![](/uploads/1/2/5/5/125517674/361787025.jpeg)
Get Your Financial House in Order
Gone are the days when you could tell how much money you had by looking in your wallet or at your checkbook balance. These days, many people only carry debit and credit cards—no cash. You find your checking account balance or check stock prices by reaching for your smartphone.
Jun 20, 2018 - Get started with Personal Capital personal finance software. Sterling or anything, but it's slightly easier to put your financial trust in home-grown software. Made primarily for Mac users (but also out on Windows and Linux),.
But how easy is it to discover how much money you've spent on lattes, gas, or work clothes this month? Do you know what the car dealer is going to learn about your credit history when you go in to buy a new vehicle? If you're a self-employed worker, how fast can you find out whether you're on track with your income this month?
There are many websites that handle personal finance exceedingly well. We review five of the best here. Quicken, the granddaddy of all personal financial solutions, is now a hybrid solution. The software still resides on the desktop, but the 2018 and 2019 versions offer access to a website that contains Quicken's most often-used features and synchronizes its data with your own personal file. So, you can check in on your income, expenses, and investments on the go.
Critical Connections
Quicken's online companion app is the biggest recent news in the personal finance world. But all of the applications we reviewed have new features, and they share some common characteristics. Most of them support online connections to your financial institutions. That is, you can download cleared transactions and other account data from your banks, bank card providers, brokerages, and other financial institutions, and see all of it neatly displayed in registers in the applications. Typically, you only have to enter the credentials that you use to log into those financial sites, though you occasionally have to provide additional security information.
Once you've imported a batch of transactions, you can work with them in numerous ways. For example, they need to be categorized correctly as income (salary, freelance payment, and interest, for example) and expenses (food, mortgage, utilities, and so on). The personal finance sites guess at what an appropriate category might be, but you can always change it—and you can split transactions between different classifications. If you're conscientious about this, you'll see charts that tell you where you're spending your money. This information can also be helpful when tax preparation time rolls around.
Depending on which website you're using, you might be able to add tags to transactions. That way, you can search for those that are related in ways other than through their category assignments. You can add notes and attach files, too. If you bought something with cash, your bank wouldn't have a record of it. In those circumstances, you can create a transaction manually. CountAbout goes a step further, providing an additional set of tools that let you make recurring transactions (or flag them).
A Different Kind of Dashboard
Four of the five personal finance websites reviewed here have what's called a dashboard. It's basically each site's home page, or the first screen you see when you log in. Sometimes, the dashboard is the only screen you'll need to see, because it displays the information you most need when you're checking on your financial situation. You'll learn what all of your account balances are and perhaps any bills that are pending.
You'll see charts and graphs that tell you, for example, what your income is versus your spending, and how you're doing on your budget. You may be able to gauge your progress on any goals you've set and view your investment portfolio, with live prices if it's during the market day.
Basically, this overview shows you snippets of the detailed data that lies behind the numbers on this opening page. Click on a checking account balance in Mint, for example, and this link takes you to the account's register. Click on your credit score in Credit Karma, and you'll learn what contributes to it and how it's changed recently. So the dashboard on a personal finance website can either provide a quick look at your money situation or it can serve as a springboard to a deeper study of the numbers.
Budgets, Goals, and Bills
If you're a freelancer or sole proprietor, budgets can be challenging. You don't know for sure how much money you'll make in a given month like a W-2 employee does. Being conscientious about your finances includes trying to curb your spending so that it comes in below your income. Note: Freelancers and sole proprietors might find that a small business accounting website is a better fit.
The mechanics of creating a workable budget are much easier than the process of specifying your limits. Mint, for example, treats each category as a budget. You select one, choose a frequency for it (every month, etc.), and enter an amount. The site shows you how well you're adhering to each budget by displaying a series of colored horizontal bars that show where your spending is currently compared with your budgeted amount. Green means you're doing OK, and red means you've gone over your self-imposed limit. You can tweak each budget as you learn more about your spending habits by clicking up and down arrows.
