New account categorized transactions not showing up in spending tab or reports

mbrown0812

I added a new account several months ago and noticed today that none of the transactions added to this account show up in the 'Spending' tab list of transactions. I've tried changing the account type, re-categorizing the transactions but nothing seems to help. I'm running Quicken Premier, windows, R32.10.

Frankx

Hi once again @mbrown0812

Sooooo, the medical expenses are actually showing up under the "Medical" expense account - which is exactly where I believe they should be, so that's good.

BUT I just determined that "where" Quicken apparently sets-up and categorizes a flex spending account is under the "Property & Debt" section of the balance sheet, and THAT is why it doesn't show up in the Spending Tab - where you would reasonably expect to see it.  Actually, I would still expect to see it there, and am not sure why Quicken has taken this approach, but think it likely is due to the fact that those funds are pre-tax dollars, and therefore are not "really" part of your spending, but could/should be attributable to either your employer or the government. 

So I think that's why you are seeing what you are seeing.  But this is the first time I am seeing it and while it actually does make sense to me, I expect that it may not to most people.

Frankx

p.s. - please don't give me another "rejected answer" - I am trying my best and doubt anyone else could do better 

mbrown0812

Additional Info - The account that I refer to above was created as a 'Flex' account as part of a paycheck deduction. I believe this is where the problem lies.

Frankx

Hi @mbrown0812

What "type" of account did you set this up as (e.g. checking, savings, credit card, IRA, 401k, loan, etc.)?  Also, are you downloading transactions into the Quicken account or doing manual entries? And finally, when you make (or download) transactions into the account, what appears in the "category" field?

Let me know and we'll go from there.

Frankx

mbrown0812

From what I recall, you don't have the option to specify a type, the account is automatically created when creating the deduction on the paycheck. I believe it was created as type 'Savings'. The categories have different sub categories but are all under 'Medical' and they all have a type of 'Expense'. All transactions in this account are manually entered.

Frankx

Okay, so when you make payments for medical procedures and use the Flex funds, what are you entering in the Category field - see the snip below for an example of how one might enter an amount paid for a dental visit.  Is this similar to what you see in your Flex account?  I suspect that the Category field may instead be blank.

mbrown0812

No, the category is filled in every transaction and the 'type' for every one is 'Expense'

Frankx

So, if all those payments are going to a Quicken "Category" called "Expense" if you look at the "Spending by Category" report for the "Year to Date", all of your medical payments made from the Flex account are going to be in that "Expense" category, instead of where they should be - which is in a category called "Health & Fitness" (or something similar to that) rather than in the "catch-all" category named "Expense".  Here's what my example looks like in that report:



Frankx

mbrown0812

Almost... the category name is 'Medical' and it has a type of 'Expense'. The problem is that these transaction are not showing up in the transactions on the spending tab

Frankx

Hi once again @mbrown0812

Sooooo, the medical expenses are actually showing up under the "Medical" expense account - which is exactly where I believe they should be, so that's good.

BUT I just determined that "where" Quicken apparently sets-up and categorizes a flex spending account is under the "Property & Debt" section of the balance sheet, and THAT is why it doesn't show up in the Spending Tab - where you would reasonably expect to see it.  Actually, I would still expect to see it there, and am not sure why Quicken has taken this approach, but think it likely is due to the fact that those funds are pre-tax dollars, and therefore are not "really" part of your spending, but could/should be attributable to either your employer or the government. 

So I think that's why you are seeing what you are seeing.  But this is the first time I am seeing it and while it actually does make sense to me, I expect that it may not to most people.

Frankx

p.s. - please don't give me another "rejected answer" - I am trying my best and doubt anyone else could do better 

mbrown0812

I have to disagree with your reasoning. Regardless of whether the dollars are pre-tax or not, this should still be expenses. The money is still earned and considered income, spending it should be expenses... makes no sense otherwise.

PS. My intention wasn't to 'reject' your answers, they just didn't answer my question. I appreciate your time. My work-around is probably just to create a spending account and try to track it manually. IMHO, this is a bug.

Frankx

HI again, @mbrown0812

So, I wouldn't call that "my reasoning", it was a potential and hopefully rational explanation of why the Quicken programmers may have decided to treat those transactions the way that they did.  And clearly you are correct, the funds are considered income to you under accounting standards but they wouldn't be considered income under tax standards, and it is my view that Quicken often leans more towards the tax perspective than the accounting view. 

But I will note that, while the data may not show up in Quicken's reporting, you certainly will be able to track your withholdings, usage and balance of those funds simply by monitoring the balance in that "Flex" account located in the Property & Debt section.

I am not a programmer so I'll pass on the bug issue.

Frankx

q_lurker

mbrown0812 said:

Additional Info - The account that I refer to above was created as a 'Flex' account as part of a paycheck deduction. I believe this is where the problem lies.

I would agree with that problem lies assessment.  For some reason when working through the paycheck creation process and thereby creating a [Flex Spending] account, that account is created as a "Asset" account.  Now I can appreciate it being an asset, but if this is an account through which you are expected to perhaps use a debit card to pay for various health care related expenditures, it is certainly also a spending account.  I would think the spending aspect trumps the simpler asset aspect.  I don't know the programmers' rationale. 

Now the second catch becomes that the spending tab does not readily pick up or offer the Asset account to be included in the summation.  The selection can be customized to include that account, but it is not an obvious process. 

The Spending by Category REPORT in contrast to the tab does seem readily include the asset-type account(s).