Pretty Disappointed

I have been looking for a personal finance management application that will do the basics for my accounting needs. But I also want access and functionality on my iPhone and iPad. I really liked this application’s appearance and seemed easy to work with. I read the disappointed reviews, but wanted to know for myself. After all this is on sale and maybe it would work for me.

I downloaded the lite versions for my MBP and iPad. I entered a few transactions and was exctied that the iCloud synced pretty fast. But quickly I noticed that there isn’t a reconcile function, it’s a checkbox format of reconciling which isn’t very impressive. I’m used to using Quickbooks for my business and love the ease of reconciling that it offers. But I thought, well maybe I can do without fancy reconciling. Reports are very simplistic, but I thought again maybe I can deal with that.

After I confirmed iCloud was syncing properly between my laptop and my iPad I started to input more transactions. I created a new category and that’s when the program hung on me. Just sat there, no spinning beachball or anything. When I used the arrows up and down I could see text of the categories, but only one line at a time as I scrolled down. I shut down the program and computer. Rebooted and opened the app - all data was lost and though my iPad showed the few transactions I input before it hung, my computer no longer showed them.

Though it’s on sale and I really do like the appearance of everything, unfortunately it is not reliable enough for me to invest my time in. I have also looked at MoneyWiz which was about as simplistic, but no iCloud support, you would need to login to their servers to access your data - sorry not me. For some reason I’m just more comfortable with iCloud and want to stick to that. I am now reviewing a trial version of MoneyDance (download trial at their website) which already appears to beat out the other apps I mentioned here. It’s more expensive, but really quite affordable compared to what I paid for Quickbooks to manage my business. Too bad Quickbooks doesn’t also manage personal, I would be there instantly.

Follow up from earlier review: I have purchased Moneydance and it’s a great intuitive program. It is usually $49.99, but if you input code FBDANCE you save 20%. Program provided everything I needed and I’m fully satisified. I only mention this because it took so long to find the right program and someone may benefit from my research.

Isa118 about Checkbook HD Lite - Personal Finance