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issue coming up with "accepting cleared transactions"

pdxmaven

As I am going through a bunch of downloaded transactions, every once in a while a message from Quicken pops up saying, "you are recording a transaction without specifying an account" and then asks if I want to accept it anyway.
This makes no sense to me: this transaction is clearly in one of my accounts. And in the correct account.
So why would it say I'm not specifying an account? Moreover, I can see this transaction clearly in my bank statement.
Quicken asks me: "save it anyway?"
My options are "yes", "no" and "cancel" (the latter then leaves the transaction in the downloaded transactions section and doesn't move it to my register.
Why am I getting this message, what does this message mean and how do I deal with this issue?
PS: progressing further along with accepting transactions, I notice that all or almost all of these transactions where I am running into problems are checks that I deposited into my business account via mobile deposit or payments I received into my account via Zelle. Might that be a "clue"?

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Accepted answers

Tom Young

I did a Google search on "Quicken 'you are recording a transaction without specifying an account'" and got no hits, but did get hits on "you are recording a transfer without specifying an account." Is that in fact the message you're seeing?

If that's the case, then I'd look more closely at those transactions to see what's going on. Maybe you have an old memorized tranfer transaction that Quicken's trying to use, or something along those lines? I take it that you're not making manual entries but instead waiting on the download to actually record the transaction in Quicken, i.e., it's not a "matching" situation but is, instead, a "new" entry into the register?

What happens if you answer "Yes" to the question?

Tom Young

"I am not transferring anything myself, but perhaps Quicken considers it a "transfer" because it is "transferred in" to my account via Zelle?"

It would be helpful to know if you're entering transactions manually and downloading to confirm or using downloads to populate the registers.

The information downloaded has no reference along the lines of "this is coming from a Zelle account" or "this money was deposited through our mobile app" so it should show up as a simple "deposit." The Category field might be filled in because Quicken has made a guess as to what the Category should be but unless the Category references some other Account in Quicken "[Account Name]" or has put TXFR in the Check # column (most likely because some memorized transaction includes that action) it shouldn't be coughing up some warning about transferring.

The next time this happens stop and look very closely at the transaction in the register before you click "accept" to see if you can figure out why this is happening. Also, before going clicking accept go over to your memorized payees and see if you have a memorized transaction from the payor. If you do, delete it. Then go back to the transaction, put the correct Category into it, and hit Enter. Go back to the memorized payee list and see that the payor has been properly memorized.

Tom Young

"This is original poster again. I found my memorized payees (under tools, right?) Zelle is not listed there as a memorized payee."

Are you saying the Payor is identified as "Zelle?" How do you know who actually transferred the money to you? Unless you leave the Payer as Zelle there should be no memorized transactions with that name, so if you've changed the Payor to the real person who sent the money, then that's the name you should be looking for in the memorized payee list.

Why don't you post pictures of the next couple of transactions that give you this error message. Take the screen shots of the transaction in the register, when you've clicked on them in the Downloaded Transactions window but before accepting them. That should help us understand the problem.

It sounds like those transactions have TXFR in the check column and a blank in the Category box.

Presumably you've corrected these problem entries, somehow, to get them accepted. EXACTLY WHAT DO YOU DO to get the transactions accepted into the register?

UKR

3) with the transactions I am having trouble with, here is what i see, going from left to right, indicating the columns and then what is under the column title:
Status is new
date is correct date
Num is TXFR (this is the problem but don't know how to fix)
Payee always starts with Zelle, then name of person who paid me via Zelle, date, ref # etc
payment column is blank in these cases because they are deposits
Deposit column shows the amount of the Zelle deposit - which is correct

Click on the transaction in the Downloaded tab area. Now look in the new Transaction line in the register.
The Check number field says "TXFR", doesn't it?
If yes, in the new transaction line blank out "TXFR", tab to the Category field and select an appropriate income category for this transaction.
Accept.

Does that do the trick?

UKR

At best, my suggestion is a workaround. If these transactions really are downloaded, flagged as transfers in the downloaded data, and not because Quicken somehow mis-memorized them, then the bank needs to review and change their data download, to correct it.

Take a look at the OFX log file. In Quicken click Help / Log files, select the OFX log. Scroll all the way to the bottom, then look backwards for one or more of these problem transactions.
Are they coded as transfers? If so, capture an image snapshot or copy and paste a transaction into this discussion. Let's have some experts review the situation and decide who needs to fix what.
IMHO, yes, these transactions could be called "transfers of money between two people" but they are NOT "transfers between two bank accounts within control of your personal Quicken data file" and therefore they should not be flagged as transfers in Quicken. They are more like bill payments.

