Import Simple Split Data CSV into transactions for Mac Quicken

cony

PLEASE allow Qif import so we can use Q2022 efficiently on the Mac. A much simpler idea would be to allow CSV import into a split transaction. We often need to create splits with 20-50 entries. The ability to import a 5 column CSV file into a transaction in QMac would be a real benefit. The columns would need to be Category, Tag, Transfer, Amount, Notes to match what Split expects.

NotACPA

QIF is a deprecated format that Q no longer supports.  This request won't be implemented.

jacobs

Any they likely won't ever allow direct CSV formats either, for two reasons: (1) CSV data is unstructured, so it might be messed up or incomplete when imported into Quicken, making it impossible for them to support users whose data might be messed up; (2) Intuit charges some financial institutions for working with their connectivity services (which Quicken uses), so they won't cut off their source of income to allow users to import from CSV. 

ibash

Looking for the same thing, it seems like quicken purposefully cripples their software, with the goal of pressuring financial institutions to pay them money.

It's very unfortunate.

ibash

@jacobs (1) is not a valid point, they already support csv import from mint, and definitely have tooling for supporting unstructured data. This is all about $$$.

UKR

cony said:

PLEASE allow Qif import so we can use Q2022 efficiently on the Mac. A much simpler idea would be to allow CSV import into a split transaction. We often need to create splits with 20-50 entries. The ability to import a 5 column CSV file into a transaction in QMac would be a real benefit. The columns would need to be Category, Tag, Transfer, Amount, Notes to match what Split expects.

May I ask why you need to create such complicated category splits?

Can you provide an example?

Are you, per chance, breaking out a month's worth of credit card transactions into a single "Pay XYZ credit card" transaction in your checking account register?

Can you please capture one or more images of the parts of your Quicken window showing the issue, sensitive information blacked out as necessary to protect your privacy but annotated to describe the situation, and attach the image(s) here?
https://community.quicken.com/discussion/7867159/faq-how-do-i-post-a-screenshot-in-the-community-from-windows

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/7663259/faq-how-do-i-post-a-screenshot-in-the-community-from-a-mac

Please save images to files of file type PNG, JPG, or GIF only. They're easier to work with than PDF files.

jacobs

ibash said:

It seems like quicken purposefully cripples their software, with the goal of pressuring financial institutions to pay them money. It's very unfortunate.

Yes and no. Yes, it is part of the financial ecosystem. It's been this way for decades, since the early days of downloading transactions, though; this is nothing new. And the alternative is to not charge financial institutions, and to instead charge customers more for using their software — which I'm guessing you wouldn't like either. (Actually, that could possibly have bene an option when Quicken was part of Intuit, but now that Quicken is an independent company, they don't control what Intuit does or charges. I don't even know if Quicken gets a share of the money Intuit charges financial institutions, or if what Intuit charges is what pays for them to maintain their connectivity division.) The bottom line is that is costs more than what they charge customers to maintain and update Quicken software, run the servers, and staff  customer service call centers.

ibash said:

@jacobs (1) is not a valid point, they already support csv import from mint, and definitely have tooling for supporting unstructured data. This is all about $$$.

Again, yes and no. Yes, it's partly to protect Intuit's income stream from financial institutions. But even if they did away with that — by raising the price to consumers, which would likely lead to loss of customers and perhaps a death spiral for Quicken — CSV imports can create worlds of problems because customers control the file format/field mapping, and will without fail make mistakes and then blame Quicken or expect their support to fix things.

In the one narrow instance they built for CSV imports from Mint, they have control because the field mapping is fixed in place, and because it's only built to support one initial data import, not ongoing transaction import.

Imagine just one of many scenarios: a customer imports CSV data and then connectis to a financial institution, which would download tons of duplicate transactions because the CSV data doesn't have the unique transaction ID numbers to prevent Quicken from adding duplicate transactions to the data file. So it's really not all "about $$$"; there are technical and practical considerations, in addition to $$$.

JRBLS1989

Here is a great example for all versions of quicken for importing split transactions from CSV:
I use Quicken for Scouting accounts and need to log Each transaction from the store (SKU, Name, Price, Minimal) to allow for reporting and budgeting. I have to load each product number, description, cost, and quantity. Sometimes it can be a huge task to load each time every month. I have been doing this and reporting in Quicken is great for monthly and yearly reporting on what we are spending by den and pack for purchased items.
Also, many sites I can export to csv files that make this simple.

Why not make a simple import for splits? The software is great for many things but guess what Excel Register files can do many things better.

JRBLS1989

Here is a great example for all versions of quicken for importing split transactions from CSV:
I use Quicken for Scouting accounts and need to log Each transaction from the store (SKU, Name, Price, Minimal) to allow for reporting and budgeting. I have to load each product number, description, cost, and quantity. Sometimes it can be a huge task to load each time every month. I have been doing this and reporting in Quicken is great for monthly and yearly reporting on what we are spending by den and pack for purchased items.
Also, many sites I can export to csv files that make this simple.

Why not make a simple import for splits? The software is great for many things but guess what Excel Register files can do many things better.

JRBLS1989

Here is a great example for all versions of quicken for importing split transactions from CSV:

I use Quicken for Scouting accounts and need to log Each transaction from the store (SKU, Name, Price, Minimal) to allow for reporting and budgeting. I have to load each product number, description, cost, and quantity. Sometimes it can be a huge task to load each time every month. I have been doing this and reporting in Quicken is great for monthly and yearly reporting on what we are spending by den and pack for purchased items.
Also, many sites I can export to csv files that make this simple.

JRBLS1989

Here is a great example for all versions of quicken for importing split transactions from CSV:

I use Quicken for Scouting accounts and need to log Each transaction from the store (SKU, Name, Price, Minimal) to allow for reporting and budgeting. I have to load each product number, description, cost, and quantity. Sometimes it can be a huge task to load each time every month. I have been doing this and reporting in Quicken is great for monthly and yearly reporting on what we are spending by den and pack for purchased items.
Also, many sites I can export to csv files that make this simple.