How do I get my reports COMPLETE with all transactions?

bseligson

I use Mac 2017. All I want to do is write checks, maintain my register, and categorize items and generate a report. I generate a report and random transactions, that ARE categorized, are not included. Makes the report worthless for analysis. Do not want to upgrade to the online version...no need. HELP!!

jacobs

First, what report are you using in Quicken 2017? If you are using the old "Category Summary" report, I'd stop. A number of users have reported there are problems with data sometimes being missing, although I don't know what causes it, nor when this began. 

Instead, use the new reports engine, which was in its early stages of development in the Quicken 2017 version:

• On the Reports menu, select New Report
• Select Transaction Report
• Give it a name, and select Subtotal=Category
• Click Create Report
• Click Customize and set the date range to when you want

This report will include all your data. 

Second, you refer to not wanting to "upgrade to the online version." The current version is not online; it is desktop based, exactly like your Quicken 2017. (It's really just a continuation of Quicken 2017, with more than three years of bugs fixes and enhancements.) There has been a lot of work done on improving the reports in the current version, so if you want improved reports, you may want to reconsider upgrading to the current version.

bseligson

Usually, I just customized my one master report. I took your recommendation and went to "new report." The end product was just as horrendous. It actually put my Social Security DEPOSITS into the Expense section! It left out all payments from one given credit card No idea why...it used the same categories and was paid from the same bank account. I stumbled upon many random transactions, simply not included. Some are tax deductible, and I have no idea how many others I may be missing.

jacobs

@bseligson  I can't see your data, so it's hard to diagnose what you're reporting. All I can tell you is that what you're saying is not normal and not being reported by other Quicken users on this forum.

Since you're using Quicken 2017, which is no longer supported software, you must be entering your transactions manually rather than downloading them, right? So it should be fairly easy to look at the categories and transactions involved to come up with a fix. For starters, I'd look at one of your Social Security deposits. What Category does it use? Open Window > Categories, find that category, and see if it is marked as income or expense. If it is showing up as an expense in your transaction report, it seems the deposit is being categorized with a Category which is an expense.

Regarding the missing credit card account, are you saying all the transactions (credit card charges) are missing from your expenses, or just that the payment of the card balance from your checking account are missing? Assuming you have separate accounts for each of your credit cards, and your credit card payments are done as transfers from checking to the credit card account, then the payment itself is not an expense from an accounting standpoint. Your expenses come from the individual charge transactions on the card. If Quicken counted the payment of the card as an expense, it would therefore double your expenses.

In Quicken 2017, there is no way to have transfers show up in reports. This is one of the many things that's been changed in Quicken over the past four years; in the current version, you do have the option to selectively show transfers into or out of accounts in reports (as well as budgets). 

bseligson

Thank you for sticking with me. You are right, I do not do any downloading -- I key into the register or key a check (I have 3-up checks). And, I am working with a single checking account. I have multiple credit cards and pay them via EFT -- key in the total in the register and then categorize. So attempting to any transferring is not an issue. I cannot say that all of the transactions from that cc, but I went through a painstaking "tic and tie" process today and when I saw a discrepancy it was often that one cc, but not always.

I am sure my SSA deposits are coded as a deposit. I run what I call a "cash flow" report often throughout the year, and never saw SSA deposits showing as an expense. I am focusing on getting info tight for tax reporting, and I noticed, "hey, where is that medical expense," etc. The day before I ran a "new report" as you suggested, I ran what I call my "master report" and the SSA deposits were showing as deposits.

And here is a kicker! You say to review my categories. Well, I didn't know how to do that, and so I goggled it and it said to go to Tools - Category. But I don't see Tools on the tool bar! Am I missing something? I am using rev level 4.8.6

I have data from Jan 2001 in this account. I have 8 other accounts (treasurer of a club, an LLC. etc,) but they have less data and I don't think I have had this problem with them. I know it is a lot of data. I have been a fan of Quicken for a long time.

Your thoughts for a resolution are most appreciated. Betsy

jacobs

bseligson said:

I have multiple credit cards and pay them via EFT -- key in the total in the register and then categorize. So attempting to any transferring is not an issue. 

Let me drill down on that statement a little. In Quicken, do you have a separate account for each credit card, and do you record each credit card charge as its own transaction in the appropriate credit card register? Or are you recording all your credit card charges as split lines in a payment transaction from your checking account?

The way Quicken is designed to be used, you would do the former. For your credit card from XYZ Visa, you would create a Quicken account, which you would then see in the left sidebar, under your checking account. You would click on that account in the sidebar to view a register for that credit card. In this register, you would record each credit card transaction individually. When the time comes to pay the credit card, in your Quicken checking account you would record a payment to XYZ Visa, the amount would be the amount of the bill you paid via EFT, and the Category would be a transfer to your credit card account -- which would simultaneously reduce the cash in your checking account and reduce the balance due on your credit card account.

