Do all Categories have to be either Income or Expense with QMac ?

Guy

I want to set up transfers between my business and personal account but the Category set up appears to require any category to be designated either income or expense. Am I missing something? Any ideas appreciated.

jacobs

You may find it clearer to make the Transfer column visible in your registers. In the Transfer column, simply select the account for the transfer. Leave the category field blank. (Quicken will automatically fill it with the transfer using the syntax "Transfer:[account name]".)

A transfer between accounts is neither income nor expense.

Using a category of just "Transfer" makes money appear or disappear from the account without moving it to another account.

Jon

Yes, all categories need to be either income or expense, but transfers don't need to be categorized so that shouldn't be an issue.

Could you be more specific about what you're trying to do?

MontanaKarl

If your business account is in the same Quicken file as your personal account, then you just use the Transfer category with the transfer account being one or the other of those accounts. Entering the transfer in one account automatically creates the matching transfer transaction in the other.

If the business account is in a separate file, Quicken or otherwise, and you simply want the funds to disappear from within Quicken, then use the Adjustment category to reduce or increase an account without the transaction being categorized.

Ps56k2

the catch is…. you can't have a [Transfer] AND a [Category] for the same single transaction …

So… you might need to create 2 transactions - one for the "withdrawal" and one for the "deposit"

Jon

@Ps56k2 Quicken Mac will let you assign a category to a transfer, but it's not a good idea.

Guy

Thank you all for your helpful comments. Unfortunately, Quick for Mac requires an assignment of either Income or Expense to all categories, INCLUDING "Uncategorized"! So not inserting a named category for my transfer transactions doesn't help because Quicken Mac requires even that mandatory auto-filled category be either income or expense. In answer to one of your questions about specifically what I am doing, I often transfer funds from a brokerage account (not tracked in Quicken) to my Quicken tracked checking account. I would prefer these transfers not be characterized as income or expense. I also transfer funds between two accounts that are tracked with Quicken but the same problem exists: must have a category or uncategorized and all of those are either income or expense. I presume I am out of luck on this issue but appreciate any ideas you all may have.

Jon

@Guy To transfer money between two accounts that are tracked in Quicken, put Transfer into the Category field along with the name of the account at the other end of the transfer, then it won't be logged as Income or Expense. Here's an example of an incoming payment on a credit card account coming from a checking account:

For money coming in from an account not tracked by Quicken, you could use the Transfer category without specifying an account name. Add a note in the memo field explaining where the money came from for future reference:

Quicken Mac won't let you create a Category that is neither Income nor Expense, but there are a few built in categories like Transfer that are neither one. You can take a look at the Categories window to find them.

Guy

Thanks Jon! This is much closer to what I need. I'll just use the "Transfer" category from now on. In my Quicken I cannot modify the Transfer category or its one subcategory of "Credit Card Payment" but just using the Transfer word alone without an income or expense status will do the job. Thanks much.

Jon

You don't need to create subcategories like "Transfer:[Checking]", you can append any Quicken account name to a transfer like that.

jacobs

You may find it clearer to make the Transfer column visible in your registers. In the Transfer column, simply select the account for the transfer. Leave the category field blank. (Quicken will automatically fill it with the transfer using the syntax "Transfer:[account name]".)

A transfer between accounts is neither income nor expense.

Using a category of just "Transfer" makes money appear or disappear from the account without moving it to another account.