Update: July 26, 2011
If you only are concerned with tracking bills and don’t care about investments or balancing your checkbook or importing statements or anything like that, I can highly recommend Chronicle. It’s a very well-done app that lets you stay on top of your pending bills. It is not a replacement for MSMoney, but it may be helpful for some. The interface is quite nice, and if they added the ability to track line items in your checkbook and savings accounts and credit cards, it would be fantastic. But they don’t. So there is STILL no viable Mac alternative to MSMoney.
Update: July 2011
I am really getting disgusted with my old Dell laptop and dealing with Microsoft Windows XP, so I tried once again to use a Mac alternative to MS Money 2007. I tried the new version of iBank, but just can’t handle the interface. (Why the hell can nobody recreate the register style UI of a fifteen year old Microsoft program?!) I also tried using SEE Finance, which someone recommended in the comments here, but that was a catastrophic failure. I tried importing about a year’s worth of my checking account and it completely locked my Mac for ten minutes! My Mac never crashes, so the fact that SEE Finance caused it to choke so quickly on a simple import was a bad sign and I just quit.
Update: April 2010
I decided to try the new Quicken Essentials for Mac in March 2010. I used it for about two weeks but just couldn’t stand it. The transaction interface is terrible and the categorization system is even worse. I also attempted to use MoneyWell again, but the latest version is just as bad as the last version I tried. So — as much as I hate to admit it — I am still using Microsoft Money 2008 on my old Dell laptop. It is the only reason I ever use a PC these days and I would supremely love to find a financial software package for the Mac as good as it.
Warning! Do not be fooled by what you might read anywhere on the Internet. If you have been using Microsoft Money and you switch to a Mac, you are screwed. There is nothing comparable for the Mac. No … Quicken is not an option. No, there is no version of Microsoft Money in development for the Mac. No, there are no other software programs available which are even remotely similar. No, none of the other potential financial software programs will allow you to successfully import your MSMoney data. No, you are not going to find another financial software application that is freeware or shareware or open source that comes close to Microsoft Money. No, you should not believe any website that attempts to explain how to convert your Microsoft Money file(s) for use in any Macintosh program.
And, no, you are not going to be able to return the $49.99 copy of the Mac version of Quicken 2007 once you’ve installed it and seen what a pathetic piece of crap it is.
No matter how in love you are with your new Mac, you are going to have to keep a Windows machine in your life so you can continue to use Microsoft Money. (Or, at the very least, you’re going to have to use Bootcamp, VMWare Fusion, or Parallels to use XP on your Mac.)
Just in case you think that this is a case of me simply not doing my homework, here is a quick, short list of other Mac users complaining about the same issue:
- Mac equivalent to Microsoft Money?
- Macintosh Version of Microsoft Money
- Why Windows Users Won’t Switch To The Mac
- Moving from MS Money to KMyMoney
- Looking for Mac OS X personal finance software
- Home budget software
- Should I give up on iBank 3 and go back to Moneydance?
If you have just converted from Windows to Mac and are looking for a replacement for Microsoft Money, I’ve gone to the trouble of compiling a list of financial software applications that will not impress you. None of these will make you happy. Epic fail.
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Told ya.
Thanks for the wise up. It looks like I’ll be keeping the xp for some time yet. I was told that the iwork would handle my finances just as well as money, but that is just not of any use to me other than the pages grrrrrrrrrr
Thanks a bunch for this post. You just saved me a ton of time and effort getting frustrated looking for an MS Money equivalent on the Mac. I bet Microsoft never thought Money would be the app to keep Windows alive!
Thanks for the help. I have been looking for Money for Mac for years. Quicken truly stinks after Money. Anyone know why are they not making it for Mac? I guess I can’t toss the ol’ PC just yet. Bummer.
Useful post; it’s saved me from what was stacking up to be a fruitless search (and, for what it’s worth, trying to find *working* software that syncs iCal/Address Book with Windows Mobile is equally frustrating)
Oh thanks for putting this information together; I was just about to go through all those pseudo Mac Money’s! Access and Money are why I’ll keep my PC running…
This has been going on way to long! It is absolutely unbelievable! They have got to come up with a personal finance software program for the mac that is easy to use, and works well. Is that to much to ask? I have read blog after blog searching for the answer – I am stuck – I will not go back to PC so I guess I just keep on waiting for something decent – maybe another 2 years. Excuse my ranting, I am just tired of waiting.
Agree, been using MS money for donkeys years. now use it on Parallel system. It’s been ace, however this week it started not accepting my password….. but that’s a different story, if I could though find a similar quality piece of software that’s mac specific, I would be buying it without hesitation.
Why is microsoft not producing a version of money for the MAC, there is clearly a market for it?
I would pay out the ass for Money or equivalent personal finance software solution for the Mac.
I have posted the question to the marketing department of apple and am still waiting for a reply. if MAC is so good why cant they develop their own money software? and I agree with Cracker-T, I would pay for it!, maybe not out but ass, but I would pay.
Thank-you for this information. My husband and I are extremely computer-illiterate, have been using XP for 7 years now & are ready to make the jump to Mac. Money is what is holding us out. What are these Bootcamp, VMWare Fusion, or Parallels things that you are speaking of, and if they make Money accessible, can we just get one of the three installed when we purchase a Mac? Curious to know what Reckless’ problem was with the password- anything we should be concerned about?
Thanks.
Bootcamp should come pre installed in all new macs, this will allow you to install windows software, VMWare Fusion seems get the best write ups at present. you can run these on your mac and still access microsoft money from that but, somewhat defeats the purpose of having a MAC. we should all email apple demanding they create, develop and release a software program to rival microsoft money.
I have to agree, Quicken 2007 on the mac is a pretty pathetic piece of crap, and thats me being nice. The interface is horrible and makes absolutely no sense. The calculations of value are constantly wrong and everything is so hard to find. I’ve been struggling with it for over 3 months and have finally given up.
We were able to return the Quicken for Mac that we bought, even though we downloaded it from the Internet. Customer support was actually quite nice about it. I am still disappointed to have to switch to Bootcamp every time I want to work with Quicken, and I was hoping to find another alternative. Maybe the forthcoming Quicken Financial Life for Mac?
would converting from money to an online version of quicken or quickbooks could be an option?
has anyone swithced first from Mmoney to quicken for pc and then to quicken for mac?
@pam … fwiw, Parallels runs on the Mac so that you are able to run Windows directly as a Mac app, and it also comes with a migration assistant that can actually create a copy of your current windows machine with software etc. I find Parallels an ok solution to run the odd Windows software I need.
I’m glad I found this post! I just got a MacBook Pro last week. After using Windows for 14+ years (and being a developer of 8 of those years), I just had to install VMWare Fusion and XP. So far, the one application I use daily via VMWare is MS Money. I’ve been using it since ’99 and I don’t like the other options.
So, thank you for this post with the definitive answer. I wish they would come out with it for Mac, but seeing as how it is only going to be available via download now, I don’t see it happening.
Thanks for this info…I was in the midst of doing all this research myself and downloading trial after trial of software that just doesn’t work for me. I hadn’t wanted to dual-boot, but I guess I experiment with that.
I have one question … if I install Parallels, do I then also need to get a copy of Windows XP or Vista? Ugh…
SO how would Quicken 2009 for MAC work? is that also a arbage?
To ANYONE that has had an issue with their MSmoney password not working, it happens when you shut your instance of parallels off before closing out of MSmoney completely.
The only way your MSmoney file will work again is if you restore from a previous working back up file.
If you don’t back up your file (which should be weekly, or for me, every time I close) then you are completely screwed.
to Laura : yes you need a license of XP . Microsoft is nice enough(:)) to provide an option to purchase it during the activation ($149) if you install from your old disk. I just installed it in my new MacBook Pro. When you install Win XP at first it asks for it , but you can skip that. When you done it will prompt you for activation of your copy.
So if XP was bundled on my PC and I don’t have a disc I’m assuming that I need to by a full-blown ver$ion of XP??
I wish I would have seen this article before I bought my Mac. I purchased a Mac and Quicken at the same time and the author of the article is absolutely right. Quicken for Mac is absolutely awful. The user experience is terrible and many financial institutions that will work for Quicken for PC do not work on Quicken for Mac. I finally resolved to do just what the author said. I have a PC that I do nothing but use MS money.
I admire David’s bold statement and I completely agree with him, I switched back to Mac about 2 years ago and I’m still searching for a way to replace my LAST windows app, Microsoft Money.
I am the eternal optimist and I continue to revisit this topic hoping something new came up but to no avail!
