Migration to Mac.

Trimedia

1) if I install QforM on my Mac and just start fresh with a new quicken file on my Mac and then manually setup my accounts to allow quicken to download the transactions from various banks, brokerages, and credit cards, will I still be able to download from the same institutions the same transactions if I’m keeping on quicken for windows incidence still active while I evaluate the quicken for Mac program?  I would want to download transaction to the Mac instance AND ALSO be able to download the same transactions to the quicken for windows instance as a parallel working version. 
2) I have many years of business, personal, and personal investments on QforW. If I migrate to QforM will it bring over all the investment cost data to QforM from QforW if I import the QforW file?
3) any idea when QforM might offer and invoicing feature?

Jon

1. AFAIK you can do this. I haven't done Windows & Mac side by side but I have done multiple Quicken Mac files and been able to download the same transactions to each Mac file.
2. I don't know what state conversions are in at this point - they added some business features to the Mac this summer but I don't recall anyone saying whether they were able to successfully convert business accounts from Windows to Mac since then. Since the Mac doesn't have invoicing you'd probably lose those. It sounds like you already have a Mac, and your subscription already covers both Windows & Mac, so give it a shot.
3. Quicken never announces in advance when things will be released, so all we can do is wait. Since they've already released some business features for the Mac this year I would expect them to add more next year, and invoicing seems like a logical next step.

jacobs

1) Yes, Quicken Mac and Quicken Windows are independent. You can have them both download transactions from the same institutions without problem or interference with each other.

2) Yes, with the caveat that data migrations are generally clean but occasionally are not. There are many thousands of Quicken windows users who have migrated to Quicken Mac, and investment transactions do generally transfer correctly. Do you have a current Quicken subscription for your Windows PC? If so, since it sounds like you have a Mac now as well as your old Windows PC, the best thing you can do is to install Quicken Mac — it's included in your subscription at no extra fee — do a test conversion of your data, and do some comparison between the two to see what discrepancies or problems you might have. Sometimes, it's a simple matter of deleting a placeholder transaction Quicken create, or adjusting an opening balance transaction. Sometimes there can be minor discrepancies in share holdings curie to rounding differences between the platforms. While most people have generally smooth data migrations, you can judge for yourself by trying it.

3) Quicken for Mac never had a "Business & Personal" (formerly "Home & Business") version until the end of last year. The version released then laid a foundation for creating companies and business categories, but lacked invoicing capabilities. The developers issued assurances that work on the business features was ongoing, and that invoicing was definitely planned. But when? Partway through this year, the developers sought public input on what features users needed/expected, indicating they were advancing in the design of more robust business features. And then it's been silent on this front for a number of months, which is likely a sign that the programmers had their heads down and were working of building the promised new functionality. Quicken will never say when new features will be released, because the schedule changes as priories shift and as unexpected problems are encountered. So none of us can say for sure when invoicing functionality will be released, but based on the events and elapsed time in this case, I would expect it to be fairly soon (e.g. within months, not years).

Chris_QPW

Note if you do the conversion, it would be very nice if you come back and report what did and didn't convert, because there is a very big gap in anyone reporting this.

On the investment account part, I think the one "gotcha" is the Windows option to show "cash transactions" in a checking account (for that investment account). Since Quicken Mac doesn't have such a feature there isn't any way that is going to be converted completely cleanly.

On the business side, I'm actually a bit amazed that the conversion can be done based on my limited knowledge of how both of the systems work.

Quicken Windows business seems to be founded on the concept that you have "business tags", and some special account types, and the fact that business tax is based on giving the transaction category the right tax line. Not sure how Quicken Mac even separates "business" and have seen no mention of the business account types supported. And the tax/business transactions are tied to a new field in the transaction, not a tag/category/tax line.

I'm sure someone puzzled over that for a very long time to make it all work.

jacobs

@Chris_QPW said: On the business side, I'm actually a bit amazed that the conversion can be done based on my limited knowledge of how both of the systems work.

Thanks for pointing that out. I didn't think about the business-specific features when I replied above. As noted, the business features which currently exist for Quicken Mac are new within the past year, and I have no idea how the data that's specific to Business & Personal currently transfers from Windows to Mac. I can't recall if I've seen any posts about this. And with more significant business features (clients, invoices, payments, etc.) on the way, we just don't know if the developers have conversion of such data integrated into what they are building. We don't know if what they are building is based on what exists in Quicken Windows or whether it's a clean sheet new design.

