Mvelopes is a fully-featured online personal finance application with a focus on budgeting. Mvelopes uses virtual budget envelopes for setting aside money for expenses, and to keep the user in touch with future spending and saving.
This is a subscription-based service that tracks all types of personal financial accounts, including investments, retirement accounts, loans and mortgages. Transactions can be downloaded from over 14,000 financial institutions. See page two of this review for pricing.
Who Should Consider Mvelopes
- People who want a lot of detail in their budgeting.
- Anyone who doesn't mind paying for a personal finance web application.
Looking for a shorter Mvelopes review? See A First Look at Mvelopes.
Security, Browser Issues, Mobile and Getting Around
Mvelopes has solid security with 128-bit encryption, hashed passwords and other trusted security measures. Users are automatically logged out if they stop working in the application after a period of time, however, when I was logged out, the last screen I was using stayed open to reveal some account balances and spending amounts.
Navigation
Overall, Mvelopes is easy to use while offering a full set of money management features, and navigation is easy to learn. I had to refer to the tutorials more often than I normally would for this type of software, but using Mvelopes isn't difficult.
Getting set up is simple with an Account Set Up Wizard that walks you through setting up bills and financial accounts you want to track. The wizard helps with setting up budget categories which are represented visually as envelopes.
Response Time and Errors
While parts of Mvelopes loaded quickly, some features were consistently a bit pokey. I've experienced this with other envelope budgeting software and chalk it up to database design. The tools and features worked smoothly and although I ran into some glitches, they were one time events that cleared up.
When I tried to add a checking account in the Account Manager tool, Mvelopes told me the accounts were found and asked me to select them to add them. However, there were no accounts listed for me to select from. Later, the account appeared Account Manager tool with an error code. I removed the account and successfully established it after a second try at setting up.
I had problems with both Firefox and Chrome browsers due to an issue with Adobe Shockwave. I attempted to get this corrected by emailing Mvelopes support, however the answers seemed automated and addressed only fundamental issues. After two rounds of email, I cut my losses and did what I haven't done in many months: opened Internet Explorer, which worked well with Mvelopes.
Mobile Portability
Mvelopes has free Android and iPhone apps with features for entering expenses, editing transactions and reviewing financial account and budgeting envelope balances. The apps also let you take pictures of receipts or other documents and then attach them to transactions. Both apps synchronize fully with Mvelopes online, but the Android app was still in beta at the time this was written so it may need some finishing touches.
Getting Help with Mvelopes
Mvelopes Toolbar
Mvelopes / Finicity CorporationThere are two buttons at the top of the screen for easy access to video tutorials and the support web page. On the right side bar under the Need Help title, there is a link to online video tutorials and member support. Another way to access help: click on Help, Support Options. I'm not sure why Mvelopes has three different ways to get help; the screen real estate created by removing the bar on the right would be better used to provide a larger font.
The video tutorials are categorized well so users can find information quickly. The training videos explain concepts and how-to's very clearly, and go through each feature slowly. Users who are completely new to envelope budgeting software should take the time to watch the 55 minute comprehensive video.
The Member Support link or button brings up all help resources except the user forum, with tabs for frequently asked questions and support by category including features and error code explanations. Ask a Question initiates the email support, but the Live Chat is preferable. My Stuff shows your support history and account details.
Working with Transactions and Data
Budget envelopes are funded by clicking on the Fund button at the top of the screen, which is how available cash is distributed across your envelopes. Another way to work with funding is to click on the Spending Plan button, which shows monthly average and annual total planned spending and income.
The sweep feature is used for transferring money between envelopes. For example, if you had $200 in your entertainment envelope and the medical expenses envelope went negative by $50 due to an unexpected visit to the doctor, you could sweep the $50 form the entertainment envelope without touching the income cash pool.
Multiple Currency Support
Mvelopes does not work with multiple currencies and only supports U.S. dollars. The Answers section of the online support says you can add accounts associated with different currencies as long as your financial institution is supported, but Mvelopes can't distinguish between currencies. It is possible to set up groups of envelopes for expenses funded by an individual spending account that holds multiple currencies.
Data Import/Export
Mvelopes has some degree of data import capability, but it doesn't import transactions from other personal finance software or online apps. You can import Quicken data, but it will be only available in reports for historical purposes. My guess is that if your envelopes are named differently than your Quicken categories, the reports will be practically useless. The data import is handy for downloading data from financial institutions that won't download automatically (although 14,000 do).
Data can't be exported from Mvelopes, either, so if you decide to use other personal finance software in the future you won't be able to import historical data from Mvelopes.
Tax Data
Without adequate data export support, you can't pull tax-related data into tax software. The alternative is running a Transactions by Envelope report to get numbers to plug into tax software, assuming that you set up envelopes for tax deductible purchases, quarterly tax payments and any other transactions relative to income taxes.
Financial Reports, Debt Management and Budgets
Funding Budget Envelopes with Mvelopes Setup Wizard
Mvelopes / Finicity Corporation- The Spending Plan is just that - a plan for where you will spend income. Determine how much you will spend monthly in budget categories and enter the numbers into the plan.
- The Funding Plan is used to allocate available income to spending plan. While setting up the funding plan, you may need to adjust the Spending Plan to accommodate actual income. When income is recorded in an account, drag it to the Income Cash Pool to divide it among envelopes.
- Envelope to Envelope Transfers help you to avoid going over budget by using funds in one envelope for the expenses in another. For example, if you unexpectedly needed to replace a tire on your car, you could transfer funds from a discretionary envelope, like Restaurant Meals, to Auto Expenses to cover the overage (and just eat at home until next month). Transfers are created by clicking on the transfer button above the Envelopes list.
Reports are accessed by clicking on the Reports button, are easy to read and can be printed. While Mvelopes doesn't have the variety and advanced customization of reports in software like Quicken, the reports are quite adequate. Report output can be viewed in a browser, saved as a PDF or exported in CSV or XLS formats for use with spreadsheets.
Envelope reports analyze envelope balances and transactions, cash flow, monthly spending and monthly funding. Account reports show transactions by payee, register reports by account, deposits and net worth. Spending plan reports provide a way to print or analyse the current spending or funding plan. There are no investment or tax reports.
Debt Pay-off Planning
Mvelope's Debt Center imports debt accounts like credit cards, auto loans and mortgages. For each debt entered into the Debt Center, an envelope is established to funnel money to in order to pay off the debt. Before entering debts, you'll need to know the interest rate on all debt accounts, and the principal and interest for mortgage accounts.
The Debt Center prioritizes the order in which to pay off bills using what's referred to as a debt roll down method. The tool shows how much interest will be saved by following the plan and includes what if scenarios to see how making extra payments affects long term finances.
