I’m pretty, ahem, dedicated to keeping our finances up to date and accounted for, and traditionally have used MS Money on Windows for this purpose. Say what you like about Microsoft (I’m not their biggest fan, to say the least) but Money is an app that works well and is pretty simple to use. I started with Money 98 in 1998, then upgraded to Money 2000 two years later.
The thing is that we now use our iMac for 99.99% of our computer work, and it would be really handy to have a finance app on the Mac that works, conceptually at least, like Money. There is no shortage of accounting software for the Mac, of varying quality, but no big players are in the market. Intuit pulled out of the UK Mac market a few years ago (pre-OS X) and have just recently pulled Quicken out of the UK Windows (and therefore the UK as a whole) market as well.
I can’t believe that I’m the only one who needs personal financial software as a Mac user. I know there’s MYOB, and I’ve downloaded a trial version, but it seems much more business- than personal-focused.
Over the course of the next few weeks I am aiming to do a group test of various OS X personal finance apps, both freeware and shareware, that I have discovered.
So far my list consists of:
- Accounts by Nano Software
- Budget by Snowmint Creative Solutions
- Cashbox by Whitney Young
- Checkbook by Splasm Software
- Cocoa Account Plus by Tony S Wu
- Conto by Nicola Vitacolonna
- Economix X by Yannick Callaud
- Finance (if I can get a non-corrupt .sit archive)
- Gnucash (downloading via Fink as I type this)
- Grisbi (if I can discover how to install the .deb under OS X – anyone help?)
- iBal
- iBank
- iCash
- KuConta by Kualo Software
- Money by Jumsoft
- Phobos
I’m confident that I can whittle these down pretty quickly to a much shorter list, as I have quite particular requirements:
- Categories, not accounts, for income & expense categorisation. I’m not a trained accountant – all that double-entry stuff leaves me a bit cold…
- Similar look and feel to MS Money/Quicken.
- Easy setup of accounts.
- Loan amortisation functionality: input the interest rate, length of term, payment etc and have it work out the missing info.
- Support for investments, credit cards and liabilities as well as regular current/savings accounts.
- Budgeting.
- Something like Money’s Debt Planner.
- Reporting.
Not much to ask, is it? I just want Microsoft to port Money to the Mac, really. I imagine that would be one step too far for the Mac Business Unit, though 
February 21st, 2008 at 6:36 am
I’m a recent adopter of ibank.
so far i prefer it to my last encounter with ms money. neat, straightforward. very very easy download from bank.
just exactly why is it not sufficient for Jaap (or anyone else) to let the PC go?
February 27th, 2008 at 9:47 am
I have exactly the same problem that was identified here 2 years ago. I been running MS Money since 1999, have switched everything else to Macbook and iMac, and still have to boot up a PC to run my financial software. Apart from the usual Windows crashes,which caused my migration in the first place, this is so, so annoying. Have tried some of freeware stuff,but it just doesn’t do it. I need a programme which will allow me toset up multiple accounts, some in euros & some in sterling, track assets and assetrelated loans, etc – everything MS Money does so well.
I had a brief look at Moneydance last year,but wasn’t convinced. Should I be?
February 27th, 2008 at 8:13 pm
Hi,
Well, boy I am glad I have found this blog!!
I am UK based, and so far, no software (except Quicken) can download transactions from HSBC!!! And we are in the 21st Century??? Come on, there must be something or someone out there thinking of doing MS Money on Mac?? No, shame I haven’t got the knowledge and ressources……I will carry on MS Money on windows as I am prepared to pay for s8&^%&ty software!
February 29th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
[...] suited me. What I really want is a Mac version of Microsoft Money (and I’m not the only one – this blog post has over 230 comments regarding the difficulties of finding decent Mac personal finance software). [...]
