What is the best Mac-compatible Alternative to Quicken and why?

Winmilano http://wdipretoro@alice.it

Re: What is the best Mac-compatible Alternative to Quicken and why?

21-mag-2013 13.07 (in response to Old Toad)

You cautioned that Quicken Essentials for Mac is a dumbed-down version of Quicken for Windows.

I am intersted in tracking investments (shares, bonds, funds, etc) and related graphs.

Can you tell me if this feature is included in Quicken Essentials for Mac. Thanks

Eustace Mendis wrote:

This is the closest equivalent there is:

http://quicken.intuit.com/personal-finance-software/mac-personal-financial-softw are.jsp

But be warned, this is dumbed-down version. Some capabilites of the full Windows version do not exist.

Winmilano wrote:

You cautioned that Quicken Essentials for Mac is a dumbed-down version of Quicken for Windows.

I am intersted in tracking investments (shares, bonds, funds, etc) and related graphs.

Can you tell me if this feature is included in Quicken Essentials for Mac. Thanks

Eustace is refering to Quicken 2007 for Lion/Mt. Lion NOT Quicken Essentials. His reference is that the Mac version has less features then the Windows version.

The latest version he is referring to does have investment accounts for entry of stock transactions:

[click on image to enlarge]

For $15, why not try it out yourself and see if it has the investment features you need?

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

Be sure to report back!

I tried Quicken Mac Essentials, and shortly after got my money back. It is full of problems for anyone attempting to import a Windows Quicken file. Everything I liked about Quicken for Windows was either absent in QMacEssentials or required excessive debugging to reconcile with what I had. Don't waste your time or money.

I would like to eliminate anything related to Windows on my MacBook, but my desire to continue using Quicken, and also a couple of work-related Windows applications I need forced me to purchase/install Parallels and Windows on my Mac. Given the increased popularity of Apple products in recent years, I wish that Intuit would invest the programming resources to create a decent osX product.

Have you tried using Quicken 2007 for Lion/Mt. Lion? MUCH better than Quicken Essentials.

At only $15, why not give it a try and report back to us what deficiences you feel it has compared to your everyday use of Quicken for Windows:

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

Answering to the original post: I had the same question when I switched to Mac almost 3 years ago. Still no satisfactory solution. The closest thing I found was IEEE Finance (YMMW of course). MoneyWiz was very promicing when it appeared, need to look at it again.

BTW, PocketMoney for iOS is a VERY good alternative if you don't mind switching to mobile app (there is a version for Android too). There also is a desktop companion (PocketMoney for desktop), but last time I checked (about a year ago) it still needed some more development, and it is in fact a companion software, mobile PM being the primary one.

Since there's been a recent post on this topic, do yourself a favor and look at Moneydance. I'm running it without a problem on Mavericks. It can download transactions from most major banks, and there's an app available on both IOS and Android that will sync with it.

I gave up on Quicken for Mac a long time ago because Intuit has been terrible at producing a new version. Sure there's been updates, but no new Mac version for 3 years. If a software company doesn't care about Mac users, I don't care about them.

Pastor JB wrote:

I gave up on Quicken for Mac a long time ago because Intuit has been terrible at producing a new version. Sure there's been updates, but no new Mac version for 3 years. If a software company doesn't care about Mac users, I don't care about them.

Maybe I missed it, but what new additions or changes to the world of accounting would require updates to the Mac version in the last 3 years?

Maybe you just miss all those annual update fees?

It's not about changes in the world of accounting, it's about changes in technology. Quicken Essentials for Mac is lacking in features that are included in their offerings for their PC side of the Quicken family. For one, there is no ability to sync with a smart phone. Even though Quicken recently came out with an app that syncs with the recent PC versions of Quicken, they still haven't added this feature in the updates they've provided for Essentials.

The other feature is one that's more of a personal annoyance: Quicken Essentials uses a file format that's specific only to Quicken Essentials and is incompatible with other versions of Quicken. This makes it impossible to have any portability of information if I wanted to keep the data file synced for access on a Windows platform machine.

