Quicken for iOS doesn't work with Quicken for Mac. IGG Software offers excellent iOS versions of iBank that sync effortlessly with your Mac.

Bob LeVitus for the Houston Chronicle writes: I love managing my finances on my Mac, but I have never liked Intuit or its Quicken for Mac products. In May 1998, when Apple was in trouble and Intuit discontinued Quicken for the Macintosh, I said: "I don't know about you, but I'm done with Intuit. As soon as I find a replacement, I'm throwing out my copy of Quicken."

I've been looking for a better personal finance solution to run on my Mac ever since. I had two criteria: It had to import Quicken data and it had to let me pay bills electronically. After testing close to a dozen programs that didn't meet my requirements, I found iBank, from IGG Software, which not only imports my Quicken data flawlessly but also lets me pay any bill electronically with just a few keystrokes.

My favorite feature is paying any bill by typing a few characters and clicking the "send payment" button. And that brings me to my only gripe about iBank: While it's possible to pay bills and download data directly from your bank at no additional cost, it didn't work for me, so I am forced to subscribe to IGG's Direct Access service for $39.99 a year. On the other hand, it means I don't have to use Quicken or deal with Intuit, so I consider it a small price to pay.

The other features I use regularly are the overview dashboard, which contains all of my account balances, upcoming bills, recent deposits and much more, and the individual account summary pages, which provide additional details for each account. These reports make it easy to determine my current financial situation with just a couple of clicks. That is easier than trying to extract the same data from Quicken.

I've been using iBank for nearly a year and I like it better than Quicken in every way. To me, Quicken looks and feels like a bad Windows program with its confusing mess of windows, palettes and crowded dialog boxes. In contrast, iBank looks and feels totally like a Mac app, with everything you might need in a single window and few dialog boxes. That should come as no surprise because IGG Software is an Apple-only developer.

So while Intuit and IGG both offer IOS apps, Quicken for iOS doesn't work with Quicken for Mac. And IGG Software offers excellent iOS versions of iBank that sync effortlessly with your Mac.

Personal finance software is a personal choice. But if you are looking for an easy-to-use program, you'll find a lot to like about iBank. And there's a 30-day free trial available.

iBank. IGG Software. Mac $59.99; iPad $19.99; iPhone $9.99. iggsoftware.com