Q Mac: converting Q2017 back to Q2007

Unknown · September 2018

Hate Q2017 and WANT TO GO BACK TO Q2007 without losing data entered in the meantime. Report and data entry features much better in 2007, and have not been able to get changes I want to 2017.

thecreator · September 2018

Hi @ Deborah ,

Export the Transaction details to a paper copy or PDF Copy.

Uninstall Quicken for MAC 2017 and reinstall Quicken for MAC 2007 and reenter the Transaction Details manually. No way to convert New Data to Old Format.

Applies to Windows as well as MAC.

smayer97 · September 2018

Not entirely correct. QM2017 has the ability to export to QTMF format which is what QM2007 uses. The caveat is that it was designed at the time when QEM was created to allow users to migrate back to QM2007. The problem is that I do not believe it has been updated so although it is designed to migrate register transactions, QEM did not have investment data, so that probably will not migrate back, if you have any.

You can simply give it a try and see what carries back. Do report back you findings if you try this.

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Unknown · September 2018

This sounds very hopeful, but I need some guidance. I still have my QM2007 app. If I open it, will anything happen to my QB2017 that has about 2 years of data in it? When I export from QM2017 to QTMF, will the data copy, or literally be moved? Back-up my 2 QM2017 files so far.

smayer97 · September 2018

It is an export of data, so your original file stays unchanged. That said, it is always wise to have backups because you just never know what can go wrong, including user "oops" factors ;-).

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Unknown · September 2018

OK, after backing up my files I did export --> Quicken Mac 2007 Transfer File (QMTF) for each of my 2 QM2017 files and saved the files on my desktop. When I click on either one, Quicken 2007 appears as the app name at the top left of my screen, but the file does not open. When I right click on either of the transferred file icons to open the file, I get the message, "This is not a Quicken data file." When I left click to "open with Quicken 2007 app" I get the same message. How do I turn the files into Quicken data files?

Unknown · September 2018

Quick Look does not work either (same response).

smayer97 · September 2018

I believe you can achieve this one of 2 ways from within QM2007:

Select File > Open File and select the QMTF file
Select File > Import > From Quicken Essentials

Let us know how it goes.

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smayer97 · September 2018

I do not believe QuickLook can see into any Quicken file, at least not in older Mac OS X versions, e.g. 10.6.8, so it would only give you file info.

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Unknown · September 2018

No solution for you. Just want to say "I feel your pain". I miss QM 2007 (reports especially) but because I want to use Bill Pay & get bank downloads I stick with QM 2017 & curse the reports daily!

Unknown · September 2018

It looks like the 2nd option might work, since at least the icons for the exported files are live. However, there is a warning about ending up with duplicate entries. What if I make copies of the 2 2007 files, delete the registers that I have in 2017 more up to date, then import to the copies using the Quicken Essentials option? If it doesn't work, I have the originals. As added insurance the 2007 copies are on my desktop, whereas the originals are in the applications folder. I also copied the 2007 app folder and have it on the desktop.

jacobs · September 2018

As long as you have safely stashed duplicates of your files safely away, there no harm in trying. Just make certain you know which version of your data files you are opening at all times; I'd suggest launching Quicken by dragging the data file you want onto the Quicken icon on your dock, to insure you know which one you're opening.

Going back to the big picture for a second, I want to make sure you're aware that Quicken 2007 is very long on borrowed time -- that it's unsupported, prone to periodical database errors, may not download transactions from all financial institutions any more, and will almost certainly not work past the soon-to-be-released macOS Mojave. If you're trying to buy time for more improvements in the modern Quicken, this can be a perfectly sound strategy; I just want to make sure you know the risks involved.

(FWIW, I'm still using Quicken 2007 in parallel with Quicken 2018, but I think I'm finally going to make the final switch when I have some time this winter to clean up some data corruption in the 2007 data. The reports keep getting bette run Quicken 2018, and while they're not quite comparable to Quicken 2007, I think I can now now pretty much anything I need.)

smayer97 · September 2018

With that segue, not sure what version of Mac OS you are using, but if you are interested, you can follow along either of these discussions:

In the first, it is clear that everything works, except the auto-backup feature in QM2007 only works if both the data and the backups are stored on a HFS+ (Mac OS Extended) formatted drive and NOT on the new APFS format that came out with 10.13.
The second is still a developing discussion.

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jacobs · September 2018

As long as you commit you not updating your macOS, perhaps beyond High Sierra, you may be able to keep going with Quicken 2007 for quite some time, as long as you don't run into any database corruption issues. (I just recently encountered something in Quicken 2007 I never expected: a message that my transaction file was full! I had to delete some of my oldest transactions in order to keep adding new transactions.)

smayer97 · September 2018

I highly recommend you to add your VOTES to related IDEAS found on the:

List of Requests for Report Related Features,
with the essential ones described and listed here
List of Requests for Report Types

Click on each underlined link, then follow the instructions to add your vote to more related ideas. Your VOTES matter!

For background, you may want to read this post too. BTW, the columnar-type report is the basis for MANY other reports, as described in detail in this post a little lower; only the selection and formatting criteria are different.