March 1st, 2008 at 4:33 pm
After 15+ hours attempting to migrate ten years of data from MS Money to Quicken for Mac, I’ve given up. I’m keeping this site bookmarked in hopes that someday I can uninstall Parallels – a $90 expense solely for the purpose of running MS Money. I would have easily have spent that much for a comparable program for Mac. Mac software developers – you’ve got a hungry market.
March 2nd, 2008 at 3:18 am
Hi there, I have just spent the morning trying to find decent Mac Finance Software that I can link to my UK bank account but have failed!
I look forward to reading your review.
Simon -HK
March 3rd, 2008 at 10:02 pm
Graham M, yes, go back to Moneydance. It can do all the things you state.
I’m honestly surprised that so many people are in a quandary about this. I’m perfectly happy now with Moneydance, and don’t feel nostalgic about MS Money at all. It was just bloatware.
March 4th, 2008 at 5:14 pm
Parralels is the sloution! I konw it shouldn’t have to be, but the fact is it works, I can use Money, Quicken or any of the others and functionality isn’t compromised. I just can’t be doing with waiting for something else just for my Mac. If it eventually comes, I hope I’ll be able to transition my old stuff accross. I need to do my sums, so its Windows and parralels for now!!! After all, this isn’t the only programme I have to run in parallels to be able to use. If Steve Jobs is reading this…’Stevie, get your finger out and help us stop having to keep going back to Bill Gates to bail us out’!!
March 13th, 2008 at 12:20 am
Hi
I was wondering if any of these programs for mac for personal use are freeware… I need a program that is free to use and satisfactory to use.
Do you know of any?
March 26th, 2008 at 10:07 am
I bank with First Direct and they have an Internet Banking Plus facility which is a basic version of MS Money. However, at present it only works with a PC. Start lobbying…
Go to http://www.firstdirect.com and click on Internet Banking Plus then demo and then please send customer services a message asking them to become Mac compatible.
Thanks
Lastly there is a whole host of personal finanace software listed at the apple store:
http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/business_finance/
Are any of these new and improved?
March 26th, 2008 at 8:22 pm
iBank 2.0 is very slow. For those who have upgraded to 3.0, does the program run any faster?
March 27th, 2008 at 7:49 pm
iBank 3.0 runs fine, though I’m on a Core Duo MacBook Pro… so your system may be an issue. I’ve recently become well acquainted with the forums for iBank, and I remember someone citing an issue that as your file gets larger and larger, the program gets slower. I’m not sure what the fix for that is, since presumably you WANT to maintain as much history as you feel you need.
In my case, I’m out here searching up and down for a Mac personal finance software that just gets it right. iBank 3.0 fails… and at $60, it fails badly.
Wait, let me revise that: If the ‘bugs’ that it has were simply well-crafted code that butts heads with other well-crafted code from time to time… then I’d actually be PRAISING it! However, I’m finding flaws in the usability of its user interface, and worse, in some of its calculations that just tell me they’re pushing the product out the door too quick.
Example: Setting up a loan, with remaining payments at some number other than 12, 24, 36, (a multiple of 12). iBank sets your monthly payment based on the nearest multiple of 12. You type 28 months, the payment is calculated at 24 months. You type 35 months, you’re getting 36. I complained, and they fixed it rapidly (version 3.0.3)… my confidence restored!
Next, after typing in my 28 month loan details, and getting the correct payment calculation, I initiated a ‘scheduled transaction’ for that loan. Now, post a couple months data, and what happens? Month 1 records principle and interest correctly. Month 2 records it like month 1, without cycling the principle and interest amounts in their respective directions. Post month 3, iBank cycles the amounts, but only to what they were supposed to be for month #2.
Mind you, ‘Loan tracking and monitoring’ is one of the NEW features of iBank 3.0… They just didn’t say it was one of the broken ones…
For anything over $50, I think we should get automatic bank downloads. iBank has it for many banks, and for a few of mine, it worked flawlessly. But I tried playing with Liquid Ledger, and it doesn’t have it.
