Overview of mobile applications for personal financial accounting
For about ten years, I used the same mobile application for personal financial accounting (cash organizer), first on windows mobile, then on android. Some time ago I had enough complaints about him that I decided to explore alternatives. I decided to make the results in the form of an article, I hope that it will be useful to someone else.
People keep personal financial records for various purposes: pay loans, organize savings, cut expenses, plan payment and receipt dates if you have enough money to pay. My review of applications is not universal, I formulated criteria for comparing applications based on my own goals.
My goals:
Based on them, formed a set of criteria:
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I also looked at the possibility of working together with several devices, as well as the cost, although I didn’t include these factors in the selection criteria. I have not studied the tools for working with loans, since I do not use loans.
I selected applications for study through google play search, browsing the section “similar applications” in google play, recommending friends, searching for similar articles and reviews on the web. I read descriptions for all applications, if I didn’t see anything interesting there, I missed it, otherwise I added it to the list to study. The list, ratings and comments were provided in the memento database mobile app. As a result, there were 21 applications on the list. For all of them, I also checked availability on other platforms. But still primarily focused on the possibility of use on android.
Next, I installed each application on the phone in turn and went according to my list of criteria, checking the availability and quality of implementation of each item in the application. The first ten I checked in detail, put marks and wrote comments on each item. Since the detailed verification took a lot of time, then I began to first check the express method: first, I briefly went over the application's functionality and checked several key criteria. If I saw problems with them, I wrote a general comment on the application and deleted it. If there were no significant problems with them, then this application has already been tested completely.
I present a table with brief results below. The integral score is calculated as a simple average of the criteria and is given in the reference order. For correct selection, it is more correct to watch all criteria and indicators separately. For applications studied by the express method, I did not consider the integral estimate. I posted a more detailed table with estimates for all indicators on googlebox (export from the memento database).
Comments by criteria:
I decided to focus on the Expense Manager application (Expense Manager). If in the process of use I encounter any significant difficulties, I will watch the other three of the final list of favorites.
Based on the recommendations from the comments studied 10 more applications. Added them to the new table, see link
Another application worthy of being in the top: Handy money.
In the meantime, following the results of 1.5 months of use, Expense Manager has discovered quite a few bugs that prevent it from being fully used. So far, I have not looked for their solutions on the forums and have not written in support, I plan to do this soon. If they cannot be resolved, and if the new version of Money Wiz does not come out, then most likely I will migrate to Handy money.
Goals and selection criteria
People keep personal financial records for various purposes: pay loans, organize savings, cut expenses, plan payment and receipt dates if you have enough money to pay. My review of applications is not universal, I formulated criteria for comparing applications based on my own goals.
My goals:
- Quickly understand the amount of money in each account.
- Analyze and improve cost structure
- Quickly find information when and / or for how much I bought something in case of such questions
- Control debts
- Analyze long-term financial goals
- In the future, to implement additional ideas of personal automation: automatic purchases, price tracking, comparison of shops and services, etc.
Based on them, formed a set of criteria:
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- Accounting flexibility: hierarchy of cost categories, groups of accounts, multicurrency, projects, counterparties, regular payments
- Easy data entry: widgets, parsing sms, integration with banks, scanning of checks, automatic updating of exchange rates
- Reporting: designer, export, standard reports by category and expenditure dynamics, account balance
- Analytical tools: savings forecast, cost forecast
- Reminders of debt and regular payments
- Backup: local and cloud, schedule setting
I also looked at the possibility of working together with several devices, as well as the cost, although I didn’t include these factors in the selection criteria. I have not studied the tools for working with loans, since I do not use loans.
Application Learning Procedure
I selected applications for study through google play search, browsing the section “similar applications” in google play, recommending friends, searching for similar articles and reviews on the web. I read descriptions for all applications, if I didn’t see anything interesting there, I missed it, otherwise I added it to the list to study. The list, ratings and comments were provided in the memento database mobile app. As a result, there were 21 applications on the list. For all of them, I also checked availability on other platforms. But still primarily focused on the possibility of use on android.
Next, I installed each application on the phone in turn and went according to my list of criteria, checking the availability and quality of implementation of each item in the application. The first ten I checked in detail, put marks and wrote comments on each item. Since the detailed verification took a lot of time, then I began to first check the express method: first, I briefly went over the application's functionality and checked several key criteria. If I saw problems with them, I wrote a general comment on the application and deleted it. If there were no significant problems with them, then this application has already been tested completely.
