nav[aria-label="Primary Navigation"] { padding: 0; & ul { list-style: none; width: 100%; display: flex; flex-direction: row; justify-content: start; align-items: start; gap: 30px; padding: 0; & li { margin: 0; } & ul li { list-style: none; } } }

Transfers to same account still happening automatically with downloaded transactions

Geobrick

I'm still having the issue where downloaded transactions from several different checking accounts are automatically being categorized as transfers back to the same account.

I've posted before as a few scattered others have but it's clear most people are not experiencing this problem. That led me to an experiment. I started a new quicken file and manually downloaded about 2 months of transactions to a QFX file from an account that has caused this problem before. I imported the QFX file and there were no problems with transactions being auto-categorized as transfers back to the same account. This proves the banks are not coding categories into the downloaded date and that there some issue with my other files causing these transfers back to the same account.

The settings on the new file were Quickens Default so:
Automatically Categorize Transactions was "checked on"
as was, 'Use my existing renaming rules' and 'Automatically create rules when I rename payees'

Those are both off on my problem file ever since I started having the problem.

It seems there is something wrong in settings withing my problem files (I have 2 separate QDF files that suffer from the auto categorizing of transfers back to the same account). I've done the super validate and repair and it all shows as good.

I think my experiment indicates the problem is in my QDF file and not with Quicken. I'm not sure where to go from here. Does anyone have another experiment to help identify the cause of this problem?

Find more posts tagged with

Comments

Geobrick

As a follow-up to my experiment, I imported that same QFX file into the problem QDF file but not into the existing account. I imported it as an added account. It was perfect. No transfers back to itself (even for the same transactions that caused this issue when downloaded initially to the real version of the account.

That seems to point to the various accounts that have the problem vs the QDF itself but what would cause that and how can I correct it?

mshiggins

What is the setting for Transfer Detection in both the problem file and your test file?

Geobrick

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/comment/20460894#Comment_20460894

The problem file has the "Scan downloaded transactions for possible transfers" checked along with "Confirm possible transfers before entering in register".

The test file has the "Scan downloaded transactions for possible transfers" checked but has the "Automatically create transfers when detected" checked.

I may have unchecked "Automatically create transfers when detected" months ago because of this problem so I'm not sure this is the culprit. When the category gets set as a transfer to itself, it never asks.

"Automatically categorize transactions" is off on the problem file and on in the test file but I probably turned in off months ago when trying to troubleshoot the issue. The issue predates those setting changes.

Based on my follow-up post, I'm thinking this is an account specific problem within the file because when I created a new account and imported the same QFX file into it, the new account doesn't create the transfers to itself for any transactions except for the initial balance (which is expected).

I think this problem started about a year ago when I needed to fix Damaged Data Blocks in my QDF file. I used the advanced for creating a backup file.. I had to recreate all the online settings for each account but the file past 'Super Validate' and everything was running so much faster. I'm pretty sure it was sometime after that when I noticed transactions with the category set as a transfer back to the same account. Not all my accounts had the problem. It was checking and credit card accounts. It didn't matter if the accounts were at the same or different banks.

For my next experiment, I'll find an older file prior to when I fixed the damaged data blocks and import the same QFX file to see if I get the transfers back to the same account.

markus1957

Check your Memorized Payee List for an entry(s) that shows the problem account(s) as the category to be assigned.

Geobrick

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/comment/20461067#Comment_20461067

Thanks. I have checked that and there were no memorized transactions or renaming rules with categories set as transfers back into the same account.

At one point I deleted all the memorized transitions and renaming rules and that didn't help either.

Geobrick

Another bit of information that may help troubleshoot this problem is that I also noticed, over time (after I fixed the damaged data block), that Quicken's ability to match downloaded transactions with those already in the register seemed to degrade. Especially when the transaction that was already in the register was from a 'Bill and Income reminder'. If those are even a day or 2 in the future, Quicken will not recognize the matching downloaded transaction as a match. I'm pretty sure Quicken was once much better at that. That could just be my perception though.

Geobrick

Update on my experiments. I found a file from before I fixed the damaged data block and imported a QFX file with about 60 days of transactions (SEP thru now). This time I imported it into the existing account first. None of these transactions had the transfer back to the same account. Everything was imported with a blank category.

Is it possible that OSU downloads are treated differently than imported QFX files? I'm pretty sure I saw this problem with downloaded QFX files too. I'll verify that.

One more item of interest (and something that may be pointing me to the problem).To prepare for the credit card account experiment below, I wanted to remove some past payment transactions from the checking account to the credit card account. This was to be able to see how the transactions get recorded in the register when downloaded/imported into the credit card account when they aren't matched to existing transactions. From the checking account, I deleted the transfer category from about 3 months of payments to the credit card. Each time I did that; I got the warning "You are recording a transfer without specifying an account". What made Quicken think the transactions were transfers? Once I remove the category, isn't it no longer a transfer? The only indication to quicken I could see at that point was the word "Transfer" in the text of the Payee name. The bank names the payment transactions "Transfer to credit card" in the payee column. Is Quicken using text from the Payee name to help determine if a transaction should be considered a transfer? The answer is surprisingly yes! I verified this by removing the word transfer from a payee before removing the transfer category and there was no warning from quicken. This leads me to wonder, if quicken downloads a transaction with the word "Transfer" in the payee name, and there's no transfer account specified (as there wouldn't be in a downloaded transaction) is quicken defaulting the transfer account to the same account? More experimenting is needed to prove this, but it seems this is what is happening in my case.

I tried another experiment with a credit card account in the old QDF file because some credit card accounts are also recording downloaded payments as transfers back to credit card account. When I imported the downloaded credit card QFX file, Quicken found several of the matching transactions. A window popped up asking "Are these correct?" They were all correct. Quicken picked up every all the existing credit card payments in the checking account and for those that were not in the checking account (because it's an old file), quicken left the categories blank and did NOT automatically record the category as a transfer back to the same account. This seems to only be a problem in my current QDF file.

markus1957

Since you do not see the issue in a new file, I concur that it is an issue with the problem file(s). You could try the Copy Template routine again to see if you can get a clean file, but as you know, it may not work, and it will require setting up downloads for all accounts again.

You might also try deactivating one of your problem accounts, preferably one where it is the only account at the financial institution in your Quicken file. Then use Tools>Add Account to add a new account activated for downloads from the problem account. Check to see if subsequent downloads are free of the issue. If the new account is problem free, then the issue is with the problem account register.

You could then keep the old account for transaction history, or you could move all of the transactions from the problem account to the new account and then delete the problem account.

Geobrick

Thanks Markus1957. The idea of creating a new account and keeping the old for the history (assuming the problem doesn't exist in the new account) is a good compromise solution. In the meantime, I'll try more experiments and only report on them if I hit on the underlying problem.

Geobrick

I haven't done any more experiments, but I have some screenshots (with redactions😀) to help show what's happening. Here's one of them.
(Let me know if I missed any important redactions)

You can see the downloaded transactions. When one is selected but not yet accepted into the registry, you can see quicken has auto-filled the category with a transfer back to the same account. There are no memorized transactions or renaming rules set that could do this and auto-categorize is off.

2024-11-24 Quicken Auto Categorize Self-Transfer Issue (79).png