Allow mass editing of Date, Amount, Action, and Check # fields (Q Mac)

jacobs
jacobs SuperUser, Mac Beta Beta

When you select two or more transactions, the Transaction Info window (Transactions > Edit Transaction) allow mass editing of some fields: Payee, Category, Tags, and Memo/Notes. But it does NOT include several other fields which users would like to be able to mass edit: Date, Amount, Action, and Check #. This feature request is seeking the addition of those fields to the mass editing Transaction Info window.

Quicken Mac Subscription • Quicken user since 1993
18
18 votes

Reviewed · Last Updated

Comments

  • scrlnet
    scrlnet Member ✭✭
    edited October 2023
    I like the ability to multi-select transactions, press CMD+I, and then make edits on all transactions in one go, however the Inspector does not let me change the ACTION field, which would be very handy. That field is user-customizable and therefore should be included in the set of fields the Inspector can modify.

    [EDIT for clarity: the Transaction Inspector (Command+I) window does not allow editing any fields. The screen referenced in this idea is actually the Transaction Info window, accessed via Transactions > Edit Transaction (or Command-E). @jacobs ]

    In my specific case, I use the ACTION field to mark selected transactions as a "set" (e.g. a transfer to a credit card, and all the transactions that credit "paid" for) as well as a marker to things to remember to do (a replacement for Quicken for Windows' "flag" feature which isn't available yet in the Mac version).

    Having to set this action manually on a bunch of transactions take quite a long time... :(
  • scrlnet
    scrlnet Member ✭✭
    I'm still waiting for this... :smile:

    I'd also like to see the ACTION column show up in Quicken Web and Mobile. Not having it there makes managing my finances more awkward when on the go since I make heavy use of the ACTION column on desktop.
  • jacobs
    jacobs SuperUser, Mac Beta Beta
    Quicken web and mobile must be interoperable between Quicken Mac and Quicken Windows, and I don't know if Quicken Windows has the same Action field. 

    This topic has accumulated very few votes over the past year, so it's quite possibly not on the developers' priority list.
    Quicken Mac Subscription • Quicken user since 1993
  • scrlnet
    scrlnet Member ✭✭
    I believe the equivalent in Quicken Windows would be the REF field.
  • scrlnet
    scrlnet Member ✭✭
    The field is there, why not make it more useful? Bulk edits are supported on many other fields. Otherwise, give me a way to append or preprend text to the COMMENT field in bulk edit. Right now, bulk edit is only a "full replace" option, so it'll wipe out any existing comment text I might want to preserve.

    Just feels like an easy usability itch that fixing would go a long way to scratch. :smile:
  • Quicken_Tyka
    Quicken_Tyka Alumni ✭✭✭✭

    Hello All 

     This Idea seems to have fallen stagnant and due to the Age of the request and lack of User Votes/Comments, will be archived within the next 7 business days.

     If you would like to see this Idea kept alive and considered for possible future implementation in Quicken, be sure to Add your Vote and a comment explaining how this Idea would be beneficial for you.

    More information, including steps to vote and how to submit your own Ideas for future product features/improvements, is also available here.

     Thank you,

     Quicken Community Support Team

    ~~~***~~~
  • scrlnet
    scrlnet Member ✭✭
    edited November 2022
    OK, I'll keep asking. Other fields are editable with the Inspector Edit Transaction window. I use the ACTION field for key workflows and I need to apply the same action to multiple transactions. It's a real pain to have to use a combination of multiple key presses to achieve this. Why can't the Inspector  Edit Transaction window allow me to do it across multiple transactions like it can for other fields? Simple usability issue to fix...
  • jacobs
    jacobs SuperUser, Mac Beta Beta
    edited November 2022
    I agree that all fields should be accessible and actionable in the Edit Transaction window. 
    Quicken Mac Subscription • Quicken user since 1993
  • odysseus
    odysseus Member, Mac Beta Beta
    This would presumably take very few developer hours to implement. It's time!
  • RickStevens
    RickStevens Member ✭✭
    edited September 2023

    Please add the ability to change the amount of multiple transactions. I'll have the same payee in my future transactions where I'd like to change 12 months or 24 months of future transaction's amount. I can change their category, but can't change the amount for all of them. Pain in the neck to go into every line and adjust the amount or delete them all and then set up a new schedule with the new amount. Thank you.

