Stop Transactions from Being Marked as Cleared

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This discussion was created from comments split from: QMac automatically enters and clears downloaded transactions. [Edited].

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  • jacobs
    jacobs SuperUser, Mac Beta Beta
    @Artimus If your concern is matching what's in your Quicken register against a bank statement, keep in mind that "Cleared" status (a blue checkmark in the Clr column in the register) is not the same as "Reconciled" status (a green checkmark in the Clr column). I pretty much ignore the blue Cleared check marks because I do my careful checking when I reconcile each month and manually mark each transaction as reconciled. We all have our own processes and workflows, so what works for me may not work as well for you; I just wanted to make sure you were aware that you do have full control over marking your transactions as reconciled as you complete a manual reconciliation.
    Quicken Mac Subscription • Quicken user since 1993
  • jacobs
    jacobs SuperUser, Mac Beta Beta
    Artimus said:
    I am talking about the blue checkmark in the Clr column. The blue checkmark is the mark that shows up when you clear the transaction against the bank statement during the reconciling process by me. How can you "manually mark each transaction as reconciled" if it is already marked for you with the blue checkmark?
    Yes, this is exactly what I was writing about. You are confusing Cleared and Reconciled.

    When you download transactions, they are marked as Cleared, which is denoted by a blue check mark in the Clr column. That is not reconciled; it means it's cleared the bank. You can manually check the Clr column for a manually entered transaction if you wish to, and it will get a blue check mark. But for transactions downloaded from a financial institution -- which by definition have cleared the bank -- they will always show a blue check mark.

    Reconciling against your bank statement is different. When you use the Reconcile window, as you check items off, then get the green checkmark denoting they have been reconciled. You can also manually mark a transaction as reconciled -- although I don't recommend doing that outside the reconcile window unless you have an explicit reason for doing so -- by Option-clicking in the Clr column. (Option clicking again pops up a warning about manually un-reconciling a reconciled transaction, but allows you to do so.)

    So think of the Clr box as having a progression of three states: (1) empty for a manually entered transaction, (2) blue Cleared checkmark for a transaction which has cleared the bank as signaled by the bank's download or you clicking it manually, and (3) green Reconciled checkmark for a transaction which you -- and only you -- have marked as reconciled with your bank statement.
    Quicken Mac Subscription • Quicken user since 1993
  • jacobs
    jacobs SuperUser, Mac Beta Beta
    @Artimus Wow, there is no need to call me a pejorative name (which I see the moderator has now removed from your post). I am a fellow Quicken user who is trying to help you. If you don't want my help, I'll be happy to save my time and stop trying, but I'll take one more crack at it...

    We've clearly been talking past each other, so let me start by asking you a question. You wrote: "It is for me (NOT the bank) to verify the transactions by marking the items as cleared (blue checkmark) DURING the reconciliation process." So could you describe for me your reconciliation process? You get a statement from the bank, and you're going to compare it to your Quicken register, marking transactions both on paper and in Quicken as you go down the list, correct? So in Quicken, you click Reconcile, enter the ending balance and date, and then in the Reconcile window, you want to go through each one and mark them Cleared as you mark them off the bank statement, correct? And you are bothered by the fact that the transactions from the bank are already marked as cleared in this window, correct?

    So I see two options. What I would do in this case is to go down the list of Quicken 
    transactions one at a time, checking them off on the bank statement. At the end of the transactions, I'd then see if anything is left unchecked on the bank statement, and if it corresponds to an unchecked transaction in the Quicken list.

    But if you want to manually mark each transaction as Cleared in Quicken as you go down the list, all you need to do is click one button on the Reconcile window: "Mark all as Uncleared." This will remove the blue check marks from all the transactions, so you can do the work of re-checking them one at a time.

    You wrote that this is "wrong and a waste of time". I'll tell you, as I have above and as Chris did in your post about this in another thread, that's it's not "wrong" according to the way the Quicken developers have built Quicken. In the documentation for Quicken (under Quicken Help for Reconcile), it plainly states: "In the Clr column, select the checkbox for the transactions that match your bank statement. By default, the downloaded transactions will be checked." So this is not an error; it's the way Quicken is designed to work. But what's important is that if you prefer to work differently, it only requires one button click to uncheck all the downloaded transactions which are marked as cleared so you can mark them cleared again yourself one by one.

