Quicken XG is the 2003 makeover of Intuit's industry leading personal finance package. The pricing structure is new this time round though. Quicken XG buys you the program plus 12 months use of the various online services. After this you can opt to join one of several flexible monthly payment plans to continue using the online services. Quicken XG allows you to take complete control of your finances. You can record and track all your personal and business accounts as well as investments. Data can be graphed and reported against for clear and helpful analysis. Intuit include several useful extras including a Home Inventory program, the ability to backup your data online for complete security and tools to assist with your end-of-year tax affairs.
If you are new to Quicken, you'll appreciate the new Guided Setup Wizard that walks you through the setting up of all your accounts. These can be current accounts, savings, credit cards or investments. You can also choose the types of tasks you intend doing with Quicken such as tracking investments, planning for retirement, controlling business finances and many more. Of course, you can always add new accounts or features later as your needs grow.
Quicken XG supports online banking and investment updating although the range of supported institutions is limited to those who specifically support Quicken. However, most of the big ones except Barclays are supported, with Barclays due soon. Usefully, you can set up automatic downloads to ensure Quicken XG always has the most up to date information.
As well as the use of Quicken XG itself and the online services for 12 months, you also get three free consultations with a Quicken financial expert who can help set the program up or advise on how to achieve certain goals.
With so much flexibility and power, it is good news that the built in help is particularly well designed. The information is presented in both general and task-specific formats, making it a breeze to get to the information you need.
Quicken XG provides a fresh new look for existing users as well as many improvements to its general functionality and tweaks to the analysis tools. New users will appreciate the Guided Setup Wizard which is a huge help when starting from scratch. --Iain Laskey
