iFinance3Manual

iFinanceVersion 3.2

Manual

ContentsWelcome To iFinance 3About This Manual! 8

Registration, Demo and UpdatingProper Installation and de-installation of iFinance! 10Demo Mode — Using iFinance Without A Serial Number! 10Registering iFinance! 11

Locating your Serial Number! 11The registration dialog! 12Is my installation properly registered?! 12Troubleshooting registration issues! 13

Updates — Keeping iFinance Up-To-Date! 14Automatic update notification! 14Checking for updates manually ! 15

Your First Look At iFinance 3All-in-one User Interface! 17Finding Your Way around iFinance! 18

Title Bar & Info Display ! 18Organizer! 18Viewer & Contextual Toolbar! 19Editor & Contextual Help ! 20Bottom Bar! 20

ImportingThe Database Manager! 23

Creating a new database! 23Change the location of your database(s)! 24Migrating Data From iFinance 2! 25

A. You already started working with iFinance 3! 25B. Youʼre using iFinance 3 for the first time! 25C. Youʼd like to keep your old data separate! 25Verify that there are no overlapping dates/duplicate transactions! 25

Importing From Other Sources! 26

iFinance User Guide

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CSV (”.csv” files)! 26MT940 (”.sta” files)! 29Quicken (”.qif” files)! 30

Working with the iPhoneImporting data from your iPhone! 34

One Mac, several mobile devices! 34Several Macs, one iPhone! 35Import or synchronize! 35

A. You entered data in iFinance for your Mac first! 36B. You started out with iFinance Mobile on your iPhone! 37

Saving Your iFinance 3 DatabaseLocation Of The iFinance Database! 39

Saving! 39Activating Autosave! 39Encrypt your database! 39

Working With Archives! 39Creating iFinance 3 archives! 39Spotlight — track your archive files! 40

Considering Backups! 40Storage location! 40Manual vs. automatic backups! 41

Using iFinance 3Structure Your Finances! 43Working with Organizer Items! 43

Inclusion in total funds! 441. New Account! 442. New Stock! 453. New Budget! 464. New Chart! 46New Report! 47New Folder! 47

Changing Settings For Existing Items! 48Folders & Subfolders! 48

iFinance User Guide

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Folder totals! 49Managing Transactions! 49

Adding Transactions! 49The Transactions List! 50Sorting Items In The Viewer! 53Creating And Editing Transactions! 53

Supported Transaction Types! 58(Simple) Transactions! 58Recurring Transactions! 58Split Transactions! 58Transfers! 58Recurring Split Transactions! 58Recurring Transfers! 59Split Transfers! 59Recurring Split Transfers! 59

Categories & Subcategories! 59Tags! 60Automatic Categorization! 61Searching Transactions! 61Working with Multiple Currencies! 61

Jump back and forth between source and target accounts! 61Exchange rates! 62

Reconciling! 63Smart definition of reconciling periods! 63

Tracking Your StocksStock Items And Purchases! 65Example C: Working with the stock portfolio! 65Accessing Basic Settings For Stocks! 66Finding Stock Items On The Internet! 67Configuring The Stocks Performance Chart! 67How to automatically refocus on the current date! 68

Working With BudgetsExample D: Budget “Groceries”! 70

Step 1 — Create A New Budget! 70

iFinance User Guide

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Step 2 — Basic Budget Settings! 70Step 3 — Define Filters For Relevant Transactions! 71Step 4 — Adding Relevant Transactions! 72

ChartsCreating A New Chart! 75Basic Settings! 75First Look! 76

1. Full Screen Button! 762. Chart Name! 763. Interactive (3D)! 764. Print Version (2D)! 77

Fine-tune Your Chart! 77Period! 78Chart Type Button! 78Transfers Button! 78Combine Values! 79Mark 'Today'! 79Mark 'Future'! 79Combine Data! 79Range Of Values! 79Fast switching to a Report! 80

Smarter Choices! 80Accounts! 80All accounts with identical currency! 80Remove All! 80Tags! 80Use Tags! 81All tags required to match! 81Categories! 81

ReportsAdjust viewing options (Eye Button)! 83

Filtering Rules! 84Overview! 84

iFinance User Guide

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Show category analysis! 84Show tag analysis, Show beneficiary analysis! 84Time frame analysis! 84

Further Options! 85Transfers! 85Zoom! 85Chart Button! 85Include Subcategories! 85

List of relevant transactions! 86Report Folders! 86

Comparison of Reports! 86

ExportingAccount Selection! 89Export Options! 89Compatibilty Settings! 90

PrintingGeneral information! 93Funds! 94Stocks! 95Budgets! 95Charts! 95Print on remittance slip blanks! 97

Automatic filling-in! 97Printer settings! 98Edit Templates! 99

Edit template copy ! 99New template! 101

AppendixPreferences! 103Shortcuts! 105

iFinance User Guide

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1 Welcome To iFinance 3

About This ManualThe first part of this manual describes how to install and start iFinance for the first time, how you transfer information from any other software including iFinance 2 by means of the Database Manager and how to gain access to your iFinance Mobile data on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch.

We will then get you acquainted with our new iFinance 3 user interface and most of its features and options. Once we've covered the basic usage, we'll immediately dive into working with individual records and transactions:

“Using iFinance 3” thoroughly guides you through some basic workflows, providing answers to advanced questions like “How do I create a recurring transaction?” or “Can I automatically update the value of my stock portfolio?” .

Nowadays, managing your financial assets demands close observation of the stock market and keeping an eye on your personal budget(s). That's why we dedicate one full chapter to each of these major concepts within iFinance 3.

“Managing Stocks” talks of names and symbols and explains how you search for and add new stock items. And you will learn how to use the “Stocks Performance Chart” to visualize your portfolio.

“Working With Budgets”, “Charts” and “Reports” shows you how to keep control over income and expenses.

To ease the transition from your previous financial software solution to iFinance 3, we offer native support for “csv” (Comma-separated Values), “sta” (MT940), “qif” (Quicken) and of course for our own legacy iFinance formats .

Even in this digital age, additional digital and plain paper hardcopies of your financial data can be vital in case of disaster or your computer storage going awry:

iFinance helps you export dedicated archives as backups “just in case”. Also, using the comprehensive “.csv” format exporter, built into iFinance 3, you can make your data available to third parties as easily and flexibly as possible. Read more about importing and exporting in the chapters “Importing Your Data” and “Exporting” .

“Printing” describes how you create concise lists of all your transactions as well as vivid charts and output them using your favorite office printer .

In case of questions, please see our ever expanding documentation or contact us using the contact form in our websiteʼs Support section:

www.synium.de/support

Welcome to iFinance 3

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http://www.synium.de/support


2 Registration, Demo and Updating

Proper Installation and de-installation of iFinanceAfter downloading the iFinance installer, please double-click it. An installation window like this will appear:

Please always drag and drop the iFinance application (the double-coin icon on the left) to your Applications folder. This is required for flawless operation. Launching the iFinance installer time and again and running iFinance from it can cause all sorts of problems.

If youʼre cautious to install iFinance in the Applications folder - donʼt be! Youʼll merely have to delete four different files in order to remove iFinance completely in case you donʼt want to use it anymore:

1. iFinance in your Applications folder

2. com.synium.iFinance.plist in “your user folder” - Library - Preferences

3. Your iFinance database

4. The installer file you downloaded from our website

Demo Mode — Using iFinance Without A Serial NumberIn case you read these pages without having purchased iFinance yet, that's fine! You can try the program in demo mode for as long as you like, but youʼll need a valid Serial Number to activate “Save”, “Export” and “Print”.

Registration, Demo and Updating

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To work in demo mode, simply drop iFinance in your Applications folder, launch it and in the registration dialog, just click the button labeled “Try Demo”.

Registering iFinanceYou need to have your license with the Serial Number ready at hand.

Locating your Serial NumberShortly after the online purchase from one of our distribution partners, you will receive a registration e-mail with the Serial Number.

Sometimes, youʼll receive more than one e-mail during the process. In that case, please see which e-mail actually contains your Serial Number and which may simply be an acknowledgement of your purchase having been successful in the first place.

Your Serial Number is similar to the pattern:

SYN-IFIN-1234-ABCD-1234-ABCD-1234-ABCD-EFG

This is not an actual valid number, itʼs for demonstration purposes only


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The registration dialogOnce you have identified your Serial Number, launch iFinance. Upon launching, iFinance displays a window asking you to type in that number:

Enter your Serial Number in the empty field at the bottom of this window and click “Register”. You donʼt need an internet connection for the registration process, nor are you requried to send us an e-mail.

Is my installation properly registered?There is a way to check if your installation of iFinance has been registered successfully:


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Open the “ iFinance” menu and look for the “Register…” and “Buy” entries. If they are grayed-out and unaccessible for your mouse, everything is OK: you have successfully installed and registered iFinance!

Troubleshooting registration issuesIf the Serial Number you entered is rejected during the registration process, this may have different reasons:

✓ you did not enter the Serial Number correctly, or…

✓ you inserted the Serial Number into the registration text field using the “Copy & Paste” method, accidentally copying invisible characters (Line Break, Space).

Please re-enter the Serial Number, exactly as given in the e-mail you received. Include the prefix “IFIN-” and all separating hyphens (”-”). In case you need help with the registration process, please contact iFinance support at Synium Software via the contact form on our website.

Lost Your Serial Number?

Keep the registration e-mail (from your online purchase) as it contains your Serial Number. Best is to print a hardcopy of the registration e-mail and store it in a safe place — apart from saving the e-mail itself as a text file or PDF on your Mac (e.g. in your “Documents” folder).

When do I need the Serial Number?

The Serial Number is required whenever you want to install and use iFinance on a new Mac or after reinstalling your Mac OS X operating system. You may also need it for future updates, special offers and support requests.

Important:

Please include as much detail as possible about your purchase:

✓ which product are you inquiring about (in this case “iFinance”)

✓ (estimate of) date of purchase


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✓ your first and last name(s)

✓ some contact information like city, ZIP code, state, country

✓ e-mail address (the one you used during the purchase). If you are unsure which e-mail account you have been using at the time, please send as many potential e-mail addresses as you remember.

Although we try to keep response time low, please be patient. Due to us mostly working on weekdays only, we cannot always guarantee an immediate reaction to your requests. Please factor in that weʼre most likely in a different time zone (Germany) so if youʼre writing us at 3 AM local time on a saturday, it will take some time for an answer to arrive. Mostly though, we have a response time of just a few hours for anything related to lost Serial Numbers.

www.synium.de/support

Updates — Keeping iFinance Up-To-DateSoftware such as iFinance, though thoroughly tested, will require updates which deal with software errors which may not even bother you but can cause problems on certain system configurations under certain conditions. On the other hand, updates may just introduce new features.

When we add new features to iFinance or fix any known problems, we will make these enhancements available online. All updates within a major version (1.x, 2.x or 3.x) are free for registered customers of iFinance, in fact we didnʼt charge for any iFinance update or upgrade yet. As soon as we have to, weʼll inform you of the upgrade pricing before installing the latest version.

So there really is no reason for you to leave out any update. Just make sure you create a backup copy of your database as a precaution before every update.