But taking this argument a step further I would like to focus on what I and other mac users really want from the ‘Microsoft Money Mac Clone’, lets call it MMMC. My biggest problem with Money (besides having to use Fusion) is that it is way too bloated and I wish I can eliminate all the extra stuff I don’t use/need. So I guess if we can come up with what 80% of what users want from MMMC it may a) make it easier to compare it to other Mac offerings, and/or b) inspire some creative developer to design the new MMMC.
Thoughts?
I’ve used both Windows and Mac for many years; now use my iMac for ALL my work. To do that, I run Parallels, which requires Windows XP with SP 2 installed. That allows me to run Windows just like any other application on my Mac, including all the programs I need. Right now I have only two programs not matched by Mac programs: MS Money, and MS FrontPage. I use iWeb for some web development, but FP is much better for managing my existing sites. For MS Money, there is no good Mac program. So a couple of times a month I fire up XP under Parallels and do my thing.
Someday those two programs will be superceded by native Mac stuff and I will ditch Windows completely. For now, it’s good enough to let me sell or give away ALL my other computer junk, and I am a pretty happy Mac user. Cheers!
A big thank you to this blog and its comments – I’ve just started looking myself and found this. Just bought my imac 5 days ago and I love it’s style, performance and especially start up speed. Using it is such a joy to behold
But alas it seems I shall have to keep my vista pc along side it to run ms money and windows live messenger (the mac version doesn’t touch it) and after searching and trying many found a clone amsn to work best, but the isight built in cam just isn’t up to the mark of my logitech one on windows.
Come an apple please make us a ms money equivalent for the mac and a full working messenger.
Very true.. but what an arrogant pompus way of expressing it
Thanks for saving me the time – I was just about to embark on a search and glad to learn from your experience. I’ll just leave it on the Windows machine upstairs and continue managing my money as a once-a-week-chore.
Best,
Ray
Does anyone have experience with QuickBooks for Mac? I use QuickBooks for Windows and love it, but I’m trying to help someone find a simple bookkeeping system she can run on her Mac.
Thanks!
I use Quickbooks for Mac – came from Windows. Its just great. I use it for my business.
Have you used the windows version? I’m wondering if the bulk of complains are coming from people who are former Windows QuickBooks users and are expecting Quickbooks for Mac to do everything the Windows version does.
Are you able to import your banking info into Quickbooks for Mac?
Thanks so much for your help!
I came from Windows to to Mac on QB. I think the Mac version is perfect. I don’t import my banking because its too messy for me and I prefer to do in manually. So I can’t help you there.
Good Luck.
I just found a site http://www.fotora.com that seems to be promising….it works with mac and pcs and is able to direct connect to your bank. The only hang up that I am working on is that my bank is not listed. Their help section suggests calling your bank to verify that they have “direct connect” so I am hoping that will work. It is $45…i am assuming for good but not sure…this could be a lifesaver!
the site is http://www.fortora.com….the first post has the wrong address
OK . . . so after buying a new iMac (first time Apple guy), I keep my current PC loaded with XP and Money 2002 until that blows up. Then what?
Seriously, someone could make some serious cash selling a Money conversion into a really good iMac financial program. Where is the free enterpirxe system when we really need it? (I’ll be waiting, patiently)
Mint.com looks really good. There’s even an iPhone app, and it’s all free. I’ve been trying it out today, and other than the fact that one of my banks is not supported (the bank’s fault, they don’t allow it), I like it a lot.
don’t be too quick with mint.com… i just looked up comments and not sure if that’s the answer. Bummer.
mint.com does not allow you to add your own transactions, it is simply a central location for all accounts that you have access to online.
I have been using Fortora Fresh Finance and like it so far. I am bummed by the fact that I can only either add my own transactions or download them but not both. I tried and the entire spreadsheet was messed up. I called them and was told that this may be changed/updated in the near future.
There are also free excel downloads that i have not tried as I have no installed excel yet.
good luck
Has anyone tried crossover office or crossover games to run money on the mac – It lists some versions of money in it’s compatability table?? Just wondering if anyone has tried it already??
I’ve tried Crossover and it doesn’t work at all. Sorry.
I second, third, and fourth everything you just said! Finally called it quits and set up the Boot Camp/VMWare Fusion workaround to run MS Money and QuickBooks Simple Start. Finding this post gave me the confirmation I needed to stop searching already, and for that: THANK YOU.
http://www.bothisbetter.com/blog/post/resolution-fusion.
FWIW – most of your referred articles & forum threads are from 2005, and some of the applications you then list weren’t even around back then. Not saying your conclusion isn’t valid, though – I can’t comment on that as have never used MS Money. (I’m in the middle of trying to switch from Gnucash to something friendlier.)
Michael,
Yes, I know that most of the links are from pre-2008. I was trying to show that this has been an issue for quite some time. I have personally reviewed and / or installed and tested all of the options in the list and found them all to be grossly inferior to MS Money.
Would just like to post that i was able to install msmoney 2004 and 2001 in crossover games7.1.1 today works 100%.tried just crossover would not work but for some reason worked in crossovergames. need to use win98 bottle and might have to try a couple times with 2001 but did work.
I have been using Moneydance for about a year and true it is not as useful as MS Money but it does work ok and I did convert my MS Money data files to work with Moneydance.
Can I ask what Moneydance doesn’t do exactly to make it not as useful as money please??
Right off the top of my head: Moneydance has nothing close to Money’s reporting and budgeting features. In fact, Moneydance’s “budget manager” is so un-helpful–it in no way interacts with your regular use of the program, entering transactions–that I’m not sure why it’s in there at all. And I personally found Moneydance the most adequate of all the Mac programs I tried…but after a year I grew frustrated.
golly, this is so frustrating!
Has anybody tried ibank recently?? It reads as being really good – it’s features seem to have all the things I would want especially after the latest update ie import ms money, tax, budget etc – think I might try the trial – just wondered if any others had any experience with it?
I just tried iBank. It is really good! Finally I found a software to replace MS Money. One of the best things: it interacts with Yahoo Finance to get stock prices.
I have tried iBank, Fotora and a whole heap of other pathetic attempts. They are barely adequate, and in leui of running Fusion/Parallels will possibly work, but none are up to scratch. Watch this space. I am going to write a MS Money for Mac equivalent. I have had it to the back teeth with pathetic half a*****d attempts to deliver. If it looks good, it has no substance. If it has any substance it looks like rubbish. What are the 25 or so companies who are developing finance software for Mac doing? Have the never even seen MS Money. Here is a tip- go and buy yourself a copy!
I switched to the Mac two years ago and went from MS Money 2001 to Quicken for Mac 2007. I was appalled how pathetic the 2007 version of Quicken for Mac was compared to my 2001 Money. But I love my Mac in all other respects, so I settled for Quicken and just learned to make do. Personal finance SW is not that important that I would let it stop me from owning a Mac.
I was just out at the Quicken website reading about their new, Quicken Financial Life for Mac which comes out later this year. This is one of the things they say about it:
So, their new product isn’t up to speed with their current product? WTF?
Sometimes I do think about installing a Windows partition on my iMac so I can go back to Money. I just haven’t go around to it. Seems like kind of a hassle.
I just switched to Mac and am in the same boat as everyone else that has MsMoney. Thank goodness I read all these comments before loosing money with Quicken .
So then there is this comment from Dave – “No matter how in love you are with your new Mac, you are going to have to keep a Windows machine in your life so you can continue to use Microsoft Money. (Or, at the very least, you’re going to have to use Bootcamp, VMWare Fusion, or Parallels to use XP on your Mac.)” Since I’ve never used any of these solutions and I will only use MsMoney and one other Windows software not available for MAC, can anyone give me any advice ? Should I use Boot Camp, Fusion or Parallels?
We expect to release Quicken Financial Life for Mac in summer 2009. If you have an immediate need for a Quicken product for the Mac, we would encourage you to check out our current Mac offering, Quicken for Mac 2007.
RIGHT
With Quicken 2007 will I be able to import QIF files from my bank and credit cards? I read from others complaints that this is not possible. I need to do this routinely.
Millie,
you can do that with fortora fresh finance but you cannot enter your own transactions as well. i called the company and they claim to be working on the function.
His entire criteria on the best money program is wether it can import MS Money format. Thats it. Only if it can import the one format of another program. Who the hell works with those files anymore anyways. The rest of the world use QIF or CSV… and CSV is imported by everything.
