Complaints about Quicken Classic for Windows [Edited]

mark2

I have been using Quicken Classic (Windows 10, Quicken Ver. R55.15 build 27.1.55.15) for a few years now. The program is clearly powerful…when it works. The list of problems which come and go (or never go) are manifold and difficult to elucidate or recall because of their shear volume and changing nature, but here's a short list of a few recent ones that I can remember:

• Quicken is agonizingly slow (no it's not my memory - 64Gb - or my computer - of course, you might be thinking of my brain instead - in which case you might have a point). In this day and age of relatively fast desktop computers and modern database management, this program is unforgivably slow, at least if you have more than a few accounts and transactions. I assume that the problem is a legacy one, and that it really needs a rebuild from the ground up, but who knows?
• one step update can [mess] things up
• accounts sometimes don't update correctly or at all with one step update
• restoring a backup for a [mess]ed up file which was [mess]ed up by one step update can [mess] up one step updating for some accounts
• updating historical data can really [mess] things up
• activating accounts in one step update after deactivating to fix a [mess]ed up one step update can take 5 - 10 minute during which time Quicken is not available
• loans don't always amortize correctly - especially, but not exclusively, if using one step update
• a recent one step update [mess]ed up 3 years of a balanced account making it a couple of hundred dollars out of balance. I pulled my hair out looking for the offending transaction(s) until I caved and restored a backup which, of course, [mess]ed up one step update accounts
• in short, one step update can be a multi-step, time wasting agony, but very useful when it works, which thankfully is most of the time
• entering a transaction into an investment account with many transactions leads to a change of focus to another program so that I need to click on the Quicken window to change the focus back so I don't type the next transaction into whatever program Quicken decided to give the focus to
• entering a transaction can take forever especially with reminders, investment accounts, checking accounts, loan accounts - well, I guess all accounts and every transaction…I have timed very simple transactions taking over a minute of Quicken grinding like mad doing I don't know what while the lights blink and transactions vanish and reappear and vanish and move around the register, and on and on, as it works
• if you manually change the 'cleared' state of a single transaction, you have to hit enter and then wait for Quicken to grind for a while before you can get on to the next transaction. However, if you highlight multiple transactions and change their cleared state, you don't need to hit enter.
• the overall program is not smoothly integrated in all of its various complex components…it appears to be a mashup of programs, acquired or internally developed, with oddly different shortcut keystrokes - or no associated shortcut keystrokes without obvious reasoning - this is especially so for the investing section.
• while it is well known that program updates for any type of program can occasionally have unintended consequences, with Quicken, it seems to be the rule - and the problems often are not a small nuisance, they can be a real pain [Removed - Profanity] trying to figure out what's broken and then remediating the problem
• validating and repair seem to be surprisingly efficient and often work, though, sadly it can also [mess] things up
• locking a memorized payee and checking 'never auto-categorize' does not always lock the payee or prevent auto-categorizing
• there is no way to prevent Quicken from creating a new memorized payee with splits where one without split transactions already exists.
• even though you've fixed a memorized payee or entered a new payee and hit enter, the work is not saved until you click 'done' for the entire list instead of Quicken saving the payee individually as the work is completed, which of course is the opposite of a check register, for example. And, since requiring you to hit 'done' for an entire list doesn't really make any sense in a normal workflow, if you naturally forget to hit 'done' for the entire list whatever you've done is undone.
• if you accidentally enter a positive value which should have been negative and then attempt to create a split, forget trying to change the type of transaction (debit v credit - 'adjust' doesn't work in this case) without deleting all of the split entries you arduously entered and starting all over.
• if you are entering an investment transaction, have typed in the date and moved over to the transaction type, realize the date is wrong and try to back up to the date, the investment type list will open after some grinding by quicken for 20 or 30 seconds at which point you can escape out of that and finally backspace to the date. you can also go forward and complete the transaction and then go back to the date, but you won't remember to do that since it's pretty natural to want to correct a mistake when you realize you just made one and it should only be one easy step away and so you'll try to back up to the date and suffer Quicken grinding seemingly endlessly
• in spit of the appearance of great flexibility, there is a significant lack of flexibility in some of the graphing functions and reports
• did I mention that Quicken is unforgivably slow
• …the list goes on, and I think that by now Quicken hopefully has finished the last transaction I entered, so I'll stop

NotACPA

WAAAAY too many complaints for me, at least, to even consider trying to assist you with them.

mshiggins

@mark2 were you wanting assistance with the issues you enumerated?

bradenarnold

[Removed - Violation of Community Guidelines]

Rocket J Squirrel

@bradenarnold

[Removed - Violation of Community Guidelines]

You are wrong. They are not employees and they can read.

mark2

I do appreciate the offers of help, but I was being tongue in cheek - I can (usually…) handle Quicken. My need/wish is that something, including a ground-up rebuild, would fix the inexcusable slowness and the incredible inconsistencies and failings of this software while capitalizing on its strengths…and thank you https://community.quicken.com/profile/bradenarnold for actually reading all the words and recognizing my intent and good luck with your next accounting program!

mshiggins

I did read all the words - there were a lot.

There has been many similar previous posts. Sometimes the post is intended as a complaint and sometimes the intent is to ask for help with the issues. I find it better to ask what the intent is rather than assume.

mark2

https://community.quicken.com/profile/mshiggins - thanks for reading (and I thought I was keeping it short!)…I know there have been many similar complaints - and even if I didn't know, it would still be a good guess given the size of the audience, the complexity along with the high aim of the software and the extremely aggravating, frustrating nature of the problems. While my programming days ended with Fortran, assembly, Cobol and C many years ago, it seems like someone should be able to replace this program with an equally powered, more efficient and integrated product.