Account opening balance being modified

BOB139

I am discovering that my account opening balances are being modified by Quicken.

Is there any way to lock them so it doesn't happen?

I to go reconcile and there is a large discrepancy.

[Deleted User]

There have been issues with this, but I haven't seen many lately, so hopefully these are isolated events.  I think what causes this is the update file from your financial institution using express web connect.  What other users who have had this problem have done is to put the opening balance amount in the memo field.  The only way I know of to lock any transaction is to "set a password to modify transactions".  But I have not heard either way whether doing this will prevent this issue from happening.

LostUser

> @BOB139 said:
> I am discovering that my account opening balances are being modified by Quicken.
>
> Is there any way to lock them so it doesn't happen?
>
> I to go reconcile and there is a large discrepancy.

Solution to that would be great. Has been happening randomly to me for a while now ( for months) with different accounts. Am trying to remember to check the opening balance first when i have reconciling issues.

dsptatanka

They are in denial that this is happening. I spent 3 hours on tech support and that last thing they wanting me to do was reinstall my operating system and try that because there programs is not the problem.

BOB139

Found another account that has this issue!

BOB139

Actually, I think it's 2 accounts. On the other there was -78 opening balance on top of an initial downloaded transaction for -78. It's one of those cases where the bank changes/replaces your card and it shows up as a new account. Pretty sure if it downloaded -78 adjustment I would have left the opening balance as $0

Chris_QPW

BOB139 said:

Is there any way to lock them so it doesn't happen?

In reality there really isn't any way to do this.

Let's take an example.  You can set a password that blocks changing transaction older than a certain date.  If you try to change an old transaction, it prompts you for the password.  But this same system will not block Quicken changing the opening balance or any of these transactions when using things like Sync to Mobile/Web.

Why?

You initiate things using the GUI, as it runs through the function change the transaction it makes checks like this to see if it is password protected.

Whereas Quicken sync and downloading doesn't work at this level. It doesn't execute the same code.  It works at a much lower level, and as such isn't restricted in changing any the same way you are at the GUI level.

What's more, if the code that is changing the opening balance has a bug in it that allows it to change the code when it isn't supposed to, what ensures that if they put in more code to "prevent it", that code doesn't have bugs in it too?

And just imagine the kinds of bugs that could come out of code that tries to block some operations in downloading transactions or Sync to Mobile/Web.

freesteamin

I'm discovering the same problem but it seems to go much deeper than just changing the opening balance. I have had this account since 93 and balance every month. All ok until a week or so ago when my reconcile was off by over $10,000. I restored a backup and discovered that the year end balances over the past 20 years were different between the current file and the backup. $120 in 1993 , another $3000 in 2001, another $100 in 2020. I then looked at other backups from several months ago and the YE balances were different again. It looks to me like Quicken is currently randomly inserting or changing transaction amounts. I suspect a huge bug or malware somewhere.

Chris_QPW

freesteamin said:

 I suspect a huge bug or malware somewhere.

I suspect a bug or a corrupted data file.

Quicken Anja

Hello All,

Thank you for taking the time to report this issue here in the Community, though we apologize that you are experiencing this.

Our teams are looking into this issue and would like to collect some additional information in regard to the following; Are you using cloud sync? What banks/account types do you experience this with? And does it happen after every OSU?

Please check back and let us know! Thank you.

BOB139

I am not using cloud sync. This has happened with several accounts, but I don't believe it happens after every OSU.

Chris_QPW

BOB139 said:

I am not using cloud sync. This has happened with several accounts, but I don't believe it happens after every OSU.

Any account that is using Express Web Connect or Express Web Connect is using "sync", to transfer the transactions to and from the Quicken Cloud dataset.

It is well known at this point that Express Web Connect (and +) updating is causing the opening balance and perhaps other transactions to be changed when they shouldn't be changed.

The random nature of the problem makes it very hard to pin down exactly what is going on.  One possible trigger is resetting the account online connection.

BOB139

I am not using cloud sync, in my Preferences > Mobile & Web sync is "OFF"

I don't even automatically enter transactions. When I do an update they show up in the bottom of my register and I categorize and accept each one. I never see an update for the opening balance or random transactions.

Recently I have noticed that there will be a red flag next to an account, but when I click on it there is no new transaction and the flag goes away.

Chris_QPW

Express Web Connect flow is:
Quicken -> QCS (Quicken Connection Services this is the "Quicken Cloud dataset") -> Intuit server (the aggregator) -> the financial institution's website.

The "Quicken Cloud dataset" is the very same location where "Sync to Mobile/Web"'s data is stored.

This was changed about a 1 1/2 years ago.  Express Web Connect flow used to be:
Quicken -> Intuit Server -> Financial institution's website

But Quicken Inc wanted to be in the middle of this to monitor connection failures.
Since QCS was already connecting to the Intuit server for doing periodic downloading of transactions and "synced to Quicken" they just put it in the middle.

