Restore Transactions Downloading Acceptance and Matching workflow to Quicken Mac (317 Legacy Votes)

Unknown

smayer97 (QM2007, CDN user since '92) said:

Because of a discussion elsewhere, I found that I was summarizing at least the highlights of why this feature is still so desired. So I am copying that reply for visibility here:

There are several key differences between this process vs the automatic acceptance of dowloaded transactions into the register (which is how QMac currently works):

I won't run them all off here but some differences and benefits include:

• being able to have a different window layout, showing different columns, sorts, etc. for that process that are not necessary outside that process
• being able to explore other parts of the account register independently without interfering or interrupting the download, matching and acceptance process
• not having the balance of those transactions impact the account register until matching and acceptance of a transaction is complete. This is especially useful when there are either duplicate or unmatched or even incorrectly matched transactions.
• both the automatic categorization and automatic matching processes can NEVER be 100% accurate because there is no way for these to account for all variations. So have a catchment to allow review before acceptance gives full control over the data affecting other already reviewed data.
• when there are large volumes of data being downloaded (whether from a single month or when processing multiple months worth of data--this can happen quite a lot for some), the matching process is far easier to navigate since you do not have ALL the transactions from the register getting in the way. For people who are willing or able to download and reconcile very regularly, this becomes less important. Not all of us have that luxury.
• a separate window allows you to the stop the process midstream and not lose track of what you are doing more easily... again not mixing in downloaded vs manual or other processed transactions unnecessarily.

These are only highlights. Bottom line, there are many situations to which a separate download window lends itself far better than auto-acceptance and matching, which provides far more control and flexibility over the process and workflow, making the process far more efficient and effective in many situations.

(If you find this reply helpful, please be sure to click "Like", so others will know, thanks.)

@MarginOfError...

I'm curious as to why you even need to reconcile transactions if they are downloaded from your institution?  What is the purpose?

Back in the old days before transaction download, we "reconciled" bank accounts to monthly paper bank statements that came in the mail.  Sure, we'd transpose numbers in the paper register...or sometimes just plain forget to enter one in the paper register and our balances would be wrong on that paper register in our checkbook. 

But nowadays if you download transactions, you're just getting what the bank sees anyways.

And if you're super picky, then enter your transactions into the register manually and have them match when they are downloaded.  Thus, any transactions without a 'c' cleared status hasn't been reconciled.

I don't do that, but I could see users doing it.

While I DO reconcile my transactions to a paper statement from my checking account or credit card accounts monthly, I don't with my investment transactions.  The download matches are proof enough for me.

So, once again...why is it even important to reconcile ANYTHING any more if you are just downloading transactions...which the online products do.  

I don't feel that's a deal breaker any more.  Reconciling is so 1990's.  

jacobs

smayer97 (QM2007, CDN user since '92) said:

Because of a discussion elsewhere, I found that I was summarizing at least the highlights of why this feature is still so desired. So I am copying that reply for visibility here:

There are several key differences between this process vs the automatic acceptance of dowloaded transactions into the register (which is how QMac currently works):

I won't run them all off here but some differences and benefits include:

• being able to have a different window layout, showing different columns, sorts, etc. for that process that are not necessary outside that process
• being able to explore other parts of the account register independently without interfering or interrupting the download, matching and acceptance process
• not having the balance of those transactions impact the account register until matching and acceptance of a transaction is complete. This is especially useful when there are either duplicate or unmatched or even incorrectly matched transactions.
• both the automatic categorization and automatic matching processes can NEVER be 100% accurate because there is no way for these to account for all variations. So have a catchment to allow review before acceptance gives full control over the data affecting other already reviewed data.
• when there are large volumes of data being downloaded (whether from a single month or when processing multiple months worth of data--this can happen quite a lot for some), the matching process is far easier to navigate since you do not have ALL the transactions from the register getting in the way. For people who are willing or able to download and reconcile very regularly, this becomes less important. Not all of us have that luxury.
• a separate window allows you to the stop the process midstream and not lose track of what you are doing more easily... again not mixing in downloaded vs manual or other processed transactions unnecessarily.

These are only highlights. Bottom line, there are many situations to which a separate download window lends itself far better than auto-acceptance and matching, which provides far more control and flexibility over the process and workflow, making the process far more efficient and effective in many situations.

(If you find this reply helpful, please be sure to click "Like", so others will know, thanks.)

