Quicken for Mac 2017 v4.5.4 Released

Unknown · July 2017

@jacobs:

I continue on here because I am still using Quicken Windows. I've been a QW user since the mid 1980's...and it's a tough habit to break.

Eight years ago, I decided to purchase a MacBook for my home instead of a new Windows box. But my business continued to use Windows machines and I used Quicken there as well, doing the old copy and restore to a USB thumb drive daily. Purchased Parallels, created a Windows partition and used Quicken Windows on my MacBook. Works great that way.

I'm still using my Quicken Windows 2017 in a virtual machine. But, I also decided the beginning of this year to explore Mac options in the hope of removing the virtual partition and going all Mac.

The impending decision regarding moving to an annual subscription (pricing to be determined) AND the "limited functionality mode" (locking your data) hastened my search for a competent alternative, preferably Mac based...but not solely determined by to be Mac based. This was due to the eventual constraints of the next iteration of Quicken.

So, in my search I've tested online based software, of which one works pretty well and the other I didn't care for as I had connectivity issues that didn't seem to be of any urgency for them to fix.

Then, I started downloading free trials of other desktop financial software...of which there are more than you think. I'm retired...I have plenty of time.

Tested them for ease of importing my Quicken Windows data, connectivity to my financial institutions, ease of use, budgeting, bill reminders and complexity and flexibility of creating reports. You know...the basics. Stuff you would EXPECT to be in a financial software package. Believe it or not, there aren't THAT many differences from one package to another.

Some were good. Some not so good. Some didn't do "double entry" accounting (ie record transfers, thus requiring two entries). Some didn't import my file well at all, some were just good at it, one was really good at it (not the one I picked to use, for other reasons). Some didn't download transactions well. Some required additional payment to download (via what we call Express Web Connect type of downloads)...which I actually picked THAT software to use, but don't use that method to download, so there's no additional fee to me. Some had very difficult reporting capabilities. Some, to be honest, just didn't look as nice. Too plain...or too child-like in GUI appearance.

So, after a lot of research I decided to beta test this one Mac product, which was introducing a new revamped version in May. And I decided to just start with a clean slate since January...except for my investment accounts which I imported via .qif import for each individual account and did a bit of clean up on them. It works very well. Actually, it's what Quicken Mac should be. Feature comparisons side by side are comparable. But the ease of setting up reports and getting fully functional customizable reports is what made my decision. That, plus no annual upgrade and no freezing of my data. And downloads will continue forever. No termination of services.

After using the beta of that product and using it for about three months I decided to purchase it when it went out of beta and into production.

Then a couple of months after, I received a copy of Quicken Mac to test. I didn't pay for it...I received it as a gift to test and to report my findings to an individual who knew nothing of the product but was considering purchasing it (not a company, not a competitor, not a blog or journal or website or any media outlet). Just someone who valued my opinion and research I had personally done with different products.

I imported my Quicken Windows data file...which turned out to be a disaster because it wouldn't recognize ANY of my investment transfers. But I persisted and got it to work after many, many hours of data manipulation.

What I found astounding was really two things for me.

1 The familiarity with Mint. It's almost a Mint clone except in desktop version. The data entry register screens are almost EXACTLY like Mint. So first impression there...why even bother with Quicken Mac if it's so Mint-like, and Mint is free? Okay, I understand that users don't like their financial data in the cloud. If that's the case, then Mint isn't for you.

2 The ultimate decision maker for me was the lack of reporting capabilities of Quicken Mac. Doesn't recognize transfers in Income/Expense reports, so I have to take a calculator to figure out my TRUE expenses for a month by adding the expenses and the mortgage principal paid/transferred to the mortgage loan account. That stopped the show right then and there.

Even the extremely limited Mint reporting (which is one step from abysmal) was still better than Quicken Mac. I could get an EXACT dollar amount of my income and expenses for the month, which I can't do in Quicken Mac. And it's been acknowledged that that's a problem and can't be done...yet.

That, as you know, is my biggest complaint...and one that should have been solved years ago.

No other software I've tried and tested...including the online versions and ALL the other desktop software...is lacking this capability. So, that's a grave omission on Quicken Mac's part, because NO other personal financial package had that problem. None!

So, cutting to the chase...I continue to post on here because I am still an active Quicken Windows user. I will continue as a QW user probably until Quicken stops downloads in April 2020. Or if somehow, some way, Quicken Inc decides that making my Quicken data "read only" isn't such a smart business decision AND they price the annual subscription to what I consider just and reasonable, I may continue with Quicken Windows...but that doesn't look like Quicken Inc will move from their stance. So, at the time when I actually stop using Quicken Windows, I'll remove myself from this forum. There would be no point to continue. That may be in 2020, it might be in a few months when Quicken Inc releases Quicken "2018"... or it may be never if Quicken Inc changes their stance and prices the product correctly (in my eyes). Any way, I'm prepared to switch.

