Monarch Money Quirks
First off: I love Monarch. It's beautiful and a joy to use. That said, I kinda realized the main quirks I found a bit odd in Monarch.
- Accounts are isolated from one another; transfers act like the glue that connects them.
If you transfer something from one account to another, you have a “merchant” that basically “charges” that account. Accounts don’t have a “transfer” transaction that moves money from one account to another. Instead, you categorize it as an expense in one account, and a transfer in another.
This is sort of odd because there isn’t really like a double-entry approach.
- Recurring merchants instead of recurring transactions.
I have multiple transactions with a single merchant. With Monarch, it’s a bit odd to set that up properly.
- No matching transactions.
If I purchase something for the same amount, and then the merchant refunds me for the same amount later, I don’t have the option to connect that to a previous transaction. Transactions are independent of one another.
There isn’t a way for me to say “oh that’s a refund for the Amazon order I returned.”
Instead, I have to categorize it as the same expense category.
This is even more pronounced in balance adjustments from cashbacks. Example: I purchase something and receive 3% cashback. I later refund it and that 3% cash back is adjusted.
- Odd Merchant Names
I have some weird merchant names and then I go view the transaction in my bank account and it’s something completely different.
I think improving this would make a major change for the UX.
- Missing a Transaction Type
I think the categories help but they can be boiled down to three types possibly:
- Expense
- Income
- Transfers between Accounts
This part is a work in progress. However it seems like a transaction type is missing and instead categories take that place.
What do you guys think?