card information. If you have $1,000 in credit card charges and you pay off your credit card with a $1,000 check then you end up with all the credit card charges plus the check so it looks as if you have $2,000 in expenses. That wouldn't be a problem if I could tell Money not to put the credit card charge in any category but if you don't assign it then you have to keep $1,000 balance of un-categorized charges which is messy. There should be some way to handle that.



Microsoft has spent their time getting partners tied into their software (like institutions that want to set you up with a mortgage) when they should have spent their time writing code and/or improving their documentation. For a program that has been around for over a decade, it has some very obvious short comings. You almost get the impression that Microsoft's priority is not to produce a useful piece of software but rather to get their tentacles into your finances.