Jay, I don't think it's true that Quicken "ignores" the Mac product, or "doesn't care". It's gotten a heck of a lot better over the four years now since it was (re-)launched, and from my interactions with some Quicken folks, they care deeply about trying to build out a quality product. But Quicken Mac still lacks a lot of functionality users want from the legacy Mac and/or Window products, and the demand for features outstrips the capability of the development team to deliver in a timely fashion.

Larry wrote above that "this is the *ONE* feature that is missing...", but the fact is there are many other threads on this forum citing other missing features which other users feel equally passionate about needing. And things are being addressed, one by one -- but there's a long list to address.

Therefore, each of us has to assess how useful Quicken is to us. There's no one answer, nor a right answer; for some, Quicken Mac is good enough as it is now, while for others, it's unusable or a pain to use. And that's why the right answer for some people is to pay to get the latest upgrades, while the right answer for others is to stick with an older version that still works, and the right answer for others is to move to a different product that may have the specific set of features a user needs.

Margin of Error

smayer97 (QM2007, CDN user since '92) said:

Because of a discussion elsewhere, I found that I was summarizing at least the highlights of why this feature is still so desired. So I am copying that reply for visibility here:

There are several key differences between this process vs the automatic acceptance of dowloaded transactions into the register (which is how QMac currently works):

I won't run them all off here but some differences and benefits include:

• being able to have a different window layout, showing different columns, sorts, etc. for that process that are not necessary outside that process
• being able to explore other parts of the account register independently without interfering or interrupting the download, matching and acceptance process
• not having the balance of those transactions impact the account register until matching and acceptance of a transaction is complete. This is especially useful when there are either duplicate or unmatched or even incorrectly matched transactions.
• both the automatic categorization and automatic matching processes can NEVER be 100% accurate because there is no way for these to account for all variations. So have a catchment to allow review before acceptance gives full control over the data affecting other already reviewed data.
• when there are large volumes of data being downloaded (whether from a single month or when processing multiple months worth of data--this can happen quite a lot for some), the matching process is far easier to navigate since you do not have ALL the transactions from the register getting in the way. For people who are willing or able to download and reconcile very regularly, this becomes less important. Not all of us have that luxury.
• a separate window allows you to the stop the process midstream and not lose track of what you are doing more easily... again not mixing in downloaded vs manual or other processed transactions unnecessarily.

These are only highlights. Bottom line, there are many situations to which a separate download window lends itself far better than auto-acceptance and matching, which provides far more control and flexibility over the process and workflow, making the process far more efficient and effective in many situations.

(If you find this reply helpful, please be sure to click "Like", so others will know, thanks.)

I think SMAYER said it best at the beginning of this thread:

Currently, downloading automatically to the register does not allow the
user to easily control and verify that matching has taken place
correctly, that transactions are correct, etc. Automatically accepting
them immediately affects the current balance of the register/account,
which is sometimes not desirable until the transactions have been
verified.

Automatic acceptance causes all sorts of matching issues and makes it difficult to sort out.

Unknown

smayer97 (QM2007, CDN user since '92) said:

Because of a discussion elsewhere, I found that I was summarizing at least the highlights of why this feature is still so desired. So I am copying that reply for visibility here:

There are several key differences between this process vs the automatic acceptance of dowloaded transactions into the register (which is how QMac currently works):

I won't run them all off here but some differences and benefits include:

• being able to have a different window layout, showing different columns, sorts, etc. for that process that are not necessary outside that process
• being able to explore other parts of the account register independently without interfering or interrupting the download, matching and acceptance process
• not having the balance of those transactions impact the account register until matching and acceptance of a transaction is complete. This is especially useful when there are either duplicate or unmatched or even incorrectly matched transactions.
• both the automatic categorization and automatic matching processes can NEVER be 100% accurate because there is no way for these to account for all variations. So have a catchment to allow review before acceptance gives full control over the data affecting other already reviewed data.
• when there are large volumes of data being downloaded (whether from a single month or when processing multiple months worth of data--this can happen quite a lot for some), the matching process is far easier to navigate since you do not have ALL the transactions from the register getting in the way. For people who are willing or able to download and reconcile very regularly, this becomes less important. Not all of us have that luxury.
• a separate window allows you to the stop the process midstream and not lose track of what you are doing more easily... again not mixing in downloaded vs manual or other processed transactions unnecessarily.

These are only highlights. Bottom line, there are many situations to which a separate download window lends itself far better than auto-acceptance and matching, which provides far more control and flexibility over the process and workflow, making the process far more efficient and effective in many situations.