If Quicken provided a version that offered smart phone syncing, I'd be more than happy to pay for it. Right now, even though it's a year old, Moneydance is more robust and has the ability to sync with both Android and iPhone, and is offered on multiple platforms. The same license key can be used to install the version for Mac, Windows, or Linux, and its retail cost is the same as Quicken Essentials when you use the discount code available on their facebook page when you check out.

I'm not trying to start any fights here or slight any Quicken fans, but if you consider that Quicken 2007 for Mac was released on April 1, 2006, this means that there's been only 2 Quicken products offered for Mac users in 7.5 years. (not counting Lion Compatible Quicken 2007) To me, that's a bit of a slight to Mac users since Quicken releases a PC version every year.

No serious Quicken for Mac user even considers Quicken Essentials...

You want to describe for us what is missing from Quicken 2007 for Mac other than a smartphone app?

PS: I was a dedicated user of Quicken Deluxe 2002 for Mac until the absence of Rosetta in Lion moved me over to Quicken 2007 for Lion.

I converted to Mac products a couple of years ago. Having used Quicken in both DOS and Windows since 1987, I had hoped for a simple transition to a Mac based Quicken product. Quicken 2007 Mac if I'm not mistaken did not accommodate data migration from later year versions of Quicken for Windows (2010). The only alternative for a very pedestrian user such as myself was to consider Quicken Essentials, or keep using Quicken Windows on my Mac through Parallels.

After attempting to use the major piece of garbage that is Quicken Essentials, the choice for me was fairly clear.

I repeat:

No serious Quicken for Mac user even considers Quicken Essentials...

You were not given the proper instructions to migrate from the Windows version to the Mac version. Perhaps they preferred to make a sale of Quicken Essentials instead of that migration; I do not know. Intuit is infamous for poor Mac support.

While the transition from a Windows data file to Quicken for Mac 2007 is not one step easy; it is accomplished by exporting your accounts to QIF files and importing them into the Mac version. Memorized transactions do not convert, but must be manually reconfigured.

It sounds like you already gave up the prospect of migrating from Windows to Mac (without Essentials), but there are more detailed descriptions on this forum for the conversion...

Good luck with your fairly clear choice!

I ended up purchasing iBank, with versions for iPad and iPhone. They handle my needs well and I realized I did not need all the high-end capabilities of Quicken 2013. It's a drag to have to pay for the mobile versions, which allow you to input individual transactions but not schedule them or post scheduled transactions. The sync does let you carry your balance info, though. All in all, it suits me.

Is there any app which will convert Quicken to another app? e.g. Q to iBank?

I converted Q 2006 to Q Essentials and although I was able to convert so I can update to Mtn Lion or Maverick there are many functions that were in Q 2006 that are no longer available. :

Being able to enter amounts without decimal points (924 = 9.24)

Press Enter (or Return) in addition to Tab to move to the next field. Just to name a couple.

There are others no longer available unless I am missing something in the Preferences?

Also, QE is not intuitive. Just figuring out how to Reconcile was a chore.

Message was edited by: kininn

You were improperly advised: Quicken 2006 data file will open in Quicken 2007 for Lion/Mt. Lion/Mavericks, which you can download from Intuit for $15:

kininn wrote:

Is there any app which will convert Quicken to another app? e.g. Q to iBank?

I converted Q 2006 to Q Essentials and although I was able to convert so I can update to Mtn Lion or Maverick there are many functions that were in Q 2006 that are no longer available. :

Being able to enter amounts without decimal points (924 = 9.24)

Press Enter (or Return) in addition to Tab to move to the next field. Just to name a couple.

There are others no longer available unless I am missing something in the Preferences?

Also, QE is not intuitive. Just figuring out how to Reconcile was a chore.

Message was edited by: kininn

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

Quicken Essentials is a terrible choice!

Can you go back?