"Accept payments created outside of Quicken into register" - they were created in Quicken

DLCPhoto

I have used Quicken for decades, including generating payments from within the Quicken register. No problems until the last few weeks or so.

For several payees, where I have initiated the payment from within Quicken, as usual, at a subsequent online update, these transactions appear under the header "Accept payments created outside of Quicken into register". I then have to manually match these to the transactions that are in fact already in the register. Once that is done, I have to click 'Continue' to get to the usual list of downloaded transactions that need to be matched to the register.

I did a Validate and Repair operation just in case there was some type of file corruption, but the problem persists.

What's the problem here? I am doing nothing differently, but now have to get through these extra steps. Not a huge deal, but I shouldn't have to, as these payments were created within Quicken.

DLCPhoto

Nobody with any experience or ideas here? Quicken personnel?

CaliQkn

@DLCPhoto - I asked Copilot your question because I myself have never seen that situation. This is what it came up with:

When you see the option or message "Accept payments created outside of Quicken into register," it means that Quicken has detected transactions downloaded from your financial institution that represent payments or transfers which aren’t automatically recognized as matching the ones you may have already initiated and recorded directly in your Quicken register.

Here's what’s happening in more detail:

• Online vs. Manual Origin:
  Quicken allows you to both initiate payments from within the program and to interface with your bank’s online bill pay service. In many cases, a payment you set up from your register is also processed by your bank, and the final transactions are later downloaded into Quicken. Sometimes, these downloaded transactions are flagged as having been created "outside of Quicken" (that is, from the bank’s online system) even if you originally started them in Quicken.
• The Matching Process:
  When the downloaded transaction details differ slightly from what you entered manually (for instance, a different processing date due to weekends or holidays, or minor formatting differences), Quicken does not automatically assume that the statements in your register are fully up to date. Instead, it presents you with a prompt—in this case, a list or a command labeled "Accept payments created outside of Quicken into register"—so you can review these transactions. You are then expected to match them to records already in your account or accept them if they bring updated information. This step is meant to keep your records reconciled with what the bank ultimately processed.
• Why It Matters:
  Although this mechanism is designed to help reconcile discrepancies between your manually recorded transactions and the details provided by your bank, some users have noticed that it introduces an extra step. In situations where a payment you initiated internally appears again in the downloads (due to bank processing), Quicken requires you to manually confirm or match these transactions. This extra acceptance step can sometimes lead to unexpected issues—for example, alterations to categories or duplicate entries—if not handled carefully.

In short, "Accept payments created outside of Quicken into register" is Quicken’s way of asking you to verify and merge external payment data (from your financial institution) with what you already have in your register, ensuring all details are consistent. This process is particularly important when there are slight differences between your recorded transaction and the bank’s processed transaction, which might be due to timing, formatting, or additional fees.

DLCPhoto

Thanks for the reply and taking the time to explore the problem.

This is certainly plausible, and might explain what's going on. But the thing that is puzzling is that it hasn't occurred during several decades of using Quicken in exactly the same fashion that I'm doing now. It's only been in perhaps the last month or two that I've been seeing it.

If Quicken personnel can confirm that they've tightened up, or otherwise changed, how these transactions are handled, during a recent update, that would be helpful.

CaliQkn

@DLCPhoto if you've only notice this happening recently, it could be that Quicken has changed in the way it compares and verifies downloaded transactions. But I agree, Quicken would need to verify if or what has changed.

rmkut

I seem to recall a Quicken request after split from Intuit to subscribe for their "new billpay" capability, which I haven't done. I stopped using Quicken to make payments. Now pay using bank billpay only and download and reconcile transactions to Quicken from bank weekly to maintain expense records. I think it was a money issue that lost customer loyalty (mine for about 20 years). Next Quicken renewal may not be accepted. There are other accounting packages. Maybe I don't need any. Reaity is banks killed Quicken for me.

DLCPhoto

I continue to run into this problem. The latest example is my Credit Card Bill. I have been initiating payments through Quicken the same way I've been doing for many years, but this transaction still shows up as "created outside of Quicken" which is definitely not the case, adding an unnecessary step to using Quicken.

This seems to be either a bug on the side of the Quicken software, or some software quirk in my Quicken database. I ran a Validate and Repair, but that didn't change anything.

I'm therefore asking for some 'official' Quicken response here - how does one tag them here to get their attention?

Jim_Harman

This is primarily a user to user forum. Forum Moderators (users whose names begin with "Quicken") sometimes review issues discussed here and refer them to Development, but if you want Quicken to work on a problem, you should contact Support via phone.  Be sure the support agent understands the problem and gives you a ticket number for future reference. Please post the ticket number here. Development only works on problems that have been referred by a Moderator or confirmed by a Support contact.

You should also use the Help > Report a Problem menu in Quicken to submit the issue online. In your submission, be as clear and thorough as possible. Reference the ticket number and provide a link to this discussion. Provide step by step instructions to reproduce the problem and note any error messages you receive. They will not pay much attention to a problem unless they can replicate it in house or see it in a support session.

You will not get a response to an electronic submission, but apparently they review and prioritize the submissions and use the data to help resolve problems they decide to work on. The more reports they receive the better.

DLCPhoto

I called Support, and they directed me to one of the Preference settings for Downloaded Transactions. She said there is a new Preference there that might impact this, and in mine, it was unchecked:

If this is in fact a new option, and the default was for it to be unchecked, that might explain the behavior I've been seeing. Time will tell…

Chris_QPW

This is a relatively new option, but it was introduced a few versions back, not in the last couple of weeks.

I suspect that it might be a change at your financial institution (which if you stated which one, that might help).

In fact, the last update is more than a few weeks old at this point (in April).

DLCPhoto

It might be. I did say couple of weeks, but as I think about it, it's probably been longer than that. But yeah, it could be my bank. Will just have to see what happens.

DLCPhoto

Well, this didn't solve the problem. It happened again this morning.

Quicken support closed the ticket I opened with them, without asking me, and before any testing was done. So I'll have to call again to start over. Sigh…

DLCPhoto

So several calls later, they "escalated" the issue, and after 5 days I was just told to contact my bank. 😬

What a complete cop-out. Clearly, the 'escalation' team just turfed the problem, rather than trying to find the problem. When I check things on the bank end, everything looks exactly as it has for years, with the payments showing up on the scheduled list, and then cleared when they're made. Nothing has changed there.

The problem is clearly in Quicken, or at least between Quicken and my bank, where it is not recognizing the transactions which it did in fact create. My calling the bank will lead exactly nowhere.

And after discussing all of this, the Quicken support guy on the phone just hung up.

Really classy…🙄