New version made reports un-editable (Q Mac)

melanee
melanee Member ✭✭
edited August 2021 in Reports (Mac)
I relied on reports where I could combine multiple accounts to get today's balance because Quicken doesn't support folders. After installing the update today, those reports I rely on are no longer editable. They say "edit report" then there's nothing to edit. Am I missing something? Has the feature been moved? or is this a bug Quicken will resolve soon?

Best Answer

  • jacobs
    jacobs SuperUser, Mac Beta Beta
    edited August 2021 Answer ✓
    There are two generations of reports in Quicken Mac: the "old" reports which were created for the 2010-era Quicken Essentials, the code from which was used as the foundation of the modern Quicken Mac, and the "new" reports, built on a new architecture starting in 2017. The new reports are considerably more user-configurable, are all exportable, and are not prone to some data errors which pop up in some of the old reports. Some of the old reports have been removed, and the product manager has said they will eventually remove the remaining old reports. (I suspect the delay has been that they need to write code to switch users' customized old reports into new reports, and that hasn't been a priority for them.)

    In any case, the Accounts Summary report you're showing is, indeed, un-editable. I launched old copies of Quicken 2015, 2016 and 2017, and this report was not editable -- there was no Customize button -- in any of those old versions. If it was editable in the subscription version previously, I'm not sure why they added it and then reverted to it not being editable; it could be a mistake that it became editable, or it could be a bug that it now isn't. Or it could be a gentle way to push people to a new report. (If it's a bug, I doubt they will fix it, because this report is slated to go away at some point.)

    All that said, there's an easy solution. There is a report where you can view all or selected account balances: the Net Worth report. You can click Edit to control which accounts are included if you don't want them all. One significant improvement is that you can produce the report as of any date you wish, which was not possible with the old Accounts Summary report. So if you want a month-end or quarter-end report, you don't have to do it on that exact day. 
    Quicken Mac Subscription • Quicken user since 1993

Answers

  • jacobs
    jacobs SuperUser, Mac Beta Beta
    I'm not aware of any change in the reports section of Quicken Mac in the most recent version 6.3.x updates. I'm able to edit my reports, and I haven't seen any other reports of problems with reports. 

    So just to make sure we're on the same page, you're opening one of your reports and clicking Edit. Do you not get a sheet which looks like this?



    For testing purposes, can you create a new report and save it? And then Edit it? 

    Quicken Mac Subscription • Quicken user since 1993
  • melanee
    melanee Member ✭✭
    Hi Jacob. I can create a report using the features in your above screenshot but I cannot edit once created. Here's an example of one of Quicken's standard reports that can be edited and an example of the My Reports section where there's no longer any edit features (but there used to be).
    If I'm not mistaken, the report type I made is no longer available to "view account balances, assets and liabilities"?
  • Jon
    Jon SuperUser, Mac Beta Beta
    edited August 2021
    That looks similar to the Accounts Summary report. From the Reports menu, select Summary and then Accounts Summary. I can't edit or customize that particular report either. I checked a bunch of the other Quicken reports, and so far that's the only one where the Save/Edit/View/Duplicate/Print/Export bar doesn't appear.

    Quicken Mac subscription. Quicken user since 1990.

  • melanee
    melanee Member ✭✭
    What's odd is that it used to be editable as i would change the accounts in the report often and I've created 10 different Account Summary reports that I use frequently. Now I can't even create a new report like that where I select accounts. Why did Quicken get rid of such a helpful customizable report?
  • jacobs
    jacobs SuperUser, Mac Beta Beta
    edited August 2021 Answer ✓
    There are two generations of reports in Quicken Mac: the "old" reports which were created for the 2010-era Quicken Essentials, the code from which was used as the foundation of the modern Quicken Mac, and the "new" reports, built on a new architecture starting in 2017. The new reports are considerably more user-configurable, are all exportable, and are not prone to some data errors which pop up in some of the old reports. Some of the old reports have been removed, and the product manager has said they will eventually remove the remaining old reports. (I suspect the delay has been that they need to write code to switch users' customized old reports into new reports, and that hasn't been a priority for them.)

    In any case, the Accounts Summary report you're showing is, indeed, un-editable. I launched old copies of Quicken 2015, 2016 and 2017, and this report was not editable -- there was no Customize button -- in any of those old versions. If it was editable in the subscription version previously, I'm not sure why they added it and then reverted to it not being editable; it could be a mistake that it became editable, or it could be a bug that it now isn't. Or it could be a gentle way to push people to a new report. (If it's a bug, I doubt they will fix it, because this report is slated to go away at some point.)

    All that said, there's an easy solution. There is a report where you can view all or selected account balances: the Net Worth report. You can click Edit to control which accounts are included if you don't want them all. One significant improvement is that you can produce the report as of any date you wish, which was not possible with the old Accounts Summary report. So if you want a month-end or quarter-end report, you don't have to do it on that exact day. 
    Quicken Mac Subscription • Quicken user since 1993
  • melanee
    melanee Member ✭✭
    Thanks Jacobs. That backs up what I've experienced that for some reason it was editable and now its not. I'll give customizing the Net Worth report a try.
  • Atlas4
    Atlas4 Member ✭✭✭
    I've had the same experience as Melanee.  Very odd that I can't edit this report.  I used to be able to edit the standard version only 1 time and save it as a new report.  I couldn't edit the saved report if I recall correctly.  Anyway, a good report that is now made non customizable (non functional) for some unknown reason.  
  • jacobs
    jacobs SuperUser, Mac Beta Beta
    As I wrote above, I still have old copies of Quicken 2015, 2016 and 2017, and when I launched them and tested, this report was not editable. I don't recall this happening, but perhaps it became editable for a short time by accident -- but over the life of Quicken Mac, it has generally not been editable. 

    You say this was a good report which is now non-customizable. But have you tried using the 
    Net Worth report as a replacement? The Net Worth report shows the same data, and it allows you to edit which accounts are included -- so, for instance, you can remove include all your old, closed accounts, which show up in the Accounts Summary report. Additionally, the Net Worth report can be produced as of any date you wish, such as the end of last month or quarter, which was not possible with the Accounts Summary report. 
    Quicken Mac Subscription • Quicken user since 1993
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