How do I convert an entry in my bank register to a loan payment with the appropriate split?

Indiangrass

25 year Quicken user here--just switched from Mac 2007 because my downloads stopped working. I can't seem to do the simplest thing. I downloaded my bank transactions; a couple are loan payments. In old Quicken, I would select the transaction, bring up the Loans window, click on the correct loan and click "Use." A new entry would be created with the same date and the correct amounts in the split (principal v. interest). My loan register would get a new linked entry. I could then delete the downloaded entry that served to supply the date.

How in the world do I do that now?

John_in_NC

Hi, Indiangrass:

You split the transaction in the source account. This likely is your checking account.

Giving you all the details of how to split in 2020 is a bit beyond the scope of this question here, but basically you would Edit Details for the downloaded transaction (or shift+command+n with the transaction selection) to enter the split lines.

Basically, you want the Principal amount being a transfer to your mortgage (to reduce the liability), and categorized expenses for the Interest, taxes, etc. Your split would look like this:



I suggest you set this up as a scheduled transaction so that you don't have to do it each payment. If you have your mortgage setup in Quicken, you can also go through the "Edit Load and Payment Details" to have Quicken generate the scheduled transaction for you. You might still have to manually update the values, though, as different banks can calculate interest slightly differently. 

Post back if you have further questions.

Indiangrass

Thank you for your advice. I do know how to split a transaction but that is not what I'm asking about. In old Quicken, the "Use" loan feature presented a little dialog where it _already_ figured out the split between principal and interest based on the terms of the loan and the outstanding principal without me having to go figure that out myself (I'll call this auto-split). Further, it provided an additional split for say property tax escrow and gave me a little additional field where I could type in additional principal beyond the auto-split. I can't even figure out how to get new Quicken to do the simple auto-split. Do people really figure that out manually each time?

I hope I explained myself better this time, thanks again.

Indiangrass

I just had an online chat with Quicken support and to my amazement new Quicken really doesn't help in any way. A feature I've been using for 25 years is completely missing in new Quicken--both Mac and Windows. I asked them to pass this along to the product people. Thanks for reading folks.

Quicken_Tyka

Hello @Indiangrass

Thank you for taking the time to visit the Community to post your issue, although I apologize that there currently is no way to convert an existing entry into a split for a loan payment automatically.

If you have created a loan in Quicken and added the payment details, you can create a reminder for the appropriate split.

Try going to "Edit Loan Details" in the loan account.

Then create the split on the Loan Payment screen. Then, navigate to the "Bill Reminder" portion of this screen.



Be sure to select the Pay from an account and choose "Detailed Reminder" to display the split properly in the register.



Please note the split will automatically create the principal and interest, the Escrow will need to be entered manually upon the creation of the reminder.

Will this work for what you are needing?

-Quicken Tyka

John_in_NC

Indiangrass said:

I just had an online chat with Quicken support and to my amazement new Quicken really doesn't help in any way. A feature I've been using for 25 years is completely missing in new Quicken--both Mac and Windows. I asked them to pass this along to the product people. Thanks for reading folks.

I don't know if the info you received was 100% correct, as that was what I meant by (if you have the mortgage setup in Quicken), you can have it auto create the split via Edit Loan Details and Payments. Tyka gave you the detailed instructions how to do that, including how to add the additional Split child lines for the Escrow and Property tax.

What I meant about possibly having to manually update a particular split is that Quicken attempts to calculate the Interest rate, but some banks do this differently, so Quicken's amortization calculations might not be exactly the same as your bank. I don't think this is any different than 2007 in that regards.

Indiangrass

Grrr, now I find that Quicken miscalculated the monthly payment formula: (A*r/(1-(1+r)^-N). For my loan, Quicken rounded down to the nearest penny. The bank, of course, rounded up. (Old Quicken simply let you enter the bank's stated monthly payment to avoid this problem altogether.) Now my reminders are simply wrong. It seems I'm going to have to hand edit each one anyway! How can I fix this--any ideas?

Indiangrass

Wait, what? Quicken won't let me edit the transaction that came from the reminder. I'm now very frustrated. How did new Quicken get every aspect of loan handling wrong that old Quicken got right? Please tell me I'm just missing something here. Thanks in advance.

John_in_NC

Indiangrass said:

Wait, what? Quicken won't let me edit the transaction that came from the reminder. I'm now very frustrated. How did new Quicken get every aspect of loan handling wrong that old Quicken got right? Please tell me I'm just missing something here. Thanks in advance.

Yes, you can edit both existing transactions and update one time instances of scheduled transactions. If a scheduled transaction:

1. Double click on the reminder, and click on "Mark as Paid":



Note: Clicking on Mark as Paid will allow you to make changes to this particular instance before it gets posted. It acts differently than if you click on the Paid icon in the toolbar as the latter will immediately enter the transaction as is.

2. Edit the Split child lines as needed. (In time, you will learn the tricks of how Quicken updates the child lines when you edit them. I often let Quicken do the calculations for me.

3. Hit Enter to save this one time transaction. Future Scheduled transactions are not affected. (This works for all scheduled transactions that can vary.)



If the existing transaction has already been entered, then you can update the split child lines just like you would any other split transaction. There shouldn't be anything preventing you from changing them.

Indiangrass

Thanks, John. I now don't remember what exactly I saw--some sort of lock-icon. I did a bunch of manual editing just to move on. I'll try your tips next time. Any idea how to fix the rounding error that new Quicken has? In old Quicken I just entered the monthly payment from the mortgage note. New Quicken thinks it knows better and gets it wrong and I can't figure out how to fix it.

John_in_NC

If you tried editing the reminder on the Mortgage side, this might be the warning you recall:



You can click on "Go to Transfer" and edit the details there. Perhaps that is what you saw. This occurs when you have a source transaction with split transfers/not transferred amounts that only can be edited in the source account)

I can't offer advice regarding the rounding issues assuming you have the loan parameters correctly setup (compounding, etc.) That is what I mean about different banks having different calculations for interest.

I suspect you will learn to appreciate the new version in time once you get a feel for its features/flexibility. I, too, found it a bit jarring when I switched in 2010 after using QMac since 1990. But, I don't miss that old interface at all now. Good luck!