So my bank is perpetually on the Known Data Feed Issues list and I need to either get a manual import system in place or move on from Tiller. I see all the options for solutions that help automate the manual data steps. It seems like setting one of them up will be an involved process that is likely to cause me some serious frustration.
My question is whether anybody (without ninja level skills) has gone through this process successfully and does manual updating as their regular workflow in Tiller. If so, is it as horrible as the manual update how to page makes it looks or is it actually OK once the set up is done?
The way I’ve done it doesn’t require any ninja skills but it’s a little more time consuming since I want to make sure it’s perfect.
What I’ve done is download the CSV from my bank.
I then go to the bottom of the Transaction sheet and paste those values, including the Column Headers. I then insert/delete columns where necessary.
Once done, I delete the column header row and my transactions are there.
Then, I go to Balance History and find a balance for my account. I copy/paste and change the amount and date fields.
It’s a bit time consuming, so I wouldn’t do this all the time, but it works.
-edit-
Just adding, that you can always create a simple macro by recording your steps and take the columns from your bank, and make it Tiller-ready. Then, you’d just download your CSV, run the macro, then copy/paste into Tiller.
In my opinion it’s something that can be clunky the first time when you’re trying to get everything right but after that it’s pretty smooth sailing.
My preferred way to deal with this situation is to create a “transformation sheet” which has a space to paste the input data on the left (set up to receive the layout style unique to your particular bank), and then columns to right which are set up to copy/paste all the data directly into the destination worksheet with everything lining up just the way you want it. The area to the right is connected to the left by formulas that can be simple or fancy depending on your skills.
Easier to manage this than macros, in my opinion. And after you set up the transformation sheet, it’s super fast to work with any similar input set.
I have to copy over bank data and update balances. I set aside about 30 - 45 minutes on the weekend to make it work. Not as ideal as auto importing, but not a terrible burden either - I consider it better than paying intuit (mint) with my personal data about my spending and saving habits.
I’m about the same with the USAA outage so it just takes a bit longer than it used to but ive gotten the hang of it and dont dread it likeni used to, got a macro set up for massaging the data and then cipy paste