Add true multi-currency conversion support in Quicken for Mac (316 Legacy/Merged Votes)

Unknown · October 2016

Do you mean that Quicken for Windows offered multi-currency support AND on-line access for banks outside US(maybe Canada)?

Unknown · October 2016

I don't believe it offers access to non-US banks. I know U.K. banks are not supported. So you have to either import QIF files or enter transactions manually.

Unknown · October 2016

That's exactly it. Reason why now I have a Mac and Bankactivity.

smayer97 · October 2016

Kenneth Lee said:
Agree. This is why I am still on a very old Quicken running on my PC instead of MAC

I also want to emphasize that the first item listed should factor in at least the OPTION to keep and use a history of exchange rates, similar to what the Canadian version of Quicken now does.

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Unknown · October 2016

Kenneth Lee said:
Agree. This is why I am still on a very old Quicken running on my PC instead of MAC

Yes, but I like Quicken for windows more than Bankactivity for Mac. I ' d like do see multiple currency and access to local banks for downloading in Quicken for Windows!

Unknown · October 2016

Kenneth Lee said:
Agree. This is why I am still on a very old Quicken running on my PC instead of MAC

On multi-currency, from an accounting book keeping perspective, all past transactions need to remain at the rate they were calculated in. All current account balances, of course, need to be adjusted at the prevailing rate.

The app I use also does online banking though I don't know how well that compares to Quicken. It only applies to my US based accounts at any rate, I am unable to link those from other markets.
I live in the UK at the moment so multi-currency is critical. I am able to import QIF files into the app I use without trouble so have a "near" online banking experience.

smayer97 · October 2016

Kenneth Lee said:
Agree. This is why I am still on a very old Quicken running on my PC instead of MAC

@Flávio Sousa Access to local banks outside the US and Canada is a different requirement than the above, though I can see how it is related. I think it highly unlikely at this point, or at least in the near future, as Intuit tried for several years to go international, and for whatever reason, it was not sustainable. Though with Quicken on its own now, that may be a market they try again? Only time will tell.

@NeedMultiCurrency, that's good feedback on needing historical exchange rates.

Unknown · October 2016

Kenneth Lee said:
Agree. This is why I am still on a very old Quicken running on my PC instead of MAC

Thanks! They had a Brazilian version until '96. They left. I think the market here doesn't compensate the effort. Yes, only time will tell. Will stick to Bankactivity until then.

smayer97 · November 2016

smayer97 (QM2007, CDN user since '92) said:
You may also want to add your VOTE for the related feature to exclude foreign currency from being counted in the sidebar, here: https://getsatisfaction.com/quickencommunity/topics/how-do-i-exclude-foreign-currency-from-being-cou...

Be sure to click on the link above to go there, then click VOTE at the top of THAT page to increase the count and therefore its visibility to the developers.

If you do not click VOTE at the top of each one, your vote will NOT be counted!

(If you find this reply helpful, please be sure to click "Like", so others will know, thanks.)

Correct as of QM2017 v4.2.1 but only in the sidebar. It is still counted in the Net Worth in the top right.
Also, this is not a user selectable option.

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smayer97 · November 2016

smayer97 (QM2007, CDN user since '92) said:
I also highly recommend that you browse through the IDEAS section of this forum and VOTE for the request of each of the missing features to be added back into Quicken for Mac....to help direct the priorities of the developers.

To do that, I suggest you read this FAQ on how to filter the IDEAS on this forum to just show the ones for the Mac version, then VOTE to your heart's content:
https://getsatisfaction.com/quickencommunity/topics/quicken-getsat-faq-how-to-filter-conversations-d...

The following are some of the many feature requests you will find:
List of Requests for Report Types and Related Features
Restore Transactions Downloading Acceptance and Matching workflow
Option to Have Debits and Credits Tallied Separately for Reconciliation Process
Add ability to track/store Prior Reconciled Statements/periods
True multi-currency conversion support
many requests for configuration options
and many others.

Be sure to scroll down the page, as some contain lists of related features. Click on the link to EACH IDEA separately that you are interested in, then click the VOTE button at the top of EACH page that opens up respectively to increase the count and therefore its visibility to the developers.

