Resolving Errors in Import Log (Q2007 Mac -> Current)

DaveAx

After running the conversion/import utility to bring my 20+ years of Quicken 2007 data into the current version, I found a number of errors reported in the Import Log as well as substantial discrepancies in account balances between the old and new versions. (I'll note that, prior to conversion, all accounts were reconciled and the indexes were rebuilt.)

Here's the first error in the log:

Account Medical FSA - 188 cashflow transactions processed (53 were created)
SKIPPING 285016136: Transfer w/o destination account on 2003-01-08 12:00:00 +0000 for $33 w/category '[PFCU Checking]' (Edit in Quicken 2007 to fix)
1 transactions in the account 'Medical FSA' have been marked with the note '[IMPORTED ORPHAN TRANSFER]' because they were originally transfers but could not be matched.

All of the reported errors include "Transfer w/o destination account", but only some specifically states that I need to fix it in the original data. I am working on the assumption that fixing these problems in Q2007 and then redoing the conversion is the proper approach.

This leads to two questions:

1) Since the conversion routine ran to completion, I now have both a local and QuickenWeb database containing the converted data. The latter is visible in the iOS Quicken app. Once I make the needed repairs, I will have to run the conversion process again, which is fine by me.
How do I completely remove the results of the previous conversion from both my computer and the web?

2) For the error example I gave above, I looked at my Q2007 data. It appears that -- for reasons lost in the mists of time -- a transaction appears twice in the register, with the same data in all fields. One of them came from a split entry, part of a payroll deposit to my checking account.
The other has no apparent source. Using Command-{ on its category entry brings up the message "unable to find transfer."
Both of these transactions are reconciled. So....
a) If I delete the spurious transaction, will I then need to re-reconcile the entire register from that point onward?
b) Or am I better off just editing the spurious transaction's category so that a transfer is no longer implied?

jacobs

I had some of these types of problems in my data when I transferred from Quicken 2007. Some I could clearly trace back to an unexplained hiccup I discovered in the Quicken 2007 database years earlier which messed up a number of transfer transactions and transaction dates. I considered spending time trying to fix as many as I could, but after further consideration, I decided to ignore them. My account balances are correct. My investment history is correct. My spending history is mostly, if not 100% correct. Many of my "orphan transfers" exist in both accounts, but aren't  a single, linked transfer — so the data is right in both accounts. And I concluded that if there were some anomalies in the data, but the account balances were correct, it wasn't worth me trying to fix the weird or corrupted old transaction. I decided I really don't care if there's some minor oddity in my data from, say, 2005.  (That's hard for me to say; I'm typically a stickler for precision and accuracy!) As you said, going back in time to try to fix some things in Quicken 2007 seemed like it could open a larger box of problems — and I decided to punt. (I haven't yet found incorrect data in Quicken Mac that I've regretted not spending hours trying to fix.) 

I'm not saying you should ignore the problems flagged in the conversion, just consider whether they seem material, and whether they affect things you might need to look back on. It may depend on the accounts and types of transactions you're seeing in the logs.

I would suggest that you turn OFF Sync (in Preferences > Mobile, Web & Alerts) for now, and wait until yo get everything converted, all your account balances correct, any tweaking of categories made to your satisfaction — and only then turn on Sync if you want to use the mobile app or web interface. One of the largest areas of problems with Quicken Mac seems to be with syncing issues between the desktop data file and the Quicken Cloud, so I would just leave that out of the equation until you're fully settled into modern Quicken Mac.

This step is probably unnecessary if you're going to re-import from Quicken 2007, but I might do it out of an abundance of caution: once you turn off Sync, go to Preferences > Connected Services and click the Reset button on your Cloud account. This causes Quicken's server to dump your existing cloud data and create a new Cloud account for this data file. Since you have Sync turned off, it won't upload all your transaction data, just some required information about your desktop data file. 

The reason you don't really need to do that step is that when you re-import your data from Quicken 2007 again, you will be creating a new Quicken Mac data file, and each data file has its own unique Quicken Cloud account. You can have multiple Quicken Mac data files; you can also delete the first one before or after you re-import from Quicken 2007. (After you re-import, when you're in the new file, you can go to Preferences > Connected Services, click on See All Cloud Accounts, and delete the one associated with your first file; your current file will be the one in the bold font; the other one can be deleted if you are deleting that data file.)

DaveAx

Thanks for a lot of useful information. I have turned off Sync, as you suggested.
I will definitely be doing a re-import from 2007, probably over the weekend, since my last try was a while back. (No need to enter all the latest transactions a second time that way.)