Moneydance for iOS has been updated to version 1.5 to include the welcome Dropbox sync integration. The new version has been in beta for the past three months and finally it is now available from the iTunes Store.

This new version of is not that much different from the old one that I reviewed last year on this blog. The big change is in the setup screen that now shows a new option to sync your .md data file across your devices using Dropbox.

You can find detailed instructions on how to setup Dropbox sync by following the steps in this knowledge base article.

Up to now Moneydance users were able to sync the data on their iOS device with their Mac/PC via WiFi. That worked quite well but in order to make it work you had to be on the same LAN as your main computer. That meant that the iOS version of Moneydance was meant to be more of a companion to the real desktop version rather than an independent app.

The fact that now you can sync your accounts via Dropbox, means you free your iOS device from your laptop and finally update your finances across your devices from anywhere in the world.

A typical scenario is the way my wife and I use Moneydance:

• The Moneydance data file is stored on a shared Dropbox folder.
• Each of us has a copy of Moneydance installed on our respective Macs pointing to the data file on the shared Dropbox folder.
• I also have a third copy of Moneydance for PC installed on my work laptop that points to the same file.
• Whenever each of us updates Moneydance, the other person will be able to see the change.

With the old version of Moneydance if I updated Moneydance on my iPhone or iPad I had to wait to go home – and sync the iOS device with one of my laptops – before the new transactions became available to my wife’s computer.

With Dropbox integration this last step is not needed anymore. Every time I update Moneydance from my mobile device, the change is automatically applied to all Mac/PC thanks to Dropbox synchronisation.

The . I cannot recommend enough Moneydance. It’s the only software that I use in my private life that would somehow affect me if it disappeared tomorrow morning. My wife and I have been using it since 2006 adding a dozen accounts (current, savings, credit cards, pensions, etc.) with three different currencies and in six years it has never failed. Fantastic software.

The developers have pledged that this is only the beginning and that we should see more coming from them. Looking forward to it.