Recurring Scheduled Payments doubled as +x.xx and -x.xx in budget "Reminder" transactions

mitch cohen

There were posts about this from ~March 2023 where the discussion was closed without resolution. I will submit a problem report as well, but placing it here to see if others are noticing this problem STILL.

I have many scheduled transaction and many are recurring with no end date. The future transaction (those included in Budget Transaction "Reminders") show as TWO transactions each, one a positive amount and the other an exact negative amount. See attached document for the entire story with images. The two problematic ones in that picture (YouTube TV & Apple (Apple TV+) are scheduled transactions that occur monthly on a specific day of the month and have NO end date.

Answers to common question(s):

• I do not have any idea when this began for my file because I haven't worked on my budget for quite a while (it EOY and here I am).
• I am Quicken Classic Premier R53.16 Build 27.1.53.16 on Win10 Enterprise.

I did figure one aspect of this bug out … this pattern of duplicate +/- amounts for the same Scheduled transaction ONLY occurs when the transaction is in the CURRENT MONTH. If I take a recurring reminder in the current month that has this duplicate +/- problem and simply move the reminder to the first day of the NEXT month, that reminder (the same one) does NOT exhibit this bug. If I then move it back to the

current month, the bug reappears.

Another note: I cannot reconcile the “Total” either. To date, I have spent $604.01 (running a regular report that is correct). If you add any of the totals under reminders, there is no way to get to $617.99. So … The total is not being calculated correctly (even with the errant transaction/values under “Reminders” which total $26.67).

Quicken - Budget Reminder Transactions 'duplicates' bug.pdf

Quicken Kristina

Hello @mitch cohen,

To troubleshoot this issue, I suggest that you try validating and/or super validating your data file.  Please save a backup file prior to performing these steps.

Validate: 

1. File
2. Validate and Repair File...
3. Validate File
4. Click OK
5. Close the Data Log
6. Close Quicken (leave it closed for at least 5 secs)
7. Reopen Quicken and see if the issue persists.

If the issue persists, proceed to Super Validate. If the issue is resolved after performing validation, then please disregard the instructions to Super Validate.

Super Validate:

1. File
2. Hold CTRL + Shift and click Validate and Repair File...
3. Super Validate File
4. Click OK
5. Close the Data Log
6. Close Quicken (leave it closed for at least 5 secs)
7. Reopen Quicken and see if the issue persists.   

Please let me know how it goes!

mitch cohen

@Quicken Kristina … Hi. I followed your instructions perfectly and the bug remains. No change. Did you review the PDF I attached above? This is clearly a bug that, for some reason, on appears for "Reminder" transactions that appear in the current month AND, though I can't explain it, the Total in this pop-up does not sum the values correctly. I DID report this bug using the "Report a problem…" button, but that function does not allow me to attach a PDF (which makes this bug very easy to reproduce and will give developers a clue about the cause).

Quicken Kristina

Thank you for your reply,

I did view the PDF you attached, but I wasn't able to replicate the issue in my Quicken. Aside from the scheduled transaction needing to be the current month, are there any other special conditions needed to trigger this issue?

I suggest that you try creating a copy of your data file, which will rebuild all of the internal lists and database tables (and can correct some issues a Validate/Super Validate cannot). If successful, you would then move forward with the copied file. To create a copy, please navigate to File > Copy or Backup File... > Create a copy or template (see examples below) which will also allow you to select a date range to move forward with.
If you wish to move forward with your entire data file, please check the full date range of your entire data file before copying so you can enter the correct date range if you do not wish to "shrink" your file by eliminating certain dates.

It's important to know that all online services will be disconnected in the copied file, and you will need to sign back in with your Quicken ID and reconnect all of your online accounts, online billers, Quicken Bill Manager services, etc if you plan to use that copied file going forward. The reason for this is that the new copy also creates a new and separate dataset ID.

If the issue is not resolved in the copied file either, then feel free to switch back to your original file.

Thank you!

mitch cohen

@Quicken Kristina … OK … I did as you suggested. Now I look at the full copy file and the issue does not exist AND I now look at my original file and the issue does not exist (it did exist before I did the copy!). Since my budget ends in 2023, IF the problem persists, I won't be able to see it again until I create a budget four 2024 and see the Reminders play out for the remaining 12 months.

But … the other problem: The total does not add up!

The actual transactions (when I run a report for this category which, by definition, does not include reminders), total exactly: $683.99. If you add the reminders below, the total should be: $786.65

If I change ONLY ONE scheduled transaction for "Apple (Apple TV+) for Dec. 26 from 9.99 to 10.99, the total changes to $694.98 when it should be 683.99+ 10.69+8.99+72.99+10.99 OR $787.65. Yet … see below. It is not correct.

AND … the monthly average is definitely incorrect. If I total each month through November and divide the total by "11" the average should be $62.18 … not "$53" as you see above. If I total each month of the year and include Reminders for December (as you see there), the total is $683.99 … divide by "12" and the "Monthly average" should be $65.55. The monthly average is incorrect.

I will return to the first problem in this post after the new year begins to see if the problem re-appears. These doubled (+/-) Scheuduled payments are clearly a bug somewhere because it has been reported to Quicken NUMEROUS times in this forum.

Quicken Kristina

Thank you for your reply,

I recommend that you contact Quicken Support directly for further assistance as they have access to tools that I do not, and they can escalate the situation as needed.  The Quicken Support phone number can be found through this link here. Phone support is available from 5:00 am PT to 5:00 pm PT, Monday through Friday.

I apologize that I could not be of more assistance!