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Reminders, Billers, Notifications

SpotteddogSpotteddog Member ✭✭✭✭
edited January 2019 in Paying Bills (Windows)
My "Biller" and "Reminders" are all messed up.
This seems to do with my ignorance/confusion. Without listing all the problems I am having at this point, I'll just explain what I want to do and, hopefully, see if someone can help.

All I want is a notification from Quicken when I have a new bill to pay.

I don't use Quicken Bill Pay. I pay bills via my banks.
 
I don't need anything automatically done or entered anywhere.
When I download my transactions from the bank, it will show that the bill has been paid.

Right now I have Billers linked to reminders. Wrong dates on reminders, etc. I get a notification from quicken that I have a new bill, but the Biller shows an old bill, not the new one. A bill shows up as paid in my registry, but reminders doesn't see it most of the time.  

Do I "unlink" Billers from reminders, eliminate reminders and keep Billers, or what? 

I could go on, but I've been reading all the posts about this same problem, but I'm still confused.

Thanks

Comments

  • GeoffGGeoffG SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited January 2019
    A few bits of info first..."I don't use Quicken Bill Pay. I pay bills via my banks."

    You do not need to use Quicken Bill Pay to pay your bills in Quicken.  Some banks offer this functionality in Q free of charge.  Have you looked into this with your bank?  The Bills & Income tab simplifies paying bills through Q.  So if you elect not to (your choice) it will require some work. 

    First, would you rather pay through Q if free?  If you only want notification of new bills, do you have paperless bills setup with your utilities?  If so, you should be receiving email notifications.

    Depending on your responses, reminders may be your better option, but will be limited in what they provide, ie. fixed amounts instead of actual (which you get from the online bill function).
    user since '92 | Quicken Windows Premier - Subscription | Windows 10 Pro version 1909
  • SpotteddogSpotteddog Member ✭✭✭✭
    edited November 2018
    GeoffG,

    Thanks for taking the time to help me. 

    Yes, I have most of my bills setup as as paperless and get emails from most of them.
    I was hoping I could continue to get notifications from Quicken, so that all my bills are in one place. However I have Quicken set up right now, I do get Quicken email notifications for new bills and would like to continue that. 

    I guess that is one thing that has me confused. What triggers the email notifications for new bills? Billers or Reminders? Right now I have all my Billers and reminders linked. At first things were working OK, but as the month progresses, I am seeing some errors. Yes, probably my fault. 

    From what you have said, it seems that Billers is what gets my new bills. Some of them have old bills displayed though, even though I have been notified of a new bill being available. 
    I have read here that many people do not "link" Billers with Reminders. Is that my problem? Should I unlink them? 

    I do not want to pay bills through Quicken at this point, even though some of my banks do have that option to pay through Quicken. I have 2 banks that don't offer this. I'd rather use my banks web sites for that, rather than paying some through Quicken and others through a bank.

    I was using another app for all my finances and started using Quick in parallel for the last 5 weeks.  I will keep doing that until I understand Quicken completely.
    The other app I was using just did everything right automatically in so far as keeping my bill notifications and amounts up to date.  I'm sure Quicken should be able to be customized to do the same thing I am look for, but I am just not doing it right.   

    The big question today: Should I be linking "Reminders" to "Billers"? 

    Thanks again
  • SimonSezSoSimonSezSo Member ✭✭
    edited November 2018
    I think I understand your issue as I have experienced the same thing.  There are two sides to bill pay directly through Quicken - (1) Online Bills, and (2) Online Bill Payment.  I tried using Online Bills but it didn't work well for me.  My reminders got screwed up continually.  I unlinked all of my online bills from my reminders and then deleted all of my online bills, but still use the online bill payment feature, through my checking register.  I don't need the online bills because I set up all of my bills at each of the providers as e-bills and I get e-mails whenever a bill is due.  I get direct connect and bill pay (through Quicken) from my bank for free, so it doesn't matter that I am not using the online bills feature.  I would recommend deleting all of your online bills and just use the online bill pay feature.
  • SpotteddogSpotteddog Member ✭✭✭✭
    edited November 2018
    SimonSezSo,

    I've read your response several times. If I understand you correctly, it looks like this is exactly what I want to do. 
    I'll give this a try later today and see how it works. I can always revert back to online bills if this doesn't do the trick.

    Thanks  
  • SimonSezSoSimonSezSo Member ✭✭
    edited November 2018
    Let me know how it works out.  I won't use Quicken's online bill feature until they work some things  out.  The dates on the reminders don't seem to work properly after you link them to an online bill.

    One other thing, just make sure you have the "Use Online Billpay" box checked on your reminder.  I can't remember if I had to recheck that option after I unlinked the Online Bill.
  • SpotteddogSpotteddog Member ✭✭✭✭
    edited November 2018
    SimonSezSo,

    I made the changes you recommend. I think it will probably take a whole billing cycle to know if I have it set up right. I'll check back then.

    Thanks.
  • SpotteddogSpotteddog Member ✭✭✭✭
    edited December 2018
    A month later:
    I unlinked my reminders from the billers and so far this month everything has been working 100%.  
This discussion has been closed.