(If you find this reply helpful, please be sure to click "Like", so others will know, thanks.)

Wannabe

I'm curious as to why you even need to reconcile transactions if they
are downloaded from your institution?  What is the purpose?

Reconcile is the process of ensuring the transactions in your register are in agreement with what the financial institution has.

For some reason people get it in their heads that reconcile is checking looking at some reconcile screen and pressing "OK" or something.

Or in your case that:

But nowadays if you download transactions, you're just getting what the bank sees anyways.

No your aren't.

First off you can have transactions in your register for things that have not yet cleared, like a check.  But more to the point, the world isn't perfect, and neither is either the downloading of transactions or Quicken.

It very possible to have problems and have what is in Quicken not reflect what the financial institution has.

And BTW some people might also believe that they need to "double check" the financial institution.  Personally I have had only one time I thought the financial institution was wrong, but it was for a very small amount 40 years ago.

smayer97

smayer97 (QM2007, CDN user since '92) said:

Because of a discussion elsewhere, I found that I was summarizing at least the highlights of why this feature is still so desired. So I am copying that reply for visibility here:

There are several key differences between this process vs the automatic acceptance of dowloaded transactions into the register (which is how QMac currently works):

I won't run them all off here but some differences and benefits include:

• being able to have a different window layout, showing different columns, sorts, etc. for that process that are not necessary outside that process
• being able to explore other parts of the account register independently without interfering or interrupting the download, matching and acceptance process
• not having the balance of those transactions impact the account register until matching and acceptance of a transaction is complete. This is especially useful when there are either duplicate or unmatched or even incorrectly matched transactions.
• both the automatic categorization and automatic matching processes can NEVER be 100% accurate because there is no way for these to account for all variations. So have a catchment to allow review before acceptance gives full control over the data affecting other already reviewed data.
• when there are large volumes of data being downloaded (whether from a single month or when processing multiple months worth of data--this can happen quite a lot for some), the matching process is far easier to navigate since you do not have ALL the transactions from the register getting in the way. For people who are willing or able to download and reconcile very regularly, this becomes less important. Not all of us have that luxury.
• a separate window allows you to the stop the process midstream and not lose track of what you are doing more easily... again not mixing in downloaded vs manual or other processed transactions unnecessarily.

These are only highlights. Bottom line, there are many situations to which a separate download window lends itself far better than auto-acceptance and matching, which provides far more control and flexibility over the process and workflow, making the process far more efficient and effective in many situations.

(If you find this reply helpful, please be sure to click "Like", so others will know, thanks.)

Correct. Reconciling is more to check that what makes it into Quicken is a reflection of what is elsewhere, so that finding records, reporting based on desired categorization, preparing for taxes, etc., is accurate.

Unknown

smayer97 (QM2007, CDN user since '92) said:

Because of a discussion elsewhere, I found that I was summarizing at least the highlights of why this feature is still so desired. So I am copying that reply for visibility here:

There are several key differences between this process vs the automatic acceptance of dowloaded transactions into the register (which is how QMac currently works):

I won't run them all off here but some differences and benefits include:

• being able to have a different window layout, showing different columns, sorts, etc. for that process that are not necessary outside that process
• being able to explore other parts of the account register independently without interfering or interrupting the download, matching and acceptance process
• not having the balance of those transactions impact the account register until matching and acceptance of a transaction is complete. This is especially useful when there are either duplicate or unmatched or even incorrectly matched transactions.
• both the automatic categorization and automatic matching processes can NEVER be 100% accurate because there is no way for these to account for all variations. So have a catchment to allow review before acceptance gives full control over the data affecting other already reviewed data.
• when there are large volumes of data being downloaded (whether from a single month or when processing multiple months worth of data--this can happen quite a lot for some), the matching process is far easier to navigate since you do not have ALL the transactions from the register getting in the way. For people who are willing or able to download and reconcile very regularly, this becomes less important. Not all of us have that luxury.
• a separate window allows you to the stop the process midstream and not lose track of what you are doing more easily... again not mixing in downloaded vs manual or other processed transactions unnecessarily.

These are only highlights. Bottom line, there are many situations to which a separate download window lends itself far better than auto-acceptance and matching, which provides far more control and flexibility over the process and workflow, making the process far more efficient and effective in many situations.

(If you find this reply helpful, please be sure to click "Like", so others will know, thanks.)

Automatic acceptance causes all sorts of matching issues and makes it difficult to sort out.