Automatic update notificationiFinance regularly checks for updates over the Internet. Once an update becomes available, youʼll be informed after launching iFinance. Starting with version 3.1, iFinance relies on an automatic update service.

A window will open, informing you of the update and detailing all improvements this update brings. The Updater lets you:

1. Cancel: The update will not be installed, but you will be reminded the next time you launch iFinance.

2. Skip version: The update will not be installed, youʼll be notified as soon as the succeeding update is available.

3. Download: The update is downloaded and installed.

The actual updating is fairly easy. Simply click “Update” as soon as the download is completed. The update will be installed and the new version of iFinance will launch.


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Checking for updates manuallyIf you want to check for the availability of software updates yourself, go to the Application Menu “iFinance” and choose “Check For Updates…”.

Either youʼll see the update window open or the following message, telling you that your current installation of iFinance is OK and does not need to be updated:


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3 Your First Look At iFinance 3

All-in-one User InterfaceiFinance 3 keeps everything in one compact, resizable window, helping you focus on your work. The new user interface groups all frequently-used controls and buttons in the lower-central portion of the iFinance window. This avoids unnecessary mouse movement. The main part of the UI with all lists and information views then forms a semicircle around and above these controls.

The new UI is also much more graphical, and it dynamically visualizes your actions: Subtle and strictly functional animated effects help you follow actions on screen, configurable coloring of items and interactive elements guide you through data input, editing and analysis.

Some elements conveniently hide from view when they arenʼt needed. They virtually vanish out of sight, granting you an even clearer perspective on your financial status and transactions.

Simply put, iFinance's main window is divided into five areas:

1. Title Bar & Info Display

2. Organizer

3. Viewer & Contextual Toolbar

4. Editor

5. Bottom Bar

1

3

5

2

4

Your first look at iFinance

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Each area serves a specific purpose, but only one is truly “static”: the “Organizer”. All the others change according to your actions within iFinance and contextually display required information or tools for managing your assets.

Finding Your Way around iFinanceTitle Bar & Info DisplayThe title bar of iFinance's main window holds a central display, resembling the screen of your car stereo. This “Info Display” contextually displays certain information, depending on which feature you are currently using.

Furthermore, there's the sprocket-like Preferences button, granting access to the iFinance preferences window and many options you may want to configure to your liking.

OrganizerThe Organizer is the column to the left. It can be resized by grabbing and dragging its right border. The Organizer holds groups of items which make up and help you plan your assets:

✓ Funds

✓ Stocks

✓ Budgets

✓ Reports

✓ Charts

These groups contain any number of accounts, stocks, budgets, reports or charts, which in turn can be grouped by placing them into enclosing folders. You can freely name items and folders, giving you a great amount of flexibility when it comes to organizing your financial data.


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Viewer & Contextual ToolbarWhen ever you select any of the items in the Organizer, you will see the right portion of iFinance's main window change. The top right area is called the “Viewer”, and its size and contents rearrange, matching the context you're working in.

For every item under “Funds”, i.e. cash and bank accounts, as well as bank or credit cards, the Viewer behaves the same: Click on any of the items in the Organizer to the left, and the Viewer displays a list with all the transactions for the selected account — the “Transactions List”.

Clicking on one of the items under “Stocks”, brings about the “Stocks Performance” chart for the selected item. Such an either 2D or 3D graphic also appears, once you click on any of the ”Charts” in the Organizer.

Budgets behave just the same: in the Organizer, click one with your mouse, and you will


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see the graphic Budget Status Bar appear in the Viewer to the right. Underneath, still in the Viewer, a comprehensive list shows all relevant transactions for the selected budget.

Still part of the Viewer but also distinct, the “Contextual Toolbar” is a small strip of tools and controls underneath the Viewer itself. These tools change contextually, hence the toolbar's name. It is here that special buttons allow you to add (”+”), remove (”-”) or auto-categorize transactions as well as toggle between Full Screen, 2D and 3D views for charts. Whenever available, a comprehensive, contextual “Search” may also be triggered from this set of buttons.

A narrow horizontal bar separates the Viewer from the Editor below. Grab this bar with your mouse and drag it up and down to change the size of the Viewer and Editor, respectively.

Editor & Contextual HelpWhen you select an item from the Organizer, a specific context unfolds in the Viewer — in turn, selecting an item from the Viewer then activates the Editor and brings about a number of dedicated tools and controls to manipulate e.g. a single transaction entry.

Bottom BarThe Bottom bar is another “contextual” feature of iFinance's user interface: depending on the tool you are currently using, more or less options will become available.

While the “Contextual Toolbar” and “Editor” serve to add, remove or manipulate the entries of a specific type at a rather fine-grained level, it is in the “Bottom Bar” where you edit your database more “globally”:


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The “+” and “-” buttons in the Bottom Bar serve to add or remove items to/from the Organizer:

✓Accounts (Funds)✓Stocks✓Budgets✓Charts✓Folders & Subfolders

The multicolor “Edit Categories” button opens a separate Categories window.

Use the controls in this window to create, remove and/or (re-)name categories and subcategories, to define keywords and choose their color schemes. Please read on for more information on how to use (sub-) categories and keywords to structure your data and ease your daily routine.

Further to the right, the “Print” button grants immediate access to printed or PDF output, so that you may easily print lists or charts right from within iFinance. Chapter 11 is dedicated to printing exclusively, please refer to that chapter for in-depth information.

Lastly, the blue-white “i”, ubiquitous in many applications on the Mac for “Inspector” or “Information”, invokes the most fundamental settings or information for an item — again, depending on the context.


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4 Importing

The Database ManagerStarting with version 3.1, iFinance will by default display a startup window, the Database Manager, letting you work with separate databases for separate occasions. Now you can have individual database files for your marching band club revenue and for your private accounts.

The Database Manager is accessible from within iFinance in the File menu, as well. Quickly switch over to a different database by selecting the “Change Database” option.

Creating a new database1. In the Database Manager, click the plus sign in the bottom left corner in order to add

a database.

2. Name it so you can easily distinguish your different databases.

3. Select the database youʼd like to work on from the list and click the “Open Database” button.

The Database Manager

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Change the location of your database(s)iFinance manages multiple databases in a comprehensive library - very much like iTunes or iPhoto. Each single database can contain multiple accounts and is stored in a separate database file. All database files are saved in a common folder, your Library.

If you didnʼt change the location, this folder can be found at:

“Your User Folder”/Library/Application Support/iFinance3

In case youʼd rather change the location to your Documents folder,

1. Click the Change button in the startup window.

2. An Open Dialog window will open.

3. Select a new location (we recommend creating an “iFinance Databases” folder in your Documents folder for it).

4. Confirm the selection.

5. iFinance will move all your databases to the folder you selected.

You can store your databases in folders on your hard disk as well as on any external hard disks, USB memory sticks or network folders.

You could use a shared network folder for your own and your partnerʼs data by choosing the same location on a network drive. Please consider the consequences - once you merge your libraries, there is no way you could separate them automatically again.

In case you have to separate your libraries anyway, please move the database files in question to a different location manually. As soon as you define that folder as your database libraryʼs location in iFinance, these files will be listed in your database manager again.

Please note: what you select here is your databaseʼs actual storage location. Please specify only locations on trustworthy storage media - both in respect to data security (against unauthorized access), as well as data integrity (data is safe from data loss). If you specify external storage locations not covered by Time Machine backups, please do regular backups of your data manually.

CAUTION: a centralized network folder doesnʼt allow concurrent data editing (i.e. working on the same data at the same time). Only the user who saves his changes first can actually save his changes permanently. Other usersʼ work will not be permanent in this case.


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Migrating Data From iFinance 2For all our former iFinance 2 users, thereʼs three ways to preserve your data:

A. You already started working with iFinance 3Launch iFinance, then open the database you created from the Database Manager. What youʼd like to do is add your iFinance 2 data and merge it with your new data.

1. Go to the File menu and click “import” - “iFinance 2 File…”.

2. Browse to the folder containing your iFinance 2 database and select it.

3. Importing will add all accounts and charts you created in version 2 to your iFinance 3 data.

B. Youʼre using iFinance 3 for the first time1. Click the “Import iFinance 2 File” button in the Database Manager.

2. Browse to the folder containing your iFinance 2 database and select it.

3. Your current accounts and charts are imported, the file is automatically named after the imported fileʼs name.

C. Youʼd like to keep your old data separateProceed as if you were using iFinance for the first time. Create a separate new database for your new data by clicking the plus button in the bottom left corner.

In any of the above cases, the accounts, categories and transactions are transfered into your new iFinance 3 database unchanged. Please check if everything went smoothly.

Even if you named your items exactly the same as in iFinance 2, the import does never truly “merge” the entries. Rather, iFinance 3 avoids too much automatism at this point to protect your valuable data.

Verify that there are no overlapping dates/duplicate transactions Adding data from an old database will influence your total funds. Make sure you didnʼt create duplicates:

1. Go to the (new) account you have been using since buying iFinance 3 and check which is the “oldest” transaction.

2. Open the automatically created, imported (old) account from iFinance 2 and look for the most recent transaction.

3. If the most recent transaction from the import is older than the oldest transaction which you recently entered into iFinance 3, your data is okay.


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4. Itʼs safe to simply select all transactions from the imported (old) account and drag them to the (new) account with the same name.

5. To guide you in this process, iFinance 3 highlights all valid target accounts green. Items highlighted red are of a different kind — you cannot, for example, drag transactions from Accounts on Stocks or Charts.

Importing From Other SourcesiFinance 3 natively supports these common data formats:

✓ “CSV”

✓ “MT940”

✓ “Quicken Interchange Format”

The following pages give you a broad view over the formats and iFinanceʼs capabilities to work with such data.

CSV (”.csv” files)CSV (”Comma-separated Values”) is available as an export option in spreadsheet applications like Apple Numbers, Microsoft Excel, OpenOffice.org, as well as in most software for personal finance management.

When exporting in CSV format, data is saved as one table row per transaction, with columns containing the associated values like date, target account and amount. CSV-formatted data is stored in plain text files with the suffix “.csv”.

Categories in CSV filesiFinance supports importing categories formatted as “super-category:sub-category”.

For example: a transaction containing “candy:cotton-candy” in the Category field will be assigned cotton-candy as Category and since this category doesnʼt exist yet, itʼs

Depending on the number of transactions you've just dragged from one account to the other, iFinance 3 may require some time to merge the information. This is usually just a matter of seconds. But please be patient if it does take longer than expected.


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automatically added to your Categories; candy being the super-category and cotton-candy its sub-category.

Importing

1. Invoke the CSV import from the File menu with the “Import” - “CSV file …” option.

2. Browse to your csv file, select it and click “Open”.

3. A dialog window will open. Select the account to assign the imported data to

iFinance analyzes the file before importing and prompts you to define which column corresponds to which value for an entry. In this dialog, iFinance also allows you to exclude single entries (rows) by unchecking the checkbox at the beginning of each row.

