Why Does the Tag Field Value Get Erased When Entering Payees with Existing Categories? (Q Mac)

JChavezona

Quicken Classic Deluxe for Mac OS
Version 8.2.0 (Build 802.57256.100)
Mac OS at 15.5

I have started using Tags as a way to easily see different types of transactions at a glance since it's not possible to do that with the register i.e. there is no way to change the color of transactions/transaction catergories etc. in the register. Using tags with different colors allows me to see which transactions fall into different category types without having to sort them into different categories via the Category column. I currently have the Tag column as the second column after Date. If I select a tag value, then proceed to enter/select a payee that has an assigned category, the tag field becomes blank. I then have to go back to the tag field, reselect the tag and then enter the rest of the transaction information in order for the tag to stay after the transaction is entered.

If I move the Tag column so that it is after the Payee column, then a previously categorized payee value is populated in the Category column, and then a Tag field value can be selected. Entering Memo/Notes and Payment information afterwards does not blank out the value in the Tag field.

Logically, the Date, Tag, and Payee columns make sense to me as columns 1, 2 and 3. However, if the Tag column precedes the Payee column (regardless of where they occur in the register set of columns), selecting a value for the Tag field before populating a previously categorized Payee column will result in the Tag column value being erased.

Is this a bug or behavior that was identified for the use of Tags?

Jon

Quickfill rules include Tags as one of the fields they will fill, so if you're invoking a Quickfill rule when you enter the Payee name it would clear out any existing tag. The same thing will happen with the Category and Memo/Notes fields if you try to put something in them before specifying the Payee.

I don't think there is an option to stop this, so your choices are to either add tags to your Quickfill rules, move the Tag field after the Payee field in the register, or delete all your Quickfill rules. If you do decide to delete your Quickfill rules, you will want to make sure you go into Settings and turn off the option to auto-create new ones (it's on the Register tab). On the other hand, if you want to add tags to your Quickfill rules and you have the option selected in Settings to automatically create new rules you might want to change the pulldown on that option in Settings so that it saves all fields and not just the Category, that way any new Quickfill rules that get created will pick up the Tag you put on that transaction.

JChavezona

Jon,
Thank your your explanation. I was not aware of the 'Quickfiull rules' feature of Quicken. I will go and investigate this to see if it will fix this unwanted behavior.

JChavezona

Jon,
OK, I think I now have a way to do what I want. Basically, I already have a bunch of QuickFile rules that populate the Category column. I can now just go and edit them manually to add the Tag value I want to use for a particular payee. I'm mostly using tags for repeating transactions like groceries, bills, and autopay etc.

I was able to use an existing Quickfill rule for a previously categorized vendor, add a Tag value, and then save the rule for use. I then went and created a test transaction by skipping to the Payee field, typing the name to imitate the QuickFile rule and it populated the Category and Tag fields correctly. It works great!

Thank you Jon for giving me the key to resolving this issue. I appreciate it as I've been manually repopulating the Tag field since February of this year. 😀👍️😎