Other applications, like Quicken, consider a budget to be a comprehensive table that contains all categories. The software also lets you view your budgets by a variety of time periods (monthly, annually, and so on).
Setting goals, like trying to establish an emergency fund, isn't rocket science. You specify the amount you're trying to save and your target date for achieving it, and the application tells you how much you have to save every month to achieve it. NerdWallet, for example, lets you link your goals to the appropriate spending account so your progress is automatically tracked. Quicken Deluxe includes additional planning tools that help you accelerate debt reduction, plan for taxes, and establish a comprehensive lifetime financial plan.
None of the sites we reviewed offer bill-paying tools, but some let you at least record bills and bill payments, because those can figure into your personal finance picture so significantly. Mint is especially good at this. You can set up a connection to online billers or enter offline bills automatically. The site alerts you when they're due to be paid and lets you record payments manually if they don't get downloaded as cleared transactions from your bank.
An Important Number
An excellent credit score is gold. Beyond helping you get approved for a credit card, mortgage, car loan, etc., it often helps minimize the interest rate you'll pay. So it's important to know not only what it is at any given time, but also to understand how it gets calculated and what you can do to improve it.
Credit Karma and NerdWallet, both free websites, can meet all of these critical needs. Credit Karma is especially comprehensive and efficient here. It pulls your score regularly from two of the three major bureaus, and gives you access to your credit reports.
One of the ways you can improve your credit score is to use financial products—credit cards, mortgages—that have attractive interest rates and other benefits, making it easier for you to pay off debt as quickly as possible. The three free websites we reviewed (Mint, Credit Karma, and NerdWallet) help pay for the services they provide by displaying ads for products that might appeal to you based on your credit profile. You can also browse marketplaces for additional candidates.
Of course, frequently cancelling credit cards to get new, different ones can affect your credit score. Still, it's good to learn about these suggested products so that when the time comes, you'll know what the best options are.
Other Considerations
You may only want to use a personal finance site for day-to-day income- and expense-management, budgeting, and goal setting. But financial sites like Quicken and Mint let you track all of your assets, including homes, vehicles, and investment holdings. If you keep your financial data updated, the applications keep a running tally that, when combined with your debt, give you your total net worth.
You probably don't need advanced tools when you're away from your computer or laptop. But when you're out spending money, it's good to know how much you have. All of the solutions we reviewed offer both Android apps and iOS apps. They don't have all of the features found on the browser-based or software versions, but you can at least check your account balances, view and add transactions, and see graphs illustrating numbers related to things like spending and cash flow. You may also be able to get your credit score and check the status of pending bills.
Are all of the applications reviewed easy to use? The short answer is yes. Credit Karma and Mint are the most user-friendly, incorporating state-of-the-art interfaces with can't-miss navigation tools. NerdWallet tries to blend editorial content on personal finance with credit score and limited income/expense-tracking tools; these dual purposes make the site somewhat confusing until you understand how the two co-exist. CountAbout is certainly easy enough to use, but its user interface looks outdated. And because Quicken has been around for so long and offers so much, its user experience is a little uneven. This blending of old and new content can be a little jarring when compared with a solution built from the ground up to live online.
Each of these personal finance solutions offers something the others don't. But their skill at delivering the tools consumers need, and the cost at which they offer them, varies widely. Mint has won our Editors' Choice before, and it does so again this time for free personal finance services. Quicken, on the other hand, wins the Editors' Choice for paid personal finance services. We'd absolutely send people first to Mint if they're considering online personal finance because of its usability, its thorough selection of tools, and the feedback it provides users who keep up their end of the bargain by visiting it regularly. And, of course, it's free.
If you're looking to keep your life further organized, you can also check out our roundup of the best to-do list apps.
