Originating as an iOS app ($4.99, iPhone, iPad), MoneyWiz offers a beautiful way to manage personal finance. Previous to finding MoneyWiz, I used other personal finance apps, but they all lacked one key Apple-like ingredient, beauty. Looks alone will not make a personal finance app great, but it is the last piece of detail needed to seal a great app.
Design
MoneyWiz sets itself apart from the competition with it’s excellently crafted esthetics. Nice rounded edges and an interactive format bring all the right combinations together for a personal finance app. Moving away from the drab, spreadsheet approach to tracking money, MoneyWiz presents four separate number crunching categories that are just as powerful as they are visually pleasing. Accounts, Budgets, Schedules, and Reports each offer their own way to manage and understand how you bleed your dollar bills each month.
Function
Starting with the most important function first, MoneyWiz is available for iPad, iPhone, and OS X. To keep everything nice and tidy across all platforms, SilveryWiz offers their own cloud synching! I have been using all three versions for a while now and absolutely adore the ability to have everything synched across devices. Above all, the free cloud sync is the best reason to pick up MoneyWiz for every device. This keeps my wife and I on top of our monthly spending and will even send a push alert when a budget is reaching its end.
Initially, create an Account with a beginning balance. Like other finance apps, add entries to the list, both credits and debits, and MoneyWiz will keep everything updated. In the Account section, transactions are either listed as pending or complete, which is noted by red and green bookmark ribbons.
The entries can be categorized using stock categories or the user can create their own, including a customized icon to represent the expense or income. Additionally, an image, such as a receipt scan, can be attached to each line-item. To filter credits and debits, MoneyWiz provides sorting by date, amount, payee, or description and filtering by timeline, type, and pending status.
Creating a budget will track completed transactions (non-pending) by checking categorized purchases against the month’s (day’s or year’s) allotted amount. The categorized sections are designated by the debits and credits entered in the account section. The budget section will even monitor multiple account sections, in the event money is tracked separately.
To schedule reoccurring transactions, either transfers, incomes, or expenses, the Scheduled tab will help automate account items. The Scheduled options include Account designation, category tracking, a description, and payee accounting. Timeframes for the scheduled items can also be designated by days, months, or years and be executed on exact days.
Visualizing where all the money goes…or comes from, is made simple with the Reports tab. MoneyWiz offers the following graphical representations: net worth; trends; categories; forecast; account balance; budget balance; compare budgets; payees; and statistics. Of course, some of the categories are not useful unless the correct information is input for each income or expense.
Conclusion [rating: 4.5/5]
MoneyWiz ($24.99, App Store) is a complete personal finance solution that syncs across devices and looks great while doing it. It truly is the accounting app for Apple fans. The high level of functionality is perfect for even the power user, with the ability to import and export OFX, QFX, and QIF files. For a full list of functionality visit the SilverWiz site.
The app is exactly what I was looking for in a finance app, but double check their list if there is something specific you particularly want, especially considering the price. MoneyWiz does not offer a way to directly tap into a bank account like Mint; however, this is not a function I will ever desire – just do not want to give out my account number. All of the entries will be manual entries unless directly uploading a data file provided by your financial institution.
In my opinion, if you have been looking for a great solution for home finance and budget, do not waste time with the competition. If you currently user another application – it’s time to switch. While the total package for all your devices rings in at $34.97, it is money well spent!
Pros
- Sync across all platforms
- Detailed category tracking
- Split payments across multiple categories
- Detailed graphical reporting
- Notifications of payment dates
- Monitor pending payments
- See long list on developer site
Cons
- Price
- No user option to directly link with personal bank accounts