Trimedia

thank you for the swift feedback. I will attempt to run the programs concurrently. I will use a separate file for the new Mac instance. Test a few downloads and see what I get. Instead of setup up a brand new file I will attempt to use the current win file after having made a copy and brought it over to the Mac side of the house per the instructions provided by Quicken for such a task. I will report back my experience to the community as suggested.

jacobs

@Trimedia By trying to convert your Windows data file onto your Mac, you've got little to lose except some of your time. 😂

I want to note that the are differences — some small, some large — in the way Quicken Mac and Quicken Windows look and operate. Even with all your Quicken experience, there will be a bit of a learning curve to figure out out Quicken Mac's ins and outs, and to retrain your brain to do some things differently. My advice is to do this with an open a mind as you can; if you growl or curse every time something isn't where it was on Quicken Windows, or that Quicken Mac does a little differently, you will be destined for frustration and failure. In other words, instead of "this isn't the way it worked in Quicken Windows!" if you can frame things more as "this is what I'm used to doing in Quicken Windows; how do I accomplish that in Quicken Mac?" you will adapt faster and hopefully in the end make a successful transition. Best of luck!

SDSPIELMAN

@Trimedia I am a long-time Quicken user (started with Version 2 for DOS) of almost 40 years. I've just made the transition from Windows to Mac. I'm currently working with all types of accounts (including Loans, i.e., my mortgage) except Investment. I'm getting started with my investment accounts shortly.

So far I am ENTIRELY IMPRESSED with Quicken for Mac. I've been waiting for a decade for the Mac version to catch up. I had been using Quicken for Windows with Parallels on my Mac until a week ago. I highly endorse the transition at this point. There are some functional differences between the platforms. I did call support for help in setting up & saving my monthly mortgage loan transaction, but otherwise I've accomplished everything myself. I was never able to successfully use the Web access until I transitioned to Mac. Now I can share access with my wife (she only needs read-only, to view transactions & reports). My only complaint is I can't create subaccounts under my account, so I provided her with my user credentials. Not a hard work-around.

I converted my data file, which has accounts that date back from when I started on DOS. The conversion of the data file was extremely easy, with no substantive issues other than my Saved Bills & Income didn't come across. I had to recreate those transactions, but it was trivial and took about 15 min.

Once I get started with my old Investment Accounts I'll post an update.

Trimedia

Thank you all for your insights and guidance, and extending confidence to me in the time of transition.

i began the journey today of installing the QforM and converting the QforW data set, only to have my effort thwarted by the splash screen that indicated before converting my QforW data file i would first have to cancel ALL auto payments, and i would NOT be able to cancel or update these Repeating Online Payment in QforM later! how am i to leave my current data in place on my QforW data set so i have business as usual as i check out QforM on the newly installed version, if this is a requirement for the new data set? thank you for your suggestions.

jacobs

@Trimedia Well, apologies for saying you can just try to import the file and see how it goes. 😉 I wasn't aware of this Quicken windows functionality which doesn't migrate correctly to Quicken Mac. (At least it warned you and got you to pause!) I don't use online bill payments at all, and I haven't seen this mentioned before by users wanting to test the waters of a Windows → Mac conversion.

Do you have a large number of repeating online bill payments? If the number isn't too large, you could consider canceling them in Quicken Windows so you can try converting your data to Quicken Mac, and making those payments as stand-alone transactions in Quicken Windows for a month or two until you decide whether to stick with Quicken Mac or not. Perhaps someone who has migrated and faced this same issue will chime in if there's a better strategy.

Quicken Kristina

Hello @Trimedia,

To cancel repeating online bill payments in Quicken for Windows, I recommend that you backup your file, then follow these steps from this article on online bill payments:

Deleting Recurring or Repeating Online Payments

1. Choose Tools menu > Manage Bill & Income Reminders.
2. Click to select the repeating payment you want to delete.
3. Click Delete at the top of the scheduled transaction list.
4. Click Delete to confirm. 

I hope this helps!