It makes me think Money Dance may be the right and only way to go… except for Fusion + Win XP + Money/Quicken for windows.
Frustrating is a beautiful word when we consider how efficiently it can encapsulate the collective experience described in all these posts.
Good Luck… and please, if you find a great solution… SCREAM IT OUT TO THE WORLD, on every forum you can.
Cheers!
March 27th, 2008 at 10:42 pm
iBank 3 runs very well. I too was a Mac convert and lamented the lack of an MS Money equivalent. I used Moneydance reluctantly but was never impressed with it. When iBank 3 came out with direct downloads from my bank I tried it and never looked back. It is much more advanced and user friendly than Moneydance (including Moneydance 08 beta).
March 31st, 2008 at 9:36 pm
OMG. So many people with the same problem.
The reason we are finding it so hard to come across a good MAC like personal finance software, is that the world is run by M.S. & big business will not buy expensive Macs for their office’s
If we are all in desperate need, then way don’t we find a developer to make the application we want. ie Panic.com they make very good Mac software. I am going to email with this request.
If enough people ask them they may come up with something.
April 1st, 2008 at 12:26 am
Hi,
If you want to migrate MS Money file to Mac check out MTH My Money. We started the company 2 years ago because we wanted to do exactly that but could not find anything suitable in the market place. I personally migrated over 12 years worth of my financial records and couldn’t be happier.
Please note that My Money runs best on a fairly fast Mac with a recent OS (read we like Leopard
There are some known issues with QIF imports on mac, we are addressing those in the next build.
My Money is at
http://www.mthbuilt.com
All comments and feedback is very much appreciated,
Thanks,
Tim
April 2nd, 2008 at 9:21 pm
I’m in the same boat as others here. There’s no review of Check Book Pro – from their own website it looks OK, and My Money 2.0 isn’t out yet. But their website has no details about My Money 1.0. Neither seems to tell me how many accounts you can open in the program. I’m currently using Parallels -> MS Money 99, and I’d like to do the equivalent, just as easily, in a program on my Intel Mac OS X Tiger. Any comments on these 2 programs in particular?
Thanks,
Richard
April 4th, 2008 at 4:25 pm
Well, I came here looking for some budgeting software recommendations, but while I’m here I’ll comment on Nano Accounts, which I have been using for a number of years. Very simple, almost pencil and paperm, and it has been excellent. We run two businesses from it and have customised the accounts to match our IR tax forms. Customer support has been first rate and the only chink in the reliability I found was what appears to be a conflict with another program mentioned here–liquid ledger–which somehow seems to have destroyed my Nano Accounts data when both programs were up at the same time. The LL accounts also corrupted. Strangest thing I’ve ever seen and it’s never happened on my Mac in six years. Anyway, I highly recommend Nano Accounts if you are not interested in bells and whistles, just a reasonable way to keep accounts.
April 5th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
A beta version My Money 2 of MTH is now available and I must say that, although buggy, it looks promising. Maybe more people can test it and publish their experiences.
April 5th, 2008 at 2:53 pm
Jaap,
Can I ask you a favor, you mind filing your issue at
http://bugzilla.mthbuilt.com
Please explain the steps how to recreate your problem,
We will have it fixed in a jiffy
Many thanks
Tim
April 7th, 2008 at 8:09 pm
I’ve set up a forum to carry on the conversation:
http://www.timandkathy.co.uk/forum/forum.php?id=1
Come on over and chat about what you want to see in your ideal finance software on the Mac, or discuss specific packages.
March 26th, 2009 at 5:41 pm
Hi all –
Many thanks for your comments and recommendations above. Although Moneydance is surprisingly non-mac in its design and feel, I have opted for it since it seems to be the best product out there for non-US, Mac users at the moment.
I'll let you know if I find anything more intuitive to fit the bill.
