Can Moneydance read in Quicken data files?
I have been a user of Quicken for decades. They are pricing themselves out of the market and their support is less than stellar, especially with their large price increases annually. I understand you pay a one time fee of $65 plus $40/year for the ability to download transactions from banks, etc. Is that correct?
Can Moneydance read Quicken data files into its database?
thanks
Jim
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1 Posted by Robin Liston on 02 Jan, 2024 09:02 PM
I actually just moved back to Quicken after years of using MoneyDance. When I first bought MoneyDance there was no subscription. But as time went on the connections to my financial intuitions didn't work right or at all. I spent more and more time doing manual imports.
And there were many annoyances with MoneyDance such as it always tried to merge recurring deposits like paychecks with transactions that had cleared a month ago. And it always changed manually entered stock transactions, recalculating totals and overwriting what I had just entered.
So last year I upgraded MoneyDance to MoneyDance+ and it was a complete disaster. It never worked right with my back account, it would never download new transactions, it would say "duplicate transactions removed" without telling me what those duplicated transactions were. When I tried to do a new connection with my bank, the set up new connection buttons stopped working.
When I contacted tech support "Maddy" in a private discussion about the issue I never received a response. When I tried to revert to an older backup file it completely messed up most of my accounts, showing negative balances on my biggest accounts after I tried doing downloads.
To add insult to injury, when I cancelled my yearly subscription to MoneyDance+ the email I got said I could continue to use it until the subscription expires. Guess what, the download portion of the program stopped working. The program is completely useless to me now, so I went back to Quicken. All my downloads in Quicken are working flawlessly. Quicken is more expensive, but less aggravating.
2 Posted by dwg on 02 Jan, 2024 09:39 PM
No other vendor can read Quicken files, they are in a proprietary format, it is necessary to use Quicken itself to export the raw data into a more general format which other software can read, although not perfect the preference is the QIF format.
I would suggest you download and try the software out for yourself in trial mode, there is no obligation and the only limit is 100 manually entered transactions, imports are unlimited.
The Knowledge Base acts as a manual and its entry point is:
https://infinitekind.tenderapp.com/kb
3 Posted by derekkent23 on 03 Jan, 2024 08:38 AM
I am not support staff, just a VERY HAPPY user.
Hi JIm
The cost structure is outlined at https://infinitekind.com/purchase
Try it out for yourself.
Downloaded Moneydance from https://infinitekind.com/preview which is a full working version with the only limit being a maximum of 100 manually entered transactions, with no time limit. Imported files from other financial programs and your bank have no limit on imports, provided that you do not confirm them.
There are three main ways of importing transaction from banks. Manual import of transaction files from online banking see https://infinitekind.tenderapp.com/kb/online-banking-and-bill-pay/m...
Direct Connect see https://infinitekind.tenderapp.com/kb/online-banking-and-bill-pay/d... although an increasing number of banks are dropping their support in favour of third party aggregator.
Moneydance has a small optional subscription feature Moneydance+ that allows downloading via one of these aggregator, Plaid. The subscription is to cover Plaid costs, see https://infinitekind.tenderapp.com/kb/moneydance
If you decided to purchase, you are sent a key by email that unlocks the 100-manual transaction limit. If after testing with this free trial version you purchase and change your mind see the 90 day money back guaranty at https://infinitekind.com/refunds
For the future Moneydance never sunsets the version it releases. So, you don’t have to upgrade. If you won’t to upgrade the next version is free (say 2021 to 2022) and from then on you get a 50% discount. All upgrades within a version are free.
You need to use Quicken to export your data in a QIF/QMTF file type. Ensure any closed account that have transfers to any open accounts are included in the QIF/QMTF file, re-open these accounts if necessary. Export everything Quicken export will allow.
Open the QIF/QMTF file in a text editor. You are looking for the date format used in the file e.g., D25/03'2019 Day Month Year or D5/ 17'19 or D05/31/2017 Month Day Year etc. You will need this information later. If you get this wrong, it will be apparent as the dates in Moneydance will be all over the place and you will need to start again creating a new data set.
QIF/QMTF files were never meant for transferring data from one program to another, but it’s all that is available, you will need to spend time cleaning thing up when import is complete.
When you first start Moneydance it opens in the Welcome window click on “Create a new account set”. If you have opened Moneydance before creating a new data set under FILE (MONEYDANCE on Mac) – NEW.
Select “Create New File” (Data Set) and click NEXT. Type in an Account Set Name (Data Set) and click NEXT. Change Primary Currency (base currency), if required. File Type, leave at “Standard Account set”, click FINISH.
In the Side Bar (list on left) under BANK deleted the two default Bank accounts, highlighting them in turn and using ACCOUNT – DELETE ACCOUNT.
NOTE: If you have accounts with currencies that are not in your base currency (foreign currencies) perform the steps under NOTE 1 before importing your QIF/QMTF file as follows.
Drag and dropped the QIF/QMTF file into the Side Bar (list on left).
