I cannot add a closed account to my 2020 budget.

PamandSteveStrobel

I have a closed account that was in my 2020 budget (To Account Name). I accidently removed this account from my 2020 budget (I thought I was in my 2021 budget) and now Quicken will not allow me to re-add the account.

Restoring from backup is not a good options, since I have made numerous other changes and entered a fair amount of transactional data since I was working on my budgets a few days ago.

Is there a way to either re-open (unlikely) an account or get the closed account added?

I did some testing and showed that when an account is closed it is not automatically removed from a budget, but once removed it is not added back in the normal way.

Thanks for any ideas and have a Happy New Year!

Boatnmaniac

Hi, @PamandSteveStrobel .  I don't work much with budgets so I'm not sure if adding a closed account to a budget is even possible or, if it is, how to do that.  But there is a workaround you might want to consider trying:

1. Backup your data file in case something goes wrong.
2. Create a new manual account in Quicken (the same type of account that is now closed that you want to add to your budget).  Name it whatever you want to.  You'll have the opportunity to rename it later if you wish.
   
3. In the closed account, left click on the 1st transaction in the register, scroll down to the last transaction in the register and then while holding down the Shift key left click on it.  All the register transactions should now be shaded.
4. Right click anywhere on the shaded transactions and left click on "Move transaction(s)".  Select the name of the new account you just created and then click the OK button.

Check to make sure all transactions have been successfully moved.  If you had any transfer transactions in the account register, this move process will appropriately update them in all linked registers.  You can then delete the closed account and, if you wish, rename your new account to what you had previously named the deleted account.

Then you should be able to add this new account to your budget.

If it didn't work out for you as planned, you can simply restore the backup file with no harm done.

UKR

There must be something else going on here ...

I'm using Q 2020 R 30.14 and I can add or remove any of my closed accounts to the budget by going to the Planning tab / Budget / click Budget actions / click select accounts / click to checkmark desired account(s).
Is that the process you used?

PamandSteveStrobel

Hello @UKR , not exactly. In the Select Accounts option, I have all accounts selected. I am in the Budget Actions/Select Categories to Budget and select the transfers (To Account Name) that I want to budget. These were loan payments of some type.

If you want the transfer to that account to show up on your budget, my experience has been is that is must be selected in the Select Categories.

This is where if I deselected a closed account, after exiting and coming back into the Select Category dialogue, it is no longer included in the options of Account Transfers to budget.

I spent time with two Quicken support people, and the best they could tell me is that is the way it is supposed to work. My point to them was this is not what the documentation says (https://www.quicken.com/support/how-do-i-hide-or-close-account) and the text within the Account Details says if you click this box, "Keep this account separate- account will be excluded form Quicken reports and features". I presume that a budget is a "feature", and that if unclicked the account will be available in features, including budgets; even if closed.

My suggestion would be to either make it consistent or add a specific box for budgeting.

I'm past this for now, I've created a report which shows me what I want to see, it's just not a budget report, since these use the budget settings.

Thanks for your assistance and have a Happy New Year!

Boatnmaniac

@PamandSteveStrobel - I was able to duplicate a closed account not showing up in a test budget after the closed account was removed from the budget.  But it only happened when the closed account is checked to "Keep This Account Separate."  You can confirm whether or not your closed account is kept separate by going to the Display Options tab of Account Details or by going to Tools > Manage Hidden Accounts and then scrolling down to the closed account and seeing if the box in the "Keep This Account Separate" is checked.

If your closed account is kept separate you have two options to be able to select in for inclusion in your budget, again:

1. Uncheck the "Keep This Account Separate" box in Manage Hidden Accounts or on the Display Options tab of Account Details. 
   
2. Or, in the dialog for selecting accounts to be included in your Budget, check the box for "Show (hidden accounts)".

Does this address your issue?