Pastel My Money, an online personal finance management tool, is now available to everyone with Web access. Powered by Pastel, South Africa’s leading developer of accounting and business software, My Money promises to make personal finance management a breeze. It’s secure, reliable and free.
The best features include:
* Independence ensures integration with all banks;
* Automatic bank feed imports Internet banking statements from multiple accounts so users don’t have to manually capture or import bank statements themselves;
* Photograph and attach till slips/important documents to transactions;
* Create budgets and learn how to stick to them;
* See where money is going at a single glance; and
* Become empowered to take control of finances.
Tough economic times call for stricter control of personal finances. But it’s not easy to save money if users don’t know how it’s being spent. Pastel My Money is the perfect tool to manage transactions and track spending. Because it’s online, users have control over their finances from anywhere through a computer, tablet or smartphone – as long as there’s an Internet connection.
“The need for mobility is a reality in everyone’s lives and a personal financial management tool in the cloud is the perfect way for money-conscious consumers to manage their budget,” says Steven Cohen, MD of Softline Pastel.
Each profile allows up to three users and three households all at no cost, which means no monthly payment hassles or expensive installation fees. Getting started is as easy as registering online.
Probably the best feature of Pastel My Money is the automatic bank feed which imports bank statements from an unlimited number of Internet bank and credit card accounts. For a monthly fee equivalent to one cappuccino, Pastel My Money will update and automatically refresh the account daily with any new transactions available in online banking, meaning that users are never out of touch with their financial status.
Some of the other attractive features from Pastel My Money include the ability to automatically attach till slips to a transaction by taking a photo with a smartphone, or by scanning slips onto a computer.
Insurance also becomes a breeze because the details of household contents can be recorded on the program, including where they were purchased, the purchase price, the replacement value and a photograph of each item.
Other features include expense categories that can be created by the user but will be remembered by Pastel My Money so everytime a transaction is captured, it is automatically assigned to a category – this function makes it really easy to track and analyse expenses. A budget can also be created based on a user’s past spending which can then be compared  to actual spending.
Pastel My Money provides an overview of all bank balances, transactions, and spending habits in one place. Spending categories and groups can tell the user whether they are spending money on essentials or splashing out on unnecessary items. This can be generated into a report tracking income versus expenses over time, which can be printed or e-mailed.
The program also comes with peace of mind because data is backed up daily, encrypted and stored in a managed hosted environment, which means spending trends will never be lost.
The last few years have been difficult for South African consumers.
“With an economy still recovering from the global economic crisis and prices on essential items like petrol and electricity on the rise, we are all, regardless of economic status, acutely aware of how stretched our bank balance really is,” says Cohen.
“Initially, we wanted to develop a piece of software to help our clients manage their personal finances. But because we’ve all been through the wringer and need as much help with our money management as we can get, Pastel has decided to make the program available to everyone.
“With financial freedom now just a mouse-click away, I encourage everyone to register with Pastel My Money,” says Cohen. “It’s not every day you’re offered something priceless for free.”