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Account Specific automatic renaming, category assignment, etc. [Edited] + 46 Legacy votes

JohnnyMac

Hello all,

I have been using Quicken for almost 20 years, and now on Mac for about 10.

My question is this:

Is there currently a way per account (if desired) to automatically rename a download Payee name and set the category / transfer all at once?

Example:

Account 1: When downloaded, the bank says "Interest Charged to Standard" and gets set to Fees & Charges (not sure if that is really correct or not).

Account 2 When downloaded, the back says "INTEREST CHARGE:PURCHASES - nnnn" and gets set to Fees & Charges (not sure if that is really correct or not).

Desired outcome:

If Account 1 download payee = "Interest Charged to Standard" then update payee name to "Account 1" and update Category to "Loans & Interest" else end

If it works this way, I am not sure I am seeing how to do it. Any suggestions or feedback would be appreciated.

If this isn't a current feature, PLEASE add this function.

-john

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Comments

UKR

At this time, there is no automatic way to do the renaming and recategorizing that you want.

Personally, I would define and use Scheduled Transaction Reminders with the desired Payee Names,
e.g., "Account 1 Interest Charge", Category "Loans & Interest",
"Account 2 Interest Charge", Category …

When the charge is due, record the reminder with the correct amount.
When the charge transaction appears in a download, drag and drop the downloaded transaction over the one created by the reminder, to eliminate the apparent duplicate charge.

If the bank or credit card company sends you Federal tax forms for the interest charges, be sure to use (or define) a Category which uses the proper Tax Line Item for these interest charges. You want these amounts to appear in your Tax Schedule and Tax transfer reports.

jacobs

Maybe I'm misunderstanding. If you get one Payee in Account 1 and a different Payee in Account 2, then you can create renaming rules to set the Payee name in each case to what you want it to be, and then a QuickeFill rules to set the category for each Payee to what you want it to be.

But what isn't possible is if you have the same Payee name in two different accounts, and you want to create a QuickFill rule for a different category depending which account it's in. That capability had been requested in a previous Idea thread years ago, and the developers marked it as "Not Planned" at that time and archived the thread. Your request here starts the process again, as the developers might consider it now even though they didn't a few years ago. In order to get submitted to the developers for consideration, users need to vote for this Idea (in the yellow box above).

Chris_QPW

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/comment/20478526#Comment_20478526

From what I gather @JonnyMac is asking for exactly what the Quicken Mac Developers said they wouldn't implement. As in the ability to control the renaming rules (and thereby the QuickFill rules) by account.

And I think the response from the Quicken Mac developer was pure BS. They clearly know what account they are in when the renaming rules are being applied, and they are clearly accessing the renaming rules, so all that is needed is an extra field in the renaming rules for an optional account(s), to filter by.

Note that even though it hasn't been implemented in Quicken Windows, they have at least said it was under consideration, not just a "its impossible" kind of statement.

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/7854603/memorized-transactions-or-renaming-rules-by-account-2-merged-votes

And there are other Quicken Mac threads still floating around with this request.

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/7958773/rename-and-quick-fill-rules-should-include-an-account-filter

But at present, for both the workaround is the one @UKR gave, by having reminders put in the transaction/payee you want and then the downloaded transaction will be matched to it.

jacobs

@Chris_QPW To clarify, when I said what isn't possible, I meant "what isn't possible in Quicken Mac currently", not that building such a feature would be impossible. The developers' feedback to the prior (and now-archived) request for this wasn't that it was impossible, but that it wasn't something they were not planning to tackle at that time. That doesn't mean that a few years down the line, they won't reconsider it — which is exactly why the moderators have left this new Idea open for voting.

(I'd note that account-specific renaming or QuickFill rules would probably need to be a feature defined across all of Quicken's platforms, because it would need to be able to work in the mobile app and web interface, and since those are shared between Quicken Mac and Windows, the Mac and Windows and Mobile teams would have to agree to implement it. Not impossible, but not fast and easy to implement.)