I’m not hating – I am a Mac user, and I loved MS Money while I had a PC. But I have never seen a more useless review.
jesse- i am looking for a program that will allow for manual entry of debits and credits and then also the ability to download and cross-check bank statements….do you currently use a money program on a mac? can it do this?
http://www.mthbuilt.com/ has anyone looked into this?
Yes, I gave that one a shot a week or two ago. I really didn’t like the interface for adding new transactions; I didn’t bother to see if it would properly import MS Money data because I felt like the interface was just really clunky. (No offense to the designers…)
This article is just not true. Now if you are in love with a particular piece of software then no you will never find a replacement that will satisfy you. I used Microsoft Money Business to manage my small home business and i switched to a mac for several reasons that i will not go into here. I got Quickbooks for mac which does everything i need business wise so i am sure that quicken would too alhtough i have not used it. As with everything, when you first switch to a mac there is a detox period to get windows out of your system but once you learn the interface you will be fine. Oh i also develop web sites so i had to find web editors, image editors and a slew of other software and have managed to find what i need and still love my mac.
WOW – After four pointless months of being unable to balance my checkbook using Quicken 2007, I stumbled upon this link… It’s the truth people. I had the most recent edition of MS Money on my Vista and it worked great. Here’s why I couldn’t balance my checkbook on MacQuicken:
https://quickenonline.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/quickenonline.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=7161&p_created=1224289347
This was updated less than three weeks ago, and I swear I am not making this up:
“Some Quicken Online customers may find that some Account Activity transactions are missing. We have identified the issue and are working on a release to resolve this soon.”
GIMME A G.D. Break already. My Chase bank updates worked A-OK on Money from over five years ago up until the most recent version. It’s PATHETIC that Intuit can release, let alone charge, for this atrocity. Anyone had any luck with the online version?
Has anyone tried My Money for Mac OS X 2.0.40?
Any info would be appreciated.
Carol
Sydney, Australia
I’m sure I’m not the only person out here who uses automatic linking of account balances between Money and Excel (UltraSoft Moneylink: excellent product: free). I’m with the author on this one; there is absolutely NO replacement available. Quicken has stopped supporting OLE in all of its products and Numbers has no support that I can find for OLE. I have some experience in being able to expose Quickens inner-format. In the early 90s, I wrote a small utility that extracted account balances from Quicken for automatic updating in Excel. To date, I have not been able to find any such facilities in the latest Quicken or Numbers products. I tried keeping Windows in a VM just for Money and Excel. It’s so much a pain, I’ve decided to keep a Windows machine handy. It just isn’t worth the grief.
Don,
Have you tried Quick Books? There was a comment that this would be a solution. Have you or anyone out there installed Parallels and run MS Money from there?
Millie
I too have now decided to call it quits and give in – I am going out today to buy a copy of Windows Vista, (I have already downloaded VMWare fusion) so that I can run MS money, Publisher and a few others that I miss. I had hoped with all the pc’s I have bought over the years that one of the recovery disks would work – but unfortunately not – good ol’ microsoft strikes again – it seems I have got to go and purchase a stand alone retail copy
But after having my mac for over 3 months, hopying and praying for alternatives to come out and be good enough – I’m afraid it’s the only way to go for me and our business. I feel like I’ll be infecting my mac but I have to trust that all will be well.
Any others already doing this having any problems at all???
Don’t buy vista!!!! I would just try to find a copy of XP…vista is terrible and i would hate to see it on a wonderful MAC!!!
to Liz:
Since moving to a Mac I have not found a suitable replacement for MS Money. There’s none. Period. I started looking for the “basics” and now I just keep a straight up checkbook on my iphone. I don’t have the nifty bells and whistles but I know how much $ I have at all times . I cross-check my iphone checkbook (app called Balance) and my bank account online and make “notes” in the iphone checkbook just in case (like the check number), it’s not “cool”, no. But it’s very accurate and very simple. Yes, I miss my budgets, and my categories and my backups , and my pie charts, and the bad-ass recurring bill option. All I can do is hope that Microsoft feels like making MS Money for MAC.
thanks Jesse.
I have been using fortora fresh finance and it seems to be working. They claim they are working on the ability to cross check automatically. I think they do charts and all but I haven’t gotten that far. Thanks!
to Liz:
That looks pretty promising! Thanks!
Millie – I have not tried QuickBooks on the MAC. I used QuickBooks a couple of years ago and just wasn’t impressed with it. As for Parallels, yes, I did try it with Money and Excel. It works and is straight-forward to install and set up. I just prefer VMWare; probably just because I have more experience with it. It seemed to be more compatible with the Linux OS VMs as well. If all you plan to run is a Windows virtual machine on the MAC, Parallels is a good choice. Keep in mind you also have the option of installing Windows in Bootcamp. Bootcamp will give you the best performance since you won’t have all the overhead of the virtual machine.
Liz suggested not putting Vista on a MAC. I’m not a huge fan of Vista, but I’m actually impressed with it’s performance on the iMAC (however, having 4Gb memory in the machine helps). I have run XP on the iMAC, but find myself using mostly Vista. Like everything else, it comes down to personal taste and application.
Well I have vista on my iMac now (I was used to vista on my old pc so no prob there) in bootcamp (installed fine, put norton on and it crahed out with blue screen arrgghh typical microsoft) and VM fusion (much quicker install and am trying macafee as it came with fusion) ok so far. I will put ms money on it and see how we go. I didn’t realize it like having two separate vista machines! So I think I will put the business apps and money etc on VM one and leave the bootcamp version for games only – makes sense?
Trace – be careful. If you are thinking the Vista VM showing up in Fusion is different from the Bootcamp install of Vista, that’s not the case. Any changes you make in Bootcamp will show up in the Fusion VM. It’s just VMs way of letting you run Bootcamp without actually launching into Bootcamp. I’ve run Symantec Antivirus in Bootcamp without any issues.
For those of you interested, it appears that Quicken has listened to at least some of the concerns from its Mac following and plans on releasing a complete overhaul of Quicken for Mac late 2009.
Here’s a link that provides more info:
http://forums.appleinsider.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=83337
Yay!!!! I now have ms money working again – horrah. I’ve got 3 months of statements to catch up on and balance but hey I’m sooo pleased. VMWare Fusion works absolutely incredibly.
my logitech cam works thru vista no problem but for some reason msn wont see it.
I have msn messenger working too but not with video
Microsoft Money 2004 Small Business works with Codeweavers Crossover for Mac 7.1.0 if you install Internet Explorer 6 SP1 first and then the Software from the CD to the same Bottle (installation)
Working 100% for me, on Leopard
Hope this helps the rest of you
This would be Crossover Pro 7.1.0 for Mac.
The tip to install Internet Explorer 6 SP1 I got it from a Wine support forum.
I think that was the needed item.
Warning… do not sink your quicken with Wells Fargo on a mac. Even if you call and talk to someone at Wells Fargo support for over an hour, what they will say is, “it sounds like you’re experiencing a software problem.” Which is crap. It just doesn’t work.
I bought VMWare Fusion for the sole purpose of being able to run MS Money on my Mac
I also bought VMWare Fusion to run Money. I don’t have time to experiment and I have to much historical data which I need for my expense reports and taxes. Someday perhaps there will be an MsMoney version for Mac which would be great since everything is so much quicker in the Mac.
After a number of years of running Parallels for MS Money and FrontPage, I’ve given up (too slow, too much trouble) and moved my money management to the local credit union FREE bill pay. I can see all my assets and manage my payments essentially the same way, and it will integrate with my tax software as well. When I finally migrate all my web sites to Mac-based programming, it will be Goodbye Microsoft!
Thanks. I guess I’ll quit looking for comparable software and keep my PC limping along so I can use MS Money.
Well I too have given up with fusion and bootcamp – its ok for some things and for a start you think its great that you have windows on your mac to do the must-do windows things but the memory that windows takes is incredible and so I have undone the partion for bootcamp and gave it back to my mac – and I have resurrected my old vista pc tower!!! So I am back to my iMac with 1 monitor ( I really liked having 2) and now have a windows and mac machine on my desk
Is there really no decent money progs been brought out for the mac yet!!! What is going on!!!
I found the IBank listed to be a good alternative for ms money. Everything i use ms money for ive found in Ibank.
That said ive also go ms money working on crossover for mac which doesnt require you to have a windows cd and and thus makes it a quite cheap way of getting it working for those that cant live without it.
well .. needless to say. Until today, I am still unsuccessfully finding an mac replacement for my aging ms money 2005! (maybe ms money 2008?) Who would think ms money would boost ms and parallel/fusion’s sales .. fellow mac-lover please keep this post alive with latest update.
