Variable amount due

Unknown

When you have for example, a utility bill, where the payment per month varies, but I want to put it in "Bill Reminder", is there some sort of wildcard I can put in there? It won't let me put it in unless I give an amount, which is unknown month to month. 

mshiggins

Have you considered using an average value?

thecreator

Hi @ gc ,

Just put in a fixed figure. When it comes up as due, simply edit the Amount to be paid. You just want to be reminded on a fixed date each month.

Unknown

mshiggins said:

Have you considered using an average value?

Thats what I put in for now. I know this is minor but really like to take the guess work out. 

Unknown

thecreator - QKN 2017 & 2019 Windows said:

Hi @ gc ,

Just put in a fixed figure. When it comes up as due, simply edit the Amount to be paid. You just want to be reminded on a fixed date each month.

I know I guess I am asking more of the software! I am just trying to put it on cruise control and without auto-updates and mortgage having to put in manually, just a little more than I feel I can keep up with. I thought the windows version allowed me to do all this. Thank you!!

KnnNike

thecreator - QKN 2017 & 2019 Windows said:

Hi @ gc ,

Just put in a fixed figure. When it comes up as due, simply edit the Amount to be paid. You just want to be reminded on a fixed date each month.

I'm not sure why putting in a single fixed amount, versus a blank amount, feels like extra work. For most variable amount bills, like utilities, the amounts are not so drastically different that using Quicken's built-in previous bill average feature won't get you close. If it's a bill you've made at least 12 monthly payments on, you can also get Quicken to estimate an amount based on time-of-year data.

Quicken gives you just about everything you need for bill reminders - it's not clear what else you're looking for. If you're not interested in tracking an amount, then I don't think Quicken is the right program to use - after all, that's what it's intended for.

John_in_NC

mshiggins said:

Have you considered using an average value?

One tip since I know you are new to this-for scheduled transactions where the bill "varies", when you find out the actual amount, double click the reminder and choose the (first) "Mark as Paid" option. This will take you to the transaction that will get posted, and you can enter the correct amount. (When you double click the transaction, you can click on the actual amount to bring direct focus on that field.

If you click the "Paid" or "Deposited" icon on the lower toolbar, this will post the transaction immediately without the ability to edit. That is fine for transactions that don't vary.

Aaron Martin

mshiggins said:

Have you considered using an average value?

I agree with the poster on this.  I am currently migrating from Quicken 2007 to Quicken 2019 on the Mac.  For variable amount bills, I would schedule some generic amount and Quicken 2007 would prompt for the amount when you selected the bill to pay.  From what I can see Quicken 2019 requires two or three more clicks.  You end up editing the series every time instead of once and then just adjusting the value when it's time to pay.  Feels far less intuitive than the older version.

Unknown

mshiggins said:

Have you considered using an average value?

It would be helpful if there were a checkbox next to the amount field to indicate the amount varies. If it varies, Q would use this amount for the projected balance feature. But when it's time for the reminder, Q would specifically ask for an amount for that TXN.


I have a bunch of TXNs that are fixed amounts with a few that vary. I'd much rather not have to hunt through all the reminders looking for the ones that I have to edit.

smayer97

Unknown

thecreator - QKN 2017 & 2019 Windows said:

Hi @ gc ,

Just put in a fixed figure. When it comes up as due, simply edit the Amount to be paid. You just want to be reminded on a fixed date each month.

Quicken used to have a feature where a scheduled bill could be predefined as the average of the previous three instances of the bill.  This was FANTASTIC and I *miss* this. 

Truth be told, I'm coming back into Quicken after a several year hiatus.   I used to be a whiz at Quicken; had SUCH tight control of my finances (then twins were born and everything went way south).  But Quicken 2019 after Quicken 2014 is SO unintuitive.  I'm a software product manager with an emphasis in user experience, and this product REALLY needs work.

smayer97

thecreator - QKN 2017 & 2019 Windows said:

Hi @ gc ,

Just put in a fixed figure. When it comes up as due, simply edit the Amount to be paid. You just want to be reminded on a fixed date each month.

Are you talking about QWin or QMac? There never was a 2014 version for QMac.