If you do not click VOTE at the top of the page of each feature, your vote will NOT be counted for THAT specific feature!

(If you find this reply helpful, please be sure to click "Like", so others will know, thanks.)

see also similar duplicate IDEA thread on multi-currency here: Quicken for Mac: Foreign currency?

Unknown · November 2016

smayer97 (QM2007, CDN user since '92) said:
You may also want to add your VOTE for the related feature to exclude foreign currency from being counted in the sidebar, here: https://getsatisfaction.com/quickencommunity/topics/how-do-i-exclude-foreign-currency-from-being-cou...

Be sure to click on the link above to go there, then click VOTE at the top of THAT page to increase the count and therefore its visibility to the developers.

If you do not click VOTE at the top of each one, your vote will NOT be counted!

(If you find this reply helpful, please be sure to click "Like", so others will know, thanks.)

V4.3.1 is out and takes care of that. One issue I have though is one of my Canadian Accounts is downloaded through Quicken Direct and keeps changing to US funds.

smayer97 · November 2016

smayer97 (QM2007, CDN user since '92) said:
You may also want to add your VOTE for the related feature to exclude foreign currency from being counted in the sidebar, here: https://getsatisfaction.com/quickencommunity/topics/how-do-i-exclude-foreign-currency-from-being-cou...

Be sure to click on the link above to go there, then click VOTE at the top of THAT page to increase the count and therefore its visibility to the developers.

If you do not click VOTE at the top of each one, your vote will NOT be counted!

(If you find this reply helpful, please be sure to click "Like", so others will know, thanks.)

Strange...first the Net Worth issue is not mentioned in the Release Notes.
What about the user selectable option?
As for the changing currency, that was suppose to be fixed in 4.3.0 so if you are still having a problem, this is a bug you need to take to support.

Unknown · November 2016

smayer97 (QM2007, CDN user since '92) said:
You may also want to add your VOTE for the related feature to exclude foreign currency from being counted in the sidebar, here: https://getsatisfaction.com/quickencommunity/topics/how-do-i-exclude-foreign-currency-from-being-cou...

Be sure to click on the link above to go there, then click VOTE at the top of THAT page to increase the count and therefore its visibility to the developers.

If you do not click VOTE at the top of each one, your vote will NOT be counted!

(If you find this reply helpful, please be sure to click "Like", so others will know, thanks.)

I don't think it is a Quicken issue but rather the banks. None of my other Canadian uploads act this way. Net worth is now bottom left as well.

Quicken Marcus · November 2016

FYI: As of 11/11/2016 voting on the Compare site has Multi-currency as the least requested feature of all the listed features so it isn't one of the top items most of our customers want. With that said, I'm interested in costing this out for a possible future Canadian version of QMac. I'm thinking the top priorities for v1 would be the following:
1) Currency exchange download. Do we really need to keep the entire exchange rate history? Curious why this is important if conversion in accounts are done only once.
2) Currency conversion on the sidebar to the home currency.
3) Transfer conversion between accounts. Conversion rate added to the memo/note.

For now we would still keep reports displaying only a single currency and you would have to switch between the different currencies. On the fly report conversion would have to wait for a v2.

Thoughts?

Unknown · November 2016

1) Currency exchange download. Do we really need to keep the entire exchange rate history? Curious why this is important if conversion in accounts are done only once.
- I don't think it is. The current balance needs to be expressed in the current rate but the items (debit/credit) using the rate at which they were obtained if they are being converted. It makes no sense to continually evaluate forgone gains and losses due to differences in the rate.
2) Currency conversion on the sidebar to the home currency.
- offer a filter that allows to either group different currencies in groups and sum them up by currency or to use the current rate and sum them up in a single (selected) currency. Just don't mix apples and oranges the way it is done now.
3) Transfer conversion between accounts. Conversion rate added to the memo/note.
- yes, and always record the rate at which a conversion was made at the time of transfer.

smayer97 · November 2016

Quicken Marcus said:
FYI: As of 11/11/2016 voting on the Compare site has Multi-currency as the least requested feature of all the listed features so it isn't one of the top items most of our customers want. With that said, I'm interested in costing this out for a possible future Canadian version of QMac. I'm thinking the top priorities for v1 would be the following:
1) Currency exchange download. Do we really need to keep the entire exchange rate history? Curious why this is important if conversion in accounts are done only once.
2) Currency conversion on the sidebar to the home currency.
3) Transfer conversion between accounts. Conversion rate added to the memo/note.