Heck, if the new Quicken ID and change of servers is a complete disaster, I may be abandoning Quicken even earlier.

I'm using Quicken Mac now just to play around with it and see the ins and outs and nuances of the product...just like I would test any other software and will continue reporting to the person who gifted me the software. But I probably have reached the end of using that product altogether. Just too aggravating and too frustrating to use with all the constraints. It would be as simple as deleting my data file, backups and the software...and wipe my hands clean of the entire test process. I'm days away from doing that as I find myself just wasting my time.

Now, that's just me. As I've told others in this forum, both Quicken Windows and Mac users, maybe the product isn't for you...in this case the "you" is me. Maybe my expectations are too high, especially after being a Quicken Windows user for over 30 years. Others may think that Quicken Mac works well enough for them. And to them, that's great.

For me, it doesn't.

I'm hoping the Quicken support staff leaves this post intact. I've had similar posts like this deleted previously, but since you asked...I decided to answer.

Unknown · July 2017

@gmalis1, thank you for the extensive discussion. I have not seen such helpful message boards since the old days of moderated news groups - thank you everyone.

If you seek an online alternative to Quicken or QB, I suggest Xero; we needed to have several individuals work accounting remotely. Xero built software from the ground up to be modern and web based. Xero is a step up from quicken as the reporting is reasonably robust, anything can be downloaded or uploaded, and the U.I. is fairly intuitive. I did move one business from Xero to QB as Xero allowed only limited number of classes.

Unknown · July 2017

@gmalis what is this Mac product you like?

smayer97 · July 2017

@jacobs thanks for asking a question that has been on my mind for a while. And @gmalis1 thanks for answering...very clear.

And for those wondering, I answered about which product above...combines bank and activity... ;-)

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

jacobs · July 2017

@gmalis1 : Thanks for the detailed response; I appreciate your insights and knowing your point of view helps make sense of your other comments.

@EY: I think games has been chastised by the moderators for using this forum -- which is, after all, paid for and supported by Quicken -- to discuss competing software products. So I'll fill in the blank and say, based on previous posts, that it's probably Banktivity.

smayer97 · July 2017

BTW on the issue of "basic functionality" I have argued and will continue to argue that one of the highest priorities needs to focus on functionality that will enable Quicken's loyal Mac user base that are still stuck on QM2007 to be able to migrate over to QM2017+.

The 2 main areas include the ability to carry over all data (I suspect most QM20007 users have deep roots and therefore lots of data that they would not want to part with) and functionality to be able to retrieve that data in useful formats, which includes comparable reporting capabilities as is in QM2007 (and QWin for that matter).

It would be a real shame if they do not make the effort to address both these areas by foisting on them QM2017+ and force QM2007 users to have to start all over in what is effectively a new product.

Clearly Quicken is focusing on the latter, which is the right direction, but I hope to see it be at least comparable, and hopefully, compatible with past designs. And more attention is still needed on the former.

I have outlined all of this functionality in the List of Obstacles and Hindrances for Migrating from QM2007 or QWin to Quicken for Mac.

If anyone is interested, you can click on the underlined link above to go there, then click on each relevant IDEA and add your VOTE at the top of each respective page, so your will vote count for each feature and increase its visibility to the developers.

This will help make the transition easier for you when you are ready to upgrade by seeking to have the features you are used to in QM2007 end up in the latest version.

And yes, I do believe Your VOTE matters!

(all you have to do is consider the attention voting got from Quicken regarding the subscription-based issue posted here:
https://getsatisfaction.com/quickencommunity/topics/quicken-inc-should-reverse-its-decision-to-chang... )

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

Unknown · July 2017

Sorry Marcus...for hijacking this thread. I'm hoping you won't delete my post, as I've only mentioned Quicken and Mint in my comments. Others have speculated about other software. I have purposely avoided that.

Anyways, lets get back to the real purpose of this thread and discuss the newer releases of Quicken Mac 2017 as they are released.

Unknown · July 2017

I posted a feature request that I think would go a long way to solving this issue. I'm starting to think to I will migrate away from quicken if they don't support something like this soon. Curious what others here think about this idea? If you like it, please vote on it.

https://getsatisfaction.com/quickencommunity/topics/feature-request-because-of-the-number-of-missing...
Reposting the contents here:
Many Mac quicken users including myself are finding quicken does not meet their needs. Forcing many of us long term users (me since 1993) to consider other options. It's going to take a long time for quicken to migrate all the features we had on the windows version or quicken mac 2007, and it's unclear if it will be worth the wait as other mac products are now appearing to be superior and continually getting better. Please provide a supported programing interface (API) that would allow us to query our all our quicken data, security positions, transactions, prices, etc. An excellent way to do this would be for the mac quicken application to expose a REST api which users could then use to implement the features they need outside of the quicken application, yet fully integrated with it until quicken implements some or all these features into the core application. Users could post these features to github or something similar to be shared by the community and those w/o programing experience. If the API is well designed, Quicken could even use these features to accelerate its own development. It would be very cool to allow us to enter transactions via the API as well, though this would be less critical. IMHO a well designed API would be a killer feature to keep a lot of us the platform and attract a newer and younger client base.

