How to transfer funds from one Quicken to a second Quicken on the same computer

W5gn

I currently have three bank accounts, two business, one personal and use Online Center to move funds. If I set up/move the personal account into a separate Quicken Data File, how do I move funds between the two quickens?

Tom Young

If you are asking this question prospectively, after having set up the 2nd (personal) file, then the best approach would be to establish in each file a new manual Account - an asset or liability Account, it makes no difference.  You might call the Account "Transfer" in each file.  Then when you move money between the files you'd make an entry in the "from" file, reducing cash and posting the offset to the Transfer Account in that file. Then in the "to" file you'd make the opposite entry, increasing cash and posting the offset to that file's Transfer Account.

There's no way within Quicken to have an entry in one file automatically show up in a different file.  You either need to make manual entries in each file or have downloads from the bank make the entries after the fact.

Tom Young

If you are asking this question prospectively, after having set up the 2nd (personal) file, then the best approach would be to establish in each file a new manual Account - an asset or liability Account, it makes no difference.  You might call the Account "Transfer" in each file.  Then when you move money between the files you'd make an entry in the "from" file, reducing cash and posting the offset to the Transfer Account in that file. Then in the "to" file you'd make the opposite entry, increasing cash and posting the offset to that file's Transfer Account.

There's no way within Quicken to have an entry in one file automatically show up in a different file.  You either need to make manual entries in each file or have downloads from the bank make the entries after the fact.

W5gn

Thank you, I suspected as much, and will likely set up wire transfers with my bank.

q_lurker

I am understanding your question a bit differently.

If you are currently able to have Quicken direct the bank to transfer money out of one account, you should be able to continue to do so.  I am not sure that the receiving account is particularly relevant to that instruction.  That is, I don't know why it matters that the receiving account is also represented in your Quicken file.  But that may be something specific to your bank's operations.  [CAVEAT:  If and when the use of Direct Connect communication between Quicken and your back gets dropped, you will no longer be able to have Quicken send that instruction to the bank.  The instruction will need to be separately initiated at the bank's website.]

Just be sure you don't have both files duplicate the instructions to the bank for transfers.  

I am also not clear that "Transfer" accounts are necessary.  For example, if the business account is paying an "Owner's Draw" to the personal account, I could see that being an expense category in the business file and an Income category in the personal file.  A new personal investment from the personal file to the business would require more thought.  Reimbursement to or from the personal side, would also seem to be categories (such as if you paid a business expense with a personal credit card).  But I would defer to @Tom Young on that call as he is better qualified than I am in that territory.

W5gn

Thanks also. Using the Online Center I choose both the sending account and the receiving account and both accounts registers are updated, so the balance is correct and visible.
With the sending and receiving accounts in different Quicken data files, I would only expect
to see the receiving account updated the next time I download into that quicken file.
I could live with that, but I'm more convinced I want to use my online bank account to
make the transfer rather than Online Center.