Operating the Program
Moneyspire was designed to be straightforward and easy-to-use. The main screen is split up into four (4) sections:
1. Reminders
The
reminders screen will show you all your upcoming, due and past due bill
and deposit reminders. Your reminders will be displayed in two formats:
a calendar and a list. The calendar allows you to visually see and
browse your upcoming bills, while the list allows you to see each bill
reminder and its status in an easy-to-read list format.
2. Budget
The budget
screen will show you how you are currently doing on your budget,
including how much money you have spent and how much money you have
left in your budget (or how much money you have overspent). You can
also click on an individual budget category to see a a detailed list of
the spending for that particular category and budget period.
3. Reports
The reports
screen allows you to generate detailed reports on your expenses, income
and net worth. You can also save reports so that you can quickly view
them at any time without having to configure the report options again.
4. Accounts and Transactions
To view an account's transactions, first click on the account on the left-hand side. You will then be
taken to the account's transaction list where you can add, edit or
delete transactions. You can customize the transaction register options by clicking the View menu option. You
will also notice there are two balance columns, one labeled 'Balance' and the other labeled 'Cleared Bal;'
The first column displays the total balance of all the
transactions, while the second column displays the total balance of all
the cleared transactions. You can clear a transaction by checking
its corresponding check box, or by using the reconcile feature.
You should clear a transaction when you know it has been processed, for
example, when a check has been cashed.
Managing Investments
Moneyspire allows you to easily manage your investments. Once an investment account is added (via the Tools->Accounts menu option), you can manage your investments (securities) via the Portfolio button in that account register for that account, and record your investment transaction activity.
Keeping Different Sets of Files
Moneyspire allows you to keep different sets of data files.
For example, you may want to keep one data file for your personal
finances, and another data file for your child's personal
finances. Each data file will have its own set of accounts,
reminders, categories and budgets. To create a new file, click on
the File->New menu option. To open a file, click on the File->Open menu option. Moneyspire will automatically open the last file you worked on when you start the program up.
Multiple Currency Support
Moneyspire allows you to have accounts in multiple currencies. So
you may have one bank account in US Dollars, and another bank account
in Canadian Dollars for example. When configuring an account for the
first time, you are asked to select the account's currency. After that,
whenever you do transfers between accounts which have different
currencies, you will be asked to specify a rate between the two
accounts. By default, the current rate specified in the currency
manager will be used, however you can change that. You can manage your
currency rates by clicking the Tools->Currencies
menu option in the program. In addition, accounts in foreign currencies
will be automatically converted to your local currency (at the current
exchange rate) when generating reports, displaying balances, etc.