Money Management Software for OS X

[mashinhead]

I was using quicken 2005 which just came with my new ibook. I learned fast just how bad the program is , largely being unnecessarily overcomplicated. So i was looking for an alternative, and i was hoping someone could suggest something. I checked out iBank and Liquid Ledger, has anyone used these. and how comprehensive are they??

i basically want the finacial equivelant of Mail. One place where you can dl your statements, automatically preferred, pay your bills and track you spending and investments, in the easiest way possible. Does that exist??

 

[RacerX]

You could give Accounts a try. I'm not organized enough to manage my own money, but it looks like it is nicely design software.

 

[timnosenzo]

Just out of curiosity, what do you find overly complicated in Quicken?

 

[Kyan]

It Does Exist

Mashinhead,
Yes, such a program does exist for the Mac - Quicken. I'll admit that the program can seem overwhelming, but it is the most comprehensive and the best program available, IMHO, for what you stated you want to do.
I've tried the others you mentioned and then some, and it just didn't work out meeting my needs, which are similar to yours.
Take your time and try to learn Quicken, and I think you will ultimately be happy with the program.
Good luck,
Kyan

 

[mashinhead]

you want to know why i don't like, i will explain and maybe you guys can help me out. I started quicken and dl my last months statment from online, and opened it in quicken. It lists all my charges and asks me to classify them, i don't want to do this i want to start from where i am, so i hit accept all button. It processes everything, lists the balance from the bank in one window, but after caluclating everything the bank balance and the Quicken account calculation do not match at all. Becuase quicken does not register or ask for an opening balance. what i want is to dl the file and just go from there. but after i dl my statements and have a ton of work to from there, and i can't even see where the discrepency is. What is th point of dl it then.

also when i expand the dl transactions window it will not let me scroll with my mouse in pay/category/memo window. nor will it let me change the ratio of the windows like i can in say itunes or mail. I guess my grip is it asks me to dl the statement, and i'm expecting that the reason its asking me to do this is so i can have all my previous info and start from where i'm at. But right now the program doesn't make sense to me at all. Furthermore it does not automaically dl your statements. it takes you to your bank's website, and asks you to log in. While i respect this as security issue, i would be more than happy to login everytime FROM Quicken. To me i want quicken to replace me haveing to 3 different sites to pay bills and dl statements. let me know if i'm messing up. thanks.

 

[Damek]

I don't use Quicken on the Mac, but I do use Quicken 2002 on Windows, and here are my brief thoughts:

1) You aren't meant to pay your bills through Quicken. Maybe newer versions attempt to do that, but the way I used my Quicken is to keep track of all my income and expenses in one place - that's the primary purpose of any accounting software. I still go to individual bank/utility/credit card sites to pay bills & move money around.

2) I thought Quicken for the Mac was buggy and unstable? That's the feeling I get from reviews at Amazon and other places on the net. That's one of the reasons I still use my old Quicken 2002 for Windows. Is Quicken 2005 not buggy and unstable? Is your primary complaint that it doesn't work the way you expected, that its purpose isn't quite what you had thought it to be? Because I'd really like to know without having to buy it...

 

[timnosenzo]

2) I thought Quicken for the Mac was buggy and unstable? That's the feeling I get from reviews at Amazon and other places on the net. That's one of the reasons I still use my old Quicken 2002 for Windows. Is Quicken 2005 not buggy and unstable? Is your primary complaint that it doesn't work the way you expected, that its purpose isn't quite what you had thought it to be? Because I'd really like to know without having to buy it...

I haven't found Quicken 2004 or 2005 to be buggy or unstable.

 

[Lyle]

Actually, I've been considering getting Quicken 2005 for my PowerBook; I've been using Quicken for a few years now on my Windows-based PC.

Am I correct to assume that I can import my old Quicken records into the Mac version of Quicken 2005 with no problems? And if you've used a recent version of Quicken on Windows (I think mine is the 2002 or 2003 version), is the user interface for the Mac version fairly similar (modulo the usual changes for Cocoa applications)?

 

[Damek]

Actually, I've been considering getting Quicken 2005 for my PowerBook; I've been using Quicken for a few years now on my Windows-based PC.

Am I correct to assume that I can import my old Quicken records into the Mac version of Quicken 2005 with no problems? And if you've used a recent version of Quicken on Windows (I think mine is the 2002 or 2003 version), is the user interface for the Mac version fairly similar (modulo the usual changes for Cocoa applications)?

Well, I figure you weren't asking me since I haven't used Quicken on the Mac, but I can tell you that Intuit addresses the conversion question right on their Quicken Mac Q&A page:

Will Quicken 2005 for Mac convert my current Quicken data?

That refers you to their tech support site, where I found this document providing an obtuse method of exporting your data from Windows Quicken and then importing it into Mac Quicken

As for the interface, they have some screenshots where they list features, but that won't be adequate. I wish they did some sort of free trial...

 

[maxvamp]

Try MoneyDance

Been using it for 6 years... been happy

moneydance

 

[reh]

For anyone looking for a simple account management app, I use and recommend CheckBook. It's no Quicken, but it's not meant to be.

 

[Lyle]

Well, I figure you weren't asking me since I haven't used Quicken on the Mac...

Yes, I was just asking the public at large.

... but I can tell you that Intuit addresses the conversion question right on their Quicken Mac Q&A page:

Thanks very much for the linkage. The process for converting from Quicken for Mac to Quicken for Windows (also documented here) is indeed more complicated than I'd like. I'm glad I thought to ask, as I almost took it for granted that this would be a no-brainer. It certainly makes me a little less likely to purchase Quicken for Mac.

 

[KD7IWP]

I despise Quicken

I have Quicken 2005 on my Powerbook and find that it is just ugly. It also for me has been quite slow. I used to use MS Money 2004 on my PC and it was a lovely environment. I never touch it now since it is on Windows, but it was great. Everything was right there and it had a homepage with a summary of everything, including graphs. Way back in the day I used to use Money 2.0. Quicken 2005 reminds me so much of that old program. It even looks similar. I tried iBank but it did not seem sophisticated enough. I still don't know what a good money program is. The interface of Quicken seems too similar to MS products for the Mac: Bad.