Home Inventory & Emergency Records Organizer [edited]

Robbieblindt

With Quicken not supporting home inventory anymore, and emergency document organizer as an add on service. Quicken is missing out on a huge marketing opportunity.

As a professional firefighter injured in the line of duty. I have been using Quicken for more than a decade. I see the value in have both home inventory & emergency document organizer in disaster preparedness. Recovering from a disaster is pain stacking process.

Now I believe these programs should be more incorporated into Quicken. If example: If I purchase a refrigerator and enter that transaction into my account register. I include an attachment of the receipt or photo. I believe there should be a checkbox that ask to include into home inventory. So it is more streamlined.

Likewise if starting an account Quicken should ask if information should be incorporated into emergency document organizer, so it is not redundant process.

I believe this would be a huge selling point for people in hurricane zones, tornado alley, earthquake areas, flood zones, the list is endless.

These two add ons really separate Quicken from the other money software programs. With all the free software available, and other paid programs, Quicken is not the cheapest one out their.

This is one way of selling Quicken to the younger generations that might settle for a cheaper or free money software.

Quicken Community

It seems that the Home Inventory, Address Book and Emergency Records features have been treated as afterthoughts, but I think they could and should be updated and better integrated into the program. For example, it would be great to have the home inventory interface upgraded and modernized (it currently looks like Windows 95-98 vintage) and tied to an asset account. 

mshiggins

From C. D. Bales:



" ... it would be great to have the home inventory ... tied to an asset account".



The ability to have your home inventory tied to a Quicken asset account is already present (to my knowledge, it's always been there).



With Home Inventory (QHI.EXE) running: File > Update Quicken, will update the balance of the Quicken Asset account, "Home Inventory" (creating the account, if necessary).



And I don't think the features you refer to are treated as "afterthoughts" by Quicken. I think they're treated as features whose modernization would not be cost effective. Something like: "too much work, for too little gain".

Unknown

My hope is that perhaps the new owners of Quicken will see potential value in these features and update them accordingly. I see that you are correct about the Home Inventory being tied to an asset account, which is great, but why not have the ability to upload photos and receipts, which are generally required in the case of an insurance claim, into the Home Inventory, eliminating the need to search elsewhere for the receipt? The interface could also be easily updated instead of harking back to Windows 95 and 800x600 resolution.

Intuit dropped the ball and left a lot of things hanging out to dry. The new ownership has an opportunity to shine by recognizing that and correcting past oversights, making the entire package an enjoyable, seamless user experience.

Charles Hadlock

I know the Quicken team has its hands full keeping the main program running smoothly, but I would love to see an update to the Home Inventory Manager.  It was once a stand-alone program until, more than a decade ago, it was awkwardly added to the main program -- hidden, really --  in a sub menu.  It's never listed or promoted as a feature.  Maybe that's because it's very dated. (One of the categories is Video Tapes).  I've been reluctant to start using it again because the file format (.qhi) is proprietary and the feature could disappear at any time.  Quicken, please show us you still support Home Inventory Manager.  Thx.


Note: This conversation was created from a reply on: Home Inventory Manager.

Snowman

There are many better stand alone inventory programs that will allow you to do more than the Home Inventory Manager did.  I use one of these programs and just take the total value from that inventory program and put in in Quicken in an asset account and I update it as needed.

I just tried to set Quicken to use "classic" menus and I do not see Home Inventory Manager there anymore so I would think the feature is already on its way out.  I checked the "Help" listing in Quicken and while it says it is still there in my version (Q2018 Premier v11.18 with Windows 10 64bit) it is gone. 

Unknown

Home Inventory Manager is still available in the latest version of Quicken.  You can find it on the tool bar. 

Snowman

Don said:

Home Inventory Manager is still available in the latest version of Quicken.  You can find it on the tool bar. 

What version are you using because Home Inventory Manager is nowhere to be found in my version and is not found on the tool bar either.  It was there a couple of versions ago but is now gone.

volvogirl

There are 2 different inventory programs.  This is for the embedded Home Inventory.  Not the separate Home Inventory Manager which was discontinued years ago.  If you have the .idb file that is the embedded one 

How to install Home Inventory & Emergency Records Organizer
https://www.quicken.com/support/installing-quicken-home-inventory-and-emergency-records-organizer 


 Home Inventory data missing after converting to new version
http://quicken.intuit.com/support/help/account-transaction-issues/home-inventory-data-gone-after-con... 

 
You have to first install the Inventory program so you have to find the install file and double click on it. The install file is QuickenHomeInventory.exe (and you should also have  EmergencyRecordsOrganizer.exe).

Snowman

volvogirl said:

There are 2 different inventory programs.  This is for the embedded Home Inventory.  Not the separate Home Inventory Manager which was discontinued years ago.  If you have the .idb file that is the embedded one 

How to install Home Inventory & Emergency Records Organizer
https://www.quicken.com/support/installing-quicken-home-inventory-and-emergency-records-organizer 


 Home Inventory data missing after converting to new version
http://quicken.intuit.com/support/help/account-transaction-issues/home-inventory-data-gone-after-con... 

