account

PayPal on Tuesday is introducing a new service for parents with kids who are in high school or college. Called Student Accounts, it centers on the use of a special PayPal-branded Mastercard debit card that's tied to a parent's PayPal accounts. The parent acts as the provider and can funnel money in whenever they feel like it at predetermined dates, or--at what will most-frequently happen--the behest of their kids.

Some of the perks include no overdraft fees and the use of a debit card that's not tied to a particular bank account, meaning the balance can come … Read more

Express Accounts represents free software at its best. This accounting program is well designed, both in form and in function.

In addition to being easy to navigate, the interface for Express Accounts is visually appealing, mimicking the look of Microsoft Windows Vista. The menus are organized in a way that makes sense and makes it easy to find what you need. When we opened the program for the first time, it prompted us to enter in our company information, which is a nice way to make the user's experience personal from the get-go. We also liked that Express Accounts … Read more

A reader named Eric found himself locked out of his Vista administrator accounts:

"Somehow, my account and my son's accounts were downgraded to standard user on his new computer using Vista Home 32-bit. I cannot seem to log in to make any changes to the accounts now. It prompts me to enter a password but no password box is available to type it in. How can I log in to change my account back to administrator?"

In a post last year, I described how to enable Vista's hidden administrator account and password-protect XP's default administrator … Read more

While some programs focus only on passwords or account information, eWallet promises to help keep all of your important numbers together in one secure place.

This program's colorful, busy interface looks overwhelming at first, but there's an excellent Wizard to guide you through the process. The interface has a large central screen to view a selected record. Along the left side is a file tree that is dedicated to your virtual wallet and all the records it will contain. The top of the screen houses the commands that allow you to develop this wallet. Adding an item is … Read more

They're here--sort of. Twitter has launched the early beta phase of its "verified accounts" program, a background-check for celebrities and other prominent users of the service to weed out impersonators and fake accounts. If they pass the test, they get a graphic "badge" much like a PayPal verified account's.

"We're starting with well-known accounts that have had problems with impersonation or identity confusion," an explanation from Twitter read. "We may verify more accounts in the future, but because of the cost and time required, we're only testing this feature … Read more

Send to Gmail offers users an opportunity to quickly and easily save important documents and utilize Gmail's enormous capacity for storing info. The program was a breeze to use and even managed to exceed our expectations with its added features.

While not much to look at, Send to Gmail's interface is enhanced by its simplicity. It offered a screen to input your Gmail information and then a simple instruction on how to operate the program using your mouse. The Options Menu had a little more flair, utilizing big icons that perfectly showcased its features. Overall, the entire program … Read more

Account Xpress does what many programs--in particular, home budget programs--fail to achieve. Namely, the program manages to be both extremely powerful and easy to use. Account Xpress is a great fit for users who merely want to track their expenses and those who desire a detailed analysis of their monthly finances.

At first glance it's not entirely obvious where users should begin, but the Help file offers a very well-written Getting Started section that should have users up and running within minutes. The interface is divided into six sections, which are explained in detail in the Help file and … Read more

Checkbook for Excel is a truly easy-to-use checkbook application that can help alleviate the anxiety of keeping track of expenses, deposits, service fees, and other details of keeping a checking account on the money.

It's so much better than your average paper checkbook register, Checkbook for Excel can be customized to track expenses; flag tax-related events; manage one's PayPal expenses, deposits and fees; prepare and print reports; even print checks. All you have to do is set up a ledger sheet for each financial account you wish to manage. It is here you will be prompted to provide … Read more

Although users with a solid grasp of financial management basics will get the most from this freeware program, GnuCash proved to be a capable tool for personal and small business accounting.

This freeware program's interface is bland but functional, and presents itself in a way that will be familiar to users who do their banking online. Various holdings (anything from checking accounts, to CDs, stocks and any other form of investment) are listed in a tree along the left side. Selecting an entry displays further details in a larger pane. At the top of the screen are various commands … Read more