Budget Disappeared.

mtn_living

I use close to same routine. I do a backup when I first open program then right after one step update before I start accepting transactions. I don’t see any attempted cloud synch except briefly when doing a restore. I seem, but can’t really definitely say, to see most frequent budget loss when I finish accepting multiple accounts including banking, credit and investment.

Joseph Hanna

As others have already posted, I have been losing my budget for many years.  The error message posted appears.  Clicking "OK" then restoring from the most recent backup does not solve the problem, the error message still appears.

My solution, which has been working well, is this:

1. Click on File: Open Quicken File: Select any other file to open (even if it's a "dummy" file);
2. Once the file opens, repeat step 1 only this time select the original file with the missing budget;
3. When that file opens the error message will not appear.  However, there will be no budget;
4. Click on File: Restore a Backup File: Select the most recent backup file to be restored.

Miraculously the budget reappears.  Of course you will need to re-enter any transactions since your last backup.  I now backup every time I add transactions or make any changes to the file.  Fortunately Quicken added the option to add the time to the file name so we can have multiple backups on the same day.

I hope this helps.

CMRater

Hey Joseph,
Thank you for sharing your work around regarding the Quicken Software Budget Flaw.  For weeks I have been able to run budget reports with existing budgets in tact, however I would not access the budget screen for fear the budgets would disappear.  This morning I wanted to make budget adjustment, so I ventured into the budget screen only to find the usual error that budgets were not existent in the file, which of course is an error in and of itself since seconds before Quicken displayed budget reports with budgets and variances by category.  Tried a few times again after successful restorations from my minute by minute back ups.  Budget reports ran with budget variances, but when I went into the budget screen, budget not there.

So I tried 2 of your steps with my budgets present in file as budget reports would run.

1. Open any other/dummy file.
2. With that other/dummy file opened, click on and open primary file with budgets from the list of files to choose from in the file open tab.

This gives me the ability to access the budget screen in my primary file with budgets.  For me it was as if the software worked without the budget disappearing flaw.

I hope Quicken notices your discovery.  This should lead to a speedy solution, even if they just simulate some sort of "double clutching" of opening a dummy file just prior to opening the targeted file in their coding for file open.  I think you have provided a tremendous clue for the development team to understand and solve this long standing problem.

In the meantime, it appears I now have a relatively painless way to access the budget screen when I need to make changes.  Hoping this work around continues to work from here, but I am so appreciative (and hopeful) that I had share my gratitude for sharing your learning.  Based on my experience, it may only require two steps if the file is able to run budget reports.  The key assumption in my reduced #of steps is the ability to run budget reports prior to conducting the 2 steps as this confirms budgets are present.

Thanks again!

CMRater

Everyone, Please note small edits I made to 2 step process above in an attempt to be clearer.

Not necessary to close alt file and then open primary file separately.  Just select your primary file from the File tab list of files and open directly from the other/dummy file.

By the way, this process has worked several times today.  Much less apprehensive to access budget screen

Hope this helps.

jdanderson54

Same problem as reported by many others. When I restore a backup from a few days ago, the budgets are there. It seems that if I do an online update on an investment account that has several transactions, the budget disappears. VERY annoying.

Alex140

I'm scared to type because I've been burned too many times but... the file opening process as detailed by CMRater and Joseph has worked flawlessly! I use four different Quicken files daily and currently only have the budget/crashing problem with the oldest largest one. I open Quicken with the youngest, smallest file (superstition) and select from the top Menu: File> Open Quicken File> "YourFilename" I have had zero problems so far.

CMRater

Glad to hear Alex.
I created a “Dummy” file for this practice 

David Finke

My budgets from the last 10+ years recently disappeared. I see in this and other threads all kinds of steps people have taken that don't appear to fix the problem. I also see an admission in this thread from someone at Quicken (@quickenanja?) that this is a known bug that is slated for repair. Is there an update on when this will be fixed? I really prefer not to waste a ton of time recreating a budget and/or going through various reinstalls that don't seem to work for others. Thanks!

dferneyh

I had created and used the budget feature some time ago (> 6 months) and need to update and use it. But when I tried to open 'PLANNING' today, I get an error stating files are missing. When looking through this thread, I see that there is an open bug since June 2022 and many user comments which may or may not provide a work-around. Can Quicken provide a formal announcement on this issue, describe the problem, provide a formal workaround or permanent solution. If a permanent solution is not in place, then provide a schedule for a fix. Many thanks.....

