I've recently started thinking about creating a new Quicken file on my PC for my elderly parents, because I've been given responsibility for their finances. My father will be going into Hospice and my mother cannot keep track of their finances accurately and I want to avoid any conflicts with my siblings. But, what are the rules for a Quicken license? * Can I install another instance of Quicken on my mother's PC with my Quicken Key Code with a filename different from mine that I update and maintain? Can I associate a new online account to that filename and give my mother and siblings online/app view only access to the account balances and expenses? Will the password for my parent's App/Online account be different from my Quicken file? * Otherwise, can I just have two Quicken files on my PC, one for me and one for my parents? Then, can I associate a new online account to that filename and give my mother and siblings online/app view only access to the account balances and expenses? Will the password for my parent's App/Online account be different from my Quicken file? I don't want to violate any Quicken terms of use. I want to better organize and track my parent's finances for this stage in the life, but neither of them are able to use Quicken. Has anyone else in a similar situation?

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What are the rules for a Quicken license? Can I install Quicken on a 2nd PC?

the3roots

I've recently started thinking about creating a new Quicken file on my PC for my elderly parents, because I've been given responsibility for their finances. My father will be going into Hospice and my mother cannot keep track of their finances accurately and I want to avoid any conflicts with my siblings. But, what are the rules for a Quicken license?

Can I install another instance of Quicken on my mother's PC with my Quicken Key Code with a filename different from mine that I update and maintain? Can I associate a new online account to that filename and give my mother and siblings online/app view only access to the account balances and expenses? Will the password for my parent's App/Online account be different from my Quicken file?
Otherwise, can I just have two Quicken files on my PC, one for me and one for my parents? Then, can I associate a new online account to that filename and give my mother and siblings online/app view only access to the account balances and expenses? Will the password for my parent's App/Online account be different from my Quicken file?

I don't want to violate any Quicken terms of use. I want to better organize and track my parent's finances for this stage in the life, but neither of them are able to use Quicken. Has anyone else in a similar situation?

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Sceptic

@the3roots First, I'm sorry to hear about your father's health situation. It sounds like you're trying to put a system in place that will help your parents while also providing transparency for the rest of the family. I had the exact situation a few years ago, it was a challenge but Quicken was invaluable in making the process streamlined and transparent to interested parties.

As for Quicken licensing, a single Quicken subscription can be installed on multiple computers using the same Quicken ID, and you can maintain multiple separate data files under that subscription. The subscription is tied to the Quicken ID, not to a specific computer.

For your situation, the simplest approach might be to create a separate Quicken data file for your parents, either on your own PC or on a computer in their home. Keeping their finances in a separate data file would make it easier to maintain clear records and avoid mixing transactions with your own accounts.

One thing to keep in mind is that Quicken Cloud, Mobile, and Quicken on the Web are associated with the Quicken ID that owns the subscription. I am not certain whether Quicken currently supports separate cloud credentials for different data files under the same Quicken ID, so you may want to contact Quicken Support for clarification before promising individual app/web access to your mother or siblings.

From a practical standpoint, many people in caregiving situations maintain a separate Quicken file for a parent or family member to track income, expenses, and assets. Good recordkeeping, regular backups, and periodic reports can also help provide transparency and avoid misunderstandings among family members.

Chris_QPW

As of now, a "read-only" is "planned" but hasn't been implemented:

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/7935433/read-only-access-using-quicken-on-the-web

Note that from what I see from this request it is read-only, not balances only.

@the3roots you mentioned the "Quicken Key Code". That is a one-time use kind of thing. It is basically used to associate your Quicken Id with the subscription.

When you install Quicken on a machine you aren't prompted to enter the Quicken Id password until you open/create a data file. Once that is done it stores the fact that you have entered the password somewhere hidden on the machine. If you go to create another data file, it won't ask for the password again because of this hidden storage of the fact that the password has been entered for the Quicken Id. Even though some people have had problems where they have been prompted again for the password that should be it for that machine/user.

On the subject of the web/mobile. From what I see it is a no go as it sits right now.

Every time I have tried to log into Quicken Web, it has prompted me to enter the two-factor code that it is sending to the Quicken Id email (or text, phone call depending on what you have set) and I don't see any way to turn it off.

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Sceptic

the3roots

Thank you, @Sceptic .

When I look in the Quicken App (Android), I can see an option that says My Cloud Accounts, and it shows only mine currently. I'd prefer to install Quicken on my mother's PC, then I can maintain her financial information on that and it would be completely separate from mine on my PC.

@Quicken Anja or @Quicken Kristina , Do you know if I create a 2nd Quicken file on a 2nd PC (with the same Quicken ID), will it have separate Quicken Cloud Accounts for each Quicken data file? (Please see my question above.) Do you know of any FAQ that addresses this situation?

Thank you very much!

