Product function questions
Tim
Hello,
I am one of the millions of pissed off Quicken users that is looking elsewhere for personal finance software after over 20 years with Quicken. I really only need your program for a few simple things. I need it to download transactions from banks and credit cards, allow those transactions to be categorized, allow monthly income vs. expenses reports that take into account my credit card uses, and a feature that allows me to set up what Quicken calls “saving goals” that I use to effectively set aside money in my bank account for later use for things like vacations, property taxes, private school etc. It looks like your program will do most of what I want, but I can’t tell if it will allow “savings goals” Do you know if that feature is available?
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1 Posted by Tim on Mar 06, 2018 @ 07:51 PM
I'm confused, is this a discussion with a rep or what?
2 Posted by derekkent23 on Mar 06, 2018 @ 08:22 PM
I am not support staff, just a user.
This is not a chat room its a forum, users and support staff will reply to your question but the speed is like a conversation by email. If you have confidential matters to discuss you can make the thread private, access by support only.
To your question, Saving Goals. Moneydance does have a budget feature but I am not sure its what you are looking for, see http://help.infinitekind.com/kb/budgeting-2
Many people have successfully transferred from Quicken.
Try thing out for yourself.
Download from https://infinitekind.com/download-moneydance-personal-finance-software
Downloaded version of Moneydance 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. 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 2015 to 2017) and from then on you get a 50% discount. All upgrades within a version are free.
To transfer data from Quicken you need to export a QIF file, you can't import Quicken files directly. See the set of articles relating to this topic at http://help.infinitekind.com/kb/importing-data-from-other-programs
When you follow the steps in the article above make sure you follow the steps accurately, in particular, make sure you specify to Import into a new account rather than an existing account. Also make sure you set the source to "From another program".
It is highly recommended to export all data into a single QIF file, as doing so makes the import process much smoother. Please use the option in Quicken to export "all accounts" if available.
Quicken does not always export the initial balance for each account. After importing into Moneydance, highlight an account, click on ACCOUNT – EDIT ACCOUNT and set an “Initial Balance”. Do this for each account.
For general information see http://help.infinitekind.com/kb
If you have specific issues give as much detail as you can and support or others will answer your questions.
Hope this helps.
3 Posted by Tim and Gretche... on Mar 06, 2018 @ 08:39 PM
Hello Derek,
Thanks, my mistake, I thought it was a chat window. I really don't have the hours it would take to set the program up and try it out only to find it won't do what I need it to do; I need to find out first. I'll give you an example of my needs. My kids go to private school and I pay their tuition every quarter. So I don't get slammed by that charge in one month, I set aside $2100 each month to cover it. In quicken, I set up a savings goal, fund that savings goal by taking money "out" of my checking account each month, then when a bill comes in, I take the money out of the savings goal and put in "back into" my checking account on the date the bill is payed. They money never actually leaves my checking account, it only appears that way on paper so I don't spend it. Is there a way to basically do the same thing with Moneydance? I read the budgeting stuff, but can't really tell how it works and don't have hours to "try it out".
Thanks,
Tim
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4 Posted by derekkent23 on Mar 06, 2018 @ 09:49 PM
I am not support staff, just a user.
I don’t use the budget feature so can’t tell you if it would cover your case.
I think I would be tempted to set up another account, say School Fees. Set what Moneydance call a transfer reminder to automatically transfer a set amount from your checking account to your school fee account each month. You can set it up so the transfer is visible in your checking account X days before the transfer happens automatically. Then set a transfer reminder to automatically transfer the accumulated money back to the checking account every quarter. You can make this pending transfer visible in your school fee account X days in advance of the transfer. The transfer will happen automatically and appear in your checking account so the money is ready to pay the bill. The money never actually leaves your checking account, it only appears that way on paper so you don't spend it.
See reminders http://help.infinitekind.com/kb/reminders-2
Hope this helps.
5 Posted by Tim and Gretche... on Mar 07, 2018 @ 12:54 AM
That really does help! That's exactly the kind of information I needed. I didn't know you were a user......to me it's kind of concerning that I can't find a way to get information from staff. If I have a problem with the program in the future, help is not a phone call, email, or chat away. I could understand if it was a free program, but it's not. I really do appreciate you time in answering my questions and your guidance was helpful. I may give it a try just based on your help, they should pay you a commission.
Cheers,
Tim
6 Posted by dwg on Mar 07, 2018 @ 05:05 AM
I'm a fellow user.
The following post describes how another user has approached the issue of Savings Goals in Moneydance:
http://help.infinitekind.com/discussions/switching-from-another-per...
7 Posted by derekkent23 on Mar 07, 2018 @ 09:08 AM
I am not support staff, just a user.
Support is via this forum. No telephone number you can ring. Unlike Quicken Moneydance is sold globally. For a relatively small company telephone support would not be practical. Support staff work out of the US and the UK to cover different time zones. Support staff will step in to provide support, posts with orange banner, but you will often get your problems solved by other users, first. In exceptional circumstance where forum support is not helping staff will often set your thread private and make direct contact.
Hope this helps.
System closed this discussion on Jun 06, 2018 @ 09:10 AM.