  • Stephen 22
    Stephen 22 Member

    Listen, I spent many times begging Intuit and now, the powers that be at Quicken to work on bulk editing of the Actions Field in Quicken for Mac. But alas, no action on Acitons. I have a work around that solves many of the problems. Now, if you can get your head around the label name of the column being Tags and not Actions (and you don't need the Tags Column for anything else) you can dedicate it to the Actions. It will show up in reports and you can bulk edits in the Edit Window just like you do with Payees and Categories. (But back up your Quicken Account file before doing it because you might accidentally click on the wrong field and erase all your categories or memos for a give mass selection of transactions). Because the tagged "Actions" have a light blue bubble around them, aesthetically I feel that one has to keep the Acitons, in all caps, short, like 3-letters long. You can place the whole Tags Column to the right of the Date Column just like you do with he Actions Column. Here are the abbreviations that I use. They are only three letters long on purpose so as not to become an eye-sore. They are: ACH (Automatic Clearing House Debit), ATM, CHK (Check, or you can put the actual Check #), CHG (charged item), DEP, EFT (Electronic Funds Transaction), PMT (Payment of bill; you can also use BILL instead), REF (Refund), XFR (Transfer), WDL (withdrawal) and $OR (Money Order).

    Here is a screen print of the look of this work around

  • Stephen 22
    Stephen 22 Member

    Oh, I forgot to put POS (Point of Sale) in my list of Actions in the last comment above. While I am at it, I want to post a screen print of a Payee Transaction Report to show you all that the Tags column can work in the report as an Action Column:

    Here is the screen print:

  • jacobs
    jacobs SuperUser, Mac Beta Beta

    @Stephen 22 Thanks for sharing your approach. Of course, it doesn’t work well for people who need Tags for their intended purpose. Personally, I’ve found I don’t have any need to label transactions with ATM, ACH, CHK, DEP, etc. — I can always tell transactions by the Payee and context.

    Quicken Mac Subscription • Quicken user since 1993
  • Teresa S
    Teresa S Member ✭✭
    edited September 2023

    I use this field to differentiate DC (debit card), xxxx (for actual check number), AP (auto-pay), DD (direct deposit), VENMO, PAYPAY, ZELLE, etc. This field needs to be added as an option to EDIT TRANSACTION(S). This also lets me know i looked into the transaction(s) if this field is filled in (if it's blank, then I haven't looked into it).

    PLEASE ADD to the rest of the EDIT TRANSACTION fields…

  • RickO
    RickO SuperUser, Mac Beta Beta

    Teresa, You can add and remove fields to the register yourself, including Check#. Click the Columns button at the bottom (or menu View > Columns) and select which fields you want to show. You can change the order of the columns by dragging a column header left or right. You can change the width of columns by dragging the divider between column headers.

    A couple of suggestions: (1) some people use the Action column to designate the type of transaction, leaving the check# column just for check numbers, and (2) the Status column will show a symbol (pencil, dot, etc) for transactions you have not reviewed. If you click the symbol, you can mark reviewed which removes the symbol. Then you can easily see which transactions you haven't reviewed (they still have a symbol). And you can use the Status:Not Reviewed filter at the top of the register to see only those transactions. This is the customary (and probably better) way for marking transactions that you haven't "looked into" (eg. if there's a symbol in the Status column, you haven't looked into it).

    Quicken Mac Subscription; Quicken Mac user since the early 90s
  • Jon
    Jon SuperUser, Mac Beta Beta

    @RickO I think what @Teresa S is asking for is the ability to modify the check number field for multiple transactions all at the same time using the Edit Transaction window.

    I don't think it's likely Quicken will allow that; if you're using the check number field as intended you wouldn't want multiple transactions to have the same check number. I agree it makes more sense to use the Action field to differentiate between different transaction types but currently you can't modify the action field for multiple transactions through the Edit Transaction window either. I think Quicken would be more receptive to that; it doesn't look like anyone has submitted a Product Idea post for it.