It sure does. I can understand "Wannabe" not feeling like plowing through this entire thread, but people have posted about many confusing situations because Quicken cheerily accepted a transaction that was not actually a match--or refused to accept one that was. There is simply no substitute for being able to see exactly what's coming in from the bank and what Quicken intends to do with it.

steve45

smayer97 (QM2007, CDN user since '92) said:

Because of a discussion elsewhere, I found that I was summarizing at least the highlights of why this feature is still so desired. So I am copying that reply for visibility here:

There are several key differences between this process vs the automatic acceptance of dowloaded transactions into the register (which is how QMac currently works):

I won't run them all off here but some differences and benefits include:

• being able to have a different window layout, showing different columns, sorts, etc. for that process that are not necessary outside that process
• being able to explore other parts of the account register independently without interfering or interrupting the download, matching and acceptance process
• not having the balance of those transactions impact the account register until matching and acceptance of a transaction is complete. This is especially useful when there are either duplicate or unmatched or even incorrectly matched transactions.
• both the automatic categorization and automatic matching processes can NEVER be 100% accurate because there is no way for these to account for all variations. So have a catchment to allow review before acceptance gives full control over the data affecting other already reviewed data.
• when there are large volumes of data being downloaded (whether from a single month or when processing multiple months worth of data--this can happen quite a lot for some), the matching process is far easier to navigate since you do not have ALL the transactions from the register getting in the way. For people who are willing or able to download and reconcile very regularly, this becomes less important. Not all of us have that luxury.
• a separate window allows you to the stop the process midstream and not lose track of what you are doing more easily... again not mixing in downloaded vs manual or other processed transactions unnecessarily.

These are only highlights. Bottom line, there are many situations to which a separate download window lends itself far better than auto-acceptance and matching, which provides far more control and flexibility over the process and workflow, making the process far more efficient and effective in many situations.

(If you find this reply helpful, please be sure to click "Like", so others will know, thanks.)

So true. It save a lot of time and frustration when there is a mismatch.

Unknown

smayer97 (QM2007, CDN user since '92) said:

Because of a discussion elsewhere, I found that I was summarizing at least the highlights of why this feature is still so desired. So I am copying that reply for visibility here:

There are several key differences between this process vs the automatic acceptance of dowloaded transactions into the register (which is how QMac currently works):

I won't run them all off here but some differences and benefits include:

• being able to have a different window layout, showing different columns, sorts, etc. for that process that are not necessary outside that process
• being able to explore other parts of the account register independently without interfering or interrupting the download, matching and acceptance process
• not having the balance of those transactions impact the account register until matching and acceptance of a transaction is complete. This is especially useful when there are either duplicate or unmatched or even incorrectly matched transactions.
• both the automatic categorization and automatic matching processes can NEVER be 100% accurate because there is no way for these to account for all variations. So have a catchment to allow review before acceptance gives full control over the data affecting other already reviewed data.
• when there are large volumes of data being downloaded (whether from a single month or when processing multiple months worth of data--this can happen quite a lot for some), the matching process is far easier to navigate since you do not have ALL the transactions from the register getting in the way. For people who are willing or able to download and reconcile very regularly, this becomes less important. Not all of us have that luxury.
• a separate window allows you to the stop the process midstream and not lose track of what you are doing more easily... again not mixing in downloaded vs manual or other processed transactions unnecessarily.

These are only highlights. Bottom line, there are many situations to which a separate download window lends itself far better than auto-acceptance and matching, which provides far more control and flexibility over the process and workflow, making the process far more efficient and effective in many situations.

(If you find this reply helpful, please be sure to click "Like", so others will know, thanks.)

Note I'm a Quicken Windows only user, but from what I understand, the automatic transaction entry mode in Quicken Windows works the same way as Mac's "only method works".

So I'm going to throw out this controversial statement.

I disagree with this statement.

Currently, downloading automatically to the register does not allow the
user to easily control and verify that matching has taken place
correctly, that transactions are correct, etc. Automatically accepting
them immediately affects the current balance of the register/account,
which is sometimes not desirable until the transactions have been
verified.

First off let me state that how Quicken is matching isn't the issue at hand. Both systems would match the same way.  The real question is can you detect/find problems, verify amounts and categories, and correct them with each of the two different systems.

The contention in the statement above is that you can't if your transactions are being automatically entered into the register.

I contend that is an incorrect assumption.

Here is my register where I have purposely entered a transaction that Quicken would match on the next download.


First step, detection of matches.

The New Match transaction is easily detected.
The category and amount is easily verified and the user can either mark the transaction reviewed (status goes to empty) or select Un-match if the match is wrong.


