I cannot make my budget reports work

Question

I retired and this means I need to rework my budgets. When I add new categories the Budget report does not add them. When I run a cash flow report with the same settings it all shows up as it should. I am using Quicken 2017 and was considering updating to the latest version. On line research seems to show that this is a known unresolved issue. After much foofing around trying to fix this issue with no success I am giving up and considering [removed]. Just letting you know how frustrating it is to think this HAS to work somehow, but it doesn't.

mike.garwood · Answer

I recently upgraded to Quicken Deluxe 2020 R23.21. There are 2 parts to this issue.
 [1] I added a new Category named "Test Test" on a $10,000 transaction. The budget report does not show it. The Budget report customize dialog shows the new category added and checked, but it does not include the transaction in my budget report. I then added that category in the "Manage Budget Categories" dialog and then it showed up in the report. The problem is if I use a category that is outside my normal budget, say "Emergency", then I think I am OK in my budget, but I am not. The budget report should include all actual expenses, but it does not seem to.
 [2] In Q2017 I adjusted the "Manage Budget Categories" selection, but that did not seem to affect my December budget at all. Well, the selections applied to the 2020 budget, but December is in 2019. It took some luck to see that Quicken had automatically created a 2020 Budget year budget, but that didn't seem to apply to closing out Dec 2019. Ouch. I tried this same test on Dec 2019 after upgrading and "Test Test" shows up in the budget with all zeros. Hmmmm... That part of the issue may be fixed in the latest upgrades; if that had worked for me in Q2017 I would not have had a problem.

Quicken_Natalie · Answer

Hello Mike,

Thank you for taking the time to visit the Community and post your issue, although I apologize you have not yet received a response.

What version/release of Quicken are you using? You can find that by going to Help>About Quicken. Also, please see this FAQ for details on adding more information to your post so that other Community members are best able to assist you.

If you have not already done so, I suggest performing a Validate and Repair on your Quicken data file, following the steps outlined here.

Let us know how it goes!

Thank you,

Quicken Natalie