 
You have to first install the Inventory program so you have to find the install file and double click on it. The install file is QuickenHomeInventory.exe (and you should also have  EmergencyRecordsOrganizer.exe).

Thanks for the clarification I had the separate program.  I still would rather have a separate home inventory manager than one within Quicken.  If it gets "broken" you will never now when or if it will be fixed.

Charles Hadlock

When I close Home Inventory within Quicken, it asks if I want to save the file to a floppy disk. Quaint. It’s almost 2019 already.

volvogirl

volvogirl said:

There are 2 different inventory programs.  This is for the embedded Home Inventory.  Not the separate Home Inventory Manager which was discontinued years ago.  If you have the .idb file that is the embedded one 

How to install Home Inventory & Emergency Records Organizer
https://www.quicken.com/support/installing-quicken-home-inventory-and-emergency-records-organizer 


 Home Inventory data missing after converting to new version
http://quicken.intuit.com/support/help/account-transaction-issues/home-inventory-data-gone-after-con... 

 
You have to first install the Inventory program so you have to find the install file and double click on it. The install file is QuickenHomeInventory.exe (and you should also have  EmergencyRecordsOrganizer.exe).

Actually I use the embedded one completely separate from Quicken.   I don't use it inside Quicken or integrate it.  I have a desktop icon for it and use it by itself.

Unknown

The history on this is that the code was long since abandoned, and to bring it up to date would require a total rewrite.  And it probably would have been totally abandoned if it wasn't for the fact that the long time users griped about it."  That is why it is hidden in the way it is.

BTW talk about "quaint".  No one seems to have been able to come up with a better icon for saving a file than this one.


Everyone knows that it means to save a file, but I doubt most kids have clue at what it represents.

Unknown

I would also like to see the Home Inventory feature refreshed. It would be helpful if I could record the model number, serial number, and manufacturer's website for major electronic equipment such as a TV, computer, audio gear and even my smartphone. A notes field that could be used to record maintenance activities or usage notes would also be helpful. Linking to the purchase transaction record in Quicken would provide quick access to purchase records. Linking from the purchase transaction record could simply creating home inventory records.

JHK

Snowman said:

There are many better stand alone inventory programs that will allow you to do more than the Home Inventory Manager did.  I use one of these programs and just take the total value from that inventory program and put in in Quicken in an asset account and I update it as needed.

I just tried to set Quicken to use "classic" menus and I do not see Home Inventory Manager there anymore so I would think the feature is already on its way out.  I checked the "Help" listing in Quicken and while it says it is still there in my version (Q2018 Premier v11.18 with Windows 10 64bit) it is gone. 

I have used QHI from its inception but am now having problems.  Can you recommend an alternative program.  I would like to upload data from my *.qhi to a stand alone inventory program.

JHK

volvogirl said:

There are 2 different inventory programs.  This is for the embedded Home Inventory.  Not the separate Home Inventory Manager which was discontinued years ago.  If you have the .idb file that is the embedded one 

How to install Home Inventory & Emergency Records Organizer
https://www.quicken.com/support/installing-quicken-home-inventory-and-emergency-records-organizer 


 Home Inventory data missing after converting to new version
http://quicken.intuit.com/support/help/account-transaction-issues/home-inventory-data-gone-after-con... 

 
You have to first install the Inventory program so you have to find the install file and double click on it. The install file is QuickenHomeInventory.exe (and you should also have  EmergencyRecordsOrganizer.exe).

I am interested in a stand-alone of this program.  Do you have a source.?

jl747

Snowman said:

There are many better stand alone inventory programs that will allow you to do more than the Home Inventory Manager did.  I use one of these programs and just take the total value from that inventory program and put in in Quicken in an asset account and I update it as needed.

I just tried to set Quicken to use "classic" menus and I do not see Home Inventory Manager there anymore so I would think the feature is already on its way out.  I checked the "Help" listing in Quicken and while it says it is still there in my version (Q2018 Premier v11.18 with Windows 10 64bit) it is gone. 

See if anything in this post helps.

https://getsatisfaction.com/quickencommunity/topics/quicken-home-inventory-shuts-down-when-detail-vi...

Mike409

Add the ability to attach a file to Emergency Records Organizer.  Quicken really has so little to offer these days.  It sort of hurts to have to pay for the subscription and receive nothing in return.  Adding the ability to save scanned documents to Emergency Records Organizer would be a very nice feature -- and it would make me feel that I was actually getting something for my renewal of the software.

Unknown

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sgtjdcusmc

I would like to see an Emergency report that one can save in a safe for heirs, that contains all the accounts, the latest amounts, the accounts institutions, accounts numbers,id, passwords etc. All this information is in Quicken. It would take a skilled data base programmer a few days of work to do it. I have done similar work in IBM DB2 in hours.