Perhaps you're already doing it exactly like this; I had doubts based on the wording of your reply. Many people start out entering their credit card payments in their checking account and detailing all the transactions in split lines. If that's what you're doing now, I can explain further why it's not the best way to be doing things.

bseligson said:

You say to review my categories. Well, I didn't know how to do that, and so I goggled it and it said to go to Tools - Category. But I don't see Tools on the tool bar! Am I missing something? I am using rev level 4.8.6

Unfortunately what you found when you Googled is information pertaining to Quicken for Windows. (Hint: any time you Google information about Quicken, always include "mac" in your search words; it won't guarantee you get only Mac advice, but it will improve your odds. )

In Quicken Mac, simply pull down the Window menu and select Categories. The wind that opens contains a lit of all your categories -- the default ones Quicken supplies (many of which you probably have never used) and any you created yourself.

So let's go back to the mystery of your Social Security deposits showing up as expenses in the report. Open that report -- the one you created from "New Report" -- and scroll down to where you're seeing the deposits under expenses. What category heading are these deposits under? For instance, here's a part of such a report I ran in Quicken 2017:



You're saying that somewhere in your list of expenses, you're seeing some category where the transactions are your social Security deposits. What I'm asking is what the Category name, or sub-category name, if it's indented ender a main category (like "Home" is under "Entertainment" in the screenshot above). Once you've identified that Category or sub-category, go to Windows > Categories, and double-click on it in the list. For instance, I've opened my Entertainment:Home sub-category here:



Notice on the right side, there's a box for Expense or Income. Does yours say Expense or Income? For these transactions to be showing up on this report as under expenses, I would expect that this category is marked as an expense.

I'm wondering if you're finding your Social Security (or Soc Sec) as a subheading under Taxes? That's a default category for Quicken, and if you used that category for entering your Social Security deposits, it would explain why you're seeing them as expenses.

If so, you'll need to go back through your deposit transactions and select a different category which is marked as income. Somewhat surprisingly to me, Quicken doesn't have a default category for Social Security income, but it's easy to create one, and link it to the correct reporting category for the Tax Schedule report. (But let me wait for you to confirm if this is what has happened in your case, and then I can provide additional guidance on creating a proper category for your social Security deposits.)

bseligson

I assume your name is Jacob, yes, since you say jacobs. Well, thank you Jacob for your persistence in helping me. Right now, I have to turn my focus elsewhere before I put more time into this, but let me give you an update.

You are right, the social security deposit had indeed become an expense category...Lord knows how. That was easy to fix.

And I do not do the credit cards the way you said, with a separate account and then a transfer, and don't want to go that route. I have some other transactions (a condo fee that I break out between HOA, internet, propane) and that works fine.

Do you think there is too much data to cull through? I will play with this later today or tomorrow.

Betsy

bseligson

I am ready to buy Quicken Deluxe. I just want to get past the issues I have. But I am not that computer savvy, recently widowed and alone, and concerned about "upsetting the apple cart." Will my data automatically be transferred, or will I have to take some action to migrate it. Betsy

jacobs

Just toobe clear: you're staying on the same computer, and moving from Quicken 2017 to the current subscription Quicken Mac, correct?

It's possible that the first time you launch the new Quicken, it will find your Quicken 2017 data file, import it, and not ask you to do anything. Otherwise, all you will need to do is launch the new Quicken Mac, and if it doesn't take you there automatically, go to File > New and select that you want to Start from a Quicken 2017 file:

You'll then have to navigate to your current Quicken 2017 data file, and it will import the data in to the current Quicken.

Note: if it automatically converts your file, take a little time to make sure it converted your most recent Quicken 2017 data file; if you have more than one, it's possible for and older one to get converted. Here's a quick tip: before you install the new Quicken, in Quicken 2017, create a new dummy transaction dated today in your main checking account. Then after you get up and running in the new Quicken, make sure your dummy transaction dated today is there. If so, you can rest easy that your most recent data file was imported; if not, immediately stop because you might have imported an older file and will be missing data.

You can actually run Quicken 2017 and current Quicken on the same machine, so if you want to go back to Quicken 2017 to look at something you can do so; the data file for the new Quicken Mac is separate from the data file for Quicken 2017. But everything should import and look just the way you had it in Quicken 2017. 

Make sure if you have both Quicken 2017 and current Quicken (just called "Quicken") in your Dock, that you launch the new Quicken every time; you may even want to remove the Quicken 2017 icon (the red Q with 17) from your Dock so you don't accidentally launch it. After some time, when you're comfortable that everything is as it should be in the new Quicken, you can go back and delete the Quicken 2017 application from your Applications folder, and your Quicken 2017 data file(s) and backups -- but there's no rush to do that; they can live indefinitely on your Mac without affecting the new Quicken.

Does that all make sense?