I just purchased QMac 2019 - how to make a Quick Report

Katy3

I can't see how to make a simple report. I have used Quicken Deluxe 2007 for years.
Can I make a Quick Report on 2019?

smayer97

To use the near equivalent of Quick Reports in QMac, you first need to find a transactions that contains the key data you want to create the report on; either Payee, Category, or Tag. The right-click in the field and select to "Create report on [...]" whereby the content in [...] is the type of data you are looking for.

Otherwise, you have to rely on creating a report using the full report creator.

That said, you can add your VOTE to Bring back Quick Reports, which includes the full functionality of the old Quick Reports, whereby you do not have to start by finding a similar transaction first.

First, click on the underlined link above to go there, then click the little grey triangle under the VOTE count at the top of page 1 in the blue banner, so your vote will count for THIS feature and increase its visibility to the developers by seeking to have the features you need or desire end up in the latest version (it may take a moment for your vote to register).

Your VOTES matter!

jacobs

@Katy3 Actually, I'll disagree a bit with the reply above. The way the designers built the modern Quicken, their intent was for users to use the Search box for many of the things we were used to building a Quick Report to find in Quicken 2007. (The "Report on…" reports were added along the way in response to user requests -- but it can be problematic to first have to find a transaction that matches a Payee or Category you want to report on in order to generate a "Report on…" quasi-quick report.)

The Search box is really powerful. The first step to using it effectively is to decide if you want to search within a single account, a group of accounts (such as the "Cash" or "Credit Card" groups), or All Transactions in the left sidebar.

Next, if you've selected All Transactions or a group, make sure the register is showing the columns you want to see (for example, you may need to add the Memo/Notes column or Transfer column more Account column).

Next, do you want to limit the time range? Set the date filter to Last Year or Year To Date or Last Month or any time period you want.

Now you can do your search. You have a choice of searching all visible columns (the default)…

… or limiting the search to a single field, like Payee or Memo/Notes by clicking on the tiny, tiny little downward-facing arrow next to the magnifying glass icon…


In Quicken 2007, the most common Quick Reports I'd do would be to look for past transactions for a specific Payee or a Memo or a Category. You can do all of those with Search quite easily, and often you can just use the default "All Visible Columns" -- and the results are faster than Quicken 2007 if you have a reasonably big file. If you just need to view the results, the register shows them; if you need to print the report, just select Print and it will generate a report. 

There are some pros and some cons to Search versus Quicken 2007 Quick Reports, but I suggest playing with it a bit; once you get comfortable using Search, I think you'll find you can very quickly find a lot of information you want.

If you have any questions about Search or the Report on… features, post back with your questions.

smayer97

Yes searching is another alternative but be aware of the caveats:

There are some pros and some cons to Search versus Quicken 2007 Quick Reports, .....

- like the report pulls up whole transactions and cannot just pull up a split line that meets the criteria

- totals therefore are for the entire transaction and not just for a qualifying split line

These, and other limitations, may not impact all your searches but may affect some.

UKR

Are you new to Quicken Mac (2015 and newer)?

Welcome.

Getting Started with Quicken for Mac
https://www.quicken.com/complete-guide-getting-started-quicken-2018-mac https://www.quicken.com/quicken-tips with links to more information and videos

If you haven't done so already, please review these videos for more information about Quicken Mac
https://www.youtube.com/user/QuickenMac/videos

 

Help! (Quicken Mac)

Click Help / Quicken Help for additional help on Quicken functions and features.

jacobs

@Katy3 The Quicken 2007 "Quick Reports" don't exactly exist in the current Quicken 2020 -- but there are a variety of ways to do the same thing you're used to doing; some are just as easy; some require a few extra steps.

Why don't you explain what type of report you're trying to generate, and we can offer suggestions about the ways to get there.

Katy3

I use Quick Reports (on the old Quicken) to look up previous months' invoices etc.

smayer97

To use the near equivalent of Quick Reports in QMac, you first need to find a transactions that contains the key data you want to create the report on; either Payee, Category, or Tag. The right-click in the field and select to "Create report on [...]" whereby the content in [...] is the type of data you are looking for.

