I decided on three possible applications, all mentioned previously. First I tried Liquid Ledger, but I didn't get on with very well. It didn't have a layout that suited the way my mind worked, and I quickly came to the conclusion that we wouldn't get along too easily.
Next I tried iBank, and having passed through a bank reconciliation period and passed 75 transactions on one account, I taken the plunge and bought the software. I'm not overly enamoured of the data entry process. I seem to have to move around using the mouse a lot and it would be helpful to be able to keep adding entries without having to select "add new entry" every time.
The reconciliation page was quite good, once I got used to it. Being able to drag unreconciled items into the the reconciled window and see them reconcile right away is helpful. It certainly saves having to track back through additions as you do in Microsoft Money for example.
In truth, I don't use the full potential of any accounting software. I don't track taxes, I don't track investments, I just want to know how much money I've got, where it is and where it's going!
I could do this in a spreadsheet application, and if I tried, I could probably write some scripts to make it do exactly what I need it to do. I could, but I'm not going to. One reason is the number of accounts. What with ISA's and ordinary savings and credit cards and bank accounts, we have about 14 to manage, so a software package is a better choice.
In my limited experience, iBank does the job neatly and with a fairly easy to use interface. Now if only I could get it to say cheque instead of check, I'd be happy!
iBank is available as a trial download from iggsoftware.
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