My wife and I started using Moneydance for Mac back in 2006 when we got married. We installed the software on both of our computers and stored the database file on a shared folder in Dropbox.

In this way each of us can update the expenses and check the balance? independently. The software has proven to be über-reliable and robust in these four years. We have added more than eight accounts between current/savings/credit cards/investments and recorded thousands of transactions without Moneydance missing a beat.

There is also an iPhone Moneydance app that I’ve found very useful. The app is free and it is more of a companion to the desktop version of the software than a stand-alone application. I see this as an advantage rather than a limitation. I want the apps on my iPhone to be light, fast and stable. If I need to run some complex reports or analyze data I am more than happy to do it on my Mac, comfortably sitting at home with a cup of coffee.

What I need is an easy way to record expenses while I’m on the go. The best example was a couple of weeks ago when I went on holiday only with my iPhone and left my Mac at home.

The iPhone app and its desktop counterpart sync effortlessly via wifi if the two devices are on the same network. This is a proven solution used my many vendors and I find it a good solution.

According to the Moneydance blog the company is working on a version of the iPhone app with Dropbox sync. I can’t wait to see that in action!

To enable the sync over the air on the desktop application you need to install a Moneydance extension. This is easily done from the Extension menu.

After installing the app on the iPhone you need to pair the devices. When you first launch Moneydance app on the iPhone you will see a screen with a long pass key that you need to enter in Network Sync Settings —> Add Device on Moneydance for Mac/PC.

After you have done that the two devices start syncing (the first sync will simply copy your transactions from the desktop to the iPhone) and then you’re ready to go:

Entering a transaction is as easy as clicking on the ‘+’ sign on the upper right corner of the screen.

You can select the account for that transaction, date, description and the amount is easily entered using the numeric keypad. After that you just need to tap on Save.

When you click on an account you can see the list of transactions synced with the desktop.

A useful feature of the sync Moneydance desktop extension is the possibility to sync 30, 60, 90 or 365 days in the past.

The app settings are really simple. You have the option to add a passcode to access your data when you launch the app:

My conclusion is that this is one of the most useful apps that I own. It’s free, it’s stable, and it’s the perfect companion for a software that has proved to be close to perfect. Thanks Moneydance for writing this software and for constantly improving it.