In Their Own Words...

Name: Ed Norwood

Location: Houston, TX

Type of Investor: Retired Business Owner

# of Entities: 5

Products Used:
Navigator
StockWeb
PriceLink
Impressions

"I can't imagine life without my two dogs and Navigator," says Ed Norwood, a retired business owner and individual investor. "They are the principal items in my home office that I know are always there for me."

Ed has been using Navigator for 15 years. When he first started using Navigator, he had no formal accounting training. "I learned accounting from the balance sheet backwards," says Ed. "Learning to use Navigator was easy because it follows the basic principles of accounting and practically does the job for you."

Ed initially became acquainted with Navigator when he sold his business and decided to handle his personal investments, his sister's trust fund, and his company's profit-sharing plan. He determined that Navigator was the perfect vehicle to handle three separate entities.

He later installed Navigator in a plastics manufacturing company whose accounting was in a state of chaos. As an investor and manager of the company, he credits Navigator as a valuable tool in bringing the company to a condition that allowed a profitable sale to be made.

Ed was also the financial partner in a venture building upscale residences in the Houston market for a period of twelve years. Navigator allowed him to keep accurate records on each individual job, detailing construction draws for labor and materials against funds committed to each project. He continues to be involved in many real estate partnerships including raw land and rental properties. Tracking these investments with Navigator simplifies tax-time accounting.

Ed finds it convenient to have an open loan at the bank to facilitate quick cash deals whenever they might occur. Naturally, banks want a lot of information to set up an open loan. Navigator makes it possible to give them a summary balance sheet, a balance sheet analysis, a cost-basis balance sheet, a deferred tax report, last year's cash-flow report, and a cash-flow report for the coming year. His banker says he does not ordinarily receive this kind of sophisticated data from individual investors.

"Navigator's tech support is tremendous," Ed adds. "They are very positive and are great at providing solutions to problems."

"Navigator has more capabilities than other programs," notes Ed. "And they have continued to expanded the program. I particularly like the ability to tie in with my bank and the Internet. These have been valuable services for managing my finances. I recommend Navigator to others all the time. In fact, I will talk it up to anyone who will listen!"