DarrenBarefoot.com

Used this ages ago http://www.gnucash.org/ runs on Macs which should suit you. Some assembly may be required.

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Thanks for the suggestions!

Robin: We’re spending six months in Malta, and indeed running the business remotely from here. So far so good in that regard.

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Why not use the spreadsheets on Google? Just code each line for each expense with a letter corresponding to a spending category, or revenue category, and then either do a value look up on another page, or sort on category.

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I use mvelopes http://www.mvelopes.com/ and I like it. It also uses the importing bank information methodology, which for me I love because I am lazy and if a system requires me to manually enter all my transactions or manually import OFX files, I know I’ll end up not doing it after a while.

With Mvelopes it downloads everything for me so all I need to do is categorize it and manually enter cash items.

One (possible) downside is its a completely Flash interface, but it works fine on my Powerbook.

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Anyone wonder why banks haven’t just built this into their online account management software? I mean how hard do they suck that they can’t address the key issue their customers are concerned with — managing their money flows?

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Jammer Reply:
February 24th, 2009 at 11:46 am

OurCashFlow.com (www.ourcashflow.com) has been selling thier Personal Finance Management and Small Business Finance Management solution to financial institutions. The RIA is based on Flash/Flex and touts thier auto-categorization and budgeting features. If you go to thier website you can request a free trial. There is a paid direct-to-consumer version coming to the web.

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I’ve tried a few things, but nothing beats the Google spreadsheet I set up for us. I’ve got it customized with just as much info as I need, and no more. I hate the import function on prefab software. While it has all the right values, I still have to manually configure it to sort into the appropriate categories, and I haven’t seen a program yet that effectively automates the process (why can’t I set up a rule that expenses with a certain dollar amount or with a certain vendor are automatically named and categorized? I hate having to edit each instance of a recurring payment!)

Anyway, I’m still unimpressed with the offerings out there. They overcomplicate a simple process.

And as James says, it’s ridiculous that banks don’t have an integrated system built into their websites for this.

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I’m currently using Mvelopes, which I like in theory, but the service has only actually worked with my bank for a total of maybe 3 weeks out of the 3 months I’ve been using it. Their tech people are supposed to be working on it, but right now, it does not download any transcations from my bank (although I checked in advance and my bank was on their supported banks list). They suggested I change banks (not an easy thing to do when you have all of your accounts set up already). They don’t know when they will be able to fix the problem. Anyway, I doubt I’d recommend the service unless you know someone else who has been able to use it with your bank. What about Yodlee? Does it do the same thing? I’m looking for something similar to Mvelopes - a web based system I can access from my Mac at home or PC at work and check on all my accounts at one time. I don’t have time to download transcations from all of my accounts so I need something that will talk to my bank & credit card companies to get all of the transactions. Has anyone tried Yodlee?

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Mint is strictly a U.S. company now - I looked for BMO and couldn’t find it - just a thought.

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Hi there,

I read about some Google Spreadsheet here. Would you publish this spreadsheet for others, too? Maybe it’s exactly what I am trying to set up at this very moment.

thx
moe.

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