Renaming Rules and Quickfill (mac)

tntgalx10
tntgalx10 Member ✭✭
I have Quicken Home & Business subscription for mac, version 7 (latest iteration). My question is multipart.

1 - Quicken H&B for mac... "renaming rules" & "quickfill rules." Which one of these is technically processed first, upon downloading of transactions? Or do they "feed" off each other's data? For instance, if I have a renaming rule that changes a downloaded payee from say "DELTAXXXXX.COM" to "Delta Airlines," will a QuickFill rule need to reflect "Delta Airlines" as the payee to work? Or will a QuickFill rule still refer to the original "DELTAXXXXX.COM" payee name in order to properly QuickFill the category, etc.? If I create the Delta Airlines renaming rule AFTER creating the quickfill rule that assigns the category... will Quicken just know that on subsequent downloads that transactions it renames "Delta Airlines" via Renaming Rule above, it also needs to apply the "DELTAXXXXX.COM" quickfill rule that's already in place, for assigning it the category? I

2 - Depending on the which register (account) that I'm downloading transactions to, I also needed the quickfill rules to behave *differently* in some cases. I mentioned above that I use Quicken Home & Business. For my business account, I'd like "Delta Airlines" to be automatically categorized a certain business category/subcategory... and for my personal accounts, I'd like quickfill rules to categorize "Delta Airlines" transactions to a *different* category/subcategory. I know that if I leave the quickfill rule "locked," I'll be able to change it manually... but I am a HEAVY user of Quicken Home & Business and this is not a viable solution. In the Quickfill Rules setup, I do not see any way to specify an ACCOUNT(s) that the rule(s) apply to. Am I missing something? I pay a lot more for the most powerful version of Quicken... Home & Business, which should have lots of ways to keep Home and Business transactions separate.

3 - How can I disable the automatic "quicken naming," in general? I don't want Quicken to think for me if I have not created a renaming rule myself... I'd rather just use the downloaded name (like the "DELTAXXXXX.COM" example above), as it's way less confusing what renaming rules I have or have not created (I don't want Quicken to rename that deltaxxxx.com name to something like "Delta" etc.).

I'm sure there's more I'm just not recalling right now... but these things I need to get fixed asap? Help!

Comments

  • jacobs
    jacobs SuperUser, Mac Beta Beta
    edited May 2023

    First, there is no Home & Business version of Quicken Mac at this time. You said you're paying "a lot more for the most powerful version of Quicken," but you actually have a misconception about Quicken Mac software. There ar enough "Home & Business" features in Quicken Mac, so you're paying for something you think you're getting which you are not. Unless you are also using Quicken Windows, you should downgrade to Premier or Deluxe to save money, because you're getting nothing extra paying for Home & Business on the Mac platform. (The Quicken Mac team has said they are planning to develop business features for Quicken Mac in the future, but for now the software operates identically whether you have a Premier or Home & Business subscription. And there are only a few small features which are unique to Premier which are not in Deluxe, so for most people, Deluxe is all you need.)

    For your questions…

    1. The renaming rule will apply first. So yes, if you have a Renaming rule to change "DELTAXXXXX.COM" to "Delta Airlines," and a QuickFill rule to categorize Delta Airlines transactions as Travel:Airfare, it should work as you'd expect.
    2. QuickFill rules cannot be defined an an account basis; they are global rules. There is an Idea post (enhancement request) for this functionality which you can vote for here. You could…

      … create separate business and personal Payees (e.g. "Delta" and "Delta (Business)"), and have QuickFill rules for each — but you'd have to select/edit the Payee as you go; or…

      … use the downloaded Payee name, as modified by a Renaming Rule, and then edit the category as needed for business versus personal transactions; or…

      … depending on the volume of your transactions, you could create completely separate Quicken data files for your personal and business accounts, if they are indeed separate accounts; if you co-mingle work and personal transactions in the same accounts, this isn't an option.
    3. Go to Settings > Connected Services and unchecked the option for "Automatically improve the quality of downloaded payee names and categories." This should stop the server-based renaming and categorizations. (But there have been some reports that Quicken Mac is ignoring this setting for some users, so it may or may not work for you.)

