Allow upload of Money and Quicken to gather more historical data

[Terrence]

If you allow uploads of Money or Quicken data, Mint would very quickly have a historical background more than the variable length history available via the initial web update.

[synapse]

I would definetely like to see the ability to import everything from my MS Money file. I have about 6 years of data on there from about 12 accounts and it would be great to be able to import it. That is really what I can see stopping me from using Mint only from now on.

[Damon]

A product request that we will most certainly consider. Thanks for taking the time to post.

[mlebarron]

It's also difficult to tell how much data Mint has downloaded. I think for me it goes back to Dec 06, but some of the accounts definitely don't have that much data, and others do.

I'd check the specifics, but I can't login right now, I'll post the specifics in a new thread later.

[waynep]

definitely a must have, if I'm going to switch off from MS Money to mint.com this is a must have feature.

This makes mint.com go from money saving toy to product replacement.

[mintfeedback]

A manual upload is definitely needed, not just in the case of gathering historical data but also for those of us who bank with institutions who charge PFM fees for automatic download of transactions. If I were able to manually upload the info from Quicken and Money, I would not be charged for my use of mint.com Until then, I'm afraid I might have to stay away. :o Nice site though.

[toasterhunter]

This would definitely help me move my financial management to Mint. I don't currently use Quicken or Microsoft Money to manage my personal finances - but my credit union does provide downloads to import into these applications.

This would be a tremendous stop-gap in getting my credit union added, which I understand may take considerable time.

I always like attacking problems from multiple directions. :D

[riongull]

I don't use Quicken or MS Money and I know they have certain file types that are associated with their data files. I have not wanted to be tied down to any kind of software to manage my accounts and therefore just download the csv files from my banks (Wells Fargo, Chase, and America First Credit Union) and combine them all into an Excel sheet. I wrote a macro to automate this process of combining and categorizing so it's nice and slick.

So I have (what I could make into) a csv file of all my transaction history for the past 4 years with categories and all.
For those of us who have (or can make) a csv file of our transactions it would be great to be able to upload it.

You could implement this by requiring a certain csv format such as having specific headers (e.g. date, description, financial institution, amount, category) or having some code try to predict the information.

p.s. I would love to be part of the mint programming team to help implement this. :)

[Damon]

I would personally like to see something like this happen. As I mentioned, I do roll this feedback up the chain so we can look at supporting features that folks demand.

P.S. My boss loved the "Top 5 Things You Would Like to See Changed" thread. Do feel free to chime in there as well:)

[progra3]

Guys,
I am new to Mint, and I am completely blown away by the ease of use and the feature set. i have 6 years of data in quicken. I would like to upload that so I have the historic data and also keep the transaction categorization I have so meticulously built in the last 6 years.

thanks,

[exquicken]

I would definetely like to see the ability to import everything from my MS Money file. I have about 6 years of data on there from about 12 accounts and it would be great to be able to import it. That is really what I can see stopping me from using Mint only from now on.

I have found that it isnt critical (I have 10 years of quicken data). I worked really hard to maintain the data and it is hard to let go, but I have come to terms with the fact that for me it is mostly emotional. There are other features like the ability to accrue overspends/underspends in categories. Here is why I think a quicken/money data import doesnt provide that much value.

There are 3 types of financial statements, cash flow,income and P&L. Your net worth is like a balance sheet and since mint can go directly to your accounts, you can get your current net worth very quickly. While it is nice to have the history, for a balance sheet it just doesnt matter that much. (I do graph my balance sheets on a trailing twelve month basis - not that critical though).

The next is cash flow - that is also a report based on your state right now and the future.

P&L/budget - The actual money going in/coming out of our account is like a cash basis P&L. The budget is more like an accrual basis P&L. Having historical budgets is nice to create the new budget, but other than all you care about is what your budget is today.

By not importing from quicken, the key thing you lose is the average amount that you have spent historically. That is a nice report that I use to drive budgets, but those numbers are already baked into my budget. I just copied my budget categories into mint from quicken.

What key values would you get from a money/quicken import?

[amandabee]

I don't have historical data but I'm not willing to trust Mint or Yodelee with my account access information. I need to have more security than Regulation E provides (liability limited to $50 if I notice w/in 2 days).

So I want manual uploads of Quicken or Money data (I'll take either) in order to avoid sharing my login information. I know I lose the real-time advantage, but I gain a huge layer of security.

[Alfy]

It's a good idea to add a file import feature, if just for investment accounts, for at least two reasons.

1. For accounts that are not tax-sheltered, having purchase information available is not just important and required by Uncle Sam, it'd help reassure your users.

2. The cost-basis information would make performance tracking much more meaningful. You could see accurate year-to-date performance, unrealized P&L info, and more.

I'm new here; are these forums actively moderated by Mint.com staff? If so, as a developer I could help implement these features on a simple contract basis. (Or help beta-test.) Feel free to contact me via email in that regard.

Either way, I'd love to see this feature.

Cheers

[Tikune]

Until I can bring all of my financial history into Mint, I'm straddling Quicken 2007 for Mac and Mint. It isn't sufficient for me to be able to only see history since adding the account to Mint. As an example, several investment accounts weren't supported when I signed up for Mint. I've since added them. When I look at trends, I see big unrealistic spikes in net worth at the point in time I was able to get the accounts working with your site.

For Mint.com to be my one and only personal financial management solution, I have to be able to import historical information. Please consider adding support for QIF and CSV imports at a minimum.

Thanks for everything you're doing right too, by the way!

[rarndt@charter.net]

What is the status of this feature request? With MS Money no longer allowing online updates for me in the not too distant future, I have started to explore other options. A friend recommended Mint. I have set up all my accounts, but was very disappointed to find I had no way to bring in more history. I have data going back to 1999. If I have to start over, it will feel like my financial management has taken a step back. I may need to explore other options.

[bobroch]

Amen to that - - - I have over 10 years in Quicken - - - I'd settle for a 2-3 year trend. Just signed up for Mint yesterday, and I'm already impatient to get more than the 'uneven' 1-3 months of data it pried out of my various banks.

[orrd]

Just wanted to add my voice to this. Mint.com can't be my primary financial center until it supports importing of all of my financial history from Quicken. Until then I'm still stuck using Quicken and waiting until Mint supports importing.

What's taking Mint so long to get this working?

[soltmann]

Importing from other financial management solutions is a must. Almost all solutions allow export to CSV or some simple text or Excel format. Start with that -- it would be sooooo easy!