UKR

pdxmaven said:

...
Given that, UKR, should I even bother to do the steps you suggested to put it into the OFX log file?

It would be nice if you documented one or two transactions from the OFX log file, to show everyone what's currently being transmitted.
Hopefully, Zelle or your bank will get their act together and change their transmissions from transfer to deposit, to stop this issue from reoccurring.

All comments

Tom Young

What happens if you answer "Yes" to the question?

Rocket J Squirrel

Assuming @Tom Young is correct and the message says "transfer" and not "transaction", I can make this happen simply by entering TXFR (Transfer) as the check number of a transaction and then entering it with the Category field empty. Perhaps some transactions are incorrectly downloading as transfers.

pdxmaven

This is the original poster. My apologies for not accurately telling you what the pop up window says. As several very helpful comments have noted, the pop-up does in fact say: "You are recording a transfer without specifying an account".
These are by and large monies that are put into my account from my clients using the Zelle system.
On my bank statement, it reads "Zells from nameofindividual on month/day and ref #
I am not transferring anything myself, but perhaps Quicken considers it a "transfer" because it is "transferred in" to my account via Zelle?
If that is in fact the case, I get a LOT of these transactions every month. Is there a way I can configure my Quicken to not have to fix each of these, every time but instead so it will show up in my downloads and/or register as a payment to me, which in fact it is
thanks for all your help

Tom Young

"I am not transferring anything myself, but perhaps Quicken considers it a "transfer" because it is "transferred in" to my account via Zelle?"

It would be helpful to know if you're entering transactions manually and downloading to confirm or using downloads to populate the registers.

pdxmaven

Tom, thanks so much for taking the time to try to help me.
Let me see if I can respond more clearly to your post above.
Where I am running into the problem of Quicken says to me: YOu are recording a transfer without specifying an account" is in the downloaded transactions section, and it shows up after I click "accept" on the transaction
I am with you on the idea that these deposits into my account via Zelle should show up as plain deposits.
Before spring 2020, I never used Zelle. These transactions that I am running into problems with start in spring 2020, so I don't know how Quicken would have had any prior transactions to memorize.
But I can still go ahead and check, as you described. I am not sure where I would find the "memorized payees"?

pdxmaven

This is original poster again. I found my memorized payees (under tools, right?) Zelle is not listed there as a memorized payee.
So can't fix the problem by changing that.
what do I do now?
thinking maybe I should re-post this as a new thread?

pdxmaven

In my downloaded transactions, Quicken has decided that all deposits I receive via Zelle are "transfers" and sets them up accordingly. That means that each time I try to "accept" one of these transactions, Quicken tells me that it is not associated with an account.
Zelle is NOT listed as one of my memorized payees
How can I change it so that these deposits that come in to my account via Zelle are recognized by Quicken as deposits not transfers?

Tom Young

"This is original poster again. I found my memorized payees (under tools, right?) Zelle is not listed there as a memorized payee."

It sounds like those transactions have TXFR in the check column and a blank in the Category box.

Presumably you've corrected these problem entries, somehow, to get them accepted. EXACTLY WHAT DO YOU DO to get the transactions accepted into the register?

pdxmaven

Tom,
thanks so much for your persistence in helping me out.
I did google this (as perhaps I learned from you and see that others are having similar problems with these ZElle transactions (whether they are deposits or withdrawals, Quicken is having trouble with them)

Unfortunately, I am working on a desktop without ability to take screen shot but let me describe what I do, and what I see, in as much detail as I can
1) downloaded from Wells Fargo all 2020 transactions from one particular account into Quicken

2) In the lower part of the Quicken Screen, under "downloaded transactions", I am going through the transactionsone by one, month by month. I click on an individual transaction and if it matches my bank statement or no other issues with it, I click "accept". Then it goes into my register

3) with the transactions I am having trouble with, here is what i see, going from left to right, indicating the columns and then what is under the column title:
Status is new
date is correct date
Num is TXFR (this is the problem but don't know how to fix)
Payee always starts with Zelle, then name of person who paid me via Zelle, date, ref # etc
payment column is blank in these cases because they are deposits
Deposit column shows the amount of the Zelle deposit - which is correct

4) when I click on the item, it offers me (as usual) the choice of "accept" or "edit"

5) when I click on "accept", a box pops up that says: YOu are recording a transfer without specifying an account" . And asks me, "save it anyway?" yes? no? cancel?

