Can not get Rules for assigning Category to Payee to work (Q Mac)

Question

I've followed the directions (it's not complicated); Quicken Classic for Mac simply and consistently refuses to assign categories to payees on downloaded transactions.  I've quadruple-checked the rules for each, tried every variation I can think of, no joy.

[Removed - Rant]  How do you get this "feature" to work?

(Background: I was a bookkeeper and eventually CFO for a business for 32 years.  Not a newb to accounting software.  Still can't get this to work.)

Quicken Carlos · Answer

Hi @reganwieland,

Thanks for answering the questions above.

Since downloaded transactions sometimes contain variations of the same payee name, I suggest reviewing your Renaming Rules and QuickFill Rules to make sure they're configured correctly. You may also need to create a Renaming Rule for payees that download with different names.

Renaming Rules help standardize payee names in downloaded transactions, while QuickFill Rules determine which category and other transaction details are applied to a matching payee.

Here are our support articles about them that may help you understand how they work:

* Renaming Rules for past and future transactions in Quicken for Mac
* Adding QuickFill Rules in Quicken for Mac

I suggest trying the following steps

To add a renaming rule from the Payees & Rules window

* Go to Window > Payees & Rules.
* Select the Renaming Rules tab.
* Select the + sign in the bottom left corner of the Renaming Rules window to create a new renaming rule. 
* Review and adjust your new renaming rule.* If you have chosen to apply the rule to existing transactions, click Review. When you are done reviewing the existing transactions that will be renamed, click Apply & Save. 
* If you did not choose to rename existing transactions, click Save.

* Review your Renaming Rules: Go to Window > Payees & Rules > Renaming Rules. Check whether the different versions of the downloaded payee names can be mapped to one consistent payee name.
* Create or update a QuickFill Rule: Go to Window > Payees & Rules > QuickFill Rules. Click the + button, select the standardized payee name, and assign the appropriate category. If multiple QuickFill Rules exist for that payee, you can select the option to make the desired rule the default.
* Test with a future downloaded transaction. After saving your changes, check whether a new transaction with the standardized payee name receives the expected category.

I hope this helps!

reganwieland · Answer

Question 1:  Downloaded transactions at least, I don't enter many - if any - manual transactions.

Question 2: Payee name is an exact match.  (On that note, having an intelligent function such "if the name contains ANY of the following" would help this function greatly.  For some reason, payees show up as variations in their name field regularly, I'm guessing a function of their merchant services. I'll guarantee you I'm not the only customer frustrated by that issue.)

Question 3: There are frequently multiple rules that accumulate for the same payee, largely due to the issue mentioned in answer 2.  I've tried deleting the rules for the disused name variations, being sure that the exact name is the default, makes no difference.

Quicken Carlos · Answer

Hi @reganwieland,

I appreciate you sharing the details. Since you've already reviewed the rules and tried multiple variations without success, I'd like to help narrow down what may be preventing them from working as expected.

To help us better understand what's happening, could you please clarify a couple of things?

* Are the rules failing to assign the category only to newly downloaded transactions, or does this also happen when you manually enter a transaction with the same payee?
* When you review the downloaded transactions, is the payee name an exact match to the one specified in the rule?
* Could you please check whether there is more than one QuickFill rule for the affected payee? If multiple rules exist, is one of them selected as the default rule?

These details will help us better determine what may be causing the issue.

I look forward to your reply!