Linked Checking Account Conversion

Dave01010100

This is my second attempt to convert from Windows to Mac versions of Quicken. The first was in 2015. This version is much closer to satisfactory but still seems to fall short in the conversion of a Fidelity Cash Management account which, from my perspective, is a checking account, not a brokerage account. I want it to be treated as a checking account in all respects, including showing up in the Accounts sidebar under Banking/Cash, not Investing/Brokerage. In Windows, this was accomplished by selecting "Show cash in a checking account" in Account Details. Is there a way to do this in the Mac version? If not, I'll have to install a virtual machine/Windows on my new Mac, just like the old one.

jacobs

There is no way in Quicken Mac to re-classifiy  an account as a different type, or to re-arrange which group it falls under in the left sidebar. That said, an investment account register in Quicken Mac has all the features of a banking account, so you can record deposits, write checks, record withdrawals, categorize each transaction, split transactions, etc. The only difference is that each banking transaction needs to be have the Type field set to "Payment/Deposit".

So if your Fidelity Cash Management account shows up under Investing rather than Banking in the sidebar, it's really just a cosmetic issue. The transactions are the same; the reporting is the same. Is that issue enough for you to eschew Quicken Mac? If so, then yes, you'd need to continue running Quicken Windows in a VM. 

Dave01010100

Thanks for the answer, Jacob. To me, the sidebar issue is more than cosmetic - a quick glance at the Banking balance tells me if I'm in my target range for current accounts. However, you've convinced me to continue to evaluate Quicken Mac for a while longer (still haven't tried to recreate my saved reports for Cash Flow, etc.) before reverting to the old work-around. Thanks again for the guidance.

bobluck

Agree with Jacobs, but there is a failure to mention that the mobile and web versions will not reflect and spending transactions from the desktop app unless that are from and banking type account, making them useless.

jacobs

@bobluck Ah, yes, thanks for mentioning that. I don't use the mobile app or web interface, so it's largely off my radar.

Dave01010100

Thanks to both of you for your guidance. Honestly, I have never understood why Quicken won't allow connecting a Fidelity Cash Management account as a checking account just because Fidelity is primarily a brokerage firm. From the user's perspective, it is, for all intents and purposes, a checking account.

I hope that Quicken will fix this soon but experience makes me suspect that the Accounts sidebar and mobile/web issues may not be the only problems lurking. For now, I'll have to continue with VMWare/Windows.

Thanks again for your help.

Best regards,
Dave

NotACPA

That's probably because that checking account doesn't really exist.  It's just a means of  accessing the cash in your brokerage account. And there are legal differences between that CMA and a true checking account.

This feature has previously been requested (but I couldn't find where) but hasn't been implemented.

BTW, I've got a  Fidelity CMA also ,,, but in QWin it's simple to create.