How does using Bill Manager change the way I pay mortgages?

Cassius

I currently pay two mortgages by going to the Property tab, clicking on a loan, clicking on the gear, and then clicking on "Enter loan payment." The payment is then entered into the proper checking account in my register and category entries are made. Then after I Update/Send, Quicken Bill Pay has the payments made via ACH. If I set up the mortgage servicer in Quick Pay, will the payments now go through that system, instead of Quicken Bill Pay, when I go through the payment routine described above. If not, what do I need to do to get my mortgages paid and have the proper entries made in Quicken?

UKR

By "local transaction" I meant a transaction which only records within Quicken, not an Online payment.
If you're writing a paper check from your personal checkbook use "Next Check Num" or type in the actual check number.

If you're using Quicken and your computer to print a check use "Print Check".

If you had decided to allow the mortgage to be debited from your account, you could use ACH or Debit or leave the field blank.

I have used electronic debit from checking to pay may mortgage and many other recurring payments for years, without any problems. While traveling away from home, without access to my computer and the Internet, this made it possible for me to pay on time without missing a payment. Only thing one must make sure of is to have enough cash balance in the checking account to cover the debits.

Quicken Diana

Hello @ Cassius

Thank you for bringing your question to the Quicken Community today!

When you add your mortgage bills to the Bill Manager feature in Quicken and pay them via Quick Pay or Check Pay, yes, the payment will be made through that system. We have quite a few resources available including How to move from Quicken Bill Pay to Quicken Bill Manager, which will guide you through the set-up process, as well as Quicken Bill Manager: How To Make Payments Using Quick Pay and Check Pay, which has helpful information about making the payments.

Please let us know if you have any further questions.

Thank you

- Quicken Diana

jrich75

There are a couple things to consider as you make the transition.  First, Quick Pay works by initialing a payment through the biller's web payment system so, to use it, the mortgage servicer(s) need to have that capability.  Second, if they don't, and you use Check Pay, schedules are based on payment initiation date, not due date.  So you need to consider mail transit time when making the payment. Plan ahead.

Cassius

I might not have been clear enough in my questions. I have the mortgage servicer set up in Bill Manager. Now, can I still initiate the payments by going to the Property tab, selecting a loan, clicking on the gear and then clicking "Enter loan payment?" Or, do I now have to make the payments by going to Bill Manager? If I initiate the payments in Bill Manager, will Quicken continue to automatically allocate the appropriate amounts to principal reduction, interest and escrow?

Quicken_Tyka

Hello @Cassius

Thank you for taking the time to visit the Community to post your question, although I apologize that you haven't received a response.

I currently have Quick Pay and Check Pay enabled and have a mortgage that I am tracking when selecting to make a payment, I do not have an option to send the payment via Quick Pay or Check Pay. 




To make a payment using Quick Pay or Check Pay, please take a moment to review the steps and information available here.

Also, if you have Quicken Bill Manager enabled as well as an active loan, what is the response that you get when you select "Enter Loan Payment?"

I hope this clarifies!

-Quicken Tyka

Cassius

Sorry to be slow responding. I missed your email, when it first arrived.

When I select “Enter Loan Payment,” a Bill Pay payment is set up, the mortgage balance in my liabilities is reduced by the amount of the principal payment included in the Total mortgage payment, the escrow asset is increased by the amount of escrow in the payment, and the interest in the payment is entered as a tax deductible expense. Each month, the principal reduction amount is increased, and the interest expense amount is decreased in accordance with my mortgage amortization schedule. I adjust the amount of monthly escrow annually, when the servicing company adjusts it. That’s what I’m wondering about. Will all those entries be made, if I’m using Quick Pay or Check Pay?

Cassius

Quicken Tyka

In re-reading your last question, I think I misunderstood it initially. Attached is a picture of what I get now, when I select "Enter Loan Payment."

Quicken Francisco

Hello @Cassius

I was taking a look here at your recent photo and posts. From the photo it's difficult to tell exactly which payment method quicken is currently trying to use. In this case what would be best would be contacting Quicken Support via chat or phone and sharing your screen with one of our support reps, if you feel comfortable doing so, to have the matter looked at and hopefully fixed promptly. 

Thanks
Quicken Francisco

Cassius

Francisco, thank you for the input. I’d pretty much come to the same conclusion, while defaulting to paying the mortgages by check for this month. It’s good to get your affirmation. I’m actually thinking of bailing on the whole “pay electronically” idea and just going back to checks. Electronic payment thing was one of the main attractions that got me into Quicken a whole bunch of years ago, so I hate to give it up. The current limits on number of transactions are way too tight, though. The current direction of the product is hard to understand. What really concerns me is, what if they start screwing with the investment records side of the program with the same heavy hand as they have with electronic payments. That would be disastrous.

UKR

Give the Quicken programmers some time, please, to get the new Quicken Bill Manager up to speed. I think they were quite surprised when the current Bill Pay service provider, Metavante, told them to pack up and go, with short notice, and in the middle of all that virus confusion.

So now they had to reinvent the wheel, in a hurry.

Here's version 1.0.

It can only get better.

If you want to make mortgage payments easy and on time, why not allow the mortgage holder to automatically debit your checking account every month on due date?
In Quicken, you still have the Scheduled Reminder, created by the loan setup wizard, with the correct splits for principal and interest. Execute this reminder as a local (not online bill pay) transaction a day or two before due date and you're all set.

Cassius

UKR, thanks for the insight. I have Scheduled Reminders for these. I don't understand what you mean by a "local transaction." Sometimes, I think half my problem is just understanding the vocabulary. The payment options that I show are Next Check Num, ATM, Print Check, Send Online Payment, EFT, ACH and Debit. I'd been using Send Online Payment, but I don't think that's available any more. What did you have in mind in terms of a local transaction?

Re your first suggestion, I don't like the idea of others debiting my checking account without my initiating the transaction.

UKR

By "local transaction" I meant a transaction which only records within Quicken, not an Online payment.
If you're writing a paper check from your personal checkbook use "Next Check Num" or type in the actual check number.

If you're using Quicken and your computer to print a check use "Print Check".

If you had decided to allow the mortgage to be debited from your account, you could use ACH or Debit or leave the field blank.

I have used electronic debit from checking to pay may mortgage and many other recurring payments for years, without any problems. While traveling away from home, without access to my computer and the Internet, this made it possible for me to pay on time without missing a payment. Only thing one must make sure of is to have enough cash balance in the checking account to cover the debits.

Cassius

Thanks for clarifying. Local payment is probably what I'll be doing for a lot of stuff now.

I'm a retired banker and fully understand the benefits of auto-debiting. I use it a lot, when they're just debiting my credit card, and I'll have a chance to review that prior to paying. I've actually had my mortgage servicer double pay taxes from escrow. The county had sent them a revised bill with an adjustment of less than a dollar, and the servicer paid the entire original and revised bills. Then they wanted me to cover the resulting large negative balance in my escrow account, while they investigated the circumstances. It's due to that sort of thing that I avoid direct debits to my checking accounts.