Thursday, July 28, 2011

iBank: Quicken substitute?

I have been using Quicken Essentials for a week, and am not happy with it. So I am giving Iggsoftware's iBank a try. Even though I upgraded to Lion, I saved a copy of my Snow Leopard system on an external drive. I booted into that and exported my Quicken data which was easily converted by iBank. I have also downloaded the iBank iPhone app, and have synced it with my Mac. 

Now, I was in no way a power Quicken user. My needs are basic. I have a personal checking, two business checking , and a savings account. I use categories for tax reporting, and don't keep track of my credit card accounts, since, yes I pay my balances off every month. 

So give me about a week, and I'll let you know what I think.

Just FYI, here's the blurb from IGGSOFTWARE:

iBank 4 delivers a new standard for intuitive, full-featured personal finance software. Monitor account balances at a glance, track your investments, maintain budgets, and manage your credit cards, savings, checking and loans — all in an easy, powerful, familiar Mac interface.

Set up in a snap.

iBank's setup assistant gets you up and running in no time. Import data from Quicken for Mac or PC, Microsoft Money, and other financial programs with minimal effort, or start with a clean slate in minutes. [screenshot]

Track all your finances in one place.

iBank includes tools for keeping tabs on all of your real-world financial accounts: checking and savings, cash and credit cards, investment and retirement accounts, even mortgages and loans. [screenshot | tutorial video]

Update your records with ease.

Many banks offer direct download for one-click updates; for the rest, iBank includes an integrated browser that you can use to import data straight from your bank's website. iBank helps you to clean up the new transactions and remove duplicates automatically. Manually record and edit transactions as needed. [screenshot]

Categorize everything.

Set up category hierarchies, assign categories to all of your transactions, and split transactions for more detailed category tracking. Best of all, iBank learns how you categorize the transactions you download and assigns categories automatically when you update your accounts! [screenshot | tutorial video]

Generate powerful reports.

Create beautiful and detailed reports on your account balances, spending categories, investments, net worth and more with the click of a button. Click on any element of a report to drill down and view more detailed information, then print exactly what you see onscreen. [screenshot | tutorial video]

Plan your budget with envelopes.

Due to popular demand, iBank now supports the envelope method of budget tracking. Plan your upcoming expenses, then save cash in envelopes until payments are due. Carry over savings from month to month, and move cash between envelopes when necessary. [screenshot | tutorial video]

Sync data with your iPhone.

With iBank Mobile for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, you can keep your account balances and transaction history synchronized between your Mac and mobile devices with the click of a button. Transfer data over a local wireless network, remotely via MobileMe, or using your own WebDAV server. [screenshot | tutorial video]

Track investments with ease.

iBank's powerful investment management features let you record the shares you buy and sell, track the prices of your securities over time, and analyze the performance of your portfolio with reports tailored specifically for investors. [screenshot | tutorial video]

Reconcile with paper statements.

For those of us who prefer to keep tabs on what the banks do with our money, iBank provides convenient statement reconciliation features. Each month when a paper statement arrives from the bank, create a virtual statement in iBank, check off the transactions that match up, and make any adjustments necessary to keep your accounts properly balanced. [screenshot | tutorial video]

Go global.

Just like your Mac, iBank works worldwide. With multi-currency support, you can set a default currency for any account, download exchange rates and calculate transfers between accounts automatically. iBank supports localization for British English, and now includes full French language support as well.

Take control of your financial life.

iBank includes a host of other features to help you keep control over where your money goes. Use scheduled transactions to track recurring expenses, and post them to your iCal calendar. Attach receipts, statements, pictures, or any other files to your transactions for better record-keeping. Maintain accounts in multiple currencies and perform currency conversions with a minimum of hassle. [screenshot]

Discover more great features.

You'll uncover lots more capabilities in iBank, including robust data export (to programs such as TurboTax), custom check printing, and password protection for your iBank documents. You'll also find a great community of active users at the IGG forums, and if you need us, an enthusiastic support team always willing to help.

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