Accountz Personal Accountz review

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Verdict:

Double entry made easy. A straightforward, logical approach to personal finance.

Review Date: 18 Jan 2008

Price when reviewed: inc VAT

Reviewed By: Karl Wright

Our Rating 4 stars out of 5

Review
Specs

Personal Accountz is one of only two programs here specifically for home users.

Rather unusually, despite that, it still uses the double-entry system of bookkeeping. Our initial reaction was surprise: it may be standard in business, but we'd generally consider double-entry bookkeeping too complex for home users and unnecessarily detailed. After we'd run our tests, however, we changed our minds.

We found this program admirably logical and straightforward. Using the Accounts and Database tabs, you can specify the attributes of each account: monthly budget constraints, whether the account is real or nominal and so on. Once you've created your structure of income and expense accounts, you can enter transaction details for each using the Entries tab. As you enter a transaction, you tell the software from which account it should be debited and to which account it should be credited. As you'd expect, you can also inform the software of imminent payments, whether one-off or recurring, and then use this information to make cashflow forecasts.

In comparison to some of the other programs here, the reporting function in Accountz Personal is basic; it simply shows all the transactions in a given account. For more detailed reporting, you'd need to buy Business Accountz, at £70. On the plus side, this program is easy to use, precise, and, once you get to grips with the double-entry bookkeeping system, has all the tools you need to get on top of your household finances.

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