Start over after 18 month hiatus?

Fenzitter

After setting up my banking and investment accounts in Quicken in 2019, I basically did not use the application since. Now, I was able to reestablish connections with my accounts but, after updating, the balances for many do not agree with what the accounts actually show and I have numerous transactions for which I need to manually update or resolve. Am I better off starting from scratch? Is there a way to do so and still preserve the 2+ years of spending data?

Chris_QPW

I'm not sure there is "best way" it just sort of depends on what one wants.

I think there are three basic approaches.

1. Just start a new data file, and keep the old one with whatever you did up to that point.
2. Download using QFX files/manual entering trying to fill in the gap.
3. Leave the gap and use a balance adjustment in each account to make up for the missing transactions.  I was doing this I would just put in a balance adjustment transaction between the old and new transactions.  It would just be a transaction that has the category [Account] where "Account" is the account that you are in. and the amount would be a deposit or withdraw that makes the balance correct on that date.

Personally, a gap in #3 would bug me no end.  When I first started using Quicken it wasn't possible to download transactions, and after a couple of years I stopped using it.  Then a few years later I just started a new data file mostly because I don't even think I would have had the information to fill in the gaps, even manually.  I still have that old data file around, but almost never look at it since it is so far in the past and there is such a big gap in my finances between the end of that one and the start of the new one.

Chris_QPW

garysmith87 said:

Since it's December 10th already, I'd be inclined to start a new Quicken data file beginning with transactions January 1, 2022. 

One note about that.  The first time you download you are going to get whatever back transactions the financial institution chooses to send, usually 90 days.  So, if one only wants January 1, 2022 and beyond transactions then they will have to do a bit of removal/clean up the transactions and opening balances after downloading in the new year.

Chris_QPW

I'm not sure there is "best way" it just sort of depends on what one wants.

I think there are three basic approaches.

1. Just start a new data file, and keep the old one with whatever you did up to that point.
2. Download using QFX files/manual entering trying to fill in the gap.
3. Leave the gap and use a balance adjustment in each account to make up for the missing transactions.  I was doing this I would just put in a balance adjustment transaction between the old and new transactions.  It would just be a transaction that has the category [Account] where "Account" is the account that you are in. and the amount would be a deposit or withdraw that makes the balance correct on that date.

Personally, a gap in #3 would bug me no end.  When I first started using Quicken it wasn't possible to download transactions, and after a couple of years I stopped using it.  Then a few years later I just started a new data file mostly because I don't even think I would have had the information to fill in the gaps, even manually.  I still have that old data file around, but almost never look at it since it is so far in the past and there is such a big gap in my finances between the end of that one and the start of the new one.

Fenzitter

Thanks. Given that I haven't really used it until now, I suppose it's probably best that I start with a new data file, although I was hoping to get some value of the transactional data (mainly expenses) for the past two years. I'm inclined to keep investment accounts out of Quicken altogether, given the frequency and complexity of transactions (e.g., in mutual fund accounts).

Chris_QPW

I thought of a fourth approach and that would be to leave the account in that data file, but put in balance adjustments to zero them out, and then create new accounts for starting over.  As in don't link to the existing ones.

garysmith87

Since it's December 10th already, I'd be inclined to start a new Quicken data file beginning with transactions January 1, 2022. 

Chris_QPW

garysmith87 said:

Since it's December 10th already, I'd be inclined to start a new Quicken data file beginning with transactions January 1, 2022. 

One note about that.  The first time you download you are going to get whatever back transactions the financial institution chooses to send, usually 90 days.  So, if one only wants January 1, 2022 and beyond transactions then they will have to do a bit of removal/clean up the transactions and opening balances after downloading in the new year.

Fenzitter

Thanks to both of you. Good, practical advice. Just thought by now that Quicken wouldn't still come with so many kinks.

Chris_QPW

Fenzitter said:

Thanks to both of you. Good, practical advice. Just thought by now that Quicken wouldn't still come with so many kinks.

As Quicken ages it gets more kinks, not less, just like any other old folk.