Have had the iMac for 9 months and love it, but unfortunately we still have to keep the PC in the next room for MS Money. It’s annoying and hard to believe there really isn’t a program for macs!
I took the advise of some other users that communicate on this site. I have MS Money on my Mac using VM Fusion. Personally this works fine for me. Actually my Virtual Machine runs Windows XP faster than my old PC. Of course the only thing I run is Ms Money.
I would have to agree with this perspective. I too have been looking for an alternative, but alas there isn’t a viable, usable, complete program to can match MS Money. Say what you will about MS, they have this niche sewn up.
I too am disappointed that a MS Money equivalent is not available for Mac.
I have found that the freeware Mini$ is one application that provides some of the benefits & I have been able to import & retain and manage all my MS Money files that date back to 1993
Well, now that MS Money is going away we can all stop ranting about no good options to MS Money on the Mac.
Sad news indeed – Microsoft to discontinue making Money. If it wasn’t such an amusing headline in itself, I’d cry.
Bah – All my hopes dashed in about 2 mins.
Quicken® Financial Life™ for Mac – Coming Summer 2009
http://quicken.intuit.com/personal-finance/mac-personal-finance.jsp
From the FAQ:
Q: How do I update my data from a prior version of Quicken like Quicken Mac 2007?
A: After installing Quicken Financial Life for Mac, you can import your old Quicken Mac file to Quicken Financial Life for Mac using a simple conversion utility provided with the software. Please note that this utility is currently in beta, and unsupported.
Q: Can I convert my Quicken for Windows data to Quicken Financial Life for Mac?
A: At this time, we do not support conversion from Quicken for Windows to Quicken Financial Life for Mac.
Q: Can I convert my data from Microsoft Money to use with Quicken Financial Life for Mac?
A: No. At this time, only Quicken Mac files can be imported into Quicken Financial Life for Mac.
Wow, this is a bummer. I’ve been a Money user since it was free when Win95 came out. I switched to a Mac 1.5 years ago but never really saw anything on the mac that I could or wanted to migrate to. I currently use Money, an Excel workbook, and a custom .NET web app to manage my finances. I’ve been wanting to port my web app and Excel worksheets into a native mac application but never had the motivation. Now with Money being discontinued, I have even more reason to do so. And, I might as well add in the features of Money that I used as well.
Well, now check out that quicken link again for “Financial Life” for Mac. http://quicken.intuit.com/personal-finance/mac-personal-finance.jsp
Quicken Financial Life for Mac DELAYED to FALL 2009!
Looks like “Financial Life” is in cardiac arrest and is for the 3rd time now delayed!
Can you believe it, now Quicken has moved Financial Life off their website totally!!! No mention of it and no links to it!!!!
Holy Cr4p! you hit the mail on its head. I switched to a mac last year after making sure that VMWare Fusion was loaded with Windows XP and MS-Money was running fine on it. I thought I was all set for a while. But last month MS made the announcement on killing Money and I started looking for alternatives. I must have tried about 10 out of your list of 28. And today I saw your blog post saying *exactly* how I feel. Nothing comes even close.
I have been thinking about writing something for the mac. Just going by the number of people searching for something, it seems a profitable venture. But going by how many software titles are already available, I fear for a huge waste of my time.
All I want is an import of my MS-Money file and simple clean interface for downloading and “approving” my transactions every week. I don’t care for any fancy features. Just plain old categorization and a couple of simple reports. Not that hard to do. If it were Windows, I would do it in C#. But for the Mac, I don’t know Objective C. And Ruby on Rails would give me a web application.
I am hoping that someone would create something in the next 10 months I have left on my Money license.
Like BC all I would need is a program where I can load my MSmoney backup and ideally be able to import accounts, payees, catagories, subcatagories and nice to have would be all unreconciled transactions if not all my history. The other would be to be able to import files from my bank and credit card companies. These are just the basic functions. If no reporting is available then at least some type of extract selection.
Anybody knows if one of the 28 softwares mentioned can handle these basic needs?
Well, to continue adding to the bad news. Quicken delayed until 2010:
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/168171/quicken_financial_life_delayed_until_2010.html
The presumption that this will never see the light of day is starting to feel about right (Duke Nukem Forever, anyone?)…
Good luck, everyone.
Hello, I also switched to a MacBook just over a year ago, (best thing I’ve done!), and I also use MS Money quite heavily. Unfortunately I let my old Dell go so now I am nearly stuffed. On my Mac I run a programme called Parallels which allows me to run Win’ XP as a virtual machine so now I can run Money on my Mac. The downside side though is that the Money programme now feels a bit flakey – it has fallen over once and in one or two other ways it does not run as smoothly as it used to do. Also, having Windows running on my Mac is annoying because of the vulnerabilities of it regarding virii etc. In my local computer shop I have seen an Asus Netbook for £185. I suppose I’ll just have to bite the bullet and get one of those if I want Money to run smoothly. It’s all just a bit of a pain isn’t it.
On June 30, Microsoft ceased support of all versions of MS Money, stating that newly registered copies would be supported for two years. If you have not upgraded recently, there are no remaining copies to purchase. If you bought MS Money 2008 as I did, we can expect to be abandoned at the end of this year – Dec. 31. After that time all issues will be moot, since MS Money will no longer be an option no matter what platform you are using. I think this is because many banks now offer free bill pay, and Intuit and others provide banking software that integrates with tax software. In any case, prepare to move to another program soon.
Hello,
I have been using Fortora Fresh Finance for about 6 months now and am liking it. I had to just let go of the fact that I wasn’t going to be able to use Money without the hassle of parallels etc. Try it. You can download a free trial. I have not been able to just download my statements if I want to manually input them too, but with an apple it is so easy to just pull up my bank on one screen and fortora on the other. switching between screens is very easy.
I’ll have a look at the Fortora product although I must admit that I have got myself sych’d up to get the cheap Assus. I’m not really bothered about Microsoft support for MS Money – I have been using the programme without any need for support since 2001, it’s just an efficient way of running it… . Still glad I got the MacBook though.
The problem will be that you can no longer use Bill Pay through MS Money, which was free under their software. Other systems like Quicken cost about $10 a month. Banks and credit unions have free Bill Pay systems, but some of those don’t export to tax programs, so it will take a bit of research to move to a new system. Bummer!
Ok – so if we are gonna have to get used to a new one for the mac – which one do we recommend??? David – you have tested them all as per your list and say none are anywhere near MS Money but which is the best??? I think we have all begun to accept that MS Money isn’t going to last us all much longer so which is the best of the rest???
Anyone?
try fortora fresh finance….free trial
OK, I get the message but not a very helpful article if you cannot at least name the best of a poor bunch.
I agree completely with the article. I am one of several posters who own a copy of XP and Parallels with the specific purpose of still using Microsoft Money. The discontinuation of online services by MS Money hit my software yesterday. I feel like a fish out of water at the moment with respect to financial management. Amazing that a company would do this… Do they take into account the fact that this decision gives, what seems to be a large number of customers, absolutely no reason to use or purchase their software for any reason or purpose? Well at least I’m even more content with my Mac.
Has anyone every tried xecheck.com ? Granted they don’t have a mac version yet, just wondering if any of you with win on your mac have see this?
I spent $50 on paralells 3.0 a year or two ago just so I’d have a way to run MS Money on my mac at home. Now, I just upgraded my OS to Snow Leopard, and guess what? Parallels 3.0 doesn’t work, and it costs $75.00 to get Paralells 4.0. I can’t believe I’m going to pay $75.00 for one program just to run a 2004 version of a dang Microsoft product. However, like most everyone else has written on here, NOTHING compares to MS Money.
Wow, so glad I stumbled on this. Now I know I’m not alone. Have been using MS Money since 2004, and when I got a Mac last spring, I sprang for VMware Fusion and a cheap OEM copy of XP so I could keep using it. I tried out at least a dozen Mac money-management titles, and as the original author points out, none measured up. I’m intrigued by the Crossover program mentioned in the comments — I think I’ll give that a try. Sounds like a faster, less memory-intensive way to load MS Money. Wouldn’t mind getting XP off my machine for good.
Brian
Hey just an FYI. I was doing the same thing (using Fusion and OEM XP). If you can afford it, do yourself a favor and get Parallels. It is FAAAR superior to Fusion (faster, less resource intensive, better experience). Are you still finding MS Money to be functional without the online updates?
Have to agree with this one. MS Money is still the best personal finance program around. I’ve got a house full of Mac’s but still run XP Pro in Parallel’s VM so I can keep using Money on my iMac. This works fine, updates and all but it still irritates me to have to update my anti-virus software, and deal with the system demands of real time scanning so I can post a couple of grocery bills….
