Parity between Mac and Windows versions of Business & Personal?

mikedr · January 10

I have used the Windows version of Business & Personal (and its predecessors) “forever” — since 1999. I’ve been on a Mac for a long time ago, and therefore run it within a Windows 11 virtual machine using Parallels, which works well enough.

However, I now see that there is a Mac version of Business & Personal! Does it have feature parity with the Windows version? Are there any features in the Windows version that are missing from the Mac version?

I’d love to be able to ditch Windows and go with the native Mac version, but don’t want to lose any functionality.

Jon · January 10

It does not have feature parity with Windows. They just started adding business features so there are things missing (invoicing & rentals are two that come to mind).

Your subscription includes both Windows & Mac so you can download the Mac version & try it out for yourself.

Jon · January 10

It does not have feature parity with Windows. They just started adding business features so there are things missing (invoicing & rentals are two that come to mind).

Your subscription includes both Windows & Mac so you can download the Mac version & try it out for yourself.

Chris_QPW · January 10

but don’t want to lose any functionality.

In my opinion Quicken Windows and Quicken Mac will NEVER have total functionality parity. I might add, that isn't just one way. I already see some features in Quicken Mac that would be nice in Quicken Windows, but doubt that it will ever get them.

So, just making a statement that they should have parity really doesn't get any real results. Instead, people should look at what they absolutely need, what is nice, and so forth, and judge based on that as time goes on.

One of the nice things about Quicken Subscription is the fact that you can run both for the same price, and therefore you are the best judge of what is needed or not.

But I will also say something that @jacobs says all the time, there are things that they do differently. One has to be flexible is you are looking for a ridge it works exactly the same, that is going to be as much of a fantasy as "complete parity".

jacobs · January 10

@mikedr I think the two highlight features which Quicken Mac Business & Personal does not yet have at this early stage of development are invoicing and rental property management. We know from the developers that invoicing is coming. I don't know if they have stated yea or nay on rental property management features, but it's likely those will follow at some point. There are also small things not yet completed, such as being able to enter business and personal mileage for tracking, but not yet having any way to print a report or export the trips data. (That too has been promised as forthcoming.) I'm not familiar enough with the Quicken version to know what else of importance might need to be created in the Quicken Mac version.

As @Chris_QPW said, I wouldn't necessarily expect complete feature matching, even over time. Starting Quicken Mac's business features from scratch gives them the opportunity to re-think how things were implemented in Quicken Windows 10, 15, 20 or more years ago and to, in some cases, implement them differently. But I do think there're aiming for a general degree of parity over time. How long a time, I don't think anyone knows — including the developers.

Jillartstudio · January 15

Good topic and I have 2 questions on importing to this new 'Business and Persona'l version:
1. Is this a desktop or cloud version? Quicken site does not show that at least on the product page (first post so I cant post the link).

2. Does this have to be run on a Windows or Mac version, and

2A: I am coming from a Quicken Mac Ver. 16.2.4 (build 25.886.100), can I import to this new version via the backup or QIF file? Ergo, do I have to go from Mac to Mac or can I install on Windows or is it all cloud-based?

Thank in advance. 😉

mikedr · January 15

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/comment/20409576#Comment_20409576

This is good info, particularly as to invoicing, which is a feature I use a lot. Will probably hold off until that gets in there.

mikedr · January 15

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/comment/20410442#Comment_20410442

Both the Mac and Windows versions are desktop versions. You have to run the Mac version on Mac and the Windows version on Windows — but you can run the Windows version on a Windows virtual machine on your Mac (you'll need to get Parallels or another program that provides for the ability to run Windows virtual machines).

You do not have to go from Mac to Mac or Windows to Windows — Windows version will import Mac and vice-versa.

jacobs · January 15

1. Is this a desktop or cloud version? Quicken site does not show that at least on the product page (first post so I cant post the link).

All Quicken Classic software (Starter, Deluxe,Premier, Business & Personal) is desktop software, just like the old version you have been using. There is a companion cloud site and mobile app you can log into if you choose to sync your data to Quicken's cloud service, but you don't need to (and some would recommend not doing so unless you really need that functionality). Quicken has a separate product called Simplifi which is web-based.

2. Does this have to be run on a Windows or Mac version, and

There are both Windows and Mac versions. They are not identical, and they are not interoperable. (There are conversion utilities to move from one platform to the other, but they may not be perfect for all users, and definitely aren't suited for moving back and forth.) Read this thread for the differences between Quicken Windows Business & Personal and the recently-released Mac Business & Personal, which is in its early days and still lacks a lot of functionality.

I am coming from a Quicken Mac Ver. 16.2.4 (build 25.886.100), can I import to this new version via the backup or QIF file? Ergo, do I have to go from Mac to Mac or can I install on Windows or is it all cloud-based?

