Problem with Quicken re: positive savings account balance

Mahanta12

As a new user, I am completely flummoxed by this. I have downloaded my 4 accounts at B of A, and am able to do the one-step updates - no problems with all that. But yesterday I completed 2 online funds transfers from my checking account to a savings account. The transfers were completed easily with BofA. But in Quicken, on the far left side under the Accounts tab, the balance in the savings account is showing as a negative balance, and it shows in red. What??? I would think the balance in the savings account would go up and show as positive, but no-it looks like a negative balance. I don't know much about bookkeeping, but this seems backward to me. Can someone explain this please?

Frankx

Hi again @Mahanta12,

I can't say that I completely understand what you are seeing and/or what actually happened in your accounts.  But it sounds like there may be duplicate transactions that have been recorded when you said "Two of the amounts I transferred were identical from one account and to the other account. And they were completed within one hour." 

Please keep in mind that "Quicken" cannot make distinctions about which transactions are correct and which transactions are incorrect.  You need to make the decision(s) to delete transactions that are duplicates.  You should try to do that before those transactions are accepted into your Quicken file, but it is also never too late to simply delete incorrect, inaccurate, duplicate - or other - transactions if they are not correct.  While - from time to time - Quicken may alert you to consider whether transactions are duplicate transactions, you cannot expect Quicken to catch such things. 

As far as fixing transactions - you should delete transactions that are clearly duplicates and you can always undo ANY transaction in Quicken at any time.  You mentioned above that you are a new user - and I am sure that using Quicken can be difficult not only for new users but also to experienced users - please don't feel like you need to know it all, or become overwhelmed by the program.  Maybe the best advice I can give would be to backup your datafile very often.  If you should make an entry or delete an entry that turns out being incorrect, if you have a recent backup file, you are always only minutes from putting your file back to where your were before something like that happened.

Hope this helps.

Frankx

Boatnmaniac

@Mahanta12 - I fully agree with @Frankx regarding the importance of doing frequent backups of you data file.  IMO it is one of the most important things to be done in management of our data files.  We often we see people posting here about a problem for which the easiest/fastest resolution (and sometimes, the only resolution) is restoring a backup file.  And too often there are people who have not backed up their data files or have not done so frequently causing them a lot of disappointment and frustration.

What I do is to keep the backup process simple requiring only a very little effort up front:  Set up the Backup Preference to automatically save the file every time the file is closed.  I also recommend saving enough backup files to cover at least 1 month.

Here is what my Backup Preference settings look like.  I save my backups to my hard drive and then 1-2 times a week I back up my entire hard drive to a separate device (I use a thumb drive for that).  If you have not already done so, you might want to consider doing something similar.

Frankx

Hi again @Mahanta12,

To get to the Preferences;

1) Click on "Edit" > "Preferences" > then select "Backup" as shown above.

Regarding Dropbox - that is an offsite (not on your computer but as some folks call it "in the cloud") storage site and it is a competitor to One Drive.  And you it is NOT recommended that you keep your current datafile in any offsite facility.  You could keep your backup copies there, but not your datafile.  Quicken does not backup to the cloud - when you backup your file (or when the automatic backup in Quicken runs) it uses your hard drive.  And yes, you can use a thumb drive to store your backup datafile, which would protect you should your computer crashes.

Frankx 

Frankx

Hi @Mahanta12,

Is it possible that you may have actually transferred funds FROM the savings account and into the checking account?  I suggest that you take a look at the balances in both accounts to see if perhaps the transfer went the wrong way.

Let me know what you find.

Frankx

Mahanta12

Hello and thanks for your reply. I double-checked the transfers I'd done and all is correct. In fact, BofA is showing the correct balances in my accounts after the transfers. The problem seems to be with the Quicken program, maybe in the automatic update feature. Two of the amounts I transferred were identical from one account and to the other account. And they were completed within one hour. It's almost like Quicken didn't pick up on it. I don't know, but whatever the reason, how can I fix this without doing another transfer through BofA and hoping Quicken will reflect it? Can an entry in Quicken like this be undone? Is this a common issue? Thanks.

Frankx

Hi again @Mahanta12,

I can't say that I completely understand what you are seeing and/or what actually happened in your accounts.  But it sounds like there may be duplicate transactions that have been recorded when you said "Two of the amounts I transferred were identical from one account and to the other account. And they were completed within one hour." 

Please keep in mind that "Quicken" cannot make distinctions about which transactions are correct and which transactions are incorrect.  You need to make the decision(s) to delete transactions that are duplicates.  You should try to do that before those transactions are accepted into your Quicken file, but it is also never too late to simply delete incorrect, inaccurate, duplicate - or other - transactions if they are not correct.  While - from time to time - Quicken may alert you to consider whether transactions are duplicate transactions, you cannot expect Quicken to catch such things. 

As far as fixing transactions - you should delete transactions that are clearly duplicates and you can always undo ANY transaction in Quicken at any time.  You mentioned above that you are a new user - and I am sure that using Quicken can be difficult not only for new users but also to experienced users - please don't feel like you need to know it all, or become overwhelmed by the program.  Maybe the best advice I can give would be to backup your datafile very often.  If you should make an entry or delete an entry that turns out being incorrect, if you have a recent backup file, you are always only minutes from putting your file back to where your were before something like that happened.

Hope this helps.

