Can my wife and I both work from one Quicken file?

mtunney52

My wife and I both use Quicken to manage our family's finances. Can we both log into and use Quicken on the web to access same file? Is it secure? If not, how do spouses handle co-managing finances via same Quicken file?

smayer97

Just a few notes:

First, both Mobile and Web work similarly, allowing multiple "devices" to enter data and sync back to one common data file on the desktop, either QWin OR QMac (but not both at the same time). Not sure how Quicken reconciles entries / changes made in both places if they touch the same transaction BUT if you define clear separation of which accounts are handled by whom, then at the very least there should be no record contention.

Of course, QWeb and QMobile are only companions, so they do not handle all transactions, but do provide enough to work on cash, credit and bank account registers.

Of course, you will have to settle on which desktop version to use.

That said, you can also consider using remote access to work right in the desktop file (though only one of you at a time). There are plenty of good solutions but one very good one is TeamViewer; solid and free and can be used on computers, tablets and phones. (If you search the forum, you might find a link to an article I have referenced many times that gives an extensive overview of several products; don't have it handy at the moment).

NotACPA

Do you have one Q data file of your combined accounts and categories?  Or two?

What is your desktop operating system?  Because Q Web is an adjunct to one of the desktop products ... not a standalone system.

mtunney52

No...separate files not combined. I’m using Windows and she’s on Mac. I’m guessing we’d both need to use same operating system. If we did, though, could we work off same file somehow? Maybe she only downloads certain accounts and me the rest so we don’t have overlapping transactions with conflicting expense categories. Then both upload to Quicken Web? Seems difficult.

NotACPA

I'm pretty sure that since you have different Q products, that you also have different Q User ID's ... and thus you'd have to have different Q files on the Web.

Also, Q Win and QMac [Edit/ previously incorrectly said Q Web /EDIT] files are NOT interchangeable ... entirely different file formats.

SO, while each of you could easily only download your own accounts ... you couldn't use Q Web to "merge" them.  They'd still be different files on the Web.

SO, even if you have a strong pre-nup (as my wife and I have) I'd just designate one of you to be the family Q user ... and have everything done in a single Q product.

But, I have another question for you.  Do you file a Joint tax return?  If so, why  not create a joint Q data file ... and then import it into Turbotax to make your combined financial lives easier?

mtunney52

Lol on prenup comment. My goal is to have her manage most of the family expense related finances and be able to track her spending vs budgets. I’m doing it now and it doesn’t make sense for me to code expenses that she makes and knows better. Plus she doesn’t have adequate purview over how we are doing vs budget. I’d rather her do that and then I will deal more with income related and non standard expenses like taxes. I’ll have some household expenses too (ie groceries) for which I could use a chkg account and credit card that we share (and she downloads and codes) or, if we can combine files on the web, we would just merge our two files few times a year and look at the overall. She’d have to be on Windows version obviously which wouldn’t be a problem. Seems odd that Quicken doesn’t have a solution for this so families can tag team their finances better. Maybe cloud based Mint is better but I’ve been on Quicken for over 20 yrs and don’t want to move off.

NotACPA

She could run Win in a VM on her Mac ... and then you could move the Win data file back and forth ... except this is a somewhat precarious process.

Moving the file INTO either product will overwrite the previous data file there.  AND, that will cause any transaction input into the "target" machine after the "transfer out" on that machine to be lost.

Q, simply, isn't really a multi-user system.  It's intended for one user on one computer.

OR,  how about her using the Q Mobile App for her purchases ... and downloading from that into YOUR QWin?

smayer97

Just a few notes:

First, both Mobile and Web work similarly, allowing multiple "devices" to enter data and sync back to one common data file on the desktop, either QWin OR QMac (but not both at the same time). Not sure how Quicken reconciles entries / changes made in both places if they touch the same transaction BUT if you define clear separation of which accounts are handled by whom, then at the very least there should be no record contention.

Of course, QWeb and QMobile are only companions, so they do not handle all transactions, but do provide enough to work on cash, credit and bank account registers.

Of course, you will have to settle on which desktop version to use.

That said, you can also consider using remote access to work right in the desktop file (though only one of you at a time). There are plenty of good solutions but one very good one is TeamViewer; solid and free and can be used on computers, tablets and phones. (If you search the forum, you might find a link to an article I have referenced many times that gives an extensive overview of several products; don't have it handy at the moment).