Snoopy FC · July 2017

@gmalis1 - Thank you for clearly articulating your thoughts on what you have discovered with different programs, and for pointing out some of the "fatal flaws" of Quicken. I hope Marcus and the development team are listening carefully because these really need to be addressed.

jacobs · July 2017

@EY: I like your creative thinking. However, I think what you suggest would likely be useful for only a very tiny percentage of very technically savvy Quicken Mac users. (Remember, we have lots of people who post on this site and can't figure out where there current Quicken data file is, so using third-party tools on github is way, way out of their league!) Creating robust, secure, comprehensive enough API would likely take a moderate amount of development time in its own right, and would therefore compete for time against features that a much larger percentage of users are waiting to use. And the API would likely add more support needs, as people would contact Support because they can't get it to work, or use it incorrectly and then "demand" Quicken fix problems. Again, I like the creative thinking of providing an API for accessing data not currently available in reports, but my guess is that it would require too much time to help too few people.

Unknown · July 2017

There's probably something like five programmers working with the Quicken Mac team.

Adding anything is like watching molasses in January...takes forever and a day to get anything done.

Wouldn't you think that a useful customizable report generator would have been the second most needed feature in ANY financial software package?

Apparently, the geniuses at Quicken don't think so. Four year versions, and it's still slop.

Unknown · July 2017

@jacobs: agreed that not a huge number of people would be able to directly make use of it. But, if the extensions users could write were easily installable then all users could benefit from them. Especially, if there was a central places that kept track of them. Something similar to what Chrome provides, or downloadable content provided on many games or gaming platforms like Steam.

jacobs · July 2017

@Snoopy FC: I don't think Marcus or others on the development team take time to read all the forum posts, except around the time of a new release to see if there are problems reported. On the other hand, I would guess they are pretty well aware of the shortcomings of Quicken Mac, and that they have a development roadmap for the next year or two that plans out how they're going to proceed on many issues. Except for a few rare times when Marcus drops a hint, we almost never insight about what's on that roadmap. (And, to be fair to them, they'd get killed by users if they released a list of things they're working on and they don't materialize in a timeframe users perceive as reasonable because of complications in development, bugs they need to stop and fix, or infrastructure changes they need to make which put user-facing work on a slower path.)

The problem Quicken 2017 faces is that there are still a fairly large number of major things users are seeking that likely take significant time. Whether it's more robust reporting, allowing users to control which types of transfers show up in reports and budgets, tracking investment sales by lots and providing accurate gain and basis calculations, investment analysis and reporting, multiple currencies, or a number of other frequently-requested features, there's simply more work than can be done in a short period of time -- especially since they've got to divert a lot of programming resources to building Quicken back-end replacements for Intuit services. For each Quicken user, some of these features are mission critical, some are of mild interest, and some don't matter at all -- but what's important to me may not be important to you, and visa versa, and there's simply no quick fix to all the pieces that need to be addressed.

Supposedly, they've doubled the size of the Mac programming team over the past year, so hopefully this will result in more features coming faster in the future. But it's still a significant list of projects, and some percentage of Quicken Mac users won't be satisfied until their key needs are addressed -- some of which may take 6 months, some 12 months, some 18 or 24 months.

Unknown · July 2017

When I write a check and it clears my bank, it is often entered into my Quicken data with the wrong payee. I am told that Quicken for Windows allows the user to change the payee name. But that option is not available in the MAC version. It has been a long time since you made Quicken available, but your engineers need to pay attention to details like this. I am told that the need for this "fix" was recognized almost 2 years ago. It is very a very disruptive problem and deserves attention now

smayer97 · July 2017

You may want to add your VOTE to Have Local Rules for Renaming Payees.

First, click on the underlined link above to go there, then click VOTE at the top of THAT page, so your will vote count for THIS feature and increase its visibility to the developers.

While you are at it, you may want to add your VOTE to related IDEAS found on the List of Requests for Downloading Data into Quicken. Click on the underlined link, then follow the instructions to add your vote to more related ideas.

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

smayer97 · July 2017

@Quicken Marcus Are you aware that this bug that was fixed in v4.5.6 exists in QM2016, as this user points out that is also waiting for the same fix?

FIXED: Refined a data integrity fix that updated old transaction totals to match the sum of their splits correcting a previous bug. In some rare cases, this fix incorrectly changed transaction totals to match an incorrect single split amount resulting in an incorrect account balance. In 4.5.6, the customer will now be notified of any changes and the fix will only change totals for transactions with multiple split lines. Single split lines will have their split amount changed to match the transaction total. In addition, this fix will auto-correct any transactions that may have been negatively altered by the previous update if they have single splits and transfers.

Quicken for Mac 2017 v4.5.4 Released

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