How to transfer an account from one quicken file to another

jeffrub27

I've been keeping the transactions for a couple accounts for one of my kids and would like to start a new file for her with just these 2 accounts in it. What is the best way to transfer the data in my file for these two accounts to her new quicken file?

The accounts are connected online, but they will not download as far back as the data I would like to transfer.

Thanks for your help!

Tom Young

See this:

https://www.quicken.com/support/move-transactions-between-quicken-accounts

It covers moving Account between different files.

jeffrub27

Yea I saw that post, but it does not work. I've tried several times copying old file account transactions using that method, but when I close the file I copied from and open the file I want to copy to, paste is greyed out. I've even tried it with just one transaction, but it does not work.

splasher

Use the File→Copy (Create a Copy or Template) process to make a copy of your current data file. Name the copy as appropriate to signify it is the kid's file. This copy will have ALL of the Online features disabled and a new Quicken File ID to keep Quicken from thinking it is just another copy of your current file, but a new, different file. That last part is VERY important if you use QMobile/QWeb since Quicken will try to do updates to one file into the other file since it thinks they are the same file.

Yes, you will have to re-establish the Online Banking connections in the kid's file, but all of the history will be there.

Now, in the new file, delete all of the accounts that are not the kid's accounts.

Whether you delete the kid's accounts from your file is up to you, but I would remove them since they are not part of your finances and you don't want them mixed in with your info for your tax records/reports.

NOTE: If you made any Quicken transfers from your accounts to the kid's accounts, when you delete the accounts, the category in those transactions will change from the matching account name involved in the transfer to something like "Deleted account", but that is okay, it just signifies that the other half of the transfer doesn't exist any longer.

Boatnmaniac

@jeffrub27 - What types of accounts are you trying to move to the new data file…checking, savings, investment, etc.?

jeffrub27

A savings and a brokerage account.

Boatnmaniac

Another means (vs @splasher's suggestion) for doing this:

1. In your main data file: File > File Export > Quicken Format Transfer (.QXF) file > note where the export file will be saved and what the name of the file will be > Save.
2. File > New Quicken File > OK > give the file a unique name > Save > unless she will be using Mobile or Web (not recommended), select "Don't use Mobile or Web" > Add Account > Cancel > File Import > Quicken Format Transfer (.QXF) file > browse to where the QXF file was saved in #1 and click on that file > Continue.
3. You should now see all your Spending and Investment accounts from your main data file in this new file.
4. If you have any transfers from your accounts to your daughter's accounts you will want to replace those transfers with appropriate categories. For example, if the category field for a transaction in your daughter's savings account shows a transfer from your checking account you might want to change that to an Income category in your daughter's savings account that you could call Gifts Received. You can do this now or you can wait until after #6.
5. Tools > Account List > if you see a box for "Show hidden accounts", check it > select one of your Accounts (not your daughter's) > Edit > Delete Account > Yes > OK.
6. Repeat #5 for each of your other accounts so that when completed only your daughter's accounts will remain.
7. If you did not previously change transfers into/out of your daughter's accounts to categorized transactions, you will want to do that now. The transactions affected will show [Unspecified Account] for the category.
8. In your daughter's savings account: Enter the dollar amount of the Opening Balance transaction into the Memo field of that transaction and save it.
9. If her savings account was previously set up for download it will likely still show that it is set up for download. Try doing OSU or Update Now to see it is still set up for download. Depending on the type of connection, you might need to do Reset Account or Deactivate/Reactivate it to get the setup link functioning properly, again.
10. Once the download setup for her savings account has been completed, take a look at the dollar amount of the Opening Balance transaction. If it does not match what you had previously entered into the Memo field, correct it to match what you had entered into the Memo field.
11. If you want the Investment Account set up to do downloads you will need to do that via Add Account or Set Up Now because the setup information from your main data file will not have transferred over.

I think that about covers it. Let me know if you have any questions or run into any issues.

Ps56k2

I would vote for the COPY method outlined by @splasher -

Pretty straightforward - just make sure you do the copy from within Quicken and NOT from a simple Windows copy.

jeffrub27

Yes, thanks everyone. I used the copy method and have deleted all of the accounts from the copy except the two I wanted to keep in my kids file. Since I have a few hundred accounts in my quicken file, it took quite a long time, about 3 hours ;-( but it's done now. I know sounds strange, but my file dates back to 2005 and has everything I've done in since ;-) Thanks.

Ps56k2

why exactly do you have …

a few hundred accounts ?

jeffrub27

I have 4 kids, they all went to school, I had car loans, school loans, home loans, many different investment accounts/assets, rental properties etc. Really not that unusual to have that many accounts over a 20 year period ;-)

BTW, I do have just the two accounts in the one file I created my kid, but just noticed that the size of the quicken file is just as large as the copy. Maybe she can live with this forever, but not really a good solution for her, maybe I just don't tell her ;-) Any idea on how to slim it down? I have removed all of the stocks I've owned over the years and many of the categories she won't use. But the file does not seem to ever shrink.

mshiggins

@jeffrub27 use the Copy process @splasher recommended once more. This time through it will clean up all the unused space from the accounts that are no longer in the file.

Rocket J Squirrel

@jeffrub27

BTW, I do have just the two accounts in the one file I created my kid, but just noticed that the size of the quicken file is just as large as the copy. Any idea on how to slim it down?

Yes, and you'll probably laugh, but the answer is to do another File Copy within Quicken. All the stuff you deleted is still in your kid's file, it's just marked deleted. The File Copy will recreate the database, leaving behind all the deleted stuff.

jeffrub27

LOL, Ok I will try that now. I had thought about following those other instructions of copying the transactions from my new kid file to a new file, but tht did not work again. I will try that copy method again.

jeffrub27

Wow, what a cluster. Each method seems to get me to a point where I just have more problems so I have to decide which way is best (of the worst). When I make a copy, I still get a huge file, yes it is about 1/3rd less, but much larger than it should be. When I create a file from scratch, it is about 2M, the copy is 75M and the file before the copy is 275M.

However, the copied file that is 75M won't create the Fideltiy accounts property. There is a brokerage/checking account but it duplicated the funds in a money market as cash in the cash account so it is way off and I can't seem to get that to work correctly.

When I try to create a new file from scratch and add the two accounts, a CC and the brokerage account, I cannot download everything. The CC I can go back far enough (and recategorize everything), but I can't get Fidelity transactions more than 90 days. I did find some posts that said to use that method in the online center, but that does not work. Neither does copyng transactions from the copied file, like I tried in the beginning …

Now I am looking at creating a CSV file export from the Quicken copy file and converting that to QIF. Anyhow, my other kids keep laughing and say to give up on Quicken and use something else, so sad ;-(