Quicken for Mac 2018 v5.2 Released

jacobs

brucel said:

Upgraded.  Overall the upgrade looks good, especially the improvements in the Investment area.  However, the new version blocks the main thread much (spinning rainbow cursor) much more than 2017 making it unbearable to use with my large data file.  These types of issues can easily be resolved if the development team would leverage Grand Central Dispatch (GCD) or NSOperationQueues to move the computationally intensive operations off the main UI thread to background threads.

If Quicken Mac 2017 didn't meet your needs, chances are Quicken Mac 2018 won't either. At least right now. There are a few new features in the initial release of 2018, but more will be delivered as the year goes along.

But here's the good news: if you purchase a Quicken 2018 subscription, you get the option to download and use both he Mac and Windows version. So you could update your Windows version, and try the Mac versional no extra cost  to see if it better meets your needs.

Unknown

brucel said:

Upgraded.  Overall the upgrade looks good, especially the improvements in the Investment area.  However, the new version blocks the main thread much (spinning rainbow cursor) much more than 2017 making it unbearable to use with my large data file.  These types of issues can easily be resolved if the development team would leverage Grand Central Dispatch (GCD) or NSOperationQueues to move the computationally intensive operations off the main UI thread to background threads.

BTW, Quicken 2018 is Mac and Windows versions together.  So, for one price you get the Mac and Windows versions on CD or through downloads.

Great way to compare the two products and see if Quicken Mac will work for you.

But as jacobs said, nothing has really changed in the Mac version.  It's still a very inferior version compared to the Windows version. 

Concordman

brucel said:

Upgraded.  Overall the upgrade looks good, especially the improvements in the Investment area.  However, the new version blocks the main thread much (spinning rainbow cursor) much more than 2017 making it unbearable to use with my large data file.  These types of issues can easily be resolved if the development team would leverage Grand Central Dispatch (GCD) or NSOperationQueues to move the computationally intensive operations off the main UI thread to background threads.

As jacobs stated MAC version is not  going to replace Windows version for a while..gonna take a few yrs  

Concordman

cneal said:

Just upgraded, still need to do a detailed review of each account. But these are the initial oroblems I see...

1. The accounts pane ( left side) is truncating the cents. I believe this was done in an earlier version and changed back. I know the IRS likes to be lazy, but isn't that setting the bar a bit low?

2. Every time I move away from the portfolio view and return I have to reset the column widths so I can see totals. It appears the  column width is being set with the normal font, but the totals are bold and just a little wider. Shouldn't column width adjustments be 'sticky'?

4. ROI/IRR is somewhat addressed on the Portfolio View, but dividends are not included. What I was expecting is 'market value + dividends received - money invested'.  This was available in Windows Premier before I upgraded to Mac.

5. If I completely collapse the graph in portfolio view I can't reopen it. The mouse cursor indicates that it should drag open, but it won't move.

6. With 2017 the icon was changed to ID the version, now the icon has nothing to differentiate it from other versions suxh as 2016.

I am not using QM18 as of yet but I am thinking the DIV reinvested is not included In ROI/IRR. Would love to be wrong on this one

Quicken Jeff

Saul Hansell said:

I just upgraded to Quicken 2018, largely to use the bill presentment/PDF bill download feature.

I'm stumped. There is no documentation online or in the help system.

I've gone to the bills and income section, clicked add bill, and entered my account information for a few billers. But it is unclear what that has done for me.

• What bills, if any, are downloaded as PDFs? 
• How do I see the PDF bills?
• Is there any way to download past bills?
• If I already have a credit card account with online access, will Quicken automatically download the PDF bill each month? Do I need to set it up separately in bill presentment?
• How often does Quicken check to see if there is a new bill waiting? 
• What is the actual workflow when a new bill arrives? Do I have the option to set up a direct payment? (My bank supports direct payments.)
• Can I set up an automatic payment for a credit card and choose whether to pay the full balance, the minimum or another amount?
• If I already have my credit card company automatically deducting my bill from my checking account, can I have Quicken automatically enter the future transaction into my register so I can see my cash flow without having Quicken set up the transfer?
• Can Quicken automatically download my checking, savings and investment statements as PDFs?

Related question: My bank, like many big banks, now lets me see check images online. Is there any way that Quicken can automatically capture those images end embed them in the transaction register. Now when I want to reconcile my account, I still need to log on to the bank to figure out what the checks are,.

