Why do certain transactions never show up?

MCblahblahblah

I use PNC. I use Quicken for Windows until transactions stop showing up. This happens every time I use Quicken. I used the help articles (ex: https://www.quicken.com/support/missing-some-transactions-when-downloading-bank) but that doesn't get the missing items to come in. There are two transactions go from our checking out to a 529 plan, 1 for each kid, and they are 1 day apart. They don't show up in any other accounts. I tried to manually put them in one time and then things got out of sync. I deleted my files and restarted my accounts fresh. This is the 3rd time I started fresh and the same issue is happening again. I don't know why I pay an annual fee for Quicken to consistently work for a few months and then lose transactions.

Any suggestions or is it time to cancel - again?

Boatnmaniac

Hi @MCblahblahblah .  Please answer a few questions:

• Are you having issues with downloading from your checking account or from a 529 account?
• Which connection method are you set up with?  (This can be seen directly beneath the account name in the Account Register view.)
• When this issue occurs are you getting any error codes/messages?  If so, what are they?
  

UKR

In case you have issues with transfer transactions not being generated correctly:

For best results manually enter transfer transactions into your register BEFORE you download transactions from the bank which contain the transfer confirmations. For recurring transfers use scheduled reminders and enter them a day or two before the due date. Be sure to use distinct Payee Names for each transfer / credit card payment to avoid confusing Quicken - memorized payee entries.
That takes the guesswork out of the matching process. Because a correctly entered transfer transaction already exists in your account registers, the process should just match the downloaded transfer transaction to the existing one in both accounts.

MCblahblahblah

@Boatnmaniac - Thanks for the reply. I am using Express Web Connect. I do not have my 529 accounts setup in Quicken at all. I am having issue with the transactions downloading from my bank account. There are 2 $25 transactions missing and the balance in Quicken is exactly $50 more than what my bank account really is. I don't see any error codes at all and I don't see these transactions in any other account.

MCblahblahblah

@UKR - I'm not sure I understand. I should put in the transfer from my bank to the 529 account before I download it? How do I enter the information so that "if" the transaction shows up via normal download it doesn't duplicate.

Boatnmaniac

MCblahblahblah said:

@Boatnmaniac - Thanks for the reply. I am using Express Web Connect. I do not have my 529 accounts setup in Quicken at all. I am having issue with the transactions downloading from my bank account. There are 2 $25 transactions missing and the balance in Quicken is exactly $50 more than what my bank account really is. I don't see any error codes at all and I don't see these transactions in any other account.

Thanks for the additional information.  PNC has a problematic history with Express Web Connect (EWC), especially with downloads not happening reliably.  I suggest you contact PNC to request login information for Direct Connect (DC).  DC is much more reliable and I've been pretty happy with how it works with PNC and I think you will be, too. 

PNC does not charge a DC monthly fee for consumer accounts.  I think they do charge $2-$3/month for business accounts.

You need to contact PNC to start getting set up for DC.  They will send you (it used to be via mail) a unique password that you must use.

They might also send you (separately from the password) a unique customer ID to be used as the UserID.  But some people have said they were told by PNC to instead use their Social Security number for the UserID.

Once you get the custom password and UserID instructions from PNC:

1. Backup your data file.
2. Go to the Account Register and write down the Opening Balance transaction amount.
   
3. Then go to Account Register > upper right Gear icon > Edit Account Details > Online Services tab > Deactivate > General tab > remove all Financial Institution Information from the upper right quadrant (everything above the Contact Name field) > Done.
4. Repeat steps #2 and #3 for any other PNC accounts you have.
   
5. Add Account > PNC Bank - Direct Connect > Advanced Options > select Direct Connect > follow the prompts.  (It used to be that Quicken would default to EWC but you do not want to do that so err on the cautious side and select Direct Connect in Advanced Options.)
   
6. During the setup process you will likely be prompted to decide what to do with the downloaded data.  Be sure to Link it to your existing account(s) in Quicken.
7. During this setup process Quicken might enter duplicate transactions into your account register(s).  Usually it will be no more than 2-3 months of transactions but for me it was less than 1 month.  Duplicate transactions will need to be manually deleted.
8. Check the account balance.  If it is in balance you are done. 
   
