Bottom Line
Quicken is one of the biggest names in the world of finance since it has been operational for a long time.
It may not be the best tool for beginners, but you can transform how you spend, save, borrow, and budget your income when you learn how to navigate and use it.
The Pros:
- Addition of Quicken Bill Pay for Mac users
- Improvement of investment and loan tracking tools
- Easy to use and navigate
- Optional bank synching
- Inbuilt debt reduction tools
- Automatically track your net worth
The Cons:
- It lacks a few features but still charges the same price as the Windows version
- Could use more mobile-friendly features
Sometime back, Quicken was the top personal finance software for most computer users.
However, the MAC version was somehow disappointing since it lacked some of the features found in the original Windows version.
Throughout the years, Quicken has tried to reduce the gap between the two versions. The latest Quicken for Mac 2021 is more significant than its predecessor in many ways.
Though it still lags a bit behind Quickens for Windows in terms of experience, Quickens for Mac is still a powerful software that can meet most of your financial management needs.
Let us look at some of its features, updates, and new additions that are a game-changer in the latest Quicken for Mac.
Expenses
Do you want to track your spendings? Quicken breaks down transactions into categories, but you can always recategorize them.
The Expense’s tab displays your spendings in different blocks, such as spendings only from specific accounts and periods from the drop-down menus at the top-left.
You can also link up your credit cards with the software to help keep track of your recurring expenses compared to your budget.
Financial Planning
Tax planning, budgeting, and long-term plan are some of the most tedious tasks most people struggle with.
Now:
If you like planning way ahead of time, Quicken has a budgeting tool that lets you schedule an annual budget.
In the budgeting section, you create a budget and continue adding more categories using the “Budget Actions” tab.
This feature also has a debt reduction calculator that helps you track your current debts and come up with a plan to pay them off.
The system projects the amount you need to pay towards your debts and the interest you will pay over time.
On the other hand:
The “Savings Goals” tab allows you to plan for a specific goal, such as buying a new car or saving for a vacation.
This section is ideal for mid-term and short goals, while the investment tracking option is meant for long-term goals such as retirement.
Bills And Income
If you are struggling to keep up with all your bills, Quicken has various budgeting options.
You can sync your account with all your carrier billers, such as AT&T and Verizon. Quicken syncs up your bills and displays them in calendar view.
If you have a salaried income, let the system know when you get paid and how much to help it project your account balances.
Some bill providers may not be available for syncing, but you can put in your bills manually and when it is due each month.
The best part?
These bills will appear on your calendar, and you will get a projected balance considering all of them.
Manually syncing up bills may seem tedious, but all it involves is ensuring you put them all in the system.
Once they are paid off, the system automatically marks them if you are synced to the biller. If not, you need to mark your cleared bills manually.
Recent Quicken For Mac Updates
Throughout the years, Quicken has made some significant improvements to try and bridge the gap between the Mac and Windows versions. They include:
Adopting a subscription-based payment method where users could buy them and, when well maintained, receive updates for access to the latest version.
The Quicken Bill Pay, 12-month budget feature, customizable reports, and a modern and friendly interface were additions that came later after its launch.
Cost Of Each Quicken For Mac Level
Quicken for Mac has three different levels compared to Quicken for Windows, which has four. You can choose between a one or two-year subscription that is billed annually.
Quicken has no free trial but instead a 30-day money-back guarantee. The three Quicken for Mac tiers to choose from include:
Starter Level
It is available on mobile, web, and desktop for automatic bill categorization and data transfer from other versions of Quicken.
This subscription allows you 1-month budgeting and tracking of expenses. It comes at a fee of $34.99 yearly.
Deluxe Level
Here, you access all the features in the starter level plus 12-month budgets. You can also track your principal, interest on loans, cost basis, and scheduled tax reports.
If you are an investor, you can customize existing investment portfolios and get a what-if analysis on your investment or retirement. The subscription fee for this level is $49.99 annually.
Premier Level
At the premier level, you can get everything in Deluxe level plus Quicken Bill Pay, an online bill-paying service at $74.99 per year.
The customer service support gives priority to all the Premier level subscribers.
System Requirements To Run Quicken For Mac
To successfully run Quicken for Mac, your computer needs to fulfill the following:
- Have the current (macOS Big Sur) or previous two versions of macOS
- A memory of 256 MB or greater
- A display of 1280800, 1366768, or higher
- Have a broadband internet connection
- Online access
What Quicken For Mac Still Lacks
Quicken for Mac is improving with every new version release. However, it still fails in some areas when compared to the Windows version.
The following are some essential features that are still lacking:
- Comparing buy and hold options
- Free credit score report
- Loan amortization
- Debt reduction plan
- Exporting data easily to Excel sheets
- Tracking your home market value
Quicken vs. You Need A Budget (YNAB)
Conclusion
Quicken for Mac is a good budget and financial management software with most of the necessary features.
Simply put:
It does most standard financial management procedures, including monitoring expenses, loans, and debts.
It may take you some time to get used to since it is robust but very efficient.
