In some product groups, there’s an undisputed leader: an 800-pound gorilla that doesn’t plan on relinquishing the top position any time soon. Where personal financial management software on the Macintosh is concerned, Intuit’s Quicken has held that ground for several years now.

Quicken is one of the few programs to generate a new version every year, and at first glance, Quicken Mac 2007 seems almost identical to the ( ) except for the inclusion of the new QuickEntry Dashboard widget. With the widget, you can quickly enter and categorize transactions. Unfortunately, the widget’s function only works outside of Quicken; because the widget accesses Quicken's main database, you must quit the application before using it. Quicken 2007 does feature some new uses for existing tools. Quick reports and focused mini-reports are easier to create, and bugs from Quicken 2006 seem to have been quashed. Plus, you can now split automated paycheck transactions into more than one account and track 401k accounts alongside other accounts.

On the whole, Quicken 2007 is convenient, intuitive, and powerful enough for the majority of its home- and small-business users. After installation, you can either import data from an earlier version of Quicken (dragging and dropping the data file onto the Quicken icon in the Dock elegantly handles all import and categorization functions) or download a QIF (Quicken Interchange Format) file of your account history from your financial institution and import that file into Quicken. You can then create budgets and add entries to your transaction history, all the while categorizing your transactions for budget analysis. Once your information is entered, budgeting tools allow you to display data from multiple categories as charts and graphs for visual analysis. Quicken provides a friendly face to the task of setting up a stock portfolio.

Quicken 2007 Premier Manual For Mac User

You enter data such as stock name, stock quote symbol, purchase date, purchase price, and number of shares owned; then prompt Quicken to actively track and follow your stocks. Similar types of accounts, like mutual funds, CDs, bonds, and 401k accounts can be set up in this way, with the program tracking data and reporting back with customizable histories. Quicken can retrieve and track stock data as far back as five years to determine trends and patterns, making research easy. Although not entirely new, features such as iCal and.Mac integration make Quicken 2007 more useful. An iCal icon allows you to insert past and future transactions into your iCal calendars, while.Mac backups can be scheduled and customized in order to place a copy of your financial data off-site. Registration at the Quicken.com Web site, though not technically necessary, serves as the key to a multitude of additional services. With registration, you can access credit reports, stock-trading services, online banking, bill payment services, and credit card statements.

Clicking on TurboTax in the icon menu from Quicken, for example, links to Intuit’s TurboTax page, which offers configurations of the software currently on sale. While some services are offered for free or at a discount for Quicken users, there’s an overall effort to lead users to partners’ Web sites. The Quicken user guide is a searchable PDF document. This 477-page guide is well written, and it proved useful to me. The application also offers shortcuts to Intuit’s product support and customer forums, which is nice to see. Unfortunately, there are some shortcomings to consider.

First, Quicken lacks Universal Binary support for Apple’s Intel-based machines. While this won’t necessarily hamper performance, it speaks to Quicken’s track record of being slow to provide significant upgrades for Macintosh users. Quicken also doesn’t offer support for international currencies. In addition, online banking features may fall short, depending on how much access Quicken can have to your financial institution. Some institutions offer full—or Direct Connect—access, allowing users to synch their Quicken histories with those online via an OFX (Open Financial Exchange) connection initiated by Quicken.

Other institutions support a more limited Web Connect setup, whereby users log in to their financial institution and download a Web Connect file with the newest financial transactions. Quicken later accesses the Web Connect file to synchronize transactions. At the lowest level of access, you may have to download QIF files of your financial history, and then import these into the program. Intuit is pondering the retirement of QIF downloads for Windows users, and indicate it may put QIF out to pasture on the Mac too.

Macworld’s buying advice Shortcomings aside—chief among them the lack of support for Intel Macs—Quicken Mac 2007 provides a financial management package that performs well, lives up to the reputation established with previous versions, and provides detailed reports. The new Dashboard widget makes short work of entering routine transactions, and improved portfolio tracking features offer a good reason to upgrade. However, if a previous version of Quicken is working well for you, then the additional bells and whistles may not be necessary. Chris Barylick is a technology journalist whose work has appeared in MacAddict, the UPI news wire, and the Washington Post. He is owner of Mac Menders, a Washington, D.C.-based technical consulting firm.

The first step is to register your Discover card account online if you have not already. Please click the link to.

Next, open Quicken for Windows or Macintosh and setup your Discover card account (see details below on setting up online services). Finally, click 'Update Now' or 'One Step Update' while in the Quicken software to retrieve your Discover card transactions. The information below will help you set up your accounts in Quicken. Please enter all numbers without spaces or dashes.

Account Type = Credit Card Customer ID = Your Account Center User ID PIN/Password = Your Account Center Password Remember, in order to retrieve your Discover card transactions, you must initiate the process from within Quicken and the version must not be older than three years. The first time you retrieve transactions, you'll receive the last 24 months of statement data. After that, each time you retrieve your Discover card transactions, Quicken will be updated from the last time you retrieved information until the present. You also can download your transactions into Quicken directly from your online card account.

Click the link to log in. Once you are logged in, please select the 'download' link on the right side of the page.

If you need additional assistance setting up Quicken, please visit their or call 1-800-811-8766. Why am I having trouble retrieving my Discover card and bank transactions using Quicken and QuickBooks?