Thanks
Saul
(Quicken for 30 years)

HI, Saul. 

I'll run through your questions one by one. 

• What bills, if any, are downloaded as PDFs? 

Over 11,000 billers are supported for download of amount and due dates. Right now there are about 100 billers from which we can download PDFs but new billers are being added all the time. The order of support for PDF billers is based primarily on number of customers that might have that bill, so the big guys--Phone companies (Verizon, t-mobile, AT&T etc),  cable companies (Time Warner, Comcast, Direct TV, etc.), big credit card providers, etc. 

Good feedback on the fact that we don't do a good job of showing you this list when you search. 

• How do I see the PDF bills?

Add the Bill via the new bills dashboard. If PDF download is supported a PDF icon will show in the dashboard next to the amount due after you add the bill. Click that to see the statements.

Note that due to timing issues in getting PDFs from the billers you might not always see the PDF icon when you first add a supported bill. For example, when I added my Comcast  I did not see it immediately. Later I did a refresh and it showed up--we're working to improve this experience. 

• Is there any way to download past bills?

No. Only the current bill. However, Quicken will remember/keep your PDFs so over time you will build up history. 

• If I already have a credit card account with online access, will Quicken automatically download the PDF bill each month? Do I need to set it up separately in bill presentment?

You'll need to set it up separately in the BIlls & Income tab. Click on Bills, then "new bill" then, Track. Then enter the name of the biller you'd like to add (or select an icon from the list shown) and click next. The second screen in the flow is essentially search results of supported billers based on what you typed on the first screen.   (This flow is something we're working to improve.)

• How often does Quicken check to see if there is a new bill waiting? 

When you do a download or sync we check for new info. 

• What is the actual workflow when a new bill arrives? Do I have the option to set up a direct payment? (My bank supports direct payments.)

The ebill feature gives you the amount due (and min amount due for credit cards) and due date. If you use bill pay (your bank's bill pay via Direct Connect or Quicken Bill Pay--now included for free with Premiere) you can pay the bill directly from the Bills Dashboard.

So assuming you have BIll Pay setup and have added ebills on your dashboard a workflow might be:
1. Open Quicken and click sync/update to download stuff and get latest bills
2. View Bill dashboard to see what's due and amount due
3.  Click "pay" button for the bill you want to pay

• Can I set up an automatic payment for a credit card and choose whether to pay the full balance, the minimum or another amount?

You cannot setup autopay in Quicken. However, if you setup autopay at with your biller, you could still download the ebill to get the amount due, min amount and statement (if supported)--even if you don't actually pay via Quicken.

• If I already have my credit card company automatically deducting my bill from my checking account, can I have Quicken automatically enter the future transaction into my register so I can see my cash flow without having Quicken set up the transfer?

See above. Short answer, yes.

You can setup the ebill, select the pay from account and  category (or transfer account) and then the downloaded amount from the ebill will be used in projected balances (in both the projected balances feature or if turn on the Scheduled Transactions or "reminders" in your register via Account Settings--note you don't have to actually "enter" them to see them in the register if you turn on this feature).

 One caveat--since Quicken only knows the amount of only the next instance, this bext value will be use in future projections--if you choose to look 90 days ahead for example. Keep this in mind with non-fixed bills like credit cards.

• Can Quicken automatically download my checking, savings and investment statements as PDFs?

Not at this time.

Quicken Jeff

Saul Hansell said:

I just upgraded to Quicken 2018, largely to use the bill presentment/PDF bill download feature.

I'm stumped. There is no documentation online or in the help system.

I've gone to the bills and income section, clicked add bill, and entered my account information for a few billers. But it is unclear what that has done for me.

• What bills, if any, are downloaded as PDFs? 
• How do I see the PDF bills?
• Is there any way to download past bills?
• If I already have a credit card account with online access, will Quicken automatically download the PDF bill each month? Do I need to set it up separately in bill presentment?
• How often does Quicken check to see if there is a new bill waiting? 
• What is the actual workflow when a new bill arrives? Do I have the option to set up a direct payment? (My bank supports direct payments.)
• Can I set up an automatic payment for a credit card and choose whether to pay the full balance, the minimum or another amount?
• If I already have my credit card company automatically deducting my bill from my checking account, can I have Quicken automatically enter the future transaction into my register so I can see my cash flow without having Quicken set up the transfer?
• Can Quicken automatically download my checking, savings and investment statements as PDFs?

