new file?

Liz Schura

Now that the kids are gone from our oversight, I would like to create a new file for just us.  I had many different categories and vendors and now want to simplify life. What is the best approach as I do download my bank transactions and such.  how should I handle the file I have now to keep as an archive?  I have Quicken 2017 mac

splasher

I would stay with the same file and change the categories that are used as of 1/1.  Just because you have used a wider choice of categories in the past, a new year is the perfect time to switch.

jacobs

Liz, if you really want to start over with a new file, the biggest loss is your investment history. Having your transactions for checking and credit cards separate is personal choice (I prefer keeping all my history in one place), but just be aware starting over with investments means you'll be able to track your holdings after entering your starting balances, but won't know your true gains/losses/ROI, etc. over time. If that's not a problem, then you should be fine.

They important thing to remember if you leave your history behind in an older files is that you should open that file periodically (annually is fine) to let it update to the latest version of the database. Even if you aren't touching it, you need to maintain it so that it can be opened by the current version of the program. If you browse this forum, you'll see a somewhat frequent topic that come up is people trying to open old files which aren't compatible with the current version of Quicken. Don't let that be you in a few years! 

Quicken Harold

Hello Liz. 
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