    You wrote that manual clearing of transactions "
    has been this way since at least 1995, until Quicken allowed automatic downloads of transactions from the banks." But Quicken has been allowing transaction downloads for probably 20 years now! ;) So this is nothing new. It's certainly not new in the re-written modern version of Quicken Mac, which has been on the market since 2014. 

    I personally enter my transactions manually rather than downloading (except when I'm doing testing in a backup file), so my workflow for reconciling is exactly what you want it to be from the old days: when I enter the Reconcile window, my transactions aren't marked as cleared, and I must check them off one at a time as I reconcile. If you prefer to download transactions, as most people do, Quicken marks transactions as cleared because they are already verified to have cleared your bank -- which assures they are also on your bank statement. Instead of having to check them off on the bank statement and in Quicken, you can go down Quicken's list of transactions and only check them off on the bank statement; it saves time and a lot of clicking. (I'm sure there are many Quicken users who aren't as fastidious as you or I, who enter the reconcile screen, see all their transactions marked in blue, and if the Difference on the screen between Quicken's balance and the bank balance is zero, they simply click Finish and are done in a few seconds without reviewing every transaction.) But I guess I'm not understanding why you find it a problem to have your desired workflow by simply clicking one button to uncheck all the transactions and then clear them manually.
    Quicken Mac Subscription • Quicken user since 1993
  • jacobs
    jacobs SuperUser, Mac Beta Beta
    You call Quicken "morally wrong" because they've designed it in a way which suits most users well, with an option to suit other workflows. I don't believe it's "immoral"; I believe you're just angry that it doesn't work the way you wish it did, even though it's worked that way for many years. You're entitled to your opinion; I was just trying to show that it's easy to work around.

    You wrote: "I have too many accounts to work on, without having to uncheck each and every transaction." And I wrote that you don't need to uncheck each transaction; in the reconcile window you can click one button to uncheck them all. It's one button, and you can have the workflow you prefer each month when you reconcile. Whether you like or don't like downloaded transactions being automatically checked as cleared, clicking that one button for each account you reconcile could solve your workflow issue if you use it. If you find that unacceptable because it is "morally wrong" then I guess can't help you find an easier way to work with the program.

    I can misunderstand you without being a liar. I can make a mistake without being a liar. We can disagree on how the program should work without me being a liar. Since you insist on calling me that, when I've only been trying to help you work around something you don't like in the program, I will sign off.

    Quicken Mac Subscription • Quicken user since 1993
  • NotACPA
    NotACPA SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭
    " It is for me (NOT the bank) to verify the transactions by marking the items as cleared (blue checkmark) "
    NO,; IT IS NOT.
    If a transactions downloads from your bank/card/etc, it has "cleared" that Financial Institution.
    You don't get to invent your own definitions for words.

    Q user since February, 1990. DOS Version 4
    Now running Quicken Windows Subscription, Business & Personal
    Retired "Certified Information Systems Auditor" & Bank Audit VP

  • NotACPA
    NotACPA SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭
    "The transaction may be considered "cleared" for that Financial Institution if a transaction downloads to my register, but marking MY checkbook register as "cleared" in the Clr column does NOT belong to the bank nor to Quicken, "
    Then you're lying to yourself about what "cleared" means.  It means "cleared the bank".

    Q user since February, 1990. DOS Version 4
    Now running Quicken Windows Subscription, Business & Personal
    Retired "Certified Information Systems Auditor" & Bank Audit VP

  • NotACPA
    NotACPA SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭
    I disagree because, as my signature indicates, I'm a Retired bank audit VP ... and I know what 'c' means.
    I'm not lying ... I'm telling you that you simply don't understand the meaning of the 'c'.

    Q user since February, 1990. DOS Version 4
    Now running Quicken Windows Subscription, Business & Personal
    Retired "Certified Information Systems Auditor" & Bank Audit VP

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