Venmo and Quicken Checking Account as single transaction

Question

I could use some help setting up my Venmo account and the transfer that occurs from my checking account to cover those payments.

When I set up the account in Quicken and it downloaded, the "payee" field reflects the comment/note from Venmo rather than the actual Payee.  In addition, in the Category field it shows [Mycheckingaccount].

Will I basically need to have a double transaction in the Venmo account showing the funds coming in from checking, and another going out from Venmo to the Payee?

NotFrankB · Answer

Thanks UKR.  It's sounding like downloading transactions from Venmo doesn't buy me anything?

My current process is to manually enter all my Venmo transactions every couple of weeks or so.  I enter them in the banking account that Venmo draws money from, with a payee of 'Venmo', a category (almost always 'Dining' or 'Recreation') and a description that identifies the actual payee and/or purpose.

The downside of course is that my chequeing account balance is usually higher than reality because of all the unentered Venmo transactions.

From the OP it sounded like the downloaded transaction would automatically be entered as a transfer from the paying bank account (i.e., "In addition, in the Category field it shows [Mycheckingaccount]").  If that is actually the case, it gives me two of the three transactions you identify.  But I still have to manually enter the third transaction that reduces the balance (of the Venmo account) to zero again.

I suppose one benefit is that my chequeing account would be up-to-date every time I downloaded transactions and only the Venmo account would depend on my manual transactions for accuracy.  So maybe I'm wrong about "doesn't buy me anything".

UKR · Answer

If you want to keep track of who you made payment to using your PayPal Venmo card and what Expense Category to use, you need to record (or download) one transaction in your Venmo account register in Quicken.If Venmo requires immediate payment for each purchase you make, then you need to add one other transaction in Quicken in your Checking account, recorded as a transfer to Payee Name = Venmo, Category = [Venmo card 1234] (i.e., the name you use in Quicken for your Venmo account, enclosed in [square brackets]), to zero out the balance.
So, in effect, you will have three transactions in Quicken, as you have in your real world bank statements, but if correctly entered, you only need to record the Venmo payment transfer transaction once with the correct transfer-to account register name.

NotFrankB · Answer

I'm reluctant to use the suggested approach - it seems to force me to create a matching manual transaction for every transaction downloaded from Venmo (ok, I admit I'm a lazy slug).

Would another possible approach be to mark the Venmo account as "Keep this account separate" so it doesn't contribute to my Net Worth and then just ignore the balance piling up in the Venmo account?

Or am I missing something?