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!
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.
There's a lot to like about this app. It is the closest replacement to Quicken that I have found. But its support could be better. I don't find the help page to be that useful. How about a search feature to quickly find what you're looking for? You have to email if you have a question and as others have noted, there hasn't been a real response for a few months. I'd also like to see a user forum/ user group. If we can't get help from the company maybe we could help each other.
Can anyone confirm SEE Finance v2 is actively being developed? I've tried contacting the developer and get no response. I've noticed the last update was almost a year ago. It seems like its really good software thou.
As "lliketrash" notes below, emails sent to the support email address receive an automatic reply (and have been for weeks). The app itself hasn't been updated since last July. I also note that no one from Scimonoce Software has posted to macupdate in 2 months.
Does anyone know what the status of the developer of this app is?
Many comments on this page are about the great customer support. Here's what I got: "Thank you for contacting SEE Finance Support. Unfortunately, due to circumstances outside of our control support is not available at this time. We ask that you review the documentation available on our Support page and to re-submit any remaining questions you have next week."
I'm evaluating switching from Q2017 (given the upcoming sunset in April) to See Finance 2. I've downloaded v2.1.6 in trial mode and See Finance 2 repeatedly crashes with an error when trying to import my QMTF file produced by Quicken. It pops the error window and asks "what were you doing" and sends it off (i assume) to scimonoce software. I'm following the export/import instructions provided by the See support site... Not a good start for the trial. I'm awaiting a response from scimonoce and hope to get this working (and will update my review at that time as well).
I have used Checkbook Pro, Moneydance and Quicken. After trying See Finance 2 it became apparent that I had found the best personal finance app. See Finance is extremely customizable and easy to use! The conversion from Moneydance was done without a problem in less than 5 minutes! I was astounded at how easy it was to use! I would advise anyone looking for a personal finance app to try See Finance 2! You'll fall in love with it!!!
I was looking for a replacement for Quicken which I had used since the early 90s on both mac and windows when I found See Finance 2. While not as "deep" as Quicken I find the program has more than enough capability to help us track all our credit, bank and asset and investment accounts. In operation the program is very polished, smooth, fast and seems to have few bugs or glitches. Although some things, like transfers, are handled differently than in Quicken it is not hard to learn the new methods. The overall feeling when using this app is very positive and confidence inspiring vs. the dated/antiquated feeling from today's Quicken. I've found the See Finance developer to be exceptionally responsive as well. For example: When we were working I handled all the financials. In retirement a major goal for us was to share the financials in case something happens to one of us. We wanted to keep the See Finance database on a UBS stick and sync it manually between our 2 iMacs rather than electronically due to the various issues when trying to electronically share data. We also wanted each person's usage of the system to be identical, but we had an issue getting bank downloads to work on both iMacs when moving the database back and forth. The developer helped us over a period of 2-3 weeks to get this working and it now works flawlessly. See Finance also backs up the database to each of our computers so we now feel we have a very secure data sharing and archiving method. Great program, great developer.
Highly recommended!
After many failed attempts to replace the wonderful but dated Quicken Mac 2007, I finally found the solution in SEE Finance. It does have a slight learning curve due to the ways that it differs from QM2007, but every alternative finance package does. I have to say that I am 100% satisfied with the features and reliability of the software. It does transaction tracking and investment account maintenance as well as QM2007 did. Also, this company is extremely friendly and responsive to user suggestions, which is the exact opposite of the Quicken experience. I have no affiliation with the company, other than being a satisfied customer. I give is my 100% endorsement.
Pros:
Allows saving file where you want.
Nice UI
QIF import works good.
Investment lookup works fine.
Cons:
Serious flaw when you open file it moves file to a new location/os drive and then sets the file privileges to what it wants, when done, it replaces your file with the messed up privileges file. Developer stated it was done to fix an issue, but this is very bad and potentially security issue! If you set privileges to allow others access, now they cannot access file.
Scheduled transactions not intuitive
if the developer updated the app to stop moving the file and changing the privileges I would buy it.