Related question: My bank, like many big banks, now lets me see check images online. Is there any way that Quicken can automatically capture those images end embed them in the transaction register. Now when I want to reconcile my account, I still need to log on to the bank to figure out what the checks are,.

Thanks
Saul
(Quicken for 30 years)

Related question: My bank, like many big banks, now lets me see check images online. Is there any way that Quicken can automatically capture those images end embed them in the transaction register. Now when I want to reconcile my account, I still need to log on to the bank to figure out what the checks are,.

I hear your pain... I also wish we had this. But alas, we currently don't have a way to download the check images automatically.

However, you can attach the images to your transactions  manually. Just drop an image on the transaction in your register.

Unknown

brucel said:

Upgraded.  Overall the upgrade looks good, especially the improvements in the Investment area.  However, the new version blocks the main thread much (spinning rainbow cursor) much more than 2017 making it unbearable to use with my large data file.  These types of issues can easily be resolved if the development team would leverage Grand Central Dispatch (GCD) or NSOperationQueues to move the computationally intensive operations off the main UI thread to background threads.

You have to remember too that Quicken has to keep improving the Windows version in order to justify the subscription model.  Basically, it is a moving target and we have not seen that many improvements in the Mac version so it will be some time before we see them as equal products.

Rob

Hi Quicken Marcus - would you mind checking out my posts regarding a number of bugs that I've found in Quicken for Mac 2018? A few veteran forum users have been nice enough to respond, but I would be grateful to have reactions from Quicken employees. Thanks. (I'm assuming that if you click on my username, it will be easy to navigate to posts I've created)

ozarkcanoer

ozarkcanoer said:

Is Amazon's 2-year subscription with benefits (slightly lower per-year price and 15GB of Dropbox) really only available on CD/DVD?  I haven't owned a optical drive in years.

Bought 2018 for Mac from Staples; downloaded and will install this weekend, intending to run 2017 and 2018 concurrently for 'a while' each with own database and backups.

HansT

Still suffering constant errors upon account download attempts.

QMac2018 5.2.1

Concordman

ozarkcanoer said:

Is Amazon's 2-year subscription with benefits (slightly lower per-year price and 15GB of Dropbox) really only available on CD/DVD?  I haven't owned a optical drive in years.

Sounds like the prudent thing to do!

Unknown

ozarkcanoer said:

Is Amazon's 2-year subscription with benefits (slightly lower per-year price and 15GB of Dropbox) really only available on CD/DVD?  I haven't owned a optical drive in years.

@Larry Nolan...tick, tick, tick.

That's the clock ticking down on the number of days you have left in your subscription.

The subscription starts AS OF the date you download the software...not the day you install the software.

Eagle22

ozarkcanoer said:

Is Amazon's 2-year subscription with benefits (slightly lower per-year price and 15GB of Dropbox) really only available on CD/DVD?  I haven't owned a optical drive in years.

@ProGolfer. Are you sure about that? How could quicken tell when you can get it from Amazon, Staples, Office Depot etc.do they send quicken a report?? I would think the clock would start when you activate it and supply your Quicken ID.

Eagle22

ozarkcanoer said:

Is Amazon's 2-year subscription with benefits (slightly lower per-year price and 15GB of Dropbox) really only available on CD/DVD?  I haven't owned a optical drive in years.

To support what RickO said:

In the terms of use...

The Membership Term. The Membership Term is the amount of time for which you have full rights to use the Products and Services. The Membership Term is generally either one (1) or two (2) years, depending on your choice at the time of purchase, but we may sometimes offer trial Memberships of shorter duration. If you purchase your Membership directly from Quicken at Quicken.com, your Membership term starts at the time of purchase. For retail sales of a physical package (either through an online seller or in a physical store), or for retail sales via digital download other than on Quicken.com, the Membership Term begins at Product activation

M C Crockett

Diane Farrar said:

I just downloaded qmac18. I don't know if this is a bug, but wanted to let you know in case. When I resize the columns, the resizing doesn't remain when I go from one view to another. Like if I resize in portfolio, then go to transactions & back to portfolio, it has reset to the default size.
Also, a comment on the portfolio enhancements. Not enough, in my humble opinion. I was hoping for all the column options that were available in 2007, ie: actual dollars invested, morningstar ratings, etc.