Study results
I present a table with brief results below. The integral score is calculated as a simple average of the criteria and is given in the reference order. For correct selection, it is more correct to watch all criteria and indicators separately. For applications studied by the express method, I did not consider the integral estimate. I posted a more detailed table with estimates for all indicators on googlebox (export from the memento database).
| Title | Platforms | Integral rating (from 1 to 5) |
|---|---|---|
| CoinKeeper | Android, iOs, Web | 2 |
| Home budget | Android, iOs, Windows, Mac | 2.6 |
| Wallet | Android, iOs, Web | 2.8 |
| Monefy | Android, iOs, Windows | one |
| MoneyWiz 2 | Android, iOs, Windows, Mac | 3.8 |
| Easyfinance | Android, iOs, Web | 1.8 |
| Homemoney | Android, iOs, Web | 1.6 |
| FinPix | Android | 2.4 |
| Home Accounting | Android, iOs, Windows | - |
| Finance PM | Android, Web | - |
| Money manager | Android | - |
| Bluecoins | Android | - |
| ClevMoney | Android | 2.6 |
| Expense Manager | Android | 3.6 |
| Expense (iSaveMoney) | Android | - |
| Blitz budget | Android, Web | - |
| Smart checks | Android, iOs | - |
| Alzex finance | Android, iOs, Windows | - |
| Finance Monitor - Expenses and Incomes | Android, iOs | - |
| Cash Ogranizer Inesoft (my old app) | Android, iOs, Windows, Mac, Web | 2.2 |
| Cash Organizer Tritit (new version of the same application) | Android, iOs, Windows, Mac, Web | 2.4 |
Comments by criteria:
- In terms of accounting flexibility, cash organizer and Money Wiz 2 are in the first place. The rest contain various restrictions, but in some cases it is possible to work with them.
- In terms of convenience of entering data, I did not find the ideal option for myself, but Wallet, FinPix and Expense Manager (expense manager) approached closest to it. I especially want to mention the Wallet application, which contains a unique feature: automatic import of data from a csv file sent to a special mail. Allows you to make interesting settings using additional automation applications, such as Tasker. It lacks only a similar function that works locally.
- The quality and flexibility of reporting ideal applications: Money Wiz 2 and ClevMoney.
- From the point of view of analytical tools, the situation is rather sad. Most applications lack any tools that simplify forecasting. Even such, in my opinion, elementary function, as an indication of the interest rate on the deposit and the term with the automatic creation of a planned receipt, was found only in one application out of all. In total, only 4 applications have moved from the dead point in terms of analytics. The most interesting in this regard seemed to me the application Expense Manager (Expense Manager). Also interesting tools are in the application Money Wiz 2, but they are designed mainly for trading securities, and there is no accounting for the interest rate on the deposit (although the developers write in the forum that they plan to add in the future).
- I initially had a criterion of "control payments and amounts." I thought that I would find a tool to control the correctness of the accrual and receipt of various receipts: salaries (taking into account vacations and premiums), cashback, interest on deposits and other investments. But none of the applications had such tools. As a result, I reduced the requirements to reminders of regular payments and debts. In this regard, the applications of Wallet and Money Wiz 2 showed themselves the best.
- Implementation of the backup seemed to me everywhere not ideal, but it was best implemented in the Expense Manager (Expense Manager), ClevMoney and Home Budget applications.
My favorites
- Money Wiz 2. Very powerful thing, but there is no possibility of automatic import of transactions from SMS. If it were not for this, I would choose it. It is possible to connect to the bank directly and take transactions from there, but for this you need to tell the application your username and password from the Internet bank, but I don’t want to do that. However, import sms promise to add in the future. If added, I will probably switch to this application.
- Wallet Cool option to import data from csv. For all the other criteria, it looks good, but each has minor flaws.
- Expense Manager (Expense Manager). Under my needs seemed the most advanced application in terms of analytics. Many other functions are also implemented at a high level, although in some they are inferior to other applications.
- ClevMoney. Perspective application. Some functions are implemented very conveniently and at a very high level. But at the same time, a number of functions that are in many other applications are missing. If the developers continue to develop it, it has a chance to become the best.
Final choice
I decided to focus on the Expense Manager application (Expense Manager). If in the process of use I encounter any significant difficulties, I will watch the other three of the final list of favorites.
Update 02/18/18
Based on the recommendations from the comments studied 10 more applications. Added them to the new table, see link
Another application worthy of being in the top: Handy money.
In the meantime, following the results of 1.5 months of use, Expense Manager has discovered quite a few bugs that prevent it from being fully used. So far, I have not looked for their solutions on the forums and have not written in support, I plan to do this soon. If they cannot be resolved, and if the new version of Money Wiz does not come out, then most likely I will migrate to Handy money.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/371161/
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