iBank 4

Yesterday I read many of the reviews here. Some of them are extensive and full of information, but it was difficult to decide just how good iBank is - the ratings are all over the place. I was having trouble with Quicken 2009 for Windows, so I decided to give iBank a try. I paid for 1-day delivery.iBank arrived a few hours ago and it is now repackaged and being sent back to Amazon. I realize that a 90-minute test is hardly extensive, but I had seen enough. iBank is probably fine for very simple finances, but it is at least one major release away from being a viable Quicken replacement. Here is what I experienced in an hour and a half of my hopes being squished:The import of my Quicken data went smoothly. I thought the UI of iBank was good, though not very configurable. Then I noticed that the balance for my primary checking account was off by several thousand dollars. That was because iBank had imported my transactions, but not the initial balance. No problem, I went to the top of the register and deposited that amount. But the balance was still off, so I started at the top and compared the balance after every transaction. The first problem I found was in a transaction where I had deposited $70 and split it into two accounts. iBank had added an additional transaction for $35 for one of those accounts. That created a bit of a conundrum, because deleting that transaction would affect the other account. I decided to add a new, dummy transaction to see how iBank handles splits, which I use extensively. I scrolled down to the bottom of the register and pressed the + sign to add a new transaction. (That's something about the UI that I don't like. There isn't a blank transaction immediately available, you have to do the + thing.)Anyway, I clicked on the plus and iBank asked if I wanted to save my transaction. Which one? I hadn't changed anything. I said no and I was back at the top of the register again. It was difficult to tell which transaction iBank was referring to, because just clicking on one is the same as being in entry mode. I clicked on another transaction and again was asked if I wanted to save the previous transaction. Nothing appeared to be amiss, so I said yes. Good. Then I scrolled back to the bottom of the register and clicked +. iBank entered a new transaction, but at the top of the register. So I scrolled up again and deleted that. Then I went back down again and clicked on the last transaction made, then clicked the +, and... WHEEEEE... back to the top.That was when I decided that, with all its flaws, Quicken is far superior to iBank. (I'd fixed the problem that had made me desperate, and it had turned out to be Parallels and not Quicken. In the meantime, I had [somewhat unexpectedly] received excellent support from Intuit.) The flaws that other reviews had mentioned were, I knew, still there. The lack of configurability of the UI was an annoyance. I was willing to go through all my accounts and add initial balances, but it seems like iBank should have figured that out in the import. I had very serious doubts that iBank would handle split transactions correctly - though I didn't get quite that far in my testing and it's entirely possible that it does.Although I decided to give up on iBank, I have a good idea for IGG Software. They did a reasonable job of handling the data import from Quicken, with the exception that I mentioned. There is no version of Quicken for Mac yet that is viable, and who knows if there ever will be. Quickbooks for Mac is very good, but converting from Quicken for Windows to Quickbooks for Mac is next to impossible. If IGG wrote a utility that did that, I bet there would be a lot of buyers.

Please note my updates below as they nullify some of what I've written below.This is a visually attractive program particularly if you use the option to assign colors to different categories. The check register is larger and easier to utilize than Quicken's. This is both good and bad as you don't see more than 12 transactions at any one time while reconciling which led to duplicate entries that are hard to see since there isn't a separate reconciliation window. You work in a window that looks almost identical to the register.Assigning categories takes a little longer than Quicken. I wish it had Quicken's two digit decimal substitution, but you must type the decimal when entering dollars and cents. I'd like to see Quicken's + - functions for changing the date and check number up and down; instead you must type each in which is time consuming. You must use the menu bar more often than Quicken as it doesn't have as many icon options though you can modify the tool bar. "POS" (point of sale) is the default entry instead of the check number which I find odd. I'll probably leave it at that and let it stand for EFT (electronic fund transfer) which Quicken uses. So far I haven't found a way to schedule transactions easily.I wanted to write this after using it the first time so a new buyer would get an idea of the "issues" that might crop up. I'm very pleased with the ease with which I have made the transition though one account didn't transfer. You do have to look around for features and hover the cursor over them, and you'll find some unidentified shortcuts that are available. I plan on writing an update in a few months. Perhaps the end of the year reports will be the most telling when I am preparing for taxes. I haven't begun to explore all that it can do, and I'm left with the feeling that it is cleaner though less sophisticated than my Quicken program.To say the least, the check register's display is confusing. It just took me 15' to get the "full register" back as it was last reconciled. Would someone out there please write a decent manual to accompany this program? It's certainly intuitive; it's all up to you to discover what works and how. 3 stars for now! There are so many Quicken features I miss that could have easily have been incorporated. There are far too many unnecessary keystrokes.UPDATE: I've lowered the rating to one star. I've just spent 3 hours getting it to reconcile. My wife double checked it and had the same problems. After so many years using Quicken, I find this tedious, unnecessarily time consuming and difficult to use. One other MAJOR failing is that you can accidentally record the same check number twice and it will accept it and not raise a flag like Quicken. This caused most of the reconciling problems. Combine that with a window that only allows you to see a dozen transactions and it's easy to enter a transaction twice particularly if the day you wrote the check is two weeks before when it was cashed. It just isn't worth all the additional effort. I have gone back to Quicken and will not update to Lion until I have to. I need Quicken too much. When I do, I'll do my business on an older iMac that I replaced with a newer model.UPDATE #2! I downloaded an update to this version hoping they might have resolved some problems. Nope. I reinstalled and transferred my Quicken data and it dumped parts of six different accounts randomly into my checking account giving me a balance in 7 figures! It's simply maddening.

Have used MS Money for over 15yrs including the Sunset version on my last pc upgrade. Upgrade to Mac forced change to a new finance app.I tried about five and IBank is by far the best of the bunch and can strongly recommend it. Particularly like icons and colour coding of transactions. Manual needs some additions but otherwise an excellent programme. DavidR

I moved from windows to Mac and had to give up Microsoft money which was brilliant to use. This is very American and not so easy to use. If there was better out there I would buy that and give up on this. It is ok if you persevere I now have the next version which is better than this

I have used Quicken on a PC for many years and have taken easily to IBank4. I like the easy visibility of the accounts. I did not find everything completely intuitive and wonder how a novice might get on with it.

Have used Quicken for a long time and think its great. iBank is good as a replacement for entering figures in accounts and keeping a check on spending but I find it lacking as far as budgeting is concerned. I am told that my comments to them will be considered when they look at updates and at the moment I am running both programmes side by side to gain experience and I am hoping Ibank will introduce the necessary improovements.

Purchased product have no issues, as good as quicken and can connect in UK to banks etc... Good purchase no issues, new product Perfect