9. If it is not in balance check to make sure you did not miss deleting any duplicate transactions.
10. If it is still not in balance, check the account Opening Balance transaction.  Make sure it matches what you wrote down in step #2.  If it does not match, correct it.
    
11. If it is still not in balance, look through your register for a 2nd more recent Opening Balance transaction.  It could be anywhere from just a few weeks back to maybe 2-4 months back.  If there is one, delete it.
    

Let me know if you have any questions.

MCblahblahblah

@Boatnmaniac thank you very much. I didn’t know about DC and I will request it this week.

Matt

Boatnmaniac

MCblahblahblah said:

@Boatnmaniac thank you very much. I didn’t know about DC and I will request it this week.

Matt

You are welcome.  BTW, I should have mentioned a couple of other things:

• The unique login information that PNC will provide you is for use with Quicken DC only.  Your online account login information will remain unchanged from what it is today.
• The DC connection is the preferred connection method for all financial institutions that support it because it is so reliable and it is much faster than is EWC.  It also is a more secure connection method than is EWC.  Unfortunately, not all financial institutions offer the DC connection method.  Also, unfortunately, not all financial institutions offer it without charging a monthly fee....but fortunately for us, PNC is one of those that does offer it without charging a fee.
  
• An important benefit for having DC set up with your PNC checking account: Direct Connect Bill Pay.  DC Bill Pay allows you to enter a payment transaction in the checking account register in Quicken and when you do OSU a Bill Pay command will be sent to PNC.  When the check or ACH payment is paid PNC will download the check number and payment confirmation into Quicken but until it is paid it will still show up in the Account Register as a payment that is scheduled to be made.  You can also use DC Bill Pay to transfer funds between accounts at PNC.   There is no cost to you for this.  DC Bill Pay is different from Quicken Bill Manager which offers Quick Pay and Check Pay through a 3rd party service...DC Bill Pay is only between your Quicken program and PNC.  It is also simpler to set up and use and much more reliable than Quicken Bill Manager.
  
• If you want to read up more on the various connection methods Quicken offers you can read up on it here:  https://www.quicken.com/support/how-quicken-connects-your-bank.
  

MCblahblahblah

@Boatnmaniac - Dumb follow up question. The PNC request form is asking what version of Quicken am I using. Per the image, is this translate to Quicken for Windows 2020/2021 or is it an earlier version? I don't see anything that translates the R release version # to a year.

MCblahblahblah

@Boatnmaniac - Just in case this has changed since you last saw, these are the options:

Boatnmaniac

MCblahblahblah said:

@Boatnmaniac - Dumb follow up question. The PNC request form is asking what version of Quicken am I using. Per the image, is this translate to Quicken for Windows 2020/2021 or is it an earlier version? I don't see anything that translates the R release version # to a year.

MCblahblahblah said:

@Boatnmaniac - Just in case this has changed since you last saw, these are the options:

I'm a firm believer in that there is no such thing as a dumb question.  One can only be dumb if they don't ask questions when they have them.

It's odd that they should be asking that.  Since Quicken became subscription (2018) the years don't really mean anything...it's more of a marketing thing now, not a functionality thing.  Prior to that the years meant something because each year Quicken was essentially a new program but with subscription that stopped.   If I were you I'd just check the 2021 option.  I would be very surprised if that would cause you any issues.

BTW, I did not need to sign up for it.  I used to be with BBVA Compass Bank where I had DC already set up.  When PNC acquired them PNC automatically set me up for DC and mailed me (without my asking) the DC set up and login information.  So, I was never asked to select which "Quicken" I had.

However their merger packet was so detailed and lengthy that many prior BBVA customers had difficulty getting DC to set up properly.  On top of that PNC initially bungled the whole Quicken conversion process last Oct so we all had an "interesting" learning process for a few weeks.  But it's been working very well since late Oct.