Home Finance for Dummies

Developed for those who have trouble staying on the fiscal straight and narrow each month, Home Finance for Dummies is a basic balance sheet application that helps you keep track of what you spend between pay packets.

Thankfully, for those uninitiated in the intricacies of home-finance management, this 'for Dummies' title lives up to its name and is exceptionally easy to use. Start up the program and you will be invited to create a new account by entering an account name and opening balance or alternatively, revert to a saved account.

Then it's simply a question of entering each transaction you make in either the debit or credit column and the program does the rest, calculating the new balance each time you input a transaction. You can also tag each transaction by category, date, transaction number (for cheques), payment method or by using your own notes. The names of the default categories can be changed to better reflect your lifestyle by simply over-writing headings in the drop-down menu.

As the month progresses, you can check your financial situation in graph form by plotting time against balance, and at the end of the month you can create a pie chart to illustrate average monthly expenditure. While the charts are a fun addition to an otherwise dry subject, they offer little benefit and the software lacks certain desirable functions such as the ability to automatically replicate recurring payments, like your mortgage.

Contact: Focus Multimedia 01889 570156
www.focusmm.co.uk