Rules for Investment Transaction Downloads

imdcareys
imdcareys Quicken Windows Subscription Member ✭✭✭✭
edited November 8 in Registers & Transactions (Windows)

Can a Rule be created to rename various Investment transaction fields upon Update Now in One Step Update?

Example: in the Memo field, If text equals "REINVESTDIVIDENDREINVESTDIVIDEND" change to "Reinvest Dividend".

This might also be done for other Security Transaction fields.

I have searched Quicken Help and Community. While there is much discussion on Renaming Rules, none that I have found address this question. Also, Edit > Find /Replace will not allow selection of Investment Transactions which currently makes that feature unusable for Investment Transaction.

Thanks!

- Carey

Win 11 Pro - Quicken Windows Classic Premier - v64.30

Answers

  • Chris_QPW
    Chris_QPW Quicken Windows Subscription Member ✭✭✭✭

    Currently there isn't any "rules" for investment accounts. What's more I doubt there ever would be for what you are talking about.

    What connection method are you using for this? Any of the supported methods other than the new CSV import wouldn't need it because there are fields like for the "security action" and these are used determine things like the "Reinvest Dividend". And securities are matched by the CUSPID in Direct Connect and Express Web Connect +. QIF is an exception in that the security is matched by security name, but it also has fields for the security action.

    If the connection method is Direct Connect, then only the financial institution can fix it. If it is Express Web Connect + most likely the problem is with the financial institution, but I'm not entirely sure that Quicken Inc/Intuit aren't in control of some of the process.

    What financial institution is this?

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  • imdcareys
    imdcareys Quicken Windows Subscription Member ✭✭✭✭
    edited November 8
    https://community.quicken.com/discussion/comment/20520598#Comment_20520598

    What's more I doubt there ever would be for what you are talking about.

    Why would you doubt that?

    When I make reports, I like them to look like they were created with care and not just to "get it done".

    - Thanks Chris, One can still hope!

    What connection method are you using for this?

    What financial institution is this?

    Direct Connect:

    Vanguard - This one uses REPEATEDTEXTREPEATEDTEXT and ALL CAPS nearly 100%

    Express Web Connect

    Fidelity - This one uses ALL CAPS nearly 100%

    Schwab - This one rarely includes anything in the Memo field Letting the Action and Security Name do the work. Any Memos in its registers are nearly 100% those I added manually.

    Win 11 Pro - Quicken Windows Classic Premier - v64.30

  • Chris_QPW
    Chris_QPW Quicken Windows Subscription Member ✭✭✭✭

    For the memo I could see some kind of renaming being possible, but that isn't even possible right now in a non-investment account. You can post an idea on it for people to vote for it by going to the home page and select new post and then new idea.

    As for the security name for Direct Connect and Express Web Connect + you can go into the security list and change the name. Since Quicken uses the CUSIP ID to match the security it doesn't care what you call it.

    When it comes to the security action like reinvest that comes directly from the financial institution in A field for that purpose, Quicken Inc isn't going put in something to override what the financial institution sent in that field based on something like the memo. If it is wrong you need to contact Quicken support to get the right people involved to fix it. You can also post it here. I know that people have already posted on here that they are having such problems with a few of the financial institutions that recently changed to Express Web Connect +.

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  • q_lurker
    q_lurker Quicken Windows Subscription SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭

    I have seen that flaw with Vanguard transaction downloads for years. The All caps dates back to at least 2002. The duplication (DIVIDEND REINVESTMENTDIVIDEND REINVESTMENT) dates back to 2018 in my records. Frankly, I don't pay much attention in that regard.

    I tend to agree with Chris that allowing for Rules to be used is unlikely. Investment accounts use 'transaction lists' rather than 'registers' and those two seem to be independently programmed within Quicken. I just don't see Quicken taking the steps to build in an entire new feature for 'transaction lists'. Chris's point about the different types of downloads furthers the challenges of doing so.

    Then there is aspect that few users have brought it up. You are certainly free to start an Idea post toward that purpose, to see if it might gain traction.

