How can I apply split-category memorized payees to downloaded transactions?

JeffYRachel

I hope someone in Quicken-land can help me. Been using Quicken for Windows for about 10 years, and I've never been able to get the memorized transactions to work properly. The biggest problem is the 50-50 split category for the downloaded utility bill payments. The utility company payments typically show up as different payee names, when I download the transaction from my bank. That part is no problem; I can select all 20 utility bill payments, then "Edit Transactions," and rename the PAYEE all in one swoop. I can even choose from the Memorized Payees List to rename them all to the same uniform name.

That's great, but … it should ALSO do the 50-50 split. Otherwise, I have to click on all 20 of these transactions individually and categorize each one with the 50-50 split. Every year at tax time, it's so frustrating. Anyone know how to fix this?

I'd even be fine if I could simply click on each one of the 20 transactions and select the correct Memorized Payee, and have it apply the 50-50 split so I don't have to click on the split transaction box. That would be quick, just click, click, click, with no mistakes. But unfortunately, it won't apply the categories or change anything, other than the Payee Name, even if I'm clicking on each transaction to change the Payee individually.

As it is, I have to click on each one, type 50%, choose the categories for each part of the 50-50 split, etc. While doing hundreds of these, I sometimes make mistakes. Plus, it's frustrating, spending so much time doing something that should be automatic. I've saved the Memorized Payee with the % SPLIT … why won't it work?

When I save the MEMORIZED PAYEE (after I've done the 50-50 split), Quicken asks me if I want it by percentage, and I say yes. Afterward, that Payee shows as % SPLIT when I look at the Memorized Payees list. However, I can never get it to actually apply that % SPLIT to any transactions that I apply that MEMORIZE PAYEE to. When I try to apply the Memorized Payee to a transaction that previously had some other payee name, with a downloaded amount for the total utility bill … it just changes the Payee name and nothing else. So then I have to go in and enter the splits manually. Ugh! Please help. THANK YOU!

NotACPA

Can you explain why the Payee name on your bill changes and why there are 2 payees?

Also, are you talking about the bill from the utility itself (whose name is?) or what downloads from your bank (whose name is?)

Your whole post is confusing because of those issues.

JeffYRachel

Thanks for your help! "Payee" is simply the name of the main field identifying a transaction. So, if you have utility bills being paid online, when you download your bank statement, it downloads as whatever the utility company decided to put down, such as my name (because I'm the PG&E account holder) with partial words or letters and numbers afterward, and those extra letters or numbers might change from month to month. Doesn't matter; I can tell that this is the utility bill, so I simply change the "Payee" in Quicken to something uniform like "PG&E." I can choose that from the "Memorized Payee" list, so I don't have to type it out all the way. Easy.

The problem is, when I choose PG&E from the Memorized Payee list, I need the 50-50 split to be applied to the transaction. Let's say it has been downloaded as "My Name x23 12," amount $128.42, date 03/12/2025. When I replace "My Name x23 12" with "PG&E," I need the Memorized 50% split to be applied to the $128.42 amount (two different memorized categories each get $64.21). Instead, all that happens is the Payee name changes from "My Name x23 12" to "PG&E." Nothing else changes.

Because the Memorized Payee isn't applying the category splits to my downloaded transaction after I have specifically told Quicken that this transaction is this particular Memorized Payee, I have to go in and manually enter the 50% split amounts and categories for every transaction. That takes a long time and also means there is room for error. Sometimes I accidentally grab a wrong category for the 50% splits. I have hundreds of these to do, and it's so tedious. If the Memorized Payee would simply apply the memorized category split to the transaction, there wouldn't be any manual entry errors.

UKR

In Quicken for Windows, Percent Split transactions can be memorized into the Memorized Payee List (MPL).
But I'm not sure if you can make a 50-50% split transaction into a Scheduled Reminder and then make Quicken take the downloaded amount and apply it to a reminder transaction's splits. I doubt it …

Looks to me as if you'd need to

• create 20 individual memorized transactions as Percent Split transactions, each with their own distinct Payee Name. e.g., "Electricity bill, Unit 1", "Electricity bill, Unit 2", etc.
  Mark each of these as "Lock and leave … unchanged …"
• every month, before downloading transactions, manually add 20 new register transactions using these MPL entries. Enter the correct amount for each of them, based on the utility company's statements
• set your checking account to NOT automatically accept downloaded transactions
• download transactions and manually accept each one to the correct already existing register transaction

Hope that makes it a little easier for you.
Sorry that there isn't any automation available .

JeffYRachel

UKR, thanks for trying to help. I'm not trying to use a Scheduled Reminder, I don't know know what that is. Is that something you think would help this? If not, let's skip that. No use bringing in discussion of a feature that I'm not using.

I can't imagine that there isn't a way to apply a 50-50 split from a Memorized Payee to a transaction. If there isn't a way, why would the Memorized Payee even have that feature?

JeffYRachel

All I'm trying to do is make my 50-50 split from the Memorized Payee apply to a downloaded transaction. I'm fine to do that individually, meaning: I'm fine to click on an individual transaction, selected Memorized Payee, and Quicken will assign the 50% of the dollar amount to one memorized category and 50% dollar amount to the other memorized category. HOWEVER, when I try to do that, all that gets updated is the Payee name. None of the category / memo info in the split gets applied to the individual transaction.

Even though I've selected this particular Memorized Payee (which has been saved as 50% split with the two categories) for this one transaction, all that changes it the name of the Payee.

Been looking for the answer since 5:30 A.M., and it's now past 10:30 A.M. I've found help articles talking about checking and unchecking the lock checkbox on the the Memorized Payee list. I've tried unlocking and locking, with no difference. Maybe there is some other setting that is preventing the categories from being applied? It has to be something like that.

Please help. Thank you!

UKR

You can't apply the 50-50% split to a downloaded and auto-accepted transaction. That's too late.
As I showed in my earlier response, you need to create new register transactions manually. When entering the Payee Name, select the MPL entry, e.g., "Electricity bill, Unit 1" from the popup selection list. That pulls the categories and the splits into the new transaction and, when you tab to the next field, prompt you for the split total transaction amount and will calculate the new split amounts. Save the new transaction and it'll be correctly defined.
Repeat for all other bills.
When you download, match a downloaded transaction to the already existing register transaction of the same amount.

mshiggins

The typical process flow is to use Renaming Rules to normalize the Payee, then used Memorized Payee to map the normalized Payee to a category or split categories. It sounds like you are missing the Renaming Rule step to get the initial downloaded payee name to your desired normalized name.