Mobile transactions are always marked as Reviewed

bharkey

When I manually enter a transaction into Quicken Mobile and sync both Mobile & Desktop (Quicken for Mac) versions, the transaction is always marked as "reviewed" automatically. However, I haven't actually reviewed it.

I'd like for the transaction to always be marked as "unreviewed". Can this be done?

chascarter

@bharkey I found this and it seems to work. https://community.quicken.com/discussion/7910618/mobile-app-automatically-marking-newly-entered-transactions-as-cleared

bharkey

@chascarter That post you referenced is for the Windows desktop client. My question is regarding the iPhone Mobile app.

Chris_QPW

Note that the problem in the post the @chascarter found isn't even the same.  It is about the transaction being marked cleared when manually entering transactions, not marking them reviewed.

As for the original problem, no you can't change it, there are many inconsistencies between Quicken Mac, Quicken Windows and Quicken Mobile/Web and I think this is one of them.

That is assuming that Quicken Mac marks a manually entered transaction unreviewed (seems strange to me).

In Quicken Windows if you manually enter a transaction or even if you edit a downloaded transaction, it will be marked reviewed.  I fail to see why it should be different, the very fact that you are entering/changing a transaction implies that you are looking at it and deciding that it is OK.

I do know of an inconsistency between Quicken Mac and Quicken Windows after a reconcile.  When you reconcile in Quicken Mac it doesn't change the review status.  When you do the same in Quicken Windows it does mark them reconciled.  This has some implications in the workflow.  In Quicken Windows I would reviewing my transactions but not bothering to mark them reviewed because I knew that I was going to follow that with a reconcile, so it was one step skipped for me. But it also has ramification for automatic reconcile.  In Quicken Windows one should never use automatic transaction entry mode and automatic reconcile together, because automatic reconcile gets kicked off automatically at the end of the download, and it reconciles to the amounts, and nothing is checking the categories are correct before the reconcile clears the review status.  Quicken Windows has "non automatic entry mode" where every transaction goes into a Downloaded Transactions tab, and is accepted into the register by the user, and then the automatic transaction reconcile would kick in.  In that case there isn't any "review status" to deal with at all, and it makes some sense.

I actually think Quicken Mac's handling of this is correct but doubt that the developers will change it.

Anyways the main reason for stating all of this is these inconsistencies between the different systems are partly due to the fact that Quicken Windows and Quicken Mac do somethings a bit differently forcing the Quicken Mobile/Web developers to decide on which model to use.

bharkey

@Chris_QPW My workflow on Quicken Mac is typically this:

1. I open my default view, which is by selecting "Banking" in the sidebar and using these filters: "All Dates, All Accounts, Any Type, Not Reviewed".
2. I manually enter a transaction into the register (with category, account, etc. correctly assigned). Note: those manually entered transactions are, by default, marked as "not reviewed".
3. I download transactions from my banks daily. When transactions match, I manually mark them as reviewed.

This process allows me to catch missing transactions (either because I failed to enter it, or conversely, it never posted to my bank account[s]), AND to catch transactions that have slightly incorrect amounts. This happens frequently with a few merchants—notably: Amazon, Walmart, Sam's (their email receipt will tell me one amount and then the transaction will be ever so slightly different).

I use the "Unreviewed" and "Reviewed" status as a mechanism to make sure that my registers are accurate and every transaction is accounted for. Once transactions are marked "Reviewed", it means that I've confirmed that my register matches my banks, and the transaction is properly categorized.

I never use the "Reconcile" function. Admittedly, that may be un-standard practice. I simply don't have the need. The reviewing process accomplishes the same thing. Review for me=reconcile. I personally, find this to be more streamlined than the reconciliation process.

So, what I want is for Quicken Mobile to, by default, mark new transactions as "unreviewed". That way, when they sync to Quicken Mac, I can follow the same process as described above.

OR, I'd like the option in preferences to change the current behavior.

Chris_QPW

Well, you can submit an Idea to be voted on for this option by going to the Home page on this site and selecting New Post -> New Idea.

But given that your workflow isn't what most people use it might be a hard sell.

bharkey

@Chris_QPW Regardless of workflow preferences, it really doesn't make sense that the desktop app and the iPhone app behave differently.

Chris_QPW

bharkey said:

@Chris_QPW Regardless of workflow preferences, it really doesn't make sense that the desktop app and the iPhone app behave differently.

They don't work differently, if you are using Quicken Windows.  That is the inconsistency I was talking about.

bharkey

@Chris_QPW Yes, sorry. I should have said the "Mac" desktop app.

The fact that there is a discrepancy in behavior between the Mac and Windows versions is not industry standard. It's 2022.

In all honesty, I think it would be best for this to be a preference for all of the apps.

Chris_QPW

Like I said you can suggest it with an Idea.  I was just warning you that it might not happen for the very reason that this is very first time I have ever seen anyone want this.  I doubt it would get any kind of priority, but it is certainly not for me to say what should and shouldn't be implemented as long as it doesn't hurt other use cases.

bharkey

Someone else actually posted the very same thing a few days after me:

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/7921996/phone-client-transactions-showing-up-as-reviewed#latest

Chris_QPW

Yep, missed that one.  They suggest it is a bug. I guess it depends on how one thinks it should work depending on if they work with Mac or Windows.  A preference does seem like the best compromise.

karlowen

@bharkey I noticed the same thing as you and I am certain that this is a relatively new behavior. Until recently transitions I created in Quicken Mobile _did_ show up with the orange pencil. Joining the other thread now.

bharkey

Let Quicken know by voting on my feature request here: https://community.quicken.com/discussion/7922739/manually-entered-transactions-should-default-to-unreviewed-mobile-app#latest

Hwndude

@bharkey is absolutely correct in bringing this to the community's attention. Incorrect labeling of synchronized transactions (from iPhone Mobile Quicken to Quicken for Mac) only started a few updates ago. I use the "Reviewed" and "Not Reviewed" statuses exactly the way he does. There is absolutely nothing wrong with using it this way, and frankly, I can't understand why anyone would use it any other way. It has worked this way since I first began using Quicken almost a decade ago. It is a bug! Or, at the very least, an unannounced and unwelcomed change in Quicken for Mac behavior. Even the support agent with whom I spoke several weeks ago said it was behaving differently than in the past, and he knew this because he also uses the identifier the same way we do. They really ought to fix it!

sand233

There is no right or wrong way to use clear and review. It is what works best for each person. This should be a preference setting. Currently, the cleared checkbox is visible on the transaction when entered in mobile (some payee rules may preset this checkbox). This allows manually changing it when entering a transaction. There is no option for seeing or changing the reviewed checkbox.
My suggestions:
- Add preferences:
Enter mobile transactions as 'reviewed' or 'not reviewed'
Enter mobile transactions as 'cleared', 'not cleared', 'based on payee rule'
- Change the transaction entry
Add the reviewed status checkbox so that it can be changed when entering the transaction if desired.
(I have posted these suggestions on the Product Ideas link)

Chris_QPW

@sand233 Very well said!