Quicken for Mac 2007 bank reconciliation errors

hav

Bank reconciliations suddenly show errors from years ago that were not in previous reconciliations. Suddenly started with all reconcilable accounts. Making adjustments doesn't solve the problems for future reconciliations, since different numbers come up.
Correcting the errors one month just creates different errors the following month.

I used to recommend quicken to friends and clients but no longer will do so since these are random errors with no known cause. Virtually impossible to reconcile any accounts.

smayer97

Have you tried re-indexing your file? CMD-OPT-B

It can sometimes correct internal database issues that could contribute to what you are experiencing.

(Be sure to have a solid set of backups before doing this just in case something goes wrong).

hav

Thanks, but no luck. With prior adjustments posted, checking account was in balance. After re-indexing, bank account now has a -$7,563.20 cumulative discrepancy. Tomorrow, it will be a different number, I'm sure. I did work on a copy of the data file-thanks for the suggestion.

smayer97

Add up your manual adjustments. Do they add up to the cumulative discrepancy? If they do, then the re-indexing corrected the underlying problem and the manual adjustments can be deleted, which should bring everything back into balance. But only you can be sure of that.

If that fails, you can try using the File > Save a Copy function.... it creates a brand new copy of your data file and cleans up internal garbage in the database that re-indexing cannot fix. It preserves everything else (reports, scheduled transactions, etc). You can play around with this new copy and see if again the balance works by removing the manual adjustments.

jacobs

hav said:

I used to recommend quicken to friends and clients but no longer will do so since these are random errors with no known cause. Virtually impossible to reconcile any accounts.

The suggestions from smayer97 above are accurate and about the only things which are likely to help. 

As for whether you recommend Quicken to others, you should be aware that you are using very old software which was discontinued years ago, is no longer supported, and no longer runs on the current Mac operating system. There are still people who use Quicken 2007 for one reason or another on older Macs, but you do so at your own risk -- and one of the risks is that the database in the venerable Quicken 2007 is prone to occasional data corruption problems. 

hav

Thanks for your reply and I’ll try it.
Most of the people I know are running older machines so I will forward your comments to them in case they run into the same problems.

hav

Thanks for the replies. Have tried all with no luck. Luckily, the Ignore button still works.
Still working on an old computer as are some of the people I deal with, so the new Quicken won't work.
When I have to get a new computer, I'm concerned the errors will just carry over to the new program, so that doesn't seem promising at all.

jacobs

If you have errors in your data, your data isn't going to suddenly improve whenever you update Quicken.  The database in Quicken 2007 is prone to occasional corruption and data loss; the longer you continue to use it, the more likely you are to encounter problems with the database. If you've done the maintenance steps discussed above, you're going to have to manually fix whatever is out of whack so your accounts are up to date.

I'd note that the current Quicken Mac runs on Mac operating systems back to High Sierra. High Sierra runs on all Macs since 2010, and some back to 2009. So if you're running a computer that's 12 or more years, while that's wonderful, you should be very conscious that you're on borrowed time. Whether it's software like Quicken, an old browser no longer compatible with some websites, or an aging hard drive or power supply increasingly likely to conk out, you're at risk of failure and should make sure you have frequently updated backups of your important data in case time runs out. If a new Mac isn't in your budget, you might consider a used Mac from a reputable supplier which could move you several years into the future at a pretty minimal cost. (Sorry, I don't mean this to sound like a lecture; I've just seen people get harmed or wiped out trying to hold onto really old systems too long.)

Best wishes!

hav

Thanks. I appreciate your reply. Luckily, the ‘ignore’ button works so can continue.
I note from posts in the Mac section that there continue to be system errors in the current versions as well.
I would hate to lose the history files in my system by starting over with a new version, which seems to be the only solution since posting correction entries does not work.
I have multiple backups for data files, so not an issue.
Used to be a great program I’ve used for years. Sorry to lose it.

jacobs

hav said:

I note from posts in the Mac section that there continue to be system errors in the current versions as well.

