Ease of Use

• Money management software programs for families are a personal choice, but one of the most important considerations in making that choice is how easy the software is to use. Personal money management software shouldn't make you feel as if you need a business or accounting degree just to manage your family finances. Many of the most popular personal money software applications provide easy step-by-step setup wizards, and transactions can be entered using a simple on-screen form that looks like a check. The check format is familiar to most people and makes the software intuitive to use.
  
  

Flexibility

• Every family has similarities and differences in their personal finances and how they prefer to manage their money. The best software applications acknowledge and accommodate these differences by making many features and functions in the software flexible. Settings inside the software may allow you to focus on day-to-day bank account balances if that's what's important for your family, for example. Or it may allow you to focus on budgeting and savings goals if those are important instead. The most popular financial management software applications for families also allow you to set up multiple checking, saving and investment accounts according to your needs.
  
  

Accessibility

• Many of the most popular family finance programs available on the market offer the flexibility of allowing you to access your financial data from multiple locations and tools. You may have a local copy of your accounts and balances on your home computer, for example, and another on the Internet so you can access everything from work or while traveling. Some software programs even offer access to all your financial data and accounts from a smartphone or PDA, ensuring you always have access regardless of where you are.
  
  

Personalization

• The best money management software programs allow you to personalize many things to fit your family's financial lifestyle. If you're more comfortable entering credits and debits on a form that looks like the paper versions, you can configure the software to let you do so. If on the other hand you prefer to simply enter transactions in a checkbook register style, you can configure the software to operate that way instead. You can have your financial software give you bill reminders a number of days in advance and have it warn you when bank account balances fall below a specified point.