Chris_QPW

I really don't see why one platform couldn't implement it when the others don't. Yes, it would be nice to be consistent, but I don't see it as a requirement. This something that happens at the program level, not on the server, and the end result is just a transaction in a register.

jacobs

This something that happens at the program level, not on the server, and the end result is just a transaction in a register.

@Chris_QPW Really? I thought that rules need to be implemented on Quicken Cloud as well. If I'm using Quicken on the Web or the mobile app, Quicken Cloud downloads new transactions and shows them to me; are you saying that they will not be renamed or categorized because my rules don't exist on Quicken Cloud? And that those transactions will then be changed when I sync to my desktop file? That doesn't sound right to me. (I don't use Quicken Cloud at all.)

Chris_QPW

There are many inconsistencies in all of the "Apps". There are features in Quicken Web that aren't in Quicken Mobile, just as there are in Quicken Mac and Quicken Windows.

It is entirely possible to implement account filtering in renaming rules without implementing it in Quicken Mobile/Web. At the most that would be required is for the "Quicken Cloud server" to ignore the new field (something that I hope they put in their design from the beginning).

Should they be made consistent? Absolutely! But if the each of the development teams aren't going to do anything until all of the groups are ready to implement it, then nothing would ever get done.

And let's put this in perspective for this exact feature. Say you are on Quicken Web, and it hasn't implemented that feature (note that currently your renaming rules and "memorized payees" are synced to Quicken Web, (I notice they used Quicken Windows naming for this feature, inconsistency right there)). You download transactions in the Quicken Web (or more precisely Quicken Web views your transactions from the Quicken Cloud server) and it applies the rules without the account filtering, you end up with a transaction with a given payee and category. What happens with that transaction when you get back to the Quicken desktop?

"Syncing doesn't" go through any of the normal user processing. That transaction will just "appear" in the Quicken Mac/Windows register with whatever payee and category was selected in Quicken Web. BTW this one of the main reasons I dislike "Sync to Cloud" it is done entirely in the background with no possibility of the user controlling any aspect of it other than what accounts to sync.

If I reverse the situation, you first download the transaction into the register and Quicken Windows/Mac does the renaming based on an account filter. You now have a transaction with a given payee and category. When you "Sync to the cloud" that transaction with the given payee/category now just appears in Quicken Web.

I guess maybe you were thinking that if you changed it in Quicken Web, you would get another chance to go through the normal downloading of the transaction in Quicken, right? Well, actually the answer is "maybe".

It all depends on the sequence of downloading to syncing.

What I described in the first situation would be if the first actual when you get to Quicken Mac is to sync, then the transaction would "just be there". On the other hand, if you downloaded first, I believe you would have the chance to go through your normal processing which if it had account filtering that would apply.

And of course, the BIG question, then what happens to the changed transaction that was done in Quicken Web?

I haven't tested this extensively, but I believe the "last one changed" wins, and as such if it was, download into Quicken Mac, and then sync the one in Quicken Mac would win. But reverse it, and you don't get to "review it", it is just there. Or more precisely the "review happened in Quicken Web" and carries to Quicken Mac.

Douglas Alden

Make it possible to set category rules that are specific to individual accounts. For example:

I would like the Same Vendor Name that hits one Credit Card-A to be labeled Category-X but when it hits a different Credit Card-B for that same vendor to be labeled Category-Y.

UKR

Neither Q Mac nor Q Windows can do what you're asking at this time.

As a workaround, it might be best if you manually recorded these transactions in your respective business or personal account registers BEFORE downloading these transactions from the banks.
This way you can have correctly categorized transactions in your registers and the download will not mess that up.
Use distinct Payee Names to avoid confusion, e.g., "Home Depot (X)", "Home Depot (Y)" where (X) and (Y) refer to, e.g., your personal house vs your rental property.

jacobs

[EDITED after two threads were merged] I've noted above that there was a previous Idea thread about this functionality, and it was rejected by the Mac development team a few years ago as something they were not planning at that time. But… that was a few years ago, and as they have delivered a lot of features and constantly re-evaluate their development plans for the future, they are open to re-considering it now — if this idea attracts enough votes.

