How to get the Auto-Adjust selection for an ebill split to remain selected (Q Mac)

compusol

The Auto-Adjust selection button for an ebill split does not seem to work. For example, I have a utility ebill where only one of the split amounts is likely to change from one month to the next. I click the radio button next to the split line I want to Auto-Adjust and click Save, but on the next opening of the ebill details, the Auto-Adjust selection has reverted to the total amount, not the split category I selected. When the bill is posted, Quicken adds an Uncategorized split line for the difference, rather than adjust the category I selected. How can I make this selection work?

Quicken Kristina

Hello @compusol,

To assist with this issue, let's start with a quick explanation of how the feature works. The Auto Adjust feature is designed to help you edit splits quickly. When you first open the splits window on a bill reminder, it will default to the Total line, with the assumption that you intend to update one of the other lines and want the new total to reflect. The feature works only when the Splits window is open and will not prevent those Uncategorized lines from being added when your bill amount changes.

For the situation you describe, you're wanting to remove the "uncategorized" line that gets added to the split and have the amount automatically applied to the correct line.

To do this, first, set the Auto Adjust to the line you want to have automatically changed when you remove the Uncategorized line.

Once you have the line you want to have that set, click the minus sign next to Uncategorized to remove that line.

The Auto Adjust will then apply that amount to the line you selected.

I hope this helps!

compusol

I understand the how to. Unfortunately, my selection does not remain after I Save and then return to the split to check. The selection always reverts back to the Total button.

I can make the selection of the split I want, and click Save. All appears good so far. However, upon opening the split again always has the Total button selected, not the one I Saved.

And, the next bill always has an Uncategorized amount for the total difference.

compusol

Perhaps I am misunderstanding the feature. Does this feature only work when manually editing an already received eBill?

I hoped it would automatically change the split line selected when it received a new eBill. If that's not the case, then I suggest it as a feature for a future release.

jacobs

@compusol said: Does this feature only work when manually editing an already received eBill?

It only works when manually opening a transaction to edit splits, and only on a bill remi der/scheduled transaction. (Once you mark the instance as paid, the auto-adjust functionality doesn't appear.) As Kristina mentioned: "The feature works only when the Splits window is open and will not prevent those Uncategorized lines from being added when your bill amount changes." So in your case, with one fixed split and one variable split, you need to:

1. Open the schedule transaction for editing splits
2. Click the radio button next to the second split line with the variable amount
3. Click the minus sign next to the new uncategorized transaction
4. Pass Return to save the edited transaction

Once you do it a few times, you'll find it takes only a few seconds.

Now, is that as good as having it do this automatically? No. 😀 I think you should go ahead and create a new feature request: go to Product Ideas > Quicken for Mac Classic > Managing Account and Transactions and click the blue New Idea button. I'll say that I think it may be a fairly complex change to make, because the infrastructure would need to be changed to store a splits preference with every split transaction. And it would need to be made to work on Quicken Mobile & Web, which in turn requires that the same functionality exists in Quicken Windows. So it may be a bit of a long shot. But why not create the feature request and see if it goes anywhere? (Don't expect anything to happen for a long time; an Idea post has to amass 30 votes before it's even sent to the development team for evaluation, and then if they agree it's a desirable and do-able feature, they will put it on their schedule for design and programming work, which might be 6, 12 or more months further in the future.)

compusol

Ok, got it. Thanks for the explanation.

jacobs

@Quicken Kristina In typing my reply above, I tried to check Quicken Help to see if auto-adjust of splits for bill reminders was a good reference for this issue, and I was surprised to find it seems to not be mentioned at all in Quicken Help. Can you pass this on to the team which maintains Quicken Help to ask them to add exactly what you explained above to Help for Quicken Mac? Thanks.

Quicken Kristina

Thank you for your reply @jacobs,

I noticed the same thing yesterday and already sent the request to the proper channels.

Thank you!

compusol

I've found that once an eBill is received, I can no longer edit the splits, either in Bills & Income or the register. The total for an instance has been updated, but I can only view the splits for that instance in the register, not in Bills & Income. The register shows the correct total, but the splits don't add up. I assume once the bill is paid, the difference will show as Uncategorized.

From another post, it appears this ability to edit splits for a single instance has already been accepted for a future release.