While you may freely choose to discard redundant information by setting the column to “Ignore” and/or unchecking the checkbox, some information is absolutely required for iFinance to proceed with the import:


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Each imported transaction must contain date information. Please look for the column containing the transaction's date, click on the column's heading pop-up button and select “Date” from the menu which opens under your mouse pointer.

Next, you must identify the column containing the amount of the transaction(s). Find the column containing the amount, again, click on the column's heading pop-up button and select the appropriate one of the following three options:

✓ “Amount (Debit/Credit)”

✓ “Amount (Debit)”

✓ “Amount (Credit)”

In the pop-up menu, there are other options too, ready to be assigned to columns containing other values like:

✓ Sign (Debit/Credit)

✓ Transaction Title

✓ Beneficiary/Account of

✓ Beneficiary

✓ Account of

✓ Category

✓ Check Number


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✓ Comment 1

✓ Comment 2

✓ Comment 3

✓ Comment 4

Once you identify the column containing the “Date” information, iFinance attempts to semi-automatically match the date format encountered within the import against a number of commonly-used formats. Make sure that the “Date Format” pop-up button below the matching table is set to the correct format.

You may also define your own “Custom …” date format.

MT940 (”.sta” files)Many bank institutes use this plain text file format to digitally store single transaction records as well as combined account information containing multiple transactions and balance information. While “MT940” is the name of the format, files formatted accordingly most likely carry the suffix “.sta”.

1. Invoke the MT940 import from the File menu with the “Import” - “MT940 (SWIFT)…” option.

2. Importing and matching date and amount information is fully automatic for MT940 files.

As long as either the amount column, the column for date or the date format are not appropriately defined, iFinance highlights these invalid entries in the matching table with a light-red overlay and deactivates the “Import” button.


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3. In case there are fields that canʼt be assigned automatically, pick the right choice from the drop-down menus.

Quicken (”.qif” files)Intuit's “Quicken” is a personal finance management application. iFinance 3 directly imports files stored in the “.qif” format and fully supports these types of items:

✓ Accounts

✓ Categories

✓ Transactions

✓ Transfers

✓ Splits

Simply select “Import” - “QIF” from the File menu.


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A mapping dialog allows you to fine-tune the import. For transactions belonging to a given account in the Quicken source file you may define target accounts from your iFinance 3 database, so that all these transactions are automatically merged with your existing financial data.


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For transactions which have not been properly assigned to any account using the Quicken software, iFinance prompts you to select a target account from within the iFinance database.

Categories present in the Quicken source file are fully preserved during import. As long as a match can be found among the categories defined in your iFinance 3 database, every item will be correctly assigned the appropriate category. If no match can be found, the required category will be created in iFinance 3.

Date format matching is semi-automatic. Please refer to my description of CSV import to learn how to define the correct format for date information.

iFinance does not support Quicken's investment transactions yet.


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5Working with the iPhone

Importing data from your iPhoneThereʼs a companion application called “iFinance Mobile” for the iPhone and iPod touch available in the AppStore. This application lets you record your spendings on the go, making it easier not to forget any lunch at a diner, not a single train ticket or receipt at the supermarket.

Please consider the limitations when combining your Mac and iPhone before syncing for the first time. After the following basic information, youʼll find step-by-step instructions for setting up your sync.

One Mac, several mobile devicesThe iPhone, as well as the iPod touch are valid options for tracking your finances on the go.

1. You can use several mobile devices for one database (A1) on your Mac, allowing you and your partner and children to enter data for a shared account.

2. Several databases on one Mac can be synced to several mobile devices (A1 & A2)

3. iPhones canʼt sync amongst themselves directly, just with a Mac as a central sync server.

iPhone X iPhone Y

Mac A

Database A1Database A2

Mobile database A1Mobile database A2

Mobile database A1Mobile database A2

A1 & A2 A1 & A2

Sync

Direct sync impossible

Working with the iPhone

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Several Macs, one iPhoneiFinance doesnʼt allow automatic syncing a database across several Macs. Thatʼs why in this illustration, databases A1 and A2 can exclusively be found on Mac A, not Mac B.

1. You can sync one mobile device with an unlimited number of databases A(1, 2, 3, …) from Mac A and databases B(1, 2, 3, …) from Mac B.

2. You canʼt, however, sync Mac Aʼs databases with Mac Bʼs databases using the iPhone as a sync server.

Import or synchronizeSynchronize means iFinance automatically ensures that all data on your Mac and iPhone is identical.

Importing doesnʼt go just as far, as it only reads the data from your iPhone. This is why you can, for example, sync database A1 between Mac A and an iPhone and then import that data on a second Mac, i.e. Mac B.

This will, however, not be database A1 which is on your Mac A, even though all current data from that database is now imported on Mac B. This database on Mac B is called D1, as you will not be able to sync any changes introduced on Mac B back to your iPhone.

Sync

Sync impossible

iPhone Y

Mac A Mac B


Database B1Database B2

Mobile database A1Mobile database A2Mobile database B1Mobile database B2

B1 & B2A1 & A2


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Overall, syncing as well as importing your data requires a licensed copy of iFinance 3 on your Mac.

A. You entered data in iFinance for your Mac firstMake sure you sync your data with iFinance Mobile on your iPhone first. Additional instructions are available inside iFinance Mobile. A wireless network connection shared by both your Mac and mobile device is required. Syncing over USB is not available. In iFinance on your Mac, just

1. click the “iPhone and iPod touch” entry in the left hand column,

2. launch iFinance Mobile on your mobile device and activate syncing.

iPhone Y

Mac A Mac B


Database B1Database B2

Mobile database A1Mobile database A2Mobile database B1Mobile database B2

B1 & B2A1 & A2

B1 → C1 A1 → D1

Database C1 Database D1

Sync

Import from an iPhone database

Direct sync impossible

Caution: Importing is not syncing! Your desktop database and your mobile device are automatically assigned to another during the sync process. This is required for the sync to work.After youʼve synced properly once, all changes on the mobile device(s) will be inserted in your desktop iFinance database.


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3. as soon as iFinance recognizes your device, select it from the list and click the Sync button within iFinance.

Once the sync is completed, start using iFinance Mobile.

B. You started out with iFinance Mobile on your iPhone a) If you are new to iFinance on your Mac, import your iPhone data via the Database

Manager which will create a new database on your desktop and then sync the device first before proceeding.

b) If you are an existing user of iFinance for your Mac but created a new database in iFinance Mobile for testing purposes on your device, there is no way you can sync this mobile database with your desktop database, even if theyʼre named identically. In order to avoid the hassle of importing, converting and then merging the data manually, please always sync once before seriously using the mobile device.


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6Saving Your iFinance 3 Database

Location Of The iFinance DatabaseThe iFinance database is stored under “Application Support/iFinance3/” in your user's “Library” folder. The complete path is:

“your_user_Folder”/Library/Application Support/iFinance3/

SavingiFinance saves your database every time you quit the application. So, quitting iFinance not only closes the program, but also saves all your recent changes.

You may also manually save at any time by clicking the “Save” option from the File menu.

Activating AutosaveWe highly recommend setting iFinance 3 to automatically save all the changes to your database at regular intervals. In case you rarely power down your Mac at all, you may run into trouble and suffer data loss in case your system ever crashes without you having previously saved the iFinance database.

Open iFinance's “Preferences” window, go to the “Document” pane and activate the checkbox “Save automatically every 5 minutes”.

Encrypt your databaseYou can dramatically increase your data security against unauthorized access by password-protecting the database file and, if necessary, even encrypt it.

Password protection will keep others from accessing your data with any copy of iFinance unless theyʼre given the password. With a lot of effort and appropriate means, however, password protection can be breached. So, while this offers an elevated level of security, it doesnʼt provide the highest security available. On the plus side: if you ever forget your password, we might be able to unlock your database if you send it to us and reset the password for you.

If you opt for encryption, though, your data is highly secure, so much so in fact that even we canʼt help you in case you forget your password. Youʼd still have your data but wonʼt be able to access it unless you recover the password.

In order to activate password protection and optional encryption, please open iFinanceʼs Preferences (via the cogwheel button to the right or the iFinance Menu).

Select the Database pane tab and activate the options under the “Password Protection“ header.

Working With ArchivesCreating iFinance 3 archivesCreating an iFinance 3 archive is easy: Go to the “File” menu and select “Export” “iFinance 3 Archive …”.

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iFinance will prompt you to select a place and a name under which to save a complete archive copy of your iFinance 3 database. Such archive files carry the suffix “ifi3a”.

Spotlight — track your archive files Finding an iFinance 3 database archive you created in the past is easy: Simply use Apple's ”Spotlight” feature. Of course, Spotlight will only show you files stored on your Mac — or on external hard disks connected at the time of the search:

Click the “Spotlight” icon in the upper right corner of your Mac's screen and enter “.ifi3a” into the search field. Spotlight will immediately start looking for everything on your Mac containing this phrase. Please make sure that you enter the search string without quotation marks but include the leading dot.

Search results are shown in real-time underneath the search string. Clicking on “Show All” will open all search results in a separate window. This is very useful if there are several results matching your search criteria.

Clicking on the column header “Kind” sorts all the results by file type. This immediately groups all your iFinance archive files together — useful for the rare occasion that some other files matched the “.ifi3a” search string.

Selecting one of the files with your mouse pops up the file path at the bottom of the search results window. This path tells you where exactly the selected file is stored on your Mac.

But even more handy is the contextual menu of Mac OS X: right-click (CTRL-click) on a search result with your mouse and select “Open Enclosing Folder” to directly show the file in a Finder window. From there you can then easily move or copy the database file, e.g. to a different folder or onto a backup disk.

Please read on to learn about backup strategies:

Considering BackupsWhile working in iFinance, regularly go to the “File” menu and select the “Save” option to save the current state of your finances database. Per se, this does not provide any additional safety. None at all! In case of hard disk failure, data that hasnʼt been backed up can only be retrieved by specialized (and expensive) services.

There are various ways for creating a safety net for your valuable data. Two considerations should be taken very seriously though:

Storage locationYour internal hard disk is in no way a safe location. Please create frequent backups on CDs, USB memory or online backup services. Using an online and remote backup service like the one included with Apple's “Mobile Me” is also a viable alternative: you don't have to travel anywhere to retrieve the data in case of emergency.


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Manual vs. automatic backupsManual backups give you the advantage of always knowing how much time has passed since you last made sure your data is safe. Automatic scheduled backups, however, relieve you of the burden of remembering it.

We advise all customers to at least use the free Time Machine backup mechanism included in Mac OS X 10.5 and 10.6. If you simply attach a USB hard disk and have Time Machine work its magic, youʼll have greatly improved recoverability after system failure by an order of magnitude.

In case youʼre concerned that might not be enough for your data, please contact specialized data backup providers.

Storing your sensitive personal financial information online may compromise your own security: Make sure to rely on services you trust which have proven to be reliable and secure. They should also make use of secure encrypted transmission methods while storing or accessing your data. You should also consider encrypting the data you are about to upload to the “Cloud”


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7 Using iFinance 3

Structure Your FinancesThe left hand column of iFinance's main window is the Organizer. It lets you structure your assets and gives fast access to Accounts, Stocks, Budgets and Charts by clicking on these items. Within categories, use folders and subfolders whenever it makes sense to you - after all, itʼs you who will regularly be working with this data.

