Folks ask us, “Do you keep a copy of my data?” and “Is the cloud safe?”, all the time. Instead of just adding to the CheckBook FAQ, which we’ll probably do anyway fairly soon-ish, we thought we’d share our answers here with a little more of a personal touch. Let’s start with how we feel about your privacy. Spoiler alert: It’s all about you.

Your privacy is yours

Your privacy, and so your personal and financial data, belongs to you and not to us.  We’ll never sell your data and we’ll do everything we can to make sure it’s never handed over to a third party.

You choose where your CheckBook data lives

Your data lives in CheckBook documents on your Mac. You can create as many documents as you like (though we usually recommend just one unless you have a lot of different finances to manage), you can have as many Accounts in a single document as you like, and you can store your documents in a folder shared with a cloud storage provider to sync automatically between Macs.  If you ever need to know where your document lives, open CheckBook, go to the File menu, and click the Show in Finder menu item.

CheckBook saves your work every 60 seconds

You’ll never have to look for a Save command and you probably won’t need to back up a separate copy of your document by hand if you use a backup solution like Time Machine.

We don’t keep your data here

Please use some kind of backup solution.  Your Mac’s Time Machine will usually do nicely if you let it backup automatically or at least backup manually every few days or so.

Cloud storage is usually safe from third parties – but check with your provider

Most, if not all, of the big names in cloud storage encrypt your data as it travels to and from the server, as well as while it stays there. Their livelihood depends on trust and, depending on the provider, respecting your privacy to varying degrees, so they have to protect your data from third parties. They may take a look at your data themselves, mining for some kind of usability improvement or profit. At the moment, Google, for example, says they only process your data looking for ways to make their product better – not for advertising. That may or may not be a red flag for you.  Don’t take our word for it:  We don’t know exactly what each cloud storage provider does with your data so check with them to be absolutely sure.

Our support team won’t use your data for anything but helping you

When you reach out for help and need to send your document or let us share your screen, your secrets are safe with us.  Like we said, your privacy, and so your data, is yours, not ours.  We respect that at all times:  We’ll never profit from or share your data with a third party.

Think twice before emailing your document

Email isn’t usually encrypted as it moves between servers, so someone could, under the right circumstances, tap into the network at any point between servers, sniff out your email and attachment data, and reassemble an attachment.  It’s a tiny chance but it’s not just theoretical – it’s real and it’s been done.  If you want absolute certainty no one but us will see your data, then, it’ll make more sense to share a link from cloud storage or a file transfer service like WeTransfer.com.

There you have it

Our bottom line on privacy and how we handle your data is we always, always try to look out for you. We respect your privacy because it’s yours, not ours, we warn you of risks whenever possible, and we strive to err on the side of caution when actually handling your data ourselves or in CheckBook itself. If we ever get it wrong, or if you have any questions at all, please reach out to support@splasm.com or give us a call at 800-721-5492 to let us know so we can listen and learn. Thank you!

Moving from Quicken to CheckBook or CheckBook Pro usually only takes a minute or two and, in case you need to go back for any reason, won’t affect your data in Quicken at all. Here’s a guide to help you get set up. Choose your version of Quicken and off you go!

Which version of Quicken do you have?

Quicken 2007 and earlier

First, you’ll need to get your data out of Quicken and into a QIF or QMTF file.

To export your data from Quicken to QIF or QMTF

1. Open Quicken so you can see your data.
2. Go to the File menu near the top left corner of your screen and down to Export. If you see a submenu, click a menu item that includes “QIF” or “QMTF”. If you don’t see a submenu, click Export.
3. If you see additional options, be sure to tell Quicken to export all of your transactions for the entire date range you’ve been using Quicken.
4. Save the exported file to your Desktop so you’ll have no trouble finding it.

Now that you have a QIF or QMTF file with all your Quicken data in it, let’s bring that file into CheckBook.

To import a QIF or QMTF file into CheckBook

1. Open CheckBook or CheckBook Pro.
2. If you haven’t created a document yet, you should see a small window with three choices. Click the Create a New Accounts Document button and save your new document in your Documents folder.
3. Select an Account to import into. If you need to create a new Account, leave the Starting Balance field set to 0.00.
4. Go to the File menu near the top left corner of your screen, down to the Import submenu, and click the QIF or QMTF… menu item. A window with a file browser will appear.
5. Navigate to your Desktop, select the QIF or QMTF file you exported from Quicken, and click the Import button at the bottom right corner of the window. The Import Options window will appear.
6. At the top of the window, click the Import Account button to reveal a menu of accounts in the QIF or QMTF file, then click the name of the account you want to import.
7. Leave the rest of the options for now and click the OK button at the bottom right corner of the window. A preview of the Entries you’re about to import will appear.
8. Give the preview a look to be sure the details appear just the way you expect. Quicken will only export certain data, so if a column is empty that’s just because the data for that column wasn’t in the QIF or QMTF file. When you’re ready to continue, click the OK button at the bottom right corner of the window. CheckBook will ask if it’s OK to continue. Click the Continue button and your Quicken transactions will now appear as Entries in your CheckBook Account.

Repeat steps 3 through 8 for all the Quicken accounts you want to import and you’re ready for the next step: Your first reconciliation.

After importing

You’ll probably want to reconcile right away. Look in Quicken for the last balance you reconciled, click the Reconcile button at the bottom of the CheckBook document window, and enter that last reconciled balance in the Statement Balance field, in the Statement column at the bottom right. Don’t focus on the Account column for now – you won’t need it yet. As long as you haven’t marked anything as “cleared” in Quicken since your last reconciliation, your Statement Balance should match your Resolved Balance, so your Unreconciled total should now be zero. Click the small Reconcile button below the Unreconciled total, confirm you want to reconcile, and you’ve completed your first CheckBook reconciliation. Hooray! Now click the Entry button at the bottom of the window to get back to managing your Entries.

With any luck, you’re now scrolling through your new Entries in CheckBook, imagining all the possibilities. Feel free to contact Splasm Support at support@splasm.com if you need any help along the way!

Eyeballs need options and you’ll find plenty of those in CheckBook’s preferences. Read on to learn how easy it is to change the font and font size CheckBook uses to display your Entries.

To make your Entries bigger or smaller, or to change the font

1. Open CheckBook or CheckBook Pro.
2. Go to the CheckBook or CheckBook Pro menu near the top left corner of your screen, next to the Apple () menu, and click the Preferences… menu item. The Preferences window will appear.
3. Look a little over halfway down the window for the Entry Font and Size settings and change them to just what you’d like.

We hope that helps your eyes, friends. Reach out to support@splasm.com if you have any questions!