Can I turn off the auto-match function? (Q Basic Mac)

tworavens
tworavens Member ✭✭
I'd like to avoid the mistakes made by the auto-match function that matches scheduled transactions with downloaded transactions. I would rather do all of the matches manually. Is there a way to turn off the auto-match function? (I'm a new user with Q Basic for Mac.) If there currently is no way to do this, I suggest adding it to a future update.

Best Answer

  • Quicken Jasmine
    Quicken Jasmine Moderator mod
    Answer ✓
    Hi @tworavens,

    Thank you for contacting the community with this question. I understand that this could be frustrating when wanting to do the transactions manually and it automatically does them for you. Unfortunately, there is no way to turn the auto-match feature off. However, there is currently an idea post related to this specific development feature in which you could vote to have this feature be added to the Quicken application. I have included a link to this idea post below, this is not specific to turning auto-match off but it is for the ability to review and accept matches before they are matched. This idea post is also currently under consideration with Development now!

    https://community.quicken.com/discussion/7309379/restore-transactions-downloading-acceptance-and-matching-workflow-to-quicken-mac-316-legacy-votes/p1

    I hope this helps and I am sorry for any inconvenience that this has caused you.

    Thank you, 
    Quicken Jasmine



    -Quicken Jasmine

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Answers

  • Quicken Jasmine
    Quicken Jasmine Moderator mod
    Answer ✓
    Hi @tworavens,

    Thank you for contacting the community with this question. I understand that this could be frustrating when wanting to do the transactions manually and it automatically does them for you. Unfortunately, there is no way to turn the auto-match feature off. However, there is currently an idea post related to this specific development feature in which you could vote to have this feature be added to the Quicken application. I have included a link to this idea post below, this is not specific to turning auto-match off but it is for the ability to review and accept matches before they are matched. This idea post is also currently under consideration with Development now!

    https://community.quicken.com/discussion/7309379/restore-transactions-downloading-acceptance-and-matching-workflow-to-quicken-mac-316-legacy-votes/p1

    I hope this helps and I am sorry for any inconvenience that this has caused you.

    Thank you, 
    Quicken Jasmine



    -Quicken Jasmine

    Make sure to sign up for the email digest to see a round-up of your top posts.

  • RickO
    RickO SuperUser, Mac Beta Beta
    @tworavens I have a little trouble understanding why you'd want to go to the trouble of entering transactions manually and then matching them manually to the downloaded transactions. In other words, why not just download first and then enter your info afterward? 

    By the way, in case you didn't know, you can reject an automatic transaction match by right clicking a matched transaction and selected that option from the popup menu.
    Quicken Mac Subscription; Quicken Mac user since the early 90s
  • garysmith87
    garysmith87 Member ✭✭✭✭
    @RickO

    The way the OP describes is exactly the way some of us use Quicken Windows...manually enter transactions ... then a day or two later download and allow for manually matching by using QW's Downloaded Transactions preview pane which appears below the transaction register. 

    Quicken Mac doesn't have that preview pane.  It will directly match downloaded transactions to manually entered transactions.  To clarify these, manually entered transactions in Quicken Mac have an orange pencil in the status column...and then when they are automatically matched they will have a blue pencil.  And new unmatched downloaded transactions will have a blue dot.

    The OP needs to make sure that they have the Status column visible and that it is expanded width to see the pencil or dot and the description.  Then they have to slightly adjust their workflow and vision...as to look for blue pencils and blue dots, and then review them by clicking on them.  In the long run, you're still reviewing the transactions, either one by one or all at once...which is the same work flow in Quicken Windows with the preview pane...but the visuals are different.

    Takes a bit getting used to coming from Quicken Windows. 
  • tworavens
    tworavens Member ✭✭
    Thanks all for the helpful insight. I will adjust my workflow to always look for the blue pencils and inspect every auto-match. I'll also vote on the idea post. @RickO I only enter one of the matched transactions manually. I have all my bills entered as future transactions with estimated amounts just to remind me when they are coming up, but I pay them outside of Quicken. The problem arises when I do my daily download and the auto-match function sees one of my future bills as "close enough" in amount and date to one of the downloaded transactions, even though the name and/or category might not match at all.
  • RickO
    RickO SuperUser, Mac Beta Beta
    The OP needs to make sure that they have the Status column visible and that it is expanded width to see the pencil or dot and the description.  Then they have to slightly adjust their workflow and vision...as to look for blue pencils and blue dots, and then review them by clicking on them.  In the long run, you're still reviewing the transactions, either one by one or all at once...which is the same work flow in Quicken Windows with the preview pane...but the visuals are different.
    @garysmith87 I have always had the opinion (not being a former QWin user) that the Mac workflow, while different, is equivalent; that you just have to get used to not having the preview window. You seem to agree. But you may have changed my opinion a bit in that I now see the value of the preview window in preventing any kind of automatic match (if that's what you want). 
    Quicken Mac Subscription; Quicken Mac user since the early 90s
  • RickO
    RickO SuperUser, Mac Beta Beta
    tworavens said:
    I have all my bills entered as future transactions with estimated amounts just to remind me when they are coming up, but I pay them outside of Quicken. The problem arises when I do my daily download and the auto-match function sees one of my future bills as "close enough" in amount and date to one of the downloaded transactions, even though the name and/or category might not match at all.
    QMac does (SHOULD) only match when the amounts exactly match. If it is matching a downloaded transaction to a manual or scheduled transaction with a different amount (even if only off by $.01), then that is a bug. But that is the only thing that is required to match exactly.

    The date can be off (by a limited amount).

    The category match is irrelevant since a non-matched category comes from Quicken, not from the bank's downloaded info. In any case, the category of the matched (merged) transaction will be that which was entered manually.

    The payee name will also become that which was entered manually; and more often than not, will not be an exact match to the downloaded payee name since those are often somewhat cryptic versions that come from the bank's transaction statement (e.g. "Amazon.com* D05GE4PK2" vs. your manually entered "Amazon").

    It's really only cases where you have two manual transactions with the same amount when the match should ever be wrong. Bottom line: if you are getting matches of downloaded to manual transactions with different amounts, then this needs to be documented and reported as a bug.
    Quicken Mac Subscription; Quicken Mac user since the early 90s
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