Best Personal Finance Services Featured in This Roundup:
Mint.com Review
MSRP: $0.00Pros: Free, fast, and easy. Highly automated. Simple budgeting tools. Alerts. Checks credit score. Good mobile support, including Apple Watch.Cons: Only supports US and Canadian accounts. Discontinued bill pay. Weak investing tools. No account reconciliation.Bottom Line: Mint is a free personal finance service that's in a class by itself. No rival provides such a comprehensive collection of tools if you want to track your spending and budgeting or want a comprehensive overview of your net worth.Read ReviewQuicken Deluxe Review
MSRP: $49.99Pros: Robust set of personal finance, planning, and investment tools. New companion site. Flexible transaction tracking. Useful reports and graphs. Excellent support options.Cons: Expensive. Inconsistent user experience. Electronic bill pay not available in all plans.Bottom Line: Quicken Deluxe contains more personal finance management tools than any competitor, but it's relatively expensive and many features aren't available in the mobile apps.Read ReviewCredit Karma Review
MSRP: $0.00Pros: Free. Excellent user experience. Explains rationale for credit scores and reports. Suggests solutions for problem areas. Pulls data from third-party services.Cons: Intrusive financial product recommendations. Only displays two credit scores. Can't change auto-logout setting.Bottom Line: Credit Karma offers credit scores and reports, along with recommendations for financial products. It does a good job of helping you understand your credit, though some may find the ads distracting.Read ReviewNerdWallet Review
MSRP: $0.00Pros: Tracks income and expenses. Thorough handling of credit score issues. Includes useful editorial content. Strong financial product browsing and educational tools.Cons: Only five transaction categories. Confusing navigation. Only displays one credit score.Bottom Line: NerdWallet helps you understand and improve your credit score via numerous useful tools. Still, the service would be more effective if it offered a better organized user experience.Read ReviewCountAbout Review
MSRP: $9.99Pros: Imports Mint and Quicken data. Thorough budget. Good transaction tracking. Customizable categories and tags. Exceptional recurring transaction options.Cons: Dated user interface. No dashboard. Unwieldy category list. Limited mobile apps.Bottom Line: If you need a reasonably priced personal finance service that doesn't have tons of adds, CountAbout is a decent alternative to Mint and Quicken. It has a dated interface and limited mobile apps, however.Read Review
Personal finance software can help you to manage your money flow in a better way. Money management is the most critical task in both personal and business life. For helping the business owners and personal finance management, there are many finance software is available for Mac.
The budgeting apps are smart enough to send notifications to any unusual bank and credit card activity in real time. In addition to this, these finance managing software tools can notify you of any interest charged on credit cards and bank accounts. There are free personal finance software apps and premium budget software for finance management. Free budgeting software is also good enough to record and summarize your cash flow and help to manage your personal or business budget in every month.
Here is a list of best personal finance software for Mac to get the centralization and overview of spending habits.
Banktivity 5
Banktivity formerly known as iBank 5, is one of the best personal finance software for mac in Apple Store. YBanktivity finance management software is the best choice for those who want to track transactions and manage the personal finance, that is better than simple accounting software.
This Mac budget software can connect more banks and credit card accounts than other free software. The Banktivity Mac app can get enhanced investment support for bonds and offers dismissal of similar transactions from the bank data downloads. You can acknowledge your mistakes by comparing the past, current or projected projects.
Related: These iPhone Apps will Earn Money back While You Shopping.
Through Banktivity cloud sync, you can sync your banktivity files on more than one device for free to get access to them whenever you want to. The app effortless manages your transactions, allowing control over the budgets, stock portfolios, etc.
Download: Mac $64.99 | iPad $19.99
2. MoneyWiz 2 – Personal Finance
MoneyWiz 2 allows you to efficiently control all your financial transactions, making this budget software a top choice among all the personal finance software for Mac. This finance software allows you to import the data from other apps and ensures a smooth run due to its sleek and sturdy interface.
MoneyWiz automatically monitors your financial transactions and assigns them in the needed budgets and build custom reports based what you acknowledge regarding your money. MoneyWiz 2 budget software is there to assist in online banking, downloading all your transactions and you can use any file on it from CSV, QIF, OFX, QFX to MT940 file.
