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 Moneydance - 2008r4Organize and manage your finances and track your spending. |
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Feedback Summary:
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| Overall Rating: | Not rated (0.0) | Features: | Not rated (0.0) | Support: | Not rated (0.0) |
| Ease of Use: | Not rated (0.0) | Quality / Stability: | Not rated (0.0) | Price: | Not rated (0.0) |
Key to Types of Feedback:
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Featured Reviews
All Feedback: 1 - 5 of 5
Solid performer, some rough edges 
- Version: 2008r4, 9/19/2009 06:05PM PST
dfsuther
Moneydance has worked well for me, and has made it possible for me to dump Quicken (hooray!). It's reporting capabilities are limited (especially when it comes to investments), but it does more than enough to support tracking purchases and sales, producing tax-related information, and so on. And it's been way more reliable than any version of Quicken I've used in the last decade.
To get a 5-star recommendation from me, they'd need to beef up the documentation and improve their support for analyzing investments. As it stands today, it's a solid 4-star app.
To get a 5-star recommendation from me, they'd need to beef up the documentation and improve their support for analyzing investments. As it stands today, it's a solid 4-star app.
From bad to worse - Version: 2008r4, 8/28/2009 02:36AM PST
(1 of 1 users found this comment useful)
julianps_dotmac
THIS NOTE REFERS ONLY TO THE MAC VERSION OF THE APPLICATION.
As a footnote to my July observations I was recently required to reclassify a number of transactions for tax purposes. This exercise took me back over three years. So I went, record by record and made all of the changes to the various expense accounts. Some of the changes necessitated foreign exchange rate adjustments.
Then I found NONE of my bank accounts or credit cards balanced any more.
So I went back record by record getting those to balance again.
Now my extensively reworked expense accounts have changed.
This is stupid game that could go on forever. The issue lies with foreign exchange of course (if you don't use ForEx you can ignore this review) and have to do with which account the entry was first posted to. Assuming all entries are first posted to bank or credit card accounts uses the value from the statement and applies an exchange rate to get a foreign exchange value.
If later you spot that the foreign currency expense value is wrong and change it there it assumes for the foreign value is sacrosanct and uses the new rate to change the bank/credit-card (primary currency) value. MAD.
So you need to know which was the source account for each entry.
The only way to discover that is to try to write a memo; if you can then you've got the source entry. If not then you need to use the See Other Side of the transaction option.
Only this does not work if the other side of the transaction is a split transaction. At this point MD returns you to the first row of the split.
Hours upon hours upon hours gets wasted with this application.
So my observations a reinforced; way and above the JAVA issues MD is simply unable to resolve on the OSX platform, there is much easier software for reconciling your pocket book and much better software for doing your accounts.
Do not even consider using MD for foreign currency accounts on the Mac.
As a footnote to my July observations I was recently required to reclassify a number of transactions for tax purposes. This exercise took me back over three years. So I went, record by record and made all of the changes to the various expense accounts. Some of the changes necessitated foreign exchange rate adjustments.
Then I found NONE of my bank accounts or credit cards balanced any more.
So I went back record by record getting those to balance again.
Now my extensively reworked expense accounts have changed.
This is stupid game that could go on forever. The issue lies with foreign exchange of course (if you don't use ForEx you can ignore this review) and have to do with which account the entry was first posted to. Assuming all entries are first posted to bank or credit card accounts uses the value from the statement and applies an exchange rate to get a foreign exchange value.
If later you spot that the foreign currency expense value is wrong and change it there it assumes for the foreign value is sacrosanct and uses the new rate to change the bank/credit-card (primary currency) value. MAD.
So you need to know which was the source account for each entry.
The only way to discover that is to try to write a memo; if you can then you've got the source entry. If not then you need to use the See Other Side of the transaction option.
Only this does not work if the other side of the transaction is a split transaction. At this point MD returns you to the first row of the split.
Hours upon hours upon hours gets wasted with this application.
So my observations a reinforced; way and above the JAVA issues MD is simply unable to resolve on the OSX platform, there is much easier software for reconciling your pocket book and much better software for doing your accounts.
Do not even consider using MD for foreign currency accounts on the Mac.
Maybe okay for Linux but poor on Apple Mac - Version: 2008r4, 7/22/2009 04:51AM PST
(0 of 1 users found this comment useful)
julianps_dotmac
This application is a bit tired now and after 6 years I've finally tired it. Summary; best avoided on Mac.
Looks good initially but quickly becomes a PITA, either because of inherent instabilities or because of Apple's imaginative implementation of the Java virtual machine MD relies so heavily upon.
I've struggled with MD for over six years and these two issues result most commonly in account balances that change between reloads and menus that vanish half way through operations.
It matters not one jot that these issues may lie beyond the control of the developer, merely that they render the software unstable, the developer knows that they render it unstable and after so many years nothing in this area has ever been resolved.
If you're a Mac user then save yourself the heartache and either stick with a simple cash-book tool or, if you need accounts for your business, use Moneyworks instead; more costly, but you accountant will love you for it - not least because it too is multi-platform but the bean-counter gets a free copy to work with as well.
Please note that this isn't a bitter side-swipe at a hard working developer; I've worked hard to get the best out of this application for a long time and advised the developer in advance of this commentary.
Looks good initially but quickly becomes a PITA, either because of inherent instabilities or because of Apple's imaginative implementation of the Java virtual machine MD relies so heavily upon.
I've struggled with MD for over six years and these two issues result most commonly in account balances that change between reloads and menus that vanish half way through operations.
It matters not one jot that these issues may lie beyond the control of the developer, merely that they render the software unstable, the developer knows that they render it unstable and after so many years nothing in this area has ever been resolved.
If you're a Mac user then save yourself the heartache and either stick with a simple cash-book tool or, if you need accounts for your business, use Moneyworks instead; more costly, but you accountant will love you for it - not least because it too is multi-platform but the bean-counter gets a free copy to work with as well.
Please note that this isn't a bitter side-swipe at a hard working developer; I've worked hard to get the best out of this application for a long time and advised the developer in advance of this commentary.
Most Recent Replies: View All 1 Replies
- Maybe okay for Linux but poor on Apple Mac
Moneydance - the best of personal finance apps - Version: 2008r3, 1/1/2009 07:04AM PST
(5 of 5 users found this comment useful)
Fred E--2008
Fast and stable, clearly mapped - the best money management software. I have tried a lot of Mac finance apps, used Quicken for years, finally (and slowly) migrating to Moneydance over this last year. No glitches whatever. The search features are brilliant and speedy, as are the graphic budget displays. Upgrades have been regular and free - I may voluntarily donate soon, thinking that it is about time that responsive Reilly Technologies be paid for the upgrades I have gotten since paying for my initial version.
Before beginning this exercise, I tried every highly rated financial management system. Keep in mind, that I let the Fidelity manage my investments and do not use need to use Moneydance for that purpose.
After many years with Quicken, it took a bit of time to get used to Moneydance. The intense effort of entering all that data really got me to the point where I found it easier to interface with Moneydance and with Quicken.
I highly recommend it.