Chris_QPW

As of now, a "read-only" is "planned" but hasn't been implemented:

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/7935433/read-only-access-using-quicken-on-the-web

Note that from what I see from this request it is read-only, not balances only.

@the3roots you mentioned the "Quicken Key Code". That is a one-time use kind of thing. It is basically used to associate your Quicken Id with the subscription.

On the subject of the web/mobile. From what I see it is a no go as it sits right now.

the3roots

@Chris_QPW , thanks Chris.

I understand the details about the Quicken ID and the Key Code. I've been a IT Project Manager for 40 years working with lots of software vendors and their software licenses. Each Key Code you purchase is a new software license. I merely said that because I wanted to know if a single software license that I purchase (i.e. Key Code) for Quicken entitles me to have multiple installations of Quicken on different PCs and data files. Not can I do it, but is it legal under Quicken's terms. I know I could have my mother purchase another Quicken (i.e., Key Code) and use that on her PC. But, they are on a fixed income and my father doesn't have 6 months and my mother is going to have to live what's left.

What I would like to know is, "if I create a 2nd Quicken file on a 2nd Windows PC (with the same Quicken ID), will it have separate Quicken Cloud Accounts for each Quicken data file?" I don't want my finances to be merged or overlapped with my parent's finances on the Web or App. When I look in my App, it looks like it allows me to switch between other Cloud Accounts.

Ideally, I like to give my mother and siblings view only access on the Web or App. But, what I really need to do is install Quicken on my mother's PC with my Quicken ID and Key Code and setup a separate set of accounts and categories for her. I can maintain their finances on her PC and my own on my PC. If necessary, I can print reports for my siblings or the court, if it comes to that.

Chris_QPW

As @Sceptic said, the license is for the Quicken Id. You can have as many data files and install on as many machines as you want.

https://www.quicken.com/support/can-i-install-quicken-multiple-computers/

The process for another machine is:

Install Quicken.
Open or create a data file.
Enter Quicken Id and password.

The real restrictions don't come from the license.

It really comes from what you are willing to share with someone else. Example. Would I give my wife access to the Quicken Id/password so that she can install on her machine. Yes! (in fact, that is the case. We have no "your accounts"). Would I give it to my brother? No. There isn't anything in the license that prevents me from giving him the Quicken ID/password, but it would quickly run into problems.

The Quicken ID is tied to an email, so in the practical sense I would also have to give him access to that so that if a multiple factor passcode is sent for something like Mobile/Web he could get it and enter it. Still doable if I setup a shared email address, but it gets to be more of a pain.

And then there is the fact that if a person uses Sync to Mobile/Web everyone that has the Quicken Id/password would have access to that same information.

This isn't true of the Quicken data file itself, since one has to have access to it. Even though there is a "Quicken Cloud dataset" associated with every Quicken Desktop data file if you don't have Sync to Mobile/Web on you need the Quicken Desktop data file to "sync" with (the only "direct access" to the Quicken Cloud dataset is through Mobile/Web and only if they have been enabled in the Quicken Desktop data file.)

Sceptic

@the3roots Yes, each Quicken data file is associated with its own Quicken Cloud dataset. If you create a separate Quicken data file for your mother, it should have its own cloud dataset and should not merge with your personal finances simply because both files use the same Quicken ID.

What you are seeing in the Mobile or Web app is likely the ability to switch between multiple cloud datasets. That is normal and does not necessarily mean the data is combined. Each dataset remains associated with the specific Quicken data file from which it was created.

For your situation, many users maintain separate Quicken data files for themselves and for a parent or other family member. I would recommend creating a brand-new data file for your mother rather than copying your own file and deleting accounts. Keeping the files completely separate helps avoid confusion and ensures that each file maintains its own accounts, categories, reports, and cloud dataset.

The one area where Quicken may not fully meet your goal is sharing information with siblings. Quicken Web and Mobile do not offer robust view-only access controls for other family members. In that situation, generating and sharing reports from your mother's file is often the simplest and safest approach. This is what I had to do. Our attorney stipulated that these reports would only need to be produced quarterly or on demand. Shared or web access wasn't a requirement. I produced quarterly balance sheets and income statements for my parents' accounts. This is easy to do by using a Net Worth report and an Income & Expense report on Quicken.

.Based on what you described, maintaining one Quicken data file for yourself and a separate Quicken data file for your mother would likely be the cleanest way to manage both sets of finances while keeping them distinct. And again, you would not need to have a separate Quicken ID to do this. Nor would it violate any Quicken policies.

Chris_QPW

@Sceptic said:

I would recommend creating a brand-new data file for your mother rather than copying your own file and deleting accounts.