Wait for the Analyzing data window to close, this can take a few minutes. Nothing may appear to happen until the Import window opens.
IMPORTANT: Checked all listed accounts are of the correct type and currency and changed if required.
The “Date Format” should be set to the date format used in the QIF/QMTF file not the date format you want to use in Moneydance. Select the correct Decimal Character. Later Builds of Moneydance may also include a Text Encoding dropdown, leave at default selection.
Click Import and wait, the process can take some time. Again, nothing may appear to be happening until the process is complete, indicated by the Merging data window closing.
IMPORTANT: When import is complete close and reopen Moneydance.
Some or all of the accounts maybe hidden in the Side Bar, list on left. To make accounts visible click the “+” at the bottom of the Side Bar, then Advanced, then OK. If this does not help, try closing and re-opening Moneydance.
Any accounts that are inactive (closed) should be made inactive. This will remove them from the Summary Page, two columns on the right, in the Account Section as well as from reports. There are two methods to accomplish this:
1. By highlighting the account in the Side Bar and clicking ACCOUNT – EDIT ACCOUNT and ticking the inactive box – OK.
2. Click TOOLS – ACCOUNTS and in the windows that opens double click on the Account Name and in the window that opens tick the inactive box - OK. In the list of Account names Accounts in lighter text are inactive. After making the required changes click DONE.
To remove Accounts from the Side Bar, right click and select REMOVE FROM SIDE BAR.
You can also click the “+” button at the bottom of the Side Bar, click Advance then use the Advance window to determine which items are visible in the Side Bar.
On the Summary Page, two columns on right, if you have Investment Securities, they will be shown in a section STOCK PRICES. This may include securities in which you no longer have holdings. To remove these from the list double click on Security Name – EDIT and then untick SHOW ON SUMMARY PAGE box – OK - X
Some QIF/QMTF files don’t include initial account balances. If you think this is the case you can add initial balance to affected accounts as follows.
Highlighting an account, then click ACCOUNT – EDIT ACCOUNT and add an Initial Balance.
For investment accounts QIF/QMTF file don’t always carry security prices other than buy sell prices, so investment account balances maybe wrong until you update with current security prices.
The NET WORTH value on the Summary page is the addition of selected account values. To see the breakdown click on NET WORTH. The accounts that are included are those selected under GRAPHS & REPORTS – REPORTS – NET WORTH - EDIT
Reminders are not included in QIF/QMTF files.
Now the real work starts to check balances and tidy thing up. This is especially true of investment accounts as not all action types are supported. But worth it in the end.
For information on how to use Moneydance see https://infinitekind.tenderapp.com/kb
Note 1: This section only applies if you have accounts with currencies that are not in your base currency. For these currencies ensure “Show on summary page” box is ticked under TOOLS – CURRENCIES – highlight subject currency and double click – EDIT.
Note: QIF/QMTF file do not contain exchange rates. To overcome this QIF/QMTF file shortcoming the Currency/Security History window under TOOLS – CURRENCIES - highlight subject currency and double click must have current and dated exchange rates filled in which cover the date range of transactions in non-base currency account. If your version of Quicken allows you to export a CSV file for a given currencies exchange rate this is the way to go. Use IMPORT button in Moneydance under the Currency/Security History window to import the exchange rates. If this route is not available you can manually add exchange rates or you can import CSV exchange rate files downloaded from sites on the web. If you have investment account, their balances will probably be incorrect. This is due to the fact that the currency set in the security history windows will be in the Moneydance base currency. You can change to the correct security currency and provided exchange rates exist the values will be converted. As you do this re-calculation occurs, but I think the results should be correct. No guarantees the section will work correctly.
Hope this helps.
Support Staff 4 Posted by Maddy on 03 Jan, 2024 12:22 PM
@Robin
I appreciate you taking the time to share your experience using Moneydance + and I'm truly sorry if it wasn't a positive one.
I'm sorry for the confusion and if you have not received my replies to your support request but these old threads show exactly the opposite of what you've just stated on this public thread.
Please see post 2 here and also post 5 on this other thread. Unfortunately I don't seem to have ever received a reply.
If you wish to discuss this matter 'privately', you can create a new private discussion.You should select the 'private discussion' option here and I'd be happy to provide any information you might require.
Thank you
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Maddy, Infinite Kind Support
Support Staff 5 Posted by Maddy on 03 Jan, 2024 12:31 PM
@Jim
I can see you’ve received some replies from our knowledgeable Moneydance customers and it appears you’ve been given all the information you need.
Additionally, you may want to refer to this article outlining the different purchase options.
Generally, the subscription options involve using Moneydance + to obtain automatic downloads from those financial institutions that don't support the OFX service method.
If your banks support Direct Connect you may not need to subscribe to Moneydance + at all.
Please let me know if you have further questions or need more assistance.
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Maddy, Infinite Kind Support
System closed this discussion on 03 Apr, 2024 12:40 PM.