Changing reminder - Payroll frequency

DR806

Windows Classic - Is it better to edit a paycheck reminder to permanently change payroll frequency, or end the old frequency and set-up a new one?

Paycheck reminders were setup years ago using the 'paycheck setup wizard'. Now the company is switching from semi-monthly to bi-weekly payroll.

I've had trouble with payroll reminders in the past. Something happened a few years ago and I had to re-enter all the payrolls from the first of the year to get the payrolls and the frequency straight, but I do not remember the specifics, I just know it caused a big issue. I do change the deductions and info like that all the time, but never touch the date, and obviously have never changed the frequency. So should I change the reminder (edit this instance and all future instances) or set-up a new one using paycheck setup wizard?

DR806

Okay, I have info that is CRITICAL if you are changing something about paycheck reminders! AND if you use Quicken Budgeting.

I have spoken with Quicken, with a very helpful support agent who listened and knew what happened, and helped. Quicken said the way to change the paycheck frequency is simply edit the paycheck reminder by right clicking an upcoming transactions or due transaction and select 'Edit this instance and all future instances'. Do NOT set up a new paycheck reminder!

Here's the crazy thing… If you use the budget capabilities of Quicken, which I do, once a paycheck reminder is set up, it can NEVER be deleted! Ever!!!! Else it deletes EVERYTHING from the budget. Everything meaning both the budget amounts and the actual amounts… since the beginning of that reminder! The transaction is not deleted from the transactions listing, but it IS deleted from the budget. My paycheck info, both budget and actual, was deleted all the way back to the first paycheck in Quicken in 2019!

Here is the get-around, the trick, so to speak: If you permanently leave your job, change the reminder (right click, 'Edit this instance and all future instances') to a yearly reminder, that way you only have to 'skip' it once per year. You can also edit the amount to zero. I know that sounds crazy, but Quicken support told me there is no way to delete future reminders without affecting the past budget! Quicken support also said anything about the paycheck reminder could be edited, so I suppose if you just change jobs, you can change the 'Company name' as well.

Ultimately, in my story, fortunately I took many backups, so I have re-installed the backup right before I deleted the old semi-month paycheck reminders. Unfortunately, I will have to re-enter all the transactions I entered on Saturday. Sigh.

NotACPA

With the change in frequency, I'd expect that ALL of the amounts would change also.

For example, your gross pay per period will now be 1/26th of the annual amount instead of 1/24th.

SO, I'd create a new paycheck transaction.

mshiggins

Just to be cautious, I would create a backup before working on the paycheck reminder.

DR806

Okay, so I followed what both of y'all said for answers. I created the new paycheck frequency and created several backups along the way… FORTUNATELY! Now the trouble has started, and it's serious.

I checked several things in Quicken along the way as I proceeded. And made backups each time, with description words in the backup as to what point I was at. And I checked the Tax Planner along the way. Once the new paycheck reminders were added using the paycheck setup wizard and everything looked good, I deleted the old paycheck reminder by going to the next future paycheck, right clicking, and selecting 'Delete this instance and all future instances'. And now ALL my previous paycheck info is missing from the budget, meaning both budget amounts and actual amounts, all the way back to the beginning of using Quicken in 2019!!!!! Then I remembered this was the trouble I had several years ago.

Any ideas how to fix this? I re-selected the company under Manage Budget Categories>Paychecks, but that did not bring back the info. Yes, I can go back to one of the backups, but now I am back to square 1. I will still need to add a new paycheck reminder and end the old one. Perhaps I should use the change reminder instead??? But what happens when someone needs to permanently end a paycheck??? This is ridiculous!

Frustrated with Quicken 🤬

DR806

Okay, I have info that is CRITICAL if you are changing something about paycheck reminders! AND if you use Quicken Budgeting.

I have spoken with Quicken, with a very helpful support agent who listened and knew what happened, and helped. Quicken said the way to change the paycheck frequency is simply edit the paycheck reminder by right clicking an upcoming transactions or due transaction and select 'Edit this instance and all future instances'. Do NOT set up a new paycheck reminder!

Here's the crazy thing… If you use the budget capabilities of Quicken, which I do, once a paycheck reminder is set up, it can NEVER be deleted! Ever!!!! Else it deletes EVERYTHING from the budget. Everything meaning both the budget amounts and the actual amounts… since the beginning of that reminder! The transaction is not deleted from the transactions listing, but it IS deleted from the budget. My paycheck info, both budget and actual, was deleted all the way back to the first paycheck in Quicken in 2019!

Here is the get-around, the trick, so to speak: If you permanently leave your job, change the reminder (right click, 'Edit this instance and all future instances') to a yearly reminder, that way you only have to 'skip' it once per year. You can also edit the amount to zero. I know that sounds crazy, but Quicken support told me there is no way to delete future reminders without affecting the past budget! Quicken support also said anything about the paycheck reminder could be edited, so I suppose if you just change jobs, you can change the 'Company name' as well.

Ultimately, in my story, fortunately I took many backups, so I have re-installed the backup right before I deleted the old semi-month paycheck reminders. Unfortunately, I will have to re-enter all the transactions I entered on Saturday. Sigh.

mshiggins

@DR806 thanks for the detailed info. It sounds crazy that a paycheck reminder can’t be deleted and crazier that Quicken support apparently knows about the issue.

mshiggins

"If you use the budget capabilities of Quicken, which I do, once a paycheck reminder is set up, it can NEVER be deleted! Ever!!!! Else it deletes EVERYTHING from the budget. Everything meaning both the budget amounts and the actual amounts. since the beginning of that reminder!"

I did a little testing and as a result of that testing I believe the above comment overstates the issue.

I believe that the reported problem only occurs when the user has budgeted for a specific Paycheck Reminder name (rather than budgeting for the individual categories in the paycheck). That is: when selecting categories for the budget, the user has clicked on the "Paychecks" group and chosen a Paycheck Reminder name - this effectively creates a budget for the net of the paycheck.

The name of a Paycheck reminder is not a true category, so if the user deletes the Paycheck reminder, Quicken no longer has any way to determine the budget "category" (the paycheck name) for that budget item. Deleting a paycheck reminder whose name is used in place of a budget category is equivalent to deleting any category that occurs in a budget, from the category list.

[If one budgets for the individual categories in a paycheck, there is no problem deleting the reminder for such a paycheck.]


When budgeting by Paycheck Name then:

If the existing paycheck reminder needs modification (change in gross pay and/or deductions; change in frequency; etc.), it appears the best way to deal with that is just to modify the reminder and keep its original name. It would be perfectly appropriate to leave the budget alone for that modified paycheck until the end of the calendar/tax year; but subsequent month's budgets can be changed for those who feel the need.

If it's decided that a new paycheck reminder is needed, retaining the original Paycheck reminder but preventing it from ever coming due, should retain the budget for that paycheck. 

The original paycheck reminder can be given a new name ("Paycheck-OLD" in place of "Paycheck", for example). If the original paycheck reminder is retained but superseded by a new paycheck reminder, then I think the simplest approach is to change the original paycheck reminder's Start On date to a date far in the future (12/31/2099 for example).

[When a user tries to delete a Category that is assigned to any transaction from the Category List, Quicken requires the user to confirm they want to delete a category that is being used by transactions: it would seem Quicken should do the same for Paycheck Reminders whose name is used in a budget.]

-JP