I would also suggest creating a new data file, but I want to add an extra warning for the word "copy". If you use Quicken's copy command, it will create a separate Quicken Desktop data file and Quicken Cloud dataset and be totally separated. But if you use a Windows copy it will still be connected to the same Cloud dataset and it definitely a way that one might get "cross connections". There is a unique Id in each Quicken Desktop data file that is used to connect it to the Quicken Cloud dataset. Quicken's copy creates a new unique Id, but a Windows copy wouldn't.

Just for reference for anyone that hasn't tested Quicken Mobile/Web, here is what it looks like to switch between datasets.

And if one hasn't synced a data file like I have never synced Current (my main data file):

Boatnmaniac

One thing to keep in mind is that Quicken Cloud, Mobile, and Quicken on the Web are associated with the Quicken ID that owns the subscription. I am not certain whether Quicken currently supports separate cloud credentials for different data files under the same Quicken ID, so you may want to contact Quicken Support for clarification before promising individual app/web access to your mother or siblings.

A Quicken ID can have many unique data files. Each unique data file has its own unique ID and that means that each unique data file will have it own Cloud Account, Mobile account and Quicken on the Web account.

The important thing to remember is to create each file so that they have their own unique file IDs. Do this by going to File > New Quicken File > give each new Quicken file a unique name. This will ensure that there will be no cross-talk between the data files, Cloud Accounts, Mobile and Quicken on the Web.

Do not use Windows to make copies of any data file to create a new data file. Windows copied files will not have unique file IDs….they will share the same ID. Then there will be cross-talk between the files and they will all share the same Cloud Account so the data in Mobile, Quicken on the Web and in each data file will get comingled making an absolute mess that might be impossible to resolve or possibly will significantly corrupt the data files. (There are times when making Windows copies of data file is appropriate but never when wanting/needing to create unique data files.)

Sceptic

@Chris_QPW you bring up a good point about making copies of a data file to create a new file. What I have found is that even if you use Quicken Copy to create a new file, it still will have the same underlying data file name as the original file in the Quicken/Inet folder. Long ago, I created a data file called QDATA001. Since then, I have created many new data files through the Quicken Copy process. The current data file in the Documents/Quicken folder is QDATA023 but the file name in the Quicken/Inet folder remains QDATA001. I also have a "test" data file created by the Quicken Copy, but again all that shows up in the Quicken/Inet folder is QDATA001.

As @Boatnmaniac also reiterated, the only way to create a totally new independent data file is to create a new data file and start from scratch. When you do that, what will show up in the Quicken/Inet folder is the original data file, plus the newly created one.

Chris_QPW

I'm not seeing that.

I just did a test copy where I copied my "Current" data file, and it suggested CurrentCpy as the data file name and I changed it to NewTest. Opened that so that it will make the connection to the dataset (no sync to Mobile/Web).

And then I looked at the dataset from my TestSync data file that is Syncing to the dataset (which is needed just to see this).

I will say also that the "Cloud Account Name" isn't what connects the data file to the dataset, it is the unique Id in the data file. You can rename the "Cloud Account Name" if you like.

Sceptic

@Chris_QPW I am not referring to the dataset file name. It is the data file name/folder located in the ProgramData/Quicken/Inet folder. That folder doesn't change from the original data file name no matter how many times you rename the data file. If you make a copy of your data file, that copy is comingled in that folder. The only way to create a separate folder for a data file is to create a new data file from scratch. I suspect this is why user sometimes see a "cross contamination" between data files that they created from a copy.

Chris_QPW

Oh. I don't think that affects anything. I think it is just a location they download information like the fidir.txt file and then copy it to other places. But for sure, the cleanest would be to create a new data file in Quicken.

PSmacintosh2

Yes, you can do what you are proposing.

I do it!

I have a subscription to one desktop Application (Program) of Quicken Mac loaded onto one Mac Mini and I keep the data file on that Mini. When I want to use Q, I go and use that Mini.

I setup two distinct Data Files: One for my own financials; one for the financials of a (Stroke) Disabled Friend who lives in the house (and I handle all of his affairs.) He has government aid income and various expenses that need to be tracked, managed, and reported.

(You can have more than two Data Files … and unlimited amount of data files …. for other people …. if I needed.)

One logistical problem with my setup is that I can only do the accounting work when I am physically present at the Mini. (So far, if I travel to a family member’s house, I bring the Mini and hook it up to peripherals there. So it is like a traveling Hard Drive. Or I could copy the Data File to a Flash Drive, and have a Q application on another machine and use it on that machine. (I think I did that with a Laptop once.) But you have to keep track of which data file has the latest data on it.)

Quicken’s AUTOMATIC BACKUP SYSTEM:

One PROBLEM to be aware of is that this setup (using two data files) might be messing with Quicken’s AUTOMATIC BACKUP SYSTEM: The system the “backs up the file” when you CLOSE the file or QUIT Quicken.