YingDave

I use Home Inventory - not sure why you can't see it. Probably depends on the version you have? I have H&B. Have you tried the Property& Depbt menu?

Having said that Quicken Home Inventory needs a ground-up re-write upgrade. Not sure you could sell it in it's current form as a feature. Also hangs the first time you run it because it's somehow already expecting to be connected to a data file. Takes a few goes and a few 'Windows Task Manager - end task' to finally get it pointed to your data file with File,Open.

The splash screen says copywrite 1999. So it has languished for 20 years. Even Reckon in Australia (distributor of Quicken) re-wrote Home inventory into a more slick looking front end (same data table behind so it's not a major complex development). Consider for example attached of "Detail View" by item - takes a postage stamp size dialog no matter how much you resize the screen. IT does as you said to add items by highlighting tansaction then clicking "Home Inventory" on account bar or from Menu /Property&Debt /Home Inventory. But it does not take over attachments. The dialog box of where you stroe the Receipt/Records shows it's age including 'on videotape'!!

Please Quicken give this program and overhall and update it's appearance.

mshiggins

Agreed. Home Inventory and Emergency Records Organizer are two under-appreciated Quicken features that could use an update. 

jaxbaum

It looks like this has now been fixed with the latest update, but you need to reinstall Home Inventory and/or Emergency Records Organizer. Exit Quicken and follow the instructions: https://www.quicken.com/support/installing-quicken-home-inventory-and-emergency-records-organizer. I was able to reinstall and it fixed the problem with the blacked-out screen.

Lonestar10

I just reinstalled Quicken for Windows on a new computer. I can't get QHI to launch properly. It hangs and freezes, not allowing me to select the QHI file location.

Luckily, I have other home inventory software (all of them suck), but Quicken's is the most useful because it it ties to my financial information, which dates back to the early 1990's.

Come on, Quicken, please fix and update this aging program!

Lonestar10

If you are stuck in a situation where Quicken Home Inventory no longer works, there are some alternatives.
As others have mentioned, [removed] can read QHI and IDB files, but the program doesn't display all the information (at least it didn't for me).

If you want to start fresh, try a program called [removed] from [removed]. It's Windows only, but it's feature-rich and can be easily customized. Best of all, it has many ways to export your data so it won't be orphaned like Quicken, sadly, did to us.

Scooterlam

I'll throw my voice and vote to moderinzing both emergecny records and inventory features of Quicken.  While, I can access these features today, I do not trust that any of my efforts to update and maintain my data going forward woul not be wasted due lack of support by the product team.

Perhaps it's an expansion of the emergency records organizer...Every year I update my "in case of death, break glass" docs detailing our important estate structure and changes since last year.  Having a more modern and supported feature in Quicken would go a long way to better integrate current financials, emergency records with estate instructions for our executor or remaining spouse or family member.  Its not just for an executor but especially important for a surviving spouse (or trusted family member) who is not involved with our financial account structure/management, retirement plans and all the rest!  

I used to use the inventory feature long ago.  It also disappeared on me long ago....Today, my need would to simply record purchases, securely store their receipts, track their warranty, along with various user manuals or links to their user manuals or otherwise vendor support links.  For example, I buy a refridgerator, I record it in my CC account register like normal, then click on a button to "add to inventory",  add additional information about the purchase, and save it off.  In other words make it part of the purchase process.   I suppose I could scan and attach the docs to the register entry but finding them latter would likely give troubles...   Today, I'm inundated with paper - receipts, manuals etc....some of which I no longer own.   I would probably save hunderds to thousand$ if had a better way to track, for example warranties, on products that break rather than throw them away and buy new. 

Some thoughts....would also to continue to differentetiate quicken desktop from others, that is if Quicken desktop still has a future in the product plan.

jl747

You can also see this post about QHI and an alternative.

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/comment/20253252#

GordieZ

Emergency Records Organizer must stay because 1) having important information stored in Quicken makes sense and 2) because it makes sense many people have done so and would lose very important data if it were deprecated (or if they moved it to some other program prior to deprecation it would no longer be in Quicken (see "1")).

Though I haven't used it (I didn't see it when setting up Q and haven't seen it), the same likely applies to Q Home Inventory.

Jim_Harman

I edited the title of this Idea to refer correctly to the Emergency Records organizer.

One advantage of the ERO being integrated with Quicken is that information such as account names, numbers, contact info, balances, etc. could be updated automatically when the information in Quicken changes. I think that currently this info is only retrieved from Quicken when you first set up the account.

UserDavidC

What @Jim_Harman said is the primary reason I stopped using the Emergency Records Organizer (ERO) years ago.

I setup ERO very thoroughly a long time ago as it seemed very handy with all that information in one place.

But and the months went by, I realized that new accounts and changes to accounts were not reflected in the ERO.

So, I stopped using it, My ERO still has data in it, it's just many years old now.

Unknown

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