And yes there is a manual match, which is started by selecting the "uncleared" status of a transaction that was entered into the register, and selecting to match to downloaded transactions of the same amount.

Now repeated with the Downloaded Transactions tab (which BTW is limited in capabilities like multiple select and being able to see all of the categories that Quicken will pick unlike when it is done in the register).



When I'm selecting the transaction that matched in the Downloaded Transactions tab it focuses on the transaction that it matched, and I can see the category and such.

About the only thing I see different in "information" is that I can see both the entered transaction date and the downloaded transaction date, which if desired can be supplied by just turning on the Downloaded Transactions Date column in the register for the automatic transaction entry mode example above.

So now I look at that transaction, and I can select Accept.  How is that different from selecting "Reviewed"?  Or I can un-match it.  Again something I can do in the other mode.  And once un-matched, I can manually match to another transaction.

Show me anything in this process that can't be done in automatic transaction entry mode.

And BTW Quicken Mobile app, and Quicken Web only provide the automatic entry mode.

Unknown

smayer97 (QM2007, CDN user since '92) said:

Because of a discussion elsewhere, I found that I was summarizing at least the highlights of why this feature is still so desired. So I am copying that reply for visibility here:

There are several key differences between this process vs the automatic acceptance of dowloaded transactions into the register (which is how QMac currently works):

I won't run them all off here but some differences and benefits include:

• being able to have a different window layout, showing different columns, sorts, etc. for that process that are not necessary outside that process
• being able to explore other parts of the account register independently without interfering or interrupting the download, matching and acceptance process
• not having the balance of those transactions impact the account register until matching and acceptance of a transaction is complete. This is especially useful when there are either duplicate or unmatched or even incorrectly matched transactions.
• both the automatic categorization and automatic matching processes can NEVER be 100% accurate because there is no way for these to account for all variations. So have a catchment to allow review before acceptance gives full control over the data affecting other already reviewed data.
• when there are large volumes of data being downloaded (whether from a single month or when processing multiple months worth of data--this can happen quite a lot for some), the matching process is far easier to navigate since you do not have ALL the transactions from the register getting in the way. For people who are willing or able to download and reconcile very regularly, this becomes less important. Not all of us have that luxury.
• a separate window allows you to the stop the process midstream and not lose track of what you are doing more easily... again not mixing in downloaded vs manual or other processed transactions unnecessarily.

These are only highlights. Bottom line, there are many situations to which a separate download window lends itself far better than auto-acceptance and matching, which provides far more control and flexibility over the process and workflow, making the process far more efficient and effective in many situations.

(If you find this reply helpful, please be sure to click "Like", so others will know, thanks.)

BTW you can sort the register by the status, and that will group all of the New Matches together so that you can check them all out.

In fact this exactly the technique I use to get rid of duplicate transactions when I have to reset or deactivate/reactivate a Quicken Connect/Express Web Connect account.

All the duplicate transaction will have the status of New, and I can just sort by the status column, select them and deleting them, and then sort by the date again.

Unknown

smayer97 (QM2007, CDN user since '92) said:

Because of a discussion elsewhere, I found that I was summarizing at least the highlights of why this feature is still so desired. So I am copying that reply for visibility here:

There are several key differences between this process vs the automatic acceptance of dowloaded transactions into the register (which is how QMac currently works):

I won't run them all off here but some differences and benefits include:

• being able to have a different window layout, showing different columns, sorts, etc. for that process that are not necessary outside that process
• being able to explore other parts of the account register independently without interfering or interrupting the download, matching and acceptance process
• not having the balance of those transactions impact the account register until matching and acceptance of a transaction is complete. This is especially useful when there are either duplicate or unmatched or even incorrectly matched transactions.
• both the automatic categorization and automatic matching processes can NEVER be 100% accurate because there is no way for these to account for all variations. So have a catchment to allow review before acceptance gives full control over the data affecting other already reviewed data.
• when there are large volumes of data being downloaded (whether from a single month or when processing multiple months worth of data--this can happen quite a lot for some), the matching process is far easier to navigate since you do not have ALL the transactions from the register getting in the way. For people who are willing or able to download and reconcile very regularly, this becomes less important. Not all of us have that luxury.
• a separate window allows you to the stop the process midstream and not lose track of what you are doing more easily... again not mixing in downloaded vs manual or other processed transactions unnecessarily.