6) I Have experimented with saying "yes". Then it goes into my register, but is still listed as a TRANSFER rather than a deposit, and then I have to fix each item in my register, one by one
This is a problem because I get upwards of 50 of these a month
Also, I believe you or someone else told me that there were other problems with these being seen by quicken as transfers rather than deposits and I should not go ahead and accept them when they are wrongly listed as TXFR in the "NUM" column of the downloaded transactions sections

hopefully this makes it clearer?

UKR

Does that do the trick?

pdxmaven

UKR - your suggestion above does do the trick.
Just have two questions:
1) I have about 25-50 of these transactions/week. So having to do this on each one, one by one, gets more than a little tedious
and
2) somewhere along the line in posting about this problem, I believe someone mentioned that changing a TRANSFER to a deposit somehow "messed up" my overall accounting. Would it?

UKR

Rocket J Squirrel

pdxmaven said:

UKR - your suggestion above does do the trick.
Just have two questions:
1) I have about 25-50 of these transactions/week. So having to do this on each one, one by one, gets more than a little tedious
and
2) somewhere along the line in posting about this problem, I believe someone mentioned that changing a TRANSFER to a deposit somehow "messed up" my overall accounting. Would it?

There's another workflow you can try.

Accept all the transfer transactions into your register.
Then multiple-select them all. This might be easiest with sort order set to Order Entered.
Right-click one of the transactions and choose Edit Transaction(s).
In the resulting dialog, enter Replace Check number with DEP, and click Replace All, then Done.

Changing TXFR to DEP shouldn't mess up anything. But, as we always say, try this in a copy of your data file just in case.

pdxmaven

This is the Original POster.
Much THanks to Robert and UKR -- with the input of you both, I think I've got it now
I did get into a chat this morning with the QUicken folks. After explaining the situation, they said that the "problem" was the banks', not theirs. That listing it as a "transfer" was done because that was how it came in to them.
Talking with a rep in the download department at the bank, and then their supervisor, they agreed that it made no sense to call it a transfer but that was what ZElle called it. And the steps to do it are in fact in the "transfer" section of their website. They did say they would notify Zelle of this issue, for all the good it will do.
Given that, UKR, should I even bother to do the steps you suggested to put it into the OFX log file?

UKR

pdxmaven said:

...
Given that, UKR, should I even bother to do the steps you suggested to put it into the OFX log file?

pdxmaven

ok I will do my best to that -

Tom Young

"ok I will do my best to that -"

To make the task easier, I'd suggest omitting that particular bank Account from One Step Update and instead updating that Account using the "Update now" option available under the gearwheel icon in that Account's register. Do your OSU first, then do the bank Account download using "Update now." That will put the bank's OFX information right at the bottom of the OFX log, making it much easier to find.

Click Help > Log Files and scroll to the bottom of the file, looking for that particular transaction's dollar amount. It should look something like this:

          <STMTTRN>
            <TRNTYPE>XFER                        <<<<< (This is a transfer within the same financial institution.)
            <DTPOSTED>20210606120000
            <TRNAMT>-5947.00
            <FITID>300015193505202106061200002095
            <CORRECTACTION>REPLACE
            <NAME>Transfer to High Yield Checking
            <MEMO>Transfer to High Yield Checking -0472
          </STMTTRN>

and my guess is that Zelle is calling this an XFER.

Why don't you also find one of these transactions that you've made using the bank's app that also is showing up as a transfer in your downloads. I just wouldn't expect those deposits to be called transfers, but maybe your bank has some reason for doing so.

jrich75

I recently set up NFCU to recieve Zelle deposits. Here is the QFX log for a trial when I sent funds to myself.

<STMTTRN>
<TRNTYPE>CREDIT
<DTPOSTED>20210604120000
<TRNAMT>20
<FITID>2021000000000
<NAME>Zelle[my name]Visa Direct ORU
<MEMO>POS Adjustment - Zelle[my name] Visa Direct ORUS
</STMTTRN>

This is how NFCU reported the Zelle "transfer" that was sent from US Bank.
So in my case, it was downloaded as a credit. It should be interesting to see how other FIs compare.

