Reports format in the latest version is terrible

wmsonj

:/ The new reporting format is terrible. I much preferred the previous version where the report displayed in the same window and provided live updating.

It is a nice option to be able to open reports in a separate window, BUT IT SHOULD BE AN OPTION for the user.

Also, the Home tab should be customizable with the content I want to see when Quicken for Mac opens..

jacobs

I'm not arguing for or against your opinion, but I'd just note that in past versions where the report opened in the main window, there was no live updating because you had to leave the report to enter/update information in an account; whereas in the current version, you can have open both a report and an account register at the same time and view them both (if you have a large enough monitor) or switch back and forth between them with one click. I personally haven't found it problematic to have reports open in a separate window, and certainly don't see how that makes reports new "terrible", but I understand that some might prefer the old style of opening in the main window. 

@wmsonj You might want to post your comment in the thread about the release of version 5.17, because there's a greater chance it will be seen by the product manager there. (In general, comment threads like this one on this forum are unfortunately unlikely to ever be seen by anyone on the product development team.)

Regarding a customizable Home screen, that's never been part of Quicken Mac, but there is a long-running idea thread for that feature request which you can view here. Add your vote for it by clicking the gray arrow in the blue box under the first post. (That topic is marked as "Under Consideration", which is slightly hopeful, although history shows that this doesn't have much meaning; some idea posts have had that label for well over a year with no change in status.)

karents

> @wmsonj said:
> :/ The new reporting format is terrible. I much preferred the previous version where the report displayed in the same window and provided live updating.
>
> It is a nice option to be able to open reports in a separate window, BUT IT SHOULD BE AN OPTION for the user.
>
> Also, the Home tab should be customizable with the content I want to see when Quicken for Mac opens..

AGREED! The previous format was much better. i can't for the life of me figure out how to get an itemized report for YTD income and expenses.

jacobs

karents said:

The previous format was much better. i can't for the life of me figure out how to get an itemized report for YTD income and expenses.

@karents  This is a pretty easy report to generate, and can actually be done a few different ways.

Click Reports on the blue menu bar.
Click on Popular > Transactions by Category.

or 

Click Reports on the blue menu bar.
Click +Create New Report.
Click on Transaction.
Leave the default Row=Category and click Create New Report

Either way, you get a report showing all transactions, totaled by category, of income, expenses and a grand total.

By default, the date range is Year-to-date, but you can click Customize if you want to change the date range (e.g. last year). You can add columns to the report, such as Memo/Notes by clicking on the Columns icon.

Brian D.

I am not a huge "Reports" user and would just like the feature of "last report used/opened in the main window" to make a return (a "Preferences" setting so the "reports in a new window every time" fans won't be irritated. Am really annoyed by being presented with a big list of reports every time I go to the "reports" window and not seeing the one report I like to look at most. Much prefer the "old way". Oh well.

jacobs

@Brian D.  If you click on Reports, then click on Recently Opened, which only shows a list of 10 reports, with the most recently used at the top. Going forward, each time you click on Reports, it will open to Recently Opened -- so it only requires one click (after clicking on Reports) to open the report you want (and from a short list).

Brian D.

I can find them pretty easily...just an "old dog, new tricks" kind of problem...liked going to the "Reports" tab and having my fav info. displayed right away in the "Reports" main window. I forget, is the "Home/Overview" tab screen "editable/customizable"? That may be the solution for me.

jacobs

@Brian D.  No, the Home screen is not customizable (although many Quicken Mac users have asked for changes in that area).

In terms of reports, I'm not disagreeing with you; I'm just noting that once you select Most Recent in Reports once, it subsequently takes only a single mouse click each time you visit Reports to open the one you want. 

There's one other alternative you can do, although once I explain it, I'll tell you why I don't recommend it. Open the report you always want to see; it will open in a new window. Move that window on your screen such that it sticks out beyond at least one edge of the main Quicken window. So now, as you go about your work, a portion of that window is always visible, and one click on it brings it to the front. That window state will remain when you quit and re-open Quicken -- that is, next time you launch Quicken, the report window will still be open, sticking out beyond the main window; if it's behind the main window, one click brings it to the front.

Two notes about this, though: (1) The reports window doesn't need to stick out; it can be completely hidden behind the main window, and accessed at the bottom of the Window menu. I recommend making it stick out because otherwise it's easy to forget the window is open behind the main window, and that's important because… (2) Most reports refresh live as you enter/edit transactions, and depending on the report, that can take a few seconds of intensive computing activity. The result can be that Quicken begins to operate sluggishly each time you enter/edit a transaction -- because the report is regenerating even if it's hidden behind the main window. For that reason I do not recommend leaving a report window open all the time. I only mention it because it can be done, if having the report available at a single click is important enough to you.

rjclark139

The new reports is TERRIBLE, I don't use but one, and they change that one and i had to go back and change things and move things back to where I liked them before, It's a category report and they used to have red numbers in the Expenses so If I saw a black number I knew something was wrong, And they don't have any spaces between the numbers in the Columns for the Different categories, they seem to run together. Im sure I could go back to a Previous date but then I would no longer be able to upgrade for fear I would end up with the same bad reporting any solutions would be helpful

jacobs

If numbers are running together because the columns aren't wide enough for your data, you can make columns wider by clicking and dragging the right edge of the column header to the right.

rjclark139

Thanks I've done that i'm referring to up and down.

rjclark139

Thanks Jacobs. I was referring to the dollar amount in the Columns. there used to be a space between the numbers when you could see the next Category so it was easy to see when one category stop and other one started. and they also used to be in red

jacobs

@rjclark139  I'm not seeing numbers running into each other vertically on any reports. Here are numbers on a section of a Category report:



Are you seeing something different-looking than that?

An on a Transaction report by category, the numbers look like this:

In both cases, category totals are bolded to help visual separation. 

And yes, none of the new reports utilize color. That has advantages and disadvantages, in my opinion. If you printed the old reports on an inkjet printer, they wasted tons of ink on the colored blue shaded rows. I think the new reports look more professional, but I understand users who prefer negative numbers in red. It would be nice if it were like Excel, where red for negative numbers is an option.