debit or deposit

BravoMaine

How can I get the scheduled transactions and reminders to mark something as debit or deposit?

Chris_QPW

@BravoMaine is talking about this the check number field:


Personally I don't see the use of worrying about getting this field set to Deposit/Debit.
It is a "reference field", and it is normal not to have anything in it.  You can tell if something is deposit or a debit by just looking at be amount.

This field is set by a number of different things.  One is if the financial institution sent something in the check number field of the data.  Using one of the bill pay systems will probably set it too, and Quicken sets it at various times form deposits, interest and transfers, but is far from consistent about setting it.

About the only way I know to force it to a value is to set it manually in a transaction and then memorize that transaction, and then use the memorized payee.  And I'm not even sure how well that would work.

Frankx

Hi @BravoMaine,

If you provide some more details, that will help us to answer your question.  Also let us know your Windows version and build as well as the Quicken version and latest update info.

It sounds like you want to use scheduled transactions and reminders to make entries, but tell us more about what you want to do.

Thanks,
Frankx

BravoMaine

I'm on Windows 10 using Quicken Deluxe (which automatically updates when I open it, but I can't find a version).
I have some transactions that automatically appear in my register, and some are just reminders, and I have to enter them manually (another question to resolve--why is there that difference?). Either way, the designation of debit or deposit does not get entered unless I do it manually. How do I get it to happen automatically? I've looked at editing the transactions, but there's no option for debit/deposit that I can see.

Frankx

Okay, so there are two main types of reminders that you can setup in Quicken - income reminders and bill payment reminders.  It seems like you have already set some of these up.  

Most reminders are just that - you will need to take some action to complete the transaction.  For example, your monthly electric bill can be setup for electronic payment through Quicken (either using Quicken Bill Manager or your bank's bill payment service) but you still need to make that entry each month - unless you actually transmit a series of (specific amount) payments periodically, which is something most folks don't do, because most bill amounts change monthly).

On the income side, the reminders can be set-up to record income amounts as well on a regular schedule, but once again, you'll need to "enter" those periodic income amounts into Quicken. You should be able to enter periodic deposits by setting up "Income Reminders" that will go to the correct "debit or deposit" categories - See this snip for an example of monthly interest income:


Let me know if you have any followups.

Frankx

BravoMaine

Hmmm. If it can remember to enter an automatic payment made to a bank every month, why can't it mark it as a debit instead of making me go through all the automatic transactions and change each one individually (three monthly payments + five monthly income amounts)?

Frankx

Hi again @BravoMaine, 

Not sure that I understand your comment.  You CAN set up both payment and income reminders.  The above snip is an example of one.  I am assuming here that when you refer to a "debit" you mean some type of income transaction - do I have that right?

Frankx

Chris_QPW

Where are you seeing debit/deposit?

If you are talking about columns in a register in a checking account the columns would be Payment/Deposit.  In a credit card account it would be Charge/Payment.

And the sign of the amount would determine which is which.  For downloaded transaction that sign would already be on the amount and it would go to the right column based on it.  For a reminder it would depend on if you setup an income reminder or a bill reminder which sign it gets.

There is also a category column/field.  And each category can be either income or expense.  The field is also used for transfers which are neither income or expense.
These will show up in reports.

Reminders are setup to allow for pre-entering a transaction into the register.  This is usually doing for repeating bills, or a paycheck, or a transfer.  A reminder in the register isn't actually entered into the register until you have either entered it (when set to Remind Me) or automatically on the date with "Auto enter".  They are shown in the register to allow for predicting cashflow in that account.  You can decide how much in to the future to see these reminders in the register or not to show them at all.  Select the clock icon in the upper right of the register to control this.

BravoMaine

I'm talking about the items appearing in the register, whether automatic transactions or manual reminders. The first column of the register is date, the second column is labeled Check #, and the drop-down options are Next Check Num; ATM; Deposit; Print Check; Transfer; EFT; Debit. (The list can be edited.) So what I want is for automatic deposits to appear with Deposit already selected, and debits from my account to have Debit chosen.

Tom Young

When you set up a Reminder

Tools > Manage Bill & Income Reminders > Add

a new drop-down list shows up where you can select "Bill", "Income Reminder", and "Transfer Reminder." 

A reminder styled as a Bill should enter into the checking Account register as a "Payment."  A reminder styled as an Income Reminder" should show up in the checking Account register as a "Deposit."  A reminder styled as a Transfer Reminder will affect two Accounts, a debit (I use that term in the strict accounting sense) in one Account and a credit (strict accounting sense) in the other.  So if one of the Accounts affected is a checking Account then the dollar amount could show up in either the Deposit or Payment column depending on how you've set it up.

Chris_QPW

@BravoMaine is talking about this the check number field:


Personally I don't see the use of worrying about getting this field set to Deposit/Debit.
It is a "reference field", and it is normal not to have anything in it.  You can tell if something is deposit or a debit by just looking at be amount.

This field is set by a number of different things.  One is if the financial institution sent something in the check number field of the data.  Using one of the bill pay systems will probably set it too, and Quicken sets it at various times form deposits, interest and transfers, but is far from consistent about setting it.

About the only way I know to force it to a value is to set it manually in a transaction and then memorize that transaction, and then use the memorized payee.  And I'm not even sure how well that would work.

Rocket J Squirrel

There exists an Idea to allow the user to specify the Num field in reminders. I voted for it.

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/7334307/idea-include-check-number-field-in-scheduled-transactions-7-merged-votes

jrich75

BravoMaine said:

I'm talking about the items appearing in the register, whether automatic transactions or manual reminders. The first column of the register is date, the second column is labeled Check #, and the drop-down options are Next Check Num; ATM; Deposit; Print Check; Transfer; EFT; Debit. (The list can be edited.) So what I want is for automatic deposits to appear with Deposit already selected, and debits from my account to have Debit chosen.

This list was traditionally used to support the Method/Check box when entering a reminder.  As such, it is something that is specified when the reminder is entered indicating how the reminder is intended to be processed.. 
As @Rocket J Squirrel says, there is currently no provision for including a default method within the reminder itself.  The exception to this is that a Paycheck reminder will auto enter DEP.  What is confusing is that with BIll Manager, Quicken has added the ability to use this field to enter a Quick or Check Pay transaction directly from the payment account register (however they did not add that capability to the reminder entry process). 
As @Chris_QPW says, for transactions downloaded from a FI, it is typically used for just the check number which aids in matching to entered transaction reminders.  There is really no need to set it since the sign of the transaction indicate whether it is a debit or deposit.

Chris_QPW

Just for reference, it isn't just the new Quicken Bill Manager that used that field for sending a payment.  Both Quicken Bill Pay and when you can pay directly through Quicken to your financial institution, they both allowed using ETF in that field so that you could send a payment that way without going to the Online Center.

BravoMaine

Thanks, all. Chris_QPW understood what I was talking about! I believe the ultimate answer to my question is, “No, you can’t do that.” I appreciate everyone’s help.