My Experience Using Quicken as an International User (Why I’m Switching)

ejobity

Hey everyone, I just wanted to share some feedback on Quicken from the perspective of someone outside the U.S.

I must say, where Quicken really shines in it's well thought out design and superiority in tracking expenses and everything else (mileage, taxes, expenses, investments, assets, etc). No other app I have tried I see does this as well as quicken. I really like the Watchlist feature as well.

I like the direction Quicken is taking as a modern financial tool. However, after using it for several months, I’ve decided to move on and try another app (likely YNAB). Here’s why:

1. Limited support for users outside the U.S./Canada
   • I can’t even access the mobile app in my country because it’s only available in the U.S./Canada app stores.
   • Customer Service confirmed that their target market is North America.
   • Most banks outside the U.S. don’t have APIs yet, so automatic syncing and connection features don’t work for me.
2. Manual entry could be faster and more efficient
   While Quicken allows manual transaction entry, it could use some time-saving features, such as:
   • A “Save & Add Another” button
   • Transaction templates
   • A quick way to turn reminders into transactions
3. Budgeting needs more refinement
   I really like the idea behind the Spending Plan — it’s a great modern take on budgeting. But it feels incomplete and could use more research and polish. Budgeting is the most critical part of a financial app, and if this feature were stronger, I would have stayed with Quicken. The other tools are great, but budgeting is where people see the biggest impact in their daily financial life.

I hope this feedback helps the Quicken team (and anyone else outside the U.S. thinking about trying it). The product has a lot of potential, but it’s currently not practical for international users.

DryHeat

Here's my somewhat less international view. I use Simplifi in the USA and Canada and find it very practical.

Still, because USA/Canada is the target market, it would make sense for Simplifi to provide more support for users who deal in both US and Canadian dollars. Sure, downloading from my US and Canadian bank accounts works ok. But:

• Simplifi should allow us to declare the currency for different accounts. When different currencies are included in calculations, they should be adjusted to whichever we declare as our preferred currency.
• Simplifi should allow adjustment of amounts on both sides of transfers between USD and CDN accounts. Currently I make additional adjusting entries when I send funds one way or the other, but it would be cleaner if I could adjust the actual transfer.

As for the Spending Plan, there are many suggestions for its improvement. But I find it more useful than any budgeting approach I have used previously, primarily because it requires so little effort. It is driven largely by the recurring reminders for income and bills, but I would be creating those anyway. Beyond that, I only had to set up a few expense series in Planned Spend, and that takes very little work. So, from a lazy man's point of view, the effort/benefit ratio is pretty high.

Coach Kristina

Hello @ejobity,

I'm sorry to hear that Quicken Simplifi doesn't meet your needs, but thank you for coming to the Community to provide your feedback! As Customer Service already said, Quicken Simplifi's target market is North America. I'm not aware of any plans to expand beyond that, but you can create an Idea Post to request such support. Ideas that get enough votes may be implemented in the future. For more information about creating an Idea post, please click here.

I can see a couple idea posts for making manual entry more efficient. There's the one you created in April, asking for a template ability for transactions, and also one asking for reminders to be able to convert to transactions:

https://community.simplifimoney.com/discussion/11981/templates-for-transactions

https://community.simplifimoney.com/discussion/284/convert-reminders-to-a-transaction-on-the-day-they-occur-edited-1-merged-vote

If you haven't already added your vote for for the 2nd one, you may want to consider adding your vote and a comment.

You mentioned budgeting needs more refinement and could be stronger, but you didn't list any specifics. Were there specific features you were wanting to see added/improved?

@DryHeat,

You're not the only one who wants to see better support for users who deal in both US and Canadian dollars. I can see there are a couple Ideas asking for better support for multiple currencies:

https://community.simplifimoney.com/discussion/68/support-multiple-currencies

https://community.simplifimoney.com/discussion/6024/canadian-currency-conversion-edited

If you haven't already done so, please add your vote and a comment.

I hope this helps!

SRC54

Manual entry could be faster and more efficient
While Quicken allows manual transaction entry, it could use some time-saving features, such as:

• A “Save & Add Another” button

• Transaction templates

A quick way to turn reminders into transactions"

I too wanted to add my 2 cents.

What I quoted above is a pretty concise way of saying what many of us have said about transactions and reminders. I think the manual transactions part is the weakest thing in Simplifi, and for those of us with several manual accounts, what you write is spot on. It would even make working with connected accounts somewhat easier too.

What specific things would you like to see in the Spending Plan? How would you make it stronger? The Spending Plan has gotten better in the last year.

Thanks for taking the time to write your thoughts. Good luck with whatever app you decide to use!