First Steps with Moneydance

Once you've opened Moneydance and created a new data file, you can begin to set up the file.

Create your Accounts -

You can create your accounts via Account > New Account.

You can create the following account types -
Bank, Credit Card, Investment, Asset, Liability, or Loan.

The steps for creating accounts are detailed in this article.
 

Once created, your accounts will be listed in the side bar on the left of the program window.

The accounts in the side bar will be grouped by account type (bank, credit card etc.)
They'll be listed alphabetically, using ASCII sorting rules.
(Special characters first, then numbers, then uppercase letters and then lowercase letters.)

Create your Categories -

The categories included in your file will vary, depending on the "File Type" you picked when creating the data file -

• If you choose "Standard Account Set, then your file will already include the default categories.
• If you specified "Minimal Account Set", your data file will have no categories.
   
  

You can view the categories in your data file via Tools > Categories.

The list of categories is completely customisable - you can add, edit and delete any categories.

There is no limit to the number of categories in your data file.

The steps for creating and editing categories are detailed in this article.

Entering Transactions -

Once you've created your accounts and the categories you'll need, you can begin adding your transactions.

You can enter transactions manually, or you can download transactions from your bank.
 

Manually entering transactions -

To manually enter transactions, you can follow the steps in this article.

You may also wish to refer to this article that details the different transaction fields.
 

Downloading transactions -

If you want to download transactions from the bank, there are a few different methods -

• You can download transactions automatically and for free, using OFX Direct Connect.

• You can manually download transactions from your banks website (OFX, QFX, QIF or CSV files).

• Or you can subscribe to use Moneydance+.
  This is the new (optional) subscription service that allows you to download transactions from your bank using the Plaid aggregator.

You'll find more information about each of the different download methods in this article.