These are only highlights. Bottom line, there are many situations to which a separate download window lends itself far better than auto-acceptance and matching, which provides far more control and flexibility over the process and workflow, making the process far more efficient and effective in many situations.

(If you find this reply helpful, please be sure to click "Like", so others will know, thanks.)

And one thing I will point out. The very fact that Quicken Windows has both modes, has lead to countless bugs between both modes as they try to maintain this very complicate system where both of these modes work.

Scott20

smayer97 (QM2007, CDN user since '92) said:

Because of a discussion elsewhere, I found that I was summarizing at least the highlights of why this feature is still so desired. So I am copying that reply for visibility here:

There are several key differences between this process vs the automatic acceptance of dowloaded transactions into the register (which is how QMac currently works):

I won't run them all off here but some differences and benefits include:

• being able to have a different window layout, showing different columns, sorts, etc. for that process that are not necessary outside that process
• being able to explore other parts of the account register independently without interfering or interrupting the download, matching and acceptance process
• not having the balance of those transactions impact the account register until matching and acceptance of a transaction is complete. This is especially useful when there are either duplicate or unmatched or even incorrectly matched transactions.
• both the automatic categorization and automatic matching processes can NEVER be 100% accurate because there is no way for these to account for all variations. So have a catchment to allow review before acceptance gives full control over the data affecting other already reviewed data.
• when there are large volumes of data being downloaded (whether from a single month or when processing multiple months worth of data--this can happen quite a lot for some), the matching process is far easier to navigate since you do not have ALL the transactions from the register getting in the way. For people who are willing or able to download and reconcile very regularly, this becomes less important. Not all of us have that luxury.
• a separate window allows you to the stop the process midstream and not lose track of what you are doing more easily... again not mixing in downloaded vs manual or other processed transactions unnecessarily.

These are only highlights. Bottom line, there are many situations to which a separate download window lends itself far better than auto-acceptance and matching, which provides far more control and flexibility over the process and workflow, making the process far more efficient and effective in many situations.

(If you find this reply helpful, please be sure to click "Like", so others will know, thanks.)

You might want to use the Mac version before asking. They are not the same, QMac is defeatured. I know because I have used both, and the 10 year old Mac version worked better on matching and similar to the current Windows version.  This gets worse when you also have downloads adding multiple new duplicate transactions every month due to another unique QMac issue. I have to go in every month and spend considerable time cleaning up after a download from Chase Bank, which does not happen in Quicken Windows or 2007 when it still ran.

Unknown

smayer97 (QM2007, CDN user since '92) said:

Because of a discussion elsewhere, I found that I was summarizing at least the highlights of why this feature is still so desired. So I am copying that reply for visibility here:

There are several key differences between this process vs the automatic acceptance of dowloaded transactions into the register (which is how QMac currently works):

I won't run them all off here but some differences and benefits include:

• being able to have a different window layout, showing different columns, sorts, etc. for that process that are not necessary outside that process
• being able to explore other parts of the account register independently without interfering or interrupting the download, matching and acceptance process
• not having the balance of those transactions impact the account register until matching and acceptance of a transaction is complete. This is especially useful when there are either duplicate or unmatched or even incorrectly matched transactions.
• both the automatic categorization and automatic matching processes can NEVER be 100% accurate because there is no way for these to account for all variations. So have a catchment to allow review before acceptance gives full control over the data affecting other already reviewed data.
• when there are large volumes of data being downloaded (whether from a single month or when processing multiple months worth of data--this can happen quite a lot for some), the matching process is far easier to navigate since you do not have ALL the transactions from the register getting in the way. For people who are willing or able to download and reconcile very regularly, this becomes less important. Not all of us have that luxury.
• a separate window allows you to the stop the process midstream and not lose track of what you are doing more easily... again not mixing in downloaded vs manual or other processed transactions unnecessarily.

These are only highlights. Bottom line, there are many situations to which a separate download window lends itself far better than auto-acceptance and matching, which provides far more control and flexibility over the process and workflow, making the process far more efficient and effective in many situations.

(If you find this reply helpful, please be sure to click "Like", so others will know, thanks.)

Scott I can't I don't have a Mac, I don't intend to buy one.

But I will point out that "false matches", wrong category assignments, duplicate transactions are problems that should be addressed FIRST.

They are the problems that should be given priority instead of "how one can clean up those problems the quicker" by actually creating a process that will most likely introduce even more bugs into Quicken Mac.