Bernie M

Quicken Premier, Version 45.7, Build 27.1.45.7 Windows 11 Home. I entered a withdrawal from an investment account and a window popped up saying it was validating the file. When the validation popped up, the Budget for the current year and all previous years was gone!

The Budgeting feature is not especially useful nor user friendly, but it has been nice to have. It is disappointing to have all the work of creating them disappear though. I may restore from the last backup, but then there are a number of transactions that will have to be downloaded and have descriptions added again.

CMRater

Most of us on this discussion share your disappointment Bernie M.  One thing Quicken has done for us suffering through this flaw for years is to accommodate frequent backups by adding a time stamp to each back up.  We have been conditioned to make backups after any significant work has been put into the file as we never know when we might get the dreaded “No Budget” Error.  I tend to back up every few minutes or after any memory intensive task.

The best news in years was a practice shared above by Joseph on 22 October which I since was able to simplify on 24 October.  It has worked for me ever since (fingers crossed).  Unfortunately, once one loses budgets it tends to become chronic.  As the above process notes, it only works on files that you know the budgets were present last time you used/backed up the file.  As a result, I always run a budget report to verify presence of budgets after any significant work or memory intensive task so I know my budgets were present in latest backup.  In my experience, I am almost always able to run a budget report, but often get lost budget error when entering the planning tab to view or edit budgets.  As a result, when I want to view/edit budgets in Planning Tab, I always open a “dummy” file then open my primary file with budgets to view and/or edit budgets.  Hope this helps!

Sorry you have had to join this popular forum, but as this software flaw affects more and more customers, we are all hoping a permanent fix will be prioritized by the development team in the near future as the issue is well known and documented.

mtn_living

To add on to CMRater's comments. Its good to know that backup/restore is at least working for most people. I know it works for me and as with CM I am checking budget presence after every ten minutes or so of work and doing a backup. I've been having (and this will jinx it) good luck lately retaining budget. Have moved to a new Windows 11 notebook so not sure if that has made a difference or not. On more observation; I maintain a much much smaller Quicken file for a family member's finances. Last year I set up a budget in that file just to see what happend. Have never had a budget loss in that file. That combined with comments on here that this seems to hit more long time Quicken users with lots of data are what make me suspect we are somehow hitting some unanticipated limitation on Quicken's memory management of large data files. Just a guess though.

In more important news; Very recently I made an inquiry on the status of this issues and a) it's still a very high priority for fixing b) it is a complex problem/fix  c) fix will be incorporated into an upcoming release when ready, they hope soon but will not release until they really have nailed it.

mtn_living

You might find it helpful to read through this whole thread as many of your questions are answered or at least shared with many others. Quicken is aware of budget loss issue and working on it. Yours is the first I recall seeing in this thread where backup restoration leads to off kilter budget numbers. Many of us have found, or at least suspect, that cloud synching seems to really enhance chance of budget loss. Personally I’ve had cloud synch off for years because it messed up more than budgets for me. 

Some practices that have helped me (and read the thread because others have suggestions):
- do a super validate on your file and fairly regularly validated your file
- backup very very frequently, at least once per Quicken session, even up to and including backing up as soon as you’ve opened a file and verified budget is good
- don’t run any other major app in the background and don’t flip around between apps
- I also updated the Microsoft .net framework on my windows machine, exactly how is buried somewhere in this thread
- zen like patience with the problem solving and debugging software engineers have to go through with a hard to reproduce and fix bug like this
- never, ever using cloud synch

CMRater

I share the theory that Quicken has some memory management deficiencies with large files.

mtn_living

Sorry PS: adding to my list above do not leave Quicken sitting open for extended periods, get in, do your business, backup and get out.

mtn_living

I’ve had the issue for at least 6-12 months if not way longer so doubt it’s from a recent software change. I, and others, suspect might be that some of us long timers have run up against a long standing flaw that only becomes apparent when your file gets to a certain size or perhaps complexity. I rebuilt my budget from scratch this summer and have been frequently backing up since. Said goodbye to old budgets that were lost, not much to be done about that but I rarely needed to see far back on budgets.

