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Very good
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Product summary
The good: Interface is refreshingly easy; includes extensive chart and report features; inexpensive.
The bad: Doesn't synchronize with Intuit Quicken or Microsoft Money; no support for split transactions; extremely limited tech support.
The bottom line: PoQuick Professional puts desktop-caliber money management in the palm of your hand--and keeps it there.
CNET editors' review
- Reviewed on: 06/12/2002
Somebody steal this interface
To get PoQuick Money Professional, visit the Mastersoft Mobile Solutions Web site. Surprisingly, although Mastersoft developed PoQuick, the site features little information about the product itself and directs you to a third-party site to download and register the software. Still, we easily installed PoQuick on our Compaq iPaq H3870.
Speaking of easy, the PoQuick interface is simplicity defined. Seven icons span the top of the screen, each providing one-tap access to the program's main functions. In Accounts, you enter a name, a type, and a description for each account you want PoQuick to track, from assets to credit cards to investments. Next, hit the Categories screen, where you create categories for your income and expenses. Tap the Statement icon to record transactions: purchases, withdrawals, balance transfers, and so on. If all this sounds familiar, it's because PoQuick duplicates much of the functionality of desktop finance managers.
Major money management
The more financial data you record in PoQuick, the more you start to appreciate its next three functions: Reports, Graphs, and Charts. The software can generate a profit-and-loss report, a balance sheet, or a customized report based on account, category, dollar ranges, and more. It can graph account balance, net worth, and monthly and cumulative income and expenses. If you'd rather see income and expenses presented as pie charts, PoQuick can do that, too.
PoQuick features such a streamlined, easy-to-navigate interface and data-entry screens that even novices will cruise through this software with just a little experimentation. That's good, because PoQuick doesn't come with a manual, just a built-in help file that, while lengthy and descriptive, covers strictly the basics. Mastersoft Mobile Solutions does maintain a thorough FAQ page for PoQuick, but we couldn't find a tech-support e-mail address anywhere on the site.
Tiny font; slow performance
A few minor shortcomings keep PoQuick from top honors. For starters, its tiny font can display a lot of information on a small screen but makes for hard reading. Second, it doesn't support splits, which means you can't assign transactions to multiple categories. We also found PoQuick a bit on the slow side. It takes a good 20 seconds to load, even when you've recorded very little data, and each new account or transaction takes a second or two to process.
Everything but the sync
Those are minor quibbles, but we fervently wish PoQuick would synchronize with desktop applications. Sure, you can import Quicken QIF files and export PoQuick data in the QIF format so that you can open them with Quicken, but that's a far cry from direct integration with the software. However, PoQuick costs markedly less than a desktop program such as Quicken or Money and could be a bargain if you spend more time on the go than at your desk. If you like to have your financial info close at hand and don't want to spend a lot to do it, try PoQuick.
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