For now we would still keep reports displaying only a single currency and you would have to switch between the different currencies. On the fly report conversion would have to wait for a v2.

Thoughts?

Based on my observation and analysis of votes and comments over time on GetSat, I am willing to bet that the large majority of those wanting multi-currency conversion are users coming from QWin or wanting to come over, and less so from QMac users, since Mac users have never had this feature and have had to deal with work-arounds.

I also think that many of the votes here are possibly representing a shift from users posting their wants/needs via the Compare page to posting here on GetSat, where there is more flexibility and precision in providing details and visibility.

That said, I'm sure many Mac users would benefit from this (myself included, though for me it is lower on my priority list). Also, Canadian users would definitely benefit from this feature, or any cross-border users. But to put into perspective the demand, I suggest you take a look at this:
List of Obstacles and Hindrances for Migrating from QM2007 or QWin to Quicken for Mac
It might explain a few things. And it may affect your timing of implementing this, based on which users/market segment for Quicken you want to target first.

As for the priorities you mention:

If conversion only uses one saved conversion rate, whenever you look at a transaction, or create a report, it will not capture the transaction as it was at the time it occurred. For US users, this may or may not be an issue, for but Canadian users this is a big issue as tax filings require capturing the exchange rate at the time of the occurrence (there are other options too but too involved to discuss here). But this option is always accepted by Revenue Canada. So this becomes important when reports are generated. So that is the reason for the need for exchange rate history. Why not leverage the work in QWin for Canada? I have no direct experience with it but I understand it supposedly handles all this already.
Sidebar conversion sounds good
Not sure what this would mean and how the transaction would look like on each side to the transfer. If this is embedded such that the exchange rate is hidden from user access, how does a user handle any adjustment that may be needed to the exchange rate? I think more info is needed.

It certainly would be a good start. But again, I suggest you look at the link above to possibly give this more context.

Unknown · November 2016

I agree with smayer97 that the few votes for multi-currency support may not reflect actual demand. Americans overseas who can't use the Mac version seem much less likely to vote than current users considering additional features.

I'd like multi-currency to work the same way it does in QWin (where I can maintain multiple bank accounts in different currencies). I also don't understand why you'd do the necessary programming just for a new Canadian version, rather than the U.S. version. As I mentioned earlier, you have a large, untapped market of millions of American ex-pats who can't use the Mac version without this feature. Seems to me that from a business standpoint, you'd want both Canadians and Americans to purchase the program.

smayer97 · November 2016

Kingofsquid said:
I agree with smayer97 that the few votes for multi-currency support may not reflect actual demand. Americans overseas who can't use the Mac version seem much less likely to vote than current users considering additional features.

I'd like multi-currency to work the same way it does in QWin (where I can maintain multiple bank accounts in different currencies). I also don't understand why you'd do the necessary programming just for a new Canadian version, rather than the U.S. version. As I mentioned earlier, you have a large, untapped market of millions of American ex-pats who can't use the Mac version without this feature. Seems to me that from a business standpoint, you'd want both Canadians and Americans to purchase the program.

This would mean designing the currency exchange rate tracking to satisfy the needs of both groups.

smayer97 · November 2016

Quicken Marcus said:
FYI: As of 11/11/2016 voting on the Compare site has Multi-currency as the least requested feature of all the listed features so it isn't one of the top items most of our customers want. With that said, I'm interested in costing this out for a possible future Canadian version of QMac. I'm thinking the top priorities for v1 would be the following:
1) Currency exchange download. Do we really need to keep the entire exchange rate history? Curious why this is important if conversion in accounts are done only once.
2) Currency conversion on the sidebar to the home currency.
3) Transfer conversion between accounts. Conversion rate added to the memo/note.