Chris_QPW

That is an interesting development. When I think of this, I think the "Services" are going to be a weak point, especially as Quicken Mac gets more of these features. For instance, Sync to Mobile/Web for Quicken Mac and Quicken Windows are completely separate. The only reason I think that "works" is because Quicken will reupload the transactions in the new data file (and might lose some of the history).

When I think of things like online bills, Zillow, Credit Score, … it seems to me that these aren't things that can be transferred because the data file is connected directly to those services. As such, change platforms might always involve recreating the services (and deactivating them when needed in the old platform).

jacobs

@Chris_QPW I think it's logical that some of the services you mentioned aren't carried over in a migration from Quicken Windows to Quicken Mac. And it's not onerous to re-enable Zillow integration, for example. (FYI, credit scores isn't a feature in Quicken Mac. Since many credit card website now provide this information, I'm not sure how missed it is in Quicken Mac; I don't recall users clamoring for it.) Even if it's necessary to re-establish downloads from financial institutions, that's generally a one-time task that's not too problematic.

The feature mentioned above — recurring scheduled online bill payments — is the only one I'm aware of where a user needs to sever the connection (delete the recurring payments) before doing the Windows → Mac migration. It seems to not be a big problem for a user who has a handful of such payments, but a significant pain for a user who has dozens of such payments. Or problematic for a user whose Windows PC has died and who decides to get a Mac and import their Windows data file. Or, like the user here, someone who wants to migrate their Windows data to Quicken Mac but to continue to use Quicken Windows in parallel for a while.

In any case, I'm glad the Quicken Mac conversion process detects this situation and warns users exactly what they need to do to avoid problems.

Trimedia

sounds like there a myriad of services that may not trasnfer few that i think i use. however schedule auto repeate payments and the like seem to me to be core accounting/personal/business functions that would typically be needed. Am i understanding that the limitation would be that i just could not concurrently have both program have such activity as they would be replicative. that is making sense. so "Scheduled Transactions" and "Repeating Payments" would both fall into this bucket. that means the mortgage payments with the amortization history will also disappear? or just the schedule transaction? if so then will the data be trasnferred then i can start the auto scheduled transactions again in QforM in the same account thus maintaining all the historical data detail?

TonyKend

I have tired to do the migration from Quicken Business and Home to the Mac. For some reason one of my checking account files had numerous duplicate transactions to an extent it was 'off' by $500,000 or so. None of the reports transfer. I noticed some issues with the categories not moving as well. Most of the investment accounts look okay. Any idea why the checking account would have so many duplicates? Any idea how to clear then with out doing a one by one search? Probably nine years of data.

Chris_QPW

Are the duplicates in the checking account marked reconciled? If not, that might be a way to find them and delete them.

Trimedia

OHHH, see this new informatio from corporate!!!

Quicken Classic for Mac added support for integrated online backup and now offers a Security Detail View, account attachments, a securities watchlist, additional report customization, and loans to others. In addition, Premier users now have access to a capital gains estimator and real estate prices via Zillow. Users of Quicken Classic Business & Personal have an improved business dashboard and will soon have all-new invoicing and invoice tracking capabilities.

so, assuming this IS coming soon, is it (the version to be released) also converting my existing QforW invoices from the past so i don't loose continuity? if so, i will definitely wait to convert all my data.

Quicken REP, please let me know. Thank you.

jacobs

@Trimedia Quicken reps will never state when a new version will be released. If they follow their normal cadence, a new release is likely by the end of the month. The exact release date may depend even until the end on last minute testing and fixes. Based on the message from the CEO, we only know that it is "soon".

As for conversion of invoices, I would advise waiting and seeing. The Quicken Mac implementation of clients, products, taxes, invoices, etc. may or may not be completely compatible with how Quicken Windows works, and an updated conversion tool may not be one of the features of this soon-to-be-released first iteration of these features on Quicken Mac. You should get some answers "soon". 😉

Trimedia

understood.

TonyKend

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/comment/20467224#Comment_20467224

That turned out to be the case, duplicates from an old mortgage account. Once I figured out how to view reconciled transactions I was able to delete the duplicates. It turns out the ledger columns that I was used to seeing in my Windows side, needed to be turned on in the Mac version. Thanks for the insight.