Money

New for Money 2003 is My Task Based Home Page, a view divided into sections based on financial tasks, such as planning or budgeting. Each section includes links to features deep within the application, providing you quick access to dozens of Money’s most popular features from a single, well organized page.

Microsoft Money is designed to work like a Web site, presenting you different pages to perform different tasks.

In addition to navigating through Microsoft Money with links, icons and text, you can also move through Money using a combination of keys.

To make the software even easier to use, Money uses a number of icons that can provide an indication of additional information -- such as a payment that has been sent but not yet cleared your account, or a transaction which you have marked for follow up.

As you begin to use Microsoft Money, questions may arise on specific features or functionality. Money has a number of help tools all built-in to the software to help you learn more about the product, answer your questions and solve problems as you work.

You can set up your accounts, bills, and paychecks with the Setup Assistant. The Setup Assistant can help you set up your accounts, bills, and paychecks during initial setup of Money. Or, if you skipped any of the steps in the assistant, have additional items to set up, or if you want to change any of the information you entered, this chapter focuses on how to do that.

One feature of Money that you will probably use often is the Accounts section. To help organize all of your finances in one place....

When you set up an account using the process described on the previous page, or the Setup Wizard described in Chapter 2, Money records many details like the name, account number, opening balance....

If you used the Setup Wizard, you may have designated some accounts as Favorites. These accounts are displayed on the My Money Home page and are also easily accessible even....

Just as in real life, bills and deposits are an important part of Microsoft Money. Setting them up allows Money to better calculate your cash flow, help you maintain your budget and aid you to better manage your finances by warning you of overdue bills or upcoming potential negative bank balances.