Stop auto categorization in one account only

maryleekeane

I use my amazon credit card a lot. Quicken automatically categorizes every expenditure as 'healthcare'. I do have healthcare expenditures on amazon, and it is a pain to sort out which truly are healthcare and which aren't. Is there a way to stop auto-categorization only in this account? If not, can I tell it to categorize all FUTURE (but not PAST) transactions as something else?
Thank you.

Quicken Jared

maryleekeane said:

I use my amazon credit card a lot. Quicken automatically categorizes every expenditure as 'healthcare'. I do have healthcare expenditures on amazon, and it is a pain to sort out which truly are healthcare and which aren't. Is there a way to stop auto-categorization only in this account? If not, can I tell it to categorize all FUTURE (but not PAST) transactions as something else?
Thank you.

Hello @maryleekeane, 

I am sorry for any frustration you have experiecned. Thank you for asking about the automatic categorization feature here on the Quicken Community. 

Regarding your question, you can make use of the QuickFill rules feature to identify a default category when downloading certain transactions, which will help you prevent the automatic categorization of the transactions you wish to associate with a unique category, as I believe you are intending to do now.

In order to set up a QuickFill rule from the register, double-click the transaction, and enter a new category name in the associated column. Make sure the Save QuickFill Rule... option that appears has a checkmark in the box next to it. Click the dropdown arrow nearby to allow for other pieces of transaction field information to be saved, including tags, memos, amounts, etc. 

You can also edit Renaming Rules to change existing transaction information with the following steps:

1. Right-click the transaction with the payee you want to change.
2. Select Edit Transaction and enter the new payee name.
3. Check the Also rename... option box.

1. Click the dropdown arrow for more renaming options. You can select to rename future transactions or existing and future transactions. 

1. Press the return key.
2. If you are presented with the Create Renaming Rule dialog, review and adjust your new renaming rule.
   
   • If you have chosen to apply the rule to existing transactions, click Review. When you are done reviewing the existing transactions that will be renamed, click Apply & Save. 
   • If you did not choose to rename existing transactions, click Save. 

Please note, the Create Renaming Rule dialog only appears during this process if Quicken anticipates that you'll want to add more details to the renaming rule. However, you can still access this dialog at any time by following the To add a renaming rule from the Payees & Rules window steps below. 

You can read more about Renaming Rules in the Support Article linked here.

I hope this is helpful.

Thank you,

Quicken Jared 

jacobs

maryleekeane said:

Is there a way to stop auto-categorization only in this account?

No. Categorization, which comes from QuickFill rules, is global across all your accounts; there is no way to apply a rule (or not apply a rule) for a specific account.

maryleekeane said:

Can I tell it to categorize all FUTURE (but not PAST) transactions as something else?

Yes, as Jared indicated above. The creation of QuickFill rules will only affect future transactions; it will not will touch your existing transactions.

If there is no single category which predominates for your Amazon transactions, you might want to do something I do for Amazon and a few other Payess: create a QuickFill rule for the Payee with no category, and then check the checkboxes to make this the Default for Amazon, and to Lock the rule so it isn't changed by transaction which you manually categorize:

This will make all your Amazon transaction have no category, until you manually edit them.

If you're afraid of missing some of them, you could create a category with a name like "Categorize Me!", which you could periodically search for to find and fix uncategorized transactions. 

Quicken Jared

maryleekeane said:

I use my amazon credit card a lot. Quicken automatically categorizes every expenditure as 'healthcare'. I do have healthcare expenditures on amazon, and it is a pain to sort out which truly are healthcare and which aren't. Is there a way to stop auto-categorization only in this account? If not, can I tell it to categorize all FUTURE (but not PAST) transactions as something else?
Thank you.

Hello @maryleekeane, 

I am sorry for any frustration you have experiecned. Thank you for asking about the automatic categorization feature here on the Quicken Community. 

Regarding your question, you can make use of the QuickFill rules feature to identify a default category when downloading certain transactions, which will help you prevent the automatic categorization of the transactions you wish to associate with a unique category, as I believe you are intending to do now.

In order to set up a QuickFill rule from the register, double-click the transaction, and enter a new category name in the associated column. Make sure the Save QuickFill Rule... option that appears has a checkmark in the box next to it. Click the dropdown arrow nearby to allow for other pieces of transaction field information to be saved, including tags, memos, amounts, etc. 

You can also edit Renaming Rules to change existing transaction information with the following steps:

1. Right-click the transaction with the payee you want to change.
2. Select Edit Transaction and enter the new payee name.
3. Check the Also rename... option box.

1. Click the dropdown arrow for more renaming options. You can select to rename future transactions or existing and future transactions. 

1. Press the return key.
2. If you are presented with the Create Renaming Rule dialog, review and adjust your new renaming rule.
   
   • If you have chosen to apply the rule to existing transactions, click Review. When you are done reviewing the existing transactions that will be renamed, click Apply & Save. 
   • If you did not choose to rename existing transactions, click Save. 

Please note, the Create Renaming Rule dialog only appears during this process if Quicken anticipates that you'll want to add more details to the renaming rule. However, you can still access this dialog at any time by following the To add a renaming rule from the Payees & Rules window steps below. 

You can read more about Renaming Rules in the Support Article linked here.

I hope this is helpful.

Thank you,

Quicken Jared 

jacobs

maryleekeane said:

Is there a way to stop auto-categorization only in this account?

No. Categorization, which comes from QuickFill rules, is global across all your accounts; there is no way to apply a rule (or not apply a rule) for a specific account.

maryleekeane said:

Can I tell it to categorize all FUTURE (but not PAST) transactions as something else?

Yes, as Jared indicated above. The creation of QuickFill rules will only affect future transactions; it will not will touch your existing transactions.

If there is no single category which predominates for your Amazon transactions, you might want to do something I do for Amazon and a few other Payess: create a QuickFill rule for the Payee with no category, and then check the checkboxes to make this the Default for Amazon, and to Lock the rule so it isn't changed by transaction which you manually categorize:

This will make all your Amazon transaction have no category, until you manually edit them.

If you're afraid of missing some of them, you could create a category with a name like "Categorize Me!", which you could periodically search for to find and fix uncategorized transactions. 

maryleekeane

Thank you both. Jacobs, your answer was particularly clear and easy to understand.

Quicken Jared

maryleekeane said:

Thank you both. Jacobs, your answer was particularly clear and easy to understand.

@maryleekeane, 

It is our pleasure to be of assistance. Thank you for checking back in with us and letting us know that this information was, indeed, useful to you.

Thank you @jacobs for your sagely advice in making use of these particular features and avoiding automatic categorization for certain transactions, as well as providing clarification.

Feel free to reach out with any additional questions or concerns.

Best regards,

Quicken Jared