I have seen the type of behavior exhibited by Quicken in the past.  The problem was resolved for me by closing Quicken immediately after it is upgraded and creates a new data base.  It appears that adjustments to transaction registers are not saved until after the first time that you quit the application.

ozarkcanoer

ozarkcanoer said:

Is Amazon's 2-year subscription with benefits (slightly lower per-year price and 15GB of Dropbox) really only available on CD/DVD?  I haven't owned a optical drive in years.

Glad for that! I missed a bullet @ProGolfer.

Waiting a day or two to start my two-year subscription!

And I'm sure that there will be a few 5.2.x updates to correct problems in the new version. It's been that way since I first did programming for $ back in 1967.

Bob@63

Bob Harris said:

if we own v2017 is there an upgrade path?

Well, damn! I converted from Q-Windows 2017 to Q-Mac 2017 3-4 months ago, as I recall. Just upgraded to Q-Mac 2018, but no discount offer, e-mail or otherwise. Bummer. 

zwzlife

zwzlife said:

Hi Quicken Marcus,

Just want to let you know this bug. Switching from Portfolio Value view to Performance view causes some holdings dispearred.

...

Interesting! So nobody else find this is wired, or it is just me.

Bob@63

RickO said:

I just opened Quicken 2018 and it updated to 5.2.1 without offering the ability to delay the update. 

I find this completely objectionable!!! I want control over when and if I apply any updates to my software.

RickO, I was confused by your post, too. I upgraded this week to Q-Mac 2018, which I downloaded from Quicken.com. Following installation, the version that opened was 5.2.1 (Build 52.20386.100). Is that what you're saying? That you skipped 5.2.0? Or had you opened and run 5.2.0 after upgrading to Q-M 2018 and the next time you opened the app it had downloaded and installed v. 5.2.1 without your consent? 

Bob@63

Hi, Quicken Marcus.

Upgraded to Q-Mac 2018 3 days ago. No major issues with upgrade and am discovering improved performance, various fixes and new features every day. All-in-all, definitely worth the subscription price, and I haven't yet downloaded the free Q-Windows 2018 version for my Windows data file. I do have a couple of minor issues: 

1. Multiple anomalies with the Account Status window following transaction downloads. I can provide screen shots of three days worth of incorrect results if that's of any value. I know there have been multiple reports of weirdness in both QM 2017 and 2018, but I can provide screenshots and details if that's of use to developers.

I should emphasize: I have seen NO issues with actual transactions, balances, etc., just with the information reported in the window, e.g. transaction downloads reported when none downloaded, transaction actually downloaded but reported in status window as downloaded a month earlier, etc. (That latter was on a DC account that has had transactions downloaded multiple times over the intervening month.) Very puzzling behavior, though not affecting data integrity. I am wondering if this will disappear over time and additional downloads following upgrade to Q2018 from Q2017. 

2. I, too, have a minor complaint I've seen reported elsewhere: Column widths in Investing window revert after switching to another account and then back to Portfolio view. This minor annoyance is far outweighed by the added ability to customize columns (as in Q-Windows), but it would be nice not to have to reset column widths every time I go to a portfolio view. 

Q-Mac 2018 Version 5.2.1 (Build 52.20386.100)
iMac (27-inch, Late 2013)
Mac OS X Sierra, v. 10.12.3
3.4 GHz Intel Core i5

Bob@63

RickO said:

I just opened Quicken 2018 and it updated to 5.2.1 without offering the ability to delay the update. 

I find this completely objectionable!!! I want control over when and if I apply any updates to my software.

@RickO, yes, I jumped the gun with my post. If I'd read on further I would have seen that you clarified the sequence you'd followed. Thanks again for reply. I will work on being more patient.  ;-) 

M C Crockett

Bob said:

Hi, Quicken Marcus.

Upgraded to Q-Mac 2018 3 days ago. No major issues with upgrade and am discovering improved performance, various fixes and new features every day. All-in-all, definitely worth the subscription price, and I haven't yet downloaded the free Q-Windows 2018 version for my Windows data file. I do have a couple of minor issues: 

1. Multiple anomalies with the Account Status window following transaction downloads. I can provide screen shots of three days worth of incorrect results if that's of any value. I know there have been multiple reports of weirdness in both QM 2017 and 2018, but I can provide screenshots and details if that's of use to developers.

