Long gone are the days where you had to wait for a printed bank statement to drop through your mailbox or have to make a visit to the local branch to move your funds. Technology has allowed us to have unprecedented levels of financial control than ever before. Nevertheless, that convenience comes at a cost. One is likely to be reckless with their money while being more prone to borrowing and accumulating debt.
Poor management techniques typically have disastrous effects. While no one is expecting you to hire a personal accountant, technology has also provided us with software that can help you control your spending, grow your balance, and make sure that you always have enough to keep the taxman happy. The following article will discuss finance management software; how it can benefit you, and recommend the best software for you.
What is Finance Management Software?
This is a software that is designed to handle the storage, analysis, processing, and management of financial information such as records, transactions, and processes.
It derives its functioning from the attributes of financial information management. Finance management software can be utilized either as standalone software or as a component of a financial information system.
The majority of financial software incorporates all the facets of personal and business finance to provide you with features such as:
- Account management
- Budgeting
- Financial assets management
- Basic financial data management
- Financial transactions and management
Benefits of Using Finance Management Software
- Allows you to Use a Metric Approach to Manage Your Money - By using this software to help with your financial planning, you can measure the specific milestones that you have achieved. Money management is a science, and finance management software enables you to do it with higher efficiency.
- You Get to Identify the Good and Not so Good Areas - By using this software, you will bring order to your finances by pinpointing the areas where you are lagging. For instance, you might be having poorly performing investments that you are not aware of. The software will identify this so that you can take corrective measures.
- Discipline in Money Management - Using this software will instill money discipline along with other subtle behavioral changes. For instance, it will help you run a systematic investment plan, where your expenses will be automatically curtailed, with this money going into investments. Moreover, it will let you know whether your lifestyle expenses are below or above what you can afford. If it is the latter, you will then take the necessary steps to cut back on some of these expenses.
- Gauge and Improve Asset Allocation - This is a crucial element of money management. You have to strike a delicate balance between managing risks and returns. And as such, you must choose the right assets for the same. By using as finance management software, you will be able to select the appropriate asset allocation mix depending on your risk and return preferences.
Popular Finance Management Software Options
The following are some of the most popular and reliable finance management software.
- Mint - This personal finance service from Intuit has been around since 2006 and is a staple for those who wish to handle their finances from their mobile devices. Supported by both Android and iOS, it only takes a few seconds for it to sync with your bank account(s). From there, you will have a view of your finances while gaining insightful analytics concerning your spending habits such as those of food, utilities, entertainment, and other areas of your monthly budget. You can even customize the software’s budget restrictions to ensure that you adhere to your budget. It will also alert you whenever your bills are due. This software is free.
- Quicken - This is among the most established finance management tools. It has been around since the 80’s. Today, it offers you features for budget creation, bill management, goal savings, debt tracking, investment coaching, and excel exporting. It is supported by all kinds of platforms, i.e., Windows, MacOS, Android, iOS, etc. The software allows you to pay your bills as well as track the market values of significant assets such as your house. You can also manage your personal and business finances using this tool. It costs $35.
- YNAB - The acronym stands for You Need a Budget. This software was specifically designed to make its users financially literate. Thus, it comes with tutorials on a variety of different finance topics, that can help you know how to manage your budgeting and spending better. The primary goal of this finance management software is to help you stop living from paycheck to paycheck. Nevertheless, it will still sync to your account and show you your finances, as well as ensuring that you never have to enter your expense reports manually. Additionally, it categorizes your expenses so that you can always know when you are about to go over the budget.
Finance management software is a critical tool that will help you manage your finances better. If you have never tried one, now is the time to do so.
