In the beginning, Man created computers --- but he was still confronted with ledgers, stacks of papers and other accounting items that made his life miserable.

He saw what laid before him and was saddened until, on the sixth day, he invented Quicken, and all was right in the world.

It's been many years since this popular home/small business accounting program was introduced to a needy public and it has evolved into one of the most intuitive programs of its type available today.

I've been playing with Quicken Premier ($69.95) from Intuit Software, which truthfully does everything you need to keep tabs on your finances except print money.

Although I basically use it to balance my checking account and keep tabs on my dwindling IRA, the scope of the program has expanded to include the ability to track your favorite stocks, pay bills online and even to obtain loans.

The only complaint I have is that after all these years, the program still cannot link to my bank account, even though I do all of my banking online, through the institutions Web site and the bank offers a way for me to convert my online statements so that Quicken can read them.

Among the new features included in Quicken 2005 (according to the company's Web site) are:

• The ability to hide categories you don't use; rename downloaded payees; eliminate clutter by expanding, collapsing or merging categories; and other new customization features.
• You can forecast your cash flow with a new monthly view to see upcoming bills and scheduled transactions so you'll know exactly what you need to spend and how much you will have in reserve once bills are paid.
• You can optimize investment sales by estimating capital gains before selling. Check investment performance against the market for the past 1, 3 and 5 years.
• You can now monitor your mutual fund investments by staying on top of the Morningstar Rating changes, hidden fees and after-tax performance for your funds.
• It's now easier to build your retirement plan by getting your complete retirement picture in minutes by downloading from top 401(k) providers.
• It's now easier export your Quicken data into Excel.

More information on Quicken Premier and other versions of the program can be found on the company's Web site at www.intuit.com.

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