Problem Exporting Account Data FROM Moneydance
Andrew
I am a longtime Quicken 2017 user who bought a license for Moneydance and I've been in the process of converting my data over. I did not realize at first that I could export my entire Quicken data set as one QIF file, so I was doing one account at a time as a QIF file. Once I realized that an entire Quicken dataset could be exported, I did that and started over in Moneydance with the complete set.
After having spent several hours straightening out the transactions in one of the standalone QIF files that I had imported to Moneydance, I decided that it would make sense to export that account FROM Moneydance as a QIF file so that I could re-import the cleaned up data into my new working complete file. Well, unfortunately, when I selected the QIF file type from the export function in Moneydance, and then selected the account I wanted to export, Moneydance created a file on my harddrive but it is not one that Windows identifies as a QIF file. What is more, Moneydance ITSELF does not recognize the "QIF" file that it itself created. Stated another way, Moneydance cannot eat its own cooking.
Beyond just having to repeat the task of cleaning up this particular account so that it will work in Moneydance, the inability to export QIF files FROM Moneydance is a pretty big deal for me, I'm afraid. One of the things that really turned me off about Quicken is their attempt, as I understand it, with the new 2019 version to make it difficult or impossible to export one's data in a format that other programs could decipher. If data stored in Moneydance cannot be exported to a universal format like QIF, then I basically have the same problem -- I will be beholden to Moneydance and its continued existence. Maybe some software programmer would come along and conclude that there are enough Moneydance users that it is worthwhile to build a translation utility but I don't want to have to worry about that.
I saw a previous posting about problems with the Export function and it did not appear that it had been resolved (or even acknowledged as a problem). Hopefully this is something that can be addressed.
Thanks,
Andrew
Comments are currently closed for this discussion. You can start a new one.
Keyboard shortcuts
Generic
| ? | Show this help |
|---|---|
| ESC | Blurs the current field |
Comment Form
| r | Focus the comment reply box |
|---|---|
| ^ + ↩ | Submit the comment |
You can use Command ⌘ instead of Control ^ on Mac
Support Staff 1 Posted by Ethan on May 01, 2020 @ 04:53 PM
Hello Andrew,
I may be misunderstanding the situation, but if Windows isn't recognizing the file as a QIF, I'm wondering if the file that was created simply doesn't have the .qif extension at the end of the file name? That would prevent both Windows and Moneydance from recognizing what kind if file it is. If you add .qif to the end of the file name, does Windows and Moneydance recognize it?
Ethan
Infinite Kind Support
2 Posted by Andrew on May 01, 2020 @ 04:57 PM
Hi Ethan,
No, I tried adding the .qif extension before posting and, while adding the extension tricks Windows into thinking that it is a true .QIF file (just as adding .doc would trick it into thinking it's a word file), Moneydance does cannot import the data from the file.
Andrew
Support Staff 3 Posted by Ethan on May 01, 2020 @ 05:31 PM
Hi Andrew,
Hmm, I just tried exporting a bank account using the QIF option on my test system, and it imported into a new Moneydance file without a problem.
Can you clarify which version of Moneydance you are running? And the program itself is not letting you select the QIF file when you use the File -> Import option? Or can you select the file, but something goes wrong with the import process? Are you receiving any error messages, and if so, what are they?
Ethan
Infinite Kind Support
4 Posted by Andrew on May 01, 2020 @ 05:41 PM
Hi Ethan,
I am running Moneydance 2019.3 (1880).
First, when I export a QIF file from Quicken, I do not need to change the file extension of the resulting file in order for Windows/Moneydance to recognize it as a QIF file.
Moneydance saves the exported QIF file as something that Windows does not recognize as a QIF file. When I go to File -> Import and select the file that Moneydance exported, it generates an error ("There was an error importing the file 'TD Test.' Unknown file type."). If I go and change the file by adding a QIF extension to it, it pretends to access the file and "imports" a single transaction and no securities (this is an Investment account that is being imported). Obviously, the entire file that I exported from Moneydance is not being imported.
Best,
Andrew
5 Posted by Andrew on May 01, 2020 @ 06:08 PM
I figured out that I was exporting a file with the same name as the one I wanted. For some reason, Moneydance takes a single Quicken investment file and creates two or sometimes three Moneydance files out of it.
I was able to import the correct file by adding the .QIF extension to the end of it. However, the imported file did not come with any of the ticker symbols and also appears to have a bunch of phantom cash transactions that I will need to cull.