Why? Because I’m not sure which Data File is getting backed up, and where it is getting backed up to, and whether Q is able to treat the backup of each file separately and accurately. I’m not saying that Q can’t do it. It just gets really complicated to set it up, understand it, track it., and then have to use it. (Q has its own way of “naming” each of the backups, and it is hard to follow.)

I’ve learned over the past that that system is very difficult to actually use after a failure. I don’t rely on it.

EASY BACKUP METHOD:

Therefore, I use a really simple and easy understand “manual” backup method for my two Data Files.

STORAGE LOCATION of data files:

I store each of the two Data Files (with separate distinct File Names … that include their original creation date) on the internal hard drive in separate folders…. and they sit several levels deep down in the HD (Hard Drive.

OPENING of a Data File to do entries:

To OPEN each file, instead of digging down to the actual Data File on the HD, I made an ALIAS (icon) of each file and placed the Alias into the DOCK.

When I want to start working, I don’t open the Quicken program first. Instead, I open one of the primary Data Files by double-clicking on its Alias in the Dock. This automatically opens up Quicken.

ONE DATA FILE at a time:

I only open one Data File at a time (because Q’s AUTOMATIC BACKUP SYSTEM is still working in the background … and I’m trying to make it easier for it to work …. just in case).

IS THIS NECESSARY? WOULD THERE BE A PROBLEM WITH HAVING BOTH FILES OPEN AT THE SAME TIME? I DON’T KNOW for sure and I don’t want to find out. So this is how I do it.

TO STOP WORKING, I QUIT QUICKEN:

To stop working in that Data File, I just QUIT Quicken (and it does one of its Auto Saves … somewhere). Then, if I want to work in the other Date File, I just double-click on its Alias.

MANUAL BACKUP METHOD:

HERE IS THE MAIN ACTION THAT I TAKE!!!

Every time (almost) that I close a Date File by quiting Quicken, I IMMEDIATELY MAKE A DUPLICATE (copy) of the Primary File by Selecting the file > Edit > Duplicate.

Q adds “copy” to the end of the file name on each duplicate file. Then “copy 1”, “copy 2”, etc.

When there are too many copies of the File in the folder with the Primary File, then I make a secondary folder and move all the duplicate copies into it. But leave the Primary File where it was.

Then the ensuing duplicate copies will start over with the addition of “copy” to the File Name.

All these copy files do take up some minor storage space, but not much.

I save them for quite a long while (years). At some point, it becomes worthless to have so many daily backups going into past years. So those can be trashed, unless you want to keep 1 or 2 per year.

REMOTE BACKUP LOCATION as well:

And, yes, at some point, I move a file copy over and onto a DIFFERENT HARD DRIVE and store that HD in a different location (house, friends house, etc,) because, if the Hard Drive fails (or your HD gets stolen or your location burns), then your data will be lost. So you have to have some file copies stored in a REMOTE LOCATION,

Even if I was paying for and using a Cloud based storage, I would still do my daily Manual Backup System.

The cloud would be my remote location. And my HD location would protect me from the Cloud going down.

OPENING THE DATA FILE for each time of use:

I ALWAYS MAKE SURE to open the original Data File, not one of the many copies. So I am always working with the same original Data File.

(Maybe after a year or so, I will archive it …. and start using the latest backup copy as the original.)

CHECK FILE NAME AT WINDOW TOP:

Also, I always CHECK that you are working in the right file: I look at the name at the top of the Q window . (A main reason NOT to have two data files open at the same time.)

RECOVERY, IF THERE IS A FILE FAILURE (or HD failure):

If something goes terribly wrong with the program or if there is corrupted data or broken HD, then I have many (“DAILY”) backups that I can recover from. I can resume from some earlier point, assuming I can figure out how far back in copies to go to find a copy file that doesn’t have the “problem.”

In distant past years, Quicken crashed often and had frequent “corruption” problems (along with my own user errors)…. where I needed to get back to an earlier version of data … and start over from there. Never fun, but better than starting from complete scratch. Therefore it used to be essential to have a strict backup system.

However, for the last +10 years (probably longer), Quicken has been 100% stable for me, no crashes, and I haven’t had to use a backup file at all. It has been an excellent database.

NEVERTHELESS YOU HAVE TO PLAN FOR A DATABASE TO FAIL AT SOME POINT: (1) because they do, and (2) you can’t afford the time, effort, frustration, and impossibility that comes from trying to recover from a database failure that is more than 3 days of data entry out.

My Data File contains financial information running back into the 1980s (as carried over from Accounting Programs that pre-date Quicken). Info that I seldom look at or use, but it’s just too easy to just let it remain in that one data file. And modern Quicken seems to handle it fine. (All my years of personal financial date is a lot, but probably the same as one year of a small business data.)

And, since I still am going to some of the same restaurants, companies, stores, banks, etc., its convenient to have all the names and categories setup and it still auto filling for me.