Quicken began its life as a simple tracker of money in and money out. The software has built up around that task to include many others, but income and expense management is still the core function.
When you log in, Quicken quickly answers on one page (in the mobile app) the top five questions you likely have about your money:
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What are my account balances, particularly the account(s) I use for spending?
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Do I have any bills due soon?
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When will I get paid next?
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Do I have any room left in my [category] budget?
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What transactions have cleared recently?
Quicken answers these questions by displaying registers (that is, the line items of transactions from your connected financial accounts), charts, and lists. Transaction management, the heart of your spending records, is especially robust on the desktop version. But the mobile app’s registers contain the transaction data you likely need when you’re away from your computer, including each line item’s categorization.
The category list has options that are appropriate for personal income and spending, such as Entertainment, Gifts & Donations, and Health & Fitness, but also includes business categories that are important in reports and in preparing for income taxes. So, you might be able to run a very small business using Quicken.
(Credit: Quicken)
Your income entries should come through with your other bank transaction line items in your registers. Quicken uses that information along with your scheduled bills to create a projected balance chart, which is something you don’t typically see in today’s personal finance apps.
