Ilium Software's Keep Track 2.1.1

One of the challenges facing most people is keeping track of your money and where it is going.  This challenge becomes all the more evident for those who businesses have them traveling often and for those who have teenagers in the house.  While solutions to this problem have been available for sometime now in the Pocket PC realm, few have offered a small application footprint with ease-of-use.  Often these applications are simply too complex in nature to use efficiently and quickly on the platform.  As with all of their other applications, Ilium Software has addressed this problem exceptionally well with their financial tracking application, Keep Track.

Keep Track is financial tracking application that allows users to manage any number of banking or credit card accounts, transfer and record transactions between them or from them, and does all of this in a simple, easy-to-use interface that can be configured to record common entries with the tap of a single button.  Further, KeepTrack is can synchronize data between users Pocket PCs and desktops, making it an ideal financial tracking solution for a fraction of the cost of many of its competitors.  Keep Track is a big win and a must for anyone who needs to track their financial information on-the-fly from anywhere their Pocket PC is with them.

The installation of Keep Track is done via ActiveSync and occupies just over 300K on the Pocket PC device.  The installation can be done into the unit's main memory or can be installed onto a storage card.  By default, the database that is created by Keep Track is stored in the same directory as the application.  This, however, can be changed by tapping Tools > Database Location....  Users can select from any directory on their Pocket PC or storage card.  Obviously, if users want to use the same file on their Windows PC as their Pocket PC, the file should be stored somewhere in the My Documents directory.

With the database created and in the desired location, Keep Track opens to its default entry display.  This display is setup like checkbook registry with pull-down menus to select the particular information concerning the transaction.  By pulling down the menus, users will see some default accounts and payables already in place.  This is part of Ilium's effort to keep users from having to completely customize the application should they choose not do to so.  However, like all Ilium applications, all of these entries are customizable to fit everyone's needs.

To configure an account, tap the Config > Accounts... menu.  The display will show all of the current accounts which can be edited or deleted and new accounts can be added as well.  To edit the account, highlight it then tap Edit.  This will allow users to change any aspect of the account including the name, credit limit, balances and the type of account.   

Like the accounts, the categories of payments can also be customized.  This is done by tapping the Config > Catagories... menu and either editing, adding or deleting the preinstalled entries.  Setting up categories is particularly helpful for business people who need to track company expense items to their company while keeping personal expenses separate.

While creating entries in Keep Track, users have the ability to type in the name of the payee of any transaction using the default entry screen.  However, it is also possible to enter these payees into the Frequently Used Names so entry is a pull-down and tap away.  To create these new name entries, tap the Config > Names... menu and the default entry list is shown.  As with the Accounts and Categories, these default entries can be edited or deleted.  While there is a theoretical limit to the number of names users can enter, users will be hard pressed to use them all.

One of the biggest advantages that Keep Track offers users is the ability to enter common transactions with the tap of one button.  The customizable One Touch Button entry is configured off of the Config menu and allows for the text and the amount of the transaction and type of transaction.  By using these buttons, users can save time as well as potential errors on often performed transactions.   

With any customizations completed - if users choose to do so - transaction entry is intuitive and quick.  Using the default entry display, simply select the account the transaction is from, the payee, amount and the category it needs to be listed under.  As with a checkbook register, users can also make a note about the transaction.  After selecting the type of transaction using the buttons at the bottom of the entry display, a confirmation page is show allowing users to enter the date and time of the transaction, the check number and the new balance of the account involved.

As with most of Ilium Software's products, Keep Track is offered in two versions.  The Pocket PC version is $14.95 (US) while the Professional version, which includes the Pocket PC and Windows PC versions, is $24.95 (US).  The advantage to the Professional version is the ability to maintain the same database on both devices, allowing Keep Track to be the primary financial application for its users instead of having to export the database into another application.  One of the key, undocumented features of Keep Track is the outstanding support offered by Ilium Software.  Ilium has second-to-none technical support and always answers emails within 24 hours.   A free, 30-day demonstration version of Keep Track is available on the Ilium Software website.  You can try the latest version of KeepTrack at the Clinton Fitch (Dot) Com! store by clicking here.

Keep Track is a must-have application for anyone with multiple financial accounts, especially those who travel and need to track multiple types of transactions.  It can easily serve as the only financial application one would need on their Pocket PC as well as their Windows PC.

Clinton Fitch, MVP-Mobile Devices
Clinton Fitch (Dot) Com!