BUG: Projected Balances Overcounts Recurring Transactions After Closing and Reopening Quicken

DKK20

I have been using quicken for 10 yrs and primarily use Projected Balances. Sometime in 2020 after a product update an annoying bug was introduced that has ruined the software for me. Whenever I add a recurring expense, initially the projected balance works correctly and shows the correct deduction at each interval, but then when I close down Quicken and reopen, the projected balances are way off. This only impacts new transactions, not ones I had entered prior to the quicken update. For the new transaction, let's say it's $100 biweekly setup as a Manual Bill or Transfer. In the projected balance, it will now count it 6 or more times every 2 weeks, so it shows $600 being deducted biweekly instead of $100. If i hover over the graph at that point in time, it will show $100 being subtracted, but the opening balance was $1000 and the closing balance is $400, same with the register below. it's not always times 6, sometimes it doubles it, sometimes even more. if i delete the transaction and re-enter, the projections are correct until i close quicken and reopen, then the mess happens all over again. Anyone else experience this? any fix? I can't do anything with this product now and don't trust it.

UKR

If you haven't rebooted Windows since you installed the latest software update, please do so now and then try Quicken again.

Still not working?

Let's start with some "Troubleshooting 101" to ensure the Quicken software is installed and updated properly and that your data file is in good working order.
Please perform all the steps in this document in the order specified:
Troubleshooting 101 - Fixing Software Installation and Data File Problems

jrfaris

dkamer said:

If i hover over the graph at that point in time, it will show $100 being subtracted, but the opening balance was $1000 and the closing balance is $400, same with the register below. it's not always times 6, sometimes it doubles it, sometimes even more. 

Does the PB Upcoming Bills register also show just the single $100 payment?  Are there any scheduled payments showing in the account register or the Bills Recent Payments list but not in Projected Balances?
This may not be related to your problem but I've noticed that scheduled Quick Pay payments are not treated like other payments in Projected Balances.  While they are in the Scheduled or Pending status, they can affect the balance but not show up in the Upcoming Bills listing (see attached images).  Even though the Discover Card payment was showing as scheduled in the register and Bills Recent Payments, it was not listed in Projected Balances. It did however, affect the graphed balance.  It might help if you could provide a similar screen shot regarding your multiple payments.

DKK20

@UKR, thank you for your reply and suggestions. My quicken is the latest but I went through all the steps regardless. I also used to run validation quite often since there always seemed to be some bug to fix, but just before this issue started, validation was causing huge issues creating 100 rogue bill reminders of $165. instead of deleting them, i went back to a previous copy and stopped using validation. however, based on your instructions, i ran validation and super validation, it created those entries, i painfully deleted all 100. the problem is still not fixed, but validation does fix it, but I have to run it each time and it creates a $0 bill reminder that if deleted the problem comes back. so if i create any bill reminder, whether it be one time payment or recurring, close quicken, reopen quicken, the amount gets multiplied by some factor. if it is multiplied by 3 and i run validation, it will create 2 $0 bill reminders. if i leave them alone it is fixed (even after closing and opening quicken again), but annoying, bc now i have 2 empty rows in my register. if i create a new reminder, i have to go through all of this again each time. additionally, the double counting only happens in the projected balances view. if i go to the account register, it display the correct projected balance since i do have it set to show the next 30 days. i cannot revert to a previous copy bc i have too much time invested in my accounts and transactions, would not be feasible to redo. so i am left with moving to another product or starting over in a fresh file. is there any way to have 2 quicken files open at the same time so i can look at one while i painfully start to build a new one? not sure the best method to do this, but i don't want to bring over any remnants of this damaged file. looking through the community does not seem possible to have 2 files open, which is crazy.

DKK20

@jrfaris , yes the both the graph and the upcoming bills in the PB show just the single payment and both double or triple count, however, the account register itself does not double or triple count when forecasting. it is still accurate.

DKK20

the image attached shows before and after of a test entry with a $100 transaction from the graph in the PB. when initially creating the test entry, the closing balance is correct in the PB and the account register. then i close quicken, open it and now the closing balance is wrong in the PB, but it is correct in the account register. i run validation, it creates a $0 reminder and corrects the closing balance. hope this helps visualize what is happening.

jrfaris

I tried to recreate the issue but was unable to do so with either a manual or an automatic test entry.  Since you've had data file problems and rogue reminders that pre-date this issue, I'm not sure using a backup will help unless you can go back far enough that it pre-dates the validation issues you mention.  Have you tried running through the validation/super-validation a few time in succession to see if you can get to a file that reports as clean?

DKK20

i've ran the validation/super validation many times in different scenarios with closing and reopening. never comes clean. even after the fix, the log file always comes back with 2 lines of "damaged data record" for the QDF, so it knows there is something messed up beyond its repair capabilities.

DKK20

I created a new file and started over. all is working well now. it was painful, but nice to have a fresh file and organize accounts a bit differently this time and remove some complexities. thanks for the help.