Should I convert to Quicken for Windows from Quicken for Mac 2007?

AndrewML

I want to determine if a current version of Quicken for Windows such as QW Home & Business (subscription) will meet my needs as a longtime user of Quicken for Mac (since before 2005). I have more than one iMac (home and office) running Mac OS High Sierra 10.13.6 and plan to keep this setup for a while longer. My current iMacs (mid-2011) cannot be upgraded beyond High Sierra. I will replace these iMacs within two to three years.

I have both business and personal checking, savings, and credit card accounts in one Quicken for Mac 2007 file. I also track some investments and a mortgage and a loan. I want to keep this setup. I do not want to separate my business and personal account into separate Quicken files. I have a number of memorized reports. My current data file goes back 8 years and is 28 MB.

I use categories, subcategories, classes, and subclasses. I use personal checking and credit card accounts for personal expenses and investing and I use business checking and CC accounts for business expenses. This allows me to create P/L business reports for three different sets of business activities as I file more than one Schedule C. I do not need invoicing capabilities.

I have searched for an alternative to Quicken and have yet to identify one that meets my needs.

My understanding is that the current Quicken for Mac subscription (2019) does not allow P/L and other customized reports and that it also does not fully support categories, subcategories, classes, and subclasses. I suspect that QM subscription will not fully meet my needs for a few more years.

Having lost the ability to download and import transaction data into QM2007 after recent system updates, I am now forced to manually enter all transaction data and manually reconcile more than a dozen accounts. This has increased my bookkeeping time and inconvenience.

I am considering switching to a subscription for QW Home & Business and running it on my home and office iMacs using an annual subscription with Crossover.

Question 1: Will QW Home & Business run with all its features using Crossover on my iMacs? Would I be able to download transactions and reconcile accounts, update stock prices, etc?

Question 2: Does QW Home & Business allow me to make use of categories, subcategories, classes, and subclasses to continue to maintain all my accounts in one Quicken file and generate separate personal, business and investment reports?

Question 3: Is it possible to migrate my existing QM2007 data file to QW Home & Business or will I have to start over and recreate my current set up manually?

Question 4: If Quicken Mac every reaches close to parity with QW Home & Business what are the chances I would I be able to migrate back to Mac?

smayer97

A note about Subclasses:

Quicken has replaced Classes with Tags and there are no sub-tags. In a conversion, subclasses would simply become tags, so you would lose any organization of subclasses. This does NOT prevent you from creating the same reports but makes managing what are subclasses differently (IMO also increasing potential errors but nothing insurmountable).

As for conversion from QM2007 to QWin, the path can only be done by exporting and importing data using QIF. This is not a simply process and can be clumsy and will likely require data massaging. And if your plan is to eventually migrate back to QMac, it may not be worth the effort. (BTW, since you do not need invoicing, I suspect Deluxe or Premiere would be sufficient, see here: https://www.quicken.com/compare )

BTW: 40% off Subscription TODAY ONLY!

Although Quicken as taken down the article on how to do this, I still have the original info. I can post it if you really want to see how to do it...but it is involved.

You may instead try the 30-day trial of QMac and see if you can create the kinds of reports you need. Not everything is possible. You have to create work-arounds to simulate a P&L, etc. But you have to decide if it is workable for you.

chitownhockey

Point 1:  Quicken Mac subscription supports categories, subcategories and multiple tags (formerly known as classes).  So your current account and category structure should remain.  

Point 2:  Converting from Quicken Mac 2007 to the current Quicken Mac subscription is doable and should convert fine.  I certainly haven't heard of any issues in this community going that route.  There is currently a "cloud" based file conversion for Catalina macOS, but that also seems to work well.

Point 3:  Since you're not doing any invoicing, I'd say you don't need Quicken Windows Home, Business and Rental.  You can do EXACTLY what you've been doing just using the current Mac version.  And it will import security prices and download transactions for supported stock symbols and financial institutions.

Now:

Question 1:  I used a trial of Crossover previously.  I found it wacky, not intuitive to set up and just a bit unwieldy using Quicken Windows 2017 H&B with it.  Could it work?  Yes, but I didn't like the user interface of Crossover as much as Parallels in a complete virtual machine.  I still use Parallels on my MacBook, but that does require a purchase of Parallels (subscription or download) plus a purchase of Windows 10.  

Just a word with that...when you subscribe to a Quicken subscription, you can download BOTH the Mac and Windows versions at no additional cost.  Then you can try the Windows version with the free trial of Crossover and see if you like that.