I personally like to solve the actual problem instead of providing ways that help deal with the results of those problems.

smayer97

smayer97 (QM2007, CDN user since '92) said:

Because of a discussion elsewhere, I found that I was summarizing at least the highlights of why this feature is still so desired. So I am copying that reply for visibility here:

There are several key differences between this process vs the automatic acceptance of dowloaded transactions into the register (which is how QMac currently works):

I won't run them all off here but some differences and benefits include:

• being able to have a different window layout, showing different columns, sorts, etc. for that process that are not necessary outside that process
• being able to explore other parts of the account register independently without interfering or interrupting the download, matching and acceptance process
• not having the balance of those transactions impact the account register until matching and acceptance of a transaction is complete. This is especially useful when there are either duplicate or unmatched or even incorrectly matched transactions.
• both the automatic categorization and automatic matching processes can NEVER be 100% accurate because there is no way for these to account for all variations. So have a catchment to allow review before acceptance gives full control over the data affecting other already reviewed data.
• when there are large volumes of data being downloaded (whether from a single month or when processing multiple months worth of data--this can happen quite a lot for some), the matching process is far easier to navigate since you do not have ALL the transactions from the register getting in the way. For people who are willing or able to download and reconcile very regularly, this becomes less important. Not all of us have that luxury.
• a separate window allows you to the stop the process midstream and not lose track of what you are doing more easily... again not mixing in downloaded vs manual or other processed transactions unnecessarily.

These are only highlights. Bottom line, there are many situations to which a separate download window lends itself far better than auto-acceptance and matching, which provides far more control and flexibility over the process and workflow, making the process far more efficient and effective in many situations.

(If you find this reply helpful, please be sure to click "Like", so others will know, thanks.)

I think people are only arguing one point or another regarding the need for this feature. I recommend that all refer to the summary list of the many reasons for this feature (though possibly not exhaustive), here: 
https://getsatisfaction.com/quickencommunity/topics/restore-transactions-downloading-acceptance-and-...

I think all the points worth arguing have been argued at this point...

This is [edit:] now the 3rd highest outstanding feature in demand, out of HUNDREDS. I suggest that you add your vote for this feature request if you have not already.

game4ever

Feature to review and accept downloaded transactions before they're added to the register should be added. This feature is missing compared to the Windows version

TheGoodNamesAreTaken

Quicken Windows offers the option to Accept, Manually Match, or Delete downloaded transactions. This is preferable to Quicken Mac's behavior of just adding them to the register without review. Financial institutions do occasionally make mistakes and it would be nice to have the ability to prevent them from hitting the register and having to search for them later.

Quicken Anja

Hello @TheGoodNamesAreTaken,

Thank you for reaching out to the Community with your request.

I went ahead and merged your Idea to this active Idea thread regarding this topic which is currently marked as "Under Consideration".

Ideas are reviewed by our Development and Product teams to see what features people would like to have available in the future. Please, be sure to add your own vote as well by clicking the up arrow (see example below).

Thank you!

Chris_QPW

Artimus said:

Similar to what @garry4 and @smayer97 had to say. How do I stop the transactions from being marked as cleared automatically when they are downloaded from the bank? Admittedly, I am new to downloading transactions using Quicken, but I have been using Quicken since about 1995. I have always cleared my own transactions in my own checkbook register in Quicken.

There has never been either Mac or Windows version of Quicken that doesn't set the transaction as cleared after downloading.  And there isn't any option to turn this off.  If you don't want transactions to be cleared you can't download.

The definition of cleared is that it has cleared/posted at the financial institution.  Since the rules for downloading to Quicken are that transactions are only available to be downloaded after the post, then that transaction is definitely "cleared the financial institution".

If a given financial institution is making pending transactions available downloading, they are in violation of the rules for downloading transaction to Quicken.

And I'm might add Quicken not marking a transaction cleared once it is downloaded would cause a lot of extra work for everyone else that isn't using your system of manually changing the cleared status.

jacobs

As I wrote in your other post about this, I think you are confusing "Cleared" and "Reconciled". "Cleared" is what Chris describes above. "Reconciled" is what you can manually do to check off each transaction which matches your bank statement.  

Chris_QPW

@Artimus to post an idea you need to go to the Home page on this forum and select New Post -> New Idea, and state what you want, and that thread will be created with a voting button and the users can vote on whether they want the feature or not.  And depending on that the developers will decide on whether to implement it or not.

You shouldn't be posting in a completely different idea thread asking for your feature.

As for the rest, I doubt anything anyone is going to say is going to change anyone's minds so I'm dropping it.

