Banking Online With Microsoft Money

Banking Online With Microsoft Money
If your computer connects to the Internet, Microsoft Money lets you use online financial services to more easily pay bills, bank, and even invest. And none of these services is difficult to use. If you have used Money, you will find that the activities are intuitive and time saving.
What are online financial services
Banks can offer three types of financial services: online bill payment, online banking, and in special cases, online brokerage. Online bill payment simply means you can use an account to pay bills electronically. Online banking means the bank will allow you to download an online statement into the Money data file and to transfer money between accounts at that bank. Online brokerage means that the bank or brokerage company will allow you to download an online statement reflecting your brokerage
account activity.
Note: Online banking features--particularly bill payment and online statements--can be particularly useful to small businesses. The larger transactions volumes that a small corporation, limited liability company or partnership experiences mean that making bill payment and account reconciliation easier pays big dividends.
How do I find a bank
To find a bank that supports online financial services, choose the Help menu's Microsoft On The Web command. When you choose Microsoft Money Homepage from the submenu, Money opens a web page with links to a list of financial institutions offering online financial services.
Web pages change frequently, but at the time of this writing, the main Money home page includes an Online Finance link that leads to a page called Banks Online. And
this page supplies hyperlinks that lead to a list of banks offering online financial services.
How do I pick a bank
When you reach the list of banks or brokerage companies offering online financial services, look through the list and find one that works for you.
NOTE The list of online financial institutions available at the Money home page shows some financial institution names as hyperlinks. In general, if the financial institution name is a hyperlink, the institution provides a greater selection of online financial services. Click the bank's link to get to the bank's web page for more information.
You pick an online financial institution in the same way that you pick a regular bank-
by answering some questions about the bank. Are the bank's branch locations convenient to where you shop, work, and live? Does the bank provide the services you need or want? What fees does the bank charge for its services?
Picking a financial institution is based on common sense, really. If you have had a good experience with your current bank and it offers the desired mix of online services, your best bet is to stay with your current bank.
Note: Small businesses need to be particularly careful about switching from one bank to another bank if the business also uses corporation banking products like small business credit lines, business loans, and so forth. While many banks offer good online banking services, not all businesses (in this CPA's experience) consistently offer small business financial products.
CPA Stephen L. Nelson is the author of do it yourself kits for Incorporating in North Carolina, North Carolina S corporation and North Carolina limited liability company.