Add ability to manage PDF copies of on-line bills that are retained in Quicken

jrich75 · June 2020

There needs to be a way to manage the bloat that PDF bills add to the data base. At a minimum, users should be able to delete older copies of the bills from the database. Alternatively, there could be an option to retain only a certain number of the most recent past bills (similar to how the backup file limit is intended to work). PDF bills can be 0.5 to 1 MB or more in size and retaining an unlimited number of old bills will make the database grow and become unmanageable for many users.

jrich75 · June 2020

An additional comment. Even having the ability to opt-out of PDF bills would be an improvement. Many users already have a system for storing/managing most bills. Having the ability to retrieve the amount & due date is a benefit with online bills in Quicken but the storage of PDF copies; not so much. Currently, the only way to remove the PDF bills is to delete the online biller, which removes the Quick Pay option.

Craig Vorwald · July 2020

My thoughts on this topic have been shared with Quicken before. My QDF file is 1.3 GB and growing. Of course the vast majority of that bloat is attached files, be they PDF's, Scans, or Images.

The request: There needs to be a versatile mechanism to purge attachments (but keep the transaction) either by date range, by account, or file type... or a combination of the above.

The first time I shared this with tech support they indicated they would have something in about a week (bwahahaha!!). I got a call after that saying he was in error, and don't wait up for the enhancement. This request has also been shared with management. Still no joy. Not sure what it will take to make this happen.

thecreator · July 2020

Hi All.

The solution is to scan into a separate program like PaperPort from: https://www.kofax.com/Products/paperport

or File Center from: https://www.filecenterdms.com/

Each program has pluses and minuses.

jrich75 · July 2020

This is not a request for a way to store e-documents but rather a request for a way to manage the documents that Quicken forces you to keep as a part of the online bills feature. The point I was trying to make is there needs to be a way to reduce the file growth being caused by the current online bills system. Currently there is no option to delete a PDF file that is downloaded as part of the bill retrieval/presentment process. I can understand that some users may want to store their historical bills with Quicken data but that should be an option, not a requirement.

I have only 5 online billers and about a year of historical bills in Quicken (These same bills are also stored in my separate e-document storage system along with those from about 50 other companies, all going back many years). During the past year, my Quicken external data file has grown by more than 20% with little change in the internal data file size. I attribute most of that growth to the 60+ new PDF documents added by bill manager. There needs to be a way to purge older bills and to avoid the continual addition of new PDF documents that are not needed by the user.

If you want to continue to use online bills & Quick Pay, please vote yes at the top of this thread to support the request for a way to manage the retention of those bills.

jrich75 · August 2020

I'd like to add the following example of the Bill Manager PDF bills retrieval system:

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6031128/uploads/editor/z9/4khdoz6ctzlu.png

Note the long delays in bill retrieval (nearly a month is many cases: the August bill is still awaiting retrieval). The pdf bills were actually available on the Citi web site within a day or two of the billing date. Collectively these 8 bills add nearly 2.5 MB of disk storage requirement for my quicken data file and each backup copy i retain. The bills had already been reviewed and paid by the time they became available in Quicken.

Please consider adding your vote to the above request for a way to manage these unnecessary attachements to our Quicken data fiiles.

Greg Brown · September 2020

I agree that there should be a way to delete unwanted PDFs, but I would like to see the ability to export those PDFs prior to deleting, or in conjunction with deleting.

yakovmeir · December 2020

But if you can manage your file size, then they won't be able to upsell you on the dropbox backup space!

Add ability to manage PDF copies of on-line bills that are retained in Quicken

New · Last Updated June 2020

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