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CommonCents from EnDevelopment is a personal financial tool based on the tried-and-true envelope budget system, which traditionally involves putting money for expenses aside in paper envelopes so that you're forced to live on whatever is left over. Such cash-oriented budgets enforce old-school financial discipline, but they have limitations, especially when it comes to record-keeping. CommonCents improves the envelope method with a comprehensive suite of tools for managing everything from cash and credit cards to banking, loans, and mortgages, not to mention complete transaction histories and real-time account and envelope balances.
CommonCents' main interface, My Vault, features a main display divided into four resizable panes. The program's main view and its general approach toward recording and displaying information is an interesting hybrid of spreadsheet and Windows app, with a tree view for navigation plus customizable tables that have the familiar feel and functions of a spreadsheet program, such as Excel. The program is divided into 11 Managers that configure and control not only the Vault but also Account, Envelope, Income, Budget, Backup, Reconciliation, and other features. Clicking each calls up a dialog with checkboxes and other options that simplify setting up your personal information: You just check or uncheck items as needed. There doesn't seem to be anything left out, from Dining to Insurance to Taxes, but you can assign any expense or item you need to. Indeed, we were particularly impressed with the way this program manages to combine the total flexibility of a spreadsheet tool with excellent assistance and ready-made solutions. It had us budgeting in no time flat, and it shows the real appeal of the envelope method.
Nearly everyone can benefit from a good budgeting tool. CommonCents' combination of comprehensive coverage, flexibility, and ease of use with the commonsense envelope method definitely sets it apart from the crowd and earns our recommendation.
Editors' note: This is a review of the full version of CommonCents 3.3.73.520. The trial version is limited to 60 days only.Publisher's Description
From enDevelopment:
CommonCents 4.0 personal finance software delivers powerful new capabilities to its users such as: All of the 3.0 features plus: Direct connectivity to financial institutions; Enhanced importing functionality; Apply budget allocations anywhere; Automatic categorization and payee cleanup during import; Build custom CSV import templates; Improved user interface; Automatic envelope assignments; Automatically assign deposit overages.
CommonCents 4.0 still uses true envelope budgeting. Setup is quick and easy through a guided setup process. Cash, checking, savings, credit card and loan/mortgage accounts are supported. Data is encrypted. Backup capabilities are included at no additional cost. Extensive customizable reporting. Goal management, reminders, and more. Free email support for all users. Licensed users also receive phone and shared session support as needed.What's new in this version: Version 4.3.51.634 is a maintenance release with minor fixes and enhancments. Fixes and Enhancements:
- 1. Extended the multi-factor authentication capabilities for connecting to FIs
- 2. Fixed an issue where scheduled transactions were not being executed correctly
- 3. Fixed several issues related to institution searches and connecting with DataLinc
- 4. Fixed an issue with sorting transactions in the account/envelope registers
- 5. Fixed several issues r... See all new features
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All versions:
3.8 starsout of 29 votes
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Current version:
0 stars Be the first to review this product -
My rating:
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"No support, restore from backup doesn't work"
Version: CommonCents 4.3.51.634
Pros
Easy to install, easy to use. It did a good job reporting my expenses and gave a detailed report of where my money was going.
Cons
Had a system crash last month, but save the data to a backup drive. Common Sense could not restore from the backed up data (Data Vault). I was able to get around this by copying the entire vault from a backed up zip drive. I was unable to recover the user key so I used the trial copy and submitted a critical help desk ticket. No reply at all.
Summary
I would not recommend this software. I am transitioning to either Hello Wallet or Quicken.
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"Great for budgeting for online payday loans"
Version: CommonCents 4.2.46.580
Pros
Great software for budgeting finances.
Cons
No cons found
Summary
Lacey S.
<a href="https://www.loanmeit.com>Payday-Loans-Online</a> -
"Losing functionality with new versions"
Version: CommonCents 4.2.46.580
Pros
Cheap
Option for manual import or automatic
Lots of envelopes and accounts allowed
Easy envelope setup, transfersCons
Reporting is abysmal
New version messed up manual importsSummary
Version 3.0 of this software was okay, but not great. The user interface was clunky and buggy, variously requiring the use of arrow keys and tab key to modify and move between fields. Screens would automatically scroll to the bottom after data entry, rolling the edited field off the screen. Worst of all was the reporting. All reports were done through generation of a .pdf file. To view the report on screen required the use of the "Preview" button, which showed just that - a preview of a .pdf file. This was on top of the fact that the report options were ridiculous. There was no way to show expense trends or envelope balances over several months. That, to me, is one of the most useful things about an electronic budget record - being able to get a picture of my expenses over different time periods and using different parameters (by bank account, by envelope, by payee, etc.) It was possible to generate a report for any given time period (e.g. a certain month, last 3 months, 3rd quarter of last year), but these reports simply showed every transaction in that time period. So a report of the last 3 months showed dozens of transactions in each envelope, but without any breakdown by month or even a total expenditure for that time period. The report formats were equally frustrating. A "report" would generate a tabular list of expenses that could span 1/2 dozen pages. This is not a convenient way to visualize expenses and get an understanding of where my money goes. A "graph" would create a pie chart and a legend. Given that I have 30 or more envelopes, the pie chart tended to repeat or have very similar colors, making it impossible to match the pie color to the color in the chart. Neither the pie nor the legend were ordered by value, so I couldn't even easily determine the envelopes with the highest expenses.
Unfortunately, version 4.0 kept all of those problems but also messed up the manual import capability. When I download transaction data from my banks and try to import it, the "Payee" field is not filled in. Thus, I have to try to categorize my transactions using only the date and amount of the transactions. I don't know who remembers their transactions using only that data. I tried 3 different file download types (.qif, .qfx, and .csv) but none of them worked.