For example, iFinance's default database groups Bank Account and Credit Card inside a folder named “Accounts”, while the charts for Income and Expenses are contained within a “Categories” folder. iFinance supports an indefinite number of items and folders.

Working with Organizer ItemsTo create any new item or folder, click the plus button in the Bottom Bar, underneath the Organizer. A floating menu appears:

From the menu, choose one of five options, to create e.g. a new account or folder. Next, a dialog prompts you for a number of different basic settings, depending on the item you just created:

Funds

Stocks

Budgets

Reports

Charts

Mobile

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Inclusion in total funds

1. New AccountWhile creating new stocks and charts may become a frequent habit, depending on your day-to-day use of iFinance — adding accounts or changing their behavior should only occur once in a while – Whenever you open a new account at your bank, or if you decide to track another bank or credit card.

For each account, there is some basic information to define:

Account NamePlease use a name which best describes this account. “My Private Account at Bank XYZ” or “Account No. 123 456 789 at Bank XYZ” — iFinance doesn't care, but you should know at once which account the name refers to.

Start ValueWhile this field defaults to zero (”0.00”), it accepts any amount with which iFinance should start tracking a particular account.

If you know that you can only access account information back to a certain date in time, at which the account in question already showed a balance other than zero, simply enter that balance as the start value.

Inclusion in total fundsBy default, all Accounts within a folder will be summed up and a total for that folder is displayed. All folder totals are consolidated into the amount of total funds. When creating a new Account or a new Stock, you can choose to include or exclude them in the total Funds. If you change your mind along the way, simply double-click an account or a stock in the left hand organizer and change this setting.

For Accounts included in the total Funds, the amount is displayed with dark blue background color, Accounts not included are highlighted light-gray.

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This field is very important! If the start value is not correctly defined, the daily balance for the account, and of course for your assets in total, will never correspond to the total funds actually available to you.

CurrencyA very important setting too: iFinance supports multiple currencies per database but any account considers only one currency for its transactions. Please choose the appropriate currency from the pop-up button.

The use of foreign currencies is described in the section “Working With Multiple Currencies”.

Other information to enter in the settings dialog for an account includes the Icon to display in the Organizer, the Account Number, Bank Code and Bank Name as well as the more comprehensive IBAN and BIC/SWIFT.

2. New StockIn the default database setup, iFinance automatically creates one example item under Stocks — the “Apple” (Name) or “AAPL” (Symbol) entry, representing the stock of the company Apple Inc., traded at the New York Stock Exchange.

For all the stocks added to this section, iFinance displays a configurable and printable Stocks Performance Chart in the Viewer to the right. More on this later .

Each stock must be defined by such a generic Name and a unique Symbol. The names are freely definable to best describe each stock to yourself. Symbols are unique, but there may be more than one symbol for a given company:

Symbols are issued by the stock trading institutions of the national and international stock markets, such as the “NYSE” (New York Stock Exchange in New York/U.S.A.) or the “DAX” (maintained by the Deutsche Börse in Frankfurt/Main, Germany). So, if a company's shares are traded at more than one market place in the world, every such place has a unique identifier for the share.

If you hold shares in a publicly-traded company, you will know the symbol required to search for. But if you want to track certain stocks and are unsure about which symbol to

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use in this settings dialog, simply use the search field to enter the company's name and click “Search”. Your Web browser then opens with a list of search results from Yahoo, which is the service iFinance uses to query stock market information.

Identify the symbol for iFinance to use and enter it into the “Symbol” field of the settings dialog. Then click “Done” to finish creating the new stock to track, or to save the changes.

More options to define the way the “Stocks Performance Chart” in the viewer to the right behaves will be discussed in “Tracking Your Stocks”.

3. New BudgetBudgets help to keep your earnings and spendings within specific boundaries. Either to simply avoid running out of cash before the end of the month, or to assist you in putting aside the money required for the Caribbean cruise, for that new car, your kid's college education …you get the idea.

When you first create a new budget by clicking the “+” button in the Bottom Bar, your are prompted for a name. Budgets are defined, interactively, in the “Editor” portion of the iFinance window. We will talk about this later in “Working With Budgets”.

4. New ChartCharts in iFinance are graphical representations of either snapshots or historical trends, regarding your personal finances. Once you have imported or entered a sufficient amount of information, they vividly and interactively visualize certain contexts either by account(s) or categories.

After naming your new chart and because iFinance also needs to know which basic data to consider, you must select the desired “Data Source” from our set of predefined options such as e.g. “Account History”, “Income/Expenses” or “Profit/Loss”.

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Depending on the selected data source, the option “Visualization Mode”, allows you to choose between “Accounts” and “Categories” for the perspective this newly-created chart grants on your data.

More tools for fine-tuning any chart are available in the “Editor” portion of the iFinance window. But we will go into more detail in “Creating Charts”.

5. New ReportReports behave very much the same as charts. One major difference is you donʼt have to select a data source, instead, you simply select one of the templates like Income/Expenses or Profits/Losses. Please see chapter 11 for more detailed information.

6. New FolderFolders exist for all four sections of the Organizer. Folders can be grouped hierarchically, one inside the other, to allow for complex logical structures. Every such level of your custom folder hierarchy supports multiple items and folders.

Its “Name” and “Type” are the only settings currently available for a folder. “Type” firmly defines the section to which a given folder belongs.

If you select a folder or subfolder within any of the sections, prior to hitting the “+” button, iFinance automatically assumes that location as the place for the new item or folder to be created. You may later change the exact location for an item, simply by dragging it around within the same section.

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Changing Settings For Existing ItemsYou may alter these settings at any time: Simply select the item to edit and click the blue-white “i” button in the Bottom Bar or simply double-click the item in the Organizer and choose the appropriate option from the contextual menu.

If you want to move an item or folder to a different (sub-) folder within the same section later on, simply drag it with your mouse to the desired location and drop it. iFinance highlights in green, where you may put an item. A blue line indicates where the item will be placed. Red highlighting warns you that such areas cannot host a given item.

Folders & SubfoldersWhile “Funds” and “Stocks” display the total worth of all cash and bank accounts or stocks, respectively, single items in the Organizer may still be grouped in distinct folders and subfolders.

E.g., should you be tracking accounts for members of your family or specific projects, this allows you to structure the iFinance database in a way that each family member or project has a corresponding folder.

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Folder totalsAs explained here, you can choose wether or not to include an accountʼs total or stock value in the superordinate folder and since all folders are consolidated in the end, ultimately in the total Funds.

Folders can come in pretty handy when working with multiple currencies, too. You can work with european Accounts, all in Euro but for a better overview, the folder will display the total in US $.

Just double-click the Folder in the Organizer and select the currency from the list. This can be reverted at any time and gives you a fairly exact estimation based on the most current exchange rate determined by iFinance.

Managing TransactionsFor transactions, you will mostly be working in the right portion of the iFinance window. The Viewer and Editor are your tools of the trade:

Adding TransactionsImmediately underneath the Viewer, in the Contextual Toolbar are plus and minus buttons. Use them to manually add to or remove items from the account selected in the Organizer to the left.

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Instead of adding transactions manually, you may always populate accounts by importing single or multiple entries from an external data file. Please refer to „Importing Your Data“ to learn more about importing and file formats supported by iFinance.

Whatever the procedure for adding data, once you click on any one of the items under “Funds” in the Organizer, the Viewer changes to the “Transactions List” — a list of all transactions available for the selected account:

The Transactions List

In the Transactions List each row corresponds to one transaction and the columns divide information for each transaction into several cells. While the contents of every single cell may be edited “inline”, directly inside the Transactions List, it is recommended to use the Editor to edit this information.

Let's have a look at the information available for each entry:

Label

Selectively label an entry to remember it for editing at a later moment. Use the “Label This Transaction” checkbox in the Editor to set or remove the Label flag. The Transaction List is sortable by any criteria by clicking in the corresponding columnʼs headline.

Activate or Consider

Uncheck the box in front of a transaction to deactivate and exclude it from all calculations in the database. Inactive transactions remain fully searchable, but they will not be considered for any mathematical calculations and not show in, totals or graphical representations, like charts or Budget Status Bars.

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Recurring

Recurring Transactions, i.e. transactions that occur on a regular basis showing the same amount, title and beneficiary can easily be specified by the “Repeat” dropdown as daily, weekly, monthly, yearly or even at a user-defined intervall. The Recurring icon will show up for all recurring transfers in the Viewer.

Part of a Transfer

Transactions from one of one ownʼs accounts to another are marked by the “Transfer” checkbox. Clicking this checkbox allows you to select one of your own accounts as the target. All transactions marked as transfers show the “Part of a Transfer” icon in the Viewer.

DateYou can type directly into the date field or use the Editor to choose the appropriate date from the Date Picker, accessible via a small calendar icon next to its date field.

CategoryCategory Indicators are solid bubbles, matching the color definition for the specific category. If an item has not been assigned a category, you will see a glass-like, transparent bubble instead.

Optionally, for “Split Transactions”, category indicators may appear as “Pie Charts”, with slices of different colors, representing the categories assigned to each individual item of which a split transaction consists. Color blind users best use the optional text display.

Transaction TitleAs with “Comment”, this field usually holds some descriptive text, making it easier for you to search for and understand the purpose or context of a transaction.

You are free to work with Title and Comment in any way you like, but it is probably a good idea to use one of both fields for the textual information accompanying the written/digital record of any given check, bank transfer or other transaction.

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Credit and DebitThese two columns hold positive or negative values. With their green or red background color and the “+” and “-” sign in front of each amount it is very easy to distinguish Credit from Debit.

CommentAs with “Transaction Title”, this field usually holds some descriptive text, making it easier for you to search for and understand the purpose or context of a transaction.

You are free to work with Title and Comment in any way you like, but it is probably a good idea to use one of the two fields for the textual information accompanying the written/digital record of any given check, bank transfer or other transaction.

Mostly, comments will be information relating to the reason or purpose of a transfer, intended for the payer, as well as for the beneficiary to keep their accounting as well-documented as possible.

Don't waste time entering redundant information. But if a transaction refers to, e.g. a specific contract or purchase you have on file, it surely comes in handy to be able to annotate a reference to precisely that contract or invoice.

AmountThis is the total amount of money for the transaction. Positive and negative amounts can easily be distinguished by the “+” and “-” signs and green or red colors.

Explaining Day Balance HeadersWhen you select the “Date” column in a Transactions List in iFinance's Viewer, you will see tiny horizontal rows inserted between some of the transactions. Looking closer, you may have already guessed that these rows separate transactions into blocks of calendar days. Such headers only appear when sorting the Transactions List by date.

Every such row is a “Day Balance Header”, with all transactions belonging to that day appearing immediately below. In this example, the balance rose from -1,756.43 to + 8,099.69 €.

By clicking these fields directly, you switch to “Inline Edit Mode”, allowing you to directly type into the cell and input some text. This allows for very quick on-the-fly editing and is basically the same as using the Editor.