Every now and again…I search the internet to see if there is a new solution out there (as I did today) and am confronted by the same wasteland. So I fire up the VM and go back to MS Money.
I see a new mac Quicken 2010 being offered on the quicken website. Any comments or knowledge what it might bring to the party??
Thanks for the information.
I think you should remove the link to “Why Windows Users Won’t Switch To The Mac”, or at least link directly to Walt Mossberg’s article instead of Tera Patricks’ rebuttal on mac360.com. The rebuttal is seriously misinformed and arrogant. Walt’s points are great though!
Here’s the link:
http://www.macobserver.com/article/2005/02/17.2.shtml
Hi there..
That’s the perfect explanation for every switcher.
I’ve been struggling to find a replacement for Money and there isn’t any single software that would get close the MSMoney.
The best application I’ve found is Money Manager Ex, from http://www.codelathe.com/mmex
Please have a look..
I do not have any demanding tasks, I just want to easily enter expenses by category, get reports throughout the year and balance my checking account. What would be the best choice?
Asking this From Nuno, writing earlier today:
“…The best application I’ve found is Money Manager Ex, from http://www.codelathe.com/mmex“.
Will it export to tax programs like Taxcut or Quicken? If not, that lets me out again.
I am still running MS Money on Parallels, but everything I’ve seen indicates I will be unable to continue after Dec. 31. Any ideas?
Al Koller
Hi Al,
I have no idea.. After some time struggling with it I decided that although it is free, GPL and pretty interesting, it just simply couldn’t replace MSMoney
Getting back to VirtualBox, Windows and MSMoney..
Has anyone tried MoneyWorks?
http://store.apple.com/us/product/TS700Z/A?fnode=NDY2NDA5Ng&mco=MTA4Nzk4NzI
Thank you!
Hiya, I’m the Mac package maintainer for Money Manager Ex. I also help out with writing new code where I can. I noticed that someone asked if MMEX could export to Taxcut or Quicken (Did you mean TurboTax?).
Quicken being a money management application, it can improt CSV and QIF. And MMEX has the ability to export both of these file types. So, yes MMEX can export to Quicken, if you like.
As for TurboTax, I don’t know what filetype it uses, but if it isn’t QIF or CSV, MMEX doesn’t do it yet.
At any rate, you might do more good to join a project and get the application that you want (eventually) rather than complaining that there isn’t anything available (doesn’t help anyone).
I have been seeing all the messages regarding MS ending support for MS Money. I think this does not affect me except no new versions will come out. It’s not like my software is going to delete itself right? or am I not getting what the impact of this means. Will Amex cease to export .mny files?
Enlighten me please.
I may be wrong, but in the June timeframe I saw an announcement that MS Money would cease support for Bill Pay. Since that’s the main reason I use that service, I may be out of luck come 1 January. I guess we’ll all see what happens soon enought.
So if I don’t use Bill Pay or any other online services, I just continue using my MS Money software and uploading transaction from my Cards as long as these continue to export in .mny format?
As far as I know, that’s correct. I received notice today that my account will stop supporting bill pay in 23 days. You can learn more at: http://www.microsoft.com/money/default.mspx.
Can’t tell you how thrilled I was to come across your website! I just about downloaded iBank…and then did a quick search for Quicken Essentials to compare. I love my Mac (just got it in December). I dislike my PC immensely and the only reason I have turned it on is for Quicken. So nice to know I’m on the right track. Just have to be patient with my very slow PC…and bring a book while it boots up! Thanks so much again for the timely info!
I wish I had come here first. I bought Quicken for MAC and it is hideous. So frustrating. I’ve had to keep my HP PC at home just to maintain my Money files because I don’t feel whole without it. I don’t feel so weird now that I know there are others like me. I know I can access all this information on the bank, credit card and retirement fund web pages but I like having it in one place and seeing my overall wealth (or lack of) in one spot. I just do. So I bought this stupid MAC laptop because everyone told me I should get a MAC and so I could have some portability because I work crazy hours and far from home and am in a long distance relationship to boot. I am lucky to get home once a week but I do it whether it is convenient or not so I can pay bills and enter info into MS Money. Sigh. I guess I can buy an PC laptop and start carrying two laptops everywhere I go. Should have waited for the IPAD and skilled the macbook pro completely. A $3,000 computer for looking at photos and posting on facebook. I am stupid.
Thank you for this post, it feels better not to be the only one with this problem. I have spent like quite some hours looking for something that can be a worthy replacement for my MS Money Small Business.
Question though. I personally don’t need features like bill pay, check printing, online transaction downloading etc. I just want something that:
- allows me to manage my transactions in all my accounts (manually, no need for electronic connections, MS Money doesn’t work for my banks now anyway);
- allows me to track my investments (can also enter the data manually, but it should be able to track buy/sell etc.);
- allows me to import my MS Money data with the least amount of hassle;
- feels like a native Mac app, otherwise I can just as well continue running MS Money in VMWare Fusion as I do now.
*Ideally* it would also allow me to create invoices and track them, but I could live with doing that in another program.
Anyone has a tip that will meet at least my basic requirements?
A freeware application called Mini$ is a good comprimise
I use Fortora Fresh Finance…not sure about invoices but it is pretty good. You can download a free trial!
Thanks for the March 2010 update, which I concur with 100%
While there are lots of good options for financial management software with very basic/simple features, there is still no suitable replacement with the more advanced features in MSMoney, (for Mac or PC)
I am still using Microsoft Money 2008 on my newish MacBook Pro using Parallels. It is the only reason I ever use Parallels these days and I would supremely love to find a financial software package for the Mac as good as MS Money.
Thanks Norm & Liz for the tips, I will check out your tips!
Wow, lots of people asking the same thing. Just for the record though, Microsoft quit developing MS Money for good. Not even Windows will have new versions.
I’m also looking for a good replacement for my Mac, and I wanted something that could run on Windows too (since I’m keeping my Windows desktop alongside my Macbook Pro).
iBank looked like the best alternative untill now (haven’t tested MoneyDance though), except for the problems importing OFXs from my bank — it doesn’t remove duplicates –, and MoneyWell comes second. Nothing comes close to MS Money though.
I’ve been using MS Money to organise my business accounts in the UK since 1989. I sync bank accounts , do all my invoicing and generate reports for my accountant.
Like so many here I use parrallels on my Mac Book Pro to keep it going.
Surely one of you coders out there could make a fortune from writing a clone for Mac and / or ipad. If MS have dumped Money they aren’t going to sue you for producing a clone are they ? And writing a clone can’t be as difficult as writing a new game for the iPhone can it ? There has to be serious Money in it ( forgive the pun ) doesn’t there ?
Hey Will (above comment)
I am a programmer (C#) and a long time MS-Money user (9 years) and have thought about creating a version for the Mac. The problem is, there is no money it doing so.
If I can get all my ducks in a row and create a killer app that works like MS-Money on the Mac, how many users are going to buy it and for how much? And then, all it takes is for Intuit to make one move that will make my market disappear. They came out with Quicken Essentials a couple of months back. It is not ideal but it comes close. Intuit is the big player right now. They have all the code. All they need is someone to step up to the plate and design a killer UI.
Personally, I have switched to using Quicken 2010 for Windows in Parallels VM for 9-10 months and have been reasonably satisfied.
Hi BC … Thanks for your reply to my post … Just tried Home Accontz and now more convinced than ever there is a need for someone to rewrite Money … I would pay hundreds of pounds for a fully supported Money clone that was able to sync with my uk bank accounts and produce reports for my accountant. There MUST be a Market for this software All the best Will
I just want to add to the chorus of people who want to see a Money clone for Mac. I now have my old XP sat next to my new Mac!! Pah, I thought I was moving on from the old clunking PC that is well past its sell by date. Can anyone explain how I can run Money on my Mac through … is it “boot camp”?
I can recommend VMWare Fusions, or Parallels (I only have experience with Fusions myself, not Parallels, but I know from trustworthy sources that the products are basically both good).
Both products allow you to run Windows in a virtual machine on your OS X machine, as opposed to Boot Camp, which forces you to boot into either OS X or Windows. With Fusions or Parallels, you just start Windows as if it were another application on your Mac.
Hope this helps.
Cheers,
Remco
The only thing I would add to that is make sure you have a powerful mac to do it with!
As I have 21″ iMac (2.4ghz that I expanded to 3GB RAM) that was new about 18 months ago and mine struggled to run windows with Fusion! It did it don’t get me wrong but because the windows operating system takes so much memory to run, my mac slowed down while running it and so the mac side wasn’t as sharp and nippy like it normally is.
