best financial software for mac

tadcrawfordmv wrote:

Michael

What I am trying to do is recover the functionality of Quicken Home & Business, which I used before moving to my iMac, by using CrossOver...

I have never used any version of Quicken for Windows, so I cannot personally speak to any "functionality" that is missing in the Mac version. All I know is that I have been using Quicken on my Macs over two decades and have been very happy.

Have you tried, for $15, Quicken for Intel (Lion, Mt. Lion and Mavericks), which you can purchase here:

http://quicken.intuit.com/personal-finance-software/quicken-2007-osx-lion.jsp

My understanding is that there is an Intuit document which explains how to get your Quicken Windows data into Quicken 2007, and that you export each of your accounts into QIF files, set them up in Quicken for Mac and then import these QIF files into the Mac version. Perhaps it is the document you link (but it makes no mention of going from Quicken for Windows to Quicken for Mac).

Depending upon how many accounts you have, it does not seem that "tortuous" in that you only have to do it ONCE and then you have all of your information in Quicken 2007 for Mac.

Why not try it for one account and see how you like it...

Michael -

Thank you for your suggestions. I probably was not sufficiently clear. I am already using Moneydance (Mac Version), having successfully converted my Quicken Home and Business data in qif format. Moneydance was just ranked No. 1 by Top 10 Reviews, but a disclaimer is in order. Some software was not evaluated like Quicken 2007 and iBank. It meets my minimum requirements.

I will probably stay with Moneydance if I conclude that migrating back to Quicken Home and Business . . . using CrossOver on my iMac . . . is too tortuous.

I am open to switching to Quicken 2007 if it is significantly better. I wish I could find a good head to head review of MD 2014 vs Q 2007. At the time I bought my iMac, it was not an option. It came loaded with Lion before the Q 2007 upgrade.

It's been about ten months or so since I last added a comment to this string and since I have been seeing a fair amount of new year activity I thought I would provide a brief update.

After much review early last year, I decided to jump in with iBank after having years of complicated and disappointing experiences with Quicken for Mac. (lengthy posts early 2013). After a year of using iBank I'm happy to say that I've had no crashes or corrupted files, no expensive calls to customer support, and no complaints other than the typical idiosyncrasis of learning a new software package. All of my non-corrupted files I could salvage from Quicken transferred into iBank last year and after some minor clean-up I was running. At this time last year, I thought iBank was similar to Quicken for Mac so the change to new software was not a steep learning curve.

It's been good to see MoneyDance and other Mac software come into their own too. I considered MoneyDance last year and will take a look at it again, but with iBank doing everything I need, including an iPad and iPod Touch/iPhone version which syncs up, it will now be hard to move me to another package. /

I decided to end the trial and purchase Crossover. It is easy to use and has allowed me to Continue using Quicken Deluxe 2012 as I was on my PC. It doesn't hurt that I got an email for 25% off either.

For non-tech savvy Quicken users that jump to Mac for the first time, I would highly recommend this solution.

I have to agree wholeheartedly with you, jz. I downloaded the Crossover trial yesterday, installed Quicken 2013, and restored my data file. It was incredibly easy to complete all the steps, and I was up and running in no time. I immediately went to work on testing, and, although I had one crash early on in the process, everything has gone smoothly so far. I tried downloading from a couple of financial institutions, but I had updated my file the day before, so there was nothing to download (hopefully that's the reason nothing appeared). I plan on giving it another go later today. I did work on reports for some time, and had no problem with those whatsoever. The best part was that it was completely seamless with my Mac programs, and I could switch between them just as if Quicken was actually running as a Mac program. Anyhow, I was convinced enough of its functionality to go ahead and purchase the full-blown version of CrossOver.

On Jan 28, 2014, at 10:23 AM, Apple Support Communities Updates <discussions-updates@apple.com> wrote:

Apple Support Communities

Re: best financial software for mac

created by jznew2mac in iMac (Intel) - View the full discussion

I decided to end the trial and purchase Crossover. It is easy to use and has allowed me to Continue using Quicken Deluxe 2012 as I was on my PC. It doesn't hurt that I got an email for 25% off either.

For non-tech savvy Quicken users that jump to Mac for the first time, I would highly recommend this solution.

Did this help? Go to the message, sign in, and reply

Start a new discussion in the same community

You are receiving this email from Apple Support Communities. You can change your email preferences in your Apple Support Communities Profile.

© 2013 Apple Inc. 1 Infinite Loop, MS 303-3DM, Cupertino, CA 95014.

All Rights Reserved | Privacy Policy | Apple Support Communities Terms of Use | Apple Support

Good news! I wish I had known about this option 3 years ago when I migrated from Quicken Home and Business (Windows) to Moneydance.