Thumps up! Started keeping my financial transactions/records with a computer program back in 1993. Had still been using Quicken (since back when Quicken was probably the Mac financial program available). While Quicken 2007 still works with Mojave (but with some minor annoyances), know its days are numbered as we transition closer to Catalina. Knew I needed to find a replacement. Had tried out iBank (now Banktivity) a number of years ago ... but it was a nightmare and after using it through 2 version upgrades, went back to Quicken 2007. Glad I decided to Try SEE Finance. It does everything I need to do and does it well. While a few things appear to be slightly more cumbersome to accomplish than with Quicken 2007 ... the reality could be that I just need more time to get the hang of the program. Overall, a great financial program for my needs and, over time, I doubt I will miss saying good-bye to Quicken. A+ for Scimonoce Software.
SEE Finance 2 is miles ahead of every other financial app for the Mac. It has a gorgeous interface which one may customize to the hilt. The features are elegant. SEE Finance 2 offers four different ways, all very simple, to reconcile accounts with the bank. While other financial apps around have clunky functionality, are overly-simplified, are plain ugly or, in one way or another, attempt to force you to stay with that app, SEE Finance 2 has no subscription to shut you down if you don't pay every year, no dysfunctional QIF file that puts out unusable export data (SEE Finance 2 provides thorough exporting of your data to other financial apps if you wish to share finances with your brother-in-law...) and no hassle for the fastest, most thorough technical support for this intuitive product. SEE Finance 2's single developer wears more hats and does a better job than any full development team at Quicken. And while Quicken is a better financial app for Mac since leaving Intuit behind, SEE Finance 2 is simply BETTER than Quicken... (I am not related to the developer or an employee of his company). I am just very impressed and recommend this SEE Finance 2 without reservation because it soars way above all the rest of the financial applications for the Mac in its thoughtful design, customization, full features, and its sheer elegant beauty. For instance, while by default, SEE Finance 2 comes with a compact formatting of transaction line items on its register, I could easily modify the line width between transactions and even the size and style of the font as desired.
Have been using See Finance (versions 1 and now 2) for three years. Truly the best finance package for the Mac available. (I have no relationship with Scimonoce Software - other than as a completely satisfied customer/user.)
Having tried all the others - and I mean all - this is the one for me. Version 2 takes a big leap forward in terms of interface. Its feature set is superb. The organization of the many, many features is intelligent and extremely user-friendly.
The support from Scimonoce is outstanding. And the program is 100% rock solid.
The versatility and flexibility - different ways of getting See Finance 2 to do what you want - are superb. Yet the many functions never interfere with your own particular workflow.
I'd recommend See Finance 2 without hesitation!
I’d been using Microsoft Money for Windows for almost 17 years, even porting it across to my Mac within VMWare Virtual Box. Sadly, that option has become unusable in recent months so I needed a proper finance app for my Mac. First of all, I tried trial versions of most apps out there about a year ago and eventually ended up buying Moneyspire 2018, then 2019. It was fine but, as a heavy user, I noticed a few bugs. When I reported them, initially, I got a reply (which didn’t actually help). Then, when I reported more bugs they decided to no longer reply to me. The last straw was about three weeks ago when I noticed an entire account had vanished from the app overnight. I reported that, too, but got no response. Time to move on. So, I tried Banktivity but was a bit put off by the price. I read the comments below on this page and tried SEE Finance version 2.08. I asked Technical Support about an issue and was pleased to find a full, helpful, response within about two hours. But, I still wasn’t completely sure about SEE Finance. So, I tried Moneyline. Absolutely dreadful. Deleted in 30 minutes. I then tried Moneydance. Unfortunately, its trial only allows 100 transactions, so I wasn’t able to try it out properly. I also tried YNAB but I didn’t like that. So, it was back to Banktivity. I then discovered the (to me, at least) rather odd way that it handled scheduled transactions, by requiring “reminders” to be set up beforehand. And, there was still that $69.99 price. I took one more look at SEE Finance last week and was pleased to see a big upgrade to version 2.12 which now had the ability to reconcile accounts. The more I played with this app, the more I realised it was exactly what I was looking for. And, at $39.99 it was much cheaper than Banktivity. I bought myself a copy of SEE Finance and am really glad that I did. I’ve spent several hours on it and it does everything that I would ever want. In fact, it has everything I used to have in Microsoft Money - and more!! Why, it even has access to Ugandan shillings in its currencies, which no other app provides (yes, I do need that currency for one of my accounts). I’m very pleased with it and can see myself using this app for years to come.