    Quicken Mac Subscription • Quicken user since 1993
  • tntgalx10
    tntgalx10 Member ✭✭
    > @jacobs said:
    > First, there is no Home & Business version of Quicken Mac at this time. You said you're paying "a lot more for the most powerful version of Quicken," but you actually have a misconception about Quicken Mac software. There ar enough "Home & Business" features in Quicken Mac, so you're paying for something you think you're getting which you are not. Unless you are also using Quicken Windows, you should downgrade to Premier or Deluxe to save money, because you're getting nothing extra paying for Home & Business on the Mac platform. (The Quicken Mac team has said they are planning to develop business features for Quicken Mac in the future, but for now the software operates identically whether you have a Premier or Home & Business subscription. And there are only a few small features which are unique to Premier which are not in Deluxe, so for most people, Deluxe is all you need.)
    >
    > For your questions…
    >
    > The renaming rule will apply first. So yes, if you have a Renaming rule to change "DELTAXXXXX.COM" to "Delta Airlines," and a QuickFill rule to categorize Delta Airlines transactions as Travel:Airfare, it should work as you'd expect. QuickFill rules cannot be defined an an account basis; they are global rules. There is an Idea post (enhancement request) for this functionality which you can vote for here. You could…
    >
    > … create separate business and personal Payees (e.g. "Delta" and "Delta (Business)"), and have QuickFill rules for each — but you'd have to select/edit the Payee as you go; or…
    >
    > … use the downloaded Payee name, as modified by a Renaming Rule, and then edit the category as needed for business versus personal transactions; or…
    >
    > … depending on the volume of your transactions, you could create completely separate Quicken data files for your personal and business accounts, if they are indeed separate accounts; if you co-mingle work and personal transactions in the same accounts, this isn't an option. Go to Settings > Connected Services and unchecked the option for "Automatically improve the quality of downloaded payee names and categories." This should stop the server-based renaming and categorizations. (But there have been some reports that Quicken Mac is ignoring this setting for some users, so it may or may not work for you.)



    Wow. Ok, thanks for the tip re: Home & Business for Mac "not existing." I'm really puzzled as well as irritated because I do indeed have "Quicken Home & Business for Mac" (see attached screenshot from my mac), yet I see on their product page that intuit doesn't even offer it, like you said, for mac. How do I have this version then?? ugh. Will be unbelievably annoying if I downgrade, to a product that "exists," but then can't open my mac h&b quicken file in Deluxe or Premiere for mac... I guess I have to tackle that question now.

    As far as the rest of your response, thank you. I have been doing all of those "remedies," was really hoping there was an easier way than manually. I cannot completely separate the quicken files or I create more work for myself that way, just in a different way. There's not completely separate credit cards I use for *just* for biz transactions, which is why I've had meticulous books via categories/reports, etc. for decades now.
  • jacobs
    jacobs SuperUser, Mac Beta Beta

    First, just FYI, Quicken is not owned by Intuit; it's been an independent company for the past 8 years.

    Second, Quicken sells subscriptions at four different levels: Starter, Deluxe, Premier, and Home & Business. A subscription allows you to download and use the Mac and/or Windows versions of the program. When you download Quicken Mac or Quicken Windows, there is only one application; it's your subscription level which determines which features are available to you. On the Mac platform, most of the features exist in the Deluxe level. Premier adds only a few small features: (1) priority in the call queue when calling Quicken Support, (2) included 12 electronic and 5 check pays with Quicken Bill Pay, and (3) the Foreign Bank Accounts Report. The latter drops a hint that perhaps some future reports and features might require Premier, but so far that's it. And there are no Home & Business features in Quicken Mac. Again, the developers have signaled that they plan to develop Home & Business features for Mac, but we don't know what features it will include or when it will arrive. (My guess: it will arrive in piecemeal additions over time, and it won't be real soon.)

    You ask how you have Home & Business. The simple answer is that you bought it. 😉 When you buy a subscription, Quicken doesn't know whether you will use the Mac program, the Windows program, or both. It's not like the old days, when users would purchase Quicken Mac or Quicken Windows as distinct software products.

    Third, you don't have a "Home & Business" data file; you have a Quicken data file. It will open in Premier or Deluxe. (Even on Quicken Windows, if a user downgrades from Home & Business to Deluxe or Premier, their data file still works; they just lose functionality.) So there will be no problem if you downgrade your subscription.

    I don't know when you last renewed your Quicken subscription. If it was fairly recently, I'd suggest contacting Quicken Support and telling them you just became aware you were paying for Home & Business thinking you were getting added features, and you want to downgrade to Premier or Deluxe. I don't think they'll give you any money back, but hopefully you can get them to credit your current subscription with some additional months as compensation. If you have only a few months until your subscription renews, I'd just wait until renewal time and then make sure you renew at the level you want.

    Quicken Mac Subscription • Quicken user since 1993
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