pdxmaven

THis is the original poster. THanks everyone for keeping on trying to help me. A few more questions here
Tom and JRich - you refer to OFX log and QFX log, respectively. Are they same? one a typo? what do those initials mean?
Jrich - what is NFCU?
Tom - what is OSU?
To clarify, at this point, I am only dealing with one of my (multiple) bank accounts at a time. And only downloaded the transactions from that account into Quicken, one account at a time. I downloaded it from my bank into Quicken. That's the only way I've ever done it and it may be, because of the "type" of download I'm doing, that's the only way?
So I'm not quite sure what you mean by "do your OSU first". But then I don't know what OSU stands for? But given that I started the download on my bank's end instead of from the Quicken end, you think that would make a difference in how the Zelle transactions occur.
My bank (Wells Fargo) says that they "get it" that these are not in actuality transfers, but they're "only" categorizing them as how Zelle categorizes them. And Zelle calls them transfers, so they in turn do the same.
So I'm not sure that trying any different ways to get my bank transactions into Quicken would make any difference?

jrich75

Sorry, my mistake. OFX is correct. You can find it from within Quicken by going to Help and selecting Log Files. NFCU is short for Navy Federal Credit Union and OSU is short for One Step Update.

jrich75

pdxmaven said:

I downloaded it from my bank into Quicken. That's the only way I've ever done it and it may be, because of the "type" of download I'm doing, that's the only way?
So I'm not quite sure what you mean by "do your OSU first". But then I don't know what OSU stands for? But given that I started the download on my bank's end instead of from the Quicken end, you think that would make a difference in how the Zelle transactions occur.

Well, I did my download from NFCU the same way you did yours from Wells Fargo. That method is called Web Connect. I don't know if there is a difference in how a One Step Update download would be sent/processed. There are a lot of variables with OSU that include how the Financial Institution connects to Quicken (Direct Connect or Express Web Connect).
If you could post an OXF log excerpt for some of your Zelle deposits, it would help all of us understand the differences.

Tom Young

@pdxmaven

Did you happen to ask why deposits entered via their app also show up as transfers? I know there are lots of Quicken users that bank at Wells Fargo and, I 'd guess, many of them use the mobile app too, but I can't find a post mentioning this problem. These are direct deposits into your business account, not transfers from your checking account, right?

pdxmaven

This is the Original POster. I did ask the Wells Fargo folks, including a supervisor of the downloads department,Tom. They explained that even though it doesn't make sense, it is showing up as it is, because these are Transfers into my account using Zelle. nothing to do with whether the sender (ie person paying me) is making the payment to me on a computer or via an app. Apparently, when Zelle is involved, it is posted or categorized or whatever you want to call it - by ZELLE - as a transfer.
And right, these are direct deposits into my business checking account from people paying me. They are paying me using Zelle, the system I have asked them to use because it is more secure and anonymous that other money transfer systems.

pdxmaven

This is the Original Poster. In response to your request, I am going to see if I can post a copy of what my Quicken looks like.
I tried to go the OXF log as you asked, but that was TOTALLY bewildering to me, and above my "pay grade." Hopefully this screenshot program I have on my computer will show you something helpful.

first screenshot is how it looks when it originally is downloaded into my account. YOu can see two Zelle transactions on the bottom part, one for $150 and one for $155. I have whited out the peoples' names, but those are shown there on my end.
In the register part, you can see how another "accepted" transaction looks. AGain, I have whited out the person's name. From some wonky reason, it splits the person's name into two parts, with first part of their name under "payee" and second part of their name under "memo". That is pretty annoying. Any way to fix that.
Per your suggestions, I am now going to go ahead and change all those TXFRs to Deposits.

2nd image is how my screen looks once I have clicked on "accept" on the transaction. At this point, I am just accepting each of these transactions. It seems I am having a hard time attaching both images.

I am not sure which one is actually attached below. Maybe I can tell when it is actually posted.

LMK if you can even see one or the other

image.png

pdxmaven

THis is original poster again. OK one attached above is first screenshot I took. Maybe I can only attach one image per comment. So am attaching 2nd image to this comment, which is how it look after I click on 'accept'

image.png

Tom Young

@pdxmaven

What you show in your second screen shot is exactly what we expected to see - a transaction with TXFR under the Check # column and a blank in the Category box. It's easy to replicate that problem:

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6031128/uploads/editor/s6/h15z9sqt843v.jpg

If this situation exists because that's the way Zelle codes the transaction and WFB isn't doing anything more than passing it along to you "intact", then the only thing you can do to avoid that warning pop up is to modify the transaction in the register before hitting the Enter key.

So the next time a Zelle transaction shows up in the Downloaded Transactions area, click on it once. That will put the transaction into the blank line available at the bottom of the register. Then go up to that transaction and delete TXFR in the Check # column, and enter some appropriate Category in the Category box, and then hit the Enter key. That will get the transaction entered into the register and it will show as Accepted in the Downloaded Transactions window.