Question 2:  Yes, you can do all that with Quicken Windows...but as I said earlier, you can do that with the current Quicken Mac products.

Question 3:  In almost all cases, you'll probably have to start over with a new Quicken Windows file.  The Mac to Windows conversion hasn't worked in eons...but some users have been able to export their Mac data to a different file type and get some data into Quicken Windows.  Investment accounts and transactions seem to be the exception there and don't import well or at all. 

Question 4:  No one has any idea, despite pleas from H&B users, if a Home & Business version is in the works for Mac or not.  So, converting invoices and customers etc...no one knows.

In summary...if you're happy with Quicken Mac 2007...and it does what you currently need without needing any invoice or billing features... I would just purchase a subscription to Quicken Mac Deluxe 2020.  Install it and run it in parallel with QM 2007 and see if you can get acclimated to the brand new interface, reports, etc.  Quicken does come with a 30 day money back guarantee...so if you don't like it prior to 30 days you can return it.  And you'll still have your QM 2007 on your hard drive.  

I do think the longer you use Quicken Mac Deluxe 2020 it will grow on you and you'll like it.  

chitownhockey

Purchase Quicken Mac Deluxe 2020 subscription.  It does have categories, subcategories, tags (which replaces classes).  And you'd be able to download transactions and security prices in Quicken Mac 2020.  

And the way you have Quicken Mac 2007 set up with separate accounts for business, you can easily create reports by selecting or deselecting specific accounts using the New Reports feature.  

Since you're not using the invoicing or billing, why go to HBR to begin with?  You don't need those features at all.  

I don't see what HBR would offer you that you would use.  Also migrating from Mac to Windows is not a smooth path.  The conversion tool hasn't worked in years...and investment accounts and transactions usually can't get converted.  So, you'd basically be doing a lot of manual entry or start over from scratch.   

chitownhockey

BTW, if you're running Catalina on your Macs, your Quicken Mac 2007 data file will convert for use in Quicken Mac 2020, using an external cloud based convertor.  Users who have used this haven't reported any problems as of yet. 

AndrewML

Thank you for your encouragement to stick with Quicken Mac 2020, chitownhockey.

I had read that tags in QM2020 could fulfill QM2007's classes and subclasses.

The one issue that remains concerning is having read that QM2020 does not support business P/L reports. I guess I will have to give it a try to find out its strengths and limitations.

smayer97

A note about Subclasses:

Quicken has replaced Classes with Tags and there are no sub-tags. In a conversion, subclasses would simply become tags, so you would lose any organization of subclasses. This does NOT prevent you from creating the same reports but makes managing what are subclasses differently (IMO also increasing potential errors but nothing insurmountable).

As for conversion from QM2007 to QWin, the path can only be done by exporting and importing data using QIF. This is not a simply process and can be clumsy and will likely require data massaging. And if your plan is to eventually migrate back to QMac, it may not be worth the effort. (BTW, since you do not need invoicing, I suspect Deluxe or Premiere would be sufficient, see here: https://www.quicken.com/compare )

BTW: 40% off Subscription TODAY ONLY!

Although Quicken as taken down the article on how to do this, I still have the original info. I can post it if you really want to see how to do it...but it is involved.

You may instead try the 30-day trial of QMac and see if you can create the kinds of reports you need. Not everything is possible. You have to create work-arounds to simulate a P&L, etc. But you have to decide if it is workable for you.

chitownhockey

A profit and loss report is nothing more than an income/expense report with a fancy name.

You can create an income/expense report in Quicken Mac easily, with sort options for accounts, categories, subcategories and/or tags...and then save them for easy retrieval.

A zillion years ago, before there even was a Quicken Home and Business product, I used to do exactly that for my business using Quicken Deluxe.  I had two business only accounts (checking and credit card) and created business unique categories by prefacing them with a Bus prefix.

When it came time to create ANY type of business report, it was easy to select which accounts and categories I wanted included in the report.  Remember...this was way before Quicken even had a Home and Business version.

I really think that Quicken Mac 2020 will do exactly what you're doing now in Quicken Mac 2007.  The interface is different and there will be a learning curve, but for what you're doing moving to a Quicken Windows version just doesn't make sense to me.  

AndrewML

Thanks to both chitownhockey and smayer97 for your encouragement to stick with QM and give the current version of QM a fair trial.