SEE Finance

I exported QIF data from Banktivity 7 and it seemed to go well. Then I realized that Sell to Open and Buy to Close transactions did not record properly, and Return of Capital transactions were messed up to a point that transfers did not appear in the other account, requiring those to be re-entered and corrupt ones deleted. What an ordeal, not for the faint of heart, and I am. Then I realized investment transactions do not seem to have a way to specify lots, which due to ACB rules in Canada, I have always matched lots manually in Banktivity since no accounting software to date has offered an ‘Average Cost’ basis for calculating capital gains. Banktivity is more Canada-friendly for this and the (free for version 7 or lower) OFX downloads built-in to the app. I guess if I decide to use this I would never get accurate reporting of gains/losses on investments where there’s more than one lot in and out.

An excellent personal finance App on my iMac that I've been using for a couple of years and great to see the developer has updated it now to version 2.2.2

I wish the developer would let us know if he is working pn improvements to the iOS app and if so whether any updates will be released this year. It isVERY frustrating, after submitting feature requests, to be completely ignored.

I switched to SEE Finance a few years ago when my Moneydance app had a few hiccups. Generally I've been happy with SEE Finance but a few weeks ago I opened the app to find that 5 years data had disappeared - not only on my MacBookPro but on all the Time Machine backups and USB drives. I immediately reached out to SEE Finance support and Apple Support who were wonderful but could not solve the problem. After sending several urgent email support requests to SEE's Support Team, spelling out my problem in detail, I'm still waiting for a response - 4-5 weeks later!! I've stressed the urgency and even tried to telephone the company (from Australia) but could not get through. I'm gutted and disappointed and would hope that my comment is seen and I finally get a reply. So, it's a good product but their Support truly SUCKS big time. I even thought they had closed the business given the deafening silence from that end.

After the Quicken subscription hijacking I left for Banktivity 7 in early 2020 only to have Banktivity pull the same crap a few months later. Very disappointed. I have since bailed on Banktivity for SEE Finance 2 and I am very pleased with the software. Like all personal finance software some things are better and some things are worse but overall SEE Finance 2 is a solid product that maintains the one-time purchase pricing model. Compared to Banktivity, SEE does everything but I like the Banktivity reconciliation function better for its ability to easily go back and fix recon problems in prior periods without having to re-reconcile everything again. I also like the Banktivity investment reporting and drill down functions better. Other than that SEE does everything else as well as or better than Banktivity. When it comes to DC downloads my bank, credit card providers and investment accounts offer free DC support so they come right through with SEE Finance for no additional charge. SEE also offers multi-currency support, FX downloads and security price downloads for no extra charge. I should note that because my bank, card providers and broker offer free DC downloads they always worked with Banktivity for me as well with no additional subscription required. SEE works perfectly on my Big Sur installation Quicken has always been a compromise and in the 30 years I used it it regularly caused problems of one sort or another. Banktivity was a huge improvement, doing nearly everything the Quicken did but without crashes and mysterious errors that changed reconciled data in prior entires years back. SEE is a worthy competitor to both and more importantly offers a pricing model that doesn't disrespect its customers.

I moved from Banktivity to See Finance in December after the former moved to their "Subscription" pricing. See has everything that Banktivity does. It imports transactions perfectly. The move was flawless as See Finance reads OFX, CSV, Quicken files extremely well. Support has been very responsive. There was a problem with Vanguard and Fidelity but it was on their side with the download request., See informed me of the situation and it cleared up in a day or so. I do understand there was a period that support was very slow but it was due to medical issues. As others have said, it's a one time purchase. Excellent product.

Contrary to the experience of poster daashe on 2 Dec, I find that SEE runs quite normally on Big Sur. I was running it with Catalina, and when the Mac update came, my SEE switched without a hiccup. I hope daashe has discovered what the problem was. More generally I find (as I move from Banktivity7) that SEE is impressive in its clarity of user experience and overall efficiency. Also impressive is the effectiveness of using iCloud as the means to sync with iPhone/iPad. And I'd emphasize the desirability of a one-time purchase rather than the subscription--part of the reason I'm leaving Banktivity.

I've used SEE Finance 1 for years, with zero issues. In the past, their support email even answered questions. I recently updated my Mac to Big Sur... and now the app won't open. Which is terrible, because I cannot even export my data to another program, as I'm tempted to do. I've been putting off porting to their SEE 2, given that there are features I use on 1 that I would lose, but I guess that's my only shot at rescuing years of financial information, loans, investments, etc. I'm loathe to give them money, as they seem to be disappearing. Any suggestions for how I could see my SEE Finance data again, barring going back to Catalina?

After being gone for quite some time, the dev is back with an update. I had bought this version of SEE Finance when it was first released but didn't use it since it was missing some key features from the earlier version. However, since I updated to Big Sur and could no longer access my data with the older version, I had no choice but to migrate to the new one. It turned out not to be as bad as I expected. The promised feature parity is still not there, including loans and transaction rules, but the conversion went very well and I'm able to make daily use of the new version. It will take some getting used to and the lack of transaction filters means more steps, and I will also have to find another way to manage loans. However, I very much like being able to access my data with iOS devices and some of the usage has been streamlined. Looking at it as a new user and ignoring the missing features, this is still a worthy app and it appears that the dev is back again with his usual great support.

Patrick is back! I opened SEE Finance yesterday and was amazed to see an update (current version is now 2.2.0). And, later in the day I was again surprised to receive a personal email from Patrick responding to a support request. In the email, her wrote: "For reference, support was unavailable for SEE Finance for an extended period of time due to an unexpected major medical issue I had along with Covid related issues upending my daily life. Support is now available now that medical issue has been resolved." I am very happy that Patrick is Ok, and that SEE Finance is once again being updated and supported!