Chris_QPW

@Artimus This thread is about implementing the following (This is a screenshot from Quicken Windows that has the feature):

Instead of the transactions going directly into the register and being "Reviewed", they go to this Downloaded Transactions tab and the user accepts the transactions one at a time into the register.  Note that as they accept them into the register the are set to cleared automatically, so there isn't any difference in that.

Artimus said:

Where is the rule (or law) that Quicken is required to mark MY downloaded transactions as "cleared" when they are downloaded through Quicken to MY checkbook register? If you can legitimately show the law or rule that requires this to happen, I will stop asking for Quicken to repair their broken process that is contaminating MY accounts. This is quickly becoming a legal issue concerning MY personal property. Quicken doesn't have the right to contaminate MY account register.

You have a strange view point on what is your property and what isn't.  Quicken (the software) isn't your property, you have a license/subscription to use it "as is".  Quicken Inc can implement their software any way they want.  Your choices are to use it or not.  And of course, make suggestions on what changes you want.  The choice to use is also at two levels.  Not use Quicken at all, or not use downloading of transactions.

Chris_QPW

Artimus said:

@Chris_QPW Why don't you show the Clr column in your image, so that we can see if it can be un-cleared or not when downloaded into MY register, so that I can verify what you are saying or not? Your word doesn't cut it for me.

Here it is with the transaction selected in the Downloaded Transaction tab just before being accepted into the register.

Chris_QPW

Artimus said:

@Chris_QPW
It appears that you are pointing to your register that shows that the "Homegoods" transaction is already marked with a "c" in the top portion. Correct? 

Yes, and that is the point, it is marked cleared at that point, as well as the category being filled in based on the payee, what Quicken Mac calls auto fill.  One can edit the transaction all they want in register, not in the Downloaded Transactions tab, before hitting Enter or Accept to save it.  There isn't a Clr field for the Downloaded Transactions tab, and none of the columns are configurable.  And you can't click it in some special way so that it doesn't automatic mark it cleared.

Note if this matched an existing transaction it would jump to that transaction in the register and again the transaction will have the clear status set, but given that a category has already been put in the existing transaction it will not override it.

As for the steps my first screenshot is after downloading, but before selecting a transaction in the Downloaded Transaction tab.  The second shows after the transaction in the Downloaded Transactions tab is selected.

Here is what is displayed when Edit is selected:


The Download Transactions tab is a very limited view when compared to the power of the register itself.

To contrast the two different modes.  Automatic transaction entry mode downloads the transactions directly into the register and sets a "New" or "New Match" status that is supposed to be used for pretty much what you are using the cleared status for.  As in reviewing and make sure everything is correct and the mark it reviewed.  Because this is all happening in the register you can use the full power of the register like sorting/filtering multiple select, and such and you can see what Quicken did for the payees and categories for all the downloaded transaction at the same time.

When Automatic transactions entry mode is off the transactions first go to the Downloaded Transactions tab.  You can't see what Quicken is going to assign for the categories (but the payee is changed if there is a renaming rule) until you click on the individual transaction in the Downloaded Transactions tab.  There is no filtering and sorting is limited to the fields you see with the exception of Status.  Matched transactions are always at the top.  The act of accepting/saving the transaction in the register is basically the same the marking of a transaction reviewed in the other flow including automatically marking it cleared.

@jacobs said, you can also unclear the transactions while doing the reconcile if that is what you like, that is a one click operation.

And I can understand why the Quicken Mac developers have been really reluctant to put this flow in.
The non-standard Downloaded Transactions tab put there, causes all kinds of complications and bugs.  And the people that did the original rewrite of Quicken Mac stated that most of the bugs in the register were caused by using non-standard controls like this.

In the Windows world where the Downloaded Transactions tab came first and the automatic transactions entered into the register came relativity recently to this day there are bugs in both flows as they try to make both of them work in very complicated situations.

DA62

Ugh, two years of this thread and still not fixed. I am very disappointed in Quicken for Mac, and the only reason I keep using it after just a month of frustrations with it is that Quicken for Windows in Parallels on an M1 Mac is painfully slow.

Not being able to match a download to an auto entry bill payment that was a different value is just one more stupid missing feature here. #sigh

rjbokleman

The Register in Quicken for Windows allows you to (manually) review and accept transactions downloaded. PLEASE implement this feature in Quicken for Mac. Having the Mac product simply dump them into the Register and mis-categorize them all the time is painful. This very important feature is sorely missed as a converter from Windows to Mac.