I tried bootcamp too but as I had to reboot into windows its like windows running in such a beatiful machine and then you haven’t got your mac to use at all – sorry it just felt all wrong to me!
If I have to reboot from scratch I might as well wait the lengthy boot time on my old windows pc and still be able to use and be productive on my mac while its booting so yes I keep my old pc for 2 reasons – to run msmoney and talk to non mac friends via messenger as I’ve still not found a good enough video calling software that runs on my mac and talks to a old pc.
I have a mac book pro now too and that may do the job much better but I’m not going to even bother trying it. Others may have difference experiences but for me its a no-no.
Kieran
Here is my step by step to running MSMoney on my Mac:
Load a version of windows on your Mac ( most would recommend XP)
Load Parallels
Load MSMoney
Copy your most recent Money data file from your PC on to a USB flash drive
Start up Parallel
Start up Money
When Money asks for a file load you data file from your USB drive
In a couple of minutes you should see your MSMoney running on your Mac as it did on your PC with all your current data
I got my local Apple authorized dealer to do the first 3 steps, and did the rest myself.
Hey
Thanks for all your advice, it is really kind of you. I am going to give VMWare Fusions at try and I’ll let you know how I get on.
Cheers
Kieran
Each time I think of switching, I keep coming back to this article … and not finding anything better than Parallels running XP or 7 (but avoid Vista at all costs). I’m on Money 2006 and it’s a bit clunky but still works … and I paid for it …
I too have come back to this site several times over the past couple of years. Just want to add to the above discussion. iMac 27″ i5 running Parallels with Win 7 installed and MS Money 2007….. as good as it gets. I use this for three personal accounts and my wife’s business account. I plan to use this as a long term solution.
Geez. Wish I’d found this blog before buying Quicken Essentials 2010 for Mac. My wife and I have used the latest MS Money since it came out. We loved it. It’s got a perfect balance of transaction/reporting sophistication and ease of use with a relatively low learning curve. Quicken Essentials essentially blows. The file transfer and conversion doesn’t do any kind of mapping at all. I had just about come to grips with the prospect of spending weeks of spare time re-entering categories and transfers for 3 years of transactions before I found this post.
Whether you use Boot Camp, Parallels or Fusion, just use MS Money. It’s about the only thing MS has gotten right lately.
I have just bought a MacBook Pro two days ago and find it works as good as my son said .He has been using Macs for over 10 years he said to surch for an application for MS Money on a Mac I am glad that I found this page I has saved me hours of searching Looks like I will have to keep the old machine with XP and MS Money.
Come on APPLE help us lot out
I have Microsoft Money 2004 up and running on my Macbook Pro as of this afternoon. So excited! I tried Quicken for Mac, iBank and a few others but couldn’t make them work for me. After some failed attempts by downloading a few different virtual machine programs…I finally purchased and downloaded Parallels. They had it at the Apple store but I downloaded it and ordered the optional backup disk. I actually crashed my hard drive with one of the virtual machine programs I downloaded and with another I tried to load an upgrade program of XP instead of the full version. My machine hung up and I had to use the PC to go online to figure out how to fix it.
After loading Parallels, I loaded Windows 7 Professional (must be full version not an upgrade so I paid $299 on Amazon). Next I loaded Microsoft Money 2007 which I purchased because I thought it would work best with Windows 7. I didn’t like Money 2007 as well as Money 2004 so I uninstalled it and used the MS Works/Money 2004 program I had previously purchased to use on my PC that was running Windows XP.
Finally, I copied my money files from my PC and then wrote them onto the MAC. Now Money 2004 is up and working great. I just entered several transactions and all previous files, including archives, are intact. My recommendation is to buy Parallels. I still don’t understand the virtual machine idea and haven’t figured out which files are separate and which files are shared and where they are all stored BUT Parallels definitely lets you run Microsoft software and mostly likely other windows based software.
Well, after recently being notified by Well Fargo that all MS Money functionality with their services will end on 1/31/11 I’m taking the jump and moving to MoneyDance. Been running it in parallel with MS Money for a month now. I think it’ll be OK to use as a replacement. It was the only MAC software that had decent direct OFX functionality. The interface is relatively primitive. Personally I’d like to see the interface of iBank with the functionality of MoneyDance, that would be a pretty good package. I found Moneydance a bit fussy to set up with acct numbers and passwords, but once its set it works well….with banks that support direct ofx connection. Billpay through MoneyDance will not work with banks that use the Checkfree service for billpay, of which Wells Fargo is one. I’m waiting for my TDBank acct to be set up so I can try direct billpay and transaction download. So far direct connection downloads work really well with Scottrade and Wells. But, the ultimate test for me will be billpay with TDBank. I’m a forward budget planner so like to plug in payments for the next 90 days. This is where Money really shined…. MS Money RIP on 1/31/11
Just got my apple air and need to do something to replace my old MS money program ,,,,,any ideas guys ? and girls ,,,,I only use the check registry and yearly reports for my accountant.
Thank you so much. Just looking to convert to mac and have been using Money for 22 years. Grrrr
What todo? Ms money features are going away!
Thanks, while your rant is somewhat justified, we’re still left in the hole now that MS Money no longer updates. Swithing to Quicken cause I have no other choice.
I struggled with the same issues identified above. I tried several alternatives and nothing compared to Microsoft Money. Finally, I installed Parallels, Windows 7, and then Microsoft Money Sunset and am satisfied with the result. As of 1/31/11 no online services though.
I still can’t believe after all this time that there isn’t a good / suitable mac alternative – it’s total madness!!!
The mac app store has Moneywell as a staff favourite!
Money 3 in new and noteworthy
ibank and ifinance are also available – are all these still not up to the job???
I’m only asking in desparation as my windows machine is so slow and labourous to wake up just to add a transaction in that I keep leaving it and doing a qtr at a time but that’s not helpful for day to day stuff!!
ok i’m ready to try a new interface, I’m ready to be brave and sacrifice some money functions!! I tried ifinance and it was ok – i started entering some transactions and went ok but has no income tax report?? I tried the money 3 trial but will not launch and just comes up with an error??? I tried it about a year ago and that maybe why but I hoped they may have inproved it!
So is any of the mac finace software semi reasonable and does normal bank acounts, credit cards, savings etc and income tax reports please?
It may be time for mac users to just raise the white flag and accept Quicken for Windows as the only viable option. I really wanted to switch to a mac app but they are not even close.
Chase stopped supporting Money in Nov of 2010 so I had no choice but to bite the bullet and migrate from Microsoft Money to Quicken 2011 (windows of course).
The migration was a lot less painful than I thought it would be considering I had about 12 years worth of data but all is ok now. I guess I’m happy with Quicken but it is going to take a while to learn Quicken after using Microsoft Money for about 15 years.
I now run VMWare on my iMac and bootcamp on my MacBook Air and I don’t have to worry about the future of Quicken, I’m sure Intuit will keep it going for a little while longer.
sorry i saw this site only after purchasing Koku for my new iMac. Koku is just like all the other worthless personal finance sites for mac, imho. i will keep my pc running to access microsoft money program, which was such a fab help & so easy to use. in switching from pc to mac i find the mac so much more user-friendly in design that it blows me away they have yet to come up with an equivalent to the Money program. bummed i wasted money on koku (when i attempted to import financial info it popped up with a screen that said there was a problem and that i “may” need to pay an extra fee to the bank for this service). great — so with no way to import data except by paying yet more money all i have are blank pages!
The only thing I miss switching to Mac is Microsoft Money. I Am now using Jumsoft Money 3. When importing a file from my bank it does not separate out Credfits and debits. I had to download my statement then create a file for Deposits and another for Withdrawals and import each separately. The reports are absolute garbage without the ability to filter, manipulate and filter these as you can with Microsoft Money. Fortunately I still have this and and can access it with Parallels, which I will be doing for the next financial year. I can’t find an online solution that gets anywhere close either, althought Zoho is starting to develop something.
Got a MAC wont go Back……bought Quicken for MAC after waiting for 6 months………got it hated it ……….after all of the attempts to get it to work……….bought a PC Lap top……..with no bells and whistles……loaded quicken for PC and thats all I use it for.
I have been a long time user of MS money and have been using it in conjunction with YNAB Budget software it’s been really useful its much like Money it downloads from my bank and then I use it for the purpose that I wanted it for financial freedom.
My bank (Chase) has warned me that I’m not going to be able to use that format any more soon. I really will miss Money but do feel OK with the YNAB Software it’s a free trial, don’t know if it will pay bills that’s not what I use it for.