Frankx

Boatnmaniac

@Mahanta12 - I fully agree with @Frankx regarding the importance of doing frequent backups of you data file.  IMO it is one of the most important things to be done in management of our data files.  We often we see people posting here about a problem for which the easiest/fastest resolution (and sometimes, the only resolution) is restoring a backup file.  And too often there are people who have not backed up their data files or have not done so frequently causing them a lot of disappointment and frustration.

What I do is to keep the backup process simple requiring only a very little effort up front:  Set up the Backup Preference to automatically save the file every time the file is closed.  I also recommend saving enough backup files to cover at least 1 month.

Here is what my Backup Preference settings look like.  I save my backups to my hard drive and then 1-2 times a week I back up my entire hard drive to a separate device (I use a thumb drive for that).  If you have not already done so, you might want to consider doing something similar.

Mahanta12

Thank you. Very helpful. I'm curious about the screenshot above. Where did you find the Preferences tab? I think I looked at everything, and I couldn't find that. I did find a backup tab but it looks nothing like what you've posted. It just gives an option to create a "complete backup file" or a copy or a template. I have a desktop version, not the mobile. Would that be the difference? Also, BTW, what is Dropbox and should I be using that? Does OneDrive or Dropbox backup to the cloud? What is the difference between One Drive and Dropbox? Or are they the same thing? I don't think Quicken backs up to the cloud - is that right? If I don't use a cloud backup, then I would need to have a physical external type of backup in case my computer crashes. Is that right? I know a little about thumb drives but have never used one. I know these may be elementary questions for you, and I thank you for your patience.

Frankx

Hi again @Mahanta12,

To get to the Preferences;

1) Click on "Edit" > "Preferences" > then select "Backup" as shown above.

Regarding Dropbox - that is an offsite (not on your computer but as some folks call it "in the cloud") storage site and it is a competitor to One Drive.  And you it is NOT recommended that you keep your current datafile in any offsite facility.  You could keep your backup copies there, but not your datafile.  Quicken does not backup to the cloud - when you backup your file (or when the automatic backup in Quicken runs) it uses your hard drive.  And yes, you can use a thumb drive to store your backup datafile, which would protect you should your computer crashes.

Frankx 

Boatnmaniac

Mahanta12 said:

Thank you. Very helpful. I'm curious about the screenshot above. Where did you find the Preferences tab? I think I looked at everything, and I couldn't find that. I did find a backup tab but it looks nothing like what you've posted. It just gives an option to create a "complete backup file" or a copy or a template. I have a desktop version, not the mobile. Would that be the difference? Also, BTW, what is Dropbox and should I be using that? Does OneDrive or Dropbox backup to the cloud? What is the difference between One Drive and Dropbox? Or are they the same thing? I don't think Quicken backs up to the cloud - is that right? If I don't use a cloud backup, then I would need to have a physical external type of backup in case my computer crashes. Is that right? I know a little about thumb drives but have never used one. I know these may be elementary questions for you, and I thank you for your patience.

Backups are made with the Desktop installation, not with Mobile.  Where you save the backup is a choice you can make by clicking on the "Change" link shaded in yellow.  If you do not change it then Quicken will save  the backups in the default location which you can view by clicking on the "Open" link.

Dropbox and OneDrive are Cloud file storage services.  OneDrive is Microsoft while Dropbox is another company.  You can read more about the Dropbox benefit included with your Quicken subscription (not included with Starter) at  Dropbox Frequently Asked Questions [Support Article].

Some people like to save their backup files on Dropbox, OneDrive or some other Cloud server.  It's a personal choice that one needs to make regarding how much of their personal data they are comfortable saving on something like that.  (One important thing to note: While using a Cloud server to save your backup files to is acceptable, do not be tempted to run you primary data file from there.  The primary data file needs to be run from a local drive, not from a Cloud server.  Running the primary data file from a Cloud server will likely cause data corruption at some point.)

If you do not use a Cloud server to back up your data then it is highly recommended to save it somewhere other than your hard drive for, as you said, "in case my computer crashes."  There are several options available for this.  I use a thumb drive because of its small size and ease of use.  Other options include an external/portable hard drive device, CD or DVD.

Any other questions?

Mahanta12

Frankx -

"Regarding Dropbox - that is an offsite (not on your computer but as some folks call it "in the cloud") storage site and it is a competitor to One Drive. And you it is NOT recommended that you keep your current datafile in any offsite facility. You could keep your backup copies there, but not your data file."

Thanks for this clarification. Will use thumb drive or other external method.

"To get to the Preferences;
1) Click on "Edit" > "Preferences" > then select "Backup" as shown above."

Thank you! I found it and have it set up.

Mahanta12

Frankx -

"As far as fixing transactions - you should delete transactions that are clearly duplicates and you can always undo ANY transaction in Quicken at any time."

Well, I was able to fix this mix-up manually, by simply adding one of the transfers (a deposit) that the BofA update did not catch, for whatever reason. Anyway, after I did that, my balances matched the bank's balances on the exact dates the transfers were completed, so all is good. I just needed the confidence to change something manually, as I'd never done that and was afraid I'd do irreparable harm. It was your comment that gave me the go-ahead. Much obliged. BTW, I did literally look for an "undo" tab in Quicken but didn't find one. Still, it can be done.

Mahanta12

Boatnmaniac -

Thank you! I found Preferences and have set them up.

Boatnmaniac

Mahanta12 said:

Boatnmaniac -

Thank you! I found Preferences and have set them up.

You are welcome.