That sounds like you're describing Quicken for Mac 2007, is that correct? If so, the current Quicken Mac can create a new data file by exporting and importing the data in your Quicken Mac 2007 data file(s). Part of the conversion process runs through a Quicken web server, but it's all point-and-go seamless to you as a user. You cannot import from a QIF export. You just need your live Quicken 2007 data file. Before moving it from the old computer to the new one, I'd suggest doing File > Compress in the Finder to create a .zip copy of your data file. The .zip file is safe to move from one computer to another.

If you want to use Quicken Windows, you would first need to import your Quicken Mac 2007 data into modern Quicken Mac, and then try migrating that data to Quicken Windows. Quicken Windows cannot import from a Quicken Mac 2007 data file.

smayer97 · January 15

You do not have to go from Mac to Mac or Windows to Windows — Windows version will import Mac and vice-versa.

Actually, to be clear, to migrate from Mac to Windows or the other way, you have to use the QXF export file format from Quicken to import into the other version (vs on the same platform, there is no conversion or export/import needed). And note that you do lose some set-ups, like reports, repeating transactions, and all other set-up info. The conversion is fairly good but there are some things that may not be perfect or even missing, so it may require some data clean-up.

jacobs · January 15

@smayer97 The question was whether one could go from Quicken Mac 2007 to Quicken Windows. To be clear, you're saying that one can go directly from Quicken Mac 2007 to Quicken Windows? How would one do that? My memory of Quicken 2007 details is slowly fading away, but I didn't think that was possible. You mention exporting in QXF Format, but Quicken 2007 doesn't have a QXF export, right? It has a command to Export > To Quicken for Windows, but that command points to a very old Intuit URL which doesn’t exist any more.

Jillartstudio · January 15

@jacobs , very helpful on all points. And thanks as well to @smayer97 for your input. I will defer to your reply to Jacob on the QXF file. I'm not in there right now. I will continue to track.

@jacobs, I do have a follow on question from your reply. So to get my old Q Mac 2007 to the new Windows Business&Personal versions, I'd have to get both the new Mac ver. which will convert the data file and then import that file to the windows ver. so I can do invoicing and rentals stuff. Please clarify when you can - thanks.

And while were at it, here's a bonus question: on the Business and Personal ver., are there limitations on Schedule C's; can there be multiple business accounts, plus multiple rentals accounts?

smayer97 · January 16

Sorry….I did skip a step because I was playing off just the last part of that comment. So let me re-interate.

If you want to go from QM2007 to QWin, there are two paths. The easiest is to import QM2007 into QMac. Conversion to QMac does require a one-time use of an online Quicken server to do the conversion but is all handled within QMac (as @jacobs alludes to). Then use QMac to generate the QXF to then import into QWin. This assumes you have access to a Mac that can run QMac. Officially, QMac needs macOS 10.15 or higher but I believe can still run on as low as 10.13, but is unsupported.

The second, and more cumbersome method, is to export using QIF from QM2007 and import directly into QWin. Both methods will lose set-up info, though slightly different. I recommend the first for best results.

Once in QMac or QWin, QXF is required to convert back and forth between the two platforms, as they do not share a common file format. This also means that some setup info will be lost each time (reports, etc).

smayer97 · January 16

So to get my old Q Mac 2007 to the new Windows Business&Personal versions, I'd have to get both the new Mac ver. which will convert the
data file and then import that file to the windows ver. so I can do invoicing and rentals stuff.

Please note that QMac B&P version is NOT comparable to the QWin version. It is the very first iteration and still lacks invoicing and rental features, among other features.

JoelC · January 16

@Jillartstudio I am running both QMac and QWindows, both Personal & Business. I will share with you — as others have shared — that the two are not close in terms of business capability and, at present, only QWin is functional with A/P, A/R, etc.

It may be worth noting that while I do have workarounds for QMac, I rely on Windows for my businesses because it is currently more robust.

It should be noted that it is not that QMac need to replicate QWin to be worth moving / using but rather it needs to be sufficient for your needs; that is, there are some features of QWin Business that I d not use and the am not looking for them in QMac; I only need Mac's Business capability to be built out to the extent that it will work for me.

The other thing, QMac and QWin have differ in other functional areas as well which may be important. One such example is reporting which is very important to me as well that QMac "catch up" to QWin in the ability use the Memo report in customizing reports.

Jillartstudio · January 21

Quick Update. Now using Mac B&P, but may decide to migrate to my Windows environment after I get all my Mac data level set from my old Mac Q2007. Seems to be operating well so far, but I've not done detailed reporting and tasks just yet.

Thanks for all the assistance.

JoelC · January 21

@Jillartstudio As much as I prefer Mac over WIndows, for business, QWin is far better than QMac

jacobs · January 21

Hopefully they will get invoicing and other features added through the course of this year.

JoelC · January 21

@jacobs Agreed, once they do that and add two or three other features I need then I will be good to permanently move to teh mac version!

Parity between Mac and Windows versions of Business & Personal?

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