How do I export a report into Excel or CSV format

Horsefeathers

I used to be able to export my reports into various formats, but with the Home and Business 2019 version I seem to have lost that. I can create and delete reports, but I can't export any of the data. Has this function been removed for some reason, or am I just not finding the function in the UI?

jacobs

Horsefeathers said:

Firstly, yes there is a Home & Business version for Mac, but I guess I forgot to say it's the Canadian version. it's Home & Business (Canada) 2019, Version 5.11.2, macOS 10.14.4. 

Actually, no, there really isn't a Home & Business application for Mac. The confusion is that Quicken sells subscription levels now. You can, indeed, purchase a Home & Business level subscription, and after that download the application your subscription allows for both Windows and Mac. In the case of the Mac, though, there is only one application, for US and Canada, and for all subscription levels. Even though you may have a Home & Business level subscription as shown in the About Quicken box, the point is that there is absolutely no Home & Business functionality in Quicken Mac -- not a single thing you can do beyond the Quicken Deluxe level. If you're not using the Windows Home & Business program, then you're over-paying for your subscription -- because you're not getting any more functionality than Quicken Deluxe. (In fact, there is no added functionality with Quicken Premier over Quicken Deluxe for the Mac; there are only two added services -- Quicken bill pay and priority phone support.) You can see the levels of Quicken Mac on Quicken's website here, and you'll note they don't even show Home & Business. It's possible -- I'd guess likely, in fact -- that there may be differentiation between Deluxe and Premier, and perhaps even introduction of Home & Business, somewhere in the future as the Mac product matures, but for now, there really is no such thin as a Quicken Mac Home & Business application.

Now, to the reports… As I wrote above, all the reports under "New Report" on the Reports menu are old reports that were developed for the predecessor program to the current Quicken Mac. They are in the process of being replaced, and eventually phased out. And those old reports have some bugs or limitations, as you've discovered, such as some of them not being able to be exported.

The good news is that you can create a report that looks almost identical to the one you have identified (except it will be missing the bar graph at the top). It's only slightly different than what I posted previously:

• Reports > New Report
• Summary
• Rows=Category
• Columns=Time
• Interval=Month
• Click Create Report
• Click Customize
• Set date range to Year to Date
• If you want the report to contain only expenses -- e.g. a spending report -- click Categories and deselect all Income categories 
  
• Click OK
• Click Export > Export to CSV File
  

This report is now quite similar to the "Spending Over Time" report. Negative numbers have minus signs instead of being in red, and categories are expanded to show subcategories by default, but I think you'll find it is otherwise quite similar. And you can export it.

Horsefeathers

Adding to my question above: I'm trying to export the "Year to date spending" report. All other reports seem to have the Export button.

jacobs

First, I want to make sure this is about Quicken Mac. There is no Home & Business-specific version for Mac.

There is also not a stock report called "Year to date spending". Is this, perhaps, a report you created and named?

All the reports on the Reports menu underneath "New Report" are old reports that carried forward from the predecessor Quicken Essentials product. They've been enhanced somewhat over time, but still have a lot of limitations. Some can be exported; some can't. They're not very configurable. 

The developers have been working on an all-new reports engine for the past two years. "New Report" on the menu is the current gateway to the new reports engine. (The developers have said this will be made clearer in an upcomign update, and eventually the old reports will likely go away once the new reports can replicate all the old ones.) All reports created with the new reports engine can be exported. 

