Paycheck scheduling

SomebodyInGNV

Does anyone know why paychecks don't allow a date or number of transactions limit, as other reminders do? Some income streams are finite. Not being able to set a limit really screws up budgets.

Boatnmaniac

I don't know why that is.  But it's been suggested as a product improvement at Can I enter a paycheck END DATE to budget for retirement? (3 Merged Votes).  If you like the idea be sure to cast your vote for it.  Quicken does review all the posted product ideas and how many votes each gets.  The more people who vote for something the more likely Quicken will at some point add the idea to their product development plan.

In the mean time, what some people do is to delete their Paycheck Reminder and then set up an Income Reminder splitting the the category to account for the gross income and all the applicable deductions.  Paycheck Reminder is really nothing more than a glorified split category Income Reminder.  Income Reminders can have both start and end dates.

Boatnmaniac

I don't know why that is.  But it's been suggested as a product improvement at Can I enter a paycheck END DATE to budget for retirement? (3 Merged Votes).  If you like the idea be sure to cast your vote for it.  Quicken does review all the posted product ideas and how many votes each gets.  The more people who vote for something the more likely Quicken will at some point add the idea to their product development plan.

In the mean time, what some people do is to delete their Paycheck Reminder and then set up an Income Reminder splitting the the category to account for the gross income and all the applicable deductions.  Paycheck Reminder is really nothing more than a glorified split category Income Reminder.  Income Reminders can have both start and end dates.

SomebodyInGNV

> @Boatnmaniac said:
> ... Paycheck Reminder is really nothing more than a glorified split category Income Reminder.  Income Reminders can have both start and end dates.

I agree, mostly, but I use paycheck reminders for transfers from my retirement accounts to checking. That allows me to show them in the budget as paychecks rather than transfers. Transfers don't work very well because I have other transfers in and out of the source accounts that aren't related to withdrawals for spending.

I'll add my name to the suggestion. It's really baffling to me that Quicken didn't do that years ago.

Boatnmaniac

Ah, I understand your concern with using a split category Income Reminder. 

About 6 months before I retired I entered all my remaining Paycheck Reminders for that 6 months period.  And then cancelled the remaining Paycheck Reminder.  It worked well for me because my paycheck-to-paycheck income was very stable and any little changes (for taxes, etc.) I would edit once I got paid.  But that process doesn't work very well for people who might not be retiring for a longer period of time or whose income can fluctuate.

And I, too, am baffled as to why Quicken has not implemented this apparently very simple change years ago.