Quicken Bill Manager

sun guy

I just used Bill Manager for the first time. How do I see a total of the bills I just scheduled for payment? I need this number to keep my paper check register in sync with Quicken

Quicken Hugh

Hello sun guy, 
Thank you for posting about your concern. If you have not already done so, please see each of the following 3 articles as they are relevant to using the Quicken Bill Manager to your full and best advantage:

• How to move from Quicken Bill Pay to Quicken Bill Manager 

• Quicken Bill Manager: How To Make Payments Using Quick Pay and Check Pay 

In particular, see the following article to see the scheduled for payment info:

• Quicken Bill Manager: Scheduling Future-Dated Payments In Windows 

Within Quicken, go to the Bills & Income tab > click the 'gear' symbol in the upper right hand corner, from the drop-down menu, select Payment Accounts. In the pop-up box, near the lower left you'll see something like this:


(The exact number of available/used/remaining QP or CP payments available will vary a bit.)

sun guy

If I click History in the gear on the bills tab, I can see those bills that are scheduled. But I want to see a total, not have to add them up manually. Is there a total somewhere?

sun guy

I added two new Check Pay bills to my list, then paid them. But I got a message that I only get 6 checks (per month I think), and the two items DON'T SHOW in my register or history (from the gear wheel on the bills tab). So were these paid? Do I need to pay them again?

Quicken Hugh

@sun guy
In the process of triggering the check to be sent out, you will have seen the Confirm Payment pop-up box, which includes a line that reads "Estimated check delivery between [XX date] and [YY date]", and also, from the Check Pay Payment Sent pop-up box, "Checks are printed within one business day and mailed via first class US Mail."

Further, within Quicken > Bill & Income tab > Check Pay  payees, after triggering a check to be sent out from Quicken, you also get a messaging to help you see and understand where you are along this process: 
Are you sure the Check Pay payments are not showing in your register, like this? 

This video may help explain Check Pay better for you.

sun guy

I do not see a tab for Check Pay on Quicken > Bill & Income tab > Check Pay

sun guy

I can see the two new payees in the Bills & Income tab under check pay payees. But there are no payments shown, nor are they in the register. So I tried to send one again, and definitely said confirm on the box with the payee/amount/date/etc. But still not showing in the register or Bills & Income tab or history. I got the message about zero checks remaining - does this mean I can't use more than 6, (even if I pay for them)? I certainly will use more than 6 per month as some don't have web sites to log into and for some payees I have never registered to get a user name and password.

Quicken Hugh

@sun guy

Click the little down caret to change the view to "Check Pay payees".

sun guy

Now I deleted one of the two missing payments from my check pay list and re-entered it. Tried to send it again. Once again I got the message that my QUOTA FOR CHECK PAY PAYMENTS IS USED UP. This is absurd. How can I pay to these accounts? Now I must hand write and mail checks, then manually enter these in Quicken. You need to get someone to fix this limitation. I am willing to pay more for excess usage just like with the old Bill Pay.

jrich75

sun guy said:

This is absurd.

How can I pay to these accounts? 

Agreed. Bottom line is that Bill Manager currently has serious deficiencies. These may or may not improved in the coming months.

Have you tried paying these bills directly from your Bank using their bill payment system?  I have switched most of my payments to that method.  My reminders in Quicken serve only to track categories and match to banking downloads.  It adds some steps to payment processing but it is definitively easier that writing & mailing checks.

sun guy

I get downloads to Quicken from my credit cards. If I use my bank bill pay system can I get downloads from them into quicken?

jrich75

sun guy said:

I get downloads to Quicken from my credit cards. If I use my bank bill pay system can I get downloads from them into quicken?

Yes, for most banks.  Don't you have your checking account set up for online access?  If so, any payment made by the bank (either check or online) should download automatically when you update.  You can then match the the downloaded transaction to a reminder you've entered for that particular payment.

sun guy

Thank you Jfaris. I do have online banking set up to pay from Quicken, to deposit checks from my phone, and to check for any automatic payments/deposits (which I manually input to my paper checkbook and to Quicken). I have never used automatic downloads from the bank checking account to Quicken. I assume I can do this like I do with credit cards. Do I need to set up a separate account in my check register?

jrich75

It would normally be the same account that you have set up to use with Check Pay.  It just needs to be set up for download of transactions and then included in One Step Update (or you can manually update from the register if you prefer)
I use USBank and this is how it's set up from the register (Gear & Account Details)

sun guy

Jfaris -Thanks so much for the advice. I started using my Bank of America’s bill pay. It’s free, with no limits, including paper checks to those who don’t have electronic capability. I set up a separate account in Quicken to avoid duplicating entries from my new downloads in the old account. The bank doesn’t send a download until they pay the bill, so future payments don’t show up in Quicken for a while. But the bank does give me a total of all payments I make each time I pay bills, so it is easy to keep my paper register up-to-date, including future payments.