The only hard part of using a home finance application is finding all your financial papers—loan forms, mortgage papers, bank books, check registers, last year's tax return, salary records, free-lance income records, certificates of deposit, stock certificates, phone bills, utility bills, credit card bills, and anything else that affects your finances.

Don't shy away from a home finance application because words like amortization and depreciation are foreign to you. Most home finance applications assume ignorance of financial jargon and teach what you need to know as you go along. Even if you have an accountant do your taxes, and a stock broker or financial adviser plan your investments, a home finance application gives you more control over your finances by keeping you better informed and organized.

In addition to general-purpose home finance applications, there am very specialized applications for balancing your checkbook, managing your stock portfolio, managing your real estate, preparing your income taxes, and more.

Accounting software does the same things a manual accounting system can do (general ledger, accounts receivable, accounts payable, payroll, inventory), but with much greater speed, accuracy, and control. The increased speed and accuracy allow you to get up-to-date reports about your financial position as you need them, instead of waiting for monthly or quarterly reports from your accountant.

A good accounting application can help you improve your cashflow management, boost your collection rate of receivables, plan payments to take advantage of vendor discounts, maintain inventory levels that minimize cash investment, and improve customer service.

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Chapter 5: Application Programs