Category not automatically assigned when entering rent payment

QknUser22

I have recently created a new property with multiple units. I have created tenants and assigned to each unit. Under Rent Center, I use Enter next to the tenant to enter the monthly rent payment. No category is assigned (it is blank). I have other rental properties, some with multiple units, that I have set up the same way, and the appropriate category is automatically assigned when rent is entered. My categories are of the format "Rental Income: {property name}".

Quicken Anja

Hello @QknUser22,

Thank you for reaching out to the Community and telling us about your issue, though I apologize that you are experiencing this.

To start with, if you haven't already, I suggest that you try validating and/or super validating your data file. However, I do recommend that you first save a backup file prior to performing these steps.

Validate: 

1. File
2. Validate and Repair File...
   
3. Validate File
   
4. Click OK
5. Close the Data Log
   
6. Close Quicken (leave it closed for at least 5 secs)
7. Reopen Quicken and see if the issue persists.

Super Validate:

1. File
2. Hold CTRL + Shift and click Validate and Repair File...
   
3. Super Validate File
4. Click OK
5. Close the Data Log
   
6. Close Quicken (leave it closed for at least 5 secs)
7. Reopen Quicken and see if the issue persists.

Let us know how it goes!

QknUser22

I did both, and it did not resolve the issue. Can you please explain how Quicken automatically picks up the category when entering a rent payment under Rent Center? Where is it trying to look up the category value? Why doesn't Quicken show the category that it is going to use by default, and allow the user to change it?

Quicken Francisco

Hello @QknUser22

I was taking a look to see if I could replicate the issue you're having but was unable to. By chance could we get a couple of screenshots of the differences in the transactions. It seems like something may be missing compared to your older properties but it's hard to say. I'll leave a post down below on how to add screenshots.

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/7867159/faq-how-do-i-post-a-screenshot-in-the-community-from-windows#latest

Note: You may need to drag the photos into the response box in order to add them to your post. 

Once you get the chance let us know more and we'll see what we can attempt next.

Thanks,
Quicken Francisco

QknUser22

If you're just looking for transactions in the register then there is no difference. There are multiple properties where the category gets populated (from somewhere), just not for this one. It will be too hard to explain by posting screen shots. I'd prefer to do a web session with Quicken support, but I'm concerned they'll have me revalidate files, and a number of other meaningless things before investigating the real problem. If someone could explain where Quicken pulls the category then maybe I could diagnose this myself.

Quicken Francisco

@QknUser22

Thanks for the update. I was researching more on this issue and I'm wondering one more thing here. Are you entering the rental transactions directly in the rental account? Normally if you were to enter rent using the rental tab for the category we should always get rents received. When I entered it directly from the register though I did get the category to auto-populate to the selected category. 

If you are entering directly from the register you may need to change the memorized payee to include the category. You can do this by going across the top to tools > memorized payee list. Find the tenant (Payee) and right-click to edit the tenant. From there you should be able to edit and save the payee so it fills in the category.

Please let us know if this helps!

Thanks,
Quicken Francisco

QknUser22

Here is from my original post: "Under Rent Center, I use Enter next to the tenant to enter the monthly rent payment. No category is assigned (it is blank)." I am not directly entering into the register. I can do that, but that doesn't help.

This is for a rent payment from a tenant (a deposit), not a payment. The tenants do not show up in the memorized payee list, otherwise, I could have already resolved this. Are you expecting tenants from the tenant list to show up in the memorized payee list? If so, this seems to be a separate Quicken defect.

Quicken Francisco

@QknUser22

Thanks for the update. Could you take a screenshot of when you hit the enter button under rent center? When I enter a transaction I don't have the option to enter a category but it sounds like you're seeing something different. The picture down below will show you what I see.


If you could get us a screenshot of what you're seeing this will give us a better idea of what's happening. Please let us know once you get the chance.

Thanks,
Quicken Francisco

QknUser22

My screen looks exactly like yours. There is no option to enter a category when you use the "Enter Rent" dialogue. In your example above, check the register for your account "Checking". What is the category? Mine is blank. For other rentals it is set to the name of the property.

Quicken Francisco

@QknUser22

Thanks for the update. When putting in rent in the category field it'll give rents received for the category then in the Tag field it will populate the property. I'll leave a photo down below.



I'm not sure where exactly the difference is coming from in the way it's entered so it might be worth checking what versions we're running here. Could you go across the top to help > about Quicken and let us know about the version. 

From there we'll see what else we're able to find out.

Thanks,
Quicken Francisco

QknUser22

Why is Quicken using "Rents Received" in your case? How does it associate the category? What if you have categories of "Rental Income: Property1", "Rental Income: Property2", etc.? If someone knows where Quicken finds the category to use then maybe I could figure this out on my own. Ultimately, this seems to be a product defect, and why not just let the user enter/override the category when entering the rent?

I'm on version R35.31, build 27.1.35.31.

Frankx

Hi @QknUser22,

If I can jump in here - I think the problem relates to the way you are using Quicken Home, Business and Rental Property (and I assume that the version is H, B & RP, even though you haven't specifically indicated that in your comments).

Quicken assumes that you are going to use the application - including the specific accounts that it sets-up when you indicate that you have rental units, and then make entries of things like rents received.  The standard screens that Quicken uses for entering rents received are created through the "Add Transactions" > "Enter rent" selections in the "Rent Center" (as displayed in Quicken Francisco's post of 9/23/21 above).  You'll note that there is no field for a "category" or type of "income account" when you use that function, because Quicken is setup so that once you've setup your tenants and their monthly rent amount, you don't need to enter various items - including the category for rental income each month.  And to see that information - you just go to the "Rental" tab > then the "Properties & Tenants" tab > then select "Show Tenant List" . then highlight the tenant and click on the "Edit" button.

Let me know if you have any followups.

Frankx

QknUser22

Sorry Frankx, but I'm lost. Why don't you think a category is important? It seems like you believe a blank category is the expected/correct behavior? If so, why is it populated with the correct income category for my 4 other properties? The category is important because that is how I segregate my rental income in the reports. I've been doing this for many years now. For some reason, the latest rental property that I added does not do this. Oddly enough, it has auto-populated the category correctly a few times for this new property, although 99% of the time it is left blank and I have to manually update the transaction in the register.

If you're suggesting that the expected behavior is to leave the category blank, then why does Quicken consistently set it for the other properties? I enter the rent the same way for all properties.

Frankx

Hi again @QknUser22

I just re-read my post above and I don't see anything which indicates that I "don't ... think a category is important".  As a matter of fact I think the exact opposite. 

What I said above is exactly what you just referred to when you said "it has auto-populated the category" - because that is what the Rental Property module does (or should do in your case) if the tenant is setup properly.  If setup properly and if you use the "Enter rent" button - there is no category field (and no ability to enter one from that screen) when you are making an entry for rent paid by a tenant.

Since the program seems to be working properly for your other tenants, I suggest that you compare the way that you've setup this one tenant where the process seems to be working only sporadically, with the way the others are setup.

Frankx

Jason C3

Have you entered the tenants as a memorized payee and setup rent reminders with the correct category selected. 

You should’ve have to validate your file that is not the problem.