Combining American Express accounts

asherfamily1

I have 10+ years of American Express transactions saved in Quicken.

AmEx recently issued me a new card with a different number due to suspected fraud.  I deactivated/reactivated the existing AmEx account in Quicken with no problem, and downloaded transactions on the new card.  However, those transactions are in a different (new) credit card account in Quicken. 

I would like to have a single AmEx credit card account and, given the volume of data, it seems easiest to keep using the old one.  How do I upload transactions on the new card to the old acount?

UKR

Unless you deleted the old account register, together with all its transactions, I think it's easiest to

• leave the old account register. Stop using it, except for historical reviews.
• review both registers and eliminate duplicate transactions.
  In the old register delete new transactions that were made using the new card.
  Ditto for the new register, delete old transactions downloaded from the old card and already recorded in the old register
• set Opening Balance transaction in new register to 0.00
• create a transfer of balance transaction from old to new so old register now shows 0.00 balance and reconciles with statement
• keep using the new account register for new transactions
• optionally mark the old register as closed in Quicken, to prevent new transactions from going to old register

asherfamily1

Agree that's easy but it's specifically what i dont want to do.  Like to compare accross years by payee/category/etc.  Now i wont even be able to do that without some manual calcs for this year

UKR

You can still get your yearly reports, etc.
Just be sure to include all account registers, old and new, in the reports and views.
By default, reports and views in Quicken should automatically include all account registers, unless marked hidden.

q_lurker

I suggest you look at this FAQ
https://community.quicken.com/discussion/7860926/faq-credit-card-issued-as-a-replacement-for-a-hacked-card#latest
I suspect you can delete the newly created account and redo the process.

asherfamily1

Sadly, this creates a "new" account in Quicken to which transactions on the new card are imported

Frankx

I would suggest that you simply cut and paste the transactions from the old Amex account into the new account, as follows:

1) Backup your Quicken file in case something goes wrong;
2) Open the OLD account in Quicken and write down the ending balance of the account to use later;
3) Highlight the oldest transaction in the account register;
4) While holding down the "shift" key - page down or move the cursor to the last transaction in the register and click on that transaction;
5) Press the ctrl+X key combination;
6) Open the NEW account in Quicken;
7) Place the cursor in the first blank line in the register and press the ctrl+V key combination.  If asked whether certain transactions are the same as other transactions - always answer "No";
8) Check to see that the balance at the end of all the "old transactions" in the new account agrees with the ending balance of the old account that you wrote down.  If it does, you will have successfully moved the old transactions to the new credit card account.  If it doesn't agree it could be that the dates of transactions on the new card are causing the issue, or perhaps there are duplicate transactions.

Once done and balanced, you'll have to delete the old account in Quicken

Let me know how that goes.

Frankx

asherfamily1

I have more than 14,000 transactions in old account!  I'm nervous that moving that many will screw things up, and dont have the appetite to break into multiple transfers.

Really seems like there ought to be a less manual way to do this

Frankx

Hi again @asherfamily1,

I can understand your reluctance to moving that large a number of transactions, so if it will make you feel more comfortable, you could move them in batches - e.g. maybe the oldest year first, then review that data in the new file, then move the next-to-oldest year, etc., etc.   

But keep in mind that, however you decide to go about it, you will always have a recent backup (or two if you want to wear a belt and suspenders) to restore if anything goes awry. 

Unfortunately, I know of no easier way to accomplish what you are trying to do.  Good luck, and if you decide to take this advice, let us know how it goes.

Frankx