April 4th, 2009 at 9:43 pm
Fortora Fresh Finance is a great personal finance app for the Mac (plus there is a Windows version available also). It's very easy to learn and use, and it has all the features most people need. Check it out at http://www.fortora.com
April 7th, 2009 at 3:36 am
nice article.
April 7th, 2009 at 3:38 am
Yes you are right.
April 11th, 2009 at 9:50 am
WOW, what a history on this Blog. It sounds like MoneyDance is the way to go, but it's a US based company and relatively new and doesn't support any Australian banks as far as I can see. Does anyone know of, or recommend a package to use in OZ?
June 4th, 2009 at 2:34 pm
I understand the leap from finance apps. Kinda like the move from Window to Mac…U have to ask yourself "what do I need?" I tried MoneyDance, Fortora, and iBank, but they all have some "Coming soon!" featured that need to be available now. My need is for envelope budgeting, so I'm using the new version of MoneyWell 1.4.8. The interface is much cleaner from the original release and it is the best Mac finance software if you use envelope(buckets!) budgeting. It direct-connects to most banks, has a great import/matching process, and the reconciliation process doesn't give me a headache…it's actually very quick. So, I wanted to add my vote AND two cents. nothirst.com
June 30th, 2009 at 6:52 pm
What happened to the Forum? I get a 404. And the problem we all want to solve has certianly not gone away.
June 30th, 2009 at 7:20 pm
Hi Jeremy,
Sorry about that – I moved hosting, and it seemed that no-one was using the forum so I didn't bother migrating it. I will have a look into forum options.
Regards,
Tim
August 13th, 2009 at 2:02 am
We are all in the same boat and sinking! If nobody comes up with a good personal money program for Mac, I'll join the line for some suggestions.
September 9th, 2009 at 8:07 pm
I'm starting to mull over the possibility of running windows on Parallels on my imac. Makes me nervous to taint the mac with anything like that though…
October 27th, 2009 at 10:33 am
It's been a while since My Money was first noted on this site, it looks very promising, although a few nitpicks which i will post to your bugzilla… i've just downloaded it and will give it a good run…
November 3rd, 2009 at 12:09 pm
I migrated to MAC over a year ago and have been struggling to find a solution.
I am still using my old 'quicken' on the 'Mac' via VMWare-fusion.
It works quite well but is not the long term solution.
Have recently also operated 'PAZ' i.e Personal Accountz on the 'Mac' has a lot of good points but nothing like 'quicken' lacking currencies,investing,date controlled reporting.
Now looking at 'Business Basic Accountz' as recommended at Apple Store.
November 6th, 2009 at 4:38 pm
I am also on the hunt with so many of you, but I specifically need a program that can download an .XLS format since I cannot get Quicken format. Can anyone help??? Mint is the ONLY one I have found that can do it, but I can't edit transactions.
December 6th, 2009 at 11:12 pm
I have only ever used Quicken for Windows before and it was easy and just worked and I assumed all the major programs were like that. I've recently gotten a Mac and I'm tearing my hair out. Quicken for Mac is useless. I've tried Quickbooks, IBank, Frontera, See, and I can't find anything that will just accept downloaded transactions from my online checking and credit card accounts and reconcile them. It's pretty basicstuff, not trying anything fancy but each program has been so hard to set up I've just given up in frustration. Help!
December 17th, 2009 at 10:58 am
Hi, I'm a relatively new iMac user (2009) and an old UK Quicken user (freelancer) desperate for a simple accounts package to use on the mac. Did you find one that you liked. Help!!!
December 24th, 2009 at 8:39 pm
Nobody was using the forum because it didn't work!
December 30th, 2009 at 5:20 pm
SEE Finance (http://scimonocesoftware.com) looks the most promising, as nearly all the other serious programs listed by ZD net http://downloads.zdnet.co.uk/0,1000000374,3900240…; only allow import of QIF statements, which many UK banks don't support. It's free if you don't want to export, $20 if you do. Got a chalenge trying to view the transactions I just imported, but I'm working on it.