By clicking these fields directly, iFinance switches to “Inline Edit Mode”, allowing to directly type into the cell and input some text. This allows for very quick on-the-fly editing and is basically the same as using the Editor.

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Day BalanceThe selected account's balance at the end of that particular day.

Trend indicatorThis is an arrow, indicating if your account balance has been going up or down or remained unchanged, if compared with the previous day balance.

Sorting Items In The ViewerBy clicking any of the column headers, the corresponding column is activated, telling iFinance to sort all entries in the Transaction List by that criteria. E.g., click on “Date” to sort all transactions chronologically.

Creating And Editing TransactionsAll transactions use the same basic template which appears in the Editor, after clicking the “+” button underneath the Transactions List in the Viewer.

Transactions have a number of different attributes. Depending on the specific transaction type, certain attributes may only become available contextually:

Once a column has been activated and the Transactions List sorted accordingly, clicking the same column title again inverts the sort order from ascending to descending, or vice versa.

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TitleAs with the “Comment” you should use this field to enter some descriptive text, making it easier for you to search for and understand the purpose or context of a transaction.

You are free to use either Title or Comment in any way you like, but it is probably a good idea, using one of both fields for the textual information accompanying the written/digital record of any given check, bank transfer or other transaction.

PictureYou can assign a picture to a transaction by dragging and dropping an image from the finder or the desktop onto the marked area. After you assigned a picture, double-clicking will enlarge it.

DateOpen our “Date Picker” to quickly enter a date, by clicking on the tiny calendar icon next to the date field.

AmountThis is the total amount of money for the transaction. Positive and negative amounts can easily be distinguished by the plus and minus buttons and green or red colors.

If a given transaction has a positive value defined for “Amount”, the account you currently work on “receives” this amount, you may be “earning” some money. Mostly this will be any form of income like your salary or a pay check for any service you provide. Of course, it can also be the payment you receive for that comic book collection or old car you just sold.

In the case of a negative value, the amount is “moved away” from the active account: You are most likely “spending” money, i.e. purchasing something or paying your rent.

Exchange RateTransfers between accounts with different currencies need to be converted with the most recent exchange rate between those currencies. Consequently, this attribute is only available for the transaction type “Transfer” between oneʼs accounts with different currencies. The Exchange rate is set in the target accountʼs settings for a specific transfer after it is saved.

Using the reverse arrow button to the right, you can easily invert the exchange rate to correctly consider the direction of the conversion to apply to the transferred amount.

You can quickly toggle between positive and negative amounts for a transaction by clicking on the “+” or “-” button in front of the amount.

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Please see “Working with multiple currencies” for more details.

Check NumberThis helps you keep track of your checks by their reference numbers.

CategoryPlease select the appropriate Category for the transaction from the menu accesible via this pop-up button. You may also choose “No Category” if you prefer to not assign this transaction no specific category (yet).

Choosing “Add Categories …” opens the Categories Window, where you may add a new category or subcategory specifically for this item or manage your categories altogether.

Beneficiary/Account Of Please enter the name or the account number of a person or entity as the target (Beneficiary) or source (Account Of) for a particular transaction into this field.

Changing the signing of the transaction amount toggles “Beneficiary” and “Account Of”, respectively. Clicking on the “+” or “-” sign in front of the amount has the same effect.

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CommentAs with the “Title”, you should use this field to enter some descriptive text, making it easier for you to search for and understand the purpose or context of a transaction.

You are free to use either Title or Comment in any way you like, but it is probably a good idea, using one of both fields for the textual information accompanying the written/digital record of any given check, bank transfer or other transaction.

TagsTags let you assign key words to a transaction. These are searchable so that if you use tags extensively, youʼll be able to selectively find all your expenses for organic white chocolate in a snap.

To create any of the special transaction types below, you must activate certain options in the Editor's standard transaction template. These options can be combined, e.g. to define even a rather exotic “Recurring Split Transfer”:

Repeat/EndUsing these two drop-down buttons you change any transaction into a recurring one by defining an interval (”Repeat”) and an (optional) “End” date. iFinance uses the date of the original transaction you've just been working on as the start date.

Split This TransactionThis gray button is somewhat special: activating it for a given transaction moves a small list into sight. The “Split Details” list.

Using the “+” and “-” button underneath, you add items to the list. Each of these items has some attributes of its own:

✓ Title

✓ Amount

✓ Category

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Think of Split Details as of single “positions”, constituting, for example, a purchase where you acquire more than one item with your payment. Just like an invoice or purchase receipt, it holds multiple individual articles you bought during the same purchase.

While you can use this list to completely break down all purchase receipts and invoices into their single positions, this feature is meant rather for convenience than to add another layer of complexity:

Imagine having purchased a new laptop plus a number of CDs or DVDs from your local electronics store. You certainly want to correctly track this laptop as belonging to the category “Computer”, while music and movies are filed under “Entertainment” or “Media”. Split transactions are what you need. And this is where you access them.

So, just click the gray button, add at least the new laptop to the list, define its purchase price under “Amount” and select the appropriate “Category” — that's it. Date, amount and other attributes for the original transaction remain unchanged, regardless of items you define in this list.

Once a split with at least one item is defined, you will see three things change for this transaction:

The tiny bubble in the gray button changes its color to green.

Also, representing the categories assigned to item(s) under Split Details, you will see the “Category” indicator in the Viewer change its appearance too: It looks much like a pie chart now, representing the percentage each category holds of the total amount for this particular transaction.

Accessing the Split Details is as simple as clicking the gray button with your mouse. Hiding it works just the same, and you will not lose any of the edits if you choose to hide the list of items once you're done editing the individual items of this split transaction.

Splits can consist of a mix of positive and negative items. E.g., you may have received a rebate or refund on the invoice which also holds your latest purchase. To create a single item with a negative value, just enter “-” in front of the value for “Amount” under Split Details. If you change the amount for the entire split transaction in the main Editor, by simply clicking on the “+” or “-” icon in front of the “Amount” field, the signing of all individual items defined in the Split Details list, will simply be inverted.

TransferActivate this option, and the field “Beneficiary”/”Account Of” changes to a pop-up button, allowing you to choose from any of the accounts in the database.

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If a given transaction has a positive amount defined, activating “Transfer” means that on this occasion, money is “retrieved” from another account within your iFinance database. If the value is negative, the money is “deposited” on the target account. Changing the signing of the transaction amount also toggles “Beneficiary” and “Account Of”, respectively. Clicking on the “+” or “-” sign in front of the amount has the same effect.

Supported Transaction TypesiFinance supports the following types of real-life transactions. While you add and edit them in mostly the same way, it is important to understand their purpose:

(Simple) TransactionsThese are the basic transactions, just like for instance a receipt from the grocery store or pharmacist with only grocery or medicine items on them, respectively.

Recurring TransactionsTransactions occurring repeatedly over time, while maintaining all their attributes unchanged can be scheduled , so that iFinance automatically creates such entries at given intervals.

Split TransactionsWith Split Transactions you can assign partial amounts within one Transaction in order to assign partial value to different categories.

TransfersTransactions between two accounts in your iFinance database are called “Transfers”. Combinations of the various transaction types above are also fully supported:

Recurring Split TransactionsiFinance supports Split Transactions that are periodically recurring.

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Recurring TransfersIf you pay your regularly occurring cable provider bill with your credit card, the Recurring Transfers has you covered.

Split TransfersIn order to keep track of category assignment for partial amounts within a credit card payment, youʼll need Split Transfers

Recurring Split TransfersLetʼs say you use the ATM every friday to get the same amount of cash you then spend on a burger, bowling and the bus ride. Well, guess what, you can track those expenses with iFinance.

Categories & SubcategoriesiFinance features a powerful mechanism to sort and structure your data: “Categories”.

Categories are like smart, multicolor labels which you use to indicate that a specific item belongs to a specific set of other items. E.g., you will use categories to aggregate expenses for specific projects, maintenance costs as well as insurance and tax payments for your car, money you spend for food and other more basic needs — grouping all transactions for these “Categories” in neat sets, across accounts and easily identifiable.

Select the appropriate Category for each transaction from the dropdown list.

The Categories WindowOpen the Categories Window from either iFinance's “Window→Categories Window” menu or by clicking the multicolor “Categories” button in the Bottom Bar of iFinance's main window.

The Categories window allows you to change colors for categories, add or delete categories and assign keywords to categories. Keywords will be recognized when using the “automatically assign categories to selected transaction” button:

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Using categoriesAlso, for each item, select the appropriate category or subcategory from a menu accessible via the “Category” pop-up button in the Editor. If you prefer not to assign a specific category (yet) to a given item, simply choose “No Category”.

Once you assign a category to any item, its Category Indicator in the Transaction List, as well as in other instances in the application, takes the color you specified for the category. Specifying a color is as easy as clicking on a category's color patch in the Categories Window.

Category Indicators are solid bubbles, matching the color definition for the specific category. If an item has not been assigned a category, you will see a glass-like, transparent bubble instead.

Split TransactionsOptionally, for “Split Transactions”, category indicators may appear as “Pie Charts”, with slices of different colors, representing the categories assigned to each individual item of which a split transaction consists or as written text. Please see the iFinance Preferences to change this behavior.

Merge sub-category with super-categoryLetʼs say youʼd like to consolidate all mobile phone and cable phone bills into “Phone” instead of assigning the more detailed sub-categories. Select the sub-category in the “Categories” window and click the merge button:

All keywords will be merged and all transactions formerly separated are assigned the super-category “Phone”.

TagsSimply put, try to use tags to avoid creating a myriad of different categories for each and every purpose. This helps identify certain transactions and makes them more easily manageable.

Additionally, iFinance can filter your database for tags during automatic categorization, as well as when generating charts. This makes categories and tags a very powerful combination for analytical purposes. Remember the organic white chocolate from earlier?

Tags are consecutive strings of characters. I.e., they can be any word, number or combination of characters you like.

To separate one tag from another, simply type a “blank” or “space” character with your keyboard.

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Tags are self-contained: they cannot interfere with any other occurrence of the same string anywhere else in the database. If iFinance filters for tags, it only filters for strings in the “Tags” fields of database items. If there are ambiguities, it will be because you used the same expression in different or conflicting contexts.

Automatic CategorizationWhenever you click an account in the Organizer, in the Contextual Toolbar of the Viewer, the second button from the right invokes iFinance's “Automatic Categorization” feature.

Select one or multiple transactions in the Transactions List for this button to become available.

iFinance analyzes the selected entries for information matching existing transaction-category pairs and keywords you defined in the Categories Window.

Searching TransactionsIf you assigned Tags to Transactions, simply click the magnifying glass button and enter the word youʼre looking for. iFinance immediately starts to filter through your Transactions and displays all results containing said word.

Search for phrases (multiple words in a given order) by enclosing them in quotes. If you search for “Mac mini”, your results will show just the Mac mini you bought, not the new 180 horsepower gem in your garage.

You may find this topic a little dry now, but wait until you entered your first few thousand transactions over the first five years. So youʼre looking for that receipt for the RAM you bought six months ago and which youʼre about to have replaced? You may thank us, but you will definitely thank yourself for entering “RAM” as a tag.