  • Chris_QPW
    Chris_QPW Quicken Windows Subscription Member ✭✭✭✭
    edited November 8

    I was just looking at my Chase accounts and some old, closed accounts from other financial institutions most of them don't have anything in the memo field but I did find an old, closed Vanguard account that shows what you are talking about:

    image.png

    Which looking at that there is an option that does exist in the non-investment accounts that they probably could put in pretty easily (seriously doubt they are going to even think about a renaming rule), and that is an option to ignore the memo field.

    As shown the account details of a checking account.

    Screenshot 2025-11-08 at 5.27.08 PM.png

    [Edited - Removed partial account numbers]

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  • Chris_QPW
    Chris_QPW Quicken Windows Subscription Member ✭✭✭✭

    Note in all cases I see that the securities names seem to be downloaded in all uppercase, but like I said you can just change the name in the security list and it will change everywhere in Quicken.

    image.png

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  • imdcareys
    imdcareys Quicken Windows Subscription Member ✭✭✭✭
    edited November 8

    Thanks for all of your comments and the time and thought you put into them :)

    I only really noticed this yesterday, and I haven't been with Vanguard IRA accounts very long since converting my workplace investments, so I just manually changed the uppercase memos to lower case and made them non-repetitive. I didn't really rename them. I do want the memos and I don't have very many dividend transactions per account per month so I will just manually change them. With q_lurker's added comments, maybe I'll chat with my Vanguard Advisor to see if he could get the duplicate text fixed and maybe even make it upper/lower case. At least he has an incentive to listen to me - even if it goes nowhere.

    Since I can manually modify the memos and even add my own I don't see why it would be a big deal for Quicken to just handle it and why there is doubt that they would even consider it. They do this with Renaming Rules for all kinds of transactions.

    I personally don't care about the security names or Actions (I agree with them). I probably anticipated being asked about the other fields so I included the examples with the connection methods. I mean, if the Action says Div or ReinvDiv, you pretty much know what the transaction was about (and they are already Upper/Lower Case :) Not having a memo in that situation didn't compel me to want to add one.

    Enjoy your day/evening,

    Carey

    Win 11 Pro - Quicken Windows Classic Premier - v64.30

  • q_lurker
    q_lurker Quicken Windows Subscription SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭

    I mean, if the Action says Div or ReinvDiv, you pretty much know what the transaction was about (and they are already Upper/Lower Case :)

    Not exactly. A typical reinvestment transaction via the OFX file protocol is like this (for a MM fund reinvestment):

    <REINVEST><INVTRAN><FITID>xxxxxxxxxx<DTTRADE>20250930160000.000[-5:EST]<DTSETTLE>20250930160000.000[-5:EST]<MEMO>DIVIDEND REINVESTMENTDIVIDEND REINVESTMENT</INVTRAN><SECID><UNIQUEID>922906300<UNIQUEIDTYPE>CUSIP</SECID><INCOMETYPE>DIV<TOTAL>-57.41<SUBACCTSEC>CASH<UNITS>57.41<UNITPRICE>1.0</REINVEST>

    All uppercase. When Quicken reads this, the program identifies REINVEST and then knows it is ReinvDiv in Quicken-speak.

    The memo field is all-caps from Vanguard and Quicken takes that at face value. They could convert to some Upper-, Lowercase combo, but that would not always be 'best', such as if the stock ticker was in the Memo or some security names like IBM. So the program takes it as provided.

    The CUSIP UNIQUEID leads to a Security Name stored in Quicken for the name filled in as the transaction security.

    The UNITPRICE is ignored (I believe) with Quicken calculating a price as TOTAL / UNITS.

    So there is interpretation going on, just not for Memo.

    Bringing this up with your Vanguard Advisor is certainly a positive direction.

  • Chris_QPW
    Chris_QPW Quicken Windows Subscription Member ✭✭✭✭

    The reason I doubt that Quicken would implement renaming the memo is two fold.

    First off there doesn’t exist anything in Quicken that currently does that. The current renaming rules that don’t even get used for investment accounts is for the payee. So that means that Quicken Inc would have to create a similar but different list system to do this renaming. That isn’t a “large task” but it isn’t nothing either.

    The second reason is because the developers have tons on their plates and I don’t see any requests for this and as such it won’t even make it to to the point where it will be sent to them. You are certainly welcome to post an idea on it for people to vote on it but it takes 50 votes for the moderators to send it to the developers for consideration.

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