Downloaded payments post to same account

Fred Schneider

When I download checking account payments, Quicken mostly categorizes them as payments back to the same account - I spend considerable time having to match transfers to credit card accounts by removing the transfer category on the checking account, then going over to the credit card and posting it to the checking account...then it prompts me asking me if this is the same transaction (same dollar amount, sometimes differing dates). I don't know if the AI can be improved to match these transfers/payments, but at a minimum it would be helpful if they just downloaded with a blank category so it would save me a step in reviewing the transaction.

UKR

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.

Fred Schneider

Of course, I realize that would work...but it saves a lot of data entry time to download them first and then review/edit the downloaded transactions. It would be better to have no category entry on a downloaded transaction than assuming it gets posted to the same account.

Tom Young

"When I download checking account payments, Quicken mostly categorizes them as payments back to the same account"

That shouldn't be the case.  Quicken should be able to use information from the Memorized Payee List to at least make a guess at the Category(s) to use for frequently-used Payees.  You might want to check your Preferences for using and creating Memorized Payees.  You can "train" Quicken in your editing process.  Once you've entered the correct Category(s) for each payment press {Ctrl}-m to make Quicken memorize that transaction.

"I spend considerable time having to match transfers to credit card accounts by removing the transfer category on the checking account, then going over to the credit card and posting it to the checking account..."

I don't understand why you're doing what you're doing here.  IF a payment, downloaded as a Transfer back into the checking Account, is really a transfer to a credit card Account, THEN correcting the Category box to direct the payment to the credit card Account and pressing Enter should place that payment into the appropriate Account.  There should be no need to first enter the payment over in the checking Account.  That also gives you the opportunity to memorize the correct accounting for the transfer right in the checking Account.

Of course the absolute best way to get transactions properly recorded in Registers is to enter them manually when you make the payment and have Quicken confirm that by a Match to a subsequent download.

Memorized Payees can't, in and of themselves, guarantee correct accounting (Categorization) but should result in a robust drop down list of frequently used Categories that you can quickly pick when accepting transactions.