Quicken Canada Simplifies Financial Planning

There are many individuals in Canada who have no idea where they stand financially. There are a number of reasons for this with the first being the fear of finding out. The second reason is the overwhelming nature of getting finances in order.

Quicken 2013 makes putting finances into a more understandable format much easier for the average person, the investor, the saver, and the business owner. The software gives individuals the opportunity to upload different types of data and see that data in different formats in order to understand the financial situation better.

For instance, spending can be sorted into categories with Quicken's Cash Manager and Home and Business software programs. This lets you see where you are spending more so you can reduce it in the areas where you can. You can also balance your chequebook to keep you from overdrawing your bank account and you can also see the cash that you have on-hand.

Planning Ahead

Quicken Cash Manager and the Quicken Home and Business software also give you the ability to plan ahead for the future. You can keep track of every transaction that you make by manually inputting them, scanning cashed cheques, and downloading bank account information. You can store your receipts as well.

You can also keep track of your loans and mortgages, track your net work, create a cash flow forecast, build a debt reduction plan, and more. These are tasks that allow you a view into your situation, taking away much of the confusion that normally surrounds financial tracking. This is definitely a good alternative to tracking expenses and financial data in a spreadsheet or notebook that can become quite unorganized over time. In Quicken, everything has its place so that what was once organized doesn't evolve into chaos.

Business Planning

Because finances play a significant role in business planning, Quicken can be a tool used in tracking expenses and factoring in future expenses and income. Many businesses fail within their first year and it is mainly due to poor financial planning. When you can input your future income and expenses, you can get an idea of where you need to cut back in order to ensure you still draw a profit. Doing this can also keep you from using business credit to make ends meet so that credit is always open in case there is a time when you have to turn to credit. Instead, the use of business credit should be to establish an excellent credit rating as opposed to a way out of a bind. When using Quicken, you are able to import your credit card and bank account data so you can keep track of both and make decisions regarding both based on the reports that you can generate.

Managing Taxes

In addition to managing personal and business finances, you can manage your taxes. For instance, you have the ability to transfer your data to TurboTax so you can file your taxes much easier. This is very important when needing to take full advantage of deductions, which is something that Quicken can track for you based on your financial data.

If you travel a lot for business, you can use Quicken to track vehicle mileage. When filing your federal and provincial taxes, you have the opportunity to receive a deduction on vehicle mileage. When you track it, you can ensure the number is accurate so you can get the best tax deduction.

In addition, you can minimize your taxes on capital gains when it comes to your investments. It is imperative that you not pay more tax than you need to because it is money you will not get back if you overpay. Many individuals overpay their taxes because they are not aware of the deductions they can take or they do not take a full deduction. This can be attributed to poor expense tracking and this is something that Quicken is addressing with this software. Whether the expenses need to be tracked for tax reasons or as a way to create a more comprehensive personal or business budget, the full financial picture is put into focus and that is important when making financial decisions.

Investment Monitoring

If you are an investor, you know the importance of monitoring those investments. You may have a broker managing your portfolio for you, but it is important to understand that brokers aren't perfect. This means that they can make mistakes or you may find that an investment is not working for you the way you need it to and need a change.

You can identify when the change is needed by generating reports that outlines the performance of your portfolio. If the performance is not great, then you know what changes need to be made. If the performance is excellent and you want to capitalize on that performance, then you know that it is time to invest more money in a particular investment. You also have the ability to compare your investments to market indices. Because investing is a gamble due to the ups and downs that the market can go through, having an effective way to track your portfolio on your own can minimize any potential losses. Yes, it can be difficult to predict what the market is going to do, but trends are useful in determining when to make a move and when not to make it. With a focus on your portfolio through Quicken, you can view the data and use that data to decide what you need to do.

Conclusion

When you need to put your into focus, Quicken can do that through more than 40 financial reports that can be generated. These reports show you where you stand, where you will stand, and can help you make the right financial decisions toward a better future.