Can I print or download a list of Categories?

basysaz

I'm taking over a Quicken account for a nonprofit arts organization and want to review Categories (chart of accounts) without going one-by-one through the Categories window. I've imported it into a new Quicken file on macOS and can see transactions and all other data. Can I print or download a list of current categories? Would be great to also see whether they are unused?

John_in_NC

No, you can't print out the Category List. However, you can click the Action menu gear icon to display/remove unused categories. 



On a different note, I will say that, from my 10 years of helping in these forums, people who view Quicken's Category List as a chart of accounts usually experience frustration. It isn't a chart of accounts listing accounts you move $ in and out of. They are more labels of how you spend or receive money. 

jacobs

@John_in_NC  Actually, I think Quicken categories are pretty equivalent to a traditional chart of accounts -- but only for income and expenses. For assets & liabilities, in Quicken it's the list of Accounts, so there is somewhat of a mixed model in Quicken. But certainly all the categories for income and for expenses are the equivalent of a business general ledger's income and expense accounts. Because there can only be one category for each transaction amount, it's much the same as a debit or credit to a general ledger account. My $.02…

@basysaz  Another thing you can do is create a blank Quicken file if you want to see the default categories in Quicken Mac at a glace. Just do File > New, Start from Scratch, and make the initial bank account a manual account. Then you can review the untouched defalt cateogry list, if that's of any help. But you still can't print 'em. The best you can do is stretch the category windo as tall as you can, and capture a screenshot, scroll down on escreenful, capture another screenshot, etc. 

John_in_NC

No, you can't print out the Category List. However, you can click the Action menu gear icon to display/remove unused categories. 



On a different note, I will say that, from my 10 years of helping in these forums, people who view Quicken's Category List as a chart of accounts usually experience frustration. It isn't a chart of accounts listing accounts you move $ in and out of. They are more labels of how you spend or receive money. 

jacobs

@John_in_NC  Actually, I think Quicken categories are pretty equivalent to a traditional chart of accounts -- but only for income and expenses. For assets & liabilities, in Quicken it's the list of Accounts, so there is somewhat of a mixed model in Quicken. But certainly all the categories for income and for expenses are the equivalent of a business general ledger's income and expense accounts. Because there can only be one category for each transaction amount, it's much the same as a debit or credit to a general ledger account. My $.02…

@basysaz  Another thing you can do is create a blank Quicken file if you want to see the default categories in Quicken Mac at a glace. Just do File > New, Start from Scratch, and make the initial bank account a manual account. Then you can review the untouched defalt cateogry list, if that's of any help. But you still can't print 'em. The best you can do is stretch the category windo as tall as you can, and capture a screenshot, scroll down on escreenful, capture another screenshot, etc. 

basysaz

Thanks both for the comments.

@John_in_NC: I'm aware Quicken categories aren't exactly "accounts" in a COA (I use Quicken for my personal income and expense tracking) but they're giving me the idea of what the client was tracking before set up a *real* CoA for them in QuickBooks Online (yes, another company's product since the Great Schism).

@jacobs: Perusing the client's current Quicken file I find well over 100 apparent "out of the box" categories you get on initial install (e.g., pets, entertainment, etc.) that are unused. I deleted them, and other unused ones the client had set up, and *now* can do the screenshot trick you suggest.