Why are "external transfers" into accounts not appearing in Quicken imports?

GhostC
GhostC Member
I have had this problem with both my local Associated Credit Union, and Wells Fargo accounts. Transfers in from other banks (deposits from the external linked accounts) do not get included in transaction downloads. This appears to have gotten worse since Jan 1 2022. The credit union has no way to debug this, and I have no way to determine if they are in the transfer and just not getting posted in Quicken, or if they never get added to the download to begin with. I have to go transaction by transaction to find why my online balance does not agree with my Quicken balance.

Best Answer

  • splasher
    splasher SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭
    Answer ✓
    If it is imported via Direct Connect, Express Web Connect, Express Web Connect+ or Web Connect, it will be in the OFX log file.  There is no flag to change that will get you more information.
    Direct Connect and Web Connect downloads are generated by the financial institution, EWC and EWC+ are generated by Quicken's aggregator Intuit.  You can see the download type on the Account List (Tools menu).  For DC and WC, contact the financial institution, for EWC and EWC+, contact Quicken Support (you can't get to Intuit for a Quicken issue).

    -splasher using Q continuously since 1996
    - Subscription Quicken - Win11 and QW2013 - Win11
    -Questions? Check out the Quicken Windows FAQ list

Answers

  • splasher
    splasher SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭
    You can see what was in the download by doing:
    Help->Contact Support->Log Files->OFX log
    It isn't the prettiest thing to read, but it does have in it what was downloaded and you can save it as a .txt file and view it in Notepad or Wordpad.
    A single transaction will look like:
    <STMTTRN>
    <TRNTYPE>DEBIT
    <DTPOSTED>20230109
    <DTUSER>20230108
    <TRNAMT>-29.7
    <FITID>20230109840338
    <NAME>SuperDooperGrocery
    <CCACCTTO>
    <ACCTID>5878
    </CCACCTTO>
    <MEMO>SuperDooper
    </STMTTRN>

    The newest entries are at the bottom.

    -splasher using Q continuously since 1996
    - Subscription Quicken - Win11 and QW2013 - Win11
    -Questions? Check out the Quicken Windows FAQ list

  • GhostC
    GhostC Member
    This is interesting, and many thanks! I am used to looking at stuff like this (I do some programming). I have searched these log files and found the ACU references, there are no transactions logged as there are for some of the other accounts. I actually searched for transaction amounts both for the missing ones and ones that I can see in Quicken, and they are not in either the current or old logs. Ironically, I see the transfer in the logs from the other bank (where the funds were transferred from), but I don't even see the TRNAMT tag in the ACU sections at all. In fact all I see there is kind of boilerplate info. Is there some other method they use to transfer dat or perhaps logging of transactions themselves can be omitted for, say, security reasons? Note that the other bank was updated manually using a QFX file export/import, while the ACU is a direct connect (WEBCONNECT)... perhaps those are not logged as thoroughly? Is there a log flag I can set to get that info perhaps? Again, many thanks!
  • splasher
    splasher SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭
    Answer ✓
    If it is imported via Direct Connect, Express Web Connect, Express Web Connect+ or Web Connect, it will be in the OFX log file.  There is no flag to change that will get you more information.
    Direct Connect and Web Connect downloads are generated by the financial institution, EWC and EWC+ are generated by Quicken's aggregator Intuit.  You can see the download type on the Account List (Tools menu).  For DC and WC, contact the financial institution, for EWC and EWC+, contact Quicken Support (you can't get to Intuit for a Quicken issue).

    -splasher using Q continuously since 1996
    - Subscription Quicken - Win11 and QW2013 - Win11
    -Questions? Check out the Quicken Windows FAQ list

  • GhostC
    GhostC Member
    That is a great help! I see it is Express Web Connect, which makes sense for a smallish credit union. I'll try Quicken Support (which was kind of where I started the day <g>). I'll come back with whatever (if any) resolution I get. Thanks!! -Mike
  • GhostC
    GhostC Member
    Well, I called Quicken. Hold not bad (5-10 min I guess). They did a screen share and walked me through validation then the Edit->Quicken accts->Login as different user and did a pull (update) for that account, and it seemed to pull in all my missing transactions. Something was just out of sync. He said it should be ok from here on out. Thanks for the help! -Mike
  • UKR
    UKR SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭

    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.  (This also includes Cash Withdrawals if you record them as transfers from Checking to a Cash account register)
    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 download process. Because a correctly entered transfer transaction already exists in your account registers, the download process should just match the downloaded transfer transaction to the existing one in both accounts and not cause duplicates or invalid [transfer account name] categorizations.

  • GhostC
    GhostC Member
    UKR, Thanks! Good info... usually its obvious for me based on the difference in the totals in Online vs Ending balance. I had just been ignoring this one for a while, unfortunately, since I go online regularly. The transfers were not regular, so tracking them down was a problem, especially before I figured out they were all from the same source. Anyway, good suggestion! -Mike
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