Quicken

The US version is a lot cheaper so I am looking at downloading the US version from amazon.com.  From what I have read the US version should work here fine, but will I be able to download it fine?  Anyone do this before?  Thanks.

Hi,

You 'could' use the US version here in the UK, but it'll not auto connect to any of the UK banks automated statement download service. Also, things like UK specific financial and monetary aspects will not be supported/covered - things like ISA's, VAT (if you are a small business), UK share ticker feeds etc etc.

If you simply wish to manually track a bank account(s), credit card account(s), your mortgage, then you could 'make' the US version work for you.

I used to work for Intuit and was involved with the Quicken product in terms of development, Testing, Support and Consulting, and know the software very well(main experience being the UK version but I also had to know quite a bit of the USA and other territory specific versions). The UK version was withdrawn in 2005, due to lack of demand. I still provide a support and consulting service via an ebay advert and I just remembered to bump up a thread here on UKY as well.

Specifically for Americans who are here or indeed travel regularly and have various interests in the UK, USA and further beyond, I'd very often speak and deal with users for specific nuances and scenario's. It's been quite a while now, but the 'basics' are still pretty much the same. I'd suggest perhaps using the last UK version to cover your financials if that's most prudent with your individual scenario. If you need a 'mix' of using the UK and USA version, I can still offer some pointers. Drop me a PM if you wish !

Cheers, DtM! West London & Slough UK!

Tried the quicken and tried to upload my data in different formats into Quicken with no sucess.  Quicken is a bad idea to use in the UK IMO.  Moneydashboard is much better.

Hi,

The USA version of Quicken can import excel spreadsheets and also files in .QIF format as well as older versions of USA Quicken data files.

Moneydashboard is an online financial service website for personal users to view all their online bank account details, and that's seemingly about it. From the website and a quick glance at it, it won't for instance track your mortgage or investments. The service doesn't really compare to Quicken (desktop version) and the many other aspects and functions it can offer, so not really a like for like comparison.

If all you wish to do is track any bank account you have that has an online presence, then moneydashboard and others like it will most likely suffice. If you need to track much more of your personal finances then you'd need a more suitable solution.

Cheers, DtM! West London & Slough UK!

That was the problem.  Couldn't get QIF files.  The banks wouldn't do it (UK or US banks) and Quicken couldn't recommend a program to conver the fles. 

Hi,

I think nowadays, there's a new 'method' with USA banks to be able to download financial information and transactions directly into the US version of Quicken (and other territories where Quicken is available) So, if you have the US software and bank with an institution which works with Quicken that aspect will be available.

I've not used the latest US versions for years now, and in the UK, it was withdrawn in early 2005. With my HSBC account, the option to download in Quicken .ofx and .QIF was available, but it's now not there. They are only offering .PDF format.

As I've not needed to lately, I've not tried to import from a PDF document into Quicken, however I believe there are other products which can convert from PDF to other file formats. From there, a conversion to Excel could then make it possible to import into Quicken (the last/old UK edition if you have it)

At some point soon, I will have a go at the above and see how it pans out.

To update my last post, it's possible the latest USA versions don't import in .qif or excel, i'll also have a root around the support forums to find that out.

In addition to the above, I'll be testing out various other bits with the last UK version to see what's what with various UK banks and institutions etc.

Cheers, DtM! West London & Slough UK!