Using two databases in Business & Personal

EdandPeg

I have Business & Personal (BP) on my laptop for my small HOA (I'm the treasurer). I have Deluxe on my desktop for my personal use. I am thinking of upgrading to BP on my desktop. Will I be able to use both my personal database and the HOA database in BP on the desktop? Will BP open my personal QDF database for my personal use with all settings intact and then if I logout of personal can I reopen BP and use my HOA DB with those credentials? This way I can do everything on my desktop and in the event that someone else takes over the treasurer position I can just give them the HOA DB with the login credentials. I hope this makes sense. Thanks.

Boatnmaniac

Your questions make perfect sense and are good one to ask.

Will I be able to use both my personal database and the HOA database in BP on the desktop?

Yes.

Will BP open my personal QDF database for my personal use with all settings intact and then if I logout of personal can I reopen BP and use my HOA DB with those credentials?

Yes. You will not need to quit BP to switch between data files, but you could. If you have one data file open and wish to switch to the other, just go to Edit > Preferences > Quicken ID & Cloud Accounts > Sign in as a different user > Yes. This will close the data file you were using. You will be prompted to enter your Quicken ID and PW when you can enter the that information for the other data file. Then the other file should automatically open once the sign in process is completed.

What's nice about managing it the way you are inquiring about is that you will have 2 different Quicken ID accounts and subscriptions….one for your HOA and one for you. It keeps your personal use of Quicken at arms length away from your HOA use of Quicken. Then when the time comes you can simply pass off the HOA data file to your successor and they can simply download and install their own BP program using the same current HOA subscription. And you will still be able to retain and use the BP program on your own computer because you will have your own personal subscription.

Something you might want to consider: If you do not need the BP edition for your personal finances then you should not need to upgrade your personal Deluxe subscription. The software for all of the QWin editions is the same….they are all just a single program. The subscription turns on/off the various features that are applicable to each edition. So, you can simply keep your current Deluxe subscription and do the Sign in as a different user process. When you sign in with your personal Quicken ID and PW, Quicken will run as Deluxe. When you sign in with the HOA's Quicken ID and PW Quicken will run as BP. What's nice about this is you can start doing this right away without needing to burden yourself with the cost of upgrading.

I hope this helped. Let me know if you have any other questions.

splasher

Boatnmaniac covered all of the major things, but here is a little more food for thought for keeping your personal vs HOA Quicken Ids separate. It also makes it easier to hand over the books to the next treasurer.

Here is a suggested method of using two different editions or two different Quicken Ids on a single computer. The reason for this suggested method is that it prevents any confusion by Quicken of which Quicken Id is associated with a given data file and the Quicken Cloud Account information.

You already have both editions of Quicken installed. There is only ONE subscription Quicken program, the license decides which features (edition) are available.
You can switch between editions by going thru EditPreferencesQuicken Id, "login as different user".

To prevent hiccups in your separate data files, make sure that they are both uniquely named and switch between them using this process.
Create a dummy data file named something like go_between.qdf with no accounts in it, it is just for transitioning between the two Quicken IDs.
Now, you do NOT want to open your personal data file while the Quicken program is setup for the Club's ID and the same holds true for opening the Club's data file with your personal ID.
So, that is where the dummy data file comes into play. Lets say you are using your data file and now want to work with the Club's data file.

1. Open the dummy data file using either FileOpen Quicken file or picking it from the recent file list on the File menu.
2. Do EditPreferencesQuicken Id and then "login as different user" using the Club's ID.
3. Open the Club's data file using either FileOpen Quicken file or picking it from the recent file list on the File menu.
4. Do what ever you needed to do.

Now, when you want to work with your personal data file, follow the same procedure except substitute your personal data file and Quicken ID where you used the Club's information.
I suggest always returning the state of registration of Quicken to your personal Quicken ID and only have it in "Club mode" when it needs to be so that you don't inadvertently open your personal data file with the Club ID which would require you do do steps 1 & 2 again as 5 & 6 using personal ID.

Boatnmaniac

Your questions make perfect sense and are good one to ask.

Will I be able to use both my personal database and the HOA database in BP on the desktop?

Yes.

Will BP open my personal QDF database for my personal use with all settings intact and then if I logout of personal can I reopen BP and use my HOA DB with those credentials?

Yes. You will not need to quit BP to switch between data files, but you could. If you have one data file open and wish to switch to the other, just go to Edit > Preferences > Quicken ID & Cloud Accounts > Sign in as a different user > Yes. This will close the data file you were using. You will be prompted to enter your Quicken ID and PW when you can enter the that information for the other data file. Then the other file should automatically open once the sign in process is completed.

What's nice about managing it the way you are inquiring about is that you will have 2 different Quicken ID accounts and subscriptions….one for your HOA and one for you. It keeps your personal use of Quicken at arms length away from your HOA use of Quicken. Then when the time comes you can simply pass off the HOA data file to your successor and they can simply download and install their own BP program using the same current HOA subscription. And you will still be able to retain and use the BP program on your own computer because you will have your own personal subscription.

Something you might want to consider: If you do not need the BP edition for your personal finances then you should not need to upgrade your personal Deluxe subscription. The software for all of the QWin editions is the same….they are all just a single program. The subscription turns on/off the various features that are applicable to each edition. So, you can simply keep your current Deluxe subscription and do the Sign in as a different user process. When you sign in with your personal Quicken ID and PW, Quicken will run as Deluxe. When you sign in with the HOA's Quicken ID and PW Quicken will run as BP. What's nice about this is you can start doing this right away without needing to burden yourself with the cost of upgrading.

I hope this helped. Let me know if you have any other questions.

splasher

Boatnmaniac covered all of the major things, but here is a little more food for thought for keeping your personal vs HOA Quicken Ids separate. It also makes it easier to hand over the books to the next treasurer.

Here is a suggested method of using two different editions or two different Quicken Ids on a single computer. The reason for this suggested method is that it prevents any confusion by Quicken of which Quicken Id is associated with a given data file and the Quicken Cloud Account information.

You already have both editions of Quicken installed. There is only ONE subscription Quicken program, the license decides which features (edition) are available.
You can switch between editions by going thru EditPreferencesQuicken Id, "login as different user".

To prevent hiccups in your separate data files, make sure that they are both uniquely named and switch between them using this process.
Create a dummy data file named something like go_between.qdf with no accounts in it, it is just for transitioning between the two Quicken IDs.
Now, you do NOT want to open your personal data file while the Quicken program is setup for the Club's ID and the same holds true for opening the Club's data file with your personal ID.
So, that is where the dummy data file comes into play. Lets say you are using your data file and now want to work with the Club's data file.

1. Open the dummy data file using either FileOpen Quicken file or picking it from the recent file list on the File menu.
2. Do EditPreferencesQuicken Id and then "login as different user" using the Club's ID.
3. Open the Club's data file using either FileOpen Quicken file or picking it from the recent file list on the File menu.
4. Do what ever you needed to do.

Now, when you want to work with your personal data file, follow the same procedure except substitute your personal data file and Quicken ID where you used the Club's information.
I suggest always returning the state of registration of Quicken to your personal Quicken ID and only have it in "Club mode" when it needs to be so that you don't inadvertently open your personal data file with the Club ID which would require you do do steps 1 & 2 again as 5 & 6 using personal ID.

EdandPeg

Thank you both, Boatnmaniac and Splasher, for the very clearly written suggestions. I've used Quickbooks for many years in my business before I retired in 2007 and Quicken ever since. However, I've never needed to have two different data files. I've seen other postings with similar questions and I hope those others see these answers and are helpful to them. Again, a big thank you for your kind assistance. Happy Easter.