As "proof" that it is the same "sync" you will find that Express Web Connect logs its activity to the Cloud Sync Log.
Help -> Contact Support -> Log Files -> Cloud Sync Log.
Here is a thread with more on this:
https://community.quicken.com/discussion/7882641/qcs-express-web-connect-is-cloud-sync

Note to mention that if you have attachments like images or PDF files in an account setup for Express Web Connect, you will find that those attachments are also synced to the Quicken Cloud dataset.

Also note as far as the red flag goes.  It has been noted that in the Quicken release notes that they said they are preparing to allow the user to select getting pending transactions (as an option).  Whereas this hasn't been implemented yet, various people are reporting seeing the red flags without any transaction when there are only pending transactions in their account but no cleared transactions.  So, it is like the new system is half on or something, at least in some cases.

Rusty Dockery

I am buried in this "previous balance" issue to the point I'm about to dump and go to Excel or some other manual system. I've been with Q since '90s, reconcile monthly. The direct bank download was a lifesaver after my wife's illness. But my balances have been off since February. Hours with tech and the community has graciously offered methods of tracking it down that are above my pay grade and my disposable time as a caregiver. I'd hire someone to muddle through this mess ...

Shirley C

I am having a similar issue with the opening balance changing any time a new transaction is downloaded on the mobile app. This issue began early July and only happens to my chase credit card account.

I would reset my cloud data and sync my desktop file to the cloud. Everything matches on the mobile app. The next day, I log into the mobile app and new transactions are downloaded. If there are $100 in new charges, my opening balance modifies to show a positive balance of $100 and the ending balance will not be different from before the new transactions are downloaded. The ending balance will continue to remain unchanged even as new transactions are downloaded each day until I sync again on the desktop application and reset my cloud data.

Have been in touch with chat support multiple times with no resolution. Have tried to validate and repair file, deactivating downloads and adding the account again, uninstalled and reinstalled the mobile app on my phone, and installed mobile app on different phone. Finally, I created a brand new file and added only the chase account in question, synced with mobile and sure enough, the opening balance still changes when new transactions are downloaded.

Joe4369

Same problem here with Chase checking account. It will grab my checking account available balance and use it as the quicken balance, even though transactions are missing. I found that it changed my opening balance from 12 years ago and threw everything off. In my case, there were pending transactions that did not make it to quicken yet but the quicken balance still matched my available balance from Chase. Because these transactions were still pending and didn't download, Quicken decided to just change my opening balance to adjust - that is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard of. Like others mentioned, I put the real opening balance in the memo field so I can change it back next time it happens. I also mark my transactions reconciled so there should be a way to lock them so this doesn't happen, but that's not possible.

Joe4369

Regarding my last comment. I'm using Windows version R43.14 Build 27.1.43.14. I am connecting to Chase with Express Web Connect +.

Joe4369

@"Quicken Anja" Please see above.

BobDee*740

I am also having problems trying to reconcile my Chase checking account. I reconcile once a week. The last two weeks, I have been unable to reconcile. Last week the reconciliation reflected a difference, and I thought it might be a transaction that hadn't cleared so i waited until this week to try and reconcile. This week I also had a difference, but it was for a different amount than I had last week. The differences started occurring after Chase required a new verification of the signon.

Rick Norkin

Same problem since new API started. Four acccounts all screwed up.

BK

This problem has been on-going for a few years and there are many such reports.  For me happens every time, but only-and-only if I deactivate and reactivate an EWC account.  But others have experienced different variations, making it difficult to troubleshoot, identify and fix I imagine.

I suggest that you follow the suggestions to enter the "correct" value of your opening balance in that transaction's memo field so that you can easily cross-check and make corrections.  That is what most of us have resorted to.

One of the superusers once made a brilliant suggestion to me to create a new opening balance with zero value - to make the correction easier.  It didn't work for me however, as it left the zero opening balance transaction alone at zero, and still changed my actual opening balance transaction - go figure!

Joe4369

For some reason, my direct deposit paycheck will download into quicken unless I scrap the 12 years of data and start a new account in quicken. I get paid every week and this transaction will not download and I have to enter it manually. I just tried the deactivate and activate again and it changed my opening balance again and still did not download the deposit transaction. Seriously considering moving away from quicken to a different product. Anyone have any luck doing that?

BOB139

> @Quicken Anja said:
> Hello All,
>
> Thank you for taking the time to report this issue here in the Community, though we apologize that you are experiencing this.
>
> Our teams are looking into this issue and would like to collect some additional information in regard to the following; Are you using cloud sync? What banks/account types do you experience this with? And does it happen after every OSU?
>
> Please check back and let us know! Thank you.

Do you have any update?

With the whole Chase debacle I had to deactivate online services. One one of the account for some reason it re-downloaded an already reconciled payment from June for $103.25 and later I noticed the opening balance was changed from $0.00 to exactly $103.25.

Furthermore the "Online Balance" for this one account doesn't match what I see on Chase.com