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Basic questions before I dig in too deep

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Jethro Soudant

May 22, 2019 @ 09:01 PM

Hello,

I am looking for new financial software that will hopefully fit my needs, and Moneydance came up in my search. I have downloaded the trial to take a peek, but before I migrate my accounts over to give a test run, I have a few questions. I will/would be using the software for my personal use, as well as for the small design/photography business my wife and I have. Basically just needing an expense ledger with customizable categories as well as syncing with bank accounts for check printing. Investment tracking would also be nice but not necessary. I have previously used Fortua Frech Finance (now Moneyspire), an old version of Quicken for Mac, and most recently/currently Quicken Online which I loathe.

1. Can I have multiple bank accounts be utilized within the program? Personal/Business, Checking/Savings, Mortgage/Biz Loan, etc...

2. Can I create expense reports that break it down to the category level for handing off the tallies to my accountant?

3. For consistency with previous expense tracking will I be able to create custom expense categories? I currently have about 70 unique categories I track, and I'm only seeing the categories you provide/no ability to create my own. Though maybe I just haven't looked around enough yet.

4. Would adding expenses have an auto-fill kind of option once a vendor was already put in the system?

Hopefully these questions aren't too dumb. Financial software is not in my wheelhouse.

Thanks so much for your time.

Best,
Jethro Soudant

1. 1 Posted by dwg on May 22, 2019 @ 09:22 PM

   

   I'm a fellow user.

   These are my takes on your questions

   Can I have multiple bank accounts be utilized within the program? Personal/Business, Checking/Savings, Mortgage/Biz Loan, etc...

   Yes you can have as many accounts as you want. Personally I would suggest that you do not mix personal and business accounts in the one Data Set (file) but rather set up one Data set for your business accounts and another for your personal data.

   Can I create expense reports that break it down to the category level for handing off the tallies to my accountant?

   Yes the two income and expense reports do this, one at the category level and one that gives all transactions in each category.

   For consistency with previous expense tracking will I be able to create custom expense categories? I currently have about 70 unique categories I track, and I'm only seeing the categories you provide/no ability to create my own. Though maybe I just haven't looked around enough yet.

   You can create your own categories and sub-categories and in the structure you wish.

   Would adding expenses have an auto-fill kind of option once a vendor was already put in the system?

   Moneydance learns from past entries, so if you start an entry that looks similar to one already there it suggests what the field should be.

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2. 2 Posted by derekkent23 on May 22, 2019 @ 09:42 PM

   

   I am not support staff, just a user.

   dwg got there first, but I will post anyway, good to have confirmation.

   1. Yes, you can set up as many bank types accounts, checking, savings as well as, credit card, loans and investment accounts as you like within a single data set. You can also set up as many data sets as you like.
      Moneydance is intended for peroneal finance use but some people with small business find it adequate.

   2. Yes, Moneydance includes income and expense reports which will break down to the category level..

   3. You can create your own categories as well as those imported from Quicken.

   4. Moneydance learns. For example, enter a transaction, fill in a description, say a payee and moneydance will make suggestions to auto complete the description as well as categories based on previous transactions.

   To migrate from Quicken make sure you are running this build of Moneydance https://infinitekind.com/preview

   You need to use Quicken to export your data in a QIF file type. Ensure any closed account that have transfers to any open accounts are included in the QIF file, re-open these accounts if necessary.

   Open the QIF 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 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 create 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.

   Drag and dropped the QIF file into the side bar (list on left).
   Waited for import window to appear, this can take a few minutes.

   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 file not the date format you want to use in Moneydance. Select the correct Decimal Character. Do not tick “File was downloaded”.

   Click import and waited to account values to file in, again this can take some time.
   Some accounts maybe hidden under the “+” at the bottom of the side bar, added them back.

   Some QIF 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 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.

   Reminder are not included in QIF files.

   Any accounts that are inactive (closed) should be made inactive by highlighting the account in the side bar and clicking ACCOUNT – EDIT ACCOUNT and ticking the inactive box. To remove them from the side bar right click and select REMOVE FROM SIDE BAR.

   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

   Hope this helps.

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3. System closed this discussion on Aug 21, 2019 @ 09:50 PM.