Quicken 2001 For Macs For Dummies (For Dummies (Computers))

Put your New Year's resolutions about financial organization into practice while the task of computerizing all your money transactions is still manageable. Quicken 2001 for Macs for Dummies explains how Quicken 2001, the popular personal-finance program from Intuit, can help you monitor your money situation and make better decisions about saving, spending, borrowing, and investing. This book, which is meant for someone who's up to speed with the basics of personal finance, but not very familiar with computerized accounting, focuses on Quicken's operation rather than on the figures that the program tracks. Author Stephen Nelson tells you how to record purchases and sales of mutual fund shares, for example, but doesn't attempt to argue for or against that kind of investing.

Nelson's instructions for using Quicken's numerous features are detailed, yet easy; they're typical of the Dummies series. He's chosen to back no-frills instructions--"Enter the check amount"--with explanatory text that deals with questions of formatting (Do I include the dollar sign?) and how to deal with unusual situations. This book would be better if Nelson had included advice on accounting for unusual transactions, such as options redemptions and short sales of shares, but what's here is more than adequate for someone with a couple of bank accounts, a mortgage, a credit card or two, and some simple investments. --David Wall

Topics covered: Intuit Quicken 2001 for Mac OS, for people who haven't used the program before. The author explains how to account for transactions in checking, savings, and credit accounts. He also shows how to keep track of home equity and mortgages, as well as investments in stocks, bonds, and funds.