Best,
Andrw
6 Posted by Andrew on May 01, 2020 @ 07:34 PM
I figure I've put about 40 hours worth of effort into trying to get my accounts configured in Moneydance and I made the mistake of starting with my bank accounts, which were pretty easy to incorporate. Unfortunately, Moneydance's import capabilities for QIF investment files are far from seamless in my experience. In case it's helpful to the developers or to others thinking about onboarding from Quicken, here's the shortlist of things that have led me to the difficult decision that I have to capitulate and pay Quicken's annual toll (for doing nothing to update their software):
(1) Whereas I have one investment account in Quicken, Moneydance is creating two, and sometimes three accounts.
(2) The software is completely unable to upload short sale transactions in any useful/meaningful way. It's an utter mess. To quickly recap, Moneydance does not recognize that when something is sold short, cash is ADDED to the cash balance, not subtracted. So that has to be updated manually. The imported short transactions do not specify which call or put was transacted, so that is missing. Everything is transformed into a generic Xfr transaction, which is meaningless. If one doesn't care about loosing all of these details, I guess you could simply put a zeroing dummy transaction as of the transition date and go from there. I wasn't happy about doing that.
(3) Even for a short that is entered manually in Moneydance, I could not get it to understand the basis of the position. It can understand what the current share price is but cannot show the amount that I got when I sold it short.
(4) From my imported file, I have some accounts that hold the same security (say Microsoft). If it is in three accounts, it will show up in the security list three times. Annoying (to me anyway), and I cannot find a way to consolidate them into a single entry.
(5) Transfers of stock and cash between accounts, and between bank accounts and investment accounts, are an absolute nightmare. If 500 shares of Microsoft are being transferred into the account, Moneysoft puts an entry into the register equal to the value of the stock.
(6) Lots of transactions that are obviously debits are being recorded as credits, and vice versa. For example, every Foreign Tax Expense entry is recorded as a credit even though that is obviously money leaving the account to satisfy a tax obligation. Again, for someone who is comfortable with historical data being wrong, sure, you can put a dummy transaction in for 5/1/2020 and get the balance to equal what is currently in the account. I don't want to do that.
(7) I brought all of my dormant/closed accounts over so that reports with historical data would be accurate. Obviously, when I closed them, I had a balance of zero in the account, and no stocks. I had to zero these accounts out again in Moneydance by correcting the various errors discussed above. No sooner had I accomplished this for a particular account in Moneydance (and marked the account "closed"), I notice in a summary of my accounts that the closed account now is showing a large cash balance (or debit).
(8) I did not see a way to view the sum total of my holdings in a particular stock, say Microsoft, across all accounts. Maybe there is a way to do that, but I didn't see it and gave up looking.
(9) I was going to suck it up and not be bothered by the fact that Moneydance cannot download transactions from Capital One credit cards (or any other bank that does not allow direct connections -- a list that apparently is growing). But that's a fairly large negative in my book.
I really wanted this to work, but I just can't justify spending what would likely be another two weeks, if not four, trying to massage all the data. I would appreciate a refund please.
Andrew
7 Posted by dtd on May 01, 2020 @ 11:58 PM
Just another user here (and I commented in another thread about a link to my own experience.)
Basically, um, yeah.
Although I have different issues than you do (I don't do shorts), here is the basic answer:
MD does not import Quicken investment accounts properly, especially if they involve a cash transaction vs. a stock transaction.
The only thing I will disagree with is that if you eliminate what I just said - MD does a BETTER import of a QIF file than Quicken does. Bank accounts almost perfect, stock values correct. But the "crossover" investment/cash transactions - it's a big mess.
And yes - I spent about 80-120 hours over 4 weeks to make it right.... hmm full time jobe for 3-4 weeks. I'm an I/T guy, so I actually used it as a way to play "solitaire" and figure out a puzzle. But hey 35 years of data, and your own stated desire to get out of Quicken. I'm (sort of) glad I did it, but yes, I was often frustrated - in the post I linked to elsewhere. I can certainly understand you throwing up your arms and capitulating.
8 Posted by dtd on May 02, 2020 @ 12:01 AM
For me, I did it all via "pre-processing" - change quicken data to emulate what MD liked vs. disliked - that worked for me - although I did at minimum 100 imports from Quicken.
I realized fixing things in MD after the fact was the wrong way to go. I finally got to "the perfect" QIF file from Quicken - meaning MD loved it.
9 Posted by dtd on May 02, 2020 @ 12:02 AM
(6) Lots of transactions that are obviously debits are being recorded as credits, and vice versa. For example, every Foreign Tax Expense entry is recorded as a credit even though that is obviously money leaving the account to satisfy a tax obligation. Again, for someone who is comfortable with historical data being wrong, sure, you can put a dummy transaction in for 5/1/2020 and get the balance to equal what is currently in the account. I don't want to do that.
Been there, done that, recommend "historical data wrong" but now it will be right to the impatient for everything to be right.
I couldn't tolerate historical data being wrong either.
System closed this discussion on Aug 01, 2020 @ 12:10 AM.