Conference 7.286::atarist

PHA$AR, from Antic Software.  This program rates a "10" from one end to
the other.  The Atari ST would be worth the price if this were the only
program I ever ran on it.

If you spend money, you need this program.

Pluses:
-------
It does everything you would ever want a computer to do to your
checkbooks, savings accounts, charge cards, budget, and tax records.  I
used to for 10 minutes, and got rid of all my check registers forever.

Balancing my checkbook was once a chore.  Now I finish in 15 minutes,
and that's if something goes wrong!

Minuses:
--------
There's no real reference manual, only a tutorial that I found so boring
that I never read it.  No problem, the program doesn't really need a
manual anyway.

    
    
    re:.1
    
    I second the motion....Pha$ar is the only way to go!
    
    Warning: Version 4 is the latest release. If you order Pha$ar and
    receive Version 3.02 the verion 4.0 upgrade will cost $39.00 from Antic.

I am a VERY happy PHA$AR user.  I now have a fantastic home financial 
information system where only 10 days ago I had only a large box full 
of statements and receipts.  (Thanks, Jeff!)

Is there any reason for 3.02 owners to buy the PHA$AR 4.0 upgrade? 

I've found a few minor annoying features.  For example, check printing 
could use a bit more flexibility and some field widths seem too narrow. 
And there are a few things that should be a little more automated.  And 
it doesn't handle stock portfolios and other assets that fluctuate in 
value like cars that depreciate.

Will 4.0 make me happier?  I'm already very happy with this program. 
In particular, the way it minimizes the number of keystrokes needed to 
enter transactions and confirm statements makes the program a joy to use. 
In a week of evenings I was able to enter and confirm all my data for a 
whole year.  When I was done, I had a file containing nearly 2000 nicely 
categorized transactions and all the data I need for my taxes except capital 
gain/loss calcuations.

    Is this a US product? I'm in the UK and don't know if it would 
    a. match UK needs,
    b. Be available here.
    
    So thanks so far, but any response from this side of the pond?.
    
    Richard

Yes, $ is fairly well hard coded, and unless your character set puts your 
local currency symbol where ASCII has $, and your local currency system is 
based on units and hundredths, and you converse in English, this program is 
not for you.  So although it ~might~ meet UK needs, it was written for the US.

The character sets of all Atari ST's are the same.  Only the keyboards
are different.  The developer documentation contains many warnings
about making sure your programs work with the full 8-bit set.  In fact,
the encourage this, the developer kit contains a little program that
splices into the BIOS and gives you 2-stroke compose sequences for
accent grave, acent acute, and double-quote, so you can test your
application with international requirements in mind.

Therefore, unless you don'>t mind using "$" as a currency symbol, PHA$AR
is out.

    
    re UK packages:
    
    The Dec-1989 edition of ST World contains a review of a package called
    Home Accounts V1.0 (how original :-)) by David Pullin. It gets a good
    write-up and is highlighted as one of the best PD programs of the year.
    A limitation to some will be that it runs ONLY in colour - it is coded
    in STOS apparently.
    
    The article mentions the following UK PD outlets as sources:-
    Seven Disk, ST UK, Softville, Page 6 Accessory Shop
    
    Rgds, Brian
    

    Thanks brian,
    
    I was given the article to read and have order it as my first forray
    into this field. 
    
    Will let you know how I get on.
    
    Richard

    Well let me reply to my own questions. There seems to be three
    commercial and 1(2 if you count it's successor) PD packages generally
    available  in the UK.
    
    Personal accounts Plus from Equinox
    Home accounts from Digita
    Personal Finance Manager from Microdeal
    Home accounts plus by David Pullen
    
    Personal Accounts Plus (PAP): I've got a demo, seems quite good, you set up
    different accounts, e.g. bank accounts, credit card accounts, mortgage,
    rates, etc. It then organises the transfers from one to t'other on the
    appropriate days. When you enter transactions it prompts for the
    expected input e.g. payment, is it cash check or credit. Non GEM.
    29.95 +VAT or as part of their equinox organiser @49.95 +VAT.
    
    Home accounts(HA) from digita: looks promising, they also do a demo disk
    which I've ordered. One advantage appears to be that you can enter all
    known transactions, but defer those not on the current statement. These
    show up 'ghosted', and are not included in the total. review to follow.
    GEM interface. 29.95 +VAT officially, but I've seen it on sale cheaper. 
    
    Personal Finanace Manager(PFM): very similar to home accounts, seems to be
    able to produce a multitude of graphic outputs cut every which way so
    you can see your account trends (do you really want to see how much
    overdrawn you'll be in a years time :-)).  No demo so no more info.
    similar official price to above, not seen it discounted yet.
    
    Home Accounts Plus(HA+): very cheap as it's PD, I'ts also very limited, no
    graphics, no GEM interface, no print capability!. Having said that,
    what it does is quite good, you can insert lines into statements, it
    automatically inserts regular events such as pay, standing orders, direct
    debits.
    
    David has sent me it's successor Electronic Bank Statement (EBS), but
    due to problems (see under STOS) I've not been able to run it. It's
    suppose to have printing capability, but it seems to be a screen dump
    rather than ASCII or similar. Also surprisingly, it's not compatible
    with the data files produced by it's predecessor.
    
    I liked the demo of PAP better than david pullens HA+, but it's a lot
    more expensive!. I'll wait and see how the demo of PFM is and if EBS
    can be made to run on STe's then what that's like.
    
    Richard

    These PD packages, and demo's of some of the commercial packages
    available over the net, see note 9.140. 
    
    Richard