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How to track a HELOC in Quicken from beginning to end

dsaunderswa

Last year I setup a Quicken Account for a HELOC under Personal Liability. I ended up not using it more than a few months because interest was so high. I paid it off. Now Quicken does not show any details except "This loan is paid off."

What can I do to show in Quicken the details of this loan, i.e. original amount, interest rate, payments? Should I re-create the account in a new way? Maybe like a credit card but call it HELOC?

Has anybody had experience with this and can offer guidance?

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[Deleted User]

@dsaunderswa - How did you set up the account? There is an account setup available for HELOCs that sets it up like a credit Card. It is under the "Offline Account" tab -

When you go through the set up process, it set's it up like a credit card account which I feel is more appropriate because it is more like a revolving credit account than a loan. The only difference is that a HELOC has a maturity date.

dsaunderswa

I don't remember how I set it up. But it sounds like I could set up a new account using the account setup you're pointing to and then I could simply delete the old one. By setting up a new account, I will be able to backdate everything to the original dates, right?

[Deleted User]

@dsaunderswa - Yes you can backdate any transaction, but first I would deactivate online services in the old account and see if transactions show up in that account. Then I would verify the account type of the old account. If the account type is "Credit". Then there is no need to set up a new account. Just by deactivating online services solves your issue.

If the account type is anything else, then a new account is needed. Before deleting the old account, use a "Move" command to move all of the transactions to the new account. Once you have verified that all of the transactions have moved over and reconcile, you can delete the old account.

**Caveat in using the Move command — it is best to change the reconciliation status of all transactions to uncleared (get rid of the "R") before moving transactions. Also if you have any transfer transactions, they might be deleted in the transfer account. So, if you have only a few transactions in the old account, it might be easier to manually update them in the new account before you deleted the old one.

dsaunderswa

The HELOC account is closed since I paid it off and closed it after only having a few months of charges/payments. But the Checking and Savings accounts I used to transfer money to pay it off are still open and the category I used for the transfers was one I created: HELOC as a subcategory of Loan. I like the idea of creating a new account as a "Credit" type backdating it to the same date as when I created the HELOC "loan" type.

After reading your response a few times, I wondered if there was a way to simply change the account type from "loan" to "credit". Nope. That's unfortunate. I guess you already knew that.

So now I'm wondering if these are the steps I need to take (tell me if this makes sense or am I over complicating it):
1. Create a new Account: HELOC XXXX (under Personal Credit where my credit cards are in Quicken). This should add a new Account under the "All Transactions, Banking" column in Quicken. That's where my checking, savings and credit cards are listed. Then, I think I can make it all manual entries so that I can backdate and enter the amounts (charges & payments).
2. Create a new Category: HELOC Credit Line Payment
3. Open the Checking and Savings Accounts to where I show transfers to the old HELOC Loan and change the Category from HELOC Loan Payment to HELOC Credit Line Payment.
4. Lastly, the question of whether I Delete the HELOC Loan Account from Accounts List or simply hid it from the "All Transactions" column. It's closed and all it shows is that it's closed with no transactions in its Quicken register/page.

Thank you. I appreciate the time and effort put into helping with this confusing topic.

[Deleted User]

@dsaunderswa my very first question before looking at your details was, if the HELOC is closed why bother with all of the complicated steps? Then my second question was - is the HELOC really closed? Just because you paid off the HELOC doesn't mean that it is closed. They usually have a maturity date which corresponds to your mortgage payoff date.

I think before any of your steps are started. We need to determine if the HELOC is really closed (matured). The second thing to do is deactivate online services for the existing account. If you had online services set up for this account, I am thinking that deactivating might bring back your account register.

dsaunderswa

Good questions. I appreciate your asking them.

Yes, the account is closed and property released. No loan, no maturation date. It was only opened for 3 months. Poor timing (rates high) and didn't like having that lien attached to my home.

The only reason I thought I should have this documented in Quicken correctly is because a portion of the HELOC paid for my home office improvement expenses and I want to be sure my business expenses are documented correctly. I guess my Excel spreadsheet documentation would be enough for an IRS audit.

In your opinion, should I leave the HELOC as a paid-in-full Loan account and not try to re-create the HELOC using the steps I outlined?

[Deleted User]

@dsaunderswa You need to deactivate online services if you haven't done so, and then one additional question before I can give a final answer — Can you see a transaction register in the account?

dsaunderswa

The credit union already deactivated online services for the HELOC account since it closed. However, I opened the Quicken transaction register and deactivated it there as well. And yes, I do see Payment Details in the Transaction Register.

[Deleted User]

@dsaunderswa - If it is a full account register that shows all transactions you need (home office improvement, business expenses) and reconciles to zero appropriately, there is nothing more you need to do. Deactivating online services, converted it back to an "offline" loan with an account register.

If the original HELOC's account register doesn't show you what you need, then the steps you outlined would be appropriate and the original HELOC deleted.

dsaunderswa

This has been a very helpful discussion, QuickUserPSP. Again, I appreciate your questions to help me clarify what it is I'm needing.