Setting Preferences
Selecting the File->Preferences menu item gives you the ability to set the appearance and behavior of Moneydance to suit your personal needs. Below is an overview of the settings available under each tab of the preferences window.
General
The items under the General tab allow you to configure basic settings such as the language, date format, decimal point, and other application settings.
- Show Full Account Paths: determines whether or not the full account/category is displayed in the register. For example if that is unchecked Personal:Bills:Electricity would just appear as "Electricity".
- Auto-create New Transactions: if selected, a blank transaction entry form will be displayed after recording a new transaction
- Register Follows Recorded Transactions: if selected, the register will scroll to the location of any new transactions that are entered
- Separate Tax Date for Transactions: selecting this option allows the entry of two dates for each transaction, one for your records and one that can be used for tax purposes. If this is selected, you can set both dates for a transaction to be the same using the cmd/ctrl-Y keyboard shortcut.
- Use VAT/GST: selecting this option tells Moneydance to automatically split any transactions to categories that have VAT/GST rates associated with them. You can edit the VAT/GST categories and rates by selecting the Tools->VAT/GST Settings menu.
- Show All Accounts in Popup: if selected, Moneydance will display all accounts and categories in the main account popup that appears in the top left corner of the main Moneydance window.
- Case Sensitive Auto-Completion: if selected, auto-completion will only match previous transactions that begin with the exact text that has been typed in the Description field. With this option off, auto-completion will match previous transactions in such a way that typing "ac" will match transactions made to the "ACLU", for example.
- Save on Every Quit: with this option selected Moneydance will automatically save your data when you quit the application (unless Moneydance or your computer crashes).
- Auto-Insert Decimal Points: if selected, values such as "1234" will be interpreted as "12.34" when entered into most amount fields
- Beep When Transactions Change: if selected, Moneydance will make a pleasing sound when recording a transaction. Turn this off if you do not enjoy pleasing sounds.
Colors
The items under the Colors tab allow you to specify customized colors for certain parts of Moneydance. Click on the color panel of each item to select a different color for that item.
Network
Under this tab are options that change how Moneydance uses the network. Options include an HTTP proxy setting, and checkboxes that indicate whether Moneydance should download certain information every time it starts up.
Check Printing
This tab allows the selection of check types to be used when printing checks. It also provides the ability to completely customize the field positions on checks and the number of checks on each page.
Printing
This tab allows the customization of printing settings. This includes the font to be used when printing from Moneydance.
Backup
This tab provides the ability to customize the automatic backup feature of Moneydance. Backups can be configured to be saved in a location of your choice every so many days.
Homepage
This tab provides the ability to customize the information that appears on your home page as well as its order. For more information about customizing your home page, please see “Customize the homepage”.