Version 2.1 adds a nice reconciliation mode that allows you to edit transactions (in the usual register window) while reconciling. There are a few small features I'd like to have, but by and large this is the best financial software I have used, and much nicer than 1.0 in the areas I care most about (adding and modifying transactions and reconciling statements). It is easy to add and modify transactions. The main screen gives a clear overview of the totals in all accounts. Mutual funds are handled well, with a running total of shares. I have found the software to be rock solid. Tech support is first class; when I have a question or feature request I usually get a useful answer quickly.
I'm disappointed that SEE Finance2 omits the ability to set a date range for a list of transaction, something that is easy to do in version 1. The Calendar view does not permit quick scanning or edits compared to the list view in Version 1. So for now I'm sticking to SEE Finance 1.
I've been using SEE Finance for nearly 10 years, having switched to it from Quicken when I made the leap from Windows to iOS. It has worked well for me! Now, I must leave a review and say that the few times I have needed customer support, it has been OUTSTANDING. This week, for instance, I needed help with migrating SEE Finance from my old MacBook Pro to a newer one. I'm not terribly tech savvy, but Patrick was patient, responsive (quick), thorough, clear and -- did I say, patient? With not too many difficulties, I now have SEE Finance running on my new MacBook. With so many software possibilities, and some of them only differentiated by small nuances, customer support is a deciding factor for me. In this category, SEE Finance cannot be matched.
I looked for a Quicken replacement for a long time. SEE Finance is the only app that worked the way I wanted it to right out of the box. Highly recommended.
Couldn’t be happier with this app and finally being able to ditch Quicken. I’m finding it to be very intuitive and discovering new options all the time. Not having to use the mouse is very refreshing compared to the number clicks needed to do routine tasks in Quicken and in the other apps I tried out before finding this one. I’m really liking the different status settings for transactions that let you view different balances for accounts such as the pending balance. Being able to flag transactions for review is a nice option too. I didn’t think I’d get much use out of the color coding options, but am using them more and finding them useful. The companion iPhone app is good for on the go and syncs great. Icing on the cake was having a question answered thoroughly and super fast from their tech support.
This app has a lot of promise and I want to try it out, but as stated on their webpage, it will not import Quicken 2015+ Mac investment transactions. This is a dealbreaker for me as I have hundreds of investment transactions and reentering them all manually is simply not feasible. Hopefully this is a feature that can be added and I will give this software another look when/if that happens.
Shame on them for requiring OS 10.12 or higher. I have been a long time user and have been promised an update for years. Since I cannot run OS 10.12 I am left in the dust!
Well, without guidance from the developers, here are some initial observations:
1. The interface is really much improved over version 1, and there's inline editing of transactions! 2. Documentation (only online) is minimal at this point (it isn't at all clear how to reconcile transactions, for example) 3. SEE Finance only offers direct connect to financial institutions (ofx)), which excludes many that use aggregators (of the type "Quicken Connect"), such as my credit union. 4. There are some notable bugs: clicking on "Overview" shows nothing, and there must be some considerable memory leaks since after doing very little, the app is using over 1.2 GB of real RAM.
All in all, this is a very appealing and promising app.
Some developers don't appreciate negative feedback on their products, and Scimonoce Software LLC is one of them. I just sent them an email message inquiring about new features in version 2, and this was the response:
"With all due respect, we have had 100+ email exchanges with you in the past and we simply cannot afford to take any additional time away from other current and potential customers. We hope that you can agree that both your time and ours can be spent better elsewhere."
I was taken aback, and looked in my email history to see whether this was true. It wasn't. It wasn't even close to 100 -- about 50. The most lengthy exchange consisted of 37 emails with them over a period of *three* months -- from February to May, in *2010*. That's right, over 7 years ago. My last email was sent to them on August 4, 2015, which I complained that version 1.0 was hardly different from the 0.9 version from a user's point of view.
