Amortized Mortgage Loan Transaction (Q Mac)

kaxophone

Hello! I am a long time Quicken user who recently upgraded from Quicken 2007 to the current version. One thing that I can't seem to figure out is how to set up my mortgage payment transaction. Every previous version of Quicken I have used has been very straight forward with this.

In the current version, I can't seem to get a transaction to appear in my checking account register that will populate the split with the proper amounts... tracking the progressing amortized interest/principle amount for each payment as I go. I can set up a memorized/recurring transaction with static principle/interest amounts that I'd need to adjust manually every month, or I can set up a scheduled transaction that properly tracks the payment... but that puts a phantom transaction at the very beginning of my checking account register (2006!) that throws off the running balance column in the register for the account's entire history. Frustrating!

What am I missing???

jacobs

Hmmm… you're referring to the transaction at the bottom of the register? There are a few odd things here. First, the date of that bottom transaction is not before the opening balance transaction in 2006, which is what I thought you were saying; it's dated 5/3/21. Additionally, the balance column on the right is in italics. That indicates one of two things: (a) the register is sorted by a column other than date, or (b) there is a filter limiting what transactions are shown. You haven't set a filter for Spending? Or the only thing that makes sense based what I'm seeing here: you're sorted by the Status column. Click on the date heading and see (and show us) what happens. 

jacobs

@kaxophone  To let Quicken automate your loan transactions, you need to start by creating a Loan account. The setup for the loan will include which account to draw payments from (your checking account), as well as any additional components such as escrow, and setting up your monthly scheduled transaction. It will do everything you're looking for -- but it has to be set up from the Loan account, not the checking account.

kaxophone

Thank you Jacobs for your reply! Yes I've set up the loan account and all of the appropriate companion accounts. The only way I can figure to get a transaction to automatically populate the proper amounts in the various fields is to set up a bill reminder. When I do this... it creates a transaction in my checking register at the very beginning of the register back in 2006. But it's like a "ghost" transaction. Meaning it's kind of greyed out... and the transaction doesn't calculate as part of "Today's Balance". But what it does do is subtracts the mortgage payment from the running balance in the register... so the running balance is my mortgage payment lower over the entire history of the account.

Is there some other way to initiate the loan payment every month other than using this billing reminder feature? In Quicken 2007 the loan payment was just a reoccurring transaction that would auto fill all of the various payment and transfer amounts in the split transaction. That's all I'm looking for!

Thanks again for you help!

jacobs

@kaxophone  I'm confused about why a loan you're entering now is creating a transaction in 2006 in your checking account. (A gray transaction is either a placeholder or a Live Opening Balance, neither of which should be introduced in your checking account by a new loan.) It would be helpful if you'd share a screen shot of the Loan Details screen and Bill Reminder screen from Edit Loan and Payment Terms; that might help fill in the missing pieces so folks here can accurately help you get this worked out. 

kaxophone

I'm also confused about that! Here are screenshots. As you can see... the bill reminder puts a scheduled transaction for May 3rd at the very beginning of the checking account register. Effectively giving the account an opening balance of -2500.00...

kaxophone

The bill reminder is correct... it correctly auto-fills all of the split transaction fields with the correct amounts. I just don't want this in my register until I actually pay the bill... and I certainly don't want it at the beginning of my register throwing off the entire running balance history of my checking account by 2500!

jacobs

Hmmm… you're referring to the transaction at the bottom of the register? There are a few odd things here. First, the date of that bottom transaction is not before the opening balance transaction in 2006, which is what I thought you were saying; it's dated 5/3/21. Additionally, the balance column on the right is in italics. That indicates one of two things: (a) the register is sorted by a column other than date, or (b) there is a filter limiting what transactions are shown. You haven't set a filter for Spending? Or the only thing that makes sense based what I'm seeing here: you're sorted by the Status column. Click on the date heading and see (and show us) what happens. 

kaxophone

Yes! Sorting by date put the transaction at the top of the register where it makes sense!! Thanks much! I have no idea what it was sorting by previously. All the transactions were in date order except for the scheduled one. I don't even see where I can sort by status. In any case... this solved my issue. I appreciate the help!!

jacobs

Glad we got to the bottom of it. 

Status is the column with just a dot in the heading; it's normally on the far left of a register if you haven't moved it. Since this was the only scheduled transaction, it sorted below (or above) all the other transactions with no status.