CMRater

I suggest that any customers who suffer from the budget flaw, register their experience and concerns on this discussion thread to help Quicken appreciate the magnitude of the issue and to offer to share their experience with members of the development team.  Please don’t sit back monitor the discussion, rather engage and be a part of the solution.

hjfcfonew

I have been having the same issue for 2 years. The budget disappears and the system hangs up in Quicken Deluxe for Windows. Running Windows 11, latest update of both Quicken and Windows. Having to go through all of those steps is too time consuming all the time, so I just gave up. I'd really like to use the budget feature, but it just does not work well enough. One Step Update is also buggy very often. I do not use the Update portfolio on InvestingQuicken.com either as that was also very buggy and was not worth the potential benefits. I've been using Quicken since 1993.

mtn_living

hjfcfonew said:

I have been having the same issue for 2 years. The budget disappears and the system hangs up in Quicken Deluxe for Windows. Running Windows 11, latest update of both Quicken and Windows. Having to go through all of those steps is too time consuming all the time, so I just gave up. I'd really like to use the budget feature, but it just does not work well enough. One Step Update is also buggy very often. I do not use the Update portfolio on InvestingQuicken.com either as that was also very buggy and was not worth the potential benefits. I've been using Quicken since 1993.

I have never had the hang problem nor buggy One Step Update. Have you completely uninstalled Quicken, rebooted then reinstalled from scratch? Also, have you done a super validate on your data file? This is kind of a reach but I did it on my prior computer and might have helped a bit; made sure latest microsoft .net framework installed using: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/framework/install/on-windows-11

PamC102

Can anyone help me understand the new budget workaround? I have created a Dummy file with no data in it. When I launch the Quicken program, my main file (very large) is always on the screen. Do you then click >File and choose the Dummy file from the numbered list at the bottom? Or do you want the Dummy file to launch initially? If I open the Dummy file at the end of each session, I could force the Dummy file to open first.

CMRater

Here is what works for me:

1) Open file (Primary File) with budgets present from last back up where you were able to run budget reports.  Highly recommend that you back up file after you run a budget report as that should confirm, you have a back up with budgets present so you always have a latest file with budgets to restore if/when necessary.
2) From File Command, Open Dummy file from most recent file list at bottom
3) Once that file is open (should be pretty quick w/ no data), Go to File Command and open your Primary File while in Dummy File.
4) If Primary File had budgets, you should be able to access budgets through the Planning Tab

Has been working almost a month for me.  Hope this helps.

PamC102

This is very helpful. Thank you all so much for sharing this workaround. I have customized my view and added the budget to my dashboard as someone else here suggested and am making frequent backups. I also submitted the issue through "report a problem" as was suggested. I have been afraid to update the program since I heard about so many issues on the Quicken Support Facebook Group. I am running R41.10 Build 27.1.41.10. Maybe with these new tactics, I will try to update the software now.

CMRater

Here is another suggestion for ensuring a "clean file".
Perform a File Copy/ Create Copy or Template.  A Quicken rep told me if you can successfully copy your file, the resultant copy has been stripped of most/any issues.

Just know that you will have to reconnect all your accounts to Quicken.  A relatively painless way to achieve a high degree of file integrity.  He told me to do this even though I had successfully validated/super validate the file.  You get a new file with same name with Cpy added to file name which you can edit out if you like.

One more point.  The Quicken Rep said I would lose my budgets, but I did not.  Only had to reconnect bank accounts to Quicken.  Therefore you want to verify your budgets are in tact.