I just sent a e-mail to the developer and asked him if he could make it usable for our old back up file from Money, I’ll wait for a reply and then let it be known
I have been using Microsoft Money 2002 on XP since the start.I bought a Mac last year and it is great.Since then I have tried most application to substitute it but,alas no works in fact they are a bunch of crap.Fortunately I tried Jumsoft.IBank Fortura fresh and others on a free download basis but they were just awfull.Why can,t apple produce a money program?From the above comments they would surely make a fortune.My advice to any potential buyers of these useless programs-GIVE UP.
I just bought a new Mac- running Parallels and MS Money 2004. Program working fine – except
CANNOT get the file restored from USB flash drive to Mac. It keeps saying the password is incorrect. I have tested the password (on the old PC) and it is the right one. What am I doing wrong? Help? I really don’t want to start all over.
Also…(Sorry…new to Mac) Sort of off topic, but I need help.
speaking of Parallels…Do I need to install a windows anti-virus on it through parallels?
Then do I also need to buy an anti-virus for the Mac as well?
Finally… I cannot get excel on the office Mac to read my old windows excel files. Suggestions?
@Frustrated – I run MS Money with VMWare Fusion but I believe the solution is the same for your Money file. Copy the Money file from the USB to the Mac (in Mac Mode, not Parallels). Save the file into a folder that is shared with Parallels, so you can access it when you open Parallels. Then open the file with MS Money and it should work..
Regarding anti-virus, Yes – you definitely do need an anti-virus program running in Parallels. I used the Free Microsoft Security Essentials (http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/), and you do need a Mac anti-virus like MacKeeper (http://mackeeper.zeobit.com/), or MacScan (http://macscan.securemac.com/), or VirusBarrier, (http://www.intego.com/) – actually, this one is for Mac and Windows.
Re: Excel – upgrade to the 2011 (http://www.microsoft.com/mac) and again it should work. You can get a free trial, save the files as Mac Excel, then delete the trial if you don’t want it, although it is not expensive.
‘Hope this helps.
To add to my remarks of 2ndMarch 2011 I mentioned there are no apps.to substitute MS Money whatever virsion you have. I am presently using Jumsoft.Very pleasant looking reports but,they mean nothing.If you have investments only rely on your bank statements because Jumsoft can not update.By the way I am completely computer literate and have been for well over 20years.Jumsoft confuses me completely.In fact after composing this, away it goes into the trash never to be recovered/Message here is to use parallels which at the moment is your only hope.
My Money works well for me
I wish to add to my comments of March 4th 2011 (Joe).Do not get sucked into any of these apps.I have tried IBank,Money Dance,Money Well, Fortura Fresh.( God knows what FRESH means?) Everyone of these are useless and I am sure others are to. If you want to track your cash and Investments my advice to anyone of you is to track them on the back of an envelope, at least you will be accurate.There is NO app for Money on Macs.I you love your MS Money use Parallels or alternate.I only hope Jobs reads these comments or is he just sitting on his laurels by concentrating on his IPods etc.By the way I am no novice and have been literate for over 20 years.Do not spend your money
I’ve used Microsoft Money for some 12 years, and then I switched to Mac OS X on a Macbook Pro in January 2010 (because I couldn’t stand Windows any more). I bought Parallels, installed Vista and MS Money 2002 (never saw any need to upgrade from that version). I loaded the .mny file which I’ve been using constantly since 2002 (with annual archives), and I’ve never once had a problem, with Vista OR Money. Parallels is brilliant, my Mac slows down while Windows is booting but once it’s up and running the Mac acts as though Windows is just another app – no speed issues at all. I also use Parallels/Vista to run the update program for my Pogo Alert speed camera detector – again, no problems at all. Never had a BSOD under Parallels!
Money Dance four months on – as a ten year former MSM user, I have gotten used to Money Dance, actually prefer some of its functionality to that of MSM. It takes some getting used to, but it works well with online payment, downloading transactions into registers and reporting. Still needs some refinement, but I have found the customer support to be very prompt. Recommend giving it a try.
Thanks for the advice. I have a Pc and a mac and I was hoping that there was a way to find a compatible money program for the mac. Come on apple make an app for us mac users, lol.
I am not as experienced as most of you but I too have an old PC and a new macbook and I’m struggling with the same ms money problem. I saved some of your suggestions on a document and for my next visit to the apple store I will check for answers. I really, really want to eliminate using my PC-it’s so slow and freezes. I will keep checking back for any new suggestions to transfer my ms money records to my new mac!
Hi there. As per Microsoft’s website, MS Money is being discontinued. The following link (http://www.microsoft.com/money/faq.mspx) has all the explanation. Scroll to the bottom and find instructions on how to export your data to Excel and/or a QIF File. I’m a PC user looking to switch to a Mac so I need to cover all the bases. I have seen all the demos of iBank 4 which look pretty similar to MS Money. If someone does the export let us know the results.
Thanks!
I did buy iBank and the rep at the apple store did not recommend that I use parallels. This is what I did:
went to ms money on my PC and exported it as a QIF file
copied the file QIF onto my flash drive
put flash drive into my mac and imported the file
I think I had to also install my original ms windows XP into my mac.
I now have all my past data but in using iBank I have had to contact a rep via email for help since there are some differences. I would have preferred being able to talk to someone on the phone rather than wait for a response but gradually I have been able to work things out and get my problems solved. however, I’m not giving away my old PC yet-just in case!!!
Carole
I am a switcher, and have been running MSMoney on my iMac for the past 4 years using Windows XP and Parallels.
I have yet to see a suitable replacement for MSMoney, and envisage running in this mode for the foreseeable future
Anyone have any comments on the pros and cons of upgrading from XP to Windows 7?
I found the SSE Finance, when I read reviews about iBank. There is an extensive guide on their website, to Export from MS Money and import into SSE Finance. Now I’ve imported everything from MS Money into SSE Finance, and nearly all accounts is correct. Also investment accounts with multiple currencies.
So far I am impressed with the program. Now I just have corrected the accounts that are at fault and tried it a few weeks.
Just one addition: SSE Finance imported all general accounts properly. There were flaws in the investment accounts. Some transfers of interest and dividends out was positive rather than negative. After correct it in two investment accounts, all figures are correct. So far I can recommend SSE Finance.
Yes Brixen-I checked the user guide for iBank and have it saved on my computer and will check it for additional information. I’m not familiar with SSE Finance but iBank seems to be ok for me!
SEE Finance, not SSE.
I too have hated all of the Mac accounting software but recently when I tried to get into my MS Money Program to get my back information (6 years worth) it would not recognize my password. What do I do? I am happy to just keep using my old PC for accounting but don’t know what to do.
Susan – when you got the MSMoney sign in menu, enter your e-mail address and password, and check the box”I want to sign into Money, without access to all online services”, then sign in. Hopefully that works for you
Last posted an update in 2009 and thought I would revisit this thread as Jumsoft have Money4 on a free trial price until the end of July 2011 and have made it available at £13.49 on the App Store for a limited time before going back up to £25.
It seems from the various comments made in the last two years that continuing to run Parallels with Windows XP in order to keep doing my household accounts on my copy of Money 97 (yes, from 1997!) seems to be the thing to do. Ridiculous when you think that an old Windows 95 application is better than anything else around these days.
Personally, I found the trial of Money4 to be OK but it completely botched up the import of my Loose QIF files from Money 97 so they haven’t persuaded me to migrate across for now……
@ John: I’ve used SEE Finance in two months and it has already replaced MS Money with me. Since Microsoft stopped support on Money, I thought it was time to switch to something else. SEE Finance imported all my data almost correctly. There were some places where there lacked the corresponding cost for a resource, but after having edited it, I have not had any problems with SEE Finance. So I have finally switched.
@Brixen: Thanks, I’ll give that a try.
@John: You should read this before you switch:
http://www.scimonocesoftware.com/seefinance/switch/from_msmoney.html
@Brixen: Having similar problems with SEE Finance as David. The app will not even launch on my MBP. It crashes with a fatal error on launch every single time. iBank does appear to import my data better than Jumsoft’s Money4 though. Will play with them all again this weekend.
I know most people aren’t coming to read this post every day, so when I post an update I will add a comment. (That should send an email to anyone that’s left a comment and “subscribed” to the post.)
As of today, July 26, 2011, there is _still_ no decent alternative to MSMoney for the Mac. If you’re interested in simply tracking your bills, though, I found something good. Check the update at the top of this blog post.