For now we would still keep reports displaying only a single currency and you would have to switch between the different currencies. On the fly report conversion would have to wait for a v2.

Thoughts?

P.S. If you would like to further discuss my analysis at the link I provided above, I invite you to contact me via e-mail or give me a call at my contact info on file at Quicken.

Unknown · November 2016

P.S. I think the fact that Banktivity has a whole section on multi-currency support on its features list (https://www.iggsoftware.com/banktivity/features.php) suggests there is demand for this from Mac users.

Unknown · November 2016

Marcoman said:
I've been a Quicken user on a PC for 25 years. Finally decided to switch over to Quicken for Mac 2017. After converting my file it was a shock to discover the foreign currency accounts were not converted correctly. Any past transfer from a USD account showed the USD amount in the foreign currency account instead of the foreign currency amount from the PC file version. Also, the years of reconciled statements are lost. Hard to believe that in 2017 multi-currency functions have yet to become a basic feature. Sure hope Quicken will put this on the agenda soon.

How was the transfer from Quicken to Bankactivity? and is it working properly? If I switch does Bankactivity considers each currency during the transfer? I am now scared to have to manually enter each register.

I had been using Quicken since 1996. Last year I bought Quicken 2016 thinking that the multicurrency feature was working properly. I have now several accounts in dollars and others in 2 different currencies, and my net worth is a mess. Also I can not transfer from one account to another. Quicken should have never had added a multi currency option for the accounts if the transfer option was not working properly (as it does in Quicken for Windows) and it makes a mess with the net worth and the rest of the reports. I had to file a third extension to my tax return because it is a big mess. We are millions of americans living abroad.

smayer97 · November 2016

Marcoman said:
I've been a Quicken user on a PC for 25 years. Finally decided to switch over to Quicken for Mac 2017. After converting my file it was a shock to discover the foreign currency accounts were not converted correctly. Any past transfer from a USD account showed the USD amount in the foreign currency account instead of the foreign currency amount from the PC file version. Also, the years of reconciled statements are lost. Hard to believe that in 2017 multi-currency functions have yet to become a basic feature. Sure hope Quicken will put this on the agenda soon.

FYI, QM2017 v4.3.1 now excludes account balances from the Net Worth in a foreign currency, i.e. not in the Home Currency. True multi-currency support is still not part of this product though. QMac has never had this feature. It will take time to build as it touches on so many areas in Quicken.

Unknown · November 2016

Marcoman said:
I've been a Quicken user on a PC for 25 years. Finally decided to switch over to Quicken for Mac 2017. After converting my file it was a shock to discover the foreign currency accounts were not converted correctly. Any past transfer from a USD account showed the USD amount in the foreign currency account instead of the foreign currency amount from the PC file version. Also, the years of reconciled statements are lost. Hard to believe that in 2017 multi-currency functions have yet to become a basic feature. Sure hope Quicken will put this on the agenda soon.

Thank you, I pointed this out four days ago.

smayer97 · November 2016

Marcoman said:
I've been a Quicken user on a PC for 25 years. Finally decided to switch over to Quicken for Mac 2017. After converting my file it was a shock to discover the foreign currency accounts were not converted correctly. Any past transfer from a USD account showed the USD amount in the foreign currency account instead of the foreign currency amount from the PC file version. Also, the years of reconciled statements are lost. Hard to believe that in 2017 multi-currency functions have yet to become a basic feature. Sure hope Quicken will put this on the agenda soon.

that last comment was a reply to Sabrina's comment. ;-)

Unknown · November 2016

Pritam Mirchandani said:
Agree..that's why I still retain a PC.

so Moneydance is the best for multi currency?

Unknown · November 2016

Pritam Mirchandani said:
Agree..that's why I still retain a PC.

I am happy with it, I regularly deal with 4 currencies and have had no issues. Net worth is neatly handled as are loans, assets, etc.. A friend of mine tried it and didn't like the interface.