The return trip seems daunting. It looks like I would need to export my QIF files and import them into QH+B 2004, the last year the QIF format was fully supported, then upgrade to QH+B 2013, with no assurance I won't be faced with substantial data cleanup.

Given the steady improvements I have seen made to Moneydance, I'm leaning toward staying where I am.

There is NO excellent financial management software for Mac!!! Even the "top" rated Moneydance is very limited, created by techies for techies, not a bit user friendly. I used MS Money for many many years before changing to a Mac. It was marvelous. I wish someone would take it over and make a version for Mac! This is something that is desperately needed in the Mac world -- even in the PC world!

WHAT improvements have been made in Moneydance!!!???? It looks like an old DOS program. I loaded the so-called Update and two years of my financial records vanished into thin air. They don't seem be be able to provide much assistance in finding them. Since this company is based in the UK, there no phone support. Meanwhile, I am just using an Excel file to keep track of a few things!

Reading some good comments on the use of Quicken for Windows and Crossover on a MAC. I had Quicken for MAC from 1993-1999 and then switch onto a PC with MS Money; still a fabulous financial software product. Does anyone have any experiences, good or bad, of using MS Money and Crossover on a MAC? I will be purchasing a MAC once again, as I have given up on PC/Windows 8.

Hello,

Yes, I am using Microsot Money/Parallels8/Windows7 on a Macbook Pro13. All works as well as, if not better, than MS Money runs on a Windows machine.

I realise, howver, that I will have to move on to new software at some point in the future, and have been looking around for sometime for a Mac platform.

I agree with other posters that it is bizarre that MS abandoned Money as it was a fantastic program. If they had continued to support it, I would probably still be using Microsoft products. Once they abandoned it, I lost my unique selling point to continue with MS and I now have only Apple hardware.

Unfortunately, there is no obvious Apple financial software alternative. As others have already pointed out, MoneyDance seems like it is stuck in the 80s with clunky Java interface. I have tried iBank too - it is probably the nearest to MS Money - but it lacks a lot of the refinements of MS Money. Also, the work involved in exporting nearly 15 years of data to iBank is colossal, and I am only prepared to do it if I am sure that the authors will be around for a very long time - and I am not convinced! I wish Apple would enter this market themselves, maybe buy iBank so that I know there is long-term support. I am fed up with transitory personal finance platforms - am now on my fourth and it is getting boring having to learn new systems.

I thought I was the only one!

I recently switched to iMac but I guess I have to accept the fact that I will keep using my old pc laptop just to keep managing my finances through Microsoft Money which I've been doing since 1998. Money is still awesome. I also tried to find an Apple version but I couldn't believe it there is none.

I have tried Money (jumsoft) I bank and Money dance and Wave finance. All of them have their own quirky issues but where they fail the most is in their export capacity and direct contact capacity. If I wanted to download and import ofx files I can do that by hand. For all of them, once I get categories etc set up, the exports look totally different than the interface and I lose subcategories, notes spilts etc. none but wave have any real support for receipts. Wave has the worst export. All have had reconciliation problems. For all I have to do serious work in a spreadheet after export to do my taxes and accounts. Support is very spotty for all - sometimes they get back to you but on the whole not really helpful. Anything that fails to direct contact-update is still not working. The limits in the export are essentially the same - they don't export all that you need (some lose the originating account, some the category).

I would settle for a program that could connect online to update transactions and exported what I saw on the screen, which is prettly low as far as expectations. If anyone has any recomendations for an app like that I would love to hear it.

I am back to a spreadsheet. It is honestly less time consuming than doing it twice. There has got to be a better way

mg11361 wrote:

but where they fail the most is in their ... direct contact capacity. If I wanted to download and import ofx files I can do that by hand.

Really!!!

In a post-Target world you want to give ALL of your log-ins and passwords for ALL of your financial accounts to one company to store for you!?! Not me...

Downloading and importing QIF files (in Quicken) is just not that more time consuming in contrast to the extra security it provides.

Sorry - I should specify that I personally like the convenicne and immediacy and that is what I am personally looking for in financial software. If you would like to download files and do it by hand and find quicken useful I am happy for you, but I had another request and if there are other users out there who might hav suggestions based on these preferences I would appreciate their input

You missed my point:

Use whatever "useful" software that you determine is best for the Mac.

But be aware that in a post-Target world, the extra "convenience and immediacy" of "direct contact" (by sharing your personal log-ins and passwords for ALL of your financial accounts) must be weighed against the increasingly disturbing weakness that these companies show in protecting our personal identity information (or the lack thereof)!

My comment most certainly will not keep others from giving you the information that you seek...