SEE Finance is back !

This application is no longer being supported! Since March (!!!) when Covid stay at home protocols were put in place nationally, SEE Finance support only responds: (October 23, 2020) . "Hello, Thank you for contacting SEE Finance Support. Unfortunately, due to circumstances outside of our control support is not available at this time. Until support is available once again, we ask that you refer to the documentation available on our Support page: https://scimonocesoftware.com/products/see-finance/support.html We apologize for this inconvenience and appreciate your understanding. Thanks, SEE Finance Support There has been zero support and referring only to FAQs is pretty slimy. After 8+ years of use and good support a real let down! Suggest looking for an alternative as they are for all intents and purposes out of business.

I was a Quicken Mac user from the early 1990's & updated regularly as the product was steadily improved thru the 2007 version. We all know the saga that followed, but I was happy with the 2007 version until it became unusable as operating systems & online security protocols left it behind. After much study (& procrastination) I finally switched to SEE Finance 2 & have been pleased overall. As others have noted, however, further product development & now product support have ceased to exist. Like others, I am concerned that something has happened to Patrick. I even tried reaching their "corporate headquarters" by phone, but it goes straight to voicemail. The program still works, but appears to be "dead in the water" at this point. Recently the program ceased to download updates from Vanguard. Interestingly, I have seen the same problem mentioned on sites for Quicken & Banktivity, so it does not appear to be unique to SEE Finance. Hopefully it is a Vanguard issue & will be fixed on their end, but there is a workaround for those who need one: Log on to Vanguard's website. Click on the "Accounts" tab & choose "Balances & Holdings." Then click on "download" in the upper right corner of the page. You can then download a file that, when opened, imports automatically into SEE Finance. Admittedly not as easy as the "Download all accounts" method, but much better than manual entry. Hope this helps someone! For now SEE remains perfectly usable for me, but I suspect that the day will come that I have to find yet another alternative. I hope that Patrick is okay & will be able to pick back up with support & development. If anyone has more info on his status I know many here would be interested!

I switched to SEE Finance version 1 when Quicken/Intuit decided not to support Intel Macs several years ago. It imported my large dataset with very few issues (fewer than its competitors), and it handled investment transactions the best. The transition to the current SEE Finance 2 took a while for me - it took a while for the update to behave as well with brokerage transactions, and I had lots of unflagged duplicate transactions when importing from online sources. Except for very minor glitches (the current program doesn't accurately calculate IRR on reinvested money or transferred holdings), it has worked very well for the last several years. The author has updated the software frequently over the years to resolve bugs or introduce new features. I came to this site when my Vanguard downloads stopped working last week (mid-September 2020), and I received a "SEE Finance Support Unavailable" e-mail from the author. Apparently, this has been the case for many others since Spring 2020. I know financial companies alter their download sites periodically, and a program like SEE Finance has to be able to keep up with those changes. Depending on a single individual to provide these updates may be proving to be a risky choice - financial software requires near-constant support that only a dedicated corporate team can provide. In summary, this is a superb financial management program, but from a tiny company that has gone silent to support requests since April. Caveat emptor.

I too am wondering what has happened to the developer. I have been using version 1 and was thinking i might upgrade to version 2. I have sent an email and got the automated reply. From reading all these posts it seems like it has been a long time now. If anyone finds out more about him would you please post. Im thiking I might have to find some a new software option. :(

I've been a SEE user since 2005 and have loved it. Patrick's always been really responsive to questions. Recently, the program developed a problem -- all the dates, in all the accounts and scheduled transactions, changed to one date! I emailed Patrick and got this: Unfortunately, due to circumstances outside of our control support is not available at this time. Until support is available once again, we ask that you refer to the documentation available on our Support page." So I share the concern that something has happened to him. I'm also wondering if anyone else has experienced something like this.

I would be wary of purchasing this app now, the app will not accept my registration details anymore and the developer does not respond to my emails, hopefully in trial mode I will be able to get all my data out and transferred to another app.

Hi there. I downloaded See Finance 2 and tried it for 30 days. I liked it a lot and thought that it would be a good replacement for Quicken 2016. However, many people pointed out that their emails have not been answered for quite some time. Is the company still in business? I'm afraid that the company goes under after I purchase the app. Is it safe to buy the app now? Thank you.

Same as jaynewmanchina, I’m using SEE Finance since 2012 and I’m fully satisfied. More than the quality of the software, I would say the Patrick’s responsiveness is first class. I had the opportunity to exchange with him about troubleshooting, bugs or advices and I got answers within 24-48 hours. Last message I got from Patrick was on March 9th answering to my demand on the date of the next update. Here is Patrick’s answer: “ There’s a planned minor update that is expected fairly soon”. After this, the blackout, so I share the jaynewmanchina’s feeling that “something serious has happened to him”.

I just want to pitch in for a minute regarding recent support issues. 1. I too have gotten the email that says they can't provide support right now due to circumstances out of their control. Given the timing, I have assumed it was due to a coronavirus-related issue, but I don't know. 2. I've been using SEE Finance for about 10 years. In that time I have needed tech support maybe 4-5 times for things I couldn't figure out, + once when I was trying to do something really arcane. Patrick invariably responded quickly and thoroughly and patiently. So the tech support has been fantastic for that 10 years. Therefore if he's not responding to requests now, it must be because something serious has happened - not to the software, but to him. So let's give him a break. Our needs can wait a few weeks.