(And there is an identical request for Quicken Windows which currently has an "Under Consideration" status. Because categorization rules exist in Quicken Cloud for mobile/web users as well as the desktop programs, it seems likely that the infrastructure for this would be implemented for Mac, Windows and cloud around the same time if management decides to implement it.)

In short: if you would like to see account-specific rules implemented, add your vote for this Idea in the yellow box under the first port above.

jacobs

Updating this thread with the news that Quicken Windows is now adding (June 2025 release) the ability to set rules based on Account or Amount or both:

So if, as discussed earlier in this thread, the reason for not implementing this in Quicken Mac had anything to do with Quicken Windows and Quicken Cloud, that obstacle now appears to be gone. 😀 However this Idea requires a lot more votes from users to be considered by the Mac developers.

JohnnyMac

Thanks all for your input. I agree this is a HUGE miss by Quicken and an easy concondition to build in a win to have global or account specific rules.

I am geginning to becoming disenchanted with Quicken and exploring possible alternatives.

https://wallethacks.com/best-quicken-alternatives/

Chris_QPW

For what it is worth this got implemented in Quicken Windows recently.

Memorized Transactions or Renaming Rules by Account (2 Merged Votes) — Quicken

JohnnyMac

@Chris_QPW maybe it will make to the Mac Version someday.

Chris_QPW

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/comment/20506712#Comment_20506712

Yes, hopefully it will. The main reason I mention it here is that one of the reasons stated that it couldn't be done is consistency with the Windows/Mobile/Web apps. Well, clearly that excuse is no longer true.

majorgear

This would be a great feature. I have several products from a bank - savings, checking, credit card, insurance, and biller or payee name is different for each product. I'd like Quicken to rename the different payees to a common name like "My Bank" but use the downloaded payee name to determine the category.

This way, I get the convenience both the renaming and the automatic categorization features. For the moment, I'm renaming the payee to things like "My Banks Insurance" and "My Banks Credit Card" so that automatic categorization still works.

Hopefully that makes sense.

drrobins1

Ran into a problem. I have several checking accounts at BofA. Due to a QuickFile Rule about my Fidelity transfers. the same transfer transaction occurred in the BofA account it was sent to, as well as other account that was no supposed to have the transaction.

Support traced it down to the QuickFile Rules being global. This means I cannot have QuickFile Rule for Fidelity transfers and will have to enter the category manually every time in each account.

I suggest having global as well as local rules to prevent this from happening. And for a new category entry in a transaction, when asked about making it a QuickFile Rule, to have checkboxes for assign to global or local use.

drrobins1

Support traced it down to the QuickFile Rules being global. This means I cannot have QuickFile Rule for Fidelity transfers and will have to enter the category manually every time in each account.

drrobins1

Support traced it down to the QuickFile Rules being global. This means I cannot have QuickFile Rule for Fidelity transfers and will have to enter the category manually every time in each account.

UKR

Are these BofA→Fidelity transfers occuring regularly, e.g., every month?
In that case, as a workaround instead of a Quickfill rule, I would suggest setting up and using Scheduled Transaction Reminders. Give each of these reminders a distinct Payee Name, different from any other transfer reminder.
Record these scheduled reminders a day before the transfers are due. This will give you correctly entered transactions in both BofA and Fidelity accounts.
When you download transactions from either bank, Quicken should be able to correctly match the downloaded transaction to the already existing correct register transaction and not cause any problems. As a Q Mac user, if Quicken won't do it for you, you may have to drag the downloaded transaction over the register transaction, to resolve any apparent duplicate transaction issue.

Chris_QPW

There is already an idea thread for this, you should vote it up:

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/7960405/account-specific-automatic-renaming-category-assignment-etc-edited

Chris_QPW

@Quicken Kristina I think "legacy votes" should be added to this idea. There were many votes for this, that have been archived:

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/7854603/memorized-transactions-or-renaming-rules-by-account-2-merged-votes

Quicken Kristina

Hello All,

The status of this Idea has been changed to Under Consideration as it has reached enough votes and has been submitted to our Product and Development team for further review.

Thank you!

(CBT-1037)