It is easy to create a YTD spending report and export it:

• Reports > New Report
• Transaction
• Rows=Category
• Click Create Report
• Click Customize
• Set date range to Year to Date
• If you wish to only include spending from certain Accounts, click Accounts and de-select the ones you don't want included.
• Click Categories and deselect all Income categories if you want the report to contain only expenses
• Click OK
• If you wish, click Columns if you want to add any additional columns, such as Check # or Memo/Notes
• Click Export > Export to CSV File

Horsefeathers

Firstly, yes there is a Home & Business version for Mac, but I guess I forgot to say it's the Canadian version. it's Home & Business (Canada) 2019, Version 5.11.2, macOS 10.14.4. Secondly, no it's not a report I created. It's the one that opens when you select "Spending Over Time" from the Reports drop-down. You can customize it all you want, but there is no option to print or export. I did create a new report as you describe above, but it doesn't actually look the same as the stock one.

jacobs

Horsefeathers said:

Firstly, yes there is a Home & Business version for Mac, but I guess I forgot to say it's the Canadian version. it's Home & Business (Canada) 2019, Version 5.11.2, macOS 10.14.4. 

Actually, no, there really isn't a Home & Business application for Mac. The confusion is that Quicken sells subscription levels now. You can, indeed, purchase a Home & Business level subscription, and after that download the application your subscription allows for both Windows and Mac. In the case of the Mac, though, there is only one application, for US and Canada, and for all subscription levels. Even though you may have a Home & Business level subscription as shown in the About Quicken box, the point is that there is absolutely no Home & Business functionality in Quicken Mac -- not a single thing you can do beyond the Quicken Deluxe level. If you're not using the Windows Home & Business program, then you're over-paying for your subscription -- because you're not getting any more functionality than Quicken Deluxe. (In fact, there is no added functionality with Quicken Premier over Quicken Deluxe for the Mac; there are only two added services -- Quicken bill pay and priority phone support.) You can see the levels of Quicken Mac on Quicken's website here, and you'll note they don't even show Home & Business. It's possible -- I'd guess likely, in fact -- that there may be differentiation between Deluxe and Premier, and perhaps even introduction of Home & Business, somewhere in the future as the Mac product matures, but for now, there really is no such thin as a Quicken Mac Home & Business application.

Now, to the reports… As I wrote above, all the reports under "New Report" on the Reports menu are old reports that were developed for the predecessor program to the current Quicken Mac. They are in the process of being replaced, and eventually phased out. And those old reports have some bugs or limitations, as you've discovered, such as some of them not being able to be exported.

The good news is that you can create a report that looks almost identical to the one you have identified (except it will be missing the bar graph at the top). It's only slightly different than what I posted previously:

• Reports > New Report
• Summary
• Rows=Category
• Columns=Time
• Interval=Month
• Click Create Report
• Click Customize
• Set date range to Year to Date
• If you want the report to contain only expenses -- e.g. a spending report -- click Categories and deselect all Income categories 
  
• Click OK
• Click Export > Export to CSV File
  

This report is now quite similar to the "Spending Over Time" report. Negative numbers have minus signs instead of being in red, and categories are expanded to show subcategories by default, but I think you'll find it is otherwise quite similar. And you can export it.

smayer97

Yes, regarding H&B level subscription, good description. Quicken really ought to make this clear!

jacobs

smayer97 said:

Yes, regarding H&B level subscription, good description. Quicken really ought to make this clear!

I agree. However… I'd note that if you go to Quicken.com, click on Mac, there is no column for a Home & Business product, and there is no option to purchase a Home & Business subscription.


The only way you can buy it is to go to the Windows section of the website, buy it, and then decide to download the Mac application. 

Similarly, if buying from a retailer, the Home & Business version is clearly labeled as Windows, not Windows & Mac. For instance, here it is on Amazon...

…and everything from the Box cover to the Platform description to the choices of version at the bottom are pretty clearly Windows (or PC) and exclude Mac.

So the only people who can get confused about having "Quicken Mac Home & Business" are those who purchase the subscription for Windows and decide to convert to or test of the Mac application, which is included in their subscription at no extra cost.

Still, it would help if Quicken did two things: (1) Put a line on quicken.com/mac/compare to state "There is no Home & Business application for Quicken Mac", and (2) in the "About Quicken" dialog box in the Mac application, instead of displaying "Home & Business 2019" it should label it Premier or have a disclaimer that the Home & Business subscription corresponds to Quicken Premier on the Mac.