Otherwise, you have to rely on creating a report using the full report creator.

That said, you can add your VOTE to Bring back Quick Reports, which includes the full functionality of the old Quick Reports, whereby you do not have to start by finding a similar transaction first.

First, click on the underlined link above to go there, then click the little grey triangle under the VOTE count at the top of page 1 in the blue banner, so your vote will count for THIS feature and increase its visibility to the developers by seeking to have the features you need or desire end up in the latest version (it may take a moment for your vote to register).

Your VOTES matter!

jacobs

@Katy3 Actually, I'll disagree a bit with the reply above. The way the designers built the modern Quicken, their intent was for users to use the Search box for many of the things we were used to building a Quick Report to find in Quicken 2007. (The "Report on…" reports were added along the way in response to user requests -- but it can be problematic to first have to find a transaction that matches a Payee or Category you want to report on in order to generate a "Report on…" quasi-quick report.)

The Search box is really powerful. The first step to using it effectively is to decide if you want to search within a single account, a group of accounts (such as the "Cash" or "Credit Card" groups), or All Transactions in the left sidebar.

Next, if you've selected All Transactions or a group, make sure the register is showing the columns you want to see (for example, you may need to add the Memo/Notes column or Transfer column more Account column).

Next, do you want to limit the time range? Set the date filter to Last Year or Year To Date or Last Month or any time period you want.

Now you can do your search. You have a choice of searching all visible columns (the default)…

… or limiting the search to a single field, like Payee or Memo/Notes by clicking on the tiny, tiny little downward-facing arrow next to the magnifying glass icon…


In Quicken 2007, the most common Quick Reports I'd do would be to look for past transactions for a specific Payee or a Memo or a Category. You can do all of those with Search quite easily, and often you can just use the default "All Visible Columns" -- and the results are faster than Quicken 2007 if you have a reasonably big file. If you just need to view the results, the register shows them; if you need to print the report, just select Print and it will generate a report. 

There are some pros and some cons to Search versus Quicken 2007 Quick Reports, but I suggest playing with it a bit; once you get comfortable using Search, I think you'll find you can very quickly find a lot of information you want.

If you have any questions about Search or the Report on… features, post back with your questions.

smayer97

Yes searching is another alternative but be aware of the caveats:

There are some pros and some cons to Search versus Quicken 2007 Quick Reports, .....

- like the report pulls up whole transactions and cannot just pull up a split line that meets the criteria

- totals therefore are for the entire transaction and not just for a qualifying split line

These, and other limitations, may not impact all your searches but may affect some.

jacobs

As I said, there are pros and cons to each approach. In Quicken 2007, we relied heavily on Quick Reports because there was no other way to search across accounts, but Quicken Mac gives us several tools to quickly discover things in our data.

If you're looking to quickly find a date you spent money in a category, Search might be the fastest way to get there, but if you're looking for total spending in a category, then doing a "Report on..." quick report will give the desired result, while Search will not because it shows entire transactions and not just split lines. (I'd also note that creating a regular Transaction Report for a single Category or Payee takes just a few clicks, and might be faster than hunting for a transaction with the desired Category or Payee in order to do a "Report on…" quick report.)

But the "Report on…" quick report doesn't allow you to set a date range until after you generate the report (it defaults to "This Year"), so there's extra clicking to then go to Customize, set the date range, and re-rerun the report if you want a different time period.

And if you're just looking to find one or more specific transactions -- when did we buy the hot water heater? how much did I pay last time I renewed this subscription? how many times have we been to this restaurant in the past two years? -- then Search can be the fastest tool to get the results.

There is also no "Report on..." quick report for the Memo/Notes field -- one of the things I used Quicken 2007 Quick Reports for most frequently. You need to use Search or create a transaction report to find transactions based on Memo/Notes. 

Another caveat to be aware of with Search is that it currently does not search in hidden accounts. So if you have some old credit card accounts or bank accounts you've marked hidden in Quicken, be aware Search will only show results from active accounts. In regular Reports, there's a checkbox you can click to specify whether or not to include transactions from hidden accounts. The developers have stated they will create an option to include Search in hidden accounts, but that feature doesn't yet exist.