Moneydance Review

By David Jones

Moneydance is a fantastic software for personal finance management! Its user experience is pretty impressive, too! This may be why Moneydance is often one of the preferred choices among people seeking an alternative to other money management software options.

In this Moneydance review, we will dive into everything you need to know about Moneydance. Hopefully, by the end of the Moneydance overview, we will have helped you be better informed on whether this is the right financial management tool for you and your financial needs.

Pros & Cons

Pros:

  • Very intuitive platform
  • Comprehensive suite of features
  • One-time fee
  • Able to support a wide range of currencies and institutions
  • Super secure

Cons:

  • Cluttered dashboard
  • Lack of web access
  • No customer support phone number

What Is Moneydance?

Moneydance is a personal finance software by The Infinite Kind. This software allows users to easily create budgets, monitor expenditures, watch for upcoming bills, and monitor multiple financial accounts within a centralized dashboard.

Its interface is modeled after a traditional ledger (unlike other financial apps like PocketSmith and Tiller), allowing users to manually input transactions or import data through OFX, QIF, or QFX files. It also allows for integration with the user’s financial accounts, offering the convenience of automatic updates.

Features of Moneydance

Moneydance packs a punch with its plethora of outstanding features. Though they do have steep competition like Playbook and Monarch, it is a much more user-friendly option that still offers a lot to its users. Here’s a breakdown of some of those significant features that make an impact:

  • Summary at a Glance: Get a snapshot of your financial landscape, encompassing bills, loans, net worth, and investment performance, all neatly consolidated on a single page.
  • Customized Reports/Graphs: Seamlessly craft various preset and personalized graphs catering to diverse needs, all made possible through a user-friendly interface.
  • Online Bill Payments: Enjoy the convenience of bill payments through Direct Connect.
  • Payment Reminders/Alerts: Steer clear of late fees and credit score setbacks with timely reminders for impending payments. Craft tailored reminders for impending payments, ensuring that missed payments become a thing of the past.
  • Budget Insights: Unearth the power of generating budget and investment reports, including insights into account balances, cash flow dynamics, income and expenses analysis, capital gains, and much more.
  • Simplified Investment Tracking: Demystify investment performance tracking, allowing you to survey your entire portfolio value, as well as individual investments and securities’ performance, whether it’s CDs, mutual funds, or other investment avenues.
  • Budget Crafting/Syncing: Keep your spending steady by harmonizing with numerous banks and financial institutions, automating the process of downloading transaction history and categorizing expenses.
  • Investment Insight: Tailor options, closely monitor share IDs for tax lot tracking, seamlessly compute cost basis and stock splits and remain up-to-date on investments through automated current price updates.
  • Moneydance Mobile App: Keep a watchful eye on your financial realm on the go. The app is accessible on both iOS and Android platforms.
  • Global Currency Handling: Seamlessly navigate multiple currencies, with automatic currency conversion enhancing record-keeping prowess.

How Does Moneydance Work?

Diving into Moneydance is a breeze, and while each person approaches their financial management uniquely, some universal steps provide a solid foundation.

  • Starting Point: First, make the call whether to begin from scratch or import data from another software.
  • Account Setup: Next, it is time to set up your accounts. While you’re at it, establish the Initial Balance (or Debt) for each account. This number should mirror the balance immediately preceding the date selected in the earlier step. Additionally, selecting the currency linked with each account is crucial, especially if it differs from your data file’s currency.
  • Category Configuration: Time to work on your Categories. Mosey over to Tools->Categories to fabricate, modify, or remove categories. Simplifying by getting rid of unused categories. Remember, you can always slot in new categories later on.
  • Online Banking Linkup: Set up those connections if online banking’s your thing. For some banks, you might need to enable Direct Connections to these bank accounts before hooking up with Moneydance. If your bank isn’t in the current support roster, reach out to Moneydance customer support and check if it will be available soon.
  • Craft Your Budget: There are multiple ways to track budget performance, whether through the Budget Bars on Moneydance’s homepage, the Budget sidebar report, various reports, or the Budget Status graph gracing the top of your Moneydance window.
  • Essential Extensions: Equip yourself with the necessary extensions. Some popular choices are the Quotes and Exchange Rates extension, ushering in stock prices and currency exchange rates, and the Moneydance Updater extension, which keeps you in the loop when a newer Moneydance version is up for grabs.
  • Transaction Entry Launch: Now, the exciting part—getting your transactions in order. Punch in your Paycheck, get acquainted with Keyboard Shortcuts for a smoother workflow, and you’re on the road to financial finesse.

Moneydance Pricing

Moneydance adopts a refreshingly simple approach to pricing with a one-time, flat fee of $49.99 for its license. This sets it apart from the crowd, steering clear of the annual subscription model prevalent in personal finance software. 

Worth noting, there’s no hustle for upselling or nudging you towards in-app purchases within the Moneydance ecosystem. For those teetering on the fence, uncertainty doesn’t have to loom large. Moneydance extends a reassuring 90-day money-back guarantee, putting your peace of mind front and center.

And hey, dipping your toes into the waters won’t cost you a thing – the first 100 transactions come free of charge, allowing you to dive into the software and test the waters before you decide to dive in fully. 

Moneydance Review – Final Thoughts

Moneydance is definitely a top-tier financial management software. It offers its users an impressive toolkit for a comprehensive overview of your finances. Beyond its seamless integration with numerous financial institutions, it excels in tasks like payment scheduling. If you’re seeking a solution that tackles bill payments and reminders while allowing you to set budgets up so you can reach your financial goals, Moneydance could be the right choice for you. Click here to sign up for Moneydance today.