So like many of these things I can only suggest you test it with a small data set and see if it does what you need and if you like the interface.

Quicken Marcus · November 2016

Kingofsquid said:
I agree with smayer97 that the few votes for multi-currency support may not reflect actual demand. Americans overseas who can't use the Mac version seem much less likely to vote than current users considering additional features.

I'd like multi-currency to work the same way it does in QWin (where I can maintain multiple bank accounts in different currencies). I also don't understand why you'd do the necessary programming just for a new Canadian version, rather than the U.S. version. As I mentioned earlier, you have a large, untapped market of millions of American ex-pats who can't use the Mac version without this feature. Seems to me that from a business standpoint, you'd want both Canadians and Americans to purchase the program.

Quicken Mac already supports accounts of different currencies and we break it out in reports and budgets. In 2017 we also differentiate the currencies on the sidebar and only display balances in the home currency. We don't intermingle them. Multi-currency support would be in both the US and Canadian versions but the desire to build a better Canadian version raises it's priority.

Unknown · November 2016

Kingofsquid said:
I agree with smayer97 that the few votes for multi-currency support may not reflect actual demand. Americans overseas who can't use the Mac version seem much less likely to vote than current users considering additional features.

I'd like multi-currency to work the same way it does in QWin (where I can maintain multiple bank accounts in different currencies). I also don't understand why you'd do the necessary programming just for a new Canadian version, rather than the U.S. version. As I mentioned earlier, you have a large, untapped market of millions of American ex-pats who can't use the Mac version without this feature. Seems to me that from a business standpoint, you'd want both Canadians and Americans to purchase the program.

I have used MS Money, iBank and now Quicken Mac. I am currently using Quicken 17 and do like most all features, but while Quicken does support multiple currencies, it does not integrate multiple currencies.
Does not Include converted total in group totals, group sub totals and in net worth.

What I believe is needed would be add exchange rates based on
- Transaction date: (credit card and checking accounts) saved to that ledger and remains locked
- Current exchange rate: Group totals, group sub totals and net worth based
In either case, rolling exchange rate histories are not needed.

Just my 2 cents.

David

Unknown · November 2016

Kingofsquid said:
P.S. I think the fact that Banktivity has a whole section on multi-currency support on its features list (https://www.iggsoftware.com/banktivity/features.php) suggests there is demand for this from Mac users.

Fully agree with KingofSquid
For someone to say there is no market for the foreign currency and Mac is looking at a tree and not seeing the forest.

Look at the below video, great watch if you want to see the latest on the big four (Amazon, Apple, Google and Facebook)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfjg0kGQFBY

Here is why:
Go to 6:20 and see the results of Macs and sales. That plus they have ~ 10% global share. While 10% may seem small, this 10% of the global market and buys based on value, not price. That is why Banktivity spent so much on developing their FOREX integration. Either, they are not very bright and wasted a great deal of money on development, or Quicken has not done their research properly. Right now, Banktivity is offering the value (foreign currency) and not quicken.

Also, not sure I fully understand why Quicken ("Quicken Marcus" I realize it was more of a quick thought from you and less of a strategy) would target the Canadian app first, as this is an even smaller market. This defies what has been stated.

I know i was tough on Quicken just now, but I really do like the app, as a whole, more than iBank. However, the foreign currency is a requirement that Quicken needs to step up and fully integrate.

Thanks all
David

smayer97 · January 2017

Kenneth Lee said:
Agree. This is why I am still on a very old Quicken running on my PC instead of MAC

To clarify my point above here:
"OPTION to keep and use a history of exchange rates, similar to what the Canadian version of Quicken now does."

The key word is USE it. It turns out that the Canadian version of Quicken does NOT USE the exchange rates when generating reports...

The request for this feature here should include implementing the USE of the exchange rate everywhere it is needed; reports, transactions between accounts of different currencies, investment transactions in foreign currencies, etc.

(If you find this reply helpful, please be sure to click "Like", so others will know, thanks.)

Add true multi-currency conversion support in Quicken for Mac (316 Legacy/Merged Votes)

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