Is there a way to hide or eliminate categories for one account but not another?

DennisE

I am tracking three bank accounts with Quicken, each needing different categories. When I edit categories in one account it seems to affect them all. Any way to customize each account?

Tom Young

I'm not aware of any way of limiting a Category to only being used by one Account.

I don't understand this: "When I edit categories in one account it seems to affect them all."  If a Category is used in more than one Account then editing the Category will be reflected in all the Accounts that have used that Category.  But it shouldn't affect other Categories in the file.

If the three Accounts will typically use different Categories, e.g., "Category 1" will only be used in one of the Accounts and not the other two, then I'm not seeing a problem beyond you making sure you use the right Categories with the right Account.  Is that the problem you're running into?  If it is, then maybe edit the Categories to be used in each Account by appending an identifier like "!", "2", "3", "A", "B", "C" or a shortened version of the Accounts' names. 

volvogirl

Categories are global and can be used by any account.  You can set up categories you want to use for a specific account. But they will still be available for all accounts.  The only way to have different categories is to have separate DATA FILES.  

Please explain more about "When I edit categories in one account it seems to affect them all."  How or what are you editing?  Give an example.  What kind of transactions?

Maybe TAGS will help you?  You can assign a tag to a transaction.

Tom Young

I'm not aware of any way of limiting a Category to only being used by one Account.

I don't understand this: "When I edit categories in one account it seems to affect them all."  If a Category is used in more than one Account then editing the Category will be reflected in all the Accounts that have used that Category.  But it shouldn't affect other Categories in the file.

If the three Accounts will typically use different Categories, e.g., "Category 1" will only be used in one of the Accounts and not the other two, then I'm not seeing a problem beyond you making sure you use the right Categories with the right Account.  Is that the problem you're running into?  If it is, then maybe edit the Categories to be used in each Account by appending an identifier like "!", "2", "3", "A", "B", "C" or a shortened version of the Accounts' names. 

volvogirl

Categories are global and can be used by any account.  You can set up categories you want to use for a specific account. But they will still be available for all accounts.  The only way to have different categories is to have separate DATA FILES.  

Please explain more about "When I edit categories in one account it seems to affect them all."  How or what are you editing?  Give an example.  What kind of transactions?

Maybe TAGS will help you?  You can assign a tag to a transaction.

DennisE

Thanks for your answers. Because my accounts each have a specific purpose, I was hoping I could hide or eliminate ones I don't need for each to streamline the categorization. For example, in my business account I don't need all those household, personal and auto categories. I like the idea of using the identifiers to easily get to the categories I need for each account. Appreciate your responses.

volvogirl

FYI - do you know this?  One thing I like to tell business people when starting out is...

For an income or expense category to show up under Business you have to assign it a Schedule C tax line number.  Go into Edit Category and assign it one.  If you need to see a schedule C, here's the blank form….
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040sc.pdf

You can either assign the tax line number to an existing category or you might want to set up a new category for it to keep the existing one under personal if you have the same expense for both personal and business.

To check the tax line assignment open the Category list by either clicking on the Category Icon or go to Tools-Category List or Ctrl+Shift+C.  Then select the category and right click on it to Edit it.  Click on the Tax Reporting Tab and check the box for Tax related and pick a Schedule C: tax line item.