shane glass

The Problem

I’m great at spending money (ask my wife), but horrible at keeping track of what I’ve spent (again, she knows). As a result, there’s been several times where I’ve gone over my account balance on my check card, and I’ve been hit with ridiculous fees. Because of the proximity of our computers these days, not to mention our cell phones, I’ve been able to keep my eye on my spending. I don’t carry around that old checkbook register either, marking down each purchase or deposit. Instead, I utilize my Mac at home and my iPhone on the go.

The Competition and Their Weaknesses

For some time, I used Jeremy Jacob’s Checkbook app [app website] on my iPhone, but it lacked one major aspect—syncing with a desktop client. I knew about Cha-Ching [app website] and tried it out. For such a beautiful client, both on OS X and iPhone, it proved annoying to add a simple transaction, especially on the lag-ridden iPhone application.

Introducing Squirrel

So I jumped ship once more, and have found stable ground with Squirrel, coded by Axel Péju, with Dietmar Kerschner providing the interface and icon design. The OS X version, currently at 0.7.5, costs $21.26 (according to Convertbot; or €14.99). The demo limits you to 50 transactions. The biggest feature I’ve been looking for is easy syncing between my Mac and iPhone. Squirrel does this effortlessly via Wi-Fi. Enter in a 4-digit pin on your Mac and you’re good to go. My biggest complaint with Midnight App’s Cha-Ching was the number of steps required to add a new transaction on both the desktop and iPhone versions. With Jacob’s Checkbook app, it was as simple as hitting the ‘+’ button and entering in my information. Cha-Ching required hitting ‘New Transaction,’ then entering information on several difficult screens. Squirrel is nice because the new transaction screen is quick to access and easy to add information to.

The Desktop Client

I exported an Open Financial Exchange (OFX) file from my online backing account and had some trouble importing it into Squirrel. Turns out, Squirrel absolutely needs certain header titles, no ‘$’ symbol, and short-hand date format for it to import at all. Once I fixed that, it loaded my 200 most recent transactions.

Squirrel OS X is pretty straight forward. You have your standard sidebar on the left which includes a listing of all your accounts, plus a Management section that includes Reports, Budgets, and Scheduled Transaction. When looking at your account, the default is a Coverflow type layout that present you with basic account info including current, future, and reconciled balances.A chart is displayed showing your spending habits at various intervals. Below this section is a list of all your transactions. A List view is also available; this has just a long list of transactions.

Entering a new transaction is as easy as hitting CMD+N. This command brings up a small window at the bottom. My biggest complaint lies here. Squirrel uses categories to divide transactions into manageable sections. It doesn’t come with a long default list like Cha-Ching does; you have to create your own. Unfortunately, the only way I can find to do so is with the Preferences pane. A tag button is provided, but I like categories. I would suggest a small button to add/edit categories within the New Transaction pane.

The Management section allows you to create custom reports to track your spending in certain categories, or certain transaction amounts. The budget option allows you to set spending limits per each category, and scheduled transactions allows you to manage recurring monthly payments or income avenues. Overall, the desktop client is polished well and gives you plenty for your money.

The iPhone App

The iPhone app (available for free from the App Store) is a great compliment, and does some things better than the desktop client. For starters, the loading screen is awesome—it mimics a bank safe being unlocked, and the animation and sounds are crisp. If security is your thing, Squirrel iPhone gives you the option to set a 4-digit pin, and it’s here at the loading menu where you enter it in, followed by the safe ‘unlocking.’ Nice.

The main screen allows you to choose which account to edit, and once in your desired account, a simple tap on the ‘+’ button will create a new transaction. Here you enter a transaction description, the amount, date, and category. The iPhone app does right regarding categories—they get their own button at the bottom of the screen where you can add and edit categories; this makes it much easier than the desktop app.

The biggest flaw of the iPhone app is the inability to reconcile transactions. You can add and keep up with your future balance (what your balance will be after and transactions not yet posted to your account), but you can’t really use the iPhone app as a real-time checkbook register. This is a small flaw as long as you sync with the desktop client often.

Final Remarks

Péju won an Apple Design Award in 2008 for the Best Mac OS X Leopard Student Product, and the polish and potential of Squirrel shows. The iPhone app is also incredibly useful. Again, the desktop version is available now for about $21 while it’s in beta stage—the website says the price will increase once it hits 1.0. Considering the iPhone app is free, $21 is not a bad price to pay for a complete solution to your financial management at home and on the go. Squirrel is available for download on OS X Leopard and iPhone at the official website, squirrelapp.com. My next review will be another finance manager, MoneyWell, an OS X desktop application with an iPhone version in the works. Will MoneyWell make me switch yet again?