Working with Multiple CurrenciesiFinance replicates the way banks handle foreign currencies:

✓ Each account has a single currency assigned to it.

✓ Moving money between two of your own accounts is called a transfer

✓ You need the exchange rate at the date when the transfer took place.

Jump back and forth between source and target accountsWhen you add a transfer, an arrow will appear in the transaction list. Click this arrow to quickly access the counter entry on the target account. The exchange rate applied to the transfer is always kept on the target account as it directly influences the resulting amount in the target accountʼs currency.

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Letʼs say you transfer money from an account in Europe to a U.S. account but all you have is the Dollar amount. Klick the arrow button in the transaction list and enter the Dollar amount in the target account editor. iFinance will automatically calculate the Euro amount and enter it in the source account.

Exchange ratesiFinance can always just determine the current exchange rate. While (historical) exchange rates are available on the Internet, they are actually different from one bank to another. The exchange rate applied to each transfer will however appear on your bank statement.

When creating a foreign-currency transfer, you will need to enter the exchange rate into the special attribute field “Exchange Rate”. By default, iFinance pre-fills that field with the current factor downloaded from the internet.

This field is only available for the transaction type “Transfer” between accounts with different currencies.

Using the reverse arrow button to the right, you can easily invert the exchange rate. Did you incidentally enter the Dollar amount in Euros or vice versa? No problem, this button will apply the exchange rate for you.

Apart from the standard exchange rate in effect at a given moment, additional fees apply, for the transfer and conversion between accounts with different currencies. This fee is usually processed independently and your account will be charged with this fee in a separate transaction. Make sure to create entries for these fees to keep your account balance in sync.

✓ If you change an existing transfer amount on the source account, iFinance will assume the amount on the target account is entered correctly and will adjust the exchange rate automatically.

✓ Likewise, if you adjust the existing amount on the target account, only the exchange rate is adjusted accordingly.

Caution!Amounts from foreign currency accounts, as well as foreign stocks appear rounded in the total funds.

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ReconcilingiFinance allows you to tag transactions as either open, pending or cleared. By default, youʼll find a red cross next to the Check Number field, labeling the transaction “open”. Click this cross in order to change the transactionʼs status:

In order to activate the Reconciling view,

1. click “Reconcile” in the Contextual Toolbar.

2. Then click the plus button to create a new reconciling period.

3. Specify the period to display.

4. All transactions outside that period will not be displayed in the Viewerʼs results.

5. Apply filtering if practical. Clicking the red cross button, for example, will hide all transactions labeled “open”.

6. Now enter the start balance and closing balance for this period and youʼre ready to start.

7. Select a transaction from the Viewerʼs list, check the entry and then adjust its status via the status selector to the right of the Closing Balance field if applicable.

8. Repeat the steps to clear each transaction in your list.

Smart definition of reconciling periodsStarting with version 3.2, iFinance comes with a smart add-button. Letʼs say you set up a reconciling period “month of May”. Select it in the list and click the center button:

iFinance automatically adds the most likely candidate, “month of June”. This way, adding such time frame can be achieved with merely one click.

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8 Tracking Your Stocks

Stock Items And PurchasesIn chapter 6 we saw how to add items to the “Stocks” section of iFinance's Organizer. Adding your own portfolio to the database is very straightforward.

Selecting a stock item in the Organizer changes the Viewer on the right to a chart, displaying the more recent trend of the current stock's value per share. This graph indicates the market performance of the particular stock, not your personal portfolio's performance.

Directly below the chart is the “Portfolio List”, empty if you did not add any data yourself yet.

Example C: Working with the stock portfolioAssuming you purchased some 1,000 shares of Apple stock (back then still “Apple Computer Inc.”) back on December 28, 1997 at the then low price of $13.31 US Dollars, you have really cut an excellent deal by now. Let's go ahead and enter this stocks purchase into iFinance's database:

1. Click the “+” button below the Portfolio List. A new list item appears.

2. Enter “12/28/97” or “12/28/1997”, iFinance automatically formats the date accordingly.

3. Enter the “Quantity” you purchased of the Apple stock: “1000”

4. Enter the price you paid per share: “13.31”

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5. Repeat steps 1 to 4 for a purchase of e.g. another 1,000 shares on April 19, 2003, at the price of $13.12 US Dollars per share.

6. Now, out of curiosity, take a look at the Organizer to the left:

As of May 13, 2009, this amounted to about $196,000.00 US Dollars. More information is available in the Info Display in iFinance's Title Bar:

RateThe price one of the company's shares is currently traded at.

Stock ValueThe total value of Apple stock you own.

ProfitThe total profit, calculated from the total amount spent purchasing the selected stock

Accessing Basic Settings For StocksThere are four ways to re-open this settings dialog:

✓ “i” Button in the Bottom Bar

✓ “Stock Settings …” in the “Stocks” menu in the Menu Bar which appears whenever you select a Stock in the Organizer

✓ “Edit Stock Settings …” contextual menu

✓ Right-click, CTRL-click with your mouse on the stock you want to edit.

✓ Names And Symbols

Each stock must be defined by such a generic “Name” and a unique “Symbol”. The names are freely definable to best describe each stock to yourself. Symbols are unique, but there may be more than one symbol for a given company:

Symbols are issued by the stock trading institutions of the national and international stock markets, such as the NYSE (New York Stock Exchange in New York/U.S.A.) or the DAX (maintained by the “Deutsche Börse” in Frankfurt/Main, Germany). So, if a company's shares are traded at more than one market place in the world, every such place has a unique identifier for the share.


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Finding Stock Items On The InternetIf you hold shares in a publicly-traded company, you will know the symbol required to search for. But, if you want to track certain stocks and are unsure about which symbol to use in this settings dialog, simply use the search field to enter the company's name and click “Search”. Your Web browser then opens with a list of search results from Yahoo, which is the service iFinance uses to query stock market information.

Configuring The Stocks Performance ChartJust as before with accounts, underneath the Viewer showing the Stocks Performance Chart and Portfolio List is the Editor. In the case of Stocks, the Editor allows to further define how the Stocks Performance Chart works.

The Editor offers the following set of tools:

Date Range“From” and “To” are two date fields to define a date range to consider for the Stocks Performance Chart. Either type into the fields directly, or choose the appropriate dates from the Date Picker, accessible via two small calendar icons next to each date field. These settings are only available, if the “Period” option below is set to “Manually”.

Today ButtonWhen defining a date range, click this button, and iFinance automatically sets the current date as the end date for the range.

Period ButtonClick this pop-up button to choose from the following options:

✓ Week

✓ Month

✓ Quarter

✓ Year

✓ Manual

Activating one of these options, tells iFinance to automatically consider fixed periods for the Stocks Performance Chart. Select “Manually” to access the Date Range setting described above.


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SummaryAn information summary for a selected stock appears below the various options in the Editor. This is the same data shown in the Info Display in the iFinance main window's Title Bar.

Please refer to “Charts” for more information.

How to automatically refocus on the current dateThe “Keep Focus Current” switch is available in the Editor portion for Stock Performance Charts, Budgets and Charts in general.

This tiny round switch looks much like the “Skip” button on your CD or DVD player. Click it to toggle between active and inactive state. While active, the symbols are light-green and the switch is dark.

This feature makes a given chart refocus on the current date, while at the same time preserving whatever date range or period had already been defined. To this extent, it resembles the “Until Today” and “Today” buttons.

Once this switch is set for a given context, iFinance automatically retrieves or recalculates its data to the most current state, always — even after you quit and restart the application.


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9Working With Budgets

Except for the budget name, budgets are configured entirely from the Editor.

A newly-created budget defaults to all accounts and all categories selected. This way, you get a complete overview of your financial situation and start defining the cutout that serves you best keeping control over your expenses/income or profit/loss.

Example D: Budget “Groceries”Step 1 — Create A New BudgetAdd a new budget to the database by clicking the “+” button underneath the Organizer. Select “New Budget …”. In the settings sheet is only one option: Please name this budget “Groceries”.

Step 2 — Basic Budget SettingsThe default limit of 200 € is a little tight for an entire month, but you also travel quite frequently for your job, eating out and living off less healthy snacks and fast food. Apart from thinking of changing this bad habit, letʼs say you want to plan your groceries budget on a weekly basis — tricking yourself into purchasing smaller quantities means less food going bad over the time of a trip.

So please enter “75” into the field “Amount” and change the “Period” to “Week”. The Period pop-up button also allows to “Manually” define your very own time span for this budget. And, if you rather live on preserves, frozen and instant stuff, you may even go for “Year”.

Please also change the “Warning” to something a little earlier than “Late”, probably drag the slider to the center of the scale, so that you won't receive a message when returning with the second 60 € purchase for a week — but already after the first.

Detailed view for split transactionsThis switch should be left on by default, so that you will actually see all relevant transactions.

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Step 3 — Define Filters For Relevant TransactionsLook for those three gray buttons in the right portion of the Editor. You may still remember the one “Split Transaction” button described before. These buttons behave exactly the same:

AccountsClicking on the gray “Accounts” button brings about a list of all accounts within your database. Choose the accounts iFinance should consider for your groceries purchases. If you regularly use even your credit card when shopping for milk or coffee, then it may be a good idea to leave all accounts activated.

TagsIf you regularly tag purchase receipts you enter into iFinance as “Groceries”, “Kitchen Supplies”, “Dinner Stuff” or “Veggies” etc. — using tags could be handy.

Make sure you enter the appropriate tags into the field below:

Tags are consecutive strings of characters. I.e., they can be any word, number or combination of characters you like. To separate one tag from another, simply type a blank.

For this example, please enter these tags (separated by single blank spaces):

✓ coffee

✓ milk

✓ veggies

✓ fruit

✓ cereals

All tags required to matchThis switch defines whether all tags or at least one tag is required for a transaction to be included in this budget. You could add a tag to each transaction relating to spendings while away, for example “on the go”. Spare that tag for groceries near home and easily get a better idea of how much you spend during lunch break or while abroad.

For the sake of this tutorial, letʼs leave this option de-activated.


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CategoriesThis list shows all “Categories” in your database. Make sure to only activate “Grocery” and any other category possibly related to this kind of expenses.

You may for instance have created one special category “Mixed” or “Undefined” especially for split transactions which are still waiting for being properly split into their separate items. And, of course, you may have defined various subcategories. Ensure that for all those categories possibly containing grocery purchases the checkbox is activated.

Step 4 — Adding Relevant TransactionsIf we do not yet see any changes in the Viewer portion for this budget, our database obviously does not contain any item matching any of the filter settings. So, for the sake of getting this sample budget to work, we will now switch to our accounts and add some transactions.

Click on any one of your items under “Funds” in the Organizer to the left. You may use any type of account, cash, bank account or credit card.

While creating several transactions, make sure you assign the appropriate categories, as we've previously defined in the “Categories” filter for the budget. Also don't forget to type in one or more of the tags you entered into the budget's “Tags” filter.

While adding these items to your accounts, you will notice the “Groceries” budget's balance in the Organizer shrink. Please click on this budget again to watch how the


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Budget Status Bar and the “Budget-relevant Transactions” list change:


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10 Charts

iFinance 3 provides stunning charts for various contexts: Stocks Performance Chart, Budget Status Bar and of course all the charts and graphics you will create using this dedicated “Charts” section.