At version 3.0, I would have given this software 3 stars because of its potential. Seeing the "improvements" that have come with the new version, this software no longer has any value for me and does not offer any hope of getting better. -
"Importing data from financial institutions impossible"
Version: CommonCents 4.2.46.580
Pros
I wouldn't know.
Cons
Wasted 45 minutes trying to import data from my financial institutions. Only 2 even appeared to be recognized by the program. The program could not connect with either. I'm not interested in manually entering all this data. Discarded the program and cut my losses at this point.
Summary
Good luck importing data.
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"Outstanding and very Powerful Budgeting tool"
Version: CommonCents 3.13.99.667
Pros
Outstanding customer support
Has all you need in one easy to use bundle
Intitutive approach to budgeting
Everything on one screen makes learing and use easy
Ability to import statements is a definite plusCons
I really cannot think of any
Summary
When I originally started Budgeting, I could not find asnything that met my needs, therefore I wound up writing my own under VB.net. When I transistioned to Windows 7, my budget programs would not work, therefore I went in search for another one. I tried YNAB as well as looking at others. YNAB was extremely difficult to use, others lacked the features that I needed. I was beginning to think I one again would be unable to find anything. I come accross CommonCents, and discovered right away that it was what I needed. I have read reviews that says it is difficult to use, I find the oppposite, it is actually extremely EASY to use. Everything you need is right in fron of you. You do not need to go thru multiple menus to get to where you want to go. It has a outstanding import capabiity to allow you to import bank transactions. I had one issue when I was trying it out, and to my amazement I had a reply the next morning! I do not believe I have ever had this kind of response from a software company. It appears to be bug free and oes not appear to be any glitches. All in all, I would strongly recommend this to anyone who wants to get their finances under control. As with any software with the features that CommonCents has, you will need to take time to learn it, but when you do, I believe you will find, as I found, it is really easy to use. It is well worth the $34.95 that you will to pay for it!
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"Powerful and easy to use (once it is understood.)"
Version: CommonCents 3.13.99.667
Pros
Easy set-up and access to all accounts and easy entering of data. Great budgeting using envelopes with continued visualisation of status. Excellent reports which can be tailored and memorised as neccesary. No problems with importing bank transactions.
Excellent tutorials on the Web Site. A searchable help file is very well written and has not let me down.Cons
Different from all the others and takes a bit of getting used to but it is well worth the effort.
Summary
Microsoft Money won't run under Windows 8 and I have spent a lot of time finding a replacement. CommonCents is the only one which ticks all the boxes.
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"Robust but kludgy and hard to understand"
Version: CommonCents 3.13.99.667
Pros
Very robust feature set; one of the few envelope-based personal financial applications that doesn't require web/cloud-based use or storage
Cons
GUI is crowded; input and reconciliation methods are awkward to set up; sometimes hard to make heads or tails out of a button, menu, or feature; not at all intuitive to use; Help file lacks search capability; cannot edit a transaction when viewing in an envelope; no on-line forum or operational FAQ or such; would love to see a mobile app developed for use on iOS and Android
Summary
There are few personal finance software applications out there for people who use the envelope system of budgeting, and almost all of them require the user to do their work on-line. For those of us not comfortable with the security (or lack of it) in on-line systems, CommonCents offers an affordable and robust PC-based application. There is a LOT of power under CC's hood, and possibly more features than the average home user will ever employ, but it's good they're there.
The downside is this program seems to never have been tested on people who didn't actually build it and know it's inner workings. Set-up takes some work, and the learning curve is steep. There is a LOT on-screen at one time, which is not bad in-and-of itself but the screen real estate comes across as very cluttered...a question of aesthetics and design. Some features are not readily apparent nor found easily.
The Help feature is thin...there's no ability to search for a specific question or problem. The tutorials at Commoncentssoftware.com are nice, but there needs to be help beyond that. The FAQ at enDevelopment's website is a handful of questions designed to get the visitor to buy the product, there are no usage FAQs, and there is no forum or other community for user-to-user support.
Five stars for robustness and capabilities; minus two stars for it being difficult to use. -
"Too hard to use. Very cluttered"
Version: CommonCents 3.13.99.667
Pros
Nice Reports
Cons
Too hard to use
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"Finally a program that helps me stick to my budget!"
Version: CommonCents 3.12.98.658
Pros
I am a very busy person with very little time to keep track of my finances. Commoncents solves this problem for me. It is simple to use and so easy to keep track of my actual spending and what is left in my budget each week. I have found no other software program that works as well at keeping accurate up to date spending and budgeting. I not only know how much I have spent each week but I know how much I have left in each budget category. I love it!! It's the only way I know how to keep honest to by budget!
Cons
I don't have anything negative to say about the product.
Summary
I highly recommend this program. It is especially useful for those who live on a tight budget. If every penny counts and there is not a lot of room for overspending then this product is for you. Mom's who do all the shopping for the family, this is the answer you have been looking for. With so many needs each week for the family and household this is a tool that will finally help you stay on track each month instead of feeling that "overspender's guilt" as the bills roll in and you realize you spent way more than you intended for the family. I really love this program and feel it is a answer to prayer for me and my family!
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"Catastrophic Failure & Backups Don't Work"
Version: CommonCents 3.12.98.658
Pros
Very good implementation of envelope budgeting. Easy to use. Clear.
Cons
After using for several months would not start due to "Attempted to access an unnamed file past its end". Then the restore from backups would not work. They were unable to find the data base to restore to or some such thing. I tried a lot of things and somehow finally got it to work but it was a close call. DO NOT TRUST THE BACKUPS. Better to make your own backups using backup software or copying the entire Common Cents vault directory.
Another minor issue is that the find function doesn't work across accounts. It should be able to find things anywhere in the vault.
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