Talk about holding a grudge! Is such a rude response justified? I'll let you be the judge.
Current users of SEE Finance 1 should wait to update to 2 until a version comes out that can import your old data. The company told me that is coming within a few weeks, and this is why SEE is not widely advertising version 2 yet.
I have been using See Finance for years but recently I have had problems with the backup file not being accessed. I have to 'find' the file every time I open the application. It is there and saves but the fluidity on opening has been lost. Still love the program but I am a bit dubious about updates now after years of no glitches.
Went into this when Intuit dumped QWin 2007 support and totally killed QuickBook (worse than just dropping support) for Canadians -- worried about my QMac 2007 becoming abandonware.
At the time, it was the *only* alternative that would successfully import my years of data.
I have since obtained QMac2017 and still use SEE. QMac is prettier, but has yet to be able to do loans/ amortization/ calculations. SEE has done that/ been there for quite some time.
QMac, even under the current spin-off/ reorganization still looks like fully paid *annually calendared* (instead of serious changes) updates. I've paid for a SEE update once.
Right now SEE is more capable. For me I can see (sorry 'bout the pun) the choice eventually becoming one of choosing between a small responsive developer or a bureaucracy ( with a questionable history) that mostly depends on users for tech support.
After either using (or downloading trial versions of) all the major Mac finance packages from Quicken in the '90s on, I do believe that SEE Finance is streets ahead of the competition.
It's robust, fully-featured and well documented. The developer is extremely responsive and helpful. And it has many of the hallmarks of a designer who has really thought long and hard about how their users will want the software to behave… little touches like the ability to 'transform' a transaction into a recurring one and build a transfer between two accounts in one go.
It's not cluttered; yet is very powerful. Well worth the money. This seems to be the one to go for!
I've never had a crash. Most questions I've had could have been solved by a more careful reading of the Help and preferences choices. When I've emailed the Developer, he has always' answered promptly. I initially wished for inline transaction editing, but after a little experience came to prefer the transaction edit window because of the larger fonts and extra space. I take off 1/2 star for inability to search on multiple criteria. Currently one can search transactions only on date and on one other criterion, such as payee, phrase in the memo field, type of transaction.
I was advised by a friend of mine to try this app as the most reliable, useful and comprehensive app for managing my money. Really, he said the truth about this soft. It was difficult at the beginning to understand how it works and what I need to do to make it serves me efficiently. But as soon as I get used to it, I feel myself more sure about all my accounts and payments. Thanks for developing such an advanced app.
I apologize for this rather brief review. I am coming originally from Quicken and then MoneyDance. When I found the beta version of SeeFinance I gave it a try. That was several years ago and since then it has been both rock solid and a pleasure to use. I cannot say that for Quicken and frankly, See Finance is much more pleasant to use than MoneyDance. Bottom line, I think, is that it's certainly worth a try. Finance programs are one of those types of applications that are very "personal" and what appeals to one person may not to another. Hence the free trial periods! For me it's the one.
I have to say, the more I use this program the more I find to like. I am busy reconciling accounts for taxes and realized how many keyboard short-cuts are available and how fast you can edit and enter data. In the reconcile pane, for instance, you can use command-a to select all and then hit space to check off all selected entries. (Or you can shift-click between entries or command-click to select/deselect individual entries, like in the Finder, and then hit the space bar to check off those selected.) In the normal transactions listing, you can select/deselect as mentioned and then control-click (or right-click) to make batch changes to all selected entries, such as changing categories, etc. These well thought out functions make quick and easy work out of updating or changing entries, such as correcting a bunch of entries to make them taxable events, etc. I remember struggling to make such sweeping changes to entries in Quicken previously. What a time saver SEE Finance has become! And one of the best things about it is that is is supremely stable (and fast!) It is one of the only applications I know of that has never "unexpectedly quit" or otherwise misbehaved--- I can't think of any other application that I can say that about. Scimonoce Software has done an outstanding job with this application.