I thought I really had a winner for my Mac.Two years ago I tried many, one of which was Jumsoft.I am no novice in navigating the PC even going back to DOS days.However I persevered with Jumsoft even trying to fool it.Then I get a request to update to Jumsoft 4.I took the free download which I was told all my info would be automatically downloaded.Well what happened?God knows, it shot into space somewhere. Do not be fooled into looking at their nice graphics unless you are a space scientist.Navigating Jumsoft is beyond comprehension.So now I will stay with parallels wich of course gives excellent results for my MS Money 2002.Be warned don,t go after an elephant with a BBGun.More satisfaction is gained by using the back of an envelope.
Moving to a Mac doesn’t mean ditching a windows app. BootCamp is an easy way to ditch a crummy dell or whatever, but continue using an app that your glued to. Consider that microsoft gave up on their financial management app, so holding on to that almost 5 year old app will become more challenging as OSes update beyond the ability of deprecated apps
SEE Financial, while it is still a work in progress, I think that it holds great promise for a full featured financial management app & it has a beautiful UI. I had no problems running the app or importing years of bank, credit card & investment data. Try reinstalling it & giving it another chance. At this point, you’re probably wont find ms money again, but many of the apps that you dismiss show promise
Finding myself in the midst of the Post PC era, iCompta has been the best iPhone app as it can download financial institution transactions, both direct ( OFX ) & CSV, rather than forcing me to enter every transaction by hand. While its investment account support is neo-natal, it is road mapped for an upcoming version
Cheers !
Just rather curious since I have read the about the multitude of people who are disgusted and frustrated, including me that no other program can compete with MSMoney (whatever version).Does Gates or Jobs ever see these cries from the wilderness?Obviously if they do they must feel there is no money in a sound application for a Mac. Just how many Mac users would pay $50 or more to have their needs met.I have no idea how much it costs to program such an application but,there surely is plenty of ground work been done.
I’ve had the same frustrations since converting from PC to Mac. I run a small home business so I need to keep tack of my cash flow and cheque account for tax purposes. Money for Mac is OK but its reporting is clunky and not customisable to the degree that I need. So I’ve been using Gnu Cash – a freebie – for the past financial year. It’s fairly good (nowhere near as robust or user-friendly as MSMoney) but has some weird glitches when trying to use the split transaction function (or maybe I just haven’t figured it out properly). Worked OK for reporting for my accountant this last financial year. It seems that there are no really comparable bookkeeping programs available for Macs. — A great disappointment!
iBank 4 is awesome. No idea what you are talking about.
Quicken for Mac sucks, that I agree.
I am a full time software developer. Pretty much in the same shoes as everyone else here. Used MS-Money since version 2000. Tried various Mac personal finance software but did not like anything. So I kept using Money in a VM. After it was sunset, I switched to Quicken in a VM. I am not too happy with it but it gets the job done (after retraining myself).
I would love to write a Money clone for Mac/OSX but I am just not sure how much money is in it. The market has a ton of software but nothing meets the needs of everyone. Some want budgeting, some don’t care. Online downloads, the same. Some only care about portfolios management. I am not even sure how much people would pay for a software like that when they have Mint.com available for free.
I bought a Neat scanner to help me organize my paper mess and also to save images of my receipts. The database produced by the Neat software may be uploaded to any financial software.
I am using MS Money 2007 on my old PC, but I recently bought a Mac and would like to move my financials there. My ideal scenario is to integrate my receipt scanning capabilities in the new software.
Please recommend a package that would save the image of the receipt within the transaction database. MS Money cannot do that and never will.
Thanks!!
Mike-I also have iBank 4 after switching from a PC to a Mac. To solve problems I always have to send an email and would much prefer talking on a phone to a live person since I still have some issues. Is there a way I could contact you?
Alex, I am currently using Moneywell – that has the facility to save an email reciept, pics, scan etc to each transaction – might be worth you checking it out.
Its reporting functions are pretty naff but at least for me it’s useable so that I know what money is where and what bills are coming up.
@Alex – SEE Finance can save an image in every transaction.
Hi @Tracey and @Brixen, Thanks for the tips!!
I have downloaded both Moneywell and SEE Finance and have been playing around with them. I was able to save the receipt images on the transactions as long as the images were small.
I find MoneyWell very innovative with their up front envelope budgeting. I am too disorganized with budgets so this feature would come in handy.
I felt more comfortable using SEE Finance probably due to my bias for MSMoney. It would need a few more features to match those found in MS Money, but I love the fact that you can store images.
On currency exchange rates both SEE Finance and Moneywell get the updates from the Internet, but SEE Finance allows me to place transactions between currencies with whatever rates per transaction, Moneywell does not allow it, and MSMoney usually makes a mess within transactions when exchange rates change (at lease in my experience).
I would love to have some of the features from Money 98 incorporated into some of these apps. Remember the nice sound effects? They were kind of cool.
I believe what would sell is a global expense tracking software that could perform OCR on your receipts. Entering transactions is a pain.
Cheers!!
has anyone tried ’1Biz’ or ‘Accounted’ ? for mac, they are listed in the Mac apps store…thanks
With Bootcamp, my iMac runs Win 7 and so I get to run MS Money on my Mac, no biggie. I think MS underestimated the loyalty of the user base for MS Money. MS Money is far and away the best personal financial money management program. MS said that with the advent of banks running their own free money management apps, MS Money is now redundant and thus discontinued. Really? Nothing I’ve seen from any bank gets close.
I’ve been using personal finance programs in the Macintosh system since 1985, when I bought a copy of Home Accountant Mac. Like many of you, I have had to change from one program to another. I didn’t like to switch, but sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and accept the loss of a feature or two.
I run a small business with Quicken 2007, and have had Zero problems with same. I print checks, but do not use the program for electronic banking. All reports run fine. And, accounts balance out just fine.
One thing is absolutely certain, though: Apple will never provide you with a bridge to help you out. Unlike Microsoft, Apple is no longer in the software business. System software, yes, but no application software at all. So, those looking for a Mac version of MS Money from Apple are in for a very long wait indeed.
Thank you so much for keeping this post alive. I read your recommendation for Chronicle but you said it wouldn’t work for balancing a checkbook. Is there anything that balances a checkbook and handles bill alerts? I don’t need to download banking or portfolio transactions and I don’t need the detail for business tracking. I just want a basic check register and bill reminder. Thank you!
For what it’s worth, totally agree with Glenn Peters. Haven’t found anything to replace MS Money since switching to Mac so run it in Bootcamp. It’s a bit annoying having to cross over every time I want to use it but it’s ok. Only problem is, I’m using an oldish version of MS Money and some of the reports don’t work any more and I’m worried it’s going to die on me. Don’t think any of the free bank apps come anywhere close to being a substitute for Money.
I refer to YO. Like him I am using an old version of MS Money and up till now we are still functioning.My version is MS 2002.Maybe it is because I clean it out regularly and do not keep years of info on it.If it dies I am sure many other people including me will die also.By the way I have tried six versions supposedly created for Macs but,as all know there is no substitute.
Yo & Joe. Are you aware Microsoft produced a Sunset version of MSMoney for free. It is designed for the american user but recognises other countries. Could be a replacement for your ageing money versions. You have to export data and re-import as it doesn’t recognise international versions of money. I do not know what it is like as I have just installed it to test it out
I have been using Money for donkeys years (around 10) and was in the same predicament as you all… Luckily, your VERY informative post and the comments saved me from trying various programs…
I have just explored an option… Xero… A cloud based bookkeeping package… We use the business version in our office and I thought I might as well give the personal version a shot… and I must say… Other than the fact that one would have to pay £24 a year… it is refreshingly delightful replacement for money… Allows you to track line items, pending bills, budgets… Interface is cool…
Visit https://www.xero.com/personal/ for more details.
PS… Upcoming bills can be setup using Plans and Reminders… and further categorisation of expenses can be using labels… Can’t find an option to import from Money though…
After reading these comments it has put paid to me buying a Mac – I’ve too much to lose if I can’t run M/S Money on one.
Good post. This has been a problem for me too. Wanted to add one more program not on your list.
HomeBank
http://homebank.free.fr/
It’s free and cross platform (Win/Mac/Linux). Nothing fancy but if you want to track accounts, do a monthly reconciliation and have some basic analysis tools and plots this will do it.
I also imported 10 years worth of MS Money 2004 transactions as QIF with no issues.
I was about to buy a Mac but not knowing if I’m going to be able to run Money I change my mind. Thanks for the wonderful inormation helped so much to make a decision. Mac should seriously think about this !