Dashboard income and expense report not accurate

JEMH

How do I get the checking amount for CC transfer payments to be included in the summary report?

I like a quick snapshot of monthly income and expense which is on the dashboard. I use my checking and 2 credit cards (CC) accounts. My checking uses transfers to the CC so those amounts don't show as as expense. I need the CC expenses added in, but not the payment to the CC. If I preview only the CC accts, it has both income and expense, which I assume corresponds to the payment and the new charges.

How do I get an accurate expense report?

Snorkle

If you look at only a credit card account in an income and expense report then you will see the transfer for the monthly payment as income. However when you include both the credit card account and the account from which the credit card monthly payment is made, say a checking account, then the transfer payment is excluded from the income and expense report. You can check this out by running a spending report, say by category, and selecting credit card and checking accounts separately and together. It also may be of interest to look at the options for including transfers on the advanced tab for customizing the report. By default, I think, internal transfers are excluded. Those are transfers between accounts that are included in the report.

JEMH

Hmm. I get what you say. I see the advance tab and how it sorts, but that requires me to go though the detailed report for info.

My wish is that I can see the overall Income and Expenses graph on the dashboard with a simple summary of all income in registers/accounts (and the single checking is all I need) chosen next to all expenses including the CC transfer payment as a simple expense. I just want to know- how much did I spend vs how much did I bring in! If I need detail I can drill down. Can it be done? My bank no longer offers this snapshot number with their so called updated system - driving me crazy.

Snorkle

I used the raw report as a way to understand what was being reported in the dashboard panel. When both the credit card and checking accounts are included in the report or the dashboard the transfer payment is excluded. As it stands I found the data reported in the dashboard to reflect accurately my income and expenses when I tested it. I may not understand your concern but it appears to me that the dashboard is providing the right information by not including the transfer payments.

Frankx

Hi @JEMH

Amidst a lot of other things above, you said "I just want to know- how much did I spend vs how much did I bring in!" 

That is actually pretty close to what is known as a "cash flow report".  Quicken can produce cash flow reports that can be easily modified to your specifications (such as selecting the: accounts to include/exclude, categories, and time-frame (month and/or YTD).  You can even produce a report that shows this year's activity comparison to last year's.

As another option, you could try is the using the "Income & Expense" card on the Dashboard.  That can be modified to s degree to show the data you want but those modifications are more limited than what you can do with a report.

Let me know if you have any followups.

Frankx 

JEMH

Thanks. I'll need to audit my monthly bank statement (because it won't give me the answer without adding it up by hand! ERG) and then compare. Then I'll get back to you with where the discrepancy lies.

JEMH

Thanks Frankx and Snorkle. The I & E on the dashboard is what I want for my quick review. The Income each month are accurate in real time but the Expense are off by hundreds of dollars for the full months prior and in the current half month. It won't update. I can't find a corresponding expense or two to match the amount that is off.

I notice too that my primary checking account which was reconciled in January not has a differing online balance and ending balance with this mid-month download. I wonder if "pending" (although everything is cleared according to my bank) is in play. But I cannot see the option to check off pending items. There is no exclude pending button. So I don't know when that will align again. So frustrating!

Any other ideas?