Related: A Complete Guide to Transfer Money Online with Email for Free
Make your transaction entry to be fast with the software. The finance software is helpful in budget tracking and protects your data with a PIN which can be set for a particular time period. The PIN will auto-erase on 10 wrong attempts for maximum security and comfort.
Download: Mac $24.99 | iPad $4.99
3. Debit & Credit – Personal Finance Manager
Looking for a personal finance software, that offers convenience and at the same time has the needed features, then Debit & Credit software is the right choice for you. With this budget software, you can easily reconcile your accounts with the bank statements for eliminating any disparities and getting the extra help to keep the accounts in shape.
Create a new transaction in a matter of seconds and save the locations of the places where you go often, helping you to record the expenses easily. Get clean and crisp reports along with Split categories, pending transactions, transaction export, file attachments (with sync), transaction tags. Debit & Credit Mac software comes in eight color themes available for selection in the settings of the software allowing you to customize your experience.
Related: 3 Free Smartphone Budgeting Apps to Monitor Finance Transactions & Alert
Download: Mac Free | iPad Free
4. Moneydance 2015
Moneydance is one of the best personal finance software for Mac handling multiple currencies and doing any financial task virtually with ease. This Mac Budget Software has more reporting options than the majority of other software inherits; giving you centralized access to all the data related to your financial transactions.
Follow your investments and focus more on your portfolio through the software. Never miss a payment by scheduling for single or recurring transactions. Send online payments quickly and attach images, PDFs, and other such files to transactions. It learns how to categorize the downloaded transactions automatically. Create and control your budget like a breeze also ensures the inflow as well as the outflow of money through Moneydance.
Download: Mac $49.99
5. Ms Finance
Standing out from the crowd, Ms Finance is there to solve all the troubles encountered with the previous personal finance software. The app makes the tracking and paying off bills convenient by bringing them at a single place.
It handles multiple accounts with the support for the transfers between same currency accounts. Create custom reports to show any financial data virtually through the report assistant. Forecast your financial requirements for the future through Ms Finance. Get accurate statements regarding the balances of your account to get the needed help. The developers of the software have tried to make the design and user interface to be intrusive and simple as possible to allow the user to access the features easily.
![Software Software](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61SYiWKp7FL.jpg)
Download: Mac $14.99
6. Quicken 2
Quicken is well known for financial management and offer iPad and Mac software. This Finance Management Software can import all your bank transactions safely & automatically. This excellent software can automatically categorize your spending. The additional features like portfolio performance, make informed buy/sell decisions and find funds that fit your goals are nice features to make this one of the best finance software.
Quicken automatically generates bill reminders and pay your bills with Quicken Bill Pay and offer investment tracking, offline use & enhanced search
Download: Mac $74.99 | iPad Free
7. iFinance 4
iFinance is a personal finance software inheriting some great features, making it worth a try. You can easily compare your investments to the rest of the market. It is a good program that can easily handle the transactions of varying forms.
![Home finance software for mac australia Home finance software for mac australia](/uploads/1/2/5/5/125517674/676140616.png)
The Mac finance software analyzes your finances and maintains its records through Cloud Sync or Wi-Fi. It gives the users easy to customize charts as well as reports; iFinance 4 clearly arranges the transaction lists of all your financial resources, group different types of expenses.
Download: Mac $29.99
Know how the assets perform with the reports made by the tool. iFinance offers the user a broad range of easy to customize charts and reports giving you the precise reports on the source of money and the spending without any trouble.
Best financial software must have the capability to securely connect all your bank accounts and credit cards in one place. This software can track your income and expense in real-time and advice to manage the budget and invest the money in diverse ways in the coming future. In addition to this, these financial software tools summarize all your monthly expenses and automatically set budget for each category to limit your spending.
Related: This is How You Can Convert Your TV to Smart TV Under $99 Budget
Through with these personal finance software for Mac, you can track your expenses and the balances of your account for the best management of money and credit cards. With efficient management of money, you can get early warnings regarding the upcoming financial fines, interest payments, and bills.
![](/uploads/1/2/5/5/125517674/361787025.jpeg)