    Quicken Mac subscription. Quicken user since 1990.

  • RickO
    RickO SuperUser, Mac Beta Beta

    Bit of a terminology disconnect here as there is no Edit TransactionS command. There is an Edit Transaction command, and if you apply that to a multiple transaction selection, it opens the Transaction Info window where you can change certain field of multiple transactions at once.

    That said, if you use my suggestion above of using the Status column to indicate transaction having been reviewed, then you can change the review status of a group of transactions at one time by right clicking and selecting Set Status of Selected Transactions To…

    Quicken Mac Subscription; Quicken Mac user since the early 90s
  • jacobs
    jacobs SuperUser, Mac Beta Beta

    There have been multiple requests in the past to add one or more of these fields to the mass editing Transaction Info screens. One such Idea post was archived by th moderators due to inactivity. Another was inadvertently merged into that archived thread. This new Idea thread is an attempt to consolidate the past requests to allow mass editing of the fields which currently can't be mass edited. If you have wanted to be able to mass edit Date, Amount, Action and/or Check #, please add your vote for this Idea in the yellow box above.

    @Teresa S @scrlnet @odysseus @RickStevens @Stephen 22

    Quicken Mac Subscription • Quicken user since 1993
  • telemachos
    telemachos Member, Mac Beta Beta

    Thanks for doing this, @jacobs!

  • Chris_QPW
    Chris_QPW Member ✭✭✭✭

    Just for reference.

    Quicken Windows combines the "action" and "check number" fields into one field. The "Ref" field is actually the same field, it is called "Check #" in checking and savings accounts and "Reference #" in other kinds of like credit card accounts.

    This is one of those "space saving" shortcuts that Quicken Windows took that make it a bit hard what to do when the fields are separate like in Quicken Mac. The other is the category field, which in Quicken Windows is also used for transfers (the account name like this [Other Account]) and balance adjustments with the current account name in the same syntax [Current Account].

    Looking at how Quicken Web handles this, it seems that it uses Quicken Windows syntax in both cases.

    Note that one can put basically anything they like in the Check # field (up to a certain length), but there it really can be used for three things, arbitrary text, check #, an "action", this field for instance, is used in Direct Connect billing, and in printing of checks. It one heavily overloaded field.

    But I think if Quicken Inc wants to do this and also make it work the best with Quicken Web/Mobile they could just add an action field to Quicken Web/Mobile. It wouldn't have any real "action" it would just be a text field that gets synced if working with Quicken Mac.

    BTW even though one would want to keep the interfaces as compatible as possible I don't see why they would have to be 100% the same. It seems to me that they can do something different based on if this is for Quicken Windows or Quicken Mac (like not display the action field for Quicken Windows). Remember that there are two separate tabs for Windows and Mac for the cloud accounts. You can't actually share between the two, and as such clearly, they know which Desktop platform this data is for.

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  • jacobs
    jacobs SuperUser, Mac Beta Beta

    @Chris_QPW The former Quicken Mac product manager said that the functionality of Quicken Cloud is defined by Quicken Windows, and that prevented the Mac team from doing some things they would otherwise do if they didn't have that constraints.

    However, I don't know if that's relevant to the topic of this feature request, which does not require any new fields or actions for downloads in Quicken Cloud; this feature request involves only local transaction editing in Quicken Mac which could subsequently be synced to Cloud accounts.

    Quicken Mac Subscription • Quicken user since 1993
  • smayer97
    smayer97 SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭

    It may be a moot point but the "action" / "reference" / "check #" field used to be ONE in QM2007 prior to the new QMac coming along.

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    (Canadian user since '92, STILL using QM2007)

  • GregCT
    GregCT Member ✭✭
    edited October 2023

    When editing multiple transactions, date is not one of the options for multiple / bulk transaction edits. Would like to see date as one of the options for multi transaction editing.

  • Hello @GregCT,

    Thank you for reaching out to the Community with your request.

    Your idea has been merged into this already active Idea thread regarding the same request.

    Thank you!

    -Quicken Jasmine

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