There are a number of options you will need to know about, but adding and configuring charts is really easy. Please also refer to “New Chart …” in “Creating & Editing Organizer Items” .

Creating A New ChartTo add a new chart to the Charts section, click the “+” button underneath the Organizer and select “New Chart …”

Basic SettingsIn the settings dialog, name the chart and click on “Data Source” to select the type of data to analyze from the first pop-up menu. These are the available choices for “Data Sources”:

✓ Account History

✓ Income

✓ Expenses

✓ Income/Expenses

✓ Profit

✓ Losses

✓ Profit/Loss

Choose “Income/Expenses”.

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Click “Done” once you are satisfied with these initial settings for your new chart.

You may later change a chart's settings at any time. There are four ways to re-open the settings dialog:

✓ “i” Button in the Bottom Bar

✓ “Chart Settings …” in the “Edit” menu

✓ “Edit Chart Settings …” contextual menu

✓ Right-click, CTRL-click with your mouse on the chart you want to edit.

First LookThe new chart immediately appears in the Viewer to the right. As you did not yet set any individual options, and depending on the information already available in your database, there may not be much to see.

Before we move on, please inspect the Contextual Toolbar below the chart graphic in the Viewer: Starting on the left, there are four elements:

1. Full Screen ButtonClicking this button expands the chart view so it covers your entire screen, making it easier to view and demonstrate.

To leave Full Screen mode again, simply hit the “esc” (Escape) key in the top-left corner of your keyboard, or use the “x” (Close) button in the top-left corner of the Full Screen view.

2. Chart NameThis field shows the name or title of the new chart. Identical to the title, visible above the chart graphic in the Viewer. This is also the title of the chart in printouts. To configure a different name, please open the settings dialog for the chart.

3. Interactive (3D)Most charts and graphics can be visualized as Interactive, 3-dimensional representations on screen. With your mouse, hover over the chart, you will see an either vertical or

The third setting, “Visualization Mode”, is not available when “Account History” is selected under Data Source: For the other data sources, Visualization Mode presents the choice between “Accounts” and “Categories” by which to visualize your data.

1 2 3 4

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horizontal wedge-like tool appear which follows your mouse. Hovering over a pie chart slice will lift that section for demonstration.

4. Print Version (2D)Print versions are optimized for printout:

✓ Content isnʼt interactive

✓ No information is automatically hidden

✓ The background is white

Fine-tune Your ChartiFinance allows adjusting charts with some intuitive options which are applied in real time.

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PeriodDefine the period to be analyzed similar to the way described in the Stocks chapter.

The currently displayed period can be seen between the left arrow and right arrow buttons. Beneath the date, youʼll find the Today button which allows you to set the

Then, there are some more settings to configure:

Chart Type ButtonDepending on the way you wish to visualize your data, choose between these chart types:

✓ Steps

✓ Lines

✓ Bars

✓ Pie

Transfers ButtonChoose to include or exclude (ignore) exclude transfers for the active chart. A third option allows you to only partially exclude transfers:

✓ Include

✓ Ignore

✓ Ignore between active accounts

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The reasoning behind this option is that sometimes, transfers obscure details in the transactions when aggregated with them. Transfers, however, donʼt change your overall funds so hiding transfers can sometimes be useful to see the underlying changes.

Combine Values This sets the chartʼs resolution. iFinance will show one value per

✓ Day

✓ Week

✓ Month

✓ Quarter

✓ Year

Mark 'Today' If this box is checked, a blue line or column overlays the current date in the chart view.

Mark 'Future' Whenever this option is checkmarked, iFinance overlays all future items in the active chart with a grayish “fog” to tell you that, e.g., those transactions have not yet actually taken place.

Combine Data Activate this checkbox to only show one graph in the chart.

iFinance calculates the total for all items which are being visualized in the active chart, in this case your accounts, for any given period. Use this switch to quickly view, e.g., a graphic history of your combined funds.

Range Of ValuesDisable the “Automatic” checkbox to access two text fields.

Those fields accept start and end values to consider for limiting the visible “scope” of the chart on the “Y” axis (vertically). This helps to help focus on certain ranges of data without compromising the overall accuracy of your calculations:

✓ Defining a data range forces iFinance to virtually “zoom” into a given area, amplifying the vertical resolution without “forgetting” any information. If you need to analyze very minute fluctuations, this is a very handy feature.

✓ Enabling “Automatic” will not erase the values previously defined for the date range, but this switch overrides these values and tells iFinance to always adjust the vertical resolution to the value required to display all available information.

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Fast switching to a ReportStarting with version 3.2, youʼll see a “Report” button in the bottom area, the editor. Click this button in order to quickly jump to a report on the currently selected data.

In case no report has been created yet, iFinance will ask you if you would like it to create a new one. If you accept here, the report will appear in the left hand Organizer for future reference.

Smarter ChoicesUp to three gray buttons, behaving exactly like the “Split Transaction” button described before on “Split This Transaction”, grant access to filters for “Accounts”, “Tags” and “Categories”.

Which of these buttons becomes available, depends on the actual chart type and its settings:

AccountsClicking the Accounts button, a menu will slide in, con taining a list. This is a list of all accounts within your iFinance database. Include or exclude any combination of accounts from being considered in the active chart by (un-) checking the box in front of each account.

All accounts with identical currencyIf you want to select all accounts with identical currency, use this checkbox.

Remove AllDe-Select all selected items.

TagsTags allow you to instruct iFinance to include or exclude specific items while generating the chart. Tags are extremely flexible, offering more fine-grained control over your

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database. You assign tags when adding or editing individual items. Using tags for a chart basically creates a filter, a “Whitelist”, to only let items with specific tags be considered when generating the chart.

Select the window and enter your tags, if theyʼve been assigned to any transaction, theyʼre auto-completed by iFinance.

Use TagsEasily toggle tags filtering on or off by (un-) checking this option.

All tags required to matchToggle between “all tags are required” and “any of these tags will suffice”.

Tags are available for all charts, except for those based on “Account History” as Data Source in the initial chart settings .

Please read “Tags” for more information on tags.

CategoriesThis button grants access to all categories and subcategories in your iFinance database. You may choose any combination of categories to create a filter which will help iFinance trim the selection of transactions to consider for the given chart.

Categories can only be used to further refine a chart filter, if “Categories” is selected as Visualization Mode in the basic chart settings.

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11 Reports

Version 3.2 of iFinance introduces the all-new Reports feature in addition to analysis in the charts section. Basically, most of the features, as well as using them is similar to charts. Please get familiar with charts first, the both combined are a very powerful set of tools.

The basic principles are:

- Double-click an existing Report in the left hand Organizer in order to adjust it.

- Create new Reports, click the plus button in the toolbar beneath the Organizer and select “New Report…”.

The configuration dialog is opened. When entering a Report Title, please choose a telling name that will allow you to easily identify its purpose. That way, large numbers of charts are easily managed.

Reports, as opposed to Charts, only require you to select the Report Type. All further configuration is handled in the bottom editor and applied in real time.

The date range selection tool is a central element her, as well. Adjust here wether to see a daily, weekly, monthly, per-quarter or annual report.

Adjust viewing options (Eye Button)A new element introduced with Reports is the eye button which allows adjusting the viewing options.

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Click the eye button to open an options window which allows you to activate and de-activate single blocks within a report. These blocks vary from one report type to another, however, things you can adjust in any case are:

Filtering RulesJust beneath the headline, every report shows a short summary of which accounts, categories and tags itʼs based on.

OverviewA short statistical summary of the data, like the number of distinct payers and beneficiaries.

Show category analysisiFinance can compile a Top 10 list of the most assigned categories. Maybe youʼre interested only in the Top 3 of them. Simply enter that number in this field or deselect the option entirely.

Show tag analysis, Show beneficiary analysisPlease see “Show category analysis”

Time frame analysisThis value determines how many outstanding transactions are highlighted. The greatest values are marked cyan green, the smallest magenta red. Please note that the Losses Report, for example, removes all algebraic signs so the biggest losses will consequently be colored cyan.

The Weeks, Months, Quarters, Years checkboxes activate or de-activate the corresponding sections like, for example, this Months section:

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Further OptionsThe Editor offers the same basic options as for the Charts:

TransfersTransfers are transactions from one of the accounts in iFinance to another. Letʼs say youʼd like to see how your total funds are progressing. Transfers donʼt change that amount - you transfer money from yourself pretty much to yourself again. The funds, the sum of all your belongings, donʼt change.

Another area is Income/Expenses - sometimes you want transfers to appear in them, sometimes you donʼt. Select here if the amounts are generally included or excluded or if only transfers between active accounts are ignored.

ZoomThis slider adjusts the zoom factor in the current view for easier reading but leaves print results untouched. iFinance automatically optimizes data representation for complete printout.

Chart ButtonIf a Chart based on the exact same data as the currently selected Report exists, clicking this button will jump to that Chart. In case it doesnʼt exist yet, iFinance will ask if you want it to create such a chart automatically.

Include SubcategoriesSub categories can be included or excluded selectively.. Letʼs say your category “Communication” is further segmented into “Internet provider costs” and “Cellphone costs” which you assign to your different monthly bills. All other communication costs like post stamps, etc. are assigned the “Communication” super category.

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Within a report, you could now include your mobile phone costs and the stamps while excluding your internet provider. The Report will consequently list “Communication” and “Cellphone costs”.

When using the Include Subcategories option, all subcategories are activated at once. In addition to that, subcategories arenʼt listed anymore but “Cellphone costs” as well as “Internet provider costs” are consolidated in the “Communication” super category.

List of relevant transactionsSo which transactions are really included in the current Report? Simply click the List button which will open the Relevant Transactions List.

Here youʼll find all included transactions with basic information. In order to edit one of them, click the arrow button in the left hand column. This will open the corresponding account with a more detailed view of the transaction.

Report FoldersJust like Accounts, Budgets or Charts, Reports can be sorted in folders to help you keep your data in order. Select a Report, click the plus button beneath the left hand Organizer and choose the “New folder…” option.

A dialog window will open, please make sure the Reports section is selected as the creation target. Name the folder according to its later function, “All Account Reports 2009”, for example.

Then drag and drop single Reports onto the folder in order to file it there.

Comparison of ReportsA unique feature of Report Folders is a side-by-side comparison activated when selecting a folder which contains multiple Reports. With three Reports or higher per folder, iFinance will add arrow buttons beneath the two Reports in comparison which allow you to select which two Reports to display. Simply click the arrow buttons to find the two youʼre looking for.

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12 Exporting

ExportingAvailable export formats for iFinance 3 are:

✓ CSV (”.csv” files)

✓ iFinance 3 Archives (”.ifi3a” files)

Saving your data as an iFinance archive is similar in procedure to saving any ordinary file. Simply open the File menu and select “Export” - “iFinance3 Archive”.

For CSV export, you need to configure or at least acknowledge two additional dialogs:

Account SelectionIn this step, select the account for which to export information in CSV format. iFinance exports data for single accounts to individual .csv files. So, to export an entire database using CSV, you'd have to perform multiple exports, one for each account.