Not generally. I'm not sure what you're referring to, but Quicken Mac has been remarkably stable over the past 7 years. There are always ongoing connectivity problems, which aren't about the stability of the program but the (in)stability of the connectivity infrastructure. 

hav said:

I would hate to lose the history files in my system by starting over with a new version, which seems to be the only solution since posting correction entries does not work.

I also don't understand your comment here. You're having problems with some data corruption in Quicken 2007, but you can import your data into Quicken Mac -- and once you do, your data will be stable. In most cases, things import cleanly, but there may be accounts where something is off and you need to enter an adjustment to get your account balance and or share holdings exactly correct. And if things were off before you moved from Quicken 2007, of course it won't magically fix itself. But you can dig into the discrepancies, account by account, to either figure out and correct what is wrong or missing in your data, or to enter an adjustment in the past to make your current balances and reconciliations work. Once you do the work to get things right, you should not experience ongoing problems. 

hav said:

Used to be a great program I’ve used for years. Sorry to lose it.

It seems like the issue you have is that you stuck with the old software -- which many of us loved for a long time! -- beyond its optimal life. As much as we loved Quicken 2007, its database was prone to occasional corruption of some data. When you say it "used to be a great program," remember that you're using the same software you've been using for the past 15 years. the program didn't get worse. But using it for all that time, with additional data being added, occasional crashes, and no software updates or bug fixes, well, it wasn't designed for that, and it doesn't work flawlessly. The modern Quicken Mac isn't flawless either. (Really, no software is.) But software that's actively being maintained and patched has a better chance of serving you well into the future.

I've used Quicken on a Mac for nearly three decades. I hung onto Quicken 2007 when it seemed there was no path forward, and then Intuit managed to get it to work on the modern Mac operating system, so I hung onto it for many more years. But I actually feel much more confident in the stability current Quicken Mac than the old Quicken 2007. Yes, there are some Quicken 2007 features which haven't been re-created in the modern Quicken Mac which I miss; there are also some features which Quicken Mac does much better than ol' Quicken 2007. But I like feeling that my decades of data are stable, and that it appears the current company is committed to continuing to develop and support the program indefinitely into the future. When the new Quicken Mac first came out in 2014, I found its features lacking and I continued to use Quicken 2007 alongside testing the new program for years. But I can honestly say that since I made my final switch to Quicken Mac, I have never looked back and felt any regret for moving off Quicken 2007. 

hav

Haven't looked into the reported errors but they run on for a while.
I suspect I will have to get a new iMac at some point in the future and will have to migrate to the new rent-a-copy version. Correcting bank recon errors is chasing your tail-fix one month, and the next month changes, fix that month, and so on. The total shown on the recon page, if posted to correct, doesn't correct the cumulative total. Recon errors started showing up in the 1998 files of all things.
I just hate going to a new version with a corrupted data file that couldn't be fixed in the old 2007 version which will carry forward to the new version.

jacobs

I'd say that somewhere, you have to decide to stop the bleeding; that is, either (a) hunt down the source of the errors and fix them by re-adding lost transactions, adjusting dates, etc., OR (b) accept that some data has been lost, make a balance adjustment sometime far in the past to make your current balance correct, reconcile each account such that all old transactions are in reconciled status, and move forward.

I have no way of knowing if the data corruption problem you've experienced in Quicken 2007 is over and done or will continue to show up in unexpected ways going forward. I'd probably take one stab at getting things fixed in Quicken 2007 and then migrate, but depending on the severity of the errors/amount of lost data, you might find it better to migrate first, and then clean things up in the stable world of modern Quicken Mac.

This should not be a chasing-your-tail problem that haunts you indefinitely. Once you pick a point in time and get things corrected, the problems should be behind you. For instance, rather than re-reconciling month by month for years, pick a month to reconcile up-to-date, accept whatever adjustment Quicken thinks is needed, and your reconciliations should be solid going forward. If the adjustment needed to solve the reconciliation discrepancy throws off your actual account balance, your may need to enter another offsetting adjustment to get your balance the the correct amount. But once you do that, you should be good going forward. 

Best wishes getting this resolved and moving forward!