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jacobs · September 2018

@smayer97: Some of the features that are in those lists have been implemented. I know it's super time-consuming, but if you're able to get edits made to some of the posts you linked above to remove requests for things which are done, it would simplify the number of options for users to vote on, which many users here find overwhelming (and perhaps help the developers identify next action items, as well). For instance, the thread on choosing columns in reports still shows up in the list of topics, even though the feature has been fully implemented. Similarly, sorting in reports can now be by any column, so that idea has been implemented. The IRR report now exists. And so on. (No need to reply. Again, I know it's complex to keep all these feature lists cross-linked, but anything you can do to get rid of things which have been implemented will make it easier for users to find and vote on things which haven't.)

smayer97 · September 2018

Thx. Actually, a little while ago I did reconcile all the closed ideas. If you look carefully, it may not be totally obvious but they have all been marked DONE, with the limited tools available. I also had the mods make sure to mark the ideas as IMPLEMENTED, as applicable.

Maybe in another pass, I can see about cleaning up the lists in a different way. What I have deliberated is whether to have implemented ideas completely removed from the main and sub lists or simply marked as a done, as a way to show the amount of progress achieved. I have chosen the latter for now, as that was the simplest but open to ideas (so far, it seems like 6 of one, 1/2 dozen of the other ;-)

jacobs · September 2018

Recognizing that it's a big undertaking any way you do it, my recommendation is that it's okay to leave some of the completed items within a thread (marked as completed/implemented as you have done) but to eliminate links from your master lists on various topics that list these topics which have been completed. Give people fewer links to click on, and I think more people will pick through on some of them.

Unknown · September 2018

to smayer and jacobs: I successfully transferred the data from 2017 to 2007 - YAY! I had to do quite a bit of clean up with transactions involving transfers but finally got everything to match. My strategy for the risk of double transactions was to delete the registers in 2007 that I was transferring over from 2017. The tags in 2017 did not get picked up as class in 2007, so for 2018 I will have to add them where needed.

Do the report upgrades in 2018 include basic business reports? That's what I need. Apparently the 2018 Home & Business will not be available for Mac.

Unknown · September 2018

It turns out smayer has a solution - I tried it, and it works. See below.

Unknown · September 2018

See smayer's solution -- it worked!

smayer97 · September 2018

Glad the transfer worked for you.

Though there have been improvements in reports in QM2018 vs QM2017, they may or may not really satisfy you. What type of report features are you looking for?

Meanwhile, you can read through the Release Notes for Quicken for Mac 2018 to see what improvements have been made to reports to see if what you need has been addressed, or from the links below you can at least see what features have yet to be implemented (and you can add your VOTES to the ones that you desire.)

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jacobs · September 2018

There are incremental enhancements to some aspects of reports in almost every update.

If by business reports you mean and income statement and balance sheet, no those haven't been added yet. It appears the developers are focused on adding features that apply to all reports, trying to round out functionality of reports, before they then take the complete feature set to create additional reports.

As for Home & Business for Mac, Quicken has not said anything one way or another. They really can't tackle that until they get Quicken Deluxe/Premier more complete -- e.g. closer to the feature set of Quicken 2007 and Quicken Windows. At the point they get there, they could plunge ahead to add the additional functionality in Home & Business. The fact that they haven't shut down the 2 year-old thread about H&B for Mac indicates the idea has not been ruled out. But Quicken generally doesn't pre-announce new products until a short time before they are available, so we're left to wonder and speculate what the future will hold.

Unknown · September 2018

Yes, those business reports and a cash flow statement are what I need. I have difficulty comprehending that Quicken (when part of Intuit), would reduce features on a successful version of their product like 2007. If I could find a small business alternative for my Mac, without having to do the Windows split, I would switch. Thank you for all your help. My 2007 with the 2017 data has become a little less functional (no account banners, minimize button missing) but I can get the reports. THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR HELP!

jacobs · September 2018

“I have difficulty comprehending that Quicken (when part of Intuit), would reduce features on a successful version of their product like 2007.” The simple answer is that they didn’t.

What happened in 2007 is that they realized the changes in the Mac operating system would make it impossible to support and continue to develop the 20 year-old code base, and that they needed to start from scratch using a modern database and the new core Mac OS technologies. That path forward, under changing Intuit leadership, was full of dead ends and zig-zags that resulted in the feature-incomplete Quicken Essentials in 2010 and delayed development for several years until they re-committed to it (with a small budget and development team) in 2012.

The modern Quicken Mac came to market 4 years ago as Quicken 2015. It was raw and incomplete, but it was a step forward for stranded Essentials users, and showed a path forward for a future full-featured Quicken Mac. Over the ensuing 4 years, they have been slowly developing additional features and functionality, in addition to some detours to move away from Intuit. Progress has been slower than anyone — including Quicken management— expected, but there’s progress nonetheless.

So they never “reduced features” from Quicken 2007; they started over and are still in the process of re-creating those features. Users often complain that it’s absurd that a particular feature doesn’t exist yet, but the reality is simply that the list of features to be programmed has been large, and their prioritization of what features impact the broadest number of users often doesn’t match our individual needs.

While the slow progress can be frustrating, I see two positives: there *is* steady forward progress, and company management has publicly committed to bringing Quicken Mac to relative priority with Quicken Windows.

Unknown · September 2018

Thank you very much for the background. Given the wait and the uncertainty, I am going to look for other small business accounting software for my Mac. If not successful, I'll just hang in with Quicken. Now I am back to 2007 to access the business reports, although the transfer back of 2017 data has created loss of some convenient functions but nothing I can't live with for now.

Q Mac: converting Q2017 back to Q2007

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