Export OptionsThis dialog lets you configure several options for each CSV export:

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✓ Date Range (”Start Date”, “End Date”)

✓ Data to export (”Export Which Data?”)

✓ Date (contextual option: “Date Format”)

✓ Amount (contextual option: “Number Format”)

✓ Only Export Active Transactions

✓ Multiple options for the information to include in the export


✓ Comment

✓ Beneficiary/Account Of

✓ Category

✓ Check Number/Reference ID

✓ Currency

✓ Tags

Compatibilty Settings✓ Custom Settings

✓ Numbers '08

✓ Numbers '09

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✓ Excel (Mac OS)

✓ Excel (Windows)

“Custom Settings” makes the contextual options “Date Format” and “Number Format” available. These pop-up buttons allow you to choose between “Use System Settings” and various regional/national templates. Switching to any application-specific compatibility setting automatically hides the format options.

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13 Printing

General information iFinance 3 offers comprehensive printing options specifically for each category:

✓ Accounts

✓ Budgets

✓ Stocks

✓ Charts

✓ Reports

One thing to generally keep in mind is that you will print what you see. If for example you filtered your data, selected or deselected any options or changed the sorting order, these changes will be reflected on your printouts.

Whenever you start printing, a printer dialog will open. On its left side you see a preview. Each of iFinance 3ʼs categories has its own set of printing options on the right side. By default, printouts show as little detail as possible. If you choose to include further details, however, iFinance will recall your choices for the next printout.

By default iFinance sets your printerʼs paper format as its own. In case youʼd like to print in a different format / landscape instead of portrait orientation, please change the format in the “File” - “Page Setup ..” menu:

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The next time you start a printout, the preview will reflect the new paper format.

FundsAll items in the “Funds” section (Accounts and Cards) are printed out as a list. Additional information is printed only if selected:


✓ Beneficiary / Payer

✓ Check Number

✓ Category Names

✓ Color Markers

You can choose to either print Income / Expenses in separate columns or combine the two in a common “Amount” column.

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StocksThe “Stocks” section allows you to print out your stocks performance graph. By manually setting the Size parameters, you change the actual graphʼs size on the printout.

By moving the “Resolution” slider, you determine the coordinate systemʼs degree of detail. Decreasing detail will enlarge the font and vice versa. Since the Stocks performance graph is merely a generic type of chart, these settings can be found in the Charts print dialog as well.

BudgetsBudgets are printed out as lists, just like Accounts. In the “Print Options”, you can choose whether or not to include:

✓ The graphical Budget Status Bar

✓ Category Information

✓ The list of transactions

That way you can compile lists with as much information as you need, giving you the whole spectrum between minimalist and complete.

ChartsCharts help you summarize complex data into an easily comprehensible form. Thatʼs why iFinance 3 lets you access a bunch of configuration settings in the Viewer. Please make sure that especially bar graphs are easily readable and every single bar has the maximum achievable width.

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In order to do this, de-select all accounts you donʼt need. See the “Active Accounts” column for details on what is selected.

In addition to that, you can always define your own range of values by specifying minimum an maximum values. This gives you a more detailed view while extreme spikes can still be identified.

Please make sure to type in negative values without a blank.

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Print on remittance slip blanksStarting with version 3.2, iFinance enables printing on bank transfer forms and cheques alike. That way, you could add a transaction in iFinance first and have it print the transaction data on the actual blank. It will save you time and hassle as your data like account number, beneficiary or amount are in any case identical.

Automatic filling-in

In order to use this feature,

1. Select a transaction in the Transactions List

2. Click the third button from the right in the tool bar

3. The Template Window will open

4. Select your country and your bank, then the form youʼd like to fill in.

5. The blank is opened with your transaction data like date, beneficiary, amount and currency already filled in.

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6. Select a block by clicking it with the mouse directly in that Template Window and add the missing data like the beneficiarieʼs account information and your own.

If you change transaction data with the Template Window already open, please click the small button in the tool bar again to refresh the data.

Printer settingsPlease always insert remittance slips into your printer with the right edge first. Your printer has to offer single-sheet feeding which supports smaller formats like envelopes.

1. Click the Print button in the Template Window

2. The printing dialog will open

3. Depending on the printer driver, you may have to manually set if the blank is fed aligned left, right or dead center of the printerʼs overall page width. Simply click the corresponding buttons, the print preview will adjust automatically.

LEGAL Left

Center

Right

Paper Feed Border

4. Insert the blank in the single-paper feed and click the Print button

Depending on the template, some blocks may not be selectable. They are already filled in on the actual physical remittence slip and can not be printed. This is the case with forms intended for donations, but even some banks will give you blanks with the bank name and number pre-filled.

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Edit TemplatesIn case iFinance doesnʼt include a suitable template, you could either adjust an existing template or simply create your own. What you need is the exact sizes, margins and a scanned image of that blank.

Open the Template Editor by clicking the third button from the right in the tool bar. Within the Template Window, youʼll find two buttons:

1. Edit template copyCreates a copy of the currently selected template. Ideally suited for minor adjustments to the original. The edited copy, once saved, is made available in the same dropdown selection as the templates shipping with iFinance

2. New templateThis is where you can start from scratch. Use this option if you need a template from abroad that are completely different from all existing ones. Those, too, will appear in the “User defined templates” after saving.

Edit template copySelecting each of the options will open the template editor. This is where you define your scanned image of a remittance slip as background image by clicking the “Change Background Image…” button.

1. First, enter the overall dimensions in the right hand Document area. Please make sure you select cm or inches correctly.

2. Letʼs say the form field for entering the beneficiaryʼs account number is about 1/2 inch lower on your physical blank than on the template in iFinance.

3. So please click the corresponding area. The currently defined field is marked with a green frame and the dimensions, margins and number of boxes (each holding one

The background image will not be printed, which is why youʼll only see the text to fill in in the print preview.

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character) are displayed in the bottom left area.

4. The field can be moved either by mouse or - which is recommended - by entering the actual numbers in the bottom left fields.

5. The “Boxes” value defines the number of digits/characters per field.

6. “Maximum Characters”, however, was added because some forms allow more characters per field when filled by a computer. If this additional requirement isnʼt noted on your blank, set the number to the same value as the “Boxes” field.

7. The Data Type dropdown lets you assign the iFinance data that is automatically filled in this field (date, beneficiaryʼs account number, or the bank name).

8. Click the plus and minus buttons to add or remove an entire field. Clicking the arrow buttons selects the previous or next field.

9. Once finished, click the Save button.

10.Your version is stored as a copy and will be accessible from the “User defined templates” entry in the Country/User dropdown menu.

Please enter the exact measures you took from the physical blank. The graphical representation is less precise than actual measures if the scanned background image isnʼt a 100% accurate. Simply matching the background image with the fields will in some cases not be enough.

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New templateIn case you canʼt find a suitable template to adjust, please send us three or four pieces in a reinforced envelope via mail to:

Synium Software GmbHRobert-Koch-Str. 50, Eingang J55129 MainzGermany

We will add your template for yourself and all other customers of your bank.

In case itʼs a little more pressing (more often than not, it is), you can easily create your own template from scratch:

1. Click “New template” in the Template Window.

2. The Template Editor will open with a white rectangle in the preview area.

3. First set the overall dimensions. Simply enter the blankʼs values you measured.

4. Once scanned, make your blank the background image by clicking the “Change background image” button and selecting the image file (JPG or PNG)

5. Then click the plus button to add your first field.

6. Set size and position while the field is selected

7. Set the number of characters allowed in this field in the bottom center “Boxes” field

8. Optionally activate the automatic segmentation by checking the “Grid” checkbox

9. Select a value from the Data Type dropdown to tell iFinance where to auto-fill transaction data. Fields that canʼt be auto-filled because the required data isnʼt part of the iFinance transaction entry, should be set to “None”. These fields have to be filled manually then.

10.Repeat these steps for each new field.

11.Once the template is finished, click the Template Description button and enter a title as well as further information about this file.

12.Click the Save button.

13.The template is saved and automatically added to the Country/User dropdown menu in the Template Window.

14.The Editor quits automatically.

All templates adjusted or created by you are stored in the“Your User Folder” - Library - Application Support - iFinance Templatesfolder.

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14 Appendix

Appendix

PreferencesAccess iFinanceʻs preferences by clicking “Preferences” in the iFinance menu.

In the General tab, youʼll be able to switch on or off the automatic Software Update notification. If you do, youʼll still be able to check for updates manually by clicking “Check for Updates…” in the iFinance menu.

AccessibilityThe Accessibility sectionʼs slider control allows you to increase text scaling for the Organizer.

Open the Accounts tab and check “show text” if you prefer Categories to be represented by names instead of colors or if youʼre color blind

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Here you can change the colors for positive, negative and null values, as well. Simply click one of the colored fields and in the color picker window, choose your preferred color.

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Shortcuts

General (Main menu)General (Main menu)General (Main menu)Shortcut Action Description

⌘W Close Close the currently active window

⌘S Save Save the database on your hard drive

⌘⇧I CSV-Import Import a CSV file

⌘⇧S Export archive Export an iFinance3 archive file

⌘⇧P Paper format Select a paper format for printout

⌘Z Undo Undo the previous action

⌘⇧U Redo Redo the last undone action

⌘X Cut Cut text or transaction

⌘C Copy Copy text or transaction

⌘V Paste Pastes text or transaction

⌘A Select all Selects an entire text or list of transactions

⌘: Show spelling and grammar

⌘; Check document now

⌥⌘T Special characters

⌘? Help

⌘1 Main window Shows and hides the main window

⌘2 Categories window Shows and hides the categories window

⌘M Minimize Minimizes a window to the dock

AccountAccountAccountShortcut Action Description

⌘I Settings Opens the account settings

⌘P Print Prints the transaction list

⌘N New transaction Creates a new transaction

⌘D Duplicate transaction Duplicates the selected transaction

⌘R Transfer Toggles between transaction and transfer

⌘⇧R Account selection Opens the account selection for this transfer

⌘⇧N Add split transaction Adds a split transaction to the selected transaction

⌘⇧D Delete split transaction Deletes the selected split transaction

⌘⇧C Category selection Opens the category selection list

⌘F Filter Opens and closes the filter window

⌘← Previous period Moves the filter period to the left by one unit

⌘→ Next period Moves the filter period to the right by one unit

⌘⇧T Duplicate with current date Duplicate the selected transaction and add with current date

StocksStocksStocksShortcut Action Description

⌘I Settings Opens the Stock settings

⌘P Print Prints the stock list



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ChartsChartsChartsShortcut Action Description

⌘I Settings Opens the Chart settings

⌘P Print Prints the Chart



BudgetsBudgetsBudgetsShortcut Action Description

⌘I Settings Opens the Budget settings

⌘P Print Prints the selected budget

FoldersFoldersFoldersShortcut Action Description

⌘I Settings Opens the folder settings



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iFinance3Manual

Technology

new ifinance

ifinance database

installation of ifinance

registering ifinance

ifinance mobile data

ifinance user guidestep

ifinance user guidecsv

recurring transactions