I should emphasize: I have seen NO issues with actual transactions, balances, etc., just with the information reported in the window, e.g. transaction downloads reported when none downloaded, transaction actually downloaded but reported in status window as downloaded a month earlier, etc. (That latter was on a DC account that has had transactions downloaded multiple times over the intervening month.) Very puzzling behavior, though not affecting data integrity. I am wondering if this will disappear over time and additional downloads following upgrade to Q2018 from Q2017. 

2. I, too, have a minor complaint I've seen reported elsewhere: Column widths in Investing window revert after switching to another account and then back to Portfolio view. This minor annoyance is far outweighed by the added ability to customize columns (as in Q-Windows), but it would be nice not to have to reset column widths every time I go to a portfolio view. 

Q-Mac 2018 Version 5.2.1 (Build 52.20386.100)
iMac (27-inch, Late 2013)
Mac OS X Sierra, v. 10.12.3
3.4 GHz Intel Core i5

I haven't upgraded to Quicken for Mac 2018 but the Account Status window for QM2017 4.6.7 is now erroneously reporting transactions being downloaded from Quicken Connect accounts.

Based on the accounts and number of transactions being reported as downloaded, the transactions were downloaded on 18 and 13 October.  They were not downloaded today as indicated in the Activity Status window.

smayer97

XCO said:

Hmmm. Quicken 2018 for Mac does not significantly improve reports?  Do we need to wait another year for such capabilities.  Or do you suggest we give up on the Mac and switch to the Windows version of Quicken????  Poor reporting capabilities remains a glaring omission in the Mac software.

Correction to my previous post...turns out the limit has been elimiated with 2018. You can install as many times as you want. The caveat is that all files need to use the same QUicken ID for the same subscription. This brings about its own limitations, for example, shared access to data placed on the Quicken Cloud (Quicken Mobile) or any online services (only a single Credit score per ID).

This may impact situations of different users using same subscription with separate data files needing data to be independent and private.

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

smayer97

zwzlife said:

Canadian here. I can order and download QM2018 Deluxe (Bill Pay is not for Canadian after all) by using a fake USA zip code.
Installed, login with existing ID, open a QM2017 file. So far so good.
I changed my account's address back to Canadian address after got the confirm email.

@ProGolfer this is one of the great advantages that QM2018 (since QEM) has over QWin...though It was suggested to me that QW2018 was supposed to do likewise. I cannot confirm this though.

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

mistertheplague

Haven't bothered to do the relevant math, but I'm reasonably sure this is wrong:

smayer97

bigevil said:

how does the dropbox backup work? 

Matches experience of another user that posted but was unsure of how he got the extra 2GB (had original account).

smayer97

RickO said:

I just opened Quicken 2018 and it updated to 5.2.1 without offering the ability to delay the update. 

I find this completely objectionable!!! I want control over when and if I apply any updates to my software.

I still believe that this should still be optional on first set-up too. The same option should be presented..there are cases....

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

Sail

Matthew Phelps said:

Just upgraded from 2017 and seems to be running smoothly. The "Enter Activation Code..." dialog says I will receive an activation code in the order confirmation email, but there isn't one. Any ideas?

I have the same problem. Purchased online from quicken.com. I received the email confirmation with my order number AND my credit card was charged. However, there's no activation code in the email. When I check my account at quicken.com, it shows I have no previous purchases.

Unknown

Matthew Phelps said:

Just upgraded from 2017 and seems to be running smoothly. The "Enter Activation Code..." dialog says I will receive an activation code in the order confirmation email, but there isn't one. Any ideas?

Purchased the mac version off their site and received the windows version, also purchased the second time did not think the first took.  No purchase record found in my account so cannot redownload if needed, Also put refund request for both purchases.  Think I'll stick with my ibank very disappointed in the whole process 

Concordman

Matthew Phelps said:

Just upgraded from 2017 and seems to be running smoothly. The "Enter Activation Code..." dialog says I will receive an activation code in the order confirmation email, but there isn't one. Any ideas?

Need to call customer support to resolve what you have going on