Financial Management Software

telomar

I was just wondering what software do people use to manage and keep track of their financial affairs? Right now I have a fairly well developed set of Excel sheets but I'm just interested in what other people are using and the advantages in switching over.

macvault

H Telomar. Well, I'm sorry to inform you, but the Mac has NO real good personal finance managers. The only real one, with direct connect functionality - limited to very few financial institutions, is Quicken, which is a total pile of junk. Intuit just release Quicken 2007 for Mac and it's not a universal binary (Intel native) which just goes to show you Intuit's level of commitment to the Mac platform. Intuit has a monopoly on this market.

mikef

Quote:

Originally Posted by Macvault


H Telomar. Well, I'm sorry to inform you, but the Mac has NO real good personal finance managers. The only real one, with direct connect functionality - limited to very few financial institutions, is Quicken, which is a total pile of junk. Intuit just release Quicken 2007 for Mac and it's not a universal binary (Intel native) which just goes to show you Intuit's level of commitment to the Mac platform. Intuit has a monopoly on this market.

It's funny that there's still a major void in this market... to make matters worse for me, I'm in Canada and NONE of the other packages have support for Canadian banks, etc. I still use MS Money on Windows for my financial management...

progmac

looking on version tracker (http://www.versiontracker.com) i see a lot of 'balance your checkbook' type apps that would probably be useful, but nothing with really advanced direct connecting type features (that I truthfully don't know anything about).

telomar

This is all the programs I have found. Some can import statements in .qif format but bank linking certainly doesn't appear to be around, then again my bank doesn't offer it so it isn't something I miss too much. I haven't had a chance to look too closely at them all yet, in fact I've only looked at Moneydance so far and I'm not a huge fan of the interface, although maybe that's just me.



MoneyWorks Cashbook is quite pricey.



Moneydance seems to claim some online banking features but I can't test how well they work.



This company has a range of solutions but they look a bit basic.



iBank also has some importing features.



CheckBook looks a bit basic.



Last up Liquid Ledger



So I guess the question is what features do people value most in their accounting software? I was looking because I wanted something that would ultimately help simplify my tax and keep track of important receipts for warranties, currently I scan them and link them back to Excel, but I'd like to know what other people use frequently and how I could possibly improve how I do things.

macvault

Here's why... because the only real personal finance manager Steve Jobs has to use on his Mac is Quicken - which, as I stated earlier, sucks major a$$! Intuit should be ashamed of themselves!

kickaha

I have a buddy who swears by the Mac port of GnuCash. Double-entry accounting, no frills, just basic bookkeeping with import capabilities.

kishan

I use Quicken for Mac. I use it to track my back accounts with WellsFargo, my Citibank credit card, my mortgage and student loans... with the 2007 update it automatically keeps track of deductions from my paycheck to help estimate year end tax stuff. Maybe I am naive, but what else should a financial program do?

kickaha

Not crash, not be hard to use, not be a general pain... I had the *worst* time with Quicken 2004, and it hadn't improved in the previous five years since I started using Quicken in '99. Has it improved any, or is it still pretty much a steaming pile of poo?

kishan

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kickaha


Not crash, not be hard to use, not be a general pain... I had the *worst* time with Quicken 2004, and it hadn't improved in the previous five years since I started using Quicken in '99. Has it improved any, or is it still pretty much a steaming pile of poo?

well, the first mac version of quicken that I used was 2006. I run an iBook G4 with 1GB of RAM. No crashes that I can recall. I don't find it particularly difficult to use. But then again, I don't have the frame of reference that you do. Nor do I have much experience using quicken on windows. I'm not defending Quicken for Mac, but then again, I don't understand the complaints against it either. I would be interested to hear some specific complaints. What I have heard is that the Windows version is soooo much better... when I get my next Mac, one that dual boots, I will see.

kickaha

Well, this was back in the OS9 days, mostly, but when you have to make sure you backup your entire dataset prior to *every damned launch* because it has a nasty habit of corrupting said dataset on crashing, which it does *often*... it's a PITA.

mikef

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kickaha


Well, this was back in the OS9 days, mostly, but when you have to make sure you backup your entire dataset prior to *every damned launch* because it has a nasty habit of corrupting said dataset on crashing, which it does *often*... it's a PITA.

Admittedly, Quicken 2004 (the only experience I have since it came with my iBook) didn't crash that I can remember but it's still a pig to use. I have no Windows experience using Quicken either, but compared to MS Money, it's junk IMHO.