Report issue (Q Mac)

Paul1

I have set up a new student loan account in 2024 for one of my kids.

Each time I make a payment from my checking account  I utilize [TRANSFER] to the loan account and [CATEGORY] to Education:Student Loan.

However I cannot get anything to show up in a report with the education category.

As a test, when I deleted the [TRANSFER] part in the entry (in my checking account) it then shows up in the report.

Anyone else run into this?

jacobs

The problem is that you should not be creating a transaction which is both a Transfer and has a Category. In fact, the Quicken software should prevent you from doing so; the developers said a few years ago that they would block such transactions, but they have never gotten around to it. Why? In accounting, a transfer is movement of money between accounts — in this case from an asset (your checking account) to a liability (your loan) account, and transfers of funds cannot simultaneously be income or expense.

But, you're saying, it sure feels like an expense when I pay it every month! Of course; from a cash flow perspective, it definitely acts like an expense. So what can you do?

First, remove the category from your Transfer transaction. Then, you can tweak the settings of your report to force it to include the transfer on the report. In the report, go to Edit > Accounts and uncheck the loan account. Then click on the Advanced tab and check the radio button for "Include selected transfers with any account outside of report". Since you removed the loan account from the report, it is "outside" the report, and Quicken will add a Transfers section below Expenses which will show Transfers To the loan account.

The only downside of this is that you can't use the category you wanted to; you're stuck with seeing the loan payment in the separate Transfers section. But it's clear enough what Transfers To [student loan account] is, and it is counted in your bottom line on the report as an expense.

Paul1

Thanks - I was able to create a custom report based on your direction above.

However what I really want is to just open a standard Income Statement and see the loan reflected there along with everything else.

To your point if I don't invoke a transfer then it shows up as expected. I recall now once trying to track a vehicle loan and running into the same issue.

Very frustrating.

jacobs

what I really want is to just open a standard Income Statement and see the loan reflected there along with everything else.

But a "standard Income Statement" would not include a loan payment as an expense. That's the way the rules of accounting work; if Quicken were a business accounting program, a loan payment would be expressed as a debit to the liability (loan) account and a credit to the asset (checking) account, and there would be no expense.

I recall now once trying to track a vehicle loan and running into the same issue. Very frustrating.

I understand it being confusing initially, but I'm not sure I understand why it's very frustrating. Quicken provides an easy way to add selected loan payments to a report. In this case, you open a standard Category Summary report, exclude the loan account and check the box to include transfer to external account, and you've got the report which includes the loan payment reducing your bottom line. Save the report and use this customized report going forward. What's so frustrating about that?

Paul1

I use Quicken Business and personal. When I open the default Income Statement and filter by personal accounts it provides an overview of income and expenses in one report - which is great. Except for the pesky issue of not correctly showing the aforementioned student loan details.

jacobs

@Paul1 Ahhh, you hadn't mentioned you are using Business & Personal.

I mentioned the Advanced tab on reports several times, but you didn't reply that you were using the Business & Personal Income Statement report — which does not include the Advanced tab.

 When I open the default Income Statement and filter by personal accounts…

Since you want a statement for your personal income and expenses, instead of using the Business Income Statement report, select a Summary report, using the default settings: Row=Category, Column=Time, Time Interval=None. Go to Accounts and de-select the loan account. Go to Advanced and select "Include selected transfers with accounts outside of reports", with "Transfer" checked and "Credit Card Payments" unchecked. The result will be the equivalent of your Income Statement report, but with the loan principal included in the bottom Transfer section. You can make the title "Personal Income Statement" or whatever you want when you save it. And your "pesky issue" is gone. 😀