We've noticed two kinds of success stories in the computer software industry. First, there are the relatively large companies that are clever or lucky enough to crank out major best-sellers.
Then, there are the much smaller enterprises that find a little niche where software is lacking and fill the need. In the past, they've often been solo programmers with little marketing smarts. More and more, they're solo marketers smart enough to hire programmers.We can't think of a more specialized niche than the complex financial planning tasks that surround a divorce. If you've ever seen a couple split up, you know that each thinks the other is getting the better deal. What can be more objective than letting a computer decide what's an equitable split?
That's what accountant Dennis Casty figured. So he came up with FinPlan a useful program for lawyers, accountants and divorce participants that runs in conjunction with 1-2-3.
It requests and stores information for all the financial considerations that are crucial to dividing up a couple's assets, liabilities, and antique vases. Then it provides tools so planners can equitably divvy up divorce costs and proceeds. Finally, it formats the data into reports that attorneys and accountants can rely on and anyone can understand.
FinPlan takes into account federal tax laws for things like child support and maximum allowable alimony deductions. For both parties, it calculates cash flow, social security payments and more. It projects income, payments and taxes four years into the future.
Right now, Casty is selling FinPlan for $200. He also has packages that include specific state requirements and cost $300 each. (If your local dealer can't get the programs, contact FinPlan Co., 2333 N. Geneva Ter. Ste. 5A, Chicago, IL 60614. 312-549-1008.) To use any of them, you must have 1-2-3 running on an IBM type computer.
It's pretty safe to say that nearly everybody is paying off one loan or another. Loan Manager helps us borrowers answer all the questions lenders usually respond to in gobbledygook.
-If I finance a car over four years instead of three, how much extra interest will I pay?
-If I can afford $185 a month, how much computer can I buy?
-Is it better to make a lump-sum payment to my mortgage or put the cash in CDs?
The program begins by displaying all the kinds of help it can give you. After you choose a selection, it shows a fill-in-the-blank screen for the information it needs to guide you through decision-making.
If you can't get all the hard figures when you're hot to compute, you can run several guesses through the program. Playing What-If-I-Borrow games is quick and easy. We knocked out six estimates for a range of figures in less time than it took to drink a cup of coffee.
Loan Manager runs only on IBM or compatible PCs. It costs $50. (Lassen Software, 5923 Clark Rd., Paradise, CA 95967. 800-338-2126.)
Are you a professional loan manager? Some lenders we know have been using spreadsheets such as Excel to calculate loan data. One shortcut is to use Financial Ratios, also from Lassen Software. It contains all the important formulas and ratios needed in the loan business, packaged in easy-to-run format. At $100, it can save that much in data-checking time within a few months.
Lassen's program is meant for managers who know their way through credit analysis. For people who aren't as comfortable using analysis tools, Credit Line Analysis and Credit Risk Profile is a plug-in-the-numbers program. It puts the right formulas in the right places.
A retired credit exec spent $30,000 in programmer time to get this program written. It's in BASIC, not our favorite language for financial software. But the analyses we tested were right on the money, and that's what counts.
If you own an IBM or compatible PC, $150 gets you a program disk ready to load and use. For owners of nearly any other kind of computer, the company sells a print-out of the BASIC code for you to adapt and type in. Hillstream Credit Services, P.O. Box 340, Manahawkin, NJ 08050. 609-597-5637.)
As our economy moves from emphasizing sale of goods to performing services and vending information, more and more jobs are being charged by the hour. Joining the doctors, lawyers and accountants who've always done business that way are agencies, artists, contractors, decorators, mechanics, repairmen and more.
TimeSheet Professional is useful for anyone who charges for working time. We've seen many time-keeping programs that do nothing more than hold your time records for billing purposes. They make you check your watch to see how long you've been working. That's dumb, when the computer can read its own built-in clock.
This program punches the clock for you.
It's not the best all-around computerized timekeeper we've encountered. But it is among the least expensive and easiest to use. And it's flexible enough so you can bend its routines and onscreen forms for almost any type of occupation.
If you want to fancy it up, for instance to refer to your customers as patients or clients, the program comes with instructions for customizing some of the on-screen language. If your units of work are designs and not jobs, you can make the program bow to your style.
It costs $150 retail. (If your local dealer can't get it, contact Software Partners, 999 Commercial St., Palo Alto, CA 94303. 415-857-1110.)
Copyright 1989 P/K Associates Inc., 4343 W Beltline Hwy, Madison WI 53711.