January 2nd, 2010 at 9:27 pm
How did you get on with Business Basic Accountz?
January 19th, 2010 at 3:19 pm
Please keep me posted. I never overspend or carry a credit card balance, but saving is problematic. I have a MAC, so I would love to be apprized of your findings. Keep me posted. THX.
January 20th, 2010 at 3:55 pm
See Finance looks great apart from the fact that as usual it only supports US Banks… back to the drawing board…
January 27th, 2010 at 4:29 pm
Hi, I am a new Mac user and am flbergasted at the lack of this type of software. (Otherwise the Mac is brill……) I am completely perplexed by iBanks reconcilation process as it seems to assume one has access to on-line reconciliation (I don't, banking with Barclays in the UK). About to try MoneyDance
February 7th, 2010 at 2:50 am
after trying a lot of programs (still waiting for new Quicken to be out on Feb 2010) I have to admit that SEE Finance is the most tempting switch for me.
It looks elegant and imported all my accounts from my very old Quicken without a hiccup. Great program.
February 19th, 2010 at 8:01 pm
I too am looking for personal finance program. Used Money on my PC….have not found anything comparable. Money rocks….come on Apple get together with Microsoft…we need this program.
March 16th, 2010 at 4:40 pm
I have retained an old Windows machine just to run Money. Automatic reconciliation of transactions downloaded from my banks (Amex, B'card, Barclays, Halifax) is essential and Money is the only one that seems to do it for UK banks.
This has got to be the best, though not ideal, solution until someone wants our custom enough to develop what should be an essential application.
Six years ago I was running all this on Windows with sync capability to my Pocket PC. It's like someone forgot how to make a wheel.
May 20th, 2010 at 5:15 am
Very interesting thread. I have used spreadsheets, Money and Quicken over the years to manage my personal finances, but never really been happy with any of them. I have always thought of writing what I need (I have a bit of software development experience) and am currently learning to develop on the Mac as a lead-in to developing iPhone apps for my son to play with. So, I was thinking of combining the two desires and stumbled on all this. My approach to managing money is pretty simple. I have done the matching of statements and reconciliation thing which is time consuming and not really necessary. Instead I focus on what needs to be paid and how much money I have/need to pay it, with a bit of tracking/budgeting thrown in for the bigger stuff in life. This approach may appeal to some I have seen post on here, others maybe not. Anyway, if anyone is interested I would sure love input so let me know and I'll look at setting up a thread or blog somewhere.
May 20th, 2010 at 7:41 am
Mac is not very intuitive, the terminology is different i.e. debtor’s invoice, creditor invoice rather than bill, invoice, payable and receivable. http://www.directfinancialassistance.com
June 3rd, 2010 at 9:25 am
This is what I am looking for……. thanks for the article because of which I got my personal finance software.
June 10th, 2010 at 9:49 am
I have used Fortora for past year, but on upgrading to Snow Leopard the date order has gone haywire and can't be corrected. Fortora's tech support is useless – they have failed to reply to 3 emails now. Any ideas. or should I be looking at iBank instead?
July 15th, 2010 at 11:33 pm
I have been using Moneydance but for the second time, over 2 years, it has lost my data and the result? I could only open from a much earlier backup copy as it said the other backups were corrupt! It cannot download statements from UK banks. It's fine otherwise for my needs but I need to manually key in my transactions from my statements. A total waste of time and I can't be bothered anymore. Two years ago I searched for the best application from reading reviews. It seems that nothing has improved much! need a financial program so that I can do all of this easily and keep a track of my finances. I wish I was a programmer, a good money earner I reckon. Why can't there be a Mac version of Money? It's by far the best program.
August 31st, 2010 at 5:56 am
Great post!! Very informative. I will surely bookmark this page and hoping to have more relevant ideas from this site.