Intuit, the maker of Quicken, discontinues a version when it is older than 3 years. To resolve this, a software upgrade is necessary for you to continue retrieving your Discover card transactions when using Quicken. If you have a newer version of Quicken and are still experiencing difficulties, please perform one of the following three actions: For Windows users: Choose 'One Step Update' from the Quicken 'Finance' menu. Remove all the check marks, then click 'Update Now.' At the completion of the One Step Update process, close and restart Quicken.

For Macintosh users: Go to the Quicken Macintosh updates page and read the detailed instructions. Download the latest update file and install it into your Quicken directory.

If you need additional assistance setting up Quicken, please visit their or call 1-800-811-8766. Please note: Discover has recently launched security improvements for customer use of Quicken and QuickBooks to access their Discover account information. To continue using Quicken/QuickBooks deactivation and reactivation of your account may be required. For more information on how to complete this process, please follow the instructions below.

How do I deactivate/reactivate my Discover Card or Bank Account in Quicken and QuickBooks? As part of a recent systems upgrade, Discover card has issued new credit cards with new account numbers to some cardmembers. Follow the instructions below to fix the error and begin downloading transactions from your new Discover card account into your existing account in Quicken. Log in to the so we can automatically transfer your existing account preferences to your new account number, including the ability to download your transactions into Quicken. Note: If you have been using your 16-digit account number to access your account, you will be prompted to create a user ID.

If you already have a user ID, your existing user ID will be displayed. In either case, please note your user ID, as you will need it to update your Discover card account in Quicken. Launch Quicken. 3. Update your Discover card account in Quicken by deactivating and then reactivating your account. Please refer to the detailed instructions below:. I was recently issued a new Discover card account number, and I set up this new account in Quicken. Now I have two Discover card accounts in Quicken.

How can I combine them? You should not try to combine these accounts as you may end up with duplicate transactions. Instead, follow the instructions below to begin downloading transactions from your new Discover card account into your existing account in Quicken. Log in to the so we can automatically transfer your existing account preferences to your new account number, including the ability to download your transactions into Quicken. Note: If you have been using your 16-digit account number to access your account, you will be prompted to create a user ID.

If you already have a user ID, your existing user ID will be displayed. In either case, please note your user ID, as you will need it to update your Discover card account in Quicken. 2.Launch Quicken. 3.Delete your newly created Discover card account in Quicken. Please refer to Quicken help for detailed instructions for deleting an account. 4.Update your original Discover card account in Quicken by deactivating and then reactivating your account. Please refer to the detailed instructions below:.

When I downloaded my transactions into Quicken, there was a credit for all of my recent transactions, and my account balance was zero. What happened and what can I do to fix it?

As part of a recent systems upgrade, Discover card has issued new credit cards with new account numbers to some cardmembers. All transactions since your last statement have been transferred to your new account, which is why your existing account shows a zero balance. Follow the instructions below to fix the problem and begin downloading transactions from your new Discover card account into your existing account in Quicken. Log in to the so we can automatically transfer your existing account preferences to your new account number, including the ability to download your transactions into Quicken. Note: If you have been using your 16-digit account number to access your account, you will be prompted to create a user ID. If you already have a user ID, your existing user ID will be displayed. In either case, please note your user ID, as you will need it to update your Discover card account in Quicken.

2.Launch Quicken. 3.Update your original Discover card account in Quicken by deactivating and then reactivating your account. Please refer to the detailed instructions below: 4.Once your new transactions have downloaded, you will need to review and manually delete any duplicate or credit transactions. How do I download my account information into QuickBooks? The first step is to register your Discover card account online if you have not already. Please click the link to.

Next, open QuickBooks for Windows or Macintosh and setup your Discover card account. The information below will help you set up your accounts in QuickBooks. Please enter all numbers without dashes or spaces. Routing Number = 000000000 Account Type = Credit Card Customer ID = Your Account Center User ID PIN/Password = Your Account Center Password The first time you download, you'll receive the last 24 months of statement data (if available) for you and your employees. After that, each time you download your Discover card statement summary, your online financial services center will be updated, from the last time you downloaded information until the present.

You also can download your transactions into QuickBooks directly from your online card account. Click the link to log in.

After you are logged in, please select the “download” option on the right side of the screen. If you need additional assistance setting up QuickBooks, please visit their or call 1-888-320-7276. Why don't my monthly interest charges appear in my Quicken transactions? As of July 2010, Microsoft has ended its support for Microsoft Money and the option to import your transactions directly to Microsoft Money is no longer available or supported by Discover. However, you can still download your transactions from your online statements to your computer and then import them into Microsoft Money. To download your transactions, log into your card account, select the 'Manage Account' option from the navigation bar, and click on 'Activity & Statements' in the drop down menu.

Once on the Account Activity page, follow the directions listed below: Importing.QFX into MS Money:. Select the 'Account Activity' tab.

Select the statement you want to download from the 'Activity Period' drop-down list. On the upper-right side of your statement, click on 'Download.' . Download the.QFX file. Save it to Desktop. Execute Microsoft Money. Using the Microsoft Money File Menu:.

Go to File Import Downloaded Statement. Click 'Desktop' in the Left-side Menu. Select All Files from the 'File of type:' pull-down menu. Find the downloaded.QFX file and click on it. Click 'Import' button If you need additional assistance with Microsoft Money versions 99 and higher, please call Microsoft at 1-866-452-4755 or visit their. Statements & Payments.