Having issues with Microsoft Money. Help?

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Ok, I’m missing something here. I spent a good chunk of this weekend trying to import all my accounts into Microsoft Money 2005. It looks like it uses Yodlee to synchronize accounts online, but more than half of my accounts require me to manually download transactions in “Active Statement” format, from each individual website. Many of these banks sync perfectly fine in Yodlee Oncenter too. Arrrgh.

Then, when I do download the files, the balances are all messed up. For instance, say I download a file containing 1 deposit of $1,000, bringing my balance from $10,000 to $11,000. But Money just shows a balance of $1,000.

It took me 20 minutes just to find and add Capital One 360 (another bank that works fine with Yodlee but won’t sync with Money). For some reason, only Capital One 360 Canada is listed under ‘Banks’. Capital One 360 is actually listed under ‘Investments’. And I’m not even sure that is right, as ING also offers mutual fund accounts…

I know that this must get easier, but is there like a FAQ or something for idiots like me? I may have to buy Microsoft Money 2005 For Dummies

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Comments

  1. These problems are why I switched to Quicken this year. MS Money seems to get worse each year. For me it was doubling up transactions that were previously downloaded. It was just too frustrating, so I switched to Quicken and never looked back…

  2. I have become completely frustrated with MS Money and just use it to reconcile accounts once a month now. I’ve had problems similiar to both you and Brian.

    Brian, do you think Quicken is really a lot better?

  3. I have been using MS Money for a few years. Getting everything set up is a little complicated, but once you have all the accounts set up and the amounts balance out, things are pretty easy to maintain from there.

    If this is the initial setup for your account, you may need to put in a starting balance of say $10,000 in that account. Then after you download that file, it will put in a transaction of $1,000 and your total balance will be $11,000.

    Unfortunately, some accounts do require manual downloads. ING DIRECT is one of them. Chase and Citibank are also not part of the auto update list in MS Money. It is a little hassle. Because of this, I’ve stopped using my Chase credit card and use my AMEX card instead. Most of my accounts have the auto download feature, which is really cool.

  4. I use Money 2003 and don’t have any problems (knock on wood). My accounts always sync up and balance correctly, which is amazing because I’m always shuffling money and opening and closing accounts.

    I hope you can figure it out!

  5. I think you should check out mvelopes.com. It’s much easier to use than Quicken or MSM, in my opinion. It’s web-based, so you pay monthly, which means it ends up being more expensive than either software package, but I think it’s worth it.

    Just a suggestion for those expressing frustration with the two biggies in the budgeting/money tracking software world.

  6. In order to sync ING Direct, you have to go to the website and download your transactions from there. Money no longer lets you initiate the sync for that bank from the software. More of the banks do it that way now. Quicken is also switching to their proprietary format so more banks will be dropping their direct connect feature there as well.

    As far as balances not being correct, that might be a problem where you’ll have to salvage your data.

  7. Same experience with Money 05. Worthless program to me. whats the point of it when it doesnt even update correctly.

    The same can be said for the latest Quicken.. it seems the older MS Money is a better, since new features arent necessary functional at all.

    Older Quicken is better too.

    Sheesh.

  8. Chad, I miss some of the reports from MS Money, Quicken’s are kind of difficult to customize. However, to me keeping accurate balances is more important, and Quicken works perfectly for me. I use Bank of America, and the bill pay even works from within Quicken, something Money never supported. I love it!

    I originally used Quicken, but switched to MS Money when it first came out, and upgraded (almost) every year. After Money 2003 though, it started getting buggy. I did some research on the newsgroups and came to the conclusion that it may never get better. MS Money is a product that falls under the MSN umbrella at Microsoft. MSN does great with products like messenger, but I don’t think they know how to develop financial software.

  9. Hmm.. I’m not getting the warm and fuzzies for Money 2005 from these comments… I’ll stick out and input the rest of my data this week, and see how the overall picture works. If Quicken works well with BofA, that’d be a big plus. Thanks for the comments everyone!

  10. Henry Erich III says

    Wow! Money 05 for me is the first version I have installed and continued to use. The prediction for cash flow reporting is amazing! I have had problems when I changed PC’s with the recurring bills and once had the same issue that your having now with seting up new accounts. Actually that issue turned out to be my fault because I went in and adjusted the starting balance, when I let it do it automatically everything was fine. Ive tried Quicken this year too and it has its share of quirks, but the advantages of Money 05 are tremendous. Money05 gets better the longer you use it, be sure to check out the cash flow, and monthly reports, its liking having your own personal CFO report to you! BTW I have two auto checking accounts and yes I have to download ING too. I have been wanting to tell you to hurry up and install Money but too busy to comment or email yah.

  11. Main problem with Money 05 is the syncing with banks. I have no huge problem doing this manually, since I check the bank websites all the time anyway. My problem is that I always have to fiddle with the dates to make sure that I tell (the bank site) to download AFTER my last Money sync, because then transactions get doubled and there seems to be no simple way to just tell it “This was already here”.

    Kinda a pain, yes…but hey……The Quicken interface is just nasty, I’m sorry.

  12. I use microsoft money 2007 Home and business and had all my accounts, three different banks being updated with money 2007 with no issues. Microsoft decided they wanted to do and update on their network mid-July 2007. Now I can’t do an update for one of my banks through Money 2007 anymore. I did everything possible to fix it, but can’t get it to work. This makes me so frustrated and wish for once microsoft just left things alone. I keep getting “Your logging credentials are not correct'” from microsoft money. Grrrrrrrrrrrr…………….

    I know the login credentails are correct because I can login with them on the bank’s site, but not through microsoft money anymore. Anyone else having this issue?

  13. Roy –

    You’re not the only one. Google the error message “ms money obres:22063” – there are a lot of unhappy Money users out there.

  14. i’m having the same issue ron. i used to be able to synch to two banks. after the mid july update, i can’t synch to any of them. i keep getting the message, “can’t update information from your bank” i’ve also tried to fix this, to no avail.

  15. MS Support says the issue I’m encountering “can’t update information from your bank” is due to the Chase and Bank One merger:

    “This is an known issue with Chase. Chase and Bank One have merged together causing some problems. You have 2 options. You can try to setup the account in Money under Bank One from the list, if that does not work you will need to contact Chase to have your online crendentials updated at the bank.”

    I know my credentials are good because I can log into my account from my browser. This weekend I’ll try setting up my account in Money under Bank One. I’m concerned that I not lose all my account data in the process.

    It would have been nice if I got a more informative error message than “obres:22063” which apparently covers ANY error in MS Money.

    And I’m pissed that MS, Chase, Bank One, Yodlee, etc. dropped the ball on this update. How could they not test this ahead of time?

    P.S. Sorry Ron for misspelling your name.

  16. I am having the same problem with ms money 2007. I tried the update accounts directions they provided, it just keeps saying your accounts could not be updated at this time, the new account shows up and forever says “update in progress”. Nice job on the mid-july update a-holes.

  17. Here’s the latest on my attempts to get my Chase/Bank One accounts to update automatically (all my other accounts update correctly). I tried Microsoft’s suggestion to setup the Chase account under Bank One but that failed with the same error. Then I tried installing Money on a different computer and downloading transactions into a new account. That also failed with the same informative message “Unable to update your account”.

    Further discussion with Microsoft support suggested the reason for issue is that Bank One and Chase are still having trouble with the merger. ;-/ YMMV. Nobody looks good to me at this point.

    The workaround for now is to download the transactions from the bank’s website manually and import them into my account.

  18. I’ve got a problem where Money 2006 just won’t sync with Citibank anymore. I tried deleting the account, and re-setting it up, and it doesn’t work. Completely frustrated.

  19. I have MS Money 2007. Since mid July I have 2 banks where update will not work. I get the Update In Progress, but it fails with, Can?t Update Information From Your Bank. I even stopped online updates and reinitiated them to no avail. This is extremly frustrating and a bug time waster. I have been to MS database but it is as if Money has no problem, it must be with my saving institution. I left Quicken for this?

  20. I followed the instructions shown here, and it seemed to fix my problem. Give it a shot: link

  21. Here’s my problem. Recently (in the past couple weeks) Microsoft Money 2005 Premium has started changing my transaction dates.

    I will enter a transaction…let’s say a $20 debit purchase at Wallyworld on 9/5/07, and then when I do the update, it downloads all my transactions from 5/3 Bank. Money says something like, “This transaction matches a previously entered transaction” to which I say yes, but then it will change the transaction date by a couple days or so.

    Anyone else have this problem…and how do I stop it???

  22. The instructions at Dave’s link for updating the accounts did not work for me. Dave got lucky with the link.

    My Money 2006 hasn’t worked for months. I keep deleting and attempting to add my bank accounts and get the same useless error.

    obres:22063

    Microsoft needs a real patch for this or at least a real fix. I wouldn’t oay any money to upgrade until I can get my existing program to work. I must mention, that Ihave gotten these update errors regularly since 2006. When Money 2006 was new. Some of it might have to due with the date issue mentioned. I get the date errors too.

    MS Money is very unstable if you ask me.

  23. I am closing my bank accounts that have stopped automatically synchronizing with MS Money (US Bank, ING Direct) and am trying to find new ones to replace them. Does anyone have suggestions for banks and credit card companies that synchronize perfectly? I currently find Wachovia works great with MS Money for my regular checking, but I also need a new money market account, and Wachovia’s rates stink.

    Would love some suggestions – thanks!

  24. Where can I get help for version 14, 2004 M/soft money.
    in australia. ( sydney).

  25. Does anyone have a hard time with the cash flow forecast? For some reason my Debt Reduction Planner amounts don’t show up on the Cash Flow Forecast so it makes it look like my cash flow will be higher than it actually is going to be. Does anyone know how to fix this so that my Debt Reduction Planner amounts show up on the Cash Flow Forecast?

    Thanks!

  26. I had similar problem, then noticed that each of the entries was not set-up to take the $ from my checking account. I had to edit each bill series to assign the checking account. Hope that helps, good luck.

  27. The fix for accounts (such as US Bank) not downloading transactions seems to be to go into the online services settings and delete the MSN Money service. Once I did that, everything started working again. I believe it has to do with having old account information. I had no problems with Money 99 through 2007, but when I upgraded to plus, it quit.

  28. I have been using MSMoney 2003 without too many problems. Now when I try to sign in, password is not valid and the net password is not valid either (I know they are correct since I have signed in to moneycentral on another comnputer. Would the loss of the password (or not recognizing it) have anything to do with putting my .mny file in another directory and/or drive?

    Any help appreciated

    Thanks

  29. I’m wondering if anyone has a suggestion for my problem with Money.

    I have the 2003 version, and the most annoying thing for me is the auto-suggesting payees not working correctly.

    Often, when it suggests things, and I want them, I press down to go to them, but instead of selecting that one, it decides to finish my transaction with the wrong name. Now, when it auto suggests things, it is suggesting “Wells Farg” or “Chas Visa” and is no longer deducting things from the appropriate accounts.

    Does anyone know how to get rid of these auto-suggestions that are not correct?

  30. I am having a problem with updating my share portfolio value. Until yesterday evening it automatically updated every 30 mins. Now it doesn’t. Could my trend security have blocked this function? and if so how do I unblock it. I would welcome some advice.

  31. Soumya Nayak says

    I am having problems downloading my transactions into Microsoft Money program. It seems as if the transactions are downloaded, but when I try to look them up they are not there at all.I even recreated this account in Microsoft Money and still have the same problem. This started from May 2nd 2008, before which I was able to download without any issues.

  32. No support for Indian banks or tax rules. MS Money sucks!!!

  33. For Michael (and anyone else) haveing the problem of the date getting changed when posting downloaded transactions: This can be changed in the Tools/Settings/Online Service Settings.

    For MSM 2007 the text reads “Overwrite transaction dates with dates from downloaded transactions.”

    Make sure this is unchecked.

  34. I have had MS Money since the 90s, upgrading to the latest every year or 2. With Money 2007 I have had more incidents of it getting into a state where it crashes every time I open my file (seems to happen every 3 months or so). I have a decade’s worth of financial info it and almost have a heart attack every time it does this. The first time I tried repairing the file and it didn’t work, I had to call Tech support who stepped me through running a quick repair, full repair, quick repair which was the magic incantation to fix it. Now I’ve run into a problem where it crashes if the investments are reported on my opening page, microsoft’s solution per their knowledge base: take investments off your homepage – thanks for the broken software! I’ve wasted so much time trying to fix my files every few months, that I’ve seriously considered remaking my records from exports and imports.
    I’ve also had issues where Money went back and messed up all my records for stocks because it erroneously though there was a split.

    When the product works, I like it, but at least the 2007 version has really become a headache to use.

  35. Can someone advise me. I bought a new computer in the last 6 months. It come with Microsoft Money Essentials. I was able to download my info from the bank fine. My problems is I can not add new expese/income catagories, I also don’t see splits. I have used Microsoft Money 2003 for years and never experienced this problem. Do I need a different Microsoft Money Home and Business. I also own a small business. Or does someone have an idea for an easier to use software, you know money for dummies something.

  36. John Vinturella says

    I have a problem with posting updated prices to investment accounts. Those for which there was more than one purchase require me to update with half the account balance.

    Please advise.

  37. Chris Day says

    I am trying to restore a Money file to MM2005. I am instructed to choose a file when I want to locate the file, when I select one I get the following error message:
    “Money cannot locate the file…or cannot open it possibly because it is a read only file or you do not have permission to change it or your disk drive is write protected.
    If you have chosen the correct fileand it cannot be accessed, you will need to click OK and open your most recent back-up file.”
    Any help will be appreciated.
    Thank you

  38. Tony White says

    I had a similar problem with MM2003 and in the end had to reinstall program from the CD. But since doing so I’ve lost the ability to track Dow or FTSE index in the Portfolio. Just says something like ‘no historical data downloaded’.
    How do I get that facility back?
    I’ve been trying now for weeks to solve this.
    many thanks.

  39. I am using Money 2005 and recently upgraded to a new computer with Windows 7. I had no trouble installing Money but I can’t get my data into it. I have tried backup/restore and also just copying the file from the old hard drive to the new one. Any suggestions?

  40. Switch to Mint.com … it’s just SO much better than Money.

  41. JNH, I am having the same problem with trying to restore my backup files. I keep getting a message that the e-mail address or password is incorrect. I have gotten e-mails from MS Money support services and none of the suggestions worked. It simply will not recognize my password and/or e-mail address. I have reset the password several times.

  42. Kathy Calhoun says

    Wow, getting so frustrated. Just balanced my account and it says 00, when I click next, it keeps saying that that command is not available while balancing the account. I can’t go forward, any suggestions? Thanks.

  43. Looking for help to change the “Last Downloaded” date manually in MS Money 2003 Deluxe, in the ‘View Downloaded Balances’ window of the online Statements. Chase and AMEX doesn’t update the “Last Downloaded” date. BofA works just fine.

    Sure, just like you I am manually downloading the transactions since no one supports 2003 anymore. Also, I’m not going to an online version and worry about breaches, etc.

    I’ll be happy to just limp along with 2003 if I can find a way to manually change the Downloaded date.

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