It’s important to track our expenses. This will help in better management of how and where to spend based on the income or obligations we have. In many cases, an Excel sheet could do a lot of work. However, a personal accounting software (personal finance software) is more advanced for sophisticated reports and less errors of course.
A good software here is the one with most of the following:
- Easy to enter transactions: Predicting entry, available on multiple platforms (Synchronizing), …
- Affordable in terms of new purchase or upgrade. I hate applications that force me to upgrade every now and then.
- Fast responding…
- Good display and clear navigation.
- Provide classifications and reporting on multiple levels: Categories, Payees, Tags, Projects, …
- Good search capabilities and filtering.
- Good import and export plugins – to bring transactions from banks or from/to other applications.
- Ability to handle multiple currencies and exchange rates.
- Sharing options for view purposes or concurrent update of transactions.
Good Personal Accounting Software
SEE Finance link
Unfortunately, it’s on MacOS and iOS only. Except for this, I would tell this is the best one. Beautiful interface, seamless and fast. One-time purchase but you have to buy the new version if any – still affordable. Its iPhone app is not wow but does the job. The reports are enough for normal user; and if you have some accounting knowledge, you can customize them to provide all your accounting needs. It’s my current used app because I’m on MacOS.
Moneydance link
Available on most platforms. Its Android app isn’t that good. However, it’s my preferred one. I like that there is no need to upgrade. If needed, the company offers free upgrades often. The app uses Java and thus it’s very fast. It is one of the top apps in this field. Display (scaling) could be better though. With its latest updates, the app has better options for sharing data on different systems. Reports are good and somehow customizable. Last time I used, cashflow report needed some customizing to get the accurate numbers.
Quicken link
It’s for sure one of the top apps here. Last time I used it on Windows, the display was bad and slow with a lot of issues regarding video card. Their MacOS version is the opposite; beautiful, seamless, and fast. However, this Mac’s still lack many features from Windows’; mainly the multiple currencies full support. Furthermore, it’s more into US/Canada community and it’s subscription-based. It could synchronize better but I understand sharing data isn’t supported directly. The app is available on most platforms and reporting is where it shines the most.
I used the above applications for good amount of time and I believe you won’t go wrong with any. I haven’t tested investments/stocks portfolio nor online banking in any.
Software I partially tested
Cash Organizer
I used it when Chromebook was my only laptop. It’s mainly a cloud app but it’s available on many platforms. It’s simple comparing to others above but for sure it does most of the important things perfectly. This app was designed while sharing accounts is in mind. This didn’t work for me though.
Toshl Finance
It’s beautiful, simple, fast, and affordable. It’s convenient for simple use. Yet it’s mainly a cloud app, it’s available on multiple platforms. Importing QIF files was painful. I have concerns about exporting feature in case there is a need to leave the app. Tags can work as sub categories – not my preferred way. Reports are not as advance as in other apps.
Wallet (BudgetBakers)
It’s beautiful, simple, fast, and affordable. It’s convenient for simple use. Most functions are managed from mobile version. Web version is very limited. Categories are predefined. However, sub-categories can be changed. My concern is the multi-currency transactions. Last time I used, changing the currency rate is affecting the historical data. Import & Export data is limited too
There are many other famous applications (e.g., Mint, YNAB, …). I only compared the ones that I worked with or tested. YNAB, for example, won’t work for me as it doesn’t support multiple currencies in one budget…
Do you track your expenses or stick to budgets? What is the app you use?
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