A couple of weeks ago I spent some time playing with a pre-release version of Ascendo Money For BlackBerry. The current version 3.1.0. To call it a pretty cool little BlackBerry application is probably a gigantic understatement, but, Ascendo Money is a pretty cool little BlackBerry application so I thought that I’d write a review of it.

Ascendo Money is a personal finance manager type application, think Quicken or Microsoft Money, designed to run both on your BlackBerry and your desktop. The Ascendo Money website describes the program as “the most comprehensive money manager for BlackBerry and PC desktops” and I believe that I would have to agree with their assessment.

I have to admit that even though I’ve owned a current copy of someones personal finance management software since about 1995, I am just not one of those folks who uses them beyond importing stuff directly from my bank and credit card companies and literally never looking at it again unless there is a problem with one of my accounts. If you are one of those BlackBerry users who actually knows that there is a ledger at the back of your checkbook and you keep track of what you are spending, you simply need to take a look at Ascendo Money. I can’t do the program justice by trying to tell you all the things that it is good for as the list of features is impressive.

If you are a bit more like me and your idea of a balanced checking account is one where more money goes into it than comes out and all the rest is magic Ascendo Money for BlackBerry will allow you use your debit card with confidence. I had all but stopped using debit cards simply because I am not disciplined enough balance my checking accounts after using them. Unlike with a checkbook, you really don’t have a record of what you do with a debit card unless you write it all down or until you are able to to a computer and look up your activity online. Ascendo Money eliminates this problem completely. Simply open up Ascendo Money on your BlackBerry, select the proper account, and check the balance. You will know if you have sufficient funds for whatever you are trying to use your debit card for before you use it.

Ascendo Money For BlackBerry

You can set up unlimited accounts and can enter in any recurring automatic withdrawals so that you are sure that your accounts stay up to date. You can also import and export information to and from other desktop PFMs that support .QIF (Quicken Interchange Format) and .CSV files. You can create all kinds of categories to add your transactions to allowing you to create charts and graphs of your finances so that you can visually see where you money is going. Synchronizing Ascendo Money for BlackBerry to your desktop is easy. Plug your BlackBerry into your desktop via USB and tell Ascendo Money Desktop to Synchronize.

There truly is a lot to this application and the best review of Ascendo Money for BlackBerry is the one that you do for yourself. You can download a free trial of here. Check it out and tell us what you think.

RIMarkable readers can get a 20% discount on Ascendo Money for BlackBerry.