should have some muscle to do heavy office apps, but that's about it. not sure if monitor is needed, but why not..thanks

What's the budget for the computer?

For <$800, you can get an Dell Optiplex GX520. I used the Optiplex GX series for all of the computers I installed at the bank, and they were reliable and more than able to handle all the office apps.

We used:
Proprietary bank software
MS Office 2003 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook)
Adobe Acrobat 7 Pro
Adobe Acrobat Reader 7
Internet Explorer
Visio
Map Point
Data Mining / CRM software

A quick look at a GX520 (available in Small Business) show that you can get this for $747 + tax / shipping:

Small Form Factor
2.8GHz P4
512MB Ram
80GB SATA hard drive
CDRW/DVD combo
1.44" Floppy (removing saves $18)
Keyboard/Mouse
3 Year warranty

no monitor needed
no software needed other than windows ($100 more for MS office would be ok)
shld be good for networking
budget about $600

doesn't mind HP- wants good service after the fact.

This might be overkill, but it will do all of that, and it's only $550 after MIR.

http://www.circuitcity.com/ccd/productDetail.do?oid=141807&cm_keycode=85

thanks Nate,
I passed it on to them. I think I want it for myself!!!

Also this might be worth a look:

http://compusa.shoplocal.com/compusa/default.aspx?action=detail&flashbrowse=y&storeid=2402205&rapid=227815&pagenumber=12&listingid=-2095700854&ref=%2fcompusa%2fdefault.aspx%3faction%3dbrowsepageflash%26storeid%3d2402205%26pagenumber%3d12%26rapid%3d227815%26prvid%3dcompusa-060108

The compaq nate listed is a far better computer for not that much more though.