Matching transactions set up in bills and income

Robert Lynch

I am just starting to explore using the bills and income function within QMAC. I set up a few payees as a test - one of them is my paycheck. Since my check was .02 cents off from what I setup, now there are two transactions in my checking account - one downloaded from my bank, the other from the schedule.

I updated the scheduled one for the .02 cent difference, but the transaction did not match.

I also allowed it to be e-bill for one of my credit cards, looks like that may work...set it up to be a transfer between checking and card. Payment is in a few days, I'll see how that works for items quicken will pull the amounts for me.

How does this function work and what is suggestions/best practice of how to utilize this?

Quicken Anja

Hello @Robert Lynch,

Thank you for reaching out to the Community with your questions!

Manual matching of transactions (drag and drop method) is only required if the system did not match the transactions automatically on its own. However, each time you manually match transactions, it does "teach" Quicken to remember the match in the future so it can auto-match them going forward. You can also setup Renaming Rules to help make auto-matching run smoother. Please, review this support article to learn more about Renaming Rules.

In some instances, the auto-match may still not occur even if it's been manually matched in the past (e.g.: the scheduled/manual and downloaded transactions' date, payee, and/or amount do not match, or the scheduled/manual transactions are more than one week in the past or more than two weeks in the future of the downloaded transaction). Please, refer to this support article and scroll down to the bottom to open the blue dropdown section titled "How Does Quicken Determine Match or New?" for a more detailed explanation of this. This is a Quicken for Windows article, however, that specific section of the article does apply to both Quicken for Windows and Quicken for Mac.

As far as editing a scheduled transaction goes, you do have the option to Edit this instance which will only modify the amount for the current one that is due without affecting any future upcoming due dates in the series or you can Edit all future instances/Edit series to make changes to both the current one due and all future due dates. Regardless of which Edit option you choose, it does not affect any historical transactions that have already been marked as paid and entered in your register.

As for reconciling; scheduled transactions will not need to be marked as paid if they have previously already been marked as paid (or matched to a downloaded transaction). If they still show as scheduled or past due, which you can tell by the Clock symbol in front of the transaction and by the way the transaction will appear to be greyed out, then marking them as reconciled will prompt a dialog box for you to confirm the reconcile  (see example below). Confirming this by clicking OK will then mark the scheduled transaction as paid. However, if you do find a scheduled transaction in your reconcile list, we do recommend looking for a downloaded transaction to match it to in order to avoid a duplicate entry as well as reconcile discrepancies.



I would also like to point out that you do have the option to set scheduled transactions to be automatically marked as paid on a specific date of your choice. Doing so will enter the scheduled transaction into your account register as a manual transaction. If you do decide to set this up, please, keep in mind that you may still need to manually match it to the downloaded transaction based on the criteria I previously mentioned further up above.

I would like to include this support article for your reference, which provides more in-depth and useful information regarding Scheduled Transactions in Quicken for Mac. 

Last, if you are new to Quicken, I would like to inform you that you do have the option to schedule a one-on-one tour with our Quicken 1-2-3 team. 

By doing so, one of our Quicken 1-2-3 team members will contact you via phone at your scheduled appointment time. This team has been specifically trained and put together to assist new users in getting familiarized with the new program and learn how to utilize it to fit your needs, as well as answer any questions and/or address any concerns you may have.

If this is something that would interest you, then please, click here to select a time slot and schedule your tour! Alternatively, you can also call them directly at your own convenience. The phone number can be found through that same link.

I hope this helps and please let us know if you have any additional questions!

dwarfel

If you are off in the future, Correct the one in your register and drag it to the one downloaded from the bank and it should match.

Robert Lynch

That worked! For other bills that are directly linked and able to pull the balances, will that require a drag as well or do they auto match?

Whats the benefits in using the bill/income tracker? How does it assist with financial goals?

Robert Lynch

Few more specific questions

I have my HOA dues setup, typically there are yearly increases, if I update the amount in the bills section, does that impact historical transactions?

Also, after a bill/income is cleared in my account and I have reconciled, do I need to go back and mark as paid in the bills tab or is this automatic on reconcilation/clearing process in the account?

Quicken Anja

Hello @Robert Lynch,

Thank you for reaching out to the Community with your questions!

Manual matching of transactions (drag and drop method) is only required if the system did not match the transactions automatically on its own. However, each time you manually match transactions, it does "teach" Quicken to remember the match in the future so it can auto-match them going forward. You can also setup Renaming Rules to help make auto-matching run smoother. Please, review this support article to learn more about Renaming Rules.

In some instances, the auto-match may still not occur even if it's been manually matched in the past (e.g.: the scheduled/manual and downloaded transactions' date, payee, and/or amount do not match, or the scheduled/manual transactions are more than one week in the past or more than two weeks in the future of the downloaded transaction). Please, refer to this support article and scroll down to the bottom to open the blue dropdown section titled "How Does Quicken Determine Match or New?" for a more detailed explanation of this. This is a Quicken for Windows article, however, that specific section of the article does apply to both Quicken for Windows and Quicken for Mac.

As far as editing a scheduled transaction goes, you do have the option to Edit this instance which will only modify the amount for the current one that is due without affecting any future upcoming due dates in the series or you can Edit all future instances/Edit series to make changes to both the current one due and all future due dates. Regardless of which Edit option you choose, it does not affect any historical transactions that have already been marked as paid and entered in your register.

As for reconciling; scheduled transactions will not need to be marked as paid if they have previously already been marked as paid (or matched to a downloaded transaction). If they still show as scheduled or past due, which you can tell by the Clock symbol in front of the transaction and by the way the transaction will appear to be greyed out, then marking them as reconciled will prompt a dialog box for you to confirm the reconcile  (see example below). Confirming this by clicking OK will then mark the scheduled transaction as paid. However, if you do find a scheduled transaction in your reconcile list, we do recommend looking for a downloaded transaction to match it to in order to avoid a duplicate entry as well as reconcile discrepancies.



I would also like to point out that you do have the option to set scheduled transactions to be automatically marked as paid on a specific date of your choice. Doing so will enter the scheduled transaction into your account register as a manual transaction. If you do decide to set this up, please, keep in mind that you may still need to manually match it to the downloaded transaction based on the criteria I previously mentioned further up above.

I would like to include this support article for your reference, which provides more in-depth and useful information regarding Scheduled Transactions in Quicken for Mac. 

Last, if you are new to Quicken, I would like to inform you that you do have the option to schedule a one-on-one tour with our Quicken 1-2-3 team. 

By doing so, one of our Quicken 1-2-3 team members will contact you via phone at your scheduled appointment time. This team has been specifically trained and put together to assist new users in getting familiarized with the new program and learn how to utilize it to fit your needs, as well as answer any questions and/or address any concerns you may have.

If this is something that would interest you, then please, click here to select a time slot and schedule your tour! Alternatively, you can also call them directly at your own convenience. The phone number can be found through that same link.

I hope this helps and please let us know if you have any additional questions!

BRETTB

Quicken really needs to update the rules so the download transactions are correct.  Existing rules or options are not robust enough.  With some simple programming changes it could be a lot more robust and effective.

1.  Allow us to create rules that are tied to a specific register account.  So if I have multiple properties and using say two SCE accounts depending upon the property, it will be correctly categorized.  Maybe I have two different life insurance policies with same company but paid out of different accounts.

2.  Add the ability to make the payment amount (specific amount or range)

3.  Add specific date or range are additional criteria.

These 3 criteria would be easy to implement and greatly increase the function of renaming rules.

Quicken Anja

Hello @BRETTB,

Thank you for reaching out to the Community with your suggestions.

To request these features to be added in the future, what you can do is create an idea post and add your vote. Our development team frequently uses our idea posts in order to improve Quicken and implement new features requested by customers. This way other users who have the same or a similar request can vote on your idea.

I hope this helps!

jacobs

@BRETTB
1. The suggestion for QuickFill rules to be able to be account-specific has been suggested previously in this thread. You can see that the developers have marked this feature request as "Not Planned" because of the amount of work it would take to implement. I believe this designation was made before the extensive changes over the past year to implement the current QuickFill rules, so it may still be worth voting for the idea and adding your comment about why you find this desirable. 

2. I'm not sure I understand what you're asking for here. When you create a QuickFill rule, you can choose to have it include a payment amount or no payment amount. If you typically pay a bill in the same amount, your QuickFill rule should include the amount. If the amount is always different, you might save and lock a rule with no payment amount, so it will always be blank. I don't understand the idea of a range for stored transactions.

3. Again, I'm not sure I understand what you're asking for regarding dates. For download transactions, the date is the date provided by the financial institution. If you manually enter transactions and match them to downloaded transactions, there is a preference in quicken to control whether the merger of the two transactions should inherit the posted date by the financial institution or your originally-entered date.

BRETTB

1st I'm talking about Home, Business, Rental - HBR version - which may be different on the download rule function.  I would believe they are all the same but not sure.

2.  While the voting method on functions is a great concept, it has a lot to desire. First, all users are not activity on the forum and if they are they don't read all the suggested features.  Developers have the ultimate decision and I'm hoping what I point out is useful l to those who have a lot of accounts.

3.  So on my situation I have a lot of accounts/registers and a lot of vendors and properties.  I have made an effort to simplify by setting up many recurring vendors to automatic payments.  Utilities, property taxes, life insurance, auto insurance.  So I just think quicken rules would have a better chance to match up entries correctly.  Yes it will never be 100% perfect but with the add'l criteria have a much better chance.

My amount field criteria would handle say I have two life insurance policies being paid out on the same day, same company but amounts are different.  Having the amount field would help matching up with the correct payee.

Another example on amount payment range.  So every year, pay property taxes to the same tax accessor with different accounts/amounts but done on the same day usually.  Also some of these seem to change slightly and that is why I suggesting amount range could help on matching with the correct payee.

Having done some programming don't think to add a few more options to the rule category/criteria would be that difficult to make the feature more effective.  If people dont need the add'l criteria then it won't affect them, but very useful for those that do.

jacobs

BRETTB said:

1st I'm talking about Home, Business, Rental - HBR version - which may be different on the download rule function.  I would believe they are all the same but not sure.

There is no HBR version of Quicken Mac. You may have an HBR-level subscription, but on the Mac platform, the software you receive is identical across Deluxe, Premier and HBR subscription levels. (If you're not also using HBR on Windows, then you're wasting money on the higher-level subscription.)

BRETTB said:

2.  While the voting method on functions is a great concept, it has a lot to desire. First, all users are not activity on the forum and if they are they don't read all the suggested features.  Developers have the ultimate decision and I'm hoping what I point out is useful l to those who have a lot of accounts.

I don't disagree that the voting on ideas here reaches only a very limited subset of Quicken users, and there are other ways they could welcome ideas from users -- but this is what Quicken has chosen to do.

And I'm only telling you that the developers don't scour these threads, so no matter how sound your reasons are, just know that you're basically having a discussion with fellow Quicken users here, not the developers.