Original review published on Steve Litchfield's 3-Lib.

There are already a number of financial programs available for the EPOC machines, so Palmscape's 5Account has some tough competition. Originally developed as a project by Simon Berridge while beta-testing Andy Clarkson's OPL+, 5Account has now developed into a worthy competitor to some of the longer-established financial applications. The program is released as shareware, with a restriction on the total number of transactions for unregistered users. I was looking at version 1.8 from Palmscape's web site.

5Account comes in .SIS format for easy installation, and a ZIP version is available for those without the latest version of Psiwin. First impressions of the program are very positive, with a well-designed and intuitive user interface. I liked the ability to move between accounts, categories and standing orders by touching a tab at the top of the screen, while basic cursor movement can be achieved with Windows-style icons as well as the normal keys. The author has considerable experience in writing for the Psion machines and it shows in the look and feel of the program.

As a bank account management program, 5Account has most of the functionality you would be likely to need. Entering new transactions in any currency is straightforward and it is an easy matter to analyse your expenditure by category. All financial programs allow you to reconcile your account to your bank statement, and 5Account is no exception. I liked the way that unreconciled items could be selected by tapping the relevant column heading and also the ability to reconcile each item with the touch of a pen. Standing orders are available to handle your regularly scheduled payments, although in version 1.8 there's no way to add a reference to the entry which is generated, nor does the program prompt when orders are due. Importing from and exporting to Quicken or Microsoft Money are possible since 5Account reads and writes industry-standard QIF files.

In use, I found the program to be full of elegant touches. For example, selecting the net worth report brings up its own window which can be independently scrolled. Alternatively, you can output the results to an HTML file or to a printer. Printing is as easy as touching a printer icon and the reports produced are comprehensive and professional in appearance.

Where 5Account really scores over its competitors is in its ability to maintain client lists and manage customer invoices. In keeping with the rest of the program, both functions are well-specified and easy to use. If these functions are important to you in addition to normal bank account management, then you'll find 5Account suits your needs very well.

There were a few small niggles. The lack of an application-level password made me worry about leaving my financial data open to prying eyes as I don't use a system password. There's also no ability to use split transactions - for example where one cheque is used to pay for multiple purchases - and anyone accustomed to using Quicken or MS Money might miss this functionality. I found the absence of an archive viewer surprising, so that old items have to be restored to the current file before they can be reviewed - awkward once a large number of transactions have been archived. Lastly, some other financial programs allow graphical representation of your spending patterns, but 5Account does not yet have this ability.

Overall, 5Account is a very professional program and the elegant user-interface makes it a pleasure to work with. It is a welcome addition to the range of financial applications